Principal's Report

Term 3 has been packed with energy and fantastic experiences! It’s wonderful to see our students balancing deep, meaningful learning with engaging community events like Flavours of the World, Science Night, Book Week, Father’s Day celebrations, and so much more. These opportunities not only enrich their knowledge, but also help build a strong, connected school community.

We are so proud of our Community Project Team – Scarlett, Kaan, Jasper, Izzy, Hugh, Adele and Isla (grade 6) and and GALS in STEM team – Eloise, Lillian, Willow, Bella and Megan (grade 5 and 6) , who recently showcased their incredible projects at the Lighthouse Theatre. Their dedication and hard work truly shone through. If you haven’t had the chance to see their amazing efforts yet, be sure to check out our school Facebook page to catch all the highlights! Thank you Mrs Nadine Frankel for supporting the girls with their project. We are so proud of both teams and the incredible impact they are making as school leaders today and future leaders tomorrow. Their commitment and passion are an inspiration to younger students and to all of us.

Our Koorie Leaders—Chayce, Lukah, Narlah, Maddison, Jasper, and Tamara—have been actively engaged in a meaningful Legacy Project led by Warrnambool College Year 12 student Jaion Jenkins. Jaion, who also attended WEPS and was school captain in 2019, guided the group as they collaborated to research and design our house colour logos and Eastern Maar season names for our school buildings. This project beautifully honours our cultural heritage while strengthening our school identity. We are looking forward to launching these at our First Nations Family Night next term, then sharing them with the whole school community.

Our amazing Parents and Friends Group have been working tirelessly to raise much-needed funds for playground upgrades. A huge thank you to Anna Hoekstra and her team for coordinating the picture plate fundraiser this term, and to Elisia Nichol for leading the recently successful Bunnings BBQ and Cake Stall. This team is truly dividing and conquering, and their efforts are deeply appreciated. Beyond fundraising, our wonderful Parents and Friends Group continue to go above and beyond, with the most important part being their role in bringing our school community together.

Thank you to the following parents for giving up their time last Sunday to assist with the Bunnings BBQ and Cake Stall.

Cake Stall helpers:

· Lauren Molan

· Katrina Carey

· Hayley Ballinger

· Jodie Taylor

· Annalice Pascoe

· Emily Dougherty

· Rebecca and Eden Keane

BBQ helpers;

· Jarrod Johnstone

· Billy Gardner

· Peter Gellert

· Michael Burdess

· Sarah Calvert

· Lara Hunter

· Caroline Valpied

· Richard Glenn

· Amanda Sutton

· Megan Wilson

· Lucy Arnott

· Rick Birmingham

· Michael Keane

We also had over 20kg of sausage donations, countless slabs of soft drink to sell, and an abundance of baked goods from our school community with so much delivered directly to Bunnings on Sunday morning. A special shout out to Allesha Gardner who provided jars and jars of kitchen garden preserves/relishes/pickles. Thanks also to those who provided eskies to keep things cool on the day.

We sincerely thank and appreciate the following local business for their donations;

· School community (sausages, drinks, baked goods)

· Materia Brothers

· IGA

· Coles Lava St

· Aldi Lava St

· Woolworths Dennington, Central and East

· Bakers Delight Target Centre

· Pro Packaging

Throughout the day, so many from the school community came to support the BBQ and cake stall. There was a real sense of community and I think it was great for our visibility within the broader community. We also had lots of people buying goods who had links to WEPS - former students/parents, grandparents and I heard lots of people say so many positive things about WEPS.

Overall, a total amount of $2357.70 was raised.

We have had so many celebrations and wonderful things happening across the school. The sense of community connectedness and spirit is strong and alive. We thank you all for being such passionate advocates and supporters of WEPS — we are really feeling it!

Next term we are giving parents the opportunity to engage in the school review. The school reviewer will facilitate 2 feedback sessions. Parents are invited to come into the school staff room on Thursday 23rd October at 8.30-9am or link into a Webex in the evening from 7.30-8.30pm from home. We will send out formal invitations in week 1, in the meantime, please add these dates to your calendar and choose the option that best suits you.

I’d like to put out a “save the date” and invite you to start thinking about our end-of-year celebration. We’ll be calling on the musical talents of our wonderful parents to help make this event relaxed and enjoyable for everyone, featuring some local musical talent — you, our amazing parents!

More information will be shared in Week 1, but for now, we invite you to start thinking about connecting with other parents or playing/singing solo. Our end of year celebration is on Wednesday 26th November from 5-7pm.

A reminder – tomorrow is the last opportunity to have your say in the Parent Opinion Survey. We have sent out many reminders and the response rate is the highest we have every received. We have just reached 53%, but would love to reach higher again.

Wrapping up, we celebrate with Mrs Rebecca Etherton on the arrival of her beautiful baby girl Harriet Helen, who arrived on Father’s day.

I wish you all a safe and wonderful term break! Don’t forget, we have Team Colours Day tomorrow — fingers crossed for a Cats grand final appearance and, hopefully, a win!