From the Principal, 

Diana Ellis

Welcome to 2023 

A warm welcome to all of our staff, parents and students. It is great to be back knowing we can have parents on-site and without the restrictions of previous years. Whilst there has been an excited buzz amongst our students as they re-connect with their friends and share holiday stories, there is also a settled and positive feel around the school.

I would like to welcome back all of our staff from last year, our new staff and staff returning from leave: 

Alison Meggs (Foundation)

Danni Dawes (Year1)

Breanna Smith (Year 2/3)

Jonathan Swain (Year 4)

Andrea Evans (Year 5/6)

Iain Sparrey (Tutoring)

Zoe Bronchinetti (year 2/3)

Parents on site

We are so pleased to be able to welcome parents on-site. If parents are on-site to help out in the canteen, classroom or with school activities, you must sign in at the office and wear a visitors’ badge. You will also need a current Working With Children’s Check. If you are entering the grounds at the beginning or end of the day for drop off and pick up, we ask that you do not linger and that you adhere to our safety plans and leave corridors free of traffic and congestion. We ask that all parents are off site by 9.00 and do not enter for pick up prior to 3.25.

We encourage all children to be dropped off at school between 8.45 and 9.00. Classrooms will be opened at 8.50. When children arrive at school in plenty of time before the bell, they have an opportunity to meet their friends and have a play and generally arrive in the classroom happy and settled.

To foster independence, we also encourage parents to say goodbye to their children at the gate or a central meeting spot and not walk them to class (with exception to prep children at the beginning of the year).

Attendance/absence

If your child is absent please inform the office by leaving a voice message or go into COMPASS and log the reason for your child’s absence. To help our office staff process the absences and enter them for DET, please have absences logged prior to 9.00 am.

If your child is late, they MUST be brought to the office and signed in.

We understand that mornings can be chaotic with busy families but we cannot emphasise enough, how important it is for your child to be here ready to start learning at 9.00 am. Learning success is greatly impacted when children learn the important explanations at the start of a lesson and the opportunity to connect with their class mates.

Hats

A gentle reminder that all students are required to wear our wide brimmed hats during the months of high UV. This means Term 1 and Term 4. Peak caps are not suitable. Children without hats will be required to play under covered areas.

Maintenance

Over the holiday break, several maintenance jobs occurred. Sound proofing pin boards were put on the walls of all our classrooms with wooden floors. The shade sail company started the construction of our shade sails over the playground and have installed the large poles required. We also had our new bike racks installed and a new picnic table for our junior students.

Our students will be allowed to use the fitness components of our new playground but not the wire structure until all drainage works are completed. 

Around the classrooms

This year we again have 19 classrooms and it has been wonderful to see all our staff and students getting back into the swing of our school routines and learning programs this week.  Each learning team will be sending out a newsletter in the next few weeks that will outline important things relevant to your child’s class and year level.

As we start our 2023 learning journey, all classes will cover our school values and explicitly teach behaviour expectations for the first ten days, as well as all other curriculum subjects.

Classroom set up 

I would like to give a big shout out of appreciation to our teachers for all the work they have done in decorating their classrooms to make them an enjoyable environment for our students. The walls are adorned with posters and charts that support our students learning and wellbeing. Although the rooms look colourful and inviting, they are designed with our students in mind and providing tools that will support student learning. We are also mindful of having calm classrooms environments that do not over stimulate our students.

We have a big focus on school pride at W.P.S and this has been reflected in the effort made by our staff.

Values

At W.P.S we have a strong emphasis on high expectations, school pride, our school values and our House Teams. Throughout the school you will see displays of our values, house teams, behaviour expectations and our behaviour flowchart. Our values are Be Responsible, Be a Learner, Be Safe and Be Respectful. We expect all staff, students and parents to live and model these values.

Literacy and Numeracy

With Literacy and Numeracy being such strong priorities at W.P.S, all classrooms have been asked to set up classroom libraries and Numeracy stations. This means a well stocked classroom library with a range of genres and Maths stations with a range of hands on materials to support learning.

Around the class there are also many supporting resources on the walls such as word walls, alphabets, number charts, number lines etc. Charts called Anchor Charts are devised collaboratively between the teacher and students covering things like “what does a good reader look like?”,  “ what do I do if I get stuck on something?" These anchor charts are often more powerful in supporting students as they have had student input and not just commercially produced items.

Preps

This week we welcomed three new classes of Foundation students. We have prioritised small classes so that our students can have the best possible chance of learning right form the start of their school journey. For the month of February our Foundation students will be absent each Wednesday so that Prep Testing can occur.

Assembly

Assembly will resume this Frida y and we would like to send an invite for parents to attend. Due to the size of our school, we have two assemblies. Foundation to Year 3 starts promptly at 2.45 and Year 4 – 6 starts at 3.05. Assembly is an important opportunity to celebrate achievements, communicate special events, share work from the classrooms, showcase the musical talents of our students and develop student leadership skills. We would love for you join us.

Parent Teacher Meetings

Next week we will be having Parent Teacher Meetings. These meetings are an important opportunity for you to meet the class teacher and establish a relationship that will support your child’s learning.  It is an opportunity for you to provide the teacher with a snap shot of your child and valuable information about your child that might be necessary for the teacher to know to best support your child’s learning. 

Information will be sent out on COMPASS.

"Miss Tobin and her partner James would like to share that they are expecting their first child! Due in early August. They are beyond excited and looking forward to the next adventure" 

Principal

Diana Ellis