Principal's Report
It is hard to believe we are at the tail end of week 3. Over the past couple of weeks, our teachers have continued to prioritise relationships, integrate supports for adapting to change and setting up routines and expectations for the year ahead – of course, with reasonable adjustments for students who need them. A reasonable adjustment is a measure or action taken to help a student with a diverse learning needs and/or disability to take part in their learning successfully on the same basis as their peers.
We are noticing students embracing the change, and adapting to their new learning spaces with new teachers and class groupings - some may take a little longer than others, that is ok.
We are also very proud of our foundation students who are settling into school life exceptionally well. It is normal for some worries at the start of a school day, particularly at this time of year. We are always here to support, and please don’t hesitate to talk to your classroom teacher if you have any questions or concerns regarding feeling anxious about school, school refusal or the need for additional support to settle into new learning environments.
I have attached an article for your information- Settling into a new class.
https://www.academy.vic.gov.au/resources/settling-new-class
On Monday night we loved having about 35 parents attend our ‘Night for Parents and Carers’. We launched School Wide Positive Behaviour (SWPB) and thank Lisa Douglas (Department of Education SWPB Coach) for presenting information to our community. Lisa is also a parent at the school, therefore has a deep understanding of our school context. School-wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) is a framework (and Department of Education Initiative) that brings together school communities to develop positive, safe, supportive learning cultures.
SWPBS assists schools to improve social, emotional, behavioural and academic outcomes for children and young people.
When SWPBS is implemented well, teachers and students have more time to focus on relationships and classroom instruction. Students and staff benefit from:
- increased respectful and positive behaviour
- increased time focused on instruction
- improved social-emotional wellbeing
- positive and respectful relationships among students and staff
- increased adoption of evidence-based instructional practices
- a predictable learning environment with improved perceptions of safety and increased attendance.
As Lisa explained on Monday night, WEPS is already on the journey, and we are very excited to bring all our great work together under this framework (and of course target areas for improvement). We will continue to provide opportunities for parents/carers to engage in growing an understanding in the framework as well as contributing to making positive change to enhance the way we work in this space. Lisa Douglas will be working with us for the next 3 years to support our implementation journey.
Luke Kennedy was a special visitor to WEPS this week and spoke with grade 3, 4, 5 and 6 students, followed by a presentation for parents on Monday night. His main message was about empowering parents to make meaningful changes that positively impact their families. Some of these include; social media use, constructive self-talk, leaning into mistakes and learning from them. He also described some of his life challenges that motivated the changes he made for improved wellbeing and lifestyle. When he spoke with the students he addressed bullying and negative self-talk, strategies to build confidence, embracing authenticity, and making positive choices.
The purpose of having Luke Kennedy at WEPS was to launch our bullying blitz. Our next step will be to survey parents and students, to gain insight into our community experience and perceptions so that we can develop and implement a strategic response plan to address concerns and of course, celebrate what is working well. Please keep an eye out for this survey we are hoping to publish in the next few weeks. As always, we strongly encourage you to always raise any concerns with your teacher or member of the leadership team.
Our beginning of the year parent/teacher partnership meetings are coming up in week 5. Bookings are now open and you have the option of coming in face to face or having a phone conversations (booking still must be made). If your preference is a phone conversations, please let your classroom teacher know and provide the phone number you can be reached on at that time. This is an opportunity to connect with your new classroom teachers and have a chat about anything you feel the teacher needs to know about your child. We are responding to parent feedback and giving you the early opportunity to connect and set up for a successful year ahead. Please note, if you are coming into school to meet with your teacher, your child/children must stay with you during the meeting, in the event they come along. See prompts to prepare for and guide your conversations.
- Is there anything you would like to share with the teacher about your child?
- What are you or your child worried about?
- What are you or your child excited about?
- Anything else?
We are all about teaching expected behaviours at WEPS. We have set the standard for appropriate toilet use, following the challenges we have had in the past. Each WEPS leader is allocated a toilet block to inspect after each break with the expectation that we find them in a clean and respectable condition. We allocate 5 points per inspection and deduct points for the following;
- toilet paper on the floor
- excess soap in or around the sink
- graffiti on the walks or doors
- wet toilet paper on walls or ceilings or clogged toilet bowls or sinks
- other inappropriate toilet use (without going into detail)
We are having great success with following our expectations around toilet use and will continue to teach expectations. I strongly encourage you to discuss this plan with your children at home (perhaps ask them about it) and reinforce the message at home. Every student has the right to use a clean bathroom at school.
The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students have the opportunity to undertake.
NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national proficiency standards.
NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. It does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ educational progress.
NAPLAN also provides schools, education authorities and governments with information about how education programs are working and whether young Australians are achieving important educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy.
Our year 3 and 5 students will participate in NAPLAN testing from Wednesday 12th March until Monday 17th March followed by some catch up sessions if required for students absent. See brochure below for more information. We will provide year 3 and 5 parents with more details in the coming week.
Please note the following reminders;
- water in drink bottles at school. Students can have water bottles next to them in class (not on tables)
- remember simple to eat fruit for fruit snack at 10am
- we strongly encourage rubbish free lunches
- Curriculum Day Wednesday 19th March (TheirCare available)
Thank you to all parents who are up to date with parent payments or on a plan. Your contributions make a remarkable difference to our school and the programs/resources we offer. Please be familiar with the parent payment policy as all extra curricula activities are offered on a user pay basis. We will ensure parents are aware of all extra curricula activities well in advance to give you an opportunity to budget for these events and activities.
An updated photo permission form was sent home to all parents a couple of weeks ago. Please remember to send this back to school, so that we can update all our records. Promotional photos are being taken at school on Friday (tomorrow). Please notify the office if you do not want your child photographed. If your child is ‘no media’ they will not be included in these shots.
Thank you again for a positive start to 2025. There is a very happy, connected vibe amongst our school community each morning and afternoon. Quite a number of parents have commented on how lovely it is to enter the school gates and be a part of it.