This week I’m writing to you from Lorne, where I am attending the Great South West Coast Network Principals’ Conference. Each year, our Network comes together for a two-day conference and meets twice per term to connect, support, and work collaboratively on our shared goals. Together, we continue to drive our vision to ensure that every student attending our Government schools can truly thrive.

During the week, I had the pleasure of visiting a number of classrooms. It was wonderful to hear students share all the exciting activities they’ve been participating in over the past few weekends including dance concerts, gymnastics competitions, bowling, tennis, calisthenics, basketball, and more. I love hearing about all the extra activities students participate in and congratulate them all on their achievements. We would love to receive photos from parents to share achievements in the LINK, please don’t hesitate to send them in to our school inbox – Warrnambool.east.ps@education.vic.gov.au if you and your children are happy for us to share and join you in celebrating.

Our Parents and Friends group have been working tirelessly to raise funds for upcoming playground upgrades. A big thank you to Anna and Brad Hoekstra for coordinating the Picture Plate fundraiser — and to all families who placed an order. Together, we raised a total of $1,301

Thank you also to Cassie Holland for coordinating the recent cake stall during the basketball tournament (with WEPS as one of the stadium venues). We appreciate all the parents who baked and contributed — together we raised $145.37

Don’t forget about the incredible Trivia Night coming up on the 15th November (and Silent Auction). Information is attached to the LINK and displayed around the school.

We’re also very excited to have Emily Lehmann, Michelle Lyons and Amy Creek working on the design of a new fundraising board, which will soon be displayed on the external wall of the administration building. Thank you to Joel Barclay for generously sponsoring the display — watch this space!

It’s hard to believe we are already at the end of Week 5 — what a busy start to Term 4 it has been! We’re pleased to have completed our school review process, held our second School Council meeting for the year, and even begun planning for 2026.

Our 2026 Parent Payment Policy — ratified at Tuesday night’s School Council meeting — will be distributed to families by the end of this week.

Our School Council members have been proactively working on a number of significant improvements to our roads, grounds, and facilities to ensure our school remains a safe and welcoming place for everyone. You may have already noticed some of the recent changes: a “No Right Turn” rule when exiting the Ward St car park, additional disabled parking spaces, and clearer line marking and arrows to improve traffic flow and safety.

We will continue to work closely with Warrnambool City Council to achieve a safe and effective long-term traffic and parking plan for our school. We’ll keep you updated as we receive approvals and complete each stage of the works.

Next week, we’re very excited to welcome our Grandparents and Special People to school for an afternoon of activities and fun with the children. Please remind your special guests to come along - we can’t wait to see them! Our Book Fair will also be running at the same time as this special event, please check the school calendar for all the details.

A friendly reminder to sign up to perform at our upcoming End of Year Celebration. We can’t wait to showcase our amazing parent talents once again this year! The event will be relaxed and family-focused . We invite everyone to bring along a BYO picnic, enjoy an evening together, celebrate the many talents within our school community, and take the opportunity to view our students’ wonderful artwork display.

Please see the dates below for our Week 11 activities and the start of 2026 arrangements so you can plan ahead. These dates will also be added to our school calendar.

Week 11 Plan

Tuesday 16th December - Grade 6 Graduation

Wednesday 17th December - Final assembly 2.30pm (3.20 finish)

Thursday 18th December - Staff planning day (alternative program if no other care options are available)

Friday 19th December - Staff planning day (alternative program if no other care options are available) School closes at 2.20

Term 1, 2026 plan

Tuesday 27th January (statewide pupil free) - Staff return to school (office open)

Wednesday 28th January Curriculum Day for all staff (school closed – Their Care available) - pending approval

Thursday 29th January - students return (foundation until 1.30pm)

Friday 30th January - foundation until 1.30pm

Wednesday 11th February - Assessment day (time scheduled for students) - no formal classes, alternative program provided

Week 2 (beginning Monday 2nd Feb) - Welcome to 2026 parent meetings, face to face or phone

Tuesday 17th February - Welcome to 2026 family night - time to be advised

Thank you to School Council President – Dave Long, for providing an insight into his experience on the school review panel (please read below).

Dear parents, carers, students and staff,

I’m writing to share with you my experience of our recent school review in which I was privileged to participate as a review panel member.

Every 4 years each school in Victoria undergoes an external review to evaluate the school’s progress in key areas including student learning outcomes, wellbeing and engagement, teaching methodology and professional development, and school leadership and culture. The review panel was led by the external Department of Education representatives, and also included our Principal Marina Milich, Vice Principal Ann Dwyer and WEPS staff leadership group. This rigourous process provides an incredibly valuable opportunity to reflect on the school’s progress over the past review cycle and to collaboratively shape the priorities for the next School Strategic Plan.

Over 3 days, the panel discussions were incredibly thorough, strikingly data and evidence-based, bringing together student achievement results, staff and parent surveys alongside face to face classroom reviews, interviews with students, staff and parents. It is clear that there have been some fantastic gains over the last 4 years in both student outcomes as well as in the well-being and cultural safety spaces. Some more recent bold shifts in teaching methods such as structured literacy will take more time to evaluate but early indications are very positive.

As the information was brought together on the final day of the review, the areas for improvement also became clear with one or two themes remarkably consistent across student and parent voice. It was at this time more than any other that I was particularly impressed with the panel and the school’s leadership team which received this information with such an open and (communal) growth mindset. It was a great insight and reminder of the driven group of teachers at our school who have a genuine commitment to continuous improvement.

I found this review and our external reviewers highly constructive and insightful. They celebrated the school’s achievements while identifying areas requiring attention, and collaboratively helped us to set clear, ambitious goals for the coming years. As council president, I left the process with great confidence in the school’s leadership, the professionalism of our staff, and the shared commitment of our school community to strive to provide the best possible educational experience for our students. I encourage you all to continue to provide your feedback and grow the student and parent voice so that all parts of our diverse school community help in shaping the school’s future.

Yours sincerely,

David Long

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