It is hard to believe we are in week 5 - over halfway through the term, given it is a 9 week term.

Last week we had a great time celebrating Education Week. Thank you to the many parents who wrote lovely motivational messages to their children, to the parents who attended our open classroom sessions and lastly to all families and extended families who supported our incredible Art Show on Wednesday night.

Huge thanks to the Warrnambool Rotary Club for cooking up delicious sausages, Allesha Gardner for having lots of lovely things to choose from at the Kitchen Garden Stall, the wonderful parents who supplied all the yummy cakes/slices for our cake stall, the amazing volunteers who manned the cake stall, Maureen Wormald and Tania Billington for coordinating the book fair and Isaac Doak for displaying exceptional student artwork and coordinating the school band to entertain everyone. It is always wonderful to bring the school community together and we certainly saw many proud and happy parents and excited students.

Grade 5 Camp

I have had the pleasure of attending Grade 5 camp to Tandara, Halls Gap this week. I have loved learning more about every grade 5 students, seeing them participate and enjoy many different adventure activities and support them through being away from home for the 2 nights and 3 days. I was very impressed with their manners, willingness to try new activities and support each other to do so, and many students also showed such a great appreciation for the natural environment we were in – Halls Gap is such a beautiful place to visit. It was an absolute honour to join them in their Grade 5 camp experience.

I would like to thank Ms Shannon Dillon for organising and coordinating the camp, Mr Jeremy Gillies, Ms India Thomas, Ms Chelsey Aberline (teachers), Naomi Klose (Education Support), Emmah (Education Support trainee) and Vincent (pre-service teacher) for giving up time with their families to attend camp with the students and making camp a very positive experience for everyone.

The Annual Report 2022 to the school community has been completed, ratified by school council and published on our school website. The Annual Report provides principals and school councils with an opportunity to share the year’s achievements and progress with the school community. This includes reflecting on the school’s performance and explaining the impact of school improvement efforts on student outcomes.

Annual report

Road safety and parking

I would like to bring road safety and parking to the attention of our whole school community. There are a number of parents parking in no parking areas that pose a significant safety risk to all students;

Parents parking across the ‘zebra crossing’ on Ward Street and the no parking zone near the school gates.
illegal right turn when exiting the school car park/loop and
dangerous right turn and exiting the school car park from the entrance to the car park from the side street on Ward Street

I hope we can all work together to improve these conditions for the safety of our students and families. We have also reviewed these areas as a staff and will continue to be diligent when it comes to safety. It is always a busy time in these areas before and after school, growing an awareness and waiting an extra 5 minutes, parking a little further down the street is going to only prevent any potential accidents from occurring. School council have raised these issues with the Warrnambool City Council, who will direct our concerns to the appropriate organisations with the hope we will be supported to improve the road safety conditions.

Arriving at school before 8.30am

There are a number of students coming to school between 8am and 8.30am. Please be aware that teachers are also arriving during this time and are not yet prepared for students to be in the school grounds or in classrooms. Teachers are on duty from 8.40am, getting ready for the school day and working in their classrooms. We have a couple of designated staff members roving around the school, supervising students outside from 8.40am. If you have early work starts, you are more than welcome to access TheirCare.

Foundation 2024

This is a message to all our existing families who have a child starting school in 2024.

It is now time to enrol for next year. If you do not have an enrolment form, email the school Warrnambool.east.ps@education.vic.gov.au and we will send one home with your older child already at the school, or pop into the office. If you have friends or extended family members considering Warrnambool East Primary School, please encourage them to submit their enrolment forms. If they did not get a chance to come to the information session or school tours, they are welcome to arrange a time by calling the office.

Walking Towards Reconciliation

Tuesday May 30