Principal Report

It is hard to believe we are already in our last week of Term 1! Some of the term’s highlights have been our school Welcome Picnic, Getting to Know You Interviews, District Swimming, House Athletics, Tabloid Sports, Kinder and Foundation Teddy Bears' Picnic and the 1/2 Scienceworks Excursion.

We are looking forward to another exciting and busy term, which will kick off with 3-6 House Cross Country in Week 1 and 3/4 Camp to Allambee in Week 2.

Dream and Lead Conference - Student Leaders

On 18 March our School Captains and I travelled on the train to the Melbourne Convention Centre for the Dream and Lead Conference where student leaders from primary schools across Victoria came together to be inspired and learn more about leadership. Guest speakers included Australia’s youngest senator Charlotte Walker, AFLW star Maddy Prespaskis and Josh Reid Jones, founder of the Just Be Nice Project. Charlotte taught us that age does not define your capacity to be a leader and to take every opportunity you can. Maddy’s message was that you don’t need to be the loudest or most confident to be a good leader, you don’t even need to have a position of leadership, you just need to lead by your actions. Josh talked about the importance of building community connections and developing an understanding of how you can help others through your leadership. Our leaders also engaged in thought provoking, collaborative tasks over the day all while having fun together and becoming a stronger team!

Kitchen Garden

As communicated to families earlier this week via Compass, we welcome Lauren Windsor to Whitehorse Primary School as our new Kitchen Specialist. Lauren will work alongside our classroom teachers and Ashley our Garden Specialist to deliver our Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program. Kitchen classes will be up and running in Term 2 with parent payments to be sent out shortly to families, which support the purchasing of ingredients.

We are looking forward to having volunteers back in the Kitchen and welcome anyone with a Working With Children’s Check who would like to support our students with preparing and cooking food. The program can not be run without you! Keep your eye out for a notification on Compass regarding sign up.

NAPLAN

Well done to our Year 3 and Year 5 students who recently completed their NAPLAN Assessments. We are so proud of the determination and positive attitude they demonstrated throughout the testing period.

Thank you to our teachers for facilitating the assessments and creating a calm environment for our students, allowing them to do their best in each test and for our families for supporting their children and understanding that NAPLAN is just one measure of their learning.

Baby News

Congratulations to Mr Den Elzen and his family who welcomed their baby girl Ella into the world on March 16, making Harper a big sister. Everyone is doing well and enjoying this special time together. A reminder that Mr Den Elzen will be on Long Service Leave for the duration of Term 2.

Congratulations also to Mrs Tesselaar who gave birth to a baby boy on March 29. Mum is doing well and Harry is already adored by his two older brothers.

Happy and Safe Holidays

Thank you everyone for your support this term. Have a happy and safe holiday and we look forward to yet another amazing term after the break.

Happy Easter to all who celebrate.

Megan Goldenberg

Acting Principal

Camp Australia