Wowee The End of Term is Fast Approaching

Its hard to believe that we only have 11 school days left of Term 1.

Last week I was able to enjoy a week of long service leave and take a long journey to Lightening Ridge to visit my daughter who is currently on placement there. For those who know Lightening Ridge it is home of the Outback Opal Hunters on Channel Mate. Sometime in life you just need to take an opportunity when it presents itself. Probably not the most ideal time to drive over 2000 kms only to find that the petrol station was dry when we finally arrived! It was an experience as we only hit one kangaroo and saw over 10,000 goats, pigs, emus and other native wildlife on the road. We enjoyed an opal mine tour but had no luck finding anything of value there. A tough life for the opal miners. Being interested in education I organised a visit to the only school in town, a P-12 equivalent called a Central School with around 400 enrolments. Students travel from near and far to attend school. Some interesting differences I picked up on were that students only receive 2 hours of specialist classes each week in primary, the school days finishes at 3 with only 2x30 minute breaks in a five hour period day and a set in stone arrangement of a four day mid term break in week 5 every term of the year. It was a wonderful outback experience and well worth the long trip as the locals were very friendly and keen to show off their town.

Next Term

A reminder this term finishes on Thursday 2nd April at 2:30 p.m. after the School Fete.

We resume school on Monday 20th April. This will be a busy week with the annual Deb Ball on Friday 24th April followed by ANZAC Day the following day. Please note in Victoria we do not have a public holiday for ANZAC day as it falls on a Saturday. School as normal on Monday 27th.

Staffing Update

Yesterday we welcomed a new secondary teacher Ms Jennifer Gehring who will be working across several secondary classes. Ms Gehring has be a very reliable emergency teacher for us over the past few years. Her methods are Humanities, English, Health and PE. Jen has also worked as a remedial therapist and a personal trainer for 15 years. We would also like to acknowledge Ms Rachelle McLean who is currently on long term leave. We wish her all the very best for the future.

School Fete - Easter Extravaganza

The annual Easter Extravaganza School Fete will be held on the last day of Term 1, Thursday 2nd April, commencing at 10 am. As it is the last day of our school term, we will finish the fete at 2:00 p.m. followed by presentations. School will finish at approximately 2:30 p.m. We will be asking for donations, stall holders and volunteers. Our Parents & Friends Association has already started with our annual Mega Easter Raffle. All friends, families and community members are most welcome to attend. We have booked 5 massive rides that will be free of charge, once again. The rides are The Red Dragon, Carnival Games, Temporary Tattoos are back, Rock Climbing Wall, Laser Tag. and Meltdown! each class will once again be running an activity. Best of all the big rides are once again free of charge!

Student BBQ Forms will be sent out later this week!

Lets get behind the Easter Raffle. Year 12 class are winning so far with the number of donations, however, the Preps and Year 7are not too far behind! It's looking like being another great raffle with over 200 donations so far including some out of the box ideas of Easter books, craft ideas and games - a great effort everybody!

Possible Strike Day Next Tuesday 24th March

We may have some staff taking action on the 24th of March. It is an individual decision by union staff members. Staff who strike do lose a days pay. Unfortunately, these teachers will not be replaced on a strike day. We will be giving families as much notice as possible. Staff members have a legal right to inform me by 5 p.m. Friday if they are participating in the strike action.

School Staff Pay & Conditions

This is an information piece from the AEU - Australian Education Union.

As parents and carers may be aware, staff at our school who are Australian Education Union (AEU) members have been negotiating, alongside teachers, education support staff, assistant principals, and principals from public schools around Victoria, with the state government and Department of Education for improvements to pay and employment conditions. Negotiations have been occurring over the last seven months, and the state government has not made any offer at all to this point in time. Currently, Victorian public schools are the lowest funded in Australia and there are significant staffing shortages across Victoria. Victorian public school teachers are also the lowest paid teachers in Australia, with many education support employees and school leaders paid less than their colleagues in other state and territories who do the same role. AEU members are seeking pay increases and reductions to excessive workloads, with the aim of ensuring the retention of existing employees and the attraction of the next generation to enable the ongoing provision of a high-quality education to students. Because there has not been any offer, AEU members are undertaking a vote to endorse industrial action, with the union calling a statewide 24-hour stopwork for Tuesday 24 March, should the government not respond properly to key claims. The AEU has written to our school council outlining some of the issues that school staff need resolved, including school funding and staffing shortages, as well as pay and conditions. The union acknowledges that a decision to stop work is not one to be taken lightly and regrets the impact it has on students and their families, with the state government able to avoid such action if a fair and decent offer is made to employees. If the industrial action goes ahead, we will provide our school community with all the information needed to manage the situation. It goes without saying that as a school community we support all of the staff in our school and expect them to be paid reasonably and have fair conditions of work. You can read the AEU’s letter here.

The Golden Spoon - Eat Learn Wedderburn

We are very excited to officially launch our much anticipated cookbook, 'The Golden Spoon'. The cookbook has landed in draft form. We have several copies you can view at the school office.

This hardcover is professionally bound, with coloured photos and almost 200 recipes. This coffee table cookbook, celebrating 160 years of Education in Wedderburn, is filled with treasured family recipes, college and community photos, as well as history of education in Wedderburn.

A very big thank you to all of the sponsors for making the project possible, as well as everyone who has contributed to the book.

We are running an early bird price of $35 per book, or 3 for $100 .

Early bird date closes February 27th. After this date, books will be $40 each.

Please use the link below to place your order, or you can pick up an order form from Wedderburn College.

You can order and prepay for your copy now. It is a professionally bound, hardcover cookbook with coloured photos, almost 200 recipes.

Please note, this is a preorder only and will not be reprinted. Expected deliver May 2026.

https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSf151UVbmk.../viewform...

Wanted Donation of Old Shoes - Repeat.

Still require about 15 pairs of no longer used shoes.

Wanted shoes or boots with character, If anyone has some old shoes that are being a pain in the neck at the back door, are taking up valuable space in the shoe basket or need to be moved on from the kids room or the walk in robe please consider donating them to the school.

I need 15 pairs or 30 shoes all together for a visual display around the school. They can have holes in them but they must look like a shoe or a boot. They will not be returned and they will not be worn by anyone. They can be of any size and colour. Please send them to the front office for Mr Forrest.

Date	Day	Event
17 - 23 Mar		NAPLAN
18 Mar	Wednesday	Foundation Rest Day
20 Mar	Friday	School Photos
23 Mar	Monday	School Council Meeting
24 Mar	Tuesday	Whole School Assembly
25 Mar	Wednesday	Foundation Rest Day
25 - 26 Mar	Wed & Thurs	Year 7 & 8 Camp
26 Mar	Thursday	Hot Shots at Boort - Grade 5 & 6 Dental Van visits conclude
30 Mar - 01April	Mon - Wed	Year 12 Camp
02 Apr	Thursday	School Fete & Casual Clothes Day Term 1 Ends. Early Dismissal @ 2.30pm
20 April	Monday	Term 2 Begins

Important Dates & Events