A Message from Vassie 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land, the Wurundjeri, Woi Wurrung and Boonwurrung Peoples of the Kulin Nation and pay our respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging. Aboriginal people have a deep and continuous connection to the place now called Victoria. Aboriginal people have lived in the Maribyrnong River valley for over 40,000 years.

END OF TERM THREE

Term three concludes on Friday 15 September at 2:30, with an assembly at 2:10. 

If parents require care, please contact TheirCare to book your child/ren in for the holiday program events. Please visit the TheirCare Newsletter tab for more information.  

We wish all community members a safe and active holiday break, enjoying sleep ins, pyjama days, baking, play dates, sports, comfort food, and discovering new books with friends and family. 

TERM FOUR

School resumes for Term Four on Monday 2 October at 8:55am. 

SCHOOL CELEBRATIONS

It's been a great couple of weeks at Wembley PS with the father's day stall, excursions, incursions, sporting events, and the infamous Book Week parade. Congratulations to our prep students who attended their very first school excursion to the farm last week! It was a great success albeit a little wet. 

Well done to all students and staff members who participated in the year 5/6 gala sports day on Wednesday 30 August, and the district athletics day on Wednesday 6 September! Many students are moving through to the next round. We're proud of all students for their effort, persistence and teamwork. 

It's been wonderful seeing our community come together to see our students shine as they learn, grow, sing, dance and play. We're incredibly proud of our Wembley PS community and the experiences we have been able to share! We thank the teachers and education support staff for all the time, effort and heart that goes into these events. 

Pictured below: 2023 WPS Book Week Parade - Friday 25 August

FATHER'S DAY

Wishing all father's and special people a very Happy Father's Day. We hope that you enjoyed the breakfast in bed, handmade cards and gifts c/o the father's day stall. Students were shopping up big for their daddies, grandfather's and special people, and excitedly told me all about their chosen goodies!

We thank Kate Allen and the many dedicated WPA volunteers for coordinating and serving at the Father's Day Stall. 

We also thank the fathers, grandfathers and special people, who took the time to attend the prep and year one father's day events. 

YEAR 4 FERN GULLY CAMP

Our year 4 campers have arrived safely at Fern Gully Lodge. 

I am heading to the camp this week, and look forward to sharing this experience with the year 4 students and teaching team! We thank the staff members, and parents who have kindly volunteered to attend camp. Thank you to Kelly Laidlaw, Michelle Metcalf, Tom Li, Eugenie Edillo, Tom Penberthy, Lindsey Delooze, Helen Harris, Erin Ballagh, Alice Taylor, Tom Burrows and Adam Runciman for attending camp and honouring this special camping experience for our students. Students are set to arrive home (Wembley PS) at 3:00pm on Friday 8 September. 

2024 PREP TRANSITION

We have accepted 100 prep enrolments for 2024. Next week will be the first of many small group transition sessions for our incoming prep students, to enable the students to begin building relationships with students and staff members, and familiarising themselves with their new school. Next term we will host a parent information session and the whole class transition sessions. We thank Joel Magnabosco, together with Lindsey Delooze and Hannah Tabart, for leading this process. 

2024 STUDENT NUMBERS

It's that time of year when the leadership team begin working through 2024 planning, class structures and recruitment processes. As we begin the planning process for 2024, we would appreciate parents notifying the school if your child/ren will not be returning to Wembley Primary School in 2024, as soon as possible.

Please contact the school office on 9314 7054, or alternatively on wembley.ps@education.vic.gov.au to inform us if your child/ren will not be returning to Wembley PS.

PARENT SURVEY REMINDERS

In the interest of greater community engagement we are seeking parent feedback via the Department of Education parent/guardian/carer survey. 

We thank you for your feedback regarding our reporting program and VGSA changes, school review, as well as the language survey. The leadership team is consolidating the feedback and this will inform future school improvement.

ROAD SAFETY REMINDER

In the interest of safety we ask all community members to ensure that we are driving safely at all times, particularly around the perimeter of the school. We have had some recent near misses recently, on the back on ongoing concerns regarding road safety. We have also seen an increase in people parking illegally at drop off and pick up times. 

I sincerely thank the parents that have reached out to share feedback and solutions with me which I have passed on to the council. 

A number of neighbours have contacted us informing us and sharing photos of cars parking directly across their driveways. 

We have also noticed some senior school students have been walking across to the milk bar after being dropped off at school. Can parents please remind students that once they are dropped off at school that they must remind within the school grounds. We have spoken with students and are contacting parents to inform them of this safety concern. 

I have met with Hon. Melissa Horne MP, Cr Bernadette Thompson (Councillor Maribyrnong Council Stony Creek Ward), Alison Wilson (road safety officer from Maribyrnong Council), and personnel from the Department of Transport. During these meetings, I have strongly urged solutions regarding the roads surrounding Wembley PS, and road crossing recommendations, such as:

-implementing a 'kiss and drop zone'

-increasing parking around the school

-implementing mountable round abouts

-removing the 'no-standing' zone on St Leonards Avenue adjacent to the hall

-extending the road crossing supervisor shift beyond 9:00am

-changing the traffic signals to ensure that pedestrians have exclusive right of way, and many other suggestions. 

If you have any suggestions regarding road safety solutions please contact me on 9314-7054, or wembley.ps@education.vic.gov.au 

CAPITAL WORKS BUILDING PROJECT UPDATE  

We are making progress in our Capital Works Building Project. Please visit the Capital Works project tab for an update of the works to occur over the next month.

OVAL REINSTATEMENT

Part of the oval was reinstated with instant turf last week. That part of the oval will continue to be restricted for the remainder of the term to enable it to take and grow, and will be ready for use at the beginning of term four. 

The construction team apologise for the significant delay and impact around the reinstatement of the oval. They had been working with landscape engineers and turf specialists to identify the best course of action understanding our goal to return it to the students at the earliest convenience. 

PARENT VOLUNTEERS - LUNCH TIME SUPERVISION AT MCIVOR RESERVE

Given that the oval will be returned in term four, in the interim, we have a number of lunch time clubs to minimise congestion in the yard-see clubs listed below. 

Furthermore we would like to thank the staff members and parents that have volunteered to assist me in taking groups of students across to McIvor Reserve at lunch time for a kick, and a play. Thank you to Kristen Kosowski, Ryan Maki, Hannah Tabart, Jelica Zioglis, Kerrie Leigh, Paul Rovis, Melanie Meissner and Andrea Moscato.  

LUNCH TIME CLUBS

See below for lunch time clubs that are in place to support student play and socialisation in light of the minimised yard space, as a result of the capital works project. 

THANK YOU

In fortnightly site meetings we communicate the importance of understanding that this is a live site, and that we must protect the safety first and foremost, and also the access of all students into our minimised playground footprint in the interim during the capital building works project.

We are working daily with the project manager and site manager regarding the project and look forward to moving into the new building in mid 2024. 

We thank our students, staff members and parents for their ongoing patience and resilience. 

SCHOOL DEVICES - SMART WATCHES

We remind students and parents that students are not to contact one another during school hours via their smart watches. We remind parents to contact the office if they have messages to pass on to their child during school hours and it'll be passed on via the office and classroom teacher/s. If your child contacts you, we ask that you don't respond and contact the office or your child's teacher to check in. 

UNIFORM REMINDER

We have noticed that some students have not been wearing full school uniform. Teachers have been reminding students to ensure that they wear uniform every day with the exception of if/when they are attending a school sports day. Please ensure that your child/ren is wearing full school uniform, at all times. We also remind parents about the pre-loved clothing rack, and lost property, which can be found in the main school building near the office.

SPORTING EVENTS

Well done to our students, staff members and parents who have attended and supported the various sporting events. We are very proud of our students for their teamwork, resilience and effort! Please visit the student celebration tab of our newsletter, and our social media pages for photo highlights. 

Please find us on Instagram at: @wembleyps4788

And via our official Facebook Page: Wembley Primary School (link here)

COLD AND FLU SEASON

As we move into prime cold and flu season, we wish to remind families of the importance of prioritising your health and wellbeing.

We ask parents to keep children home from school if they are unwell, and return to school when they are feeling healthy and well. 

We thank all staff for supporting the health and wellbeing of all students, with particular acknowledgement of Kathy in the first aid room for her care, consideration and communication with students, teachers and parents.

Teachers are continuing to ensure that students are sanitising regularly, air purifiers are on in each room set to the highest setting, and our cleaners are continuing to clean all spaces in the school thoroughly, and wipe down high touch surfaces.

We thank you in anticipation of your understanding, cooperation and support, in protecting the health, safety and wellbeing of all community members.