Dear Parents/Carers,

NUMERACY LEADERSHIP TEAM 2024

A key component of our whole school improvement is that we have designated leadership teams in Literacy, Numeracy and Well-Being.

This week the focus is on our Numeracy Leadership team and by extension our Numeracy Community of practice team.

Kuj Williams is a very well credentialed teacher. Kuj has taught at Warrnambool Primary School for several years now after studying and working in the UK. Kuj is one of the driving forces behind the development of our numeracy program at Warrnambool Primary School.

Jarryd Lewis has been a key component of Warrnambool Primary School’s push toward low variance and consistency of documentation and classroom delivery in Numeracy in the past two years. Prior to this Jarryd led the Cobden Primary School Numeracy program through the Primary Mathematics and Science Specialist program (PMSS) and through much of his leadership that school was consistently ranked in the top 50 Primary Schools in Victoria for Numeracy in NAPLAN. Having worked with Jarryd for many years I was delighted when he agreed to join our team.

Patrick Kluver has been a fantastic acquisition to our Teaching and Learning Team at Warrnambool Primary School in recent years. Once again I had the pleasure of working with Patrick at Cobden Primary School and was very happy when he joined our school. Patrick has been vital in leading the school in consistency of Numeracy delivery and documentation.

Each week Kuj, Jarryd and Patrick meet to discuss our whole school Numeracy focuses for the coming weeks. They also drive Professional Learning at staff meetings to ensure that we have low variance and consistency in Numeracy across the school.

At present Kuj, Jarryd and Patrick are working alongside myself as part of a Community of Practice focusing on best practice in Numeracy instruction across the Wimmera South West Area.

We are very fortunate to have such a dedicated and skilled Numeracy team at Warrnambool Primary School. Our students are the beneficiaries.

PRELIMINARY NAPLAN RESULTS

You may have heard that school Principals were presented preliminary NAPLAN results in the past few weeks. We are able to access preliminary results in all areas with the exception of Writing.

Unfortunately, parents will have to wait for results until July 2024. This date is set by the Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority (VCAA) in line with other states and territories.

I can report that on the four scales of proficiency - Needs Additional Support, Developing, Strong and Exceeding. Our average score was Strong in Reading, Numeracy and Spelling in both Year 3 and 5.

This is an outstanding result and a testament to the hard work and dedication of our students and staff in partnership with our families.

EDUCATION WEEK MONDAY 13TH - FRIDAY 17TH MAY 2023

Education Week is an annual celebration of education in Victoria. This year Victoria will celebrate Education Week from Monday 13th May to Friday 17th May 2024.

This year’s theme is ‘Spotlight on STEM.’ It is a chance for schools to celebrate how they bring science, technology, engineering and maths into the classroom.

As part of the fun we are holding our Open Night on Wednesday 15th May 2024 from 5pm. There will be a sausage sizzle run by the WPPA, Lucky Door Prizes and the launch of the Scholastic Book Fair.

The best part of the evening will be to visit your child’s classroom and catch up with the staff and other school community members. The children love seeing their parents and families in their school.

All families and friends are welcome to attend including any prospective new families.

CASUAL CLOTHES DAY

Our JSC Captains have organised a Casual Clothes Day for Thursday 16th May. Students are asked to bring along a gold coin donation with all funds going towards a new buddy bench in the infant yard.

KANGAROOBIE YEAR 3 - MONDAY 27TH - WEDNESDAY 29TH MAY 2024

We are very much looking forward to the Year 3 camp to Kangaroobie this month. There are so many wonderful activities for the students to participate in while they develop their independence and co-operative skills. We are very excited about the camp and if you would like to know more please follow the link to the website. If you have not submitted consent, medical and payment please do so as soon as possible. We do not want students to miss this wonderful opportunity.

Kangaroobie - Bush - Farm - Beach - School Camp

FIRST AID IN SCHOOLS

This week we had the pleasure of having two St John Ambulance staff members providing their First Aid in Schools program to all our students. All classes learnt about age appropriate First Aid, including what to do in an emergency, how to call 000 and performing CPR. These vital skills assist our students to be more prepared and equipped with knowledge for if or when an accident or medical emergency occurs. Thank you to Lidia Allen for organising these important sessions.

MOTHER’S DAY STALL

Thank-you to our wonderful Warrnambool Primary Parents Association volunteers for organising and supervising the Mother’s Day stall this week.

These activities and fundraisers for our school cannot proceed without the hard work and dedication of our WPPA volunteers.

We thank them very much and hope all of our Mothers/Special People who receive gifts this Sunday enjoy their day with their families.

DISABLED PARKING SPACE JAMIESON STREET CROSSING

Please note that this space needs to remain free at the busy pick up and drop off times to ensure that families who have children with these specific needs are able to access it. We have noticed cars left unattended for periods of time which defeats the purpose of having the easy access space for our parents with students with special needs.

PUPIL FREE DAYS - FRIDAY 17TH MAY AND FRIDAY 7TH JUNE 2024

A reminder that School Council approved Friday 17th May 2024 as a dedicated Pupil Free Day for Wellbeing Professional Learning.

Friday 7th June 2024 is also an approved Pupil Free Day for student report writing.

Children are not required at school on Friday 17th May and Friday 7th June 2024.

Their Care will be offering their program for those families who require the service.

Have a great weekend.

Peter Lee

Principal