Principal's Report

I am so proud to begin this week’s piece with celebrations;

Congratulations to our year 5/6 soccer team who qualified for and participated in the Regional Soccer comp this week. They had 2 wins and 3 losses against teams from across the region in Ballarat. What a fantastic achievement to reach this level of competition and a wonderful experience. Thank you to all parents for supporting with travel and cheering. Huge thanks to Mr Burton for his coaching expertise, organisation and support – congratulations to the following team members for effort, great sportsmanship and exceptional behaviour – Kianoe B, Tino F, Hugh F, Chayce G, Declan M, Harry O, Evan P, Miles R, Callum S, Kaan T and Angus Y.

We have also had Grade 5 and 6 students representing WEPS at the Warrnambool Eisteddfod. Congratulations to all students involved in the Speech and Drama category. A wonderful opportunity to not only be involved, but also to build confidence, enhance public speaking skills, and receive valuable feedback for improvement. Thank you Mr Doak for working with the students on the chosen pieces, and congratulations to all students for their commitment to practice and have a go. Thank you to all parents who assisted with transport and moral support. 

We love giving students the opportunity to represent WEPS in the community (beyond Warrnambool with Soccer). We always hear such positive feedback about their manners and behaviour and love that they are embracing the experiences. 

Next week is the last week of our whole school swimming program. Swimming and water safety is included in the Health and Physical Education curriculum from Foundation to Level 10. This requires schools to ensure a swimming and water safety program is implemented and meets the requirements of the curriculum.

Individual schools are expected to make decisions about how to best incorporate swimming and water safety into their school programs, based on factors such as access to safe swimming facilities/locations, qualified instructors and their broader learning program.

We are extremely fortunate to have great facilities close by and quality instructors to facilitate our program. It is important to acknowledge the co-ordination of the swimming program is a substantial organisational task for teachers and leaders -timetabling specialist subjects and break times. I would like to extend an extra appreciation to Karl Burton who supported teachers with the development of Risk Assessments and management, so that every student was able to participate and enjoy their swimming lessons. I must commend all the students who participated for their commitment and parents for supporting with bathers and towels each day (not easy in Winter). 

Our teachers are looking forward to speaking with parents on Monday at our upcoming partnership meetings. This meeting is a formal part of the reporting process and compulsory for all parents. If you are unavailable on Monday, that is ok, please make contact with your teacher to schedule an alternative time. 

Reporting to parents (Department of Education)

Schools are required to provide a written (print or digital) student report at least twice a year to the parents or carers of each child enrolled at the school. Schools are required to report against the Victorian Curriculum F-10 achievement standards, which includes towards foundation levels A-D. Both achievement and progress against the achievement standards are required to be included in the student report. Opportunities must be provided for parents/carers and students to discuss the school report with teachers and/or school leaders.

Parents/Teacher Partnership meetings (Term 2) create an opportunity to:

• share academic progress and growth based on classroom observations, testing data, assessments, portfolios, and assignments.

• learn from parents or guardians so you can be better informed about students' strengths, needs, behaviours, and learning styles.

• discuss enrichment or intervention strategies to support students' learning.

• discuss issues that may be interfering with students' learning and growth.

An alternative program is available for families who are unable to access care. Please register your child’s attendance at the office. If your child is attending they wear their school uniform and meet in the stadium at 8.50am, pick up at normal time. 

Preventing and Addressing Racism – Department of Education. 

We know that students experience racism and its negative impacts, and that schools are increasingly responding to this issue.

In the 2024 Attitudes to School Survey, 14% of students in Victorian government schools said they had experienced racism that term, and 17% said they had experienced racism in the past year.

In the 2024 Attitudes to School Survey (WEPS), 9% of students at Warrnambool East PS said they had experienced racism that term and 15% said they had experienced racism in the past year. 

In the 2025 Attitudes to school Survey (WEPS), 9% of students at Warrnambool East PS said they had experienced racism this term and 24% said they had experienced racism in the past year.

It is time to take action and reduce these figures for 2026 and beyond – our goal is 0%.

I would like to make it very clear that racism will not be tolerated at WEPS! Our students are also taking a stance on racism through their leadership project this year. Racism is never ok!

It is great the Department of Education are taking a stance with this new policy, which is designed to help schools take actions to prevent and address racism, religious intolerance and racial and religious vilification.

The policy covers 3 key actions: 

1. Preventing racism: schools must maintain culturally safe and inclusive environments.

2. Responding to racism: schools must have clear, timely, safe and inclusive processes to respond to incidents of racism.

3. Reporting racism: schools must report incidents of racism on eduSafe Plus, as per the Managing and Reporting School Incidents (Including Emergencies) policy.

https://www.weps.vic.edu.au/page/96/Preventing-and-Addressing-Racism

All staff at WEPS will be undertaking the Anti-Racism e-learning modules (through the Department of Education), by the end of July. The course increases understanding of race in the Australian context and teaches skills to address and respond to racism.

WE can’t wait for our event - Flavours of the World – what a fabulous way to launch our respect for all cultures. Please save the date and join us for a wonderful celebration on Wednesday 30th July from 12noon (previously advertised as 1pm). We have so much to celebrate, we decided to extend the time. Ms Lee and the Community Project Leaders – Jasper, Scarlett and Kaan are working hard to organize and advertise the event and purpose. We are excited to have some families involved, but would love more. Our classroom teachers are, and will continue to communicate with you. 

Last night I had the pleasure of attending our 2nd Parents Fundraising meeting at the Flying Horse. It is exciting to have such an enthusiastic group of parents working together to raise funds for our much needed playground improvements, and also bring our wonderful community together through these events. Please watch out for upcoming event information. 

Child Safe policies 

We have been informed of some Department of Education updates to the Child Safe Policies – please see draft policies attached to the LINK. All school policies are guided by the Department of Education, then personalized to reflect, roles and responsibilities specific programs and processes at individual schools. 

If you have any wonderings, please send them through to marina.milich@education.vic.gov.au by COB Thursday 19th June. 

Please see attached