Welcome to the 2025 school year. I would like to extend a warm welcome to our Prep students and their families and other families new to our Wonga Park PS community. The Wonga Park PS community is truly a special community to be part of.

CHILDSAFE STANDARDS

Compliance with Minimum and Childsafe Standards Assessment

This year Wonga Park Primary School will undertake a School Review. Part of the process is for a school to meet compliance with both the Minimum and Childsafe Standards Assessment. We are pleased to announce that we have completed this process in preparation for the School Review.

The Child Safe Standards (the Standards) are compulsory minimum standards for all Victorian schools to ensure they are well prepared to keep children and young people safe and protect them from abuse.

There are also requirements for all government schools to be correctly registered with the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority and to comply with the Minimum Standards for school registration. Schools are required to share various pieces of evidence to demonstrate our compliance with the standards.

Child Safety Code of Conduct

Wonga Park Primary School is committed to the safety and wellbeing of children and young people. Our school community recognises the importance of, and a responsibility for, ensuring our school is a safe, supportive and enriching environment which respects and fosters the dignity and self-esteem of children and young people, and enables them to thrive in their learning and development.

We require any staff, contractors or members of the school community involved in child related work to read and sign a copy of the Child Safety Code of Conduct annually. The office has copies of this form or you may wish to download it from our website. The 2024 Code of Conduct will remain on our website until the 2025 School Council is elected.

Cyber Safety Project

Our school partnerships with The Cyber Safety Project, we are excited to share their 2025 Parent Webinar Series! The first webinar is just around the corner, so please register for this event.

Keeping Your Kids Safe in the Digital World: Tuesday 18th March, 7.30pm
Empowering Parents to Protect Kids’ Wellbeing: Wednesday 2nd April, 7.30pm
What every parent needs to know in 2025: Tuesday 3rd June, 7.30pm
Understanding Ais impact on Your Kids: Wednesday 13th August, 7.30pm
Safe gaming for Kids: Building Boundaries for Positive Play: Thursday 23rd October, 7.30pm

Registration Link for Parents & Guardians: ….

eSafety – Office of the eSafety Commissioner

The eSafety Commissioner is a wonderful resource to make yourself familiar with. This space was established in 2015, it's Australia's national and independent regulator of online safety. It is dedicated to keeping people safe online.

The eSafety Commissioner has shared information regarding: Cyberbullying and the back-to-school surge: How can we protect our kids. We encourage you to read of this important information.

Sign up for the eSafety Newsletter to receive the latest online safety news, resources, and advice.

eSafety Commission online workshops for 2025

The eSafety's provide free webinars provide parents and carers with the knowledge, skills and tools to support their children to have safe, positive online experiences.

The schedule for 2025 can be accessed via this link.

Volunteering at WPPS

We are mandated (without exemption) to provide training for school staff and all volunteers working within our school to ensure they are equipped with knowledge, skills and awareness to keep our young people safe through ongoing education and training. To volunteer in our school you must:

participate in annual Volunteer Childsafe training
provide the school with a copy of your WWCC
Read and sign the Code of Conduct

All volunteers will need to have completed with their training prior to volunteering at our school. Staff are unable to select volunteers who do not have current training. Please note that if you work at another Department of Education school, training must also be completed at the school where you volunteer.

Volunteer Childsafe Training sessions are online and are offered frequently, our remaining sessions for Term 1 are listed below.

Week 6: Wednesday, 5th March | 5:00 - 5:30 PM (online)

https://eduvic.webex.com/eduvic/j.php?MTID=mef3a2152e87f811c709212cd25375ce6

Week 9: Monday, 25th March | 5:00 - 5:30 PM (online)

https://eduvic.webex.com/eduvic/j.php?MTID=m338c73b0471873f39d56a73e6c91506f

WONGA PARK PS POLICY INFORMATION

The policies listed below have been recently updated.

Anaphylaxis policy
The purpose of this policy is explain to Wonga Park Primary School parents, carers, staff and students the processes and procedures in place to support students diagnosed as being at risk of suffering from anaphylaxis. This policy also ensures that Wonga Park Primary School is compliant with Ministerial Order 706 and the Department’s guidelines for anaphylaxis management.
Asthma policy
The purpose of this policy is to ensure that Wonga Park Primary School appropriately supports students diagnosed with asthma.

Further school policy information:

CCTV at WPPS

We have had a closed-circuit television (CCTV) system at our school.

Our school has an obligation to ensure the school environment is safe and secure, and fulfil our duty of care to students, staff and visitors. The CCTV system will assist our school to fulfil these obligations and to prevent and manage other inappropriate behaviour on school grounds. CCTV will also provide enhanced capability to protect our school’s assets against vandalism and theft.

We will follow Department of Education and Training policy requirements for the design, installation, management and use of the CCTV systems. This policy is available at: CCTV in Schools – Installation and Management.

We will also place a CCTV Privacy Notice on our school website with more information about our school’s use of CCTV.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the office on 97221325.

Dogs on school site

Whilst we understand that many families in our school community keep dogs as pets, to ensure that our school remains a safe and inclusive place for everyone, pet dogs are not permitted on school grounds during school hours unless a prior arrangement has been made with the principal.

Our school community is diverse and may include people that are allergic or uncomfortable around dogs. We are also conscious of the health hazards that may be posed by dogs. We ask that families please leave their pet dogs at home or safely tethered outside school grounds (they should be not be tethered on school property - including, but not limited to, school fences and gates) when attending our school or school events. Please refer to our Dogs on School Premises policy for further information.

Homework

The Wonga Weekly is communicated with parents and carers on a weekly basis. It contains information about curriculum being covered, it also contains questions that parents/carers can ask their children to prompt discussions about learning at home. The publication also contains diary dates for the various levels in the school.

Homework set by teachers will be:

purposeful
curriculum-aligned
appropriate to students’ skill level and age
designed to help students develop as independent learners
monitored by the teacher
where appropriate, provide opportunities for parents/carers to partner in their child’s learning.

Please read our homework policy.

Supervision before and after school

Student safety at Wonga Park Primary School is our highest priority and the safe and appropriate supervision of students is an important element of our duty of care to students. Part of this duty is ensuring parents and students are aware of our student supervision arrangements before and after school.

Before school: Parents are reminded that students should not be in the school grounds unsupervised before 8.40am. School grounds are supervised from 8.40am. Should students arrive prior to 8.40am they will be asked to wait in the office, parents will be contacted. Staff are on duty in the carpark, the gates at Dudley Road and Lantana Road. There is also a teacher on duty who will rove around the top/middle area of the school. Students should not play on the reserve or oval before school.

After school: School grounds are supervised until 3.40pm. Staff are on duty in the carpark, the gates at Dudley Road and Lantana Road. There is also a teacher on duty who will rove around the top/middle area of the school. Students should not play on the reserve or oval before school.

Students on school grounds outside these times will not be supervised (unless they are attending a before or after school care program or supervised extracurricular activity).

Parents/carers are requested to ensure that students do not attend school outside of these supervised times unless they are attending before or after school care, or a pre-arranged supervised activity (i.e. sports practice).

Families are encouraged to contact Their Care on 1300 072 410 or refer to their website for more information about the before and after school care facilities available to our school community or if you would like any further information about our student supervision arrangements.

For a copy of our school’s Yard Duty and Supervision Policy is accessible on our website. This policy includes Wonga Park Primary School’s student supervision arrangements across the school day, including before and after school.

Student mobile phones and smart watches/Space Watches

The Department of Education has in place a mobile phone ban that requires students who bring mobiles phones/smart watches to school to have them switched off and securely put away during school hours.

The Department requires all schools to ensure this ban is in place and enforced, it applies to all government schools across the state.

This helps ensure that school is a learning environment free from unnecessary distractions and disruptions. We understand that students may bring a personal mobile phone to school, particularly if they are travelling independently to and from school. Students who choose to bring mobile phones to school must have them switched off and securely stored at the school office during school hours. Staff will be actively reminding students of this protocol, as there are Ministerial Orders in place which must be observed. Please read our Mobile Phone Student Use policy. When emergencies occur, parents or carers should reach their child by calling the office.

PARTNERSHIPS

2025 Lines of Communication

To streamline communication between home and school, a Lines of Communication procedure has been created. This procedure helps to ensure parents know how to access the relevant staff member to attend to an enquiry or concern.

Casual Relief Staff (CRT)

We are always looking to expand our CRT list. If you are a teacher and are willing to join our list or know someone who would be suitable please let me know - I would love to hear from you.

Communication with School Staff

Wonga Park Primary School understands the importance of providing helpful and timely responses to common enquiries from parents and carers. To ensure that members of our school community are directed to the most appropriate person to assist them, please consult this policy.

Disability and Inclusion

Our region (therefore school) has now transitioned from supporting students with disabilities through the PSD model of support (Programs for Students with Disabilities) to Disability Inclusion. Term 1 SSGs (Student Support Group meetings). Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or require support. Alternatively you might like to read the Departments information for parents page.

Parent Representatives

Many thanks to the parents who have been appointed to the role of class representative. We appreciated the support that you provide to our class teachers and school.

State Schools Relief

State Schools’ Relief is a not-for-profit organisation who works closely with all government schools across Victoria to improve the lives of Victorian students and their families, each year. Their simple and practical service ensures that all students can attend school in warmth and comfort with a greater sense of belonging and improved self-esteem, which in turn enhances educational engagement. Support provided includes items such as school clothing, shoes and other essential items.

Please do not hestiate to contact me should you require support from State School's Relief.

WPPS Preloved Uniform - Facebook Page

Some members of our community have set up a WPPS preloved Uniform page on Facebook. Please check up the page if you are wanting to access 2nd hand uniforms.

I’m really looking forward to working with you all this year.

Adele Brice

Assistant Principal

adele.brice@education.vic.gov.au

School Community News