From the Principal

Dear Families,

Accessing School Grounds

Recently the school has unfortunately experienced several acts of vandalism, while also having dealt with a range of anti-social behaviour on the weekends. 

The vandalism has involved graffiti and damage to sporting turf and shade sails. While the anti-social behaviour has seen young individuals accessing at risk areas of the school grounds, while also verbally abusing staff and local citizens.

Even over the last few days staff have had to escort individuals off site after school who had been damaging the front basketball court with electric bikes and scooters. 

The matter has been passed onto the police, but as most would be aware it has become a greater Williamstown issue and not just a school issue.

To protect school property the school gates will now be locked from 4:15pm each night, as well as being locked over the weekend. This is not a decision the school has made lightly, and we are hoping this is not a permanent arrangement. We believe that this is a measure that needs to be taken at this point of time to protect school property.

Willy Primary has a long history of providing community access to our outdoor sporting facilities and playgrounds, and we hope that this can continue in the future. If you notice any anti-social behaviour or individuals damaging school property, we ask that you immediately report it to the local police. 

Thank you for your support.

Walk to School

National Walk Safely to School Day will be celebrated this coming Friday 10th May for the 25th year. Williamstown is an active community and provides families with great opportunities to walk to school. It is fantastic seeing students walk and ride to school and we encourage families to support this great initiative by walking to school this Friday. For families that live a bit further than walking distance, even parking away from the school to then enjoy the walk is a great option.

District Cross Country

Today our cross-country runners headed off to the district cross country carnival at McIver Reserve, Yarraville. With our 10-year-olds covering 2km and our 11 & Open Age students completing 3km, we are extremely proud of all the students who not only competed but also tried out for the team. Cross-country is not an easy event, so `being willing to have a go is great Willy Spirit.

Senior JSC

To date I have had some highly engaging conversations with our Senior JSC at our fortnightly round table discussions. The conversations have centred on our school, its environment and its learning programs. 

Topics such as school uniform, and the results from last year’s Student Attitude to School Survey have been extremely inciteful and entertaining. What I have loved most about the discussions is the passion and energy each student has brought. Their attention to detail and depth of understanding has been extraordinary.

So where to next? At our meeting next week, the students will develop several inquiries to better understand the results from our 2023 student attitude to school data. This inquiry will help the school shape its programs to ensure we are meeting the needs of our Willy Kids.

Future projects in progress are a community partnership with the Williamstown Senior citizens group. This is something we are hopeful of getting off the ground once the groups new building is open. And our JSC podcast, which looks to bring student voice to the community at a multi-media level. 

Stay tuned. 

Wellbeing Hub

There is a buzz in the air when our turf was laid down on Tuesday for our new student Wellbeing Hub. For more information on this exciting new addition, jump onto our wellbeing page of the newsletter.

Prep Enrolments & School Tours

Our prep tours continued this week with Monday’s tour seeing many families join our student leaders to hear about Willy Primary through the eyes of a Willy Kid. Our student leaders have been amazing, and they have represented the school with great pride. Three more tours are scheduled through May and June. 

For families looking to enrol a child for Foundation (prep) 2025, applications are now open and can be handed into the office.

Willy High Community Service

Each Monday at lunch time, Year 9 students from Williamstown High School run a games club in the gallery for year 2-6 students. The Club which is part of the high school’s community service program helps provide a quiet activity space for our Willy Kids. The program which has been running for over 5 years has been hugely successful, as we often welcome ex-Willy Kids back. A big thank you to Karen Anderson (Campus Principal) and the staff of Willy High for their continued support.

Q & A

As part of the ongoing the school and home partnership, The Willy Parents and Friends will be looking to host a Principal Q&A session. The session will give parents and carers the opportunity to ask a range of questions about the school, its operations and programs. 

The Q&A will follow a short presentation on key themes that families would like to learn more about and understand. Next week a google form will be distributed via email to all parents looking to collect key themes that families would like to learn more about. 

The most common themes will create the basis of the presentation. I am personally very excited about this opportunity. Talking about our school, its ways and vision is something that I am very passionate about.

Further details of this event will be distributed in the coming weeks.

Attitude to School Survey

This week preparations commenced for the annual Year 4-6 Attitude to School Survey, with Steven Puhar and I spending time with students for them to better understand the survey, its questions and how the school utilizes the information gathered. This survey, which is one of three key survey sets, provide student perspective of our school. Students will undertake the survey next week.

Buildings and Grounds Project Update

With the Student Wellbeing Hub almost ready, we are excited to confirm that during the term 2 school holidays our junior quad development will be undertaken and completed.

The area located between the 5/6 deck, portables, and the redbrick building will receive a major facelift with extensive ground, surface and landscaping works being undertaken. The completion of the project will see increased garden and seating spaces, giving our students a great space to meet, chat and socialise. This project was made possible due to the amazing fundraising work undertaken by last year’s Seaside Fair team.

In further news, we continue to work with the VSBA and potential contractors regarding the ongoing maintenance challenges of our Bluestone and Redbrick buildings. These challenges include the condition of both roofs, the bluestone’s historical façade and the redbrick junior toilet block. Hopefully we can continue to make progress in this space.

Holding such historical importance, it is essential that these two amazing buildings, that have seen so much change over their time, are still here in good condition for the next 150 years.

Warm regards,

Mat