Principal's Report

Dear Parents and Carers,

It been a great few weeks at Whitehorse with a range of activities showcasing our students abilities both inside and outside the classroom. Last week it was great to again have students performing at assembly and I know how much our community values the opportunity to see their children perform to a wider audience. We look forward to seeing more performances moving forward as Ms Ranson and Mr Merriweather begin to coordinate some school choirs over the remainder of the year.

The Paris Olympics has also been widely embraced across the school with Prep students looking at data and statistics in relation to medals and Grade 3/4 students creating surveys based around themes such as the popularity of sports. Our grade 1/2s have also been running their own mini olympic events with relays and Maths challenges.

House Athletics

Yesterday we held our Grade 3-6 House athletics at Hagenauer reserve in Box Hill North. The weather could not have been better for our students to participate in a range of track and field events. Thank you to Mr Scarfo and all our staff that attended and coordinated the event from behind the scenes. A highlight for me was seeing how supportive our students are of each other to achieve their personal best. Thank you also to the numerous parents who volunteered to help on the day. Events such as these can’t run without the support of such a great community. We look forward to the successful athletes representing our school at District Athletics on October 27th.

Author Visit

Recently our Grade 1/2s shared some of their writing with well known author Claire Saxby. Claire was so impressed by the quality of our student’s writing that she has reached out to visit our school prior to the end of the year. Well done to all our Grade 1/2 students who put so much effort into the quality of their writing.

Illness in the community

At this time of year we have an increase of respiratory illnesses within the community such as COVID, Flu, RSV, Whooping Cough. To keep all members of our school community safe we remind families that students who present with signs of repiratory illness may be sent home. We encourage all families to keep children at home if they are unwell. We appreciate your support w

Girls AFL

Last Monday, we had our Grade 5-6 Students participate in the division AFL Girls gala day. Our girls performed admirably on the day finishing as Runners Up and were very proud of their performance. Thank you to Mr Scarfo and the Grade 5-6 teachers for supporting our involvement.

Gym Update

As of this week we are still in the process of remediating the gym floor. Unfortunately we currently do not have a clear timeline when will regain access again however I will continue to keep the community updated as information becomes available.

Local MP Visit - Flag Raising

Earlier this week our Local MP Nick McGowan visited to deliver some flags for our new flagpoles. The student leaders were proud to assist with the flag raising and taught both Nick and I a thing or two about looking after flags.

Parent Opinion Survey

Thank you to the 44 families who have completed the survey so far. The survey has been extended til the 23rd of August for parents to complete. The feedback from families is invaluable as it allows us to recognise strengths and opportunities as a school. I also encourage any parent with feedback to reach out at anytime to discuss.

Specialist Expo - Save the date

On October 30th we will be hosting a specialist expo from 4-6pm. This will ensure that all specialist areas are celebrated throughout the community. We look forward to families joining us for an exciting twilight event.

Whitehorse Family Network

Thank you to our parent volunteers who assisted with the Pie drive which raised important funds for our school. I’d also like to thank our helpers at Freezer Angels who have completed another kitchen cookup to support our local families.

Have a great week everyone!

Andrew Den Elzen

Principal