Principal's Update
Welcome to 2023 at WMPS
Welcome to All
It's been wonderful seeing so many familiar faces back after the long summer break, and even more exciting to have been able to welcome many new families to our community this year.
Students have all been busily setting their personal learning goals and classes have been working on their class expectations and set-up. Some wonderful 'get-to-know-you' activities and displays have begun adorning the classroom walls and I welcome and encourage parents to have a look at these at school pick-up times if you get a chance.
Our outdoor classroom between Kurborra Module and the Nature Play Space is now complete! New tables arrived last week to go under the lovely green shade sail!
A reminder that school gates open at 8.30am. Students should not be at school earlier than this, unless enrolled in before school care. Students should all be at school by 8.55am in order to participate in morning organisation activities, check their daily routine/timetable and be ready to start their learning at 9am.
School Bell Times are as follows
9am - Morning Bell
11am - Recess Bell
11.27am - Music Plays for students to end their play, use toilet, wash hands and line up
11.30am - Bell for class
1pm - Bell for lunch eating time in class
1.10pm - Lunch Break
1.57pm - Music Plays for students to end their play, use toilet, wash hands and line up
2pm - Bell for class
3.30pm - Home time
Parent-teacher "get-to-know-you" interviews will be held in a few weeks (please note dates from the Important Dates page of this newsletter) and a link to book will be sent out via Compass.
Prep Students First Day of School
With butterflies of both nerves and excitement in tummies, our youngest students had their first day of BIG school! What a great day it was, and we are so incredibly proud of how well they've settled in each day since. Many of the year ones have been helping them settle in and learn the routines! Thank you, year 1 superstars!
Student Leaders 2023
At our final assembly of 2022, our student leadership group for this year was announced. All of year 6 students will be involved in school leadership responsibilities this year, with our four appointed leaders as follows.
School Captain - Estelle Joseph
School Vice Captain - Cora Mathys
SRC Leader - Emma Blackman Foster
Sports Captain - Jai Patel
Leadership badges have been ordered and will be presented at a special assembly once they have arrived. Families will be notified.
Regular assemblies will begin this Friday at 3pm and be held in the Beal Multipurpose room. Any changes to assembly will be sent out via Compass notifications.
Staffing Profile 2023
Alison Lough - Principal
Hollie Brown - Administration (Mon - Wed)
Clare Ternes - Administration (Wed - Fri)
Karen Peach - Integration & Student Wellbeing
Nicole Evans - Prep/1 Teacher (Mon, Tues & Fri)
Mandy Dennehy - Prep/1 Teacher, Art/Music Specialist (Mon - Thurs)
Jess West - 1/2 Teacher
Andrew Noordhoff - Learning Specialist, 3/4 Teacher
Daniel Lewis - 4/5 Teacher
Ben Elliott - 5/6 Teacher
Kelly Allan - Integration
Jarrod Riley - Phys Ed Teacher (Thurs)
Di Fuller - Casual Relief Teacher
James Holden - Maintenance (Mon & Wed)
We hope to have a Learning Tutor and Science Teacher appointed by mid-term.
Parent Involvement
There is nothing more exciting for a child than when they get to see their parent helping at their school! Just ask Clare or Hollie in the office, or Jen Coles at Breakfast Club!
Jen has generously offered to continue coordinating our Breakfast Club but we would love some volunteers to serve the breakfast and clear the dishes each day. If you have a day a fortnight that you could offer, please speak to Jen about being added to the roster.
We would also love to have some parents come up to help in many ways around the school, in or out of the classroom. Reading helpers are always welcomed and we would dearly love some parents who could offer some time to work in our gardens - with some student help too of course! Please speak to your child's teacher if you can help.
We hope to have a working bee later this term to tidy the grounds and get the veggie garden ready for some planting. Stay tuned!
School Council
Speaking of getting involved - if you can't offer time during the day, but are keen to participate and contribute in the life of the school, perhaps you would consider joining us on School Council! Information and nomination forms have been sent out via Compass or can be collected from the office. Please get your nominations in by next Thursday 16th February. Our first School Council meeting for the year will be at 6pm on Monday 27th February.
Photos and Video of Students
Photo permission is sought for the school to be able to use student images in the newsletter, website and our school official Facebook page. Details can be found in our photographing and filming policy, which will be reviewed and updated by School Council this year. We also seek permission from parents to use their child's image in our School Showcase Videos (School Virtual Tour). You will have selected yes or no to photo permission upon enrolment, but we require that each family renew this permission each year in case circumstances have changed. Please note, it is not possible to select permission for only certain publications (eg. only the newsletter but not Facebook page) as all school publications are linked. The school newsletter link is on our website as is the Facebook feed so therefore if a photo appears in one, it essentially appears in all. If permission is not granted, any group photos the child appears in will have their face blurred or covered, or not be used at all.
As our school virtual tour video will be updated this term, we ask that you return the forms that will be sent home as soon as possible so that we can ensure any child without permission does not appear in the video. We will continue to use last year's permission status until the new forms are returned.
Mobile Phones at School
A reminder that the Department of Education has a policy relating to mobile phones and states that mobile phones must not be used by students at school. We have developed our school mobile phone policy in line with this department policy. Please ensure that if your child brings a phone to school, that they are aware it must be brought to the office in the morning to be locked away securely during the day. Students should not be using phones before and after school when on school grounds to photograph, record or watch things with their friends.
Schools' Privacy Policy
The Department of Education values your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal and health information that schools collect.
All school staff must comply with Victorian privacy law and the Schools’ Privacy Policy. This notice explains how the department, including Victorian government schools (schools), handles personal and health information. On occasion, specific consent will be sought for the collection and use of information, for example, for a student to receive a health service. Our schools are also required by legislation, such as the Education and Training Reform Act 2006, to collect some of this information. Please see the Privacy Collection Notice - direct link to the policy on our website above.
Other School Policies
Important school and department policies are available on our website. Scroll to the bottom of the home page to find links to these. As these policies are updated, or new policies are developed, they will be added here and notification sent to parents via Compass.
https://www.waverleymeadowsps.vic.edu.au/
Alison Lough