Assistant Principal's Report

Student Leaders

Our 2026 student leaders were acknowledged and celebrated in our whole school assembly with the presentation of their leadership badges. Families of our leaders were also invited to a special afternoon tea to celebrate their children’s achievement along with the Principal team. We are so proud of our student leaders who are already settling into their roles, leading assemblies and making a positive impact on our school! 

Annual Implementation Plan Information for Families 

An Annual Implementation Plan or AIP, is a clear plan that outlines our school’s key goals and priorities for the year ahead. It explains what we will focus on to improve student learning and wellbeing, how we will do it, and how we will measure our progress. The plan is based on our school’s long-term Strategic Plan and is developed in collaboration with our School Improvement Team (Principal, Assistant Principal and Learning Specialists) and helps ensure that everything we do in classrooms and across the school supports the best possible outcomes for our students in both Teaching and Learning and Wellbeing. Throughout the year, we review our progress and celebrate the achievements we make together. 

Our two AIP goals for 2026 with linked Key Improvement Strategies are:

Teaching and Learning;

Optimise the learning growth for each student

Key Improvement Strategy:

Strengthen a consistent whole school approach to high quality instructional practices 

Wellbeing 

Maximise the engagement and wellbeing for each student 

Key Improvement Strategy:

Build school knowledge and capabilities to effectively implement multi tiered systems of support (different levels of support dependent on student need)

Everything we do at Whitehorse Primary School links back to our AIP goals to keep us focused as a school on continual improvement. If you have any questions about our AIP or any of the goals or strategies we are working on please come and have a chat!

Raising Wellbeing or Learning Concerns 

In order for us to optimise learning growth and maximise the engagement and wellbeing for each student at Whitehorse it is essential for us as a school to have systems and procedures in place to identify and support students requiring additional support. 

As a leadership team we are currently working to strengthen our care pathways and documentation around how we support students across our school in Wellbeing. A care pathway is a clear process that outlines how we support students’ social, emotional and mental health needs.

If you have a concern about your child’s learning or wellbeing:

1. Speak with your child’s classroom teacher. As the adult who works most closely with your child each day, the classroom teacher has the strongest understanding of their learning progress, areas for growth, as well as their social and emotional wellbeing. This means the classroom teacher is the most appropriate first connection point for families. 
2. Speak with a member of leadership (Andrew, Megan). While the classroom teacher is the first point of contact, there are times when additional support is needed. Leadership may become involved when concerns are ongoing, more complex, or require additional resources, specialised support, or whole-school processes. Leadership works closely with teachers and families to coordinate support plans, access external services where needed, and ensure the right strategies are in place to support students. 

External services to support students at Whitehorse 

Uniting Family Wellbeing Program. This program supports families to source external support such as counselling or educational assessments. At times, Uniting may be able to provide financial assistance for wellbeing support. Please speak with Sylvia who works out of our Wellbeing Office (adjacent to our school office) on Wednesdays each week. Alternatively you can email: sylvia.mcgrath@vt.uniting.org

Counselling through Monash University Placement Program. We work in partnership with Monash University to host students completing their Masters of Counselling. This program is open to students in our school who require additional wellbeing support e.g. managing anxiety, coping with family changes, building confidence etc. This is free for our families, occurs onsite and is offered on a needs basis. Referrals can be made by classroom teachers or families. Please speak to Megan for more information. Rowena is working with us this semester on a Monday and Tuesday. She has settled in beautifully amongst our team and is doing a wonderful job supporting students through her role.

With both of these services, families are advised to first contact the classroom teacher, Megan or Andrew. 

If you have any feedback about how we can improve our school response to learning or wellbeing concerns as a school please email Megan: megan.goldenberg@education.vic.gov.au 

Have a wonderful week!

Megan Goldenberg

Assistant Principal