A Message from Vassie 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land, the Wurundjeri, Woi Wurrung and Boonwurrung Peoples of the Kulin Nation and pay our respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging. Aboriginal people have a deep and continuous connection to the place now called Victoria. Aboriginal people have lived in the Maribyrnong River valley for over 40,000 years.

SCHOOL CELEBRATIONS

It's been a great couple of weeks at Wembley PS with camps, excursions, incursions, sporting events and the music concert, and it's been wonderful seeing our community come together to see our students shine as they learn, grow, sing, dance and play. We're incredibly proud of our Wembley PS community and the experiences we have been able to share! We thank the teachers and education support staff for all the time, effort and heart that goes into these events. 

ROAD SAFETY

In the interest of safety we ask all community members to ensure that we are driving safely at all times, particularly around the perimeter of the school. We have had some recent near misses this week, on the back on ongoing concerns regarding road safety. We have also seen an increase in people parking illegally at drop off and pick up times. A number of neighbours have contacted us informing us and sharing photos of cars parking directly across their driveways. 

We have also noticed some senior school students have been walking across to the milk bar after being dropped off at school. Can parents please remind students that once they are dropped off at school that they must remind within the school grounds. We have spoken with students and are contacting parents to inform them of this safety concern. 

I have met with Hon. Melissa Horne MP, Cr Bernadette Thompson (Councillor Maribyrnong Council Stony Creek Ward), Alison Wilson (road safety officer from Maribyrnong Council), and personnel from the Department of Transport. During these meetings, I have strongly urged solutions regarding the roads surrounding Wembley PS, and road crossing recommendations, such as:

-implementing a 'kiss and drop zone'

-increasing parking around the school

-implementing mountable round abouts

-removing the 'no-standing' zone on St Leonards Avenue adjacent to the hall

-extending the road crossing supervisor shift beyond 9:00am

-changing the traffic signals to ensure that pedestrians have exclusive right of way, and many other suggestions. 

If you have any suggestions regarding road safety solutions please contact me on 9314-7054, or wembley.ps@education.vic.gov.au 

BOOK WEEK

This week is BOOK WEEK at Wembley Primary School, and it's one of our favourite weeks on the school calendar. The theme this year is Read, Grow, Inspire: https://cbca.org.au/cbca-book-.... 

This Friday 25 August is Book Week dress up day. Students are invited to come to school dressed up as their favourite bookcharacter. We will have a book week parade on the soccer pitch at 9:15am, and parents are welcome to come along!

We hope you enjoy making and/or purchasing items to inspire book week dress up day. 

Students and teachers have been busy decorating doorways in the theme of their favourite books, and also reading the shortlisted books. 

The author Andy Griffiths visited Wembley PS on Wednesday 23 August, which is quite a treat as he rarely visits schools anymore, and made the exception for Wembley PS!

CAPITAL WORKS BUILDING PROJECT UPDATE  

We are making progress in our Capital Works Building Project. Please visit the Capital Works project tab for an update of the works to occur over the next month.

OVAL REINSTATEMENT

Our oval will be reinstated with instant turf this coming Monday 28 August! The works are expected to take two days, and that part of the oval will continue to be restricted for the remainder of the term to enable it to take and grow, and will be ready for use at the beginning of term four. 

The construction team apologise for the significant delay and impact around the reinstatement of the oval. They had been working with landscape engineers and turf specialists to identify the best course of action understanding our goal to return it to the students at the earliest convenience. 

The investigations resulted in quoting safety mulch as an interim measure, as early July wasn't optimal growing time re: instant turf, with the plan to then reinstatement turf in late December to minimise further impact on the students play space; however as we are now moving into Spring, we urged them to action the permanent reinstatement to open the yard up to our students with turf, at the earliest convenience. 

PARENT VOLUNTEERS - LUNCH TIME SUPERVISION AT MCIVOR RESERVE

Given that the oval will be returned in term four, in the interim, we have a number of lunch time clubs to minimise congestion in the yard-see clubs listed below. 

Furthermore we would like to take groups of students across to McIvor Reserve at lunch time for a kick, and a play. Given staff shortages across the education sector, and withstanding yard duty commitments, we ask for parent volunteers that may be willing to walk students across to McIvor Reserve with a staff member and students from 11:15-11:45. If you are able to assist with supervision, please send us an email: wembley.ps@education.vic.gov.au 

LUNCH TIME CLUBS

See below for lunch time clubs that are in place to support student play and socialisation in light of the minimised yard space, as a result of the capital works project. 

THANK YOU

In fortnightly site meetings we communicate the importance of understanding that this is a live site, and that we must protect the safety first and foremost, and also the access of all students into our minimised playground footprint in the interim during the capital building works project.

We are working daily with the project manager and site manager regarding the project and look forward to moving into the new building in mid 2024. 

We thank our students, staff members and parents for their ongoing patience and resilience. 

MUSIC CONCERT

It was wonderful seeing the community come together to celebrate our students during our music concert day on Friday 11 August. 

Due to cost of living pressures, and time in lieu considerations, we chose to move the performance onsite at school, and during the school day, which increased the likelihood of all students participating, and cut the costs significantly, whilst honouring this experience for our students. We have received great feedback from parents regarding the quality of the performance, and the 'cuteness' factor. 

We are very proud of our students for their performances during the music concert. We thank Gina Tan, Alison Briskey, performing arts captains Amelie Taylor and Audrey Kiltorp, Renee Johnson, and the wider committee that supported this memorable day in coming to fruition. It was a wonderful demonstration of confidence, teamwork, performing arts, and a celebration of community. 

SCHOOL DEVICES - SMART WATCHES

We remind students and parents that students are not to contact one another during school hours via their smart watches. We remind parents to contact the office if they have messages to pass on to their child during school hours and it'll be passed on via the office and classroom teacher/s. If your child contacts you, we ask that you don't respond and contact the office or your child's teacher to check in. 

PARENT SURVEY REMINDERS

In the interest of greater community engagement we are seeking parent feedback via some surveys. See the summary below, and emails via Sentral for more information. 

We thank you for your feedback regarding our reporting program and VGSA changes. We are consolidating the feedback and the leadership team will analyse

GROUNDS IMPROVEMENTS

We thank Grant Hobson, grounds and maintenance manager, and his son Finnbar Hobson, for their efforts in facilitating the grounds improvement works near the year 3 portables and adventure play area. They have installed ironbark sleepers between the existing sleepers, in addition to non-slip matting to improve the safety of this high traffic area. 

We also thank the wonderful merry helpers who assisted in the preparation work of removing the tan bark from between the sleepers. 

UNIFORM REMINDER

We have noticed that some students have not been wearing full school uniform. Teachers have been reminding students to ensure that they wear uniform every day with the exception of if/when they are attending a school sports day. Please ensure that your child/ren is wearing full school uniform, at all times. We also remind parents about the pre-loved clothing rack, and lost property, which can be found in the main school building near the office.

2024 STUDENT NUMBERS

It's that time of year when the leadership team begin working through 2024 planning, class structures and recruitment processes. As we begin the planning process for 2024, we would appreciate parents notifying the school if your child/ren will not be returning to Wembley Primary School in 2024, as soon as possible.

Please contact the school office on 9314 7054, or alternatively on wembley.ps@education.vic.gov.au to inform us if your child/ren will not be returning to Wembley PS.

SPORTING EVENTS

Well done to our students, staff members and parents who have attended and supported the various sporting events. We are very proud of our students for their teamwork, resilience and effort! Please visit the student celebration tab of our newsletter, and our social media pages for photo highlights. 

Please find us on Instagram at: @wembleyps4788

And via our official Facebook Page: Wembley Primary School (link here)

COLD AND FLU SEASON

As we move into prime cold and flu season, we wish to remind families of the importance of prioritising your health and wellbeing.

We ask parents to keep children home from school if they are unwell, and return to school when they are feeling healthy and well. 

We thank all staff for supporting the health and wellbeing of all students, with particular acknowledgement of Kathy in the first aid room for her care, consideration and communication with students, teachers and parents.

Teachers are continuing to ensure that students are sanitising regularly, air purifiers are on in each room set to the highest setting, and our cleaners are continuing to clean all spaces in the school thoroughly, and wipe down high touch surfaces.

We thank you in anticipation of your understanding, cooperation and support, in protecting the health, safety and wellbeing of all community members.