Across Oliver's Desk 

Dear Parents,

Every day I come to school, I am so grateful that I work in such a wonderful school community. This might be because of last year but I cherish seeing such wonderful smiles in the morning and focused engaging classrooms throughout the day. 

GRADE FIVE & SIX CAMP TO THE CITY

I was lucky enough to visit last week’s grade 5/6 camp city camp.  I visited on the night the students were at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.  It really is an impressive facility, but my favourite moment was when the children watched a girl do a dive off the highest platform.  Our students watched from the next pool area, which is separated by glass windows. That didn’t stop them all from clapping and cheering her beautiful dive, they’re such beautiful children! 

Below is some thoughts about camp written by Josiah and Lucy who are both current grade six students:

My favourite part is when we went to MSAC, in the wave pool, it was like I was at the beach.  A funny thing that happened was when a person on my table at desert smothered ice cream all over their face.  A big thankyou to my group leader for giving us all a free slushy and a thank you to all of the group leaders and volunteers for helping us have an amazing camp.

Josiah 5/6C

5 /6 City camp was amazing and everyone had a blast.  We got to stay at City CYC (Christian Youth Camp) where we had delicious meals and got to watch movies and talk.  Over the week we took lots of trains and trams and got to visit things like the Shrine of Remembrance, MSAC, the Old Melbourne Gaol and had a delicious meal at the Universal restaurant on Lygon street.  IMAX was great and we got to watch a movie called Walking with the Dinosaurs which was really cool and felt like the dinosaurs were really jumping out at you.  The Shrine of Remembrance was really cool and fascinating, we got to see things like the old uniforms, medals and badges and also got to walk to this really cool room that was underneath a grassy Hill.  It was really nice standing around the Eternal Flame because it was a great way of remembering everyone and everything.

Lucy 5/6C

COVID SAFE

I would like to remind everyone that even though restrictions have been eased, parents coming into the school for more than 15mins need to sign in at the office.   Thanks for your help with this.

CURRIUCLUM DAY MONDAY 29TH MARCH

I’m aware that curriculum days can be difficult for parents to manage, they are however really important at Woori Yallock PS as we invest heavily in our teachers’ professional development. We want our teachers to have knowledge of the best researched up to date teaching methods. These days are not days off for teachers, and are in fact exhausting.  Our School Council has approved a curriculum day for Monday 29th of March please make note of this in your calendars. 

PT AT WOORI

We are really lucky to have Rebecca Bower running some personal training sessions for parents at our school.  Our school is a vital part of the community and I am very pleased that we can provide a space for such a healthy activity to run.  The sessions will of course not interfere in anyway with the running of the school or student P/E sessions.  If you are interested in joining the sessions please contact Rebecca.

SCHOOL COUNCIL

For the first time in many years the number of parent nominations did not exceed the number of places we have on council.  Therefore the school does not need to hold a school council election, the follow members are on our school council for 2021: 

DET Council Members: 

Amy Cleary

Libby Bemrose

Flick Curnow

Ash Shanks 

Executive Officer: 

Oliver Thockloth

Parent Council Members: 

Laura Marchione 

Kieran Cantwell

Adel Ormsby

Kellie Scott 

Rebecca Roda

Amanda Murphy

Jasmine Maloney

Alex Syme

Kim Jordan

Trudy Bond

Congratulations to all of our 2021 school council members.   We wish you all the very best as you embark on making such a vital and generous contribution to Woori Yallock Primary School.  I would also like to thank retiring members Kylie Davey and Mary Menta.  Your years of dedicated service to Woori Yallock Primary School are very much acknowledged and appreciated. 

OUR NEW PREPS

Every day I spend time in every classroom in the school.  It is an absolute joy for me to see how orderly the learning environment is across the school but particularly in Prep when it can be a challenge for teachers at this time of the year.  I can already see the wonderful teaching our Prep team are doing as the Preps soak in all the learning that is going on, I took a few photos last week when I was doing my walk throughs of the school.

ATTENDANCE 

(It’s not ok to be away!) 

Attendance patterns are established early – a child regularly missing days in kindergarten or in the early years of school will often continue to miss classes in the later years, and receive lower test scores than their class-mates.  It’s vital that students go to school every day – even in the early years of primary school. 

• If for any reason your child must miss school, please speak with your child’s classroom teacher and find out what work they need to do to keep up.
• Remember, EVERY DAY COUNTS.  If your child must miss school, please send a note of explanation or contact the school via the Compass App.
• Sickness  – There are always times when students need to miss school, such as when they’re ill. It’s vital that they’re only away on the days they are genuinely sick, and setting good sleep patterns, eating well and exercising regularly can make a big difference.
• ‘Day off’ – Please think twice before letting your child have a ‘day off’ as they could fall behind their classmates – EVERY DAY COUNTS! 

It’s also important to remember that learning time begins at 9:00am Monday through to Friday. In classrooms this is a time when important information is provided to students that assists them with understanding the planned activities for the day ahead. Students who arrive after 9:00am can miss out on important learning, and research shows that repeated lateness can have a seriously negative impact on progress. Please ensure that your child arrives at school in plenty of time to make their way to the classroom and be ready to commence learning at 9:00am

And remember when life gets a little difficult escape to the wonderful world of a book! Also the footy is back in a few weeks and I should remind you all that at this time of the year the Blues are flying! 

Oliver Thockloth

Principal