Woodend Primary School Newsletter

From the Principal, 

Diana Ellis

News..

COVID congratulations, celebrations and challenges

I would like to extend my sincerest appreciation of behalf of all staff at WPS for the level of understanding, patience, appreciation and support over the last week, as we navigated COVID cases, school closure, lack of guiding information from the authorities and conflicting information. We have felt the appreciation from our school community with all of the messages, flowers and treats and would like to express our gratitude.

 

As we have all dealt with the daily challenges of COVID we have faced many frustrations, none more than the frustration of a situation and decisions that are out of our control. The impact on our lives has been huge and the resulting impact has caused a surface of many escalated emotions, totally understandable. There are many people in our community who are doing it really tough. 

 

Despite these challenges, many people choose to remain positive and still show empathy and care towards others. The support and encouragement of most of our school community lifted our spirits and reminded us yet again of the wonderful school community we work with. 

 

Abusive and threatening behaviour 

Sadly, however there remains a core minority who believe is it ok to be aggressive, threatening and abusive. Some of the behaviour directed towards me personally in the last week, has been nothing short of disgraceful. All staff at WPS deserve to come to school and feel safe in their work. I appreciate that the COVID challenges can leave us feeling frustrated and angry and that is ok. However, abuse and threats will not be tolerated, particularly from keyboard warriors. If you have a genuine concern, please ring me and talk through the issue in a respectful way. Being angry with a situation is fine, directing your anger by means of threats and abuse is simply not acceptable. I understand that most anger has a back story and I am more than willing to take the time to listen.  My suggestion is to try to approach the situation with a solution rather than a problem or approach the problem with a win win for both sides. 

 

I was in one of our Prep classrooms this morning and the lesson was about compromise. It would be great if all adults could practice and model this as well.

 

I have acknowledged that in trying to navigate unfamiliar territory, we have had to make choices at times without guidance. Being a leader does not mean I have all of the answers and I am happy to apologise when I made errors or could have made a better decision, but I lead with conviction and always in the best interests of our community, as do our dedicated staff.  Please think about the way you treat our staff and how you would respond if you were treated in an abusive or threatening manner. 

 

I have a saying that I use often with my staff and students

 “Behaviour not questioned or challenged is behaviour accepted”

 

Class structure

Our 2022 enrolments have continued to climb. This is a positive but also means we are continuing to refine the class structure and teacher placement for next year. We currently have 55 Foundation students enrolled and a whole school total of 437. We know this figure will continue to change.

 

Each year a number of parents send suggestions about the formation of the class structure. Whilst we are always open to suggestions, our class structure is a very complex process and is underpinned mostly by the funding we receive per student from the Department of Education. 

 

90 % of our funds are kept by the Department of Education. Those funds pay for staffing. The remaining 10% of funds are paid to us in 4 grants over the period of the year. This remaining 10% is for all day to day costs associated with running a school.

 

Some of the other factors taken into consideration when doing the class structure are:

  • suitability of staff in different areas of the school
  • a mix of experienced and less experienced teachers
  • roles and responsibilities for pay structures
  • class size
  • gender ratio
  • the emotional, academic and social needs of students
  • school priorities and resources

Class Requests

As parents we all want the best for our children. This often means we would like a certain teacher, class structure etc.  Whilst we understand parents would like a certain teacher, friendship groups or class structure, it is simply not viable for every parent in the school to make class requests for their child/children. I am sure you can appreciate this. 

If you have a particular concern or valid reason to make a request about the placement of your child based on their academic progress or other pertinent factors, please put your request in writing and send it to me. I will then organise a time to have a discussion with you.

 

COVID birthday treats

As we continue to live with the challenges of COVID we all need celebrations to look forward to. A number of parents still like to send treats to school to be shared with the class.

 

For health and safety issues relating to allergies and COVID, we ask that if you do choose to send treats, we stress they can only be foods that are pre-packaged in wrappers, for example chocolate frogs boxes of dried fruit.

 

Late students

Every day, we continue to have a number of students who arrive at school late. Again, I remind you of the disruption this causes to the class and the anxiety it can cause for your child. If your child arrives prior to the bell, it gives them time to have a play with their friends and be settled before they enter the classroom. Your help in ensuring your child arrives at school before the bell is appreciated.

Diana Ellis

Principal