Principal's Report

16th February 2024

Storm Aftermath

It's been a busy week at school cleaning up after the storm earlier in the week. The damage around the school was mainly due to fallen trees or broken branches. These will be cleaned up over the weekend. 

Thanks to all the teachers and staff who kept the children inside and safe on Tuesday afternoon, and the school community for being understanding with the changes around the school this week. 

We look forward to the school being back to normal next week. 

Prep Play Area

For many years, the area behind the prep classrooms has been a bit of an eyesore and has had no real purpose. Over the last few months, we have been working on changing it into a dedicated prep play space. The moonscape of rock and gravel has been covered in artificial turf, and over the holidays some new play equipment has been placed in this area (see below). 

Because of the odd shape and size of the area, a traditional playground you would see in other areas of the school cannot be placed here, however, we have done our best with equipment that is lower to the ground and does not need soft fall. 

With the creation of this play space, we now have four play areas for our students at the school which we allocate to different year levels listed below; 

Prep: Play area behind the prep classrooms

Years 1/2: Playground and cubby (along Threadbow Crescent)

Years 3/4: Playground and cubby (east side of the gym)

Years 5/6: Playground behind the gym 

Classroom Information Sessions

We hope that the recent open classroom and classroom information sessions over the past two weeks have been valuable in providing you with information about your child's class and curriculum this year. At Wheelers Hill Primary School we value developing links between school and home, which when strong and working well, benefit the leaning and growth of our students. 

In the last week of school, we will hold our first Parent Teacher Interviews for the year. These interviews will give parents an opportunity to discuss their child's progress so far as well as discuss future learning goals. More information will be sent out closer to the date. 

Classroom Helpers

Thank you to Ms Richards who ran another successful classroom helpers' course earlier this week. We really appreciate and value classroom helpers at school, either in the classroom, on excursions or for sporting events. If you are interested in being a classroom helper, please contact your child's teacher. Attending the classroom helpers' course is not a pre-requisite to help, however we do require that volunteers at the school hold a valid working with children check and to have completed the child safety training (see below). 

Please provide your working with children check and child training certificate to the office if you have not already done so. 

https://www.wheelershillps.vic.edu.au/volunteer-or-work

https://service.vic.gov.au/services/working-with-children

Curriculum Contributions

Thank you to the majority of school families who have paid the 2024 Curriculum Contributions. Your support is greatly appreciated. These contributions go towards your child’s classroom stationery and equipment, your child’s digital learning subscriptions, provisioning the specialist subjects and classroom photocopying. If you have not yet paid your child’s 2024 Curriculum Contribution, we would appreciate payment ASAP. 

Also, a big thank you to the many families who have generously contributed to the ‘Other Contributions’ listed to support the school. These payments assist us with our library and literacy books, first aid supplies, online communication systems, and building and grounds improvements. If you have any questions regarding the contributions, please do not hesitate to contact our Business Manager, Larissa Clark.

School Council Elections

Information regarding the 2024 School Council election process will be sent to families soon. School Council is an extremely vital part of the school and has many functions such as approving external contracts, policies, school camps and overseeing school finance. 

Please look out for this if you think you may be interested in nominating or being nominated. Information will include a timeline and summary of the role of School Council.

Michael Ramsey

Principal