THE LINK

Principal's Report

Congratulations to all the parents and carers who supported their children with a science project this term. We had an incredible 72 projects on display – a fantastic effort that provided rich learning opportunities for everyone involved.

 

It was wonderful to see so many families attend and contribute to making the night a memorable and successful event. The positive energy and enthusiasm from parents, students, and staff truly made the evening special.

 

A special thank you to TheirCare for generously donating all the BBQ supplies – sausages, veggie burgers, sauces, and serviettes – and for helping serve on the night. A big shout out to Michelle Heard from TheirCare for her support and time.

 

We’d also like to acknowledge our friends at Baker’s Delight, Warrnambool East, for their donation of multiple loaves of bread, their support is greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks to the combined efforts of our community:

 

  • We raised a total of $812.50 from the BBQ. 
  • Our Parents and Friends group, led by Justine Rogers, ran a fantastic cake stall, raising $762 – thank you to everyone who baked and helped out.
  • A big thank you also to Allesha Gardner for setting up and running the Kitchen Garden cart, which raised $278.50 . All proceeds will go directly back into supporting our Kitchen Garden program.

 

Funds raised from the BBQ and cake stall will support our Playground Improvement Plan, helping us create even better spaces for our students to play and learn.

 

Thank you again to our wonderful community for your ongoing support!

Please complete the very short feedback survey, so we can continue to strengthen engagement in Science Night next year and beyond. 

 

What a wonderful sight it was on Monday morning as our school grounds came alive with colourful and creative Book Week characters! The parade was a fantastic way for students to showcase their costumes, and it was heart-warming to see such a strong turnout from our parent community.

 

A big thank you to all the parents and carers who supported their children by helping organise, create, or source costumes for the day. We know this can be a challenging task, and we truly appreciate your time and effort.

It’s been a fun-filled week with Book Week activities, celebrating a love of reading and imagination across the school. Thank you for helping make it such a memorable week!

 

Congratulations to all our Grade 3/4 and Grade 5/6 students who have proudly represented WEPS in recent interschool hockey and basketball events. We consistently receive positive feedback about how respectful and well-mannered our students are when out in the community, and we are incredibly proud of the way they uphold our school values.

 

While we celebrate this success, we also want to address an important matter regarding care for our school environment. Lately, we have noticed an increase in food scraps and general rubbish being left on the ground (this is particularly noticeable on mornings breakfast club is on), as well as damage to yard rocksand toilet doors.

 

We kindly ask families to support us by having conversations at home about the importance of respecting and taking pride in our school. Looking after our shared spaces is non-negotiable, and we expect to see an immediate improvement in this area.

 

These concerns have been discussed with all students at our whole school assembly today. Thank you for reinforcing these values at home and continuing to support our school community.

 

From time to time, we receive reports of students being involved in, or impacted by, the inappropriate use of social media. As a school community, we all share a responsibility to ensure students are engaging safely and appropriately online.

 

We would like to take this opportunity to remind parents and caregivers to actively monitor their children's social media use and be aware of what platforms they are accessing. Please note the current minimum age requirement for most social media platforms, including TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook, is 13.

 

Additionally, there are changes to social media regulations scheduled to take effect in December this year. We strongly encourage families to begin conversations with their children now, especially if they are already using these platforms.

The Australian Government is protecting young Australians at a critical stage of their development, through world-first social media age restrictions.

 

From 10 December 2025, age-restricted social media platforms will have to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under the age of 16 from creating or keeping an account.

 

The restrictions aim to protect young Australians from pressures and risks that users can be exposed to while logged in to social media accounts. These come from design features that encourage them to spend more time on screens, while also serving up content that can harm their health and wellbeing.

 

While no formal assessments have been made, the age restrictions are likely to apply to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube, among other platforms.

 

More generally, age restrictions will apply to social media platforms that meet three specific conditions, unless they are excluded based on criteria set in out in legislative rules made by the Minister for Communications in July 2025.

 

The conditions for age restriction are:

  • the sole purpose, or a significant purpose, of the service is to enable online social interaction between two or more end-users
  • the service allows end-users to link to, or interact with, some or all of the other end-users
  • the service allows end-users to post material on the service.

 

Online gaming and standalone messaging apps are among a number of types of services that have been excluded under the legislative rules. However, messaging services that have social-media style features which allow users to interact in other ways apart from messaging may be included in the age restrictions, as well as messaging features accessed through age-restricted social media accounts.

 

Find out the facts about the social media 'ban' or delay.

It’s not a ban, it’s a delay to having accounts.

 

This means there will be no penalties for under-16s who access an age-restricted social media platform, or for their parents or carers. However, age-restricted social media platforms may face penalties if they don’t take reasonable steps to prevent under-16s from having accounts.

 

Details about how the age restrictions will operate and other relevant information will be developed throughout 2025. Answers to frequently asked questions can be found on this FAQ page and throughout the eSafety website. The information will help Australians – including under-16s, parents, carers and educators – understand and prepare for the change. 

 

My final message today is asking you to inform us if your child/children will not be returning to Warrnambool East PS in 2026. We are currently in the initial planning stages for the 2026 school year.

If your child will not be returning to WEPS in 2026, please complete the Google Form linked here to inform us of your family's plans. As part of the exit process, it is a requirement that we are informed of the school your child will be attending next year. 

 

This process does not include current Grade 6 students moving on to secondary school.

 

We are also beginning to prepare information for class placements. Please note that we are not accepting placement requests at this stage. Families will be guided through this process next term, and further information will be provided at that time.

 

Thank you for your cooperation as we begin preparations for the year ahead.