Update from the Principal
Appreciations and News
With The Colour Run, the Cup Eve Curriculum Day and Melbourne Cup Day all across the past week, it feels like time has flown since the last newsletter! Term 4 is always very busy with a range of curricular and extracurricular activities happening, and we are well and truly in the thick of things now.
Upcoming Curriculum Day
We’d like to remind families that Friday, 13th August, will be our final Curriculum Day for the year. On this day, students are not required to attend school, as our staff will be engaging in important professional development activities.
Our team will be focused on reflecting on the achievements of 2024 and beginning preparations for an exciting and productive 2025. This day is a valuable opportunity for our staff to collaborate, plan, and ensure we continue to deliver the highest quality education for our students.
For families who may require care on this day, Kelly Club will be available to provide full-day care. To book a place or for more information about their services, please contact Kelly Club directly.
Assembly tomorrow - Friday 15th November
Tomorrow's assembly will start in the Gym @ 2:40pm, all of our families are invited and we would love to see you there. Our assemblies are led by our House Captains who do a wonderful job in ensuring the smooth running of the assembly.
Colour Run
On Friday 1st November, we completed our Spectacular Colour Fun Run. Thanks to all of your generosity and hard work we were able to raise $7297.00. This money is going to go towards school resources to improve the learning of all of our students, we cannot thank you enough! Special thank you to Ms Parco, Ms McColl and Ms Jungfer for all of their organising of the event.
Remembrance Day –
On Monday 11th November we stopped as a school and particpated in Remembrance Day. In Australia, Rememberence Day is dedicated to Australians who died as a result of war, particularly from World War I onwards. A minute of silence is dedicated to the deceased, especially for soldiers who died fighting to protect the nation.
We respect people who fought in battles such as Waterloo or Gallipoli. The one-minute silence is our way to show we respect them. Thank you to our school leaders for sharing a wonderful speech to the school.
World Teachers Day - October 25th
Thank you to our wonderful community for helping the school celebrate World Teachers Day on Friday, October 25th with some very kind gifts. The teaching staff were very appreciative. As you may realise, teaching is a true vocation and not for everyone as the workload can be immense and it can be full of tough moments, alongside extremely fun and rewarding ones. We are extremely grateful here at Wimba Primary School that we experience a wonderful level of support from our parent community and I know that is a reflection on the professional care and dedication that our amazing teachers show to all our students on a daily basis.
School Organisation for 2025
Although there still may be changes between now and when we begin the new school year, based on the numbers that we currently expect, we are planning to have 17 classes in 2025 with straight classes from Foundation to Grade 2 and composite grades in Grade 3/4 and 5/6. Our current enrolment is 280 and we are expecting to increase to approximately 350 in 2025 but it is the uncertainty of enrolments that make it difficult to confirm the final school organisation for next year. The proposed school organisation is as follows;
Leadership Team
- Principal
- Assistant Principal x 2
- Learning Specialists x 3
17 classrooms (F-6)
Specialist programs
- Physical Education (PE)
- Visual Art
- STEM
- Performing Arts ~ Music
Victorian state schools are primarily self-managed and staffing decisions, including how many teachers a school employs, what areas they teach and the programs a school conducts (specialist areas, intervention programs, extra-curricula etc.) are decisions made by the principal in consultation with staff.
Each school receives yearly funding, and it is the principal’s role to ensure the school operates within this budget. The funding is based on a formula involving the actual number of students enrolled on census day (February 28, 2025) and then further funds for additional needs for which the school may be eligible. These additional funds include low socio-economic, EAL (English as an Additional Language), remote location, etc. Much of this information is gained when parents complete their enrolment form when their child first begins school. Questions such as the parent’s present occupation, highest level of education, language spoken at home, etc. all go towards determining a child's level of need.
When determining class sizes in a primary school, the funding formula allows for, as a general rule, 1 classroom teacher for every 25 students. After this has been established, we then look at differing models involving straight classes, composites, or a mixture of both. It is also a department expectation that the F-2-year levels will have less numbers, on average, than the upper grades. Further details of staffing in each year level and specialist classes will be provided later in the year as these details are still to be finalised.
Our current students will find out who their classroom teacher is and where their classroom will be on Tuesday 17th December
Is Your Child Leaving at The End Of 2024?
As we begin to start to plan for 2025, we would greatly appreciate that if your child is not returning to our school in 2025, that you please notify the office. This assists us greatly in the planning of grades for next year.