Principal's Column

It is hard to believe this is our final newsletter for 2024! When reflecting back on the year that was there is a lot for us to celebrate as individuals, cohorts and as a community. Something we are immensely proud of is how our community continually show up for one another and support each other. 

Step Up Morning - Tuesday 10th December

Last Tuesday we had our whole school Step Up morning, where all 2025 Prep - 6 children spent the morning with their new teachers and classrooms in their 2025 learning spaces. There was such a buzz of excitement as you walked around the school that morning. Our 2025 Prep children were amazing, you would not have known that they were only just starting school! On the day students would have come home with their grade placement letter outlining their 2025 grade, teacher and room location.

Staff Farewells

We also have some staff who will be leaving us at the conclusion of the year. We would like to thank all of these staff members for the contributions and impact they have made on our community over the many years they have worked at the school. Thank you to the following staff and we wish you all the best with your future endeavours:

• Susan Richardson (Retiring)
• Mick Armstrong (transferring to Nazareth PS)
• Nick Buykx (transferring to Point Cook P-9 College)
• Sarah McLoughlin (transferring to Armstrong Creek School)
• Nadia Segovia (transferring to Altona College)
• Vanessa Hooper (relocating)
• Anna Gasser (transferring to Inverleigh PS)

We would like to particularly mention Susan Richardson who has been in service to our community for the past 27 years and wish her all the best in this next chapter.

Student Farewells

We would like to acknowledge our Year 6 students who will be transitioning into high school next year and to any other students who may be leaving us at the end of this year. Thank you for the positive impact you have had on Westgrove across the years. We are sure the understandings you have developed across the years will provide a strong platform to successfully transition into these new learning environments. 

Final Day Information

Just a reminder school concludes on Friday 20th December with an earlier dismissal time of 1:15pm. Please ensure appropriate arrangements are made to collect your child at this earlier time. 

Our end of year assembly will be held on Friday at 9.15am in the Courtyard.

Please note: Given the earlier dismissal time, students will only require their lunch on this day. The canteen will not be open. 

SWPBS Acknowledgements

This week we had our final SWPBS acknowledgements for 2025. We had our SWPBS Hour on Tuesday afternoon and 'Principal for a Session', where we had 20 new principals. The following two newsletter items have been written by our 20 principals (students):

Italian Festa Day

Last week we had our Italian Festa Day. On the day we did activities like necklace making, dancing, mask making and waiter races. Some of the hit activities were masking, painting upside down and building the cars for our afternoon Ferrari vs. Lamborghini race. We enjoyed eating pizza and having gelato on the day! Thank you to Mrs. Masiero and all the staff for all their organisation because that made the day so much fun! 

Year 6 Graduation

Last week we had our Year 6 Graduation. It was exciting and entertaining with the whole year 6 cohort being there. Even though it was nerve racking and stressful to go up on stage it was a great time. We loved having our families and teachers (current and past) to celebrate with us. 

2025 Class Structures

In 2025, we are anticipating that our total student enrolment will be quite similar to this year, with our largest cohorts being our Year Prep and Year 6s. Therefore, we are operating with the following class structure: 

• 5 x Year Prep classes

• 3 x Years 1-5 classes

• 4 x Year 6 classes

With the above structure we will have a total of 24 classes operating. This does mean that we can keep our class sizes relatively small across the school.

2025 Dates for your Calendars!

Students first days of school for 2025 are as follows:

• Year Prep and Year 1:Monday 3rd February 2025

• Years 2-6: Friday 31st January 2025

 The following dates will be Student Free Days in 2025:

• Tuesday 28th January 2025 (Curriculum Day)
• Friday 14th February 2025 (Curriculum Day - Berry St)
• Wednesday 6th August 2025 (Curriculum Day - Mathematics)
• Monday 3rd November 2025 (Professional Practice Day)
• Wednesday 26th November 2025 (Curriculum Day - Assessment & Reporting)

Office Hours over the School Holidays

The school office will close on December 20th and reopen on January 21st (reduced hours). If you need to contact the school during this time, please email us (westgrove.ps@education.vic.gov.au). A member of our team will get back to you as soon as they can.

Thank you!

We would like to say a special thank you to our:

• families for the great support they have continually provided to school, the staff and most importantly their children.
• wonderful staff. We are very fortunate to have a group of educators who continually provide support and care for our learners. 
• our students for their wonderful approach they display to their schooling. We are continually impressed by their ability to uphold our school values as part of their daily learning experiences. 

We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday break and look forward to seeing everyone back onsite at Westgrove in 2025!

Chris Gatt, Kerrie Slaymaker & Susan Richardson

Principal team