Principals Report

End of term

At the end of another productive term, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our hard-working staff and students for their efforts in making this a very successful term. With such a busy term 3 now complete, we are all ready to recharge the batteries with a well deserved holiday, ready for the last term of 2023.  

The term ahead will be a busy one with our great FETE happening on October 14, the school concert on November 29 and 30, Foundation transition program, Grade 5 camp, swimming for junior years (foundation and grade 1) and the usual end of year events. Please check the newsletter- Key dates and Compass calendar to remain up to date on planned events for term 4, beginning Monday 2 October.

Sunsmart

The warmer weather this week has certainly been a welcome end to the term.  We continue to encourage our students to be Sunsmart and wear their hats whenever they are outside.

Last week we had 2 classes out of 25 who had a perfect score in our Hat Champions competition. The students from grade 1B and 1C had 100% of their grade bringing and wearing their hats every day to school. The challenge is on the rest of the school to see if they can also join the list of class Hat champions by encouraging each other to bring and wear their hats at school every day.

Extension of the Tutor Learning Initiative

The Victorian Government has announced a further $442.2 million investment to extend the Tutor Learning Initiative for the 2024 and 2025 school years. This funding will allow Victorian government schools to continue to provide students with intensive small-group tutoring support. 

It will enable every student identified as ‘Needs Additional Support’ in the 2023 and 2024 National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assessments to be offered this additional support.

The extension highlights the outstanding work tutors are undertaking to support literacy and numeracy. Our tutor progam has had a strong and positive impact, not just on learning outcomes but on engagement and wellbeing. 

The Tutor Learning Initiative will play a key role in building on the progress demonstrated by Victoria’s excellent NAPLAN 2023 results, and will help to ensure that we continue to close the achievement gap for disadvantaged students.

We will receive Information on funding specific to Wales Street PS early Term 4.

JSC Footy colours day

The JSC ran a special Footy Colours Day on Thursday to raise funds for more sports equipment for lunchtimes. There were footy matches held at lunchtime for all grade levels,  finishing the round with a game of the teachers versus grade 6 students. On this occasion our students were too strong for the teachers and acheived a very exciting win in the game. All the games were great fun with lots of support from the sidelines. Well done to the JSC for their efforts in making this day a wonderful success.

Breavington ceremony

Two of our school captains, Arul and Erik, represented Wales Street PS at All Nations Park for the annual the Breavington Ceremony. The captains read a poem and laid a wreath on the  memorial for their part of the ceremony. They were commended by many of the police and attendees for their compassionate presentation of the reading and I was very proud of their commitment to the task.

Grade 6 Exhibition

The grade 6 exhibition is an annual event on our school calendar and this event was held last Tuesday. The grade 6 exhibition on Sharing the Planet was a huge success with the students presesnting oral talks and displays to demonstrate their learning journey, collaborative skills and knowledge. The grade 6 teachers worked solidly thorughout this term with the students to develop their big ideas and work through a comprehensive process that the students delivered on the night. Congratulations to Molly, Stathis and Michelle as well as all the teachers who were mentors and were instrumental in supporting the students throughout the exhibition process. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful relaxing holiday and we will see you all next term.