From the Principal
Diana Ellis
Welcome to Term 3
We have had a wonderful start to the term with ten new students starting at Woodend Primary School. Whilst most of our families have moved from city areas or interstate we have also warmly welcomed a family from Shanghai China.
Celebrations
Nicole Middleton, one of our well known parents has been recognised for her tireless community work.
Many of you will know and will have worked with Nicole Middleton who was recently nominated for the Joan Kirner Landcare Award 2024 .
Below is the information that was published about Nicole.
On 18 July 2024 Nicole Middleton was awarded with a “Commended” certificate for the Joan Kirner Landcare Award. The award commemorates the late Premier of Victoria who was the original founder the Landcare and is presented to those in recognition of long-standing dedication to Landcare.
Nicole Middleton has been a member of Woodend Landcare since 2014. Prior to this she volunteered with Tree Project, regularly planting seedlings along the Yarra River from Richmond -Fairfield between 1992-2013. In 2017 Nicole joined the Woodend Landcare Committee, then in 2021 she became Treasurer.
Although Treasurer, Nicole frequently puts her hand up for whatever role has no-one to perform it, be it catering for working bees, designing and putting up posters and posts on the Landcare blog, writing articles for the local paper, selecting plants for planting days or leading working bees.
Through her professional and volunteer careers, Nicole has always aimed to inspire the next generation to care for the environment. By teaching people how amazing nature is, she encourages them to join her in caring for and wanting to save, the natural environment.
Since 2017 Nicole has volunteered at Woodend Primary School, running the Woodend Primary School Community Children’s Garden. When she took over running the garden it was abandoned and weed infested. Eighty centimetre high grassy weeds dominated the space. Nicole not only brought the garden back, she also created a garden design that was usable year-round and involved less maintenance. By repurposing trees from school landscape works as mulch, and obtaining carloads of old newspapers from Midland Express, with the help of the garden club students, the weeds were killed organically without the use of chemical poisons. Nicole then liaised with Bunnings and the Woodend Men’s Shed to create new raised veggie gardens for the space, which they kindly donated to the cause.
Through her role at the Community Children’s Garden, Nicole also coordinates a growing group of parent volunteer garden helpers, produces articles for the fortnightly school newsletter as well as ad hoc articles in local newspapers, manages maintenance of the garden, teaches Garden Club to students, and applies for grants to undertake garden projects. In 2019 she obtained a Junior Landcare Biodiversity Grant to incorporate an educational indigenous section alongside the productive garden. And in 2023, Nicole obtained a Greater Western Water Grant, to update the previous irrigation system.
As part of the Junior Landcare Biodiversity Grant project Nicole ran an art competition at school for students to design the artwork for the informative plant labels that she had written for the 25 species in the indigenous garden. Nicole liaised with a neighbouring landcare group (Newham and District Landcare Group) to grow the seedlings and Woodend Landcare provided the tools and expertise for the whole of senior school plating day. To flatten the site for the new raised beds, Peter Lane from Macedon Ranges Sustainability Group helped out with his heavy machinery. Following incorporation of the new garden beds, gravel and premium soil were added and the revitalised Junior Landcare Biodiversity Community Children’s Garden Project was complete.
Each Monday lunchtime, up to 50 students opt to Join Nicole for Garden Club in the Community Children’s Garden. Students head home from Garden Club with armfuls of healthy produce and volunteer parents are also encouraged to help themselves to the garden goodies. Nicole uses Whats App to coordinate the volunteers who help with the garden. This group has grown into a community of its own, with plant and recipe swaps, offers for help and support beyond the garden springing forth from the online platform. Twice yearly Nicole coordinates Garden Produce Sales to help raise funds for the garden, while excess produce is donated the Woodend Neighbourhood House for use in their community lunches and food bank.
Trained as a botanist and with many years of experience teaching plant science, Nicole is able to apply her skills and knowledge to both Landcare and the Community Children’s Garden. Her commitment to community caring for nature extends beyond the school garden to organising Clean Up Australia events for Woodend Landcare and Woodend Primary, attending and/or coordinating planting days with neighbouring landcare, golf and scouts groups, providing guided tours of local flora to school, university and scouts groups and providing native plant selection and garden design advice to private and public landowners. Through the various partnerships and friendships Nicole has made over her time in Woodend, she has inspired and encouraged many people to tread lighter on the earth and care for the plants and animals they share the local environment with.
We are certainly highly appreciative of Nicole’s commitment to our students and all she has achieved in our garden. Great recognition, well deserved.
Parent Opinion Survey
WE WANT OUR PARENTS / CAREGIVERS / GUARDIANS TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK!
Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey offered by the Department of Education and is seeking your feedback. The survey is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. The survey is optional, but we encourage and appreciate your participation.
Our school will use the survey results to assist in identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies.
The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey will be open online from Monday 29 July to Friday 30 August 2024. All families are invited to participate in the survey.
The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones.
The online survey will be available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese. Resources are also available in additional languages to assist parents / caregivers / guardians who speak a language other than English at home. Please reach out to your child’s teacher, or the school directly for survey guides in your language.
The Survey link and PIN will be sent out in an email to all families.
Facilities
Over the holidays work continued on our Shelter In Place Project. On the day that I visited Carlsruhe they were busy doing the windows. The wooden window frames have now been replaced with metal window frames.
On the main campus the work has been completed on the removal of combustible vegetation close to our Shelter In Place building. The wooden ramps and outdoor wooden seating has been replaced with modwood that meets bushfire regulations.
Ramp Project
We have just been informed that ramps and rails within our school environment (internal and external) have been assessed and contractors will move through our school to upgrade all ramps and rails to meet current building regulations.
Dress Code
As we deal with the cold Winter weather, we all tend to wear more layers. With this we are noticing many students wearing clothing items that do not represent our school dress code. We have a Dress Code Policy so that we can promote equity for all students. Discussions with our students have focussed on clothes that are appropriate for weekend wear and the expectations for our school. We understand that during the wet, cold Winter months that it can be hard to get clothes dry. If there is a need for your child to be out of school uniform, please contact the office to inform us.
You can view our policy on our website https://www.woodend.vic.edu.au/ or get a hard copy from the office.
NAPLAN Results
This week we sent out hard copy NAPLAN 2024 results for our Year 3 and Year 5 students. Please keep these hard copies as often secondary schools such as Braemar and Sacred Heart will ask for your child’s results when enrolling. If you have any questions about your child’s results, please contact your child’s class teacher to make an appointment.
Around the classes
This week my focus for class visits has been observing students during Maths lessons. Although teacher practice is observed and feedback provided, sitting with students and listening to them explain their thinking, tells us a lot about the strategies children use and if they grasp the concept.
During my time in the Foundation classes, many of our students confidently and articulately explained the learning intention of the lesson and the strategy they were using to solve the problem in an efficient way.
Art Sessions
Here are just a few pictures of students and some of the completed works from various art sessions.
Mobile phones and smart watches
It is timely that we again provide a gentle reminder about students having Mobile Phones and Smart Watches at school and the appropriate use of them. We would appreciate your support in reminding your child that mobile phones must be handed in at the office each morning and that smart watches must be put on sleep or school mode. We are finding that Smart Watches are causing huge distractions within the classroom and they have been used inappropriately to call parents during the day or film other students. Please talk to your child/children and remind them of the protocols. If they do not have their lunch or if they are feeling sick, they should tell their teacher who will follow up. If mobile phones or Smart Watches are used inappropriately, they will be confiscated for the day by the teacher or leadership.
You can view our policy on our website https://www.woodend.vic.edu.au/ or get a hard copy from the office.
Principal
Diana Ellis