Principal's Message
2025 School Theme - Why Team, Why Team Westbreen
Principal’s Message
Dear Westbreen PS Families,
We have completed another fantastic week as a school and are moving quickly towards the end of the year. Every student is doing their best and showing our school values in their actions inside and outside the classroom. It is so pleasing to see so many outstanding achievements across our school community
Swimming
I wanted to say a big well done to our Year 1, 3 and 4 students who have commenced swimming this week. The behaviour displayed at the pool has been excellent and the students have had a wonderful time learning skills that make them successful swimmers. I have enjoyed seeing students challenge themselves and learning new things with their peers.
Year 1/2 Excursion
Well done to the Year 1 and 2 students on the successful completion of their excursion last week. From all reports, it was a lot of fun, and everyone walked away with a new fun fact to share. As always, the students represented the school so well and were perfect models of our school values.
2026 Enrolments
Thank you to all the families who have already submitted their enrolment forms! We encourage our 2026 Foundation families to visit the office to complete the enrolment process by filling out the school enrolment form and providing evidence of their child's date of birth and immunisation record. To assist with planning, we kindly request that parents finalise their enrolments by the end of this term. If you have any questions or need clarification regarding the enrolment process, please contact Ms. Kerry Parfett, our Community and Enrolment Facilitator.
Foundation 2026 Transition Program
We have arrived at that time of year again! We are super excited to be preparing for our 2026 transition sessions. It is such a wonderful opportunity to meet our 2026 foundations students and show them what being a student at Westbreen Primary School is all about. Our sessions will be happening on the 7th, 14th and 21st of November at 9.15am. We look forward to seeing everyone and making each session enjoyable. Thank you to Kerry for all her work in this space and for being so available to the community.
2025 Student Exits
We ask that you let us know if you are moving or have enrolled in another school in 2025. We require this information as soon as possible to establish grade structures for the start of the new school year. If your child is currently in Foundation- Year 5 and will not be at Westbreen Primary School in 2025.
Please notify westbreen.ps@education.vic.gov.au in writing as soon as possible.
Transition to 2026
It's that time of the year when we start preparing and organising class placements for 2026. This process is crucial as we want to ensure that each student is in an environment that supports their learning needs.
We will begin by grouping students based on their friendships, using a sociogram filled in by the students as stated through communication this week. Your support in having preliminary conversations with your child about this is greatly appreciated. We believe involving students, parents, and staff in this process will result in the best outcome for our students.
Here are the criteria we consider when establishing classes:
The children's individual learning capabilities
The known social, emotional, and physical stages of the individual child
Friendship groupings, ensuring that each student is placed with at least one friend from their sociogram
Balancing the number of males and females in each class
Addressing the needs of English as an additional language learners and other special needs
Creating classes with similar educational and behavioural profiles
Anticipating growth in class numbers
Ensuring compatibility of sub-groupings
Considering the students' ability to cope with change.
Class Requests
Thank you to everyone who has contacted the school to share requests and information regarding classes in 2026. I wanted to share some additional information from our school policy to ensure clarity and transparency as we move towards 2026.
Requests for placement with friends:
Westbreen Primary School recognises the importance of fostering and maintaining friendship groups. We also understand that it is equally important for students to mix and learn with peers who have different interests. Westbreen Primary School determines friendship groups by a socio-gram which is completed by the student in class with notice given to parents via XUNO, in the week prior. The aim of this exercise is to ensure that all students be placed with at least one friend from their socio-gram. If the student does not get at least one friend, the parents will be contacted. If you would like to request that your child, be placed in a class with a particular friend or friends, please ensure that you make this request the year prior so that we can consider your request in organising our classes for the following year. Requests for class placements must be made in writing, outlining who you would like your child to be placed with and why. Requests can be addressed to the Principal, via the Westbreen email address – westbreen.ps@education.vic.gov.au . We will not always be able to accommodate class placement requests but will endeavour to take your wishes into consideration where possible.
Requests for placement with certain teachers:
All teachers at Westbreen Primary School are caring and committed educators and Westbreen Primary School strives to ensure that all students are provided with a high-quality education. Whilst we appreciate that you may wish that your child would benefit from being placed in a class with a particular teacher, we are generally unable to accommodate these requests. Our school’s leadership team has an in-depth understanding of each teacher’s strengths and will always endeavour to place our students with teachers who are best placed to suit their needs.
Thank you to everyone for another wonderful week at school! It's been great to see our students learning, growing and supporting one another. Wishing all our families a safe and happy weekend ahead.
Daniel Taylor
Acting Principal
The Victorian Government acknowledges Aboriginal Traditional Owners of Country throughout Victoria and pays respect to their cultures and Elders past, present and emerging.
