13 December 2024

Your Support Makes a Difference: Parent Contributions for 2025

As we look ahead to the 2025 school year, we are reaching out to kindly ask for your continued support through the Parent Contributions, which are now open on Compass.

As you know, while the Department of Education provides funding for a basic standard of curriculum delivery, the resources required to maintain the high-quality education programs, facilities, and school grounds we all value so much come from additional contributions made by families. Parent payments are what allow us to go beyond the bare minimum and offer the programs and opportunities that truly make a difference for our students.

We are incredibly grateful for your generosity in the past, and we’re hopeful that you will continue to support our school in 2025. Your contribution is crucial—it helps fund everything from innovative classroom programs and essential resources to the upkeep of our school grounds, ensuring a safe and welcoming environment for everyone. Without this vital support, we may face difficult decisions, including reducing program offerings or scaling back on the maintenance that keeps our school running smoothly.

We have worked hard to ensure that the contribution amounts for 2025 are very similar to what they were in 2024, so we hope this makes it easier for families to continue their support. Your financial commitment helps us maintain the school as a place where our students can thrive, academically and socially.

Once again, thank you for your past contributions. We truly appreciate everything you do to help make our school a vibrant, dynamic place of learning. Together, we can ensure that the 2025 school year continues to be one where every child can achieve their best.

Classes and Teachers for 2025

Below, you'll find the list of teachers and classes for 2025. We’re excited to welcome two new teachers, Renee Conway and Betty Zhang, to the Wheelers Hill community. Betty will be replacing Lucy Lu, who has moved on to work with the Department of Education. We’re also pleased to welcome back Mel Ciftcioglu, Danielle Greco, and Maddy De Groot, who have returned from family leave. In 2025, Amelia Robison will be taking a year’s leave to work at another school, and Rachel Kelly will be taking some family leave. We wish them both all the best. Lastly, we farewell Maxine Gallagher and Janine Graham, and we wish them the very best as well.

Classroom Teachers

PREP Emily Boydell PEB*, Lin Liu PLL, Laura Pugliese PLP, Kathryn Watson PKW

YEAR 1 Sarah Quinn 1SQ*, Haishi Qin 1HQ, Danielle Peters 1DP, Mel Ciftcioglu 1MC

YEAR 2 Chloe Lim 2CL*, Maddy Gallagher 2MG, Sally Dwyer / Louise Connor 2DC, Lizzy Dent 2LD

YEAR 3 Jess Newbold 3JN*, Virginia Beshara 3VB, Erin Bartleton 3EB, Victoria Bruges-Cannon 3BC

YEAR 4 Susie Modin 4SM*, Megan Peraic 4MP, Satoshi Okita / Meagan Baker 4OB, Narelle Arzuman 4NA

YEAR 5 Brittany Testro 5BT*, Renee Conway 5RC, Tim Lee 5TL, Danielle Greco 5DG

YEAR 6 Stephanie Cuddon 6SC*, John Stewart 6JS, Lisa Veitch 6LV, Tanja Jansen 6TJ

*Learning Leader of the Year Level

Specialist Teachers

PYHSICAL EDUCATION Nicole Purcell, Renee Drury

PERFORMING ARTS Dan Slater, Emma Roughton

VISUAL ARTS Sandra Mazzocca, Kathy Orford

LIBRARY Briony Mason, Emma Roughton

STEM Nathan Stockton

FRENCH Cathie Lording

MANDARIN / EAL Betty Zhang

LITERACY and NUMERACY TUTORS Alex Del Vecchio, Brooke Castledine, Kathryn McPherson

LEADING TEACHER / LEARNING SPECIALIST RELEASE Sandra Posocco, Maddy De Groot

Final Assembly of the Year

Our last assembly for the year will be on Wednesday 18th December at 2:45pm on the Oval.

At this assembly we will farewell our Year 6 students. Parents are more than welcome to attend.

Farewell

As some families say goodbye to Wheelers Hill this year, with their child finishing Year 6, we want to extend our thanks for all your support and involvement over the years. We wish you all the very best for the future!

To the students who are moving on to new schools before completing Year 6, I wish you all the best in your new adventures. I hope you and your families will always remember your time at Wheelers Hill Primary School with fondness and special memories.

Thank You

On behalf of the entire school community and staff, I would like to take a moment to express our heartfelt thanks to the many wonderful people who contribute to the smooth running of our school.

A huge thank you to:

Our Administration Team – Larissa Clark, Sarah Gaffney, Nadia Kypriotis, and Deb Round. Your hard work and dedication are truly appreciated. A special thanks also to Nicky McLean for her ongoing support with First Aid this year. Farewell and thanks to Rachael Fleming who will be working at Highvale PS in 2025.
Our Education Support Team – Kathryn McPherson, Vanessa Chung, Winter Washington, Paula Rugirok, Samreen Naveed, Ishani Perera, Rita Zaia, Tozzy McMahon and Nicky McLean. Your support makes such a difference to both our teachers and students across the school.
Our Multicultural Education Aides – Chyi Yong Loh and Nicola Jiang, thank you for your invaluable work in supporting our diverse community.
Our Out of School Hours Care and Vacation Care Team – Led by Sharyn Veale, with support from Pete Osmond, Ruby Allan and the entire OSHC team. Your care and commitment to our students is greatly appreciated.
John Arboit, for his exceptional maintenance support and keeping our school looking its best.
Lamia Bouazza, our library technician, for the wonderful work you do behind the scenes.
Our DEECD Computer Technician, Dharaka Withana, and our own technician, Michael Minenna, for their expertise in ICT. A special thanks to Nathan Stockton for his invaluable contributions, especially with the BYOD program, STEM classes, and enrichment.
Satoshi Okita, for your dedication to the extension and enrichment programs this year.
Virginia Beshara, Maddy Gallagher and Danni Peters, our numeracy and literacy leading teachers and specialists, for your leadership and support.
Our School Council, and especially our president, Tina Samardzija for your support and leadership.
Our Assistant Principals, Leasyl Richards and Katrina Spicer, whose hard work, expertise, and dedication are integral to our school’s success.
Our Parent Helpers, who volunteer their time in classrooms and on excursions – your support is invaluable.

I would like to extend a special thank you to all of our amazing teachers. Your tireless efforts, commitment to our students, and passion for learning are deeply appreciated. We also thank our parents for their ongoing support – your dedication to your children's learning and to the school is truly valued.

Finally, a very special thank you to Sharyn Veale who is leaving WHPS for a job with the Department of Education. Sharyn has worked at out school for 27 year and in that time has set up and maintained an exceeding OSHC service that countless children and families have benefited from.

Sharyn has consistently run an exceptional service, providing a warm, welcoming, and nurturing environment for our students before and after school. Beyond managing the day-to-day operations, Sharyn has been a remarkable mentor, sharing expertise and supporting others within the team. Her contributions, the the program, school and school council, have had a positive and lasting impact on both the school and the broader community. Sharyn’s commitment, passion, and care will be greatly missed, and we are truly thankful for all that she has done. We wish her all the very best with her new job, where she can share her skills and expertise in helping other schools and their OSHC programs. We will miss you Sharyn!!

Thank you all once again for your continued contributions and support. We are so fortunate to have such an incredible community here at Wheelers Hill!

Absences after the Holidays

School will recommence on Wednesday 29th January 2024. We understand that some families may be away travelling during the first week or two of Term 1, especially with Lunar New Year celebrations. While we encourage all children to start on the first day back, we recognise that this may not always be possible. If your child will be absent, please ensure you log the absence on Compass and provide a reason.

Final Newsletter - Next Week

There will be a short newsletter at the end of next week to end the school year.

Michael Ramsey

Principal

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