Assistant Principal's Report
Assistant Principal Report
Term 3 is well under way, and what a great start it has been at Whitehorse Primary School.
Student Leaders
At the end of last term our student leaders shared their ‘wins’ for the term in their leadership roles. Students were proud of their improved confidence in making announcements and speaking at assembly, their organisational skills including remembering to do lost property duty, preparing for Walk to School Day and setting up for assembly each week. What was wonderful to hear was the stories of students being great role models and leading by example. Students also celebrated their hard work in Term 2 by doing ‘shout outs’ to each other which they did with so much kindness and respect.
Each fortnight I continue to work with our student leaders. In our most recent meeting we collected Student Voice through a PMI (Plus, Minus, Interesting/Ideas) following our House Athletics Carnival. The leaders were very reflective of their behaviour (positive!) and brainstormed ways to make Athletics Day 2026 even better than it already was! This feedback was passed on to their teachers. This was a great way for students to feel part of the decision making process at school.
In upcoming sessions our student leaders will unpack what respect means to them, as one of our school values. We are hoping to share more about respect and how we can all show this value at Whitehorse in the very near future. Watch this space!
Literacy in Foundation to Year 2
The Victorian Department of Education is implementing a more structured approach to teaching reading with an emphasis on systematic phonics and the “Big 6” of reading.
Systematic Phonics involves teaching children to decode (sound out) words by learning the relationships between sounds (phonemes) and the letters that represent them (graphemes).
The “Big 6 of Reading” includes: phonological awareness (recognising and manipulating sounds), phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension and morphology (meaning of words/parts of words).
Our staff continue to teach phonics and these components of reading to our students in an explicit, targeted way to support their literacy learning and growth. Ongoing assessment guides our teachers in what students need to learn to progress in their learning.
With the update in department expectations for teaching literacy, teachers at Whitehorse Primary School are reviewing and reflecting on their current practice and participating in professional learning to continually improve their teaching and learning programs with evidence-based strategies. As part of this improvement plan, we are introducing the Phonics Plus Program (from the Victorian Department of Education) in Foundation to 2 from 2026. This semester we are trialling this in Foundation and Year One - firstly by implementing the lesson plans provided by the department, introducing decodable readers where needed in the junior school and implementing a more structured assessment tool for determining students’ ability to decode when reading - SPARKLE.
Our leadership team continue to work collaboratively to support our teachers in this area and we are excited to see the positive impact this staged implementation will have on our learners.
I Am Mindful Program
As you may have read, our school has been supported with a wellbeing grant from Whitehorse Council to offer an additional wellbeing support program this semester.
Whitehorse Primary School has partnered with I am Mindful to deliver an additional program to support the development of proactive mental health strategies within our ⅚ cohort. The program takes students through a mental health toolkit which equips them with proactive resources and skills to support their own mental health.
Stephanie from I am Mindful has run two very successful workshops with our students and an information session for parents. She also facilitated professional learning for our staff to ensure that the benefits of this program can be extended to all students in our school who would benefit from additional support in managing their own wellbeing. There are a number of tools that go with the program including squishy toys that teachers can encourage students to use to help regulate their emotions.
Our final student session is coming up next Tuesday!
Megan Goldenberg
Acting Assistant Principal