Firstly congratulations all teachers, students, parents for reaching end of a busy 2025 school year.

I’m Shell, and I’m currently leading the WEPS Parents Fundraising Group. I'll share a bit about our group, what we have achieved this year and how you can be part of what comes next.

The WEPS Parents Fundraising Group are a welcoming, proactive group of parents who work together to support the school.

Our aim is to make a positive impact through coordinating fundraising activities and fun social events; not only raising money for the school but also strengthening the sense of community connections within WEPS students, families, staff and the greater community.

Our group is much broader than just the coordinators running events. We’re made up of parents who contribute in many ways, big and small. Members meet to share creative ideas, plan events, and coordinate fundraising opportunities.

There have always been hardworking and enthusiastic parents giving their time to raise funds for the school. Over the past two years, this effort has evolved into a more formal, structured group, set up for ongoing success in the future.

This year together - We have achieved this by developing:

A shared database of resources, so donation request letters and flyers don’t need to be redesigned each time
A centralised email, social media account (Facebook) and tab development for the The Link newsletter for clearer communication
Good relationships with local businesses keen to support, and in return offering promotion to our large school community.
A direct fundraising account
QR codes and links to make donating easier than ever
Creating predicted regular fundraising activities and also special events such as our silent auction and trivia night
And coming soon, a visual display cabinet at the front office - showing upcoming events and our fundraising thermometer, building excitement and momentum toward our shared goal

And what are we raising funds for?

All of this energy is driving us toward something really special: new and improved creative and fun playground spaces - for the most important crew of all, our students. As many of you know, WEPS is fortunate to have beautiful, extensive grounds—wonderfully maintained by Jimmy Boxer. However, much of our playground equipment is quite dated, with some areas over 30 years old and in real need of an upgrade.

In collaboration with school council, our goal for stage one playground upgrades is $100,000. This is what will be displayed on our thermometer and updated regularly…

Successes:

We’ve successfully run many special events and activities - several mentioned in the list by Marina.

Thanks to this incredible community, we’ve raised over $46,000 over the last 2 years!. (including the 2024 Colour Run - lead by WEPS)

Finally, how can you get involved?

Moving forward into next year, if you are back or new starting for 2026 – continue this topic of discussion for raising much needed funds and working towards improved creative playgrounds with your friends and family over the school holidays, and please reach out to get involved.

The school council and fundraising team would also love to hear of any relevant grant opportunities - we would love more involvement with these so the school can apply.

Parent involvement is the heart of this group. Your time, skills, experience, and ideas are genuinely valued and deeply appreciated. Thank you to everyone who has already contributed and looking forward working towards the goals for next year. Many hands = bigger impact. It’s such a great opportunity to meet new people, support one another and make a positive difference to our children’s school environment

Thank yous:

Picture Plates - thank you Anna Hoekstra for her time and effort to coordinate and carry out this fundraiser!

Bunning BBQ and cake stall:

Thank you Elisia and Fundraising team for your efforts and for the generous bakers from WEPS community to contribute to the fundraising events huge success.

Basketball food stall:

Thank you to Cassie and parent fundraising team who baked and worked at a food and drink stall at the Seaside Basketball Tournament held at WEPS in October.

Trivia Night and Silent Auction:

A special thanks to Karina, Michelle and Lara for all their amazing organisation behind the scenes for this amazing fundraiser in November.

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WEPS Parents Fundraising Group is a welcoming, pro-active group of parents working together to support the school and its community.

We aim to make a positive difference through fundraising activities and social events, and to enhance a sense of community within the school.

Members will meet for general meetings twice a term, on an agreed evening from

7-8:30pm to discuss and co-ordinate fundraising opportunities and special events.

Funds raised are donated back to the school in an area of need identified by WEPS staff and school council.

Members' and parents' time, skills, experience and contributions are extremely valued and appreciated.

The purpose of this group is to support community connection and raise funds for playground equipment. We are working on a target amount and look forward to sharing this with you soon.

If you are wanting to contribute in any capacity, please see our facebook page for posts on upcoming events. https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BFVRbwXMX/

Previous Fundraising totals:

2024 Movie Fundraiser	$1,290
2024 Art Show Cake Stall	$625
2024 Raffle	$3,337
2024 Science Show Cake Stall	$847
2024 Bunnings BBQ	$2,033
2024 Colour Run	$19,762
2025 Pearson's Nursery Plant Drive	$450
2025 Oceans Movie Fundraiser	$676
2025 Bunnings BBQ and Cake Stall	$3,576
2025 Science Fair	$1,688
2025 Footy Hot Dog Day	$1,631
2025 Basketball Tournament Stall	$146
2025 Pictureproduct Fundraiser	$1,301
2025 Trivia Night and Silent Auction	$8,150
2025 Zooper Doopers	$902
Overall Total:	$46,414

Foundation-Year 2 Sports Day