A Warm Welcome to our Weeden Heights Community

School Council

On Monday night, School Council inducted its new members through the AGM. Congratulations to the school councillors who were elected into the following office bearing positions:

Mrs Karen Jansen – School Council President
Mr Gavin Hodgins - Vice President
Mr Daniel Rodger – Treasurer
Mrs Kerryn Cheetham – Minute Secretary

We also welcomed our new school council members for their very first meeting: Ms Shalina Lingam, Mrs Ana Marsh, Mrs Emma Harper and Mrs Beth Alter.

The school council also operates with sub committees and their main role is to advise council through their research and investigations. Parents are more than welcome join sub committees and you don’t need to commit to being on school council.

Please come and speak with Karen, our president, or a council member if you are interested in being involved in a sub- committee: education, buildings and grounds or community building. We welcome our parents and the council would greatly appreciate input from the wider community.

Capital Works Update

As you come to school you will begin to see some movement as we prepare for the $5.8 million upgrade to our school. There are many inspections taking place so there are no hidden surprises. However, there are no surprises that the cost of build materials has increased significantly during Covid. This will impact on our build but there are many contingencies in place.

Work is due to start in September so we will begin a nice clean out at school getting rid of excess items we have had in storage. The main works will begin in the administration area which will mean the office will relocate. At this stage it looks like the computer lab and OSHC will relocate to the hall where it will permanently remain. The student’s bathrooms will hopefully be completed in the school holiday break and junior students will temporarily be relocated for a short amount of time while heaters are being removed and painting completed. It will be very exciting to see the changes taking place.

Moving Forward

With our capital works and recent experiences in remote learning, it is time for some changes to our thinking around learning technologies and classroom pedagogy. Our parents on the survey we completed last year, identified that they would like more access to computers at Weeden Heights PS and our students are certainly used to having devices readily available from their time learning remotely. The leadership team is currently investigating exciting ways for our school to move forward while still maintaining that technology should be used for authentic purposes and allowing students access.

We have been exploring the use of Chrome Books based on our work with the Google suit and Google Classroom. These are affordable computers that operate from the cloud, would allow students to access their work from school and home. Negotiating learning tasks with more student voice and independence (as they did in remote learning) has some merit for greater student engagement. Allowing further options to access computers would allow students to have flexibility in their choices when presenting their learning and researching.

There are many exciting approaches and opportunities out there so we will keep searching to find a great fit for our school.

Weeden Heights PS ‘Catch up program’

The students have got off to a terrific start on their extension and enrichment programs. Mrs Watts and Mrs Nancarrow are working directly with the classroom teachers to develop learning plans for these students along with the classroom teachers. The students working in these group sessions are work in line with the learning and programs in the classrooms.

Prep 2022 Tours and Enrolments

We have had many calls and visits already for information regarding enrolments at Weeden Heights Primary School for 2023. Tours and enrolment information is available now. Positions are filling fast so if you are an existing family, please complete your enrolment form and hand it in at the office.

If you know anyone who requires assistance with 2023 placements, please direct them to call our office to book a tour date and time. As you will be aware from information sent home through the kinders, you need to be enrolled in a school by 12 August. Thank you for helping us with this process.

Parent Helpers Workshops

It is great to see that our Parent Helper Workshops have started! There is a reading, writing and numeracy workshop being held at school (and the reading workshop was held on Monday).

If you intend helping in the classrooms, we strongly encourage you to participate so that you are aware of the approaches that we use to support student learning. Classrooms, routines and strategies have changed significantly since we all attended primary school (way back!) so this will be a huge support for you when working in the classrooms. It is even a good idea to attend if you would simply like to support your own child at home. We look forward to seeing you all soon. Please speak with your child’s teacher about helping in the classrooms!

Parent Association/ Parent Group/Parent Association

Thank-you to the wonderful parents who have shown great interest in our PFA. The parents have met conduct their AGM and have organised all the events for the year.

The parents welcome anyone who would like to join them to support the school and most importantly our students.

Currently, the PFA are running getting ready for a Colour Run which will be held on Friday. It is a terrific event and the students have so much fun. It is a significant event for fundraising so thank you for your support. Stay tuned for the up-coming events.

Working Bee

This Sunday we also have our working bee. We hope to see as many families as possible. Our gardens especially need some ‘extra love’ with mulching and general clean up. Thanks in advance

End of Term Assembly

Parents are reminded that this term will conclude on FRIDAY 8 April at 2.30pm. Please note the early closing time. We will conduct our end of term assembly from the basketball courts and parents will be welcome to attend. Parents need to socially distance and have a mask ready to wear if you can’t distance. There will be quite a few awards to hand out! .

Term two will commence on Tuesday 26 April 2022 after a two-week break. Please take this time to relax with the family as it has been a very big term for everyone.

I hope that you all have a very Happy Easter and enjoy a wonderful two-week break. Please stay safe and healthy.

Kylie Campbell

Principal

Futures are Bright at Weeden Heights!