Assistant Principal Reports

Hello Everyone,

Attendance - The importance of attending on time, and staying the whole day.

At Deer Park West Primary School, we prioritise regular school attendance. We will work with families to ensure students are in class with their peers and teachers, and enjoying all the benefits that brings.

Attending school every day means experiencing what counts – the learning, friendship, fun and opportunities that can shape your child’s future.

We are noticing that many students are arriving or leaving school early. If this can be avoided, it would certainly benefit your child. Even being late or leaving early by 10 minutes a day may not seem like much, it does add up. If a child misses 10 minutes a day, it adds up to just over a day and half of learning that they have missed over a 10 week term.

Should you require further support, please contact myself, Ms Scott, so that I can organise the best person to provide the support that you may need.

For more information about the importance of everyday attendance, see Attendance and Missing School.

Remember, Every Day and Every Minute Counts.

Online Safety - Get to know Age Ratings 

Did you know that WhatsApp has an age rating of 16? 

Age ratings are in place to help protect your child, so we thought we’d provide you with a little reminder of how important it is to check the age ratings of what your child is accessing online. Here are the age ratings of some of the more popular apps that young people are accessing. 

Whether your child is viewing films, accessing apps, playing games online, using social media or downloading other apps – check the age rating first to see if your child is old enough. This will allow you to make an informed decision as to whether it is suitable for your child to access and if it would be beneficial to apply further parental controls. 

ARE YOU SUPPORTING YOUR CHILD TO BREAK THE LAW? 

We are aware that some of our students are using Snapchat, Tik Tok, Instagram etc. 

In December 2024, New legislation passed through Parliament, setting a minimum age limit for social media platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and X. The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 amends the Online Safety Act 2021 and requires ‘age-restricted social media platforms’ to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 years from having accounts on their platforms.  

Pride and Integrity Raffle 

This raffle, recognizes all of the students who are attending school on time.  This is to acknowledge the students demonstrating Pride and Integrity by being ready to learn each day.

Every student who is at school, and in their classroom, before the bell (9am) will have their name added to the class attendance box. So, if they are present on time, every day of the week, they will have 5 entries into the raffle. 

Last week’s class winners were: 

FA – Ann, FC – Emilia, 1A – Akshdha, 1B – Jiya, 2A – Zoe, 2B – Arya, 3A – Thahira, 3C – Emric, 4A – Abigail, 4B – Felix P, 4C – Will, 5B – Alice, 5C – Angelia, 6A – Aria, 6B – Eli

The raffle winner was Eesa from 1B! Congratulations! 

Eesa received 15 PACs for Pride & Integrity.

2025 Term 2 Challenge of the Week

Week 6: How many words can you make from these letters:     L, R, E, G, U, T, A, F

The aim is to collaborate with 1 - 4 friends or family members (no more than 4 people per entry) to make as many words of 3 letters or more from a given lot of letters, as well as trying to find a word that uses all of the letters. 

For example, if the letters are R, A, H, E, C, E, T you can make the words: each, ache, art, heat, eat, car, care, cart, teach, teacher.

You must use Australian spelling, find English words and no acronyms or abbreviations.

Students collaborating for the Challenge will earn a PAC each. 

The students who can find the most words will receive an extra PAC.

Last week’s letters were: E, R, U, P, Q, C, I, S, U, T, E

Some of the words found: rip, rips, trip, trips, pit, pits, set, pet, pest, see, sit, ice, pie, pies, cut, cuts, rest, ripe, cup, pure, tire, tier, quit, quiet, quite, quest, use, super, script, equip, erupt, picture, PICTURESQUE, suite, suit, creep, true

Students (and staff) who collaborated to find words were:

Riley 1A (& mum)

Nooh 1A (& mama)

Hargun 4A (& mum)

Icy 4A (& dad)

Alessio (& mum and dad)

Sabrina 4B (& mum and dad)

Nahwah 4C and Sarah 5C (& mum) 

Viraj, Tyler and Sahib 4C

Avery 4C and Arya 2B (& Johnny)

Christina 4C (& mum)

Priyansi 4C (& dad)

Students who received an extra PAC for the most words were Nahwah and Sarah!

Please hand this week’s answers to the office before 3.30pm on Wednesday 4th June.

Kind regards,

Deanne Scott

Assistant Principal 

Foundation (Prep) 2026 Enrolments and Transition

Enrolments for Foundation (Prep) 2026 at Deer Park West Primary School are now open!

Starting school is a big milestone in a child’s life, and we are here to support families every step of the way. At Deer Park West Primary, we are proud to offer a welcoming, inclusive and nurturing environment where every child can learn, grow and thrive.

As we prepare to welcome our 2026 Foundation students, we’re also continuing our strong partnerships with local kindergartens to ensure a smooth and positive transition to school. We’re working with kinder teachers to plan visits, share helpful information, and help children feel confident and excited about starting school.

We’ll be inviting kinder groups to visit our school later this term and into Term 3, giving children the chance to get familiar with our learning spaces and meet some friendly faces.

If you have a child starting school next year, or know someone who does, please contact our school office for more information about the enrolment process. We’re here to help make this transition a positive experience for every child and family.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent-Teacher Interviews for Term 2 will be held on Tuesday, 1st July, between 10:30am and 6:30pm.

Please note that no regular classes will run on this day. Students are encouraged to attend school with their parent/carer at their allocated 15-minute interview time.

Bookings must be made through Compass. The booking portal will open in mid-June, and families will be notified as soon as it becomes available.

Kind regards,

Joshua Fielding

Assistant Principal