Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to Term 4 at Whitehorse Primary School. It was fantastic having our whole school back together for assembly last Friday as repairs to our gym floor were completed over the holidays. Thank you to the community for their patience and understanding. We look forward to being able to use the space for our assemblies, physical education lessons and graduation over the next few months.

Solarboats

Well done to our Grade 5/6 students who participated in Solarboats on Sunday. The event was a celebration of the student learning and work in STEM throughout the year. Thank you to the Grade 5/6 teachers and Mr Merriweather who supported the students on the day. Two of our teams placed in the top 10 in Victoria which was a fantastic result.

Whitehorse Primary School Specialist Expo

On Wednesday 30th of October we will be hosting our Specialist Expo for all students and families. Please join us from 4-6pm to explore our specialist programs and engage in a variety of activities design to share the value and importance of our specialist program at Whitehorse. We hope to see you there!

Division Basketball and Athletics

Last Monday we had a number of students representing our school at Division Athletics. Well done to Nathan (Grade 3), Morgan (Grade 5), Logan (Grade 6), Ben (Grade 6), Bethany (Grade 6), Ayden (Grade 6), Bailey (Grade 5) and Arav (Grade 5) for representing our school at the Division Athletics. Heading through to Region are Nathan, Bailey and Ben who will be competing this Thursday.

On Tuesday 15th October our Year 5/6 Boys Basketball team competed in the Division Basketball finals. The boys played fantastic basketball, finishing second overall on the day. Well done to Xavier, Bailey, Will, Jack, Max, Ari, Carter and Jake for their efforts and to Logan for assisting with the coaching. Thank you also to the parents who assisted on the day with scoring.

Claire Saxby

Our Grade 1/2 Students were fortunate to have author Claire Saxby visit their classrooms last week to share a love of Literacy. Claire was inspired by the work our students have done in utilising her writing as “Mentor Texts” over the year. Our teachers regularly use mentor texts to support students in developing their ideas and sentence fluency which leads to some fantastic pieces of writing across the school.

Giggle and Sip - Saturday 26th of October

This Saturday our Whitehorse Family Network is hosting a 'Giggle and Sip' Comedy Night at the Mitcham Lawn Bowls Club. We have some fantastic comedians booked for the night and look forward to a great event. Please check Compass for booking information.

School Savings Bonus

As shared with you previously, parents and carers of every child enrolled in a Victorian government school in 2025 will receive the one-off School Saving Bonus $400 support.

In the coming months, the Department of Education will send you 2 email communications for each of your children enrolled in Victorian government schools.

By Friday 18 October 2024, please ensure that your child’s 2025 enrolment is completed and that your contact information is up to date.

The 2 emails from the Department of Education will:

1. Confirm your email address between mid-October and late-November.

2. Provide you with your unique $400 School Saving Bonus code by the end of November.

If you do not receive a confirmation email from the department by late-November, please check your spam or junk folders and contact our office team if needed.

You can read more about the School Saving Bonus on the Department of Education website, with key information now available in 14 different languages.

Parent Contributions 2025

By the end of November, we will inform the school community of the Parent Payments for 2025. The cost for Parent Payments is discussed and approved at our School Council meetings prior to being announced to the school community.

Requests and Planning for 2025

This term we are making plans for teacher assignments and student placements in 2025. Class placement is a complex process involving a range of factors and allocations will not be finalised until later this term. At this stage, we will hold 14 classes next year for approximately 300 students, dependent on future enrolments and exiting families from the community.

At Whitehorse PS, I do invite parents to put in writing any information about their child/ren that they want considered by our staff as they go about forming our classrooms for 2025. The information you provide should focus on your child’s needs (whether they be academic, medical, physical, emotional or social) and the type of person that you believe they respond to best. Please note, requests for particular teachers will not be considered as the best interests of all of the students and the effective management of the school must be taken into account.

If parents have any particular request for the child / children for 2025 we need this to be put in writing or via email, to andrew.denelzen@education.vic.gov.au by 4 pm on Friday, 1st November.

As you may understand, the allocation of children to new classes is a very complex task and one that requires patience and a great deal of thought and manipulation. During this process, changes and adjustments are made over several weeks. Each change may trigger a chain reaction of other changes. Proposed class lists are submitted to the myself and Jo Majdan for final ratification. Once balanced classes are formed and staffing finalised, teachers are allocated to classes.

The following provides an insight into the factors and decision making processes staff undertake to form each class.

Factors influencing class structure include:

Government funding
the educational needs of the students;
the projected number of students in each year level;
the ratio of girls to boys;
the number of teachers employed at the school; and
resources and facilities.

Factors which are considered in the placement of students include:

academic performance –judgments over time
work habits e.g. ability to work independently and cooperatively
behaviour
gender
social network /friendships
social maturity
special needs e.g. twins, siblings
language

What is the process for placing students into classes?

Based on the considerations above, teaching and leadership teams meet through the term to establish classes for the following school year.

Teachers ensure each new class has:

a balance of academic ability
gender balance
socially balanced groups

Have a great week!

Andrew Den Elzen

Principal

Whitehorse News