Principal  Message

Welcome back to Term 3, which is traditionally one of the busiest terms for Warrandyte Primary School as we continue to practice for the production. Kirsty has been very busy behind the scenes organising buses, costumes, tickets, lighting and much more. She tells me the rehearsals are going well and I am sure the show will be an amazing tribute to our school's commitment to The Arts as it supports students to develop their capacity to work as a team, celebrate each other's strengths and support each other stage performers. 

Swimming

Prep - Grade 2 swimming began today, which is traditionally a very exciting, yet tiring, experience for our youngest students. We work towards helping them to build independence by encouraging them to check their swimming bags and look after them as they change in and out of their swimming gear. We know that for our Preps this is their first experience in a school swimming program, and it can be overwhelming. We do try to prepare students, but we also know that for some of them, swimming is incredibly overwhelming. Catching a bus, lining up, getting ready, participating in a small group lesson and then getting changed before heading back on a bus is a huge undertaking for young children. There can be a sensory overload, and this can cause dysregulation. For this reason, we often design the learning program to have several breaks and quiet activities are generally done after lunch when they are their most tired. 

New play equipment

Phase 1 of the revamp of the old pool area has been completed during the holidays with the installation of some new play equipment in the old pool area. Last Friday we witnessed a display of perfect teamwork take place as 2/3R and 3/4J students worked together to move the Softfall mulch to the base of the new equipment. They were so excited to be a part of this project and every single student pitched in to help. 

Phase 2 of the garden will include installation of seating and then building and landscaping of an indigenous garden. The final stage will be the painting of the mural at the back of the landscape. We are very excited to see this project begin thanks to the support of Warrandyte Bendigo Bank.  We will be asking for help at some stage so keep an eye out for the Compass message in the near future.

Camp

In the last week of this term, we will be running our Grade 3-6 camp. We understand that for some students, camp is a very challenging component of the teaching and learning program. Leaving home and family is a daunting experience for some and for this reason the teachers have already begun discussions with the students, particularly for our Grade 3's, who have not done an overnight camp before. Rick and James put together a PowerPoint to show the students and I thought it might be helpful if the parents had access to this also. Below is a link that will show you the PowerPoint that is currently being used in the classrooms. 

We encourage you to begin the discussion about camp and openly talk about what worries they might have. As we unpack this with the students in class, teachers also continue a dialogue that encourages them to consider the benefits of camp. We know from years of experience running camps that when students overcome their challenges, they feel pleased they were able to work through it and come out the other side having had a fun experience. Camps are the perfect setting for building resilience and peer-to-peer relationships. And whilst camps are a huge undertaking for teachers, they really enjoy being with their students in this different setting and watching all the personalities shine through. 

We do also want to stress that if a child simply cannot get to a point where they feel they can stay overnight, please see your teacher sooner rather than later so we can begin to discuss options to support them and make those adjustments. This might look like a shorter stay, day attendance or open communication between home and camp during their stay.  We know that some parents are keen to be helpers to support their child and whilst we would like to accommodate everyone in this regard, we will have limits to numbers. If you are thinking of volunteering as a parent helper, please keep an eye out for the Compass post from Rick in the next couple of weeks related to this.

Take care,

Nieta