A Message from Vassie 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land, the Wurundjeri, Woi Wurrung and Boonwurrung/Boonurung Peoples of the Kulin Nation and pay our respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging. Aboriginal people have a deep and continuous connection to the place now called Victoria. Aboriginal people have lived in the Maribyrnong River valley for over 40,000 years.

Welcome to the final week of term three!

Friday 20 September is our final day of Term Three, with a 2:30 dismissal time. 

**Assembly cancellation - We were informed yesterday afternoon from the building contractors that the PA system will be removed from the existing building today and won't be operational on Friday 20 September. This was set to occur over the holidays however the timeline has changed. As such, we sadly have to cancel the end of term assembly and reschedule it to week 1 of term 4, Friday 11 October 3:00-3:30pm. Please note that SLAA awards, Values awards, choir performance, sports announcements, peer mediator badges, and other performances will have to wait until week one of term four. Sincere apologies in advance. Teachers will celebrate the end of term in classrooms with students. 

**Asbestos Removal-will commence from Saturday 21 September. The asbestos removal contractors will enact a safety exclusion zone. No one will be onsite as the Their Holiday Program has been moved to another location. Following this, demolition of the existing building will commence. 

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our students, staff and parents for their support, partnership and effort throughout Term Three, especially as we finalise our move into the new build. An extra thank you to the wonderful staff members, and the many amazing parent helpers and volunteers that have supported us in this process - your time, effort, and support is very much appreciated. 

We are incredibly proud of our students' learning and wellbeing growth, and greatly appreciate our teachers' and ES staff members focus on the learning, health and wellbeing of all students throughout this term. We thank our parents for your partnership.

We have had much to celebrate this term with our NAIDOC smoking ceremony, camps, choir, Prep 100 days, fundraisers, sports clinics, athletics days and competitions, book week, wear-it-purple day, Year 1 movie night, prep fire education, Father's and special persons day, District Athletics, Hooptime Basketball, and of course the progress on our new admin building and classrooms, just to name a few. 

Term 4 will commence on Monday 7 October at 8.55am.

We wish all of our Wembley PS families a safe and restful Spring break. We look forward to welcoming our community back to school after the holidays.

Remaining Pupil Free Day - Monday 4 November

As previously shared, please note we have one final pupil free day on Monday 4 November which will be a Report Writing Day. 

TheirCare will be operating on the pupil free days to provide care for students, if required by families. Bookings can be made by directly contacting TheirCare on wembley@theircare.com.au, ph: 1300 072 410.

Vassie - Long Service Leave - Monday 7 to Friday 18 October

I will be taking long service leave for the first two weeks of term four as I will be away on an extended holiday with my family. Katie McClue will be acting Principal during this time. I thank Katie, and the extended leadership team for their support of all students, staff members and parents during my leave. 

Farewell Kelly Edwards

Congratulations to Kelly Edwards who has been offered and has accepted the role as Social Learning Facilitator at Mackillop Education Special School. Kelly will begin at Mackillop in Term Four, and she will continue to work at Wembley until term 4-October 14, Wednesdays and Fridays only from week 5 term 3.

We wish miss Kelly as counsellor, Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader and Marrung Champion. We thank Kelly for her contribution to Wembley Primary School. Acknowledging for Kelly that this was a very difficult decision. 

We will farewell Kelly in the first assembly of term four. 

We will advertise Kelly's role and hope to appoint someone in either term four or from the beginning of the 2025 school year. 

Capital Building Works Project - HANDOVER MILESTONE

I am pleased to share that we have now completed hand over of stage 1 of our new $10.2m Capital Works Building Project, thanks to state government funding.

Whilst I have provided fortnightly updates in our newsletter I wanted to share more information with you about our new state of the art Wembley Primary School building.

In the new building we will have 6 classrooms, as well as an art room, music room, spanish room, STEM space, staffroom, school office and senior personnel offices, first aid room, ICT server room, conference room, 2 x meeting rooms, and gender neutral/all access toilet facilities.

The decanting process has begun which means we are packing our existing building, classrooms, office and learning programs, and moving into the new building. New furniture has been delivered and assembled.

The architects and building team are finalising the certificate of occupancy today. 

The temporary fence will be moved throughout this week to enable access to the new building from the prep playground entrance.

5A, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, Music, Spanish and Art plan to operate from the new building from Thursday 19 September. Staff members have moved their items into their new classrooms and will have an opportunity to operate from their new classrooms throughout the final week of term three.

All classes will have an opportunity to walk through the building later this week, as classes will move through on rotation with their teachers. Social stories have been drafted for students to assist with their transition to these new spaces including photos of the spaces, and reinforcing expectations in line with our school values to outline how we will move through the building, and how we will ensure that we respect our new learning and teaching spaces.

The temporary fence will be relocated around the existing perimeter of the existing Block A building and into the eating area, in preparation for stage 1B of the works which includes demolition of the existing Block A building and a landscape design, which will commence over the holiday break. As such and as outlined in the newsletter last week Breakfast Club will cease for the remainder of term during the decanting and moving phase, and recommence in term four.

Over the holiday break asbestos removal will occur, and demolition of the existing Block A building (circa 1958) will begin, and at such time the Their Care Holiday program will be relocating to another school during the holidays. We thank the Theircare Team, students and parents for your flexibility.

Stage 1B of the landscape design including reinstatement of the athletics track, garden beds, vegetation, brick pavers, a fence, and synthetic turf for extended play spaces will continue throughout term four. This is due to be completed by December 15, 2024. As such, one of the classrooms on the ground floor will be used as a site office for term four, and will not be accessible or visible internally from students.

I am also seeking quotes to replace the school gates on Wembley Avenue and St Leonards Avenue with 2 metre fencing, to replace the current 1.2 metres height fencing. 

We will officially operate out of the new building on day one of Term Four, Monday 7 October, and the school office will be operating from the new building from this date. Entrance to the office will be from Wembley Avenue, opposite the crossing and Yarraville Library.

Watch this space for community open mornings and afternoons in term four, where parents will have an opportunity to tour the building. We will share these dates with families in due course, once classes have settled into the spaces.

Parents will of course be welcome to enter the school office and school building from the first day of term four, to drop off or collect children, make payments, and/or access the first aid room. Parent will have to enter the new office to collect children and contact the office. All other entrances will not be open during school hours for safety purposes, as per usual processes. External gates are unlocked at school drop off and pick up times only. 

An official ministerial opening will likely occur in term four. I am awaiting confirmation from the VSBA and Department of Education regarding this date, and will share this with our community once confirmed.

I would like to acknowledge all students for their patience, resilience and sacrifice of the reduced play space, to make way for the construction site and our new building, and to the students who have had to move out of their classrooms spaces given the works and demolition timelines, throughout the course of stage 1A, over the past two years.

I would like to extend a big thank you to the Specialist Teaching Team (Alison Briskey, Ruth Branthwaite, Dennis Mazzella, Chris Kane, Vanessa Brown, Gus Carty-Cowling, Laura Keays) Year 4 Teaching Team (Tom Szanyi, Kelly Laidlaw, Ben Landolina, Alex Wignall), Rachel Cullen (5A), Loredana Walker, Kristen Kosowski, Tri Dung Vu, Kathy Broadway, Mel Logan, Ewelina Rehtulla, Eileen Rawstron, Ania Kosowski, School Council, Linh Krygger and the wider WPA volunteers, the voluntary parent packing group, and finally ALL staff members, for your ongoing efforts and sacrifice, and most recently for working whilst packing down our building, office and learning programs, in preparation for the big move!

Thank you to the School Council Executives, President, Beck Thomas, Vice President, Helen Harris, Treasurer, Paul Meissner, and the wider esteemed members of the Finance, and Buildings and Grounds Subcommittee's of School Council, as well as Mandy Pilkington (Business Manager) and Loredana Walker (Office Manager), for assisting with the many decisions and approvals, and processing of financial contributions. Due to ongoing variations, latent conditions and additional rock encountered, we have had delays in the project timeline, and have had to contribute school funds, to ensure the building was completed with all internal joinery, blinds, heating/cooling, landscape design, retaining walls, concrete finishes, synthetic turf, fences, and garden beds. 

We thank parents that are able to make voluntary contributions to the school, and to contribute to the building fund which has assisted significantly towards our school contribution. 

We also thank the Wembley Parents Association (WPA) for their fundraising efforts, which have gone towards the $19,000 breakout seating on ground floor that all students will benefit from.

Thank you to our executive leadership team; Katie McClue for overseeing the furniture ordering, Melanie Irons for overseeing the brick pavers, Renee Johnson for overseeing the decanting process, Adriana Jankulovski and Phoebe Moore for creating the social stories, and Georgia Phillips for assisting with the Disability Inclusion and breakout space considerations.

I'd also like to thank Terry Lawless (previous Principal) who worked in partnership with me to engage with local MP's in the hopes to secure this state government funding.

A special thank you to Grant Hobson (Grounds, Facilities and Maintenance Manager) for attending every fortnightly site meeting together with me for the past two years, and actioning the big picture and minute details, day by day, front and centre, and behind the scenes. The support that Grant has provided to ensure successful fruition of this project is immeasurable and is much appreciated.

Finally, I'd like to thank the Hon. Minister Melissa Horne, the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA), AOA Architect Firm, and Johnstaff Construction Services, for their partnership throughout this project to date.

Please see the below photos, plans and renders of stage 1A (Block A Building) and stage 1B (Landscape Design). 

A proud and auspicious milestone, and moment in time, for current and future generations of Wembley Primary School students.

Spanish Day - Wednesday 18 September

Today is Spanish Day!!! Students and staff members have enjoyed a flamenco dancing incursion, churro eating, classroom activities, teacher/student soccer match, and many more fun events planned. Thank you to Dennis Mazzella and Vanessa Brown for organising this day which celebrates our Spanish language and culture program. 

Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Survey

At this stage 16% per cent of our community has completed the survey. The survey will be conducted online, only takes 10 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. 

Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey offered by the Department of Education and is seeking your feedback. The survey is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families' perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement. The survey is optional, but we encourage and appreciate your participation.

Our school will use the survey results to assist in identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies. 

The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey will be open online from Friday 2 August to Friday 20 September 2024. 

All families are invited to participate in the survey. 

The online survey will be available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese. Resources are also available in additional languages to assist parents / caregivers / guardians who speak a language other than English at home. Please reach out to your child's teacher, or the school directly for survey guides in your language.

Link for the survey https://www.orima.com.au/parent

PIN: 921685

We thank you in advance for your feedback.