A warm welcome to our community

I hope everyone is enjoying the Autum days and staying warm in the colder mornings! The weather has certainly change but we still have many students in their summer uniform. In the previous Nokuna, I included the uniform requirements to encourage some warmer clothes for our students. Don’t forget the Weeden Heights PS sleeveless vest, rain jacket and beanies are available for purchase at the uniform shop in Ringwood.

Education Week!

Weeden Heights PS has decided to celebrate Education Week over two weeks and the focus is this week. This will allow prospective families and kinder students to attend our open night along with other school’s next week.

This year’s theme Celebration of Cultures highlights the diversity of our communities and the importance of every child feeling safe and welcome at school. All children deserve a place to learn and thrive in and I feel that this is how we operate at Weeden Heights PS!

Throughout Education Week, students, parents/carers, teachers, and school communities are encouraged to celebrate and share ideas to promote the wide range of cultures and cultural connections in Victorian schools.

Weeden Heights has taken the opportunity to celebrate Education Week by:

Monday	In the Classroom: Student-led (SRC) craft activity and competition at lunch time.
Tuesday	In the Classroom: Grandparents morning team
Wednesday	Grandparents Morning Tea Grandparents will visit the classrooms undertaking activities. Meet at the artificial grass at 10.40am for morning tea. Choir Performance at 10.50am. Open Night 5.30pm – 7.00pm Activities in rooms Performances by individual students Performances by the choir Classroom activities Showcasing our talented students and classrooms
Thursday	In the Classroom Activities facilitated by the Wellbeing & Sports Captains
Friday	In the Classroom: 2.30 – 3.15pm Whole school craft activity, ‘Hands of the World’.

To find out more about Education Week 2025, visit www.vic.gov.au/education-week.

Election Day BBQ

I would like to thank everyone who assisted on election day at the Weeden Heights PS BBQ. It sounds like it was a great success with many trips to the shop for extra sausages. Thank you to Sarah, our Business Manager who did a lot of the running around for the supplies and to Gavin, our SC president, who organised all the volunteers and cooked at the BBQ as well. Thank you to our parents and their children who supported our school. I really appreciated it, amazing!

Attitudes to School Survey

The annual Attitudes to School Survey will be implemented over the coming weeks with the year 4, 5 & 6 students. The survey provides our students with a ‘voice’ which is important to us, and we do act on what is said. The data obtained from this survey forms a part of the school review process as an accountability measure but more importantly assists us to address the needs of the students. I must say I am very proud of our survey results to date as students indicate a strong connection to their school and their peers while feeling safe and believing in a positive future. I’m crossing my fingers for more amazing understandings and voice from our students.

Student Safety

This is a reminder that the staff car park at the front and back of the school is out of bounds for all pedestrians (students and parents). There are staff leaving at different times and the driveway at the front car park is steep with low visibility due to the bend. It is far too dangerous for pedestrians to use. Also please be very careful when walking on the footpath near the driveway as there are cars exiting and I have noticed that a couple of parents are using it to turn around in.

PFA Mother’s Day Stall

A huge thank-you to our PFA and the work they put in to sourcing and packaging items that our mums and mother figures would love. Thank-you also to the parents who helped with our students purchasing from the stall. We hope that all our wonderful mothers and mother figures had a wonderful day on Sunday (and got very spoilt!).

Wellbeing Grant

Last year, Weeden Heights put in for an Animal Assisted Learning Wellbeing grant and we were successful! The grant was worth $38 000, and I enquired if our wellbeing dog, Chilli was able to visit our school three times a week. Chilli unfortunately was fully booked. We have however, managed to secure Gelu along with Kade and Tania (handlers). Gelu works with Chilli at Miracle Paws and will work well with our school. Chilli will be in attendance on Mondays and Gelu will work at school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We have most days of the week covered with emotional support for our students. Welcome Gelu!

Annual General Meeting

This year our Annual General Meeting will be held after our school council meeting on 16 June (from 8pm). The 2024 Annual Report will be presented to the community, while also highlighting our successes over the year. For anyone who missed out, the 2024 Annual Report is currently available for our community on our website and available for anyone to read. There are some amazing results especially when you compare our performances to other schools. We are very proud of our achievements! If you would like to attend the AGM, then please email the school by Friday 30 May.

Enrolments for 2026 - Looking for successful learners to join our team!

This is a reminder for our existing families (and please pass onto your neighbours), that enrolment forms for 2026 Foundation year students are now due. Our highly successful Bright Beginnings transition program commences at the end of term 3 and we do not want our future students to miss the opportunity to attend.

Please contact either Sarah or Beck in the office for support to enrol on-line should you experience any difficulty. Thank you.

Until next time……

Kylie Campbell

Principal

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