Principal Message
Harmony Day
Harmony Week is a national celebration held in Australia each year from 21–27 March that recognises and celebrates the country’s cultural diversity and promotes inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. The week coincides with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 21 March and provides an opportunity for schools and communities to acknowledge the many cultures that make up Australian society.
Harmony Week encourages people to reflect on the values of respect, understanding and acceptance, while recognising that Australia’s diversity is one of its greatest strengths. In school this week. students have had discussions in their class about different cultures, traditions and languages, fostering a greater appreciation for diversity and helping to build inclusive communities where everyone feels valued and respected.
We took the time to have a whole school picnic and dance party at lunchtime today which is a very Warrandyte way of celebrating together. Spec dancers broke into dance and the younger students created their own dance ritual to the music. It was a very warm and happy time for staff and students.
It was also great to see so many students dress in their cultural clothes and talk about their heritage and culture. We also received a lot of support for the food bank donations and we will pass these onto the Warrandyte Community House Foodbank. Thank you for your support.
Warrandyte Festival
The Warrandyte Festival is close, and we can feel the vibe starting to increase around this. Eliza has been working hard, as always, getting a very colourful float together and Kirsty is also working hard on the performance on the main stage shortly after the parade finishes. We hope to see you at the parade as it really is a part of the Warrandyte childhood experience. To be in the parade is to be part of something bigger and demonstrates the strength of community. Information regarding the performance after the parade is below.
Who? Participating students include this year's Victorian State Schools Spectacular mass dance ensemble and students from Years 2 - 6 who have opted to perform 2 songs. There is not enough room on stage to safely hold our entire school, so we are requesting only those students who have actively participated in the school rehearsals to attend.
What? The Spec dancers have worked well in record time to prepare a celebration dance to "Live Louder". The two Auslan signed songs are "True Colours" and "Gumtrees" - inspired by our local volunteers who support the students with their activities and interests and who always see the best in them.
Where? Stiggants Reserve Stage, Warrandyte (main festival stage).
When? Students need to meet WPS staff on the stairs-side of the stage at 11.10am . Prior to the performance, which just follows the parade, parents should ensure students have had a drink of water and have been accompanied to the public toilets, if needed. Our stage set is a strict 15 minutes, so the performance should run from 11.30am - 11.45.
What to wear? Students should wear their colourful festival clothes/costumes as outlined in a previous post by our Visual Arts teacher, Eliza.
Please note: Parents need to keep their children in view throughout the performance and be ready to collect them from the ramp side of the stage immediately after the performance.
NAPLAN
I would like to thank the students in grade 3 and 5 who have participated in NAPLAN. We have one more session on Monday for any students who missed a test to do catch up. However, for most of the students the testing period is over and I was very impressed with the way they pushed through their nerves and gave the test their best effort. NAPLAN is a mandetory part of the public education system and in the eyes of most principal it is only one snapshot of a child's education. There is so much more to education than a dot on the page. It is one piece of data to help teachers find the point of need and track academic growth.
Principals from Anderson Creek Primary and Clayton North Primary visiting WPS on Wednesday 25th March.
This coming Wednesday morning the principal from ACPS and Clayton North Primary school will be participating in a Learning Walk with me as part of a regional intiative for principals to share their practice in schools and learn from each other. WPS has already begun the work of implementing the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0 in classrooms. I have invited these schools to come and see the explicit teaching we do in the classroom. The teachers have been incredibly supportive of having senior leaders visit their classrooms and I am confident that the principals will see high quality explicit instruction underway in the classrooms. The new model that we have begun trialling this term is soon to be reviewed by the staff to determine if there are any changes necessary in the delivery of daily Literacy lessons. We will also be working towards a similar model in Numeracy in Term 2.