Principal  Message

New Website is Live...

We have been working on a new Website for our school and we are now officially live. We aim to provide you with an online platform that is up to date and where you can access links and information relevant to your child and their education. If you get a chance, take a look! 

https://warrandyteps.vic.edu.au/

Camp 2026

The Lake Dewar Camp was a huge success, and the students and staff had a really great time. The students engaged in many outdoor activities and were provided with plenty of indoor games as well.  I want to thank the staff and parents that attended for the amazing job they did making sure the students felt safe and supported. 

Running a camp program is about much more than the activities on the program as it gives children an opportunity to develop independence, resilience, confidence and responsibility in a safe and supported environment. For some students, it may be their first time spending several nights away from their family and learning to organise their belongings, manage routines, try unfamiliar activities and work through the occasional moment of homesickness are all valuable parts of growing up.

Camps are also incredibly important socially. Students spend extended time with classmates and teachers in a different environment, strengthening friendships and learning to cooperate, compromise, communicate and look after one another. Teachers often see students demonstrate strengths and leadership qualities at camp that may not always be as visible in the classroom.

There is also enormous value intrying something new. Whether it is a challenging outdoor activity, sleeping in a cabin with friends or simply having a go at something that feels unfamiliar, camp provides children with opportunities to experience appropriate challenge and discover that they are capable of more than they sometimes realise.

Running a school camp today requires considerable planning. Schools must manage costs, staffing, risk assessments, medical and dietary requirements, accessibility, supervision, child safety and the many individual needs of students. Teachers also give significant additional time by being responsible for students throughout the day and overnight. We are so fortunate to have a staff that want to see our students experience all the great things that a camp has to offer them. 

2027 Planning

The indicative budget for 2027 has just dropped so Elisha and I will spend time over the holiday period running some models to determine the most effective and viable options for next year's planning. This includes decisions about class structures, staff profiling, recruitment, Disability Inclusion, teacher allocation and OHSC for 2027. The following is a timeline that we will do our best to follow.

• Class structure for 2027 announced by the end of week 6, Term 4
• Buddy hands completed by the end of week 6 - Students from Prep - Grade 5 are asked to nominate up to 5 friends they would like in 2027. They are guaranteed 1 of these buddies. We keep these hands and use them several times to ensure the class lists are a true reflection of this commitment. 
• Parent requests (if deemed necessary) - Look out for the Compass post about parent requests around week 5 of Term 4. Please note, we do not take teacher requests or grade structure requests.
• Transition for Preps begins 13th Nov - 4th Dec
• Transition for Grade 1-5 takes place throughout December
• Meet the teacher for Grade 1- 6 2027 takes place on December 11th 

I know that Term 4 can bring with it anxiety about change in the new year and there is always a lot of talk about class structures and what parents want in this regard. 

A significant proportion of the budget received (known as Student Resource Package) is used to pay staff salaries. We do not see this portion of the budget in cash as the Department pay the salaries from what is essentially This means that staffing decisions cannot be made independently of enrolment numbers and the funding generated by those students. As enrolments increase, a school generally receives additional funding; when enrolments decrease, the available staffing budget also reduces.

For small primary schools, this has important implications when determining class structures and class sizes. Creating an additional class requires employing additional teaching staff, which is a substantial and ongoing cost. Schools therefore need to balance desirable class sizes with the funding actually available.

For example, a school may want to create an extra class to reduce several class sizes, but the additional students may not generate enough SRP funding to cover the full cost of another teacher and additional Specialist classes that need to be staffed also. To that end, combining year levels or operating slightly larger classes may allow the school to maintain specialist programs, intervention programs, education support staff and leadership roles.

The Principal and School Council therefore need to consider the whole-school staffing model, rather than class size in isolation. The aim is to use the available SRP responsibly to provide the strongest overall educational program for all students while ensuring the school remains financially sustainable. 

Some cohorts may have higher levels of need due to neurodiversity, behaviour, wellbeing or academic support requirements. This can influence decisions about class sizes, the number and composition of classes, Education Support staffing and where additional teaching resources are directed.

Schools therefore need to balance the available SRP budget with the needs of students across the whole school. A class structure that appears most efficient based purely on enrolment numbers may not always be the structure that best supports student learning, wellbeing and effective teaching. Our aim is to use the resources available to us as strategically and equitably as possible, recognising that different cohorts may require different levels of support.

What we do know at this time is that we will be running 2 Prep classes based on the current confirmed enrolments for Prep 2027. 

Bushfire Safety and Risk Rating

Our school is considered at risk of bushfire or grassfire. We are Category 1 on the Bushfire At-Risk Register list. This means that we will relocate when the fire danger rating is Extreme in our local government area (LGA), Manningham. Our school will close on days of Catastrophic fire danger in the Central Fire District. Action your family’s bushfire survival plan if your own triggers are met. We encourage you to follow your family bushfire survival plan and the advice of emergency services.

For more information about our bushfire risk, please refer to the attached bushfire information or find this on our website, warrandyteps.vic.edu.au . The Country Fire Authority also has more information for schools at risk of fire: https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/schools.

If we enact our emergency management plan, we will notify you by Compass notification, with updates on our actions. Please do not come to the school unless directed to do so, as you may put yourself and others in danger. If there is anything we need you to do, we will let you know. 

During an emergency, the school will work closely with emergency services to get specific advice to keep our community safe. Additionally, the Department of Education has dedicated emergency management staff to help monitor the situation and provide additional support to schools during emergencies.

If you have any questions about our school’s emergency management plan, please contact us at (03)9844 3537 or email warrandyte.ps@education.vic.gov.au . Please be assured our top priority is the safety of our students and school community.

The Victorian Schools Building Authority will be undertaking some works to our Shelter in Place (Bampi) in the coming weeks and we will also be removing some shrubs that have been recommended around some of the buildings. Grass will be slashed regularly and debris taken away throughout the bushfire season.

I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable school break. Term 4 is the busiest of all terms. Our Grade 6's begins planning their graduation and with the Production in Week 4, we are set to hit the ground running... again.

Take Care

Nieta