Principal's Message

Dear Families

Welcome back!  Hopefully, you had a fabulous term break and are well rested and ready for another busy period of learning as second term gets underway.  As you return to school routines following a bit of a rest from this process, we thought it would be timely to remind you of a few things:

Be on time for school

• Students are expected in their classrooms at 8.35am.  There are a number of children who are regularly late and this impacts on their ability to connect with their friends before the school day starts, which often sets them up for a positive experience as this is the time they are making arrangements about what to play and where to meet, etc.  They also miss the opportunity for an additional ten minutes of reading practice each morning.  If a child misses this each day, they miss approximately 31 hours of additional reading time each year…… this equates to six full days of school spent practising literacy skills.  The children who miss this are at a significant disadvantage.  That being said, 97% of our student population are at school on time each day.

School uniform

• There continues to be an expectation that all children are in full school uniform each and every day, inclusive of all black shoes.  School uniform also takes a little longer to dry after a wash these days so please factor this into your planning so that you child continues to attend in the correct jumpers.  In the cold weather students will often come to school in their coats.  They are prone to removing these during the day so please ensure these are clearly named so that we can get them back to you.  

Student diaries

Please ensure these are signed and returned to school each day.  Teachers use these as a valuable means of communication between school and home as well as for tracking children’s number of reading nights a couple of times each week.  We need to see the diary for all that to happen!

School Oval

Our school oval is open!  Following a long period of having the oval closed off for student use whilst it underwent a regeneration, we are pleased to report that it is now finally open.  The children discovered this, and we can safely say the space was well and truly tested out by many sets of little and not so little feet this week. Some fencing continues to remain around the edge of the oval whilst we give the newly resurfaced boundary spaces a bit more time to establish. Our thanks to the school council for their support and financial commitment to this project.   

Fun Run

The final tally for the fun run (this year it was a colour run) has been arrived at and we are pleased to report that the children from WVPS raised a massive $17,000.  Student prizes have been ordered and will be distributed when they arrive back in in school.  Thanks to everyone for their support of this annual fundraiser for the PE department.  Of course, Mr Edwards and Mr Reardon weren’t so thrilled about the amount raised as it meant they got water bombed at our final assembly!  

The next step in our running events is the district cross country.  The PE team have been timing students as a part of their usual lessons and those who have qualified will have received an invitation to participate in this event via COMPASS earlier in the week.  The district cross country is being held at President’s Park on Thursday, April 23.   Congratulations to all those selected to attend.  We know you will do our school proud.  

School review

Every government school undertakes a school review every four years to determine areas of strength and potential next steps to continue their improvement journey.  This review is facilitated by an external contractor and input is provided by two principals from other schools to ensure a well-rounded and unbiased view of school operations. The school council president also has a role to play in this process.  WVPS has just commenced it’s review with the first of five days held this week.  It will be completed by the middle of May and the final report presented to the school council in August.  

Congratulations to Mrs. Hamilton and her husband Jake on the safe arrival of Rylan, born 4th April 2024.

"Everyone is doing great. Jake and I are enjoying this special time together and loving every moment of being new parents" 

Congratulation to Ms. Davies and her husband Simeon on the safe arrival of Max, born on 12th April 2024. His big brother, Frank is eagerly waiting Mum to come home and looking forward to helping look after his little brother. 

Sue Seneviratne

Principal