Principal's Report

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back in Term 3! Although this term might be the shortest term we certainly have a lot going on across all levels of the school to share with the community.

100 days of School

Last Friday we were able to celebrate 100 days of school with our Foundation students. The celebration started with an early morning disco and ended with a special performance assembly and open afternoon in our classrooms. These first 100 days definitely go quickly but it is important to recognise and celebrate the growth of our students during their first year of school. Thank you to all the families that attended and Mrs Hudson and Mrs Hume for their coordination and support.

NAPLAN results

Over the last few weeks Grade 3 and 5 parents will have received their child’s NAPLAN results for 2025. As I had raised earlier in the year, our school had some excellent results with us improving in 8 of the 10 areas across Grade 3 and 5 in comparison to 2024.

We also received contact this week from the Department of Education Minister’s office who acknowledged our school was the highest performing school in the state for growth in Grade 5 Mathematics! Well done to the staff and students for these achievements that indicate the quality of teaching and learning within our school. Our staff spent significant time last year working on our approach to delivering Mathematics and these results indicate the impact of the professional learning undertaken by staff.

Shown below are results which show our strong performance against similar and network schools.

Parent/Teacher Interviews

I really enjoyed the opportunity last week to speak to families who were onsite for their child’s parent teacher interviews. We had a wonderful turnout across the Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and always appreciate the support from families. As a school, we are well aware of the importance of a connection between the school and home in supporting a child’s learning. For any families unable to attend I encourage you to reach out to your child’s classroom teacher for an alternative time over the next few weeks.

House Athletics

Last Wednesday we held our House Athletics carnival at AC Robertson Reserve in Ringwood. Thank you to Mrs Avery, The Grade 3 - 6 teachers, Michelle, Deb, Mrs Hume and Mrs Goldenberg for their support on the day. The students had a wonderful day competing in a range of track and field events to support our selection for District Athletics later this month.

I would also like to acknowledge Amy Greer for assisting with the coordination and the large number of parents who gave up time to assist, cheer and support our students.

Bailey R - State School Basketball

Last week one of our Grade 6 students Bailey R represented our school as part of the Victorian Basketball  Boys state team at the U12 Nationals in Queensland. The Victorian team went undefeated in their group games and faced a formidable South Australia squad in the final. In a highly competitive and close game, Victoria came out as narrow winners with the team celebrating as Gold Medal Winners. Congratulations to Bailey (and former Whitehorse student Charlie S who also made the team). We wish Bailey the best of luck this week as he represents Victoria in the U12 AFL championships.

2026 Enrolments

A reminder to families that enrolment offers for 2026 Foundation have been sent out and families have until this Friday to confirm their placement. If any families are planning to leave Whitehorse PS in 2026 could you please inform myself or the school office as this assists in the planning of classes for the following year.

Kind regards,

Andrew Den Elzen

Principal