A Word from the Principal 

A Warm Welcome to our Weeden Heights Community

Well, it continues to be a very busy time of the year.   I hope everyone has managed to see the blossom starting to bloom on our Friendship Tree at the front of the school.  Many parents are picking up at the back of the school but pop around and take a look when you can. 

Capital Works Update

The building works have not commenced yet but I have met with the architects and the builders on today (afternoon).  It’s happening, finally and we will negotiate the start date, time and organisation.    The main office will be moving to the library and we will keep you posted as to the actual moving date.   Once the building works begins, the office will be moving to the library.  Parents and students will access the office from the external library courtyard door. Access to the front of the school will begin to change when the builders start putting up our new roof.  It’s now exciting!

Communication

We use a variety of ways to communicate with our families.  We have this newsletter, School Stream, QKR, Facebook, Instagram, email, Google Classroom and the parent representatives.  We are currently reviewing and streamlining information coming out from the school as I have heard that many parents are now ignoring notifications as there are way too many reminders.  I agree and I believe this is an area we can definitely improve in this area. 

We have had a few parents ask for personal reminders from the office via a call or an email because ‘they don’t have time to read notices or School Stream’.    Please understand that this is not possible at all.   It’s not reasonable or realistic and to be honest, every family in our school is a busy one.  We do pride ourselves on being a close knit community but we are still a large community and a personal ‘tap on the shoulder’ is not ever an option. 

With reduced reminders, we are now going to rely on parents to read notices and keep up with their calendars and events at school.  We do an incredible amount of things at our school so having your calendar up to date is a must. 

Australia will celebrate the teaching profession on World Teachers’ Day on Friday 28 October 2022.  

Our teachers have shown great resilience during challenging times, all so they can give Australian students the best future possible. 

Hats off to teachers this World Teachers’ Day! 

Share your “hats off” selfie to celebrate teachers and tell us what they mean to you. 

We are encouraging students, their families and the community to celebrate teachers.

 What do teachers mean to you? 

On Friday 28 October, you can show your appreciation to teachers by posting a “hats off” selfie in the stream in the Google Classroom.  Will will post these up on our Instagram and Facebook account.

I would especially like to thank my amazing teaching staff for everything they do to ensure that our school delivers the best teaching  and learning approaches and programs for every student in our school.  They care , support and nourish  the wellbeing of their students while continuing to go 'above and beyond'.  They are 100% committed to our school and students and we are lucky to have such an incredible staff.  I am  so very proud of each one of them.    Thank you!

Parents, helpers and volunteers in School

Please remember that parents are very welcome back in our school.  We have noticed that many of our regular supporters have not returned to assist since lock down/remote learning. Our students and staff would like to return to the support that we experienced in 2019.  We would love our parents to return to events, working bees, excursions, kitchen garden programs etc. 

We have a core group of mothers that assist in the library (amazing and thank you!) each week which is awesome.  There are a few regular contributors working in the garden program and looking after our chooks which is greatly appreciated. An unbelievable mum comes straight off her nightshift and is always in our garden (incredible!).  A fantastic dad answered the plea to clean the drains prior to the storms last week.  He actually saved us from the rain as we would have flooded!  School Council and PFA work hard to assist in the running and fundraising in our school. 

Please consider popping in and being a part of your child’s learning program.  We will welcome you back!

2023 Parent Contributions 

The school fees for the upcoming year are currently being finalised and will be available for early next year.  We will provide you with notice of the anticipated costs and we are very happy for our families to pay these next year as we usually do.  Booklists for each year level will be sent home in December and parents will have to organise their child’s booklist materials over the school holidays and prior to the school term commencing in 2023.    We will keep you updated through the newsletter and notices as the parent contributions are finalised.

This year there were many families who did not pay their child’s school fees and it had a significant impact on the school’s budget and on student learning. While Weeden Heights has fared much better than other schools (thank you to every family who paid!), we are use to nearly 100% of families supporting student learning.   Contributions paid by parents go directly to our student programs.  This year there were less art supplies for classes, we purchased less books, broken maths equipment was not replaced and sporting equipment, if lost or broken was not replaced.  I can’t stress enough how important the fees are to all schools.  We are happy to offer payment plans to support families and we understand the rising costs of living.  Our families are only contributing to supplies and equipment that the students use.  We work really hard to apply for grants and we are very good at budgeting at Weeden Heights but paying the curriculum contributions is essential to run our high quality programs.  Please make a plan to save for the fees and pay next year.  We would really appreciate this and we need your support. 

Hay fever and Asthma

Just a reminder that grass pollen season is between October and December.  During this time there is an increased risk of seasonal asthma, hay fever and epidemic thunderstorm asthma.  It’s more important than ever for families to manage any hay fever or asthma symptoms of their children, as these conditions can produce symptoms that are similar to coronavirus (COVID-19) such as runny nose, cough or shortness of breath.

The best way to reduce and prevent symptoms of asthma or hay fever and reduce unnecessary absences from school is to follow an up-to-date asthma action plan or hay fever treatment plan.  If you have any coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, even mild, please stay home and get tested.  Also, if you have a new Asthma Plan then make sure that school has a copy.

Newsletter

We often ask the students if they saw their work in the newsletter and they generally say no which really surprises us.  I-Newsletter has allowed us to include a lot more of the visuals which the students love.  I place the newsletter in the Google Classroom each fortnight so I encourage you to read the newsletter with your children and celebrate the work from the grades together.   It is always important that they know upcoming events as well.  Enjoy!

School Magazine

Oh gee…. The magazine this year is AMAZING!   I would like to thank Delphine for all of her incredible work in bringing this together. You will, once again, not be disappointed as the quality is sublime.  This year, the magazine was not attached to the school fees due to the change in the DET Parent Payment Policy.  This does mean that you will need to order and pay for a copy separately. You should have already received a notice to place your order.  We have printed limited copies so please don’t miss out!

Curriculum Day – 31 October and Cup Day - 1 November

Next week there is a curriculum day on Monday and a public holiday on Tuesday for Cup Day.  Students are not required to attend school on either of those days. 

On Monday staff will be involved in professional learning in the area of Assessment and Reporting.  Teachers will be busy moderating learning tasks across teams and analysing assessment and data.  This day will be invaluable to develop future teaching directions and assessing the needs of individuals. 

If you require care for your child on our Curriculum Day then please make a booking with Maria and they can participate in the OSHC program at school for the day.

Don’t forget our PFA are running a Weeden Heights PS Cup Day tomorrow.  I’m looking forward to seeing everyone dressed up for ‘Fashions on the Field’ and loads of games.

We hope that you and your family are able to get ‘out and about’ to enjoy a long weekend! You all deserve it. 

Until next time……

Kylie Campbell

Principal

Futures are Bright at Weeden Heights!