Dear Parents/Carers,

We are quickly approaching the middle of the term! Over the last few weeks we have had a number of key activities taking place across the school.

Last Friday we celebrated our 2025 student leaders who have made a positive start in taking on leadership in many different areas. It was great speaking to these students and their families after school and recognising the impact that families have on supporting their child/ren in stepping out of their comfort zone and taking on new opportunities. These students also had the opportunity earlier in the week to meet with our local MP Nick McGowan who provided some simple strategies for being a strong leader such as making sure your actions match your words, showing empathy and setting small goals.

Last week we also began our work with the Stand Up Project which provides another group of grade 5/6 students with the voice and agency in promoting the importance of being an up-stander in the community. You will be able to read more about the Stand Up Project within the newsletter!

NAPLAN 2025

In March, our Grade 3 and 5 students will sit NAPLAN assessments in Writing, Reading, Spelling/Grammar and Punctuation and Numeracy. All these tests are run online with the exception of Grade 3 Writing.

The NAPLAN test window for 2025 is 9 days. This is to accommodate schools that may not have the capacity to complete the tests in a shorter time frame. The NAPLAN test window starts on Wednesday 12 March 2025 and finishes on Monday 24 March 2025. Schools will schedule the tests as soon as possible within the testing window, prioritising the first week.

We will provide further information about the NAPLAN schedule for our school in the near future.

Meet the Teacher - Open Specialist Classrooms

On Monday 3 March and Tues 4 March we will be holding our Meet the Teacher afternoons. Thank you to the families who have made bookings via Compass.

School Council 2025

Last night we held our first council meeting of the year. We welcome Georgia (parent of Connor and Chelsea) as a new parent in 2025. This year our council is made up of:

Andrew Den Elzen - Principal
Tim Price - President
Simon Beardall - Vice President
Louisa Liyanage - Treasurer
Ben Dunstall - Parent Member
Georgia Graham - Parent Member
Coral O'Malley - Parent Member
Misty Viera - Community Member
Vikram Singh - Parent Member
Jo Majdan - Assistant Principal
Lisa Hume - Staff Representative
Joy Terrenzani - Staff Representative

One of the key roles of council was to review the SWOT analysis that parents have completed to support our school review. We value the feedback from families and spent time identifying key themes which I have shared below.

Freezer angels

Last Friday our Freezer Angels had their first cookup of the year. Thank you to the parents and carers who volunteered to create meals for our community in times of need and thank you to Tunstall Square Fresh who continue to donate items for us to use. For any families who need access to meals they can be found in the freezer next to the staff room.

Student Information Form

Thank you to the families who have returned their student information form. A reminder to please return these so that we have the most up to date information for your child/ren.

Annual privacy reminder for our school community

Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy and the Schools’ Privacy Collection Notice.

Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy https://www.whitehorseps.vic.edu.au/page/346/Policies , describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn.

We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use [Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education] safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using [Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education], please contact the school.

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ privacy policy: information for parents. This information is also available in ten community languages:

· Amharic

· Arabic

· Chinese

· Dari

· Gujarati

· Mandarin

· Somali

· Sudanese

· Turkish

· Urdu

· Vietnamese

[Note that the parent guidance documents linked to from the paragraph above are for the department provided version of M365 and Google. Schools can use these or link to their own guidance, whichever applies.]

Student Photo/Media Permissions - opt out

Parents/Carers will find attached below a copy of the media permissions form. Please read the information carefully and families are only required to respond if they wish to opt out. You can contact me if you have any questions about this.

Accident Insurance:

The Department of Education and Training (DET) does not provide personal accident insurance for students. Parents are generally responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including any transport costs. The Department of Education states that reasonable low-cost accident insurance policies are available from the commercial insurance sector. Similarly, DET (which includes the school) does not offer replacement of personal items which are brought to school and are lost, broken or stolen. Sentimental or expensive belongings and toys, including sports equipment and electronic devices, are normally best left at home.

Working with Children Checks (WWC):

We encourage and value parental and community support at Whitehorse Primary School. There are many ways that parents, grandparents and friends can assist, however it is a requirement by law that people engaging in child-related work have a Working with Children Check. We ask parents to share your WWC status with our office (so we can photocopy your card and add your name to our register of parents who have a current WWC check).

Student of the Week