Principal's Message

2025 School Theme - Why Team, Why Team Westbreen 

Dear Westbreen PS Families, 

Developing Our Staff- To impact your child's wellbeing and academic outcomes

Just an update, over the next two weeks we will be involved in a couple of key initiatives for the year: 

Leading Numeracy Course

This week, a couple of staff including myself will be involved in a DET course, Leading Numeracy, which will continue for the rest of the year. As we have introduced the Victorian Curriculum Mathematics 2.0 and aligned with the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0, it is an opportunity for myself, Ms Pannunzio, Ms Villani and Ms Maria to gain further insights using contemporary research and approaches to lead exceptional mathematics teaching and learning.

We will analyse, adjust and refine goals, utilising a range of evidence, school observations and research. This work will inform the development of future goals and long-term mathematics improvement strategies for Team Westbreen. 

School Wide Positive Behaviour Training

During Week 7, a group of staff will undergo training in School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS). This is a significant investment for the school, with several lead staff members participating in the training. SWPBS is a globally recognised, evidence-based approach that enhances behaviour, wellbeing, and learning for children and young people. When implemented effectively, SWPBS enables teachers and students to dedicate more time to building positive relationships and focusing on learning.

The benefits of SWPBS include:

- Promoting respectful and positive behaviour

- Allowing more time for focused learning in the classroom

- Enhancing social and emotional wellbeing

- Strengthening positive and respectful relationships between students and staff

- Creating safe, orderly, and supportive school environments

When implemented correctly, SWPBS allows teachers and students to concentrate on fostering positive relationships and improving learning outcomes through:

- Proven strategies that cater to the needs of all students

- Collaboration with students, families, and communities to ensure that rules and practices are fair and inclusive

- Regular reviews and improvements of practices

- Building staff expertise in behaviour support

- Forming teams to guide and maintain the framework

- Utilising data to identify issues and solve problems

- Providing training and coaching to help teachers enhance their skills

We are excited about this work and the opportunity to continue our growth. More information to follow in future newsletter editions. 

Cross Country

Congratulations to our Cross Country champions from the school event held in Week 2 of this term! Special recognition goes to Grevillea for winning the Cross Country House Colour Leader award for 2025. During last week's assembly, we celebrated the achievements of these students across each age group. Thank you once again to Kyle Vander-Kurp, an Australian Olympian, for presenting the certificates.

Several participants from Years 3-6 represented our school at the Glenroy District Cross Country event at Boeing Reserve, Strathmore Heights. We are excited to announce that Harper (4th place: U9/10 Girls), Ava (3rd place: U11 Girls), and Annie (6th place: U12/13 Girls) will be advancing to the next stage. Well done to all students involved!

Report Writing Season

As we mentioned previously, our staff are currently working on finishing Semester 1 reports. This is a busy time for teachers to review work samples, check data sets, and create accurate reports on your children's learning and school life. School reports are valuable tools to track your children's progress and determine their next steps in learning. Reports will be live on Xuno on Friday, June 27th.  Please take the time to review them with your child. Celebrate their hard work and reflect on their progress over the first half of the school year. 

Please note that Reporting Day (Three Way Conferences) will be held on Tuesday, 1st of July, 12:00pm – 8:00pm. 

Students will therefore not be required to attend school on this day except for their scheduled conference time. Further information regarding how to book a conference time will be sent to families over the coming weeks.

Please Get in Your 2026 Foundation Enrolments- Enrolments for Foundation (Prep) 2026 are now open.

Parents are invited to complete their child's enrolment and drop the form off to the school office as soon as possible. To do so, please fill out the school enrolment form and provide proof of your child's date of birth as well as their immunisation record. I know we have few siblings with enrolment forms at the moment. Once the enrolment process is complete, new students will be added to the register for 2026 classes.

For planning purposes, we kindly ask that parents finalise enrolments by the end of this term. If you have any questions or need clarification regarding the enrolment process, please contact Ms. Kerry Parfett, our Community & Enrolment Facilitator, at Kerry.parfett@education.vic.gov.au.

“Your School, Your Say”

Attitudes to School Survey (AtoSS) by the Years 4-6 students

Just reminder that on next Monday our Year 4 students will undertake the Attitudes to School survey.

• Monday, 2nd of June- Year 4

We are looking forward to analysing the data when it’s available to ensure you are tailoring for our students needs and really supporting student voice in our setting. 

Simultaneous Story Time 

Last Wednesday, we hosted a Simultaneous Story Time event where classrooms from around the school came together to listen to our student leaders, Leon and Anaya, read and celebrate the book "The Truck Cat" by Deborah Frenkel. This event connects schools from Australia, New Zealand, and around the world, encouraging students to read together. As we know, reading together supports language development and literacy while also fostering a sense of community and providing a lot of fun. Well done to our student leaders!

Have a fantastic week of learning, Team Westbreen. 

Justin Lania

Acting Principal

The Victorian Government acknowledges Aboriginal Traditional Owners of Country throughout Victoria and pays respect to their cultures and Elders past, present and emerging.