Principals Report

Dear Members of the Glen Waverley Primary School Community,

Welcome back everyone! 

Also, welcome to the final term of the 2021 school year! I trust everyone was able to enjoy a relaxing school holiday break albeit in lockdown – at least the easing of restrictions were quite timely allowing for additional outdoor gatherings and that all important opportunity to reconnect with family and friends.

Enjoy Term Four everyone and please do not hesitate to see me at school or contact me on 9802 9938 or at frank.catalano@education.vic.gov.au if you have an issue to discuss or a query. 

Welcome to the following new students

May I extend a very warm welcome to the following new children and their families to the Glen Waverley PS family:

Prep: Nathan and Vihan

Year 1: Laura, Trisha, Jiaqi and Arnika

Year 2: Pranathi

Year 3: Gianna, Thinuli, Elshan and Sithmi

Year 5: Mith, Ved, Hanna, Austin and Alyssia 

Year 6: Ivy

Staffing Update

Please join me in welcoming the following new staff to our school:

• Kimielle D’Mello – who is taking 2D for the remainder of this year as Monique Kelly has commenced Family Leave
• Davin Mark – who is taking 3B for the remainder of the year as Alana Essa will commence Family Leave shortly
• Grace Wong – our school employed Speech Pathologist and
• Michael La Rosa – our newly employed Maintenance Manager as Andy Platt has retired.

Welcome to the GWPS family everyone!

Coronavirus Update and the Staged Return to School 

Thank you to the parents who have communicated their concerns regarding the staged return to school to either their child’s classroom teacher or myself as it has been very timely and appreciated particularly as we prepare for the staged return to school. As everyone would be aware, the pandemic continues to impact on all of us in many ways and it is only when we work together that we can make difficult situations easier.

Please continue to keep an eye on Compass for updates.  

Dazzling Dan the Magician

It certainly was terrific to end Term Three with a different type of incursion and something that took our minds away from the extended lockdown for a little while! I was able to view the show at school and it was absolutely fabulous to see the children’s expressions when Dan completed his tricks! I can only imagine how many budding magicians there were over the holidays! 

May I also take this opportunity to thank the parents who made the effort to write to us in order to thank us for organising the show as they too acknowledge that the children are missing out on so much at the moment. 

What has occurred in our school throughout the school holidays?

The school holidays are an opportune time for trade people to complete tasks throughout our school and these holidays we:

• Updated the drainage works outside the Out of School Hours Care building and
• Installed the new (and much anticipated) Year 5/6 adventure playground. And wow, what an amazing playground it is!!!

We commenced planning the playground approximately 12 months ago which included some of the children meeting the designer in order to provide them with additional feedback as to how they thought the design could be improved, and now, we are so pleased to see the actual playground in our school! 

The purchasing of the new playground and improvements to the drainage were possible because the vast majority of our school families have settled their 2021 accounts and because our school has a very supportive School Council that prioritises the needs of the children. On behalf of all of the children, thank you to their mums and dads for supporting our school and to our School Council for always being there for the children!

Below are photographs of the various stages of the construction of the playground for everyone’s enjoyment.  

Vacation Care Program

It was wonderful to see the large number of children who participated in the recent Vacation (School Holiday) Care program which was once again an outstanding success with the children completing a magnitude of activities. Congratulations to Meththa and her team of assistants and thank you to the numerous families who supported the program. 

Out of School Hours Care Rocketeers Challenge

Some of the children who attend our Out of School Hours Care program have been preparing for a Camp Australia Lego competition which involves creating a Lego City. 

Best wishes to everyone involved and we look forward to hearing how you go in the next week or so!

Included is a photograph of some of the children who have created the City. 

Congratulations to Thineru

Well done and congratulations to Thineru (Year 5) who participated in a chess tournament during the school holidays and received a Gold Medal! Thineru played in the Northern Star Chess Club, in the Junior Open - Online (Prep to Year 12)

Thineru’s final standing was First Runner up (Overall) and Gold Medal in Year 4-5 Category!

Congratulations, well done and keep up the fabulous effort Thineru – we all look forward to hearing how you progress with your passion for chess! 

Thank you to Mrs Lee, her Father and Ms Chow

As an internationally minded school, it is imperative that we make ever effort to support schools around the world whilst also demonstrating to the children the importance of doing so. Recently Mrs Lee’s (Year 4) father donated a large amount of wooden jigsaws to our school. In fact too many for our school and then Ms Chow asked if she could donate some of them to schools in Fiji. Below is what Ms Chow wrote in our staff’s communication bulletin along with some photos of the children in Fiji enjoying their new jigsaw puzzles:

I would like to share a little story I hold very close to my heart.

Earlier this year Lauren Lee had donated some wooden puzzles for the Prep and Level 1 team, after weeks of having surplus puzzles being moved around in the ELC, I asked if I could take the leftover and send it to Fiji, which will then be distributed through a mobile kindergarten that visits rural areas.

Fiji has been hit badly with covid and students have had no form of education since March this year. Most families simply don’t have and can’t afford laptops, iPads, and internet to do online learning. All they have is a 30-minute lesson on the local radio each day. 

Yesterday, a good friend of mine who runs the mobile kindergarten visited a small village in the Western Division of Fiji and was able to give out some puzzles to the children.

Attached are some photos. 

As my friend said to me “ the children of Fiji are truly blessed, the smiles say it all”

From all the children who have and will receive these puzzles and from my friend and I,  we say big VINAKA VAKA LEVU (thank you very much) to you and your dad, Lauren.  These puzzles will surely be used and loved by many children across Fiji. 

Samantha Chow. 

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS WHO RECEIVED A PRINCIPAL’S AWARD RECENTLY: 

Prep B

• Karan and Hasiru for making excellent progress with their writing skills
• Yuvein for being a fantastic friend
• Vinaiy for making terrific progress with his reading and for sharing his knowledge of dinosaurs

Prep C

• Theo for working exceptionally hard on improving his artistic talents as featured in the Kids Corner section of this newsletter

1B

• Radinsa for making the most amazing progress with her writing
• Prisha for being a fabulous and supportive friend
• Suditi for completing a very artistic ‘Alma Thomas’ portrait

1D

• Tahlia also for making amazing progress with her spelling and writing
• Rudra for making outstanding progress with her maths skills

1E

• Trisha for being a very supportive and kind friend and for making a great start at her new school

Wishing everyone a safe and happy fortnight, 

Frank Catalano

Principal