A message from the School Council President
Firstly I want to acknowledge and thank the teachers and staff for their dedication and commitment in continuing to strive to improve what is already a great primary school, especially in what can sometimes be challenging conditions. The recent school review was a great example of their collective growth mindset where the school's achievements and improvements over the past 4 years were celebrated, while areas that need further attention were met with openness and practical short and long term solutions. It’s a privilege to see first hand how invested you are in your work and what you bring to our kids. So thank you once again.
A special thanks to Marina Milich, our school principal who has now been head of the school for 4 years and continues to lead by example with her optimism and positivity. The school’s leadership especially in areas such as inclusion and well being, is to be commended. Marina I look forward working alongside you again in 2026 in what I hope will be a somewhat quieter year.
On that note, it’s been an especially big year for school council at WEPS and I want to start by acknowledging the time that parents, staff and community members give to the council meetings, the meetings with external agencies, and the phone calls and emails that fly back and forth in turbulent times. We’ve had another fabulous group of people this year on council who have brought with them their diverse skills and some amazing enthusiasm and ideas. The time and thought that this group put in goes into trying to make the best possible decisions to shape the future of the school can’t be overstated.
There have been some particular challenges this year with safety around the school and traffic management being one of our hottest topics. Warrnambool East is situated in a rapidly growing corridor and the Warrnambool City Council, while acknowledging this, have been slow to enact changes that protect our kids and staff as they come and go from school. We’ve had many meetings this year with city council and I want in particular to mention Marina again along with Rachael James, Elisia Nicol, Emma Charlton and Billy Gardner who’ve contributed strongly to the advocacy for WEPS in this space.
Other special mentions go out to the fundraising subcommittee led by Michelle Lyons who seem to have limitless enthusiasm and ideas. If anything, we’ve had to park some ideas for future years but the bar continues to go up with an unbelievable fundraising tally of over $40,000 and more than that, investment and connection with the parent community.
And lastly Billy Gardner, Phil Dennis and Clinton Hill who continue to be a great collective sounding board for school maintenance projects, upgrades, compliance and risk assessment. Phil has sadly stepped off council this year but he’s been outstanding in raising awareness and improving processes around safety and risk assessment in particular.
Thank you also to the community and teacher representatives on the council for the grounding perspectives you provide, and apologies to anyone from council that I’ve left off that list.
I won’t single out any more people other than Jimmy Boxer to thank him again. Jimmy, we all thank you so much for your dedication to the school gardens - they are one of the first things our visitors, prospective students and families notice. We are so fortunate to have someone who puts in so much to keep the school looking beautiful. I don’t think anyone is ever going to let you retire!
Lastly to all the students... we are all here as teachers, staff, council and families to support you and to see you grow and thrive. I hope you feel like you’ve been given that chance again this year and that you’ve made some great friends and remember a few things you’ve been taught along the way. I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season. Rest up, rejuvenate and bring your stories and smiles back again in 2026.
- David Long