Principals Report
THANK YOU EDUCATION SUPPORT STAFF
Friday the 16 May is Education Support Appreciation Day. We take this opportunity to acknowledge the huge contribution that education support staff make to our Wales Street Primary School team.
Thank you to our Office Admin Team: Pina, Lisa & Shannon
These are our super friendly and organised faces of the school. They are not only the first point of contact with our community but also provide our whole school community with the support and care across everything from A-Z…Accounts Payable to Zones (Prep & Year 6-7 Transition!).
Thank you to our ES Support Team:
Skye, Suzi, Sallie, Carlene, Donna, Fifi, Amaya, Rose, Rosie, Lauren, Michelle, Liz, Will, Jake & David
Our education support personnel team work tirelessly to ensure students are given every opportunity to learn, participate and engage safely with their peers. These staff make such a big impact on our students fostering strong connections and positive relationships.
Thank you to all members of our Education Support team for your work to support our whole school community. We can’t thank you enough!
URSTRONG Parent Night
You are invited to attend an ONLINE Language of Friendship parent-child workshop for URSTRONG Schools on Thursday 5 June at 6:30pm. Tyson Greenwood, Director of URSTRONG Schools, will teach you and your children skills + language to foster healthy, feel-good friendships.
This workshop will take place online via Zoom. If this is a first for you, you might want to try a test by clicking here.
When it’s time: CLICK HERE TO JOIN
Meeting ID: 862 7112 7377
Password: URSTRONG
You are also invited to keep the conversation going at home with a FREE membership for
Take advantage of activities, videos, & articles to continue empowering your child with friendship skills.
After the workshop, we encourage you to:
Activate your FREE Parent Membership and explore all the resources available to your family.
Encourage Green-Zone Friendships with this activity: Must-Haves, Deal-Breakers, & Ice-Cream!
Try out this interactive tool: Friendship Fire or Mean-on-Purpose?
Pop over to URSTRONG’s BLOG with news & advice and be sure to check out their PRESS page for interviews & podcasts!
Sausage Sizzle
Thank you to the group of parents who organised and helped out with the Election day sausage sizzle on Saturday 3 May. A big thank you to all community members who 'baked' as well. Again, the weather helped and it was a great success. Thank you to all WSPS community for coming along and supporting our stalls.
Mother’s and Special Person’s Day
Last Sunday was Mother’s Day. I hope that all our WSPS Mums, Grandmothers, Aunties and female figures, had a lovely day that was filled with love and connectedness, and a little bit of spoiling!
A huge thank you to our Wales Street Social team who ran our Mothers and Special friends day stall. It was a huge success
I would also like to acknowledge Linda Mc Donald, a grandparent at our school who has grown plants for the Mothers/Fathers & Special person's day stalls and Fete for many years. This is her last year volunteering her time as her grandaughter is in grade 6. Wales Street has really appreciated the time and effort she has put into supporting the students at our school throughout her time as a grandparent of 2 students here.
Education Week
Education Week is an annual celebration of education in Victoria. In 2025, Victoria will celebrate Education Week from Monday 19 May to Friday 23 May. All children deserve a place to learn and thrive in. This year’s theme Celebration of Cultures highlights the diversity of our communities and the importance of every child feeling safe and welcome at school. Throughout Education Week, students, parents/carers, teachers, and school communities are encouraged to celebrate and share ideas to promote the wide range of cultures and cultural connections in Victorian schools. Our school classrooms will have a special EDUCATION WEEK OPEN AFTERNOON on Thursday May 22 from 2:15pm to 3:15pm. Come along to see Wales Street in action and watch our students' learning. OPEN MORNING on Wednesday 21 May at 8:30am-8:50am. Come along and visit your child’s classroom. They will have their books on display while showcasing their classroom.
We look forward to parents and carers joining us in the classrooms!
Curriculum day
A reminder that our term 2 curriculum day is on Friday 23 May. TheirCare offer care for this day so please make sure you have booked in.
In our morning session, we are working with a company called 'Calm at the forefront'. The purpose is to help create inclusive environments upon which all people can thrive. Their workshops equip school staff with an understanding of neurodiversity and provide solution based strategies for behaviour regulation.
The afternoon will be focussed on Wellbeing, with Abbie, our amazing foundation teacher taking the staff through the education department wellbeing high impact strategies.
Attitudes To School Opinion Survey
The AtoSS is a voluntary student survey offered by the Department of Education for students in Grades 4-6 every year to help schools and the department understand students' experiences of school. We will ask your child about their thoughts and feelings about their school, their learning, relationships with other students, resilience, bullying, health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general. More information will be sent to parents of grades 4-6 next week.
ORIMA Research Pty Ltd has been contracted by the department to manage the collection of the online survey and will provide support to schools through a telephone hotline and email.
This year, the survey will be conducted at Wales Street from 2 June to 13 June.
REACH in Primary Schools: Grade 5 & 6 program
Each year, we engage the services of this youth led program to work with our senior students. Reach was founded by Jim Stynes and Paul Currie in 1994 with a pretty clear vision – to inspire young people to believe in themselves and get the most out of life.
The Reach program works by supporting students to build their social and emotional skills early and prepare for the transition into adolescence and secondary school. The workshops aim to improve resilience and self-belief, enhance emotional and social skills, and improve students' connections with their peers.
The Grade 5 program focuses on peer connections and teamwork. The workshop fosters a safe space for self-expression while promoting positive peer connections, empathy, curiosity, and understanding in the classroom, while the teamwork element promotes personal accountability, helping students understand how their choices impact others through team activities and discussions.
The Grade 6 program is about empathy, change and transitions, and encourages students to reflect on their lives, recognising their support systems and challenges. This workshop highlights the benefits of listening to each other’s stories and knowing they are not alone.
The change and transitions element supports students moving into high school by building resilience and emotional awareness. The workshop provides space to acknowledge their feelings and reflect on the growth and strengths gained from primary school.
This is one of the programs our school uses the Mental health fund for. I wanted to share a bit about the program with you, as the feedback we received from the REACH team was really positive.
'We observed a high level of emotional intelligence and vocabulary from the grade 5 cohort. We were impressed by the empathy and kindness shown by the students, and the teacher/student relationships. We commend your staff on how well you know the students and the trust that has been built.'
We look forward to our Grade 6's workshop in second semester.