2025 Year 6 Graduation

This week, I had the opportunity to celebrate our Year 6 Graduation at Uni Hill Conference Centre in Bundoora. This milestone event highlighted the growth, resilience, and achievements of all our Year 6 students as they now start the transition to Secondary School. It was a wonderful evening shared with families, staff, and friends.

I want to acknowledge our dedicated staff, who worked tirelessly to prepare the ceremony, as well as those who have supported these students throughout their primary journey, especially Ms Deanne Woodhouse, Ms Leonie Gorski, Ms Naomi Liersch, and Ms Rae Gittos, who were all instrumental in the organisation of such a successful evening. Thank you to all WPS staff, past and present, who attended to celebrate this group of students and their families. To our Year 6 students: we are incredibly proud of you. As you begin your secondary school journey, we hope you carry with you the confidence, curiosity, and courage you have built here. Remember that you will always be part of our school community, and we look forward to hearing about the exciting paths you take in the years ahead. Congratulations to the Class of 2025.

More photos and memories will be shared directly with our Year 6 Families
over the next week or so

Please see a special article from Ms Gorski (Year 6B, 2025)......

From the Arena to the Classroom

What High-Level Western Riding Teaches Us About Learning.

Many students in our school know that I compete in high-level Western riding with my Quarter Horse, YLS Wheres Wodger. Some of you might remember that my Year 6 class named him at birth six years ago. Today, Wodger and I train and compete together, and every day he reminds me of what real dedication looks like. Western riding isn’t just about sitting on a horse and looking confident. It takes discipline, patience, and a deep understanding of a horse’s welfare and wellbeing. Horses can’t tell us how they feel, so it’s our job to learn their signals, care for them properly, and make sure they’re healthy, happy, and ready to perform. Training with Wodger means showing up even when it’s freezing cold, boiling hot, or I’m tired from a long day. It means practising the same skill repeatedly until both Wodger and I fully understand each other. It means building a partnership of trust, communication, and teamwork.

How Is This Like Learning in the Classroom?

Believe it or not, the qualities needed for Western riding are the very same ones that help you succeed at school:

1. Discipline: Just like I have to practise patterns and cues with Wodger, students need to practise their reading, writing, and maths skills. Doing a little bit each day builds confidence and mastery.

2. Dedication: There are days when training is tough - but showing up matters. In the classroom, sticking with a challenging task, even when it feels difficult, helps your brain grow stronger. Just remember ‘FAIL’, it simply means First Attempt at Learning.

3. Care and Respect: I must look after Wodger’s wellbeing. In school, this translates to taking care of ourselves and showing kindness and respect to classmates and teachers.

4. Listening and Communication: Horses communicate through body language, so riders must pay attention. In class, listening carefully to instructions and to one another helps everyone learn better.

5. Partnership and Teamwork: A rider and horse succeed only when they work together. In the classroom, learning is a partnership: students, teachers, and classmates support one another.

Whether you’re riding a horse in a competition or learning multiplication facts, success comes from the same things: effort, resilience, and a willingness to keep trying - even when it’s not easy. Wodger and I will keep training hard, and I hope each of you continues to work just as hard on your own learning journey. Remember, every small step counts, in the arena and in the classroom! Thank you, Ms Gorski, for this article...

Staffing Update:

Lastly, I would like to welcome Ms Julie Minarelli to our school. Julie joins us as a very experienced educator, who has taught most recently at Yarrambat Primary School. We are looking forward to Ms Minarelli joining our Year 3/4 team.

Enjoy the weekend.

Kaylene

TheirCare @ WPS