A warm welcome to our community

Happy New Year everyone! This is our first newsletter for 2025 and I warmly welcome you back to the new school year. I hope that everyone has had a safe holiday and spent time with families and friends.

A special welcome to our new families and we are looking forward to getting to know you better over the coming weeks at the upcoming activities at school. Please take a moment to say hello and make all of our new families feel welcome. We especially hope to see you at the upcoming family fun night.

I would also like to officially welcome our new staff, Mrs Filby, Ms Pile and Ms Lloyd. They have had a great start to the school year and are settling in with their new classes. We also have a new office administration team member, Rebecca Anderson. Please come in and meet her as she is more than happy to assist with anything that you need.

After visiting all classes, I would like to thank the teachers for all of their planning and organisation. This has created happy classrooms where students are feeling settled. A very smooth start to the new school year!

First Week/Curriculum Days

The start to school was productive and positive for staff with the first curriculum day setting the tone for the year. The staff looked at the goals and targets identified in the school review last year and on the second day, we continued to develop the Inquiry Learning Scope and Sequence Planner with Dr Jeni Wilson. The bar continues to remain high for our school, after our aspirational goals on the Strategic Plan and amazing Naplan results last year.

Thursday was a very exciting day as years 1 – 6 returned and they settled well with their new classroom and teachers. The Bright Beginnings Transition program started the year for all WHPS students and while it is comprehensive, it prepares students for their start to in their new class/new school. Preps began today and after an extensive transion last year, they will make a positive start. We look forward to getting to know them.

COMPASS

This year we will continue to use the communication and reporting app, COMPASS. It is used for messages, student reports, contact with the school etc. Believe it or not, there are still some families who have not signed up! Please ensure that all adult members in your family have access to the app on their phone as it is the key communication tool at our school.

Student Supplies & Book Packs

Many thanks to the families who sent along their children’s books and supplies. Can I please ask that all supplies be forwarded to the classrooms ASAP as the students set up their all of their books for the year. I know I say this every year but there are a few students who did not bring their supplies and it has been extremely disruptive as work begins from day one in every scrap and exercise book.

‘Getting to Know You’ Interviews

Next week our families will be involved with a meeting between parents and teachers. This is a terrific way to start the year as teachers can establish a shared understanding of the learning needs of your child. The focus of the meeting is for parents to share information about their child. It will not involve the teacher reporting back to families as the students had only been at school for a week.

The information shared allows parents to express their child’s interests, passions, strengths and challenges. Teachers will also address any of your concerns in the student’s individual education plan.

School Council

Very soon I will be calling for School Council nominations to fill vacancies as schools have school council elections every Term 1. The attached document below explains the functions of school council and it would be an excellent opportunity to contribute to your child’s education

Please look out for nominations forms on Compass in the coming week. I only encourage parents (and staff) to come onto council and make a difference for all of the students at our school on a higher level.

A very important part of our school’s continued work is through the sub- committees and the work that they do for the school community. These committees give all parents the chance to assist in the education of their children without committing to the more formal task of School Council. We also need parent representation as it assists with new thoughts and ideas.

Please look out for more information in our up-coming newsletters when the new sub-committees are formed. We would welcome your input.

2025 Class Representatives

Our Class Representatives are an important part of our communication process at Weeden Heights PS and they form an important role in liaising between the class teacher and the parents in the room. Classroom teachers are now looking for volunteers. Kerryn Cheetham is the coordinator for our parent reps this year. Please look out for a note that will be sent home soon.

The role of the Class Representative includes the following:

Organising class/level social activities for parents (e.g. dinner, coffee mornings)
Encouraging parents to support social/fundraising and community events
Providing a communication link between the PFA and class parents
Liaising with the classroom teacher to organise volunteers, rosters etc. if required
Welcoming new and current parents to the school to develop and foster a friendly, supportive group
Overseeing the class What’s App group that will be established for the year
Participation in occasional Class Reps Meetings (when possible).

Bright Futures Program

Students across the school are currently involved in a “Bright Futures Program” which is implemented in the first two weeks of term 1. It has several important goals that classes will be working towards:

Establishing common understandings of the thinking curriculum through Inquiry Based Learning
Developing the learning environment with the establishment of classroom routines and procedures and the acknowledgement that students learn in different ways and at different rates. The focus of the program includes the need to respect each other as learners and treat each other in ways that we would like to be treated; the development of co-operative learning strategies that enable students to learn from one another and listen to others viewpoints and ideas
Our School Values of Respect, Personal Excellence, Curiosity and Creativity, Collaboration will be emphasised and the links that these values have with our educational aims and the ways in which we behave.

Until next time ……

Kylie Campbell

Principal

Happy Birthday to you!

Celebrating our January and February Birthdays!