Principal's Message

At Wembley Primary School, we acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which our school sits, the Woi-wurrung and Boonwurrung people of the South-Eastern Kulin Nation. 

We celebrate and respect the oldest continuing culture and recognise the importance of education in truth telling, equity and justice.

We pay our respects to Elders past and present and recognise and value the learning that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, colleagues and community bring into our schools.  

Term 2: Week 7-8 Update

It's been another busy fortnight here at Wembley, teachers have been finalising the students' End of Semester Reports so that they are ready to be published next week, in preparation for our Student Led Conferences.

In classrooms, teachers are beginning to prepare for our Student Led Conferences - happening in Week 10 (see Sentral emails for booking information). Below, a number of students from 2A are preparing some writing work to share as part of their student conference. They have been creating characters, making them and then writing about them across a range of genres. 

I suspect these students may also showcase these pieces at our Writing Celebration in Week 11! We will share greater information about this celebration via email next week, but in summary, we will be opening our classrooms for the afternoon on Tuesday July 1st, from 2:45pm in order to provide an opportunity for students to share their writing with you. 

Our students have enjoyed an number of extra-curricular experiences this fortnight, with our Year 1 students visiting the Melbourne Zoo and our Year 3 students visiting Phillip Island for an overnight camp - they were even lucky enough to view the infamous Penguin Parade! We thank our Year 3 teachers and parent helpers who enabled this camp to go ahead - whilst the experience is always a lot of fun, it takes a lot of hard work and organisation, for which we are very grateful. 

Our Year 6s are up next, with their 3 day camp to Forest Edge CYC - this three day experience is designed to help students build confidence, develop resilience, and strengthen friendships through engaging outdoor activities. We're looking forward to seeing photos of them Mountain Boarding, doing the Flying Fox, Areostomp and Crate Climbing, just to name a few! 

Last newsletter we acknowledged some work that our Diversity and Inclusion captains have been undertaking with Miss Ruth, one of our art teachers. This week, they have finished their first piece: 

This piece was part of a project, acknowledging IDAHOBIT day, a day of importance for members of our LGBTQIA+ community. However, the captains have taken this idea and broadened it's reach - encouraging all people to 'be themselves'. The captains have incorporated the colours of the Progress Pride flag when individually making the feathers of the wings, and the piece is designed so that students can come and have their photo taken between the wings. Nessie Taylor is one of the Diversity and Inclusion captains and is proudly featured in one of these photos. The captains will now continue on with their other project, focused on creating a piece to celebrate neurodiversity (also mentioned in our previous newsletter). 

Our parent volunteers have continued to be an incredible support this term. We thank Sam Pistun, Eileen Rawstron and the remainder of their team who facilitated the operation of the Scholastic Book Fair. All classes had an opportunity to visit the book fair, and it was clear to see how much they enjoyed engaging with the new books. The WPA are also in the final stages of preparing for the much anticipated Student Disco - held next Friday June 20th. Detailed information has already been sent out via Sentral, including information about how to book tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/DBZLH. We're really looking forward to the event, and of course want to thank parent, Russell Hunt and his team of volunteers who are making it possible for our students to enjoy this event. 

We also wanted to acknowledge Sofia Courtney and her Year 6 team of Sustainability Captains. They are often on the lookout for ways to improve our environmental footprint, and in fact the sustainability captains and leadership group are volunteering at the disco next week to help support waste management. Last year, Sofia wrote an article and has been successfully accepted into the publication: Eingana. Eingana is the well-regarded journal of Environment Education Victoria that has been published for over 30 years. An enormous congratulations on this achievement! 

Finally, we wanted to acknowledge and thank any parents who have shared positive feedback and communication with our teachers recently. Term 2 is notoriously hard work, culminating with reports and student led conferences, but we are aware that some teachers have received some heartfelt communication from their families - we wanted to let you know that this goes a very long way and is so appreciated. Of course, not all feedback can be positive 100% of the time, so we also appreciate those parents who have needed to shared constructive feedback, or report something of concern, but have done so in the spirit of our community code of conduct; reflecting the values we also impress upon our students. 

Thank you everyone, and we look forward to the final few weeks of this term

~ Katie McClue: Acting Principal ~

Premier's Reading Challenge

Thank you to specialist teacher, Chris Kane, who has been setting up and overseeing our participation in the Premier's Reading Challenge - see below: 

The Challenge is open to all Victorian children from birth to Year 10 and aims to help young readers develop a lifelong love of reading. It is not a competition; it is a personal challenge for children to read a set number of books by 1 September 2025.

Children from Prep to Year 2 are encouraged to read or ‘experience’ 30 books with their parents and teachers. Children from Year 3 to Year 10 are challenged to read 15 books.

All children who meet the Challenge will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the Victorian Premier and former Premiers.

This year, the Challenge is celebrating its 20th anniversary with the theme ‘20 years of words and wonder’ and a year of special activities. For details, follow the Victorian Premiers' Reading Challenge Facebook. Since it began in 2005, more than 4.5 million young readers have taken part and together read more than 63 million books!

To read the Premier’s letter to parents, view the booklist and for more information about the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, visit www.vic.gov.au/premiers-reading-challenge 

Individual student logins will be provided to students at the end of last term, however feel free to contact the challenge coordinator, Christine Kane, if you misplace your password details or should you have any other challenge related queries.  

Happy Reading!

General Reminders