2025 School Theme- Why Team, Why Team Westbreen

Dear Westbreen Primary School Families,

Thank you for Week 5! We had a fantastic week at Team Westbreen, culminating in a delightful Foundation Afternoon Tea. Our Foundation students, along with their Year 6 buddies and families, enjoyed a lovely afternoon of making bubbles and drawing with chalk in the beautiful sunshine while sharing fruit.

We are looking forward to our school assembly on Wednesday, where we will come together to celebrate Team Westbreen and what it represents. This will be our first assembly with all the cohorts present, and we are excited to welcome our little Foundation superstars for the first time.

RAMADAN KAREEM

We wish our Westbreen families observing Ramadan a blessed and peaceful month of fasting. Those observing Ramadan must fast during daylight hours. The pre‐dawn meal is called the “Suhoor,” while the fast is broken at dusk with the “Iftar,” starting with a few sips of water and some dates.

NAPLAN Timetable

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students are held in March each year. In 2025, the NAPLAN test window is between Wednesday 12 March and Monday 24 March.

NAPLAN tests assess student knowledge and skills in writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. The results of the tests provide information for students, parents/carers, teachers and principals and can be used to improve student achievement.

NAPLAN tests are delivered in an online format. This delivers many benefits including:

a ‘tailored test’ design that adapts to correct and incorrect student responses providing a more precise understanding of student achievement
innovative use of technology, including a more engaging test design and a wider range of item types
an extended and more flexible test window, allowing schools greater opportunity to schedule the tests at times that suit them best and increasing student participation.

A public demonstration site is available for schools, teachers, parents/carers and students to familiarise themselves with the online tests. All eligible students are expected to participate in the NAPLAN tests. Catch-up tests will be available for individual students who are absent on test days up to and including Monday, 24 March 2025.

The NAPLAN Westbreen PS timetable will be as follows:

Testing Date	Area	Year 3	Year 5
Wednesday, 12th of March	Writing	9.50am	9.50am
Thursday, 13th of March	Reading	9.15am	10.30am
Monday, 17th of March	Language Conventions	9.15am	10.30am
Tuesday, 18th of March	Numeracy	9.15am	10.30am
Wednesday, 19th of March- Monday, 24th of March	Catch Up Tests	AM	PM

Please let your classroom teacher know of any upcoming absences that may impact NAPLAN participation or if your child will be absent on one of the testing days.

Support can be arranged for students with disabilities or who require adjustments, if the student regularly uses similar support for classroom assessment tasks. Exemptions may be granted to students with significant intellectual disabilities and to students who have been learning English for less than one year.

If your child is eligible for support due to disability or exemption, you should discuss this with their teacher prior to the tests. Parental consent is required before any support, due to disability or exemption, is granted.

Students may be withdrawn from NAPLAN by their parent or carer. This is a matter for consideration by parents and carers in consultation with Justin Lania, Jason Kenny, Elisa Pannunzio and Kristy Monaghan. If, after consultation, you decide to withdraw your child, you a student withdrawal form needs to be completed and signed. These forms are available via the office upon request.

Later in the year you will receive your child’s personal NAPLAN report. The report will describe your child’s particular skills in reading, writing, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.

You will also find an Information for Parents/Carers website here:

Pages - Information for Parents

School Council Update

The school council ballot closed today at 4:00pm. We will conduct the vote count on Wednesday, 5th of March, and the ballot results will be announced on Tuesday, March 11th. Thank you to all the parents who voted and supported this process for our school community.

Westbreen Primary School Council Election Process & Timetable 2025
Event	Date
Notice of election and call for nominations	Tuesday, 11th of February
Closing date for nominations 4.00pm	Tuesday, 18th of February
The date by which the list of candidates and nominators will be displayed	Friday, 21st of February
The date by which ballot papers will be prepared and distributed	On or before Tuesday, 25th February 2025
Close of ballot 4.00pm	Tuesday, 4th of March
Vote count	Wednesday, 5th of March
Declaration of ballot	Tuesday, 11th of March
Special council meeting to co-opt Community members (the principal will preside)	Monday, 17th of March
First council meeting to elect office bearers (the principal will preside)	Monday, 17th of March

We are at the Midpoint of the Term-Reminders

As we approach the mid-way point of Term One, it is always good to have a few reminders to refresh ourselves with some administrative matters at Westbreen Primary School.

School yard supervision begins at 8:45am.
Lunch eating is from 11:30am to 11:45am.
First recess break is from 11:45am to 12:30pm.
Second recess break is from 2:10pm to 2:25pm.
School concludes at 3:15pm.
School yard supervision ends at 3:30pm.

All students unless booked into after school care, must leave the school grounds by 3:30pm. If parents are running late, please contact the school.

Please ensure that all personal items - such as clothes, school bags, and lunch boxes - are clearly labelled.

SunSmart Policy: Children and staff are required to wear a SunSmart hat from September 1st through to the April 30th.

School Crossing: A reminder to all students and families that the school crossing is in operation for the safety of our community. It is important to use the supervised crossing area because it is the safest place to cross the road during school traffic times.

Westbreen is a Smoke-Free Zone: There is no smoking allowed on Westbreen School grounds. This policy has been in effect since July 1, 2009, as the Minister for Education mandated.

Lastly, we ask all families to be mindful of our neighbours when parking during drop-off and pick-up times. Thank you for your cooperation.

Presentation of Our 2024 Annual Report Meeting Reminder

I would also like to invite all members of our school community to our Presentation of our 2024 Annual Report Meeting.

The meeting will be held at 6.30pm on Monday, March 17th, 2025.

Please enter from Pascoe Street, via the office, on the evening.

The main item for this meeting is the presentation of the school’s 2024 Annual Report. It is also an opportunity to celebrate the achievements’ made by our school during 2024. Could you please advise the office if you are interested in attending the meeting.

Upcoming Public Holiday

This is a reminder that next Monday, March 10th, is a public holiday. We hope all Team Westbreen members have a wonderful day off with their families. We wish you safe travels if you are traveling for the long weekend.

Wishing you a wonderful week as a member of Team Westbreen!

Kind Regards,

Justin Lania

The Victorian Government acknowledges Aboriginal Traditional Owners of Country throughout Victoria and pays respect to their cultures and Elders past, present and emerging.

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