From the Principal 

Diana Ellis

,Dear Parents and Families,

We warmly welcome you to the 2024 school year. It only seems a few weeks ago that people were relaxing and enjoying the Sumer break and now we are back into the business and routines of the school year. We look forward to engaging with our school families throughout the year.

We have enjoyed a very calm start to the new school year and I would like to personally take this opportunity to thank our staff for the preparation they did over the holidays in preparing their classrooms and programs. A great deal of pride has gone into making classrooms inviting and enjoyable learning spaces. In each room you will find a classroom library and resources to support literacy, such as our anchor charts about what a good reader or writer looks like, whole school reading strategies, the alphabet and word walls. You will also find our maths section with lots of hands on manipulative resources, number lines and number charts, clocks and calendars. In each class you will also find our school values, school wide behaviour expectations and our behaviour flowchart and our school wide maths strategies. On display you will also find our Indigenous acknowledgement and the Map of Indigenous tribes. 

I would also like to take this opportunity to personally thank you for assisting in preparing your child/children for school by supporting our Woodend Primary School Dress Code and implementing consistent routines for going to bed and getting ready for school, along with clear behaviour expectations. The willingness of people to read and follow communications about daily school life and our routines complements our efforts towards the smooth transition into school and the routines of school life. 

Further in the newsletter today, the email addresses of all staff will be provided.

Whilst we absolutely encourage and promote timely communication, our expectation is that all emails and interactions will be respectful. We appreciate that we can be very protective of our children but please ensure you have as much information as possible (preferably form both sides) and we attend to the facts.

As a matter of staff wellbeing, our staff have been advised not to read emails once they are at home at night with their family. Unfortunately, in most cases once children have gone home we cannot resolve the issue until we are back at school and find out all of the necessary information from all parties. 

Appointments with teachers

If you need to organise a meeting with your child’s teacher regarding a concern, please be aware that our staff are required in meetings on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons from 3.45 until 4.45.

If you need to meet with your class teacher please book a mutually convenient time, preferably during the day when teachers have some sessions throughout the week of non face to face teaching time. 

School Leaders

Yesterday all of our Year 6 Student Leaders were announced and presented at assembly. They will be formally presented with their badges in the coming weeks. I would like to make mention of all of the students who went through the application process. We had 50 apply for 16 positions. The students presented letters and a speech and based on the high quality of the applications the final selection was difficult.  More information and photos will be posted in the next newsletter.

In the next few weeks, we will also undertake class voting for the selection of Junior School Council. From Years 2 -6 there will be 2 representatives from each class that meet regularly to discuss ideas for fundraising and school improvement projects.

GRIP Leadership Conference

On Monday our student leaders are heading into the city to attend the GRIP Leadership Conference. Our previous leaders have provided very positive feedback about the day and how it armed them with strategies to use in their leadership role.

Mental Health Training

On the first day of school our staff engaged in full day of professional learning when they engaged in Mental Health First Aid Training. The training built the capacity of staff to further understand Mental Health issues and the most useful strategies to support people. 

The World Health Organisation defines Mental Health as "a state of well-being in which the individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.” 

Meet and Greet Interviews

Thankyou to all of the families that have already booked in times to meet with teachers. Whilst these are brief time slots, it is an opportunity for teachers and parents to put faces to names and for you to share any important information with the teacher about your child.

Canteen – HELP !!!!!!!

Further in the body of todays newsletter, is a piece from our wonderful canteen Manager – Jenni.

We need your help. Unfortunately, we have only had one week of canteen and already Jenni does not have enough people volunteering for canteen to operate each day. 

If we cannot get at least 2 volunteers a day, we simply will have no option but to implement the following actions-

• cap orders at a certain number by the end of business each day prior
• cut back the number of days we offer canteen
• cut the back the menu to a limited few options.

In a school the size of Woodend Primary we should be able to easily fill the request for volunteers. We are asking 3 hours of your time and it is a great way to meet other parents and also bring a huge sense of pride and a big smile on your child’s face when they see you in the canteen.

Student friendships and conflict

We are all aware that in relationships there can be bumpy times – this includes mutual conflict between children in their friendship circles. If issues arise at school we ask that you let school do the follow up, which included contacting parents and restorative conferences with students. Please refrain from contacting other parents about these issues, unless it is an out of school issue.

Schools gardens

During the holidays our shade sail construction was completed at Carlsruhe, adding a nice touch to the outdoor learning space. In our gardens at Carlsruhe and on the main campus we have had an abundance of produce. Now students are back at school there will be lots of gardening (weeding) at Carlsruhe and our Monday Gardening Club will resume at the main campus.

Annual privacy reminder for our school community

Each year we are required by DET to put out the following statement regarding privacy.

Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy and the Schools’ Privacy Collection Notice.

Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn. We ask parents to be aware of how we use [Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education] safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using [Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education], please contact the school. For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. 

https://www.vic.gov.au/schools-privacy-policy-information-parents

Principal

Diana Ellis