Dear Parents and Carers,

It’s been a cold and chilly start to Term 3 with plenty of rain making it challenging for students to be outside on some days. When students are outside a number of our popular play areas are a bit muddier than usual so we strongly encourage students who like to play on the oval in particular to pack a spare pair of pants in their bag in case of emergency. While we have some spare clothing to assist students with, this supply can run out leaving students feeling wet and uncomfortable or parents needing to come to school during the day.

100 days of Foundation

Yesterday I had the privilege of being part of the 100 days of Foundation celebration in the afternoon. The 100 days celebration really highlighted the engagement and growth of these students throughout their first year of schooling. It was great to also be able to speak to parents and grandparents and share in a celebration of learning. Thank you to Mrs Morrison and Mrs Hudson for the work they put into setting up a wonderful afternoon for our students.

NAPLAN 2024

Recently we have received back our final results for NAPLAN which students in Years 3 and 5 sat in Term 1. These results provide a snapshot of an individual student’s performance on a particular day and also an insight into how the Literacy and Numeracy approaches at Whitehorse are tracking.

A highlight I wanted to celebrate with our community is our success in Reading. The results below show we have performed highly across Year 3 and 5 especially when compared to Similar Schools and Network Schools. These results highlight reading as a real strength of the learning program at Whitehorse Primary School and the dedication to learning that our students demonstrate on a regular basis.

Gym Update

Last week I informed the community that our school gymnasium was out of action for the foreseeable future due to rectification works taking place in the space. Unfortunately, at this stage we still don’t have a clear timeline on how long we will be without access while these works continue to occur. I will continue to update the community once more information becomes available.

House Athletics

We are currently well underway in preparing for our House Athletics Carnival scheduled for 14th August at Hagenauer Reserve in Box Hill for students in Years 3 - 6. Information will go out later this week via Compass in relation to payment and consent. Can any parents/carers who are able to assist on the day please contact Mr Scarfo. This event will enable us to select a team to participate in District Athletics later in August.

Born to Soar - External Extension Program

Earlier this year, I had some families meet with me and raise the suggestion of the school exploring some opportunities for students to engage in programs external to the school curriculum that support students with extension. In response to this the school is looking to support the Born to Soar program to run at Whitehorse Primary School from Term 4. The team at Born to Soar have scheduled a face to face session for parents on Wednesday 28th of August from 6:30 - 7:30pm in the school library. Please see below flyer for more info.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Thank you to the many families who joined us last week for Parent - Teacher interviews. These provide a formal opportunity for families to discuss their child’s progress and goals throughout the year. We encourage any family who was unable to make a time last week to reach out to their child’s teacher to arrange an alternative time. Thank you to all the classroom teachers and specialist teachers for their time and effort put into providing feedback to our families.

Whitehorse Family Network Dad’s Catchup

On Saturday 20th July we had a number of dads join in the first Dads' Catchup as part of the Whitehorse Family Network. The aim of the catchup was to build a community of dads that are interested in participating in some collaborative events involving dads and students from the school. We are excited to see what opportunities can come from this and provide another way for parents to be connected to our school community.

Seedlings - Bunnings and Trivia

Over the last few weeks our Seedlings families have coordinated a Bunnings BBQ and a Trivia night as part of their Fundraising for 2024. Thank you to all the parents and staff that gave up their time to support these events. I hear the staff at trivia may have had a ring in to help them get over the line and win on the night!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Andrew Den Elzen

Principal's Awards