From the Principal

Dear Families,

School Council

Tuesday marked the first meeting of the 2024 School Council. The first meeting is always longer than normal as a range of procedures are required to be passed through council. An important component of this meeting is the election of office bearers. I would like to thank and congratulate the following council members who will take up this position for 2024:

• President- Jason Holandsjo
• Vice President- Sally Winton
• Treasurer- Karleen Radford

As a council we are very excited for what the year holds. Although 2024 doesn’t have the celebrations of 2023, it is great to have a narrower focus on our core work of teaching, learning and wellbeing.

Easter Hat Parade

Next Thursday will see one of Williamstown Primary’s biggest traditions take place. The annual Easter Hat parade is a great opportunity for the school community to come together and celebrate. The effort our students go to in creating their Easter hats is simply amazing, and we know that everyone is banking on winning one of the many amazing hampers in the Easter raffle.

The Parade will commence at approximately 9:15am on the front basketball court. We look forward to seeing all the amazing hats, as we expect a special guest for the occasion as well.

Open Afternoon- Today, Thursday 21st March

Today marked our first open afternoon for our families. We hope that parents/carers had the opportunity visit their child’s classroom and celebrate their work for term 1. 

NAPLAN

Today marks the last day of the NAPLAN schedule. A huge congratulations to our grade 3 and 5 students who have been undertaking these assessments for the last 2-weeks. It has been a great effort that all students have taken in their stride. NAPLAN is simply a snapshot of a student in a moment of time, and we recognise that there is so much more to each Willy Kid than a test result.

Parents will receive the results from these assessments late in term 2.

Term 2 – Principal Q&A

As a follow on from my recent attendance at the Parent’s Association meeting, we will be looking to hold a principal Q&A session in term 2. The focus of this Q&A will be determined by information collected from the school community. The method of this collection will be detailed early next term, but the aim of the event is to give greater transparency and understanding into the operations of the school.

As a school we see this as a great opportunity to strengthen connections with our families and school community.

Buildings and Grounds Project Update

Over the last 5-6 years the school has worked through its building and grounds master plan.

This plan has seen the development of a two-stage prep playground, the redevelopment of two sporting fields and the installation of key shaded areas. Also, during this time, we have seen the establishment of a dedicated science/kitchen garden room and the unexpected refurbishment of our school hall. More recently we have been working towards the development of our junior quad and junior toilets. We are currently working through the contractor costing stage of this two-part project, with the aim to have stage 1 (junior quad) completed mid this year.

On other building developments we will be meeting with members of the Victorian School Building Authority to discuss the ongoing maintenance of our two key heritage buildings, our iconic bluestone building and our redbrick building. As beautiful as these two buildings are, they present ongoing maintenance challenges and the VSBA are keen to support the school in ensuring the school has the ability to keep them at a level they deserve.

Last Day of Term

A quick reminder to families that next Thursday 28th March students will be dismissied at 2:30pm, as it is the last day of term and Friday 29th is Good Friday. We will welcome students back on Monday 15th April.

Warm regards,

Mat