Dear Parents and Carers,

What a fantastic start we have had to Term 4 with both our School Colour Run and Production over the last few days. It has been great to see our students having so much fun and our community coming together for events like these!

School Production

Our school production on Tuesday was a fantastic reflection of student creativity and teamwork. Our students have spent many weeks working with the team from Footsteps to put together their performance which was presented to a large crowd at The Round. It was impressive seeing the commitment from all students from Foundation to Grade 6 in their rehearsals over many weeks.

A big thank you also goes out to our parents and families for your ongoing support, costume help and encouragement from the audience. The costumes also supported the students in delivering a confident and engaging performance. A final thank you to all staff for their work, and congratulations to our Specialist team Megan C, Emma, Leanne and Paul, who have spent many months working behind the scenes to support our 300 students in creating a performance that truly reflects the talent of all our students.

Colour Run

Last Friday we held our whole school Colour Run on the oval. Thank you to all the members of the Whitehorse Family Network who coordinated the event and for our parents who attended or assisted on the day. The event was a great celebration of community and currently has raised almost $15,000 which will go towards our Junior Basketball Hoop and Gaga Pit which will be enjoyed for many years to come.

Planning for 2026

We are currently planning staffing and classes for 2026. Please let us know if you are planning a move and will not be attending Whitehorse PS next year so that we are able to make the best plans possible with accurate numbers.

The class structure for classes in 2026 at this stage is:

• Foundation x 2 classes

• Year 1/2 X 3 classes

• Year 3/4 x 4 classes

• Year 5/6 x 3 classes

This week, we commenced the process of organising students into classes for 2026. Students will be asked to name between 3 to 5 students who they work well with and empower each other’s learning. Teachers use this information, along with their knowledge of students’ academic, social and emotional skills, to place students into class groupings that they believe will maximise learning for all students. Whitehorse PS is a caring environment where students are encouraged to work with diverse people, be open minded, view things from multiple perspectives and respect differences.

School Safety

Over the last few weeks with daylight saving and better weather there has been an increase in community utilising our school after hours. As a school we are proud to have our facilities open to the wider community but this also can lead to an increase in unsafe behaviours. On the weekend we had some visitors make their way onto the roof of our buildings which puts themselves in danger. If anyone notices any unsafe behaviour at school can you please contact the school or Forest Hill Police on (03) 8847 3600.

Sporting Updates

The sporting calendar sees individuals and teams play seasonal sports throughout the year with Term 4 hosting many of the finals.

Last week we shone at the Division Athletics with Morgan, Charli and Nathan progressing through to the SSV Regional Championships this Thursday. We wish them the best of luck!
This week we also have our Volleyballers and Future Star Basketballers who are competing in the next round of Finals!

Kind regards,

Andrew Den Elzen

Principal

Student of the Week