A Word from the Principal
A warm welcome to our community
Welcome back to term three! That break certainly went way too quickly so I hope you enjoyed having your children home for the holidays. This is our first newsletter for term 3.
Over the holidays.....
Mrs Molnar has taken a position at another school for six months. We now warmly welcome Mrs Solange Nancarrow to the specialist role of PE and STEAM at Weeden Heights PS. Solange has come from Coral Park Primary School and is a very experienced teacher. I am confident that you will all make her feel extremely welcome. With Hooptime and swimming programs coming up, you will get to meet her.
PFA – Trivia Night
Just a reminder that the PFA are running our biannual Trivia Night especially for our adult community members. It is a fabulous night for our school parents and guardians, ex parents, neighbours and friends to come together (without children!) to have some fun. Please don’t think you have to have a table of 10 as the PFA will team you up with some other talented people. It’s a great way to meet others and share some laughs. I really hope to see you all there.
I do genuinely thank our wonderful PFA for their outstanding support on behalf of our school and more importantly our students. Fingers crossed we can raise some money for our school. Please bring along loads of coins for the games. See you there!
2019 School Production!
Mrs Michalski has now started teaching Performing Arts area this semester. There is a hype of excitement as our students begin to audition for the bi annual school production, It’s a Brand New Me! This production will take you back to the good old ‘Rock n Roll’ days. We will be looking for your support to make this a huge success. It is so very exciting. Good luck to all of our students who are auditioning this week.
The school production is also an assessment piece for all students and they are expected to perform on the night. The production is week two in term 4. Please save the date…. Wednesday 16 October at Crossways (on Springvale Rd at the top of Weeden Drive). We are looking forward to seeing everyone on the night.
Student Attitudes to School Survey Results are in!
The results for the 2019 Attitudes to School survey have now been published and they are AMAZING! They are also better than last year. I am so very proud of our school and our highly motivated students who value their learning, feel connected to our school, have strong friendships and set goals for themselves that they want to achieve. These results have been outstanding the past four years and 2019 continues to be no exception.
The graph above tells us what the students from years 4, 5 & 6 think and how they feel about their school. They were asked a series of questions under the column categories to receive this result. Staff use this information to develop programs in the school and the data proves that what is happening is working and along with the strong link to home, look what has been achieved….WOW!
The upcoming Parent Opinion Survey replicates the areas from the student’s survey and we will have the opportunity to compare what the students have indicated with the actual parent results. I am hoping to see some congruence although over the past 4 years this has not been the case.
Annual Parent Opinion Survey 2019
Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents think of our school. The Parent Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is conducted amongst a sample of randomly selected parents at each school.
It is designed to assist our school in gaining an understanding of parents’ perception of school climate, student engagement and relationships with our parent community. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.
The survey will be conducted online by ORIMA Research Pty Ltd and only takes 15 minutes to complete. The survey can be accessed via desktop computer, laptop, tablet or mobile at any convenient time within the fieldwork period from Monday 29 July to Sunday 11 August.
Approximately 30% of parents/guardians will be invited to participate in this year’s survey. All responses to the survey are anonymous.
For further information, please speak to you child’s teacher or visit: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/management/improvement/Pages/performsurveyparent.aspx
Student Led Conferences
This week you will have participated in three way meetings with your child, their teacher and themselves. It is an excellent opportunity for your child to take responsibility for their learning and discuss the evidence that they have produced to support the teacher’s judgments in the school reports. Thank you to all those parents who came to the three way meeting.
Students have taken time to in class to highlight samples of work that they feel proud of and are prepared to discuss with you the learning that takes place. Thank you to the teachers for supporting them in this process as well. It is unfortunate that some students will be very disappointed as they will not have opportunity to talk through their portfolio with their parents and help develop future learning goals. If you did not attend the three way meetings then please take time at home to discuss the portfolio when it does come home as the children have put a lot of work into them.
School Uniform Reminder
It is now winter time and all students are expected to be wearing the correct School Council approved winter uniform. Our uniform is important to school as it is a way that we show pride in ourselves and our school.
Our School Council approved winter uniform is:
- Maroon track pants, long or short sleeved WHPS monogrammed t-shirt and WHPS monogrammed bomber jacket. The monogrammed blue polar fleece sleeveless vest is also available for extra warmth.
Or blue tartan pinafore with a pale blue skivvy /or long or short sleeved WHPS monogrammed t-shirt and blue tights/ (wool or ribbed tights but no patterns, prints or sparkles) with the WHPS monogrammed bomber jacket. Blue leggings can replace tights but must be worn with blue socks. The monogrammed blue polar fleece sleeveless vest is also available for extra warmth.
- Footwear: school shoes or plain runners (not multi-coloured). No open toed shoes, thongs or strapless shoes for safety reasons
- No nail polish
- Jewellery - only a watch or earrings that are studs/sleepers
We expect our students to take great pride in their appearance as this directly impacts on the image of the school. No one should be wearing a WHPS summer dress with coloured leggings or a different coloured long sleeved t-shirt under a WHPS short sleeved t-shirt at any time. . Please support the School Council's uniform policy and ensure that your children are in the correct uniform (and of course dress appropriately for our cold weather).
Parking at School
This is a friendly reminder that the staff car park is not a space for parents to pick up or drop off students. Please park safely out on the road and come in to pick up your child. I do understand that some parents use OSHC will do an early morning drop off or a late pick up which is fine. However, staff generally arrive from 7.45am and they are often confronted with a full car park . The car park needs to be available for staff so please adjust drop offs or where you park to bring your child into OSHC around the staff times who will need that space for the whole day. The car park is also not a drop off point for Chess Club on a Friday either. Parents need to use the spaces outside the school ground. The driveway is steep and I have nearly been collected by a few parents zooming around the bend. It potentially can be extremely dangerous. Thank you for your support to ensure safety for everyone.
2020 Enrollments
I would like to remind families with children who will be beginning school in 2020 that we are still able to take enrollments. Even if you currently have children at our school and we don’t have your 2020 enrollment form, then your preschool child is not included in our numbers as yet. Enrollment forms are available on our website. Please return them to the office ASAP. The Bright Beginnings transition program has already started and our next session is this Friday. If you have neighbours that have not yet enrolled, please encourage them to come and visit the school for an enrollment form. These are also available on our website.
Until next time,
Ms Kylie Campbell
Principal
Futures are Bright at Weeden Heights!