I am very pleased to say that the senior building refurbishment is almost complete. We will have the space professionally cleaned today and then we can begin transitioning back in. The before and after photo below show what a great job our Builder, Jason Graf, did in transforming our classrooms on a minimal budget.

I want to thank Rick and Greg who have had to find time between teaching to sort through years' worth of resources and old equipment to reduce the amount of clutter in the classrooms. I also want to thank them as well as Nikki and the students in the 4/5/6 cohort for relocating and making the best of the spaces they have been in over the last couple of months. For some students changing their environment can be a difficult thing to process, but our students have demonstrated strong resilience in this regard.

Arts Festival - August 30

I can now confirm that the Arts Festival will take place on 30th August so write it down in your calendars as we will be holding a new event to remember. The teachers will begin their Arts project within multi aged groups next week when the students are allocated to their groups which has been based on their preferences. In addition to this Kirsty and Eliza are working on projects and performances that will also showcase on the evening. We will update and send photos of the projects as they come to life and every Tuesday afternoon between now and the Festival will be dedicated to the whole school working on their projects. Please note on Tuesdays, we will be changing the lunchtime to 12:30 - 1:30pm so the students can have a 2 hour block with their group.

Some of the art projects students could choose from were plaster Henna Hands.

A message went out on Compass for parent helpers for the following jobs. Any time you can spare to help will be greatly appreciated. Please let me, Eliza or I know if you are able to contribute to the success of the festival by volunteering to help with any of the following:

Photography and/or filming to capture the students creating their visual and performance pieces both during staff-led workshops (Tuesdays, 12.30 – 3.30) and at the festival itself (Wednesday, August 30)
Assistance organising sponsorship from local businesses (donations in return for signage and advertising)
FOWPS support - Food truck/stall co-ordinators (eg. book food trucks and assist FOWPS with food for the evening festival, and perhaps a special daytime lunch for the students)
Lighting, sound and staging assistance
Marquee hire/safe outdoor covering
Display co-ordinators (assist with Art show – both professional artists and student displays)
Silent disco co-ordinator (either during the daytime student activities or as an evening activity)
Visual and Performing Arts professionals willing to share their talents with our students by running a daytime workshop or by performing in the evening on the festival stage
Assistance with set-up (signs, directing contributors to venue locations, lighting, etc)
Billboard/s advertising the event

Pizza Fractions Day - Grades 1/2

The students in the 1/2 cohort had a lovely day on Thursday applying their fractions skills and knowledge of procedural texts to making pizzas which they were then able to . It looked like they were having fun and it's great to see our students applying real world experiences in their learning. By dividing the pizzas, students can visually see how fractions work in a tangible and relatable manner. They can experience concepts such as halves, quarters and thirds by cutting the pizza into different sizes. Fractions is a very abstract concept and a pizza making day is a practical and delicious way for them to learn.

Camp update

So far, we have 97 students in the 3-6 cohort that are planning on attending camp. This is a great participation rate and the teachers involved are very excited about being able to participate in an outdoor activity camp. It is very normal for students to feel anxious about being without their parents and away from their home so every day between now and the camp our teachers will discuss the activities and answer any questions they have to assist in alleviating their nerves.

There are so many benefits for students in attending camp not least of which is the students being outdoors with nature and also being given many opportunities to manage risk and resilience.

Camp experiences are designed to foster a student’s ability to make informed decisions about their complex social, environmental and cultural worlds. From start to finish camps allow children to become immersed in the present moment and in a space away from the usual routines. The intent is to lead a student towards more connected and able to examine their own feelings, reactions, and motives and how it influences what they do or think in a situation.

Perceived risk vs real risk has long been a big part of outdoor and adventure education.

During outdoor education camps, risk can be orchestrated in a safe and inclusive way, through the activities being undertaken.

Rick has sent out an expression of interest for parent volunteers. We have a great deal of staff attending the camp to assist with the needs of the cohorts. There will be 8 school staff, including 6 teachers attending and we will be prioritising parents who have any special qualifications or skills that will assist to manage the large number of excited children.

What's happening behind the scenes at WPS...

Keeping the community in the loop I wanted to fill you in on a couple of things I have been working on over the last month. Some grants opened up over the holiday period and I have applied for the following grants in a bid to fund additional improvements across the school. Typically the Department of Education give you no notice when a grant is coming and often allow for only a month or so to apply.

Inclusive Playground Grant: I have submitted a design and quote to extend the junior playground and provide a sensory component to it. If we are successful, we will landscape between the playground and the stone building by removing the fence and installing rubber fall for ropes, drums, bridges, and range of other sensory play equipment.
I have also submitted a grant for the construction of a full sized barrel shade cover over the green basketball court. This is a $410,000 project and the Minor Works Capital Grant allows for projects up to $500,000. I've outlined the priority around this as we have no shade or cover to accommodate the unpredictable weather in Melbourne. There will be many schools going for this grant, so we put our hat in the ring but understand that the competition between schools is fierce.
I have also submitted an application for a grant in 2024 to allows us to reopen our Before School Care program. If successful, the grant will allow for our provider to fund a staff person and program in 2024. I'll be sure to let you know if we are successful with any of these grants.

Have a great week.

Nieta

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