Principal's News & Events
Term 2: Week 1-5!
As we move further into Term 2, it is wonderful to reflect on the strong sense of purpose that has been evident in our classrooms, and beyond. Whilst on Prep Tours, our future families have been able to observe a whole range of engaging lessons, ranging from Year 2s practising Ed Sheeran songs with their Boomwhackers, to Year 3s creating their own home designs and maps in Spanish in order to practise newly acquired vocabulary; our Prep students have begun studying lifecycles and preparing for the arrival of their bunny rabbits, and across the school classes have been thinking about the theme of Reconciliation as we approach National Sorry Day.
School Improvement
During the first few weeks of Term 2, the leadership team completed Term 1 monitoring against our Annual Implementation Plan, clearly signposting where we have made progress and where we need to focus our continued efforts for the remainder of the school year. We celebrated our Practise Improvement Model, which we launched in Term 1; the model outlines our approach to improving teacher practise - shaped by 3 tiers of support:
- Tier 1: Whole School PLCs, whole school peer observations and inquiry sprints
- Tier 2: Targeted modelling, peer observations and short-form coaching cycles
- Tier 3: 1:1 long-form coaching and modelling
Our Curriculum Day this term focussed on re-launching our SMART goal process, in order to prepare us to undertake our AIP Key Improvement Strategy (KIS 1b): Develop staff capacity to effectively leverage formative assessment to inform responsive teaching. Our teachers engaged in guided professional reading about goal setting and then applied this to analysing our current writing data, which became the foundation for their first set of SMART goals. From this, our teachers then developed a cohort and class action plan, in order to guide their practise towards reaching these goals and improving student writing outcomes.
The leadership team is currently collaborating with several Department of Education (DET) teams to complement our school improvement strategies. This includes working with an Inclusion Outreach Coach and a dedicated support team, who are presently focused on assisting us in analysing our Student Attitudes to School Survey data, to further inform work relating to our School Strategic Plan Goal 2: Enhance student wellbeing and inclusion.
Buildings and Grounds
Grant, our facilities manager, has continued to work on wide-range of priorities this term. Week 1 saw many classrooms return to school with refreshed environments. Thanks to our parent voluntary contributions, new carpets went into a number of classrooms, whilst our Year 4 portable block received a fresh coat of paint internally, along with new blinds.
The school ensured that our front Basketball/Netball rings and small Ga-Ga Pit were equipped with new pole protectors, in order to maximise student safety. Parents, please continue to reinforce with your children not to climb these pole protectors - they are a significant expense, and easily become worn down when climbed upon regularly. We replaced a shade sail in the front-playground, which had sadly been graffitied - let's hope that this does not reoccur.
We undertook our annual playground audit in Week 1 of this term, and have just received our report - indicating a few minor areas for adjustment, which we are currently triaging and planning for. We will keep families posted as and when we commence any of these works.
If you enter our school via the Main Administrative Building gate, on the corner of Hawkhurst St and Wembley Avenue, then you will have noticed that our Art Installation has been placed in situ - this structure is the result of the efforts of our Aboriginal student cohort. Last year, this cohort of students engaged in a meaningful day, aimed at developing our whole-school Acknowledgement of Country - drawing upon their own experiences, knowledge and family histories. The artwork reflects this process and serves as a visible statement to our community that all people are welcome at Wembley, and that we are committed to honouring, recognising, and celebrating the richness of our shared cultures. This artwork will soon be complemented by the on-site display of our Acknowledgement of Country. Over time, the surface will patina, creating a deep rusted appearance, which will look stunning when the backlighting is installed in the coming weeks.
Finally, we have commenced some early efforts towards our next joint-venture with the WPA - the renovation of our Eating Area. This week, we welcomed a concept designer to the school in order to view the space, hear our starting ideas and begin the process of developing some possible scopes. Once these are received, we will begin to plan for community input and consultation - students, parents and staff.
Community
As always, we are so lucky to be so actively supported by our WPA. This term, they set things underway with our Mother's Day and Special Person's stall - raising somewhere in the region of $2000. Closely behind is the Trivia Night and the School Disco. We understand that the trivia night is well and truly sold out, but that there is a wait list incase a table or seat becomes available, and you can still purchase raffle tickets (see the link above).
The school disco is on Friday June 19th, and we can't wait to see all the kids dressed up - ready for the Neon Rodeo! Please visit the WPA page for more details, including how to purchase tickets and for opportunities to volunteer!
~ Katie McClue ~
