Principal's Message

Dear Parents/Carers,

EDUCATION WEEK CELEBRATIONS MONDAY 12TH - FRIDAY 23RD MAY 2025

Education Week is an annual celebration of education in Victoria. This year we will hold Education Week celebrations from Monday 12th to Friday 23rd May.

This year’s theme is ‘Celebration of Cultures.’ It is a chance for schools to celebrate their cultural diversity of which at WPS we are very proud.

As part of the fun we are holding our Open Night on Wednesday 14th May 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.

NUMERACY LEADERSHIP TEAM 2025

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.

Edward Hargreaves has been a fantastic acquisition to our Teaching and Learning Team at Warrnambool Primary School in recent years. 

Each week Kuj, Jarryd and Edward 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 Edward are working alongside myself as part of a Community of Practice focusing on best practice in Numeracy instruction across the Wimmera Southwest Area. 

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

YEAR 2 AND YEAR 6 SWIMMING LESSONS

Written by Scarlett McKinnon and Natasha Starick

This term the Year 6’s and Year 2’s have been going to a swimming program at Aquazone. Four out of five days of the week, students walked with their teacher and one or more parent helpers to Aquazone from school, where we swam for 30 minutes in groups. The Year 6 students have been improving skills that they have previously learnt in school swimming lessons. In some groups, towards the end of the lesson the students are allowed to do dives and jumps at the end of the pool. 

From our experiences, swimming is a fun activity and an important skill that can be used all throughout your life. We believe that swimming is a great school experience that encourages exercise and enjoyment, all while learning. The swimming program can be a bit tiring sometimes, but it has been fun to do something different at school. 

DISTRICT CROSS COUNTRY

Congratulations to all the students who participated in the District Cross Country Thursday. It was fantastic to see so many of our students participate. A special thanks goes to Jill French, Matt Jeppesen, Tabitha Fryers, Ginny Grey and Nick Mills for assisting on the day. These events aren't possible without the help from our volunteers.

We're pleased to announce that Merryn Cleverley, Montana Redmond, Chloe Campling, Layla Herbertson, Kaley Grayson and Reyansh Pawar have all qualified for Division Cross Country on Friday 16th May. We wish all them well.

WARRAMBOOL PRIMARY SCHOOL ORCHESTRA

Our very own orchestra have been very practicing in anticipation to perform at assembly on Monday 12th May. They will play two short songs 'Tango and Cha Cha' at after the National Anthem. 

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.

SCIENCE/ART EEL PROJECT

This week, local Aboriginal artist and educator, Sherry Johnstone, has been working alongside Ms Hann in the Science room, on an art project which is continuing and connected to Ms Hann’s lessons on the significance of the Short-finned eel. 

Last week the students learnt all about the amazing life cycle of this intriguing creature. This was followed up by having each student represent their life story through symbols, on the inside of a paper eel. These eels will be completed and collected and displayed at school.

In these photographs you can see the detail that students have gone to and their use of symbols to represent occurrences in their lives. They have enjoyed this experience and have an understanding of the short-finned eels life cycle.

Thank you to Ms Hann and to Sherry Johnstone for their dedication to this project. 

COTTAGE BY THE SEA MONDAY 26TH - FRIDAY 30TH MAY 2025

Cottage by the Sea is our next camp for the year and we are looking forward to sending our selected 5/6 students to Queenscliff next week with Mrs Ferguson and Lachie Wilde.

This is a great opportunity for the selected students and one that they will never forget.

STUDENT COLLECTION END OF DAY

Effective communication between parents and schools plays a critical role in ensuring the safety and well-being of students. One key aspect of this is the daily communication of after-school collection arrangements. Whether a child is being picked up by a parent, relative, friend, or attending an after-school program, it is essential that the school is informed promptly and accurately.

Children thrive in environments where routines are clear and predictable. When collection plans are changed without notifying the school, students may feel anxious or confused at the end of the day. This uncertainty can also lead to delays and increased stress for teachers and administrative staff who must track down updated information.

Daily communication of collection arrangements is a simple yet essential practice that contributes significantly to student safety, emotional well-being, and the effective functioning of school routines. Schools and parents share a joint responsibility in this process, and consistent communication strengthens trust and collaboration between families and school.

Have a great weekend.

Peter Lee

Principal