THE LINK

Principal's Report

What a wonderful afternoon we had last Friday, celebrating 2024. Thank you to you, our incredible school community for your support in raising $20,000 for our playground upgrades and to all who took time out of their busy schedules to join us for our end of year celebration. We had a wonderful afternoon with everyone and it was great to see colour splashed not only students and teachers, but also many parents, siblings and extended family members. 

Huge thanks to Lynn Goldstraw (admin) for being the driving force behind organising this event. Thank you to all staff who committed to the highly anticipated slimes throughout the fundraising campaign, to Phil Dennis (school council – parent member) who supported us with risk analysis and colour run course planning, Karl Burton, Jimmy Boxer and Isaak Doak for setting up the course and sound system and all our amazing staff for getting in amongst it and having a great afternoon with everyone. The smiles were endless, our students are still talking about the fun they had and the weather could not have been any better. 

The funds raised will contribute to our school playground improvement plan. At this stage we are unsure if the grade 1/2 or foundation playground will be prioritised. We are waiting on some work to be completed with the placement of fire tanks. We have been reassured the foundation playground won’t be impacted, but if the playground is damaged through the process, it will need replacing. We are hoping the foundation playground won’t be damaged, if this is the case, the funds will go towards upgrading the grade 1/2 playground. We will keep you updated. 

Thank you Michelle Lyons, George Wythe, Belle (foundation) and Taylah (grade 2) have worked with Melbourne Zoo and sourced a fabulous donation for our students to enjoy. The zoo’s large dinosaur fossil dig (sand pit) is no longer needed, so they have generously donated it to Warrnambool East PS. Michelle and family have sourced, co-ordinated and transported the sandpit that will be placed in the perfect location at WEPS, once we work out where that is (following the placement of the fire tanks). 

Special thanks to Luke Saffingo from Melbourne Zoo for offering the donation on behalf of the zoo. The fossil dig sandpit is currently being housed at the Long residence – thank you Dave, Kirsten, Felix and Eloise. We can’t wait to enjoy it very soon. 

 

Safety Blitz – thank you to you all (staff, parents and students) for supporting and committing to our safety blitz and following our road and school grounds safety plan. The teachers have spent time teaching the students how to safely enter and exit the school grounds, cross the road and keep safe within school grounds before and after school. We have noticed a remarkable difference, and love that our students are stepping up and reminding each other and their parents/carers to follow the plan. We have allocated additional gate supervision before and after school to ensure everyone remembers the plan. It is disappointing that we have very small percentage of parents that are a) not following the plan then b) giving staff disrespectful responses when reminded. Please remember you are modelling behaviours to your children and this plan is first and foremost keeping your children safe and teaching them good habits (even if there are no cars on the road). This is only in reference to a very small minority of our community, we have definitely felt very high support and had many positive comments about the Safety Blitz. Lets keep working together to follow the safety expectations.

 

On Monday night we had approximately 30 parents join us for our Annual parent forum. During the evening we shared the following data sets;

  • Staff Opinion Data 
  • Attitudes to School Data (grade 4-6)
  • Parent Opinion Data
  • NAPLAN
  • DIBLES (reading assessment)

We also celebrated our achievements this year, shared areas to work on and sought further feedback for future opportunities. We understand this is a busy time of year. And we want to share this information with our whole school community. On Monday next week – we will share a recording of the information shared, attach presentation slides and parent opinion data for your information. If you did not attend, you will have the opportunity to complete a google survey form sharing WINS, Opportunities and Wonderings after reviewing the presentation. 

Elisia Nichol (school council parent rep) also shared an invitation to all parents to join our WEPS Parents and Friends group which we hope to connect early next year. This year Elisia, Emma Charlton and Shell Lyons have done a magnificent job of organising fundraising events and activities for our school raising approx. $10,000 across a few events – Bunnings BBQ, raffle and movie fundraiser. They are hoping to get a few more helpers on board, so the load can be shared. A Google form will be shared with the school community at the beginning of next year to express your interest in joining the Parents and Friends group.

 

On Monday 9th December we will send home information about 2025 teachers. Please discuss this with your child and support them in discussing where they line up and where their classrooms are allocated (detail will be provided on Monday). We also have a few new teachers joining us in 2025. We are looking forward to announcing them in our communication to you on Monday. 

End of year arrangements – Week 11

  • Tuesday 17th December – Grade 6 Graduation 4-6pm
  • Wednesday 18th December – last day of formal classes, final assembly for the year starting at 2.30pm – 3.20pm
  • Thursday 19th December – School Council approved planning day 2025 (no classes for students – TheirCare available at Warrnambool PS, no alternative program available at WEPS)
  • Friday 20th December – no formal classes (TheirCare available at Warrnambool PS) school closes at 2.20pm - please contact the office if you require alternative program.

Back to school arrangements– 2025 

  • Tuesday 28th January – all staff return to school – TheirCare available at WEPS.
  • Wednesday 29th January – Numeracy Assessment Foundation to Grade 6 (2 hour sessions, bookings made via Compass) – please contact the office if you require alternative program
  • Thursday 30th January - Numeracy Assessment Foundation to Grade 6 (2 hour sessions, booking made via Compass) – please contact the office if you require alternative program
  • Friday 31st January – all students return to school (foundation students 8.50-1pm)

We have 2 weeks to go together – lets make it a positive and safe end to 2025.