Principal's Report

Welcome to our first newsletter

Today we launch Edition #1 of the Wollert iNewsletter. Strong communication with our families is the bridge between school learning and home learning, a partnership we value greatly. Our iNewsletter will be shared at the end of every month, providing a recap of our school growth as well as the celebrations and events to come. Our website will launch at the beginning of Semester 2, with the aim to extend our connect within and beyond our immediate Wollert Community. We hope you enjoy exploring our MAY edition!

Wominjeka  means Hello/Welcome in the Woiwurrung language of the Wurundjeri people of Kulin Nation – the traditional owners of Melbourne. You will notice this greeting within our iNewsletter and hear it daily throughout our school as students and staff greet each other. We are invested in learning about our indigenous culture and pay great respect to the land we all gather on daily to learn and grow. The red river gum tree on our cover page is the heart of our school and the inspiration for our logo, building names and uniform colour. There are three pieces of land that have a black fence around it, just like our red river gum. These are purposefully placed to both highlight and protect the cultural heritage within. We look forward to connecting with our local indigenous group as we grow to learn the stories of the land we are on each day.

'Remember, we are raising a child, a whole child. We're raising a mind, a body, a heart and a soul - not just a brain on a seat.' Maggie Dent

NAPLAN Month

What a timely reminder Maggie's quote is to us all as we move deeply into our learning year and out of the month that delivers NAPLAN for our Year 3 and Year 5 students. NAPLAN is the national assessment that every Year 3, 5, 7 & 9 student experiences. The assessment is spread over three days and covers Literacy and Numeracy. These assessments are completed within an hour on average, with students in an exam environment, silently and independently completing them in a timed situation. 

NAPLAN results tell us something about your child but they do not tell us everything. At Wollert, what we do every day with your children in their learning environment matters most. Unlike the NAPLAN environment, our learning environment provides opportunities to think deeply and slowly if needed, work at a reasonable pace, use materials and supports to assist work and receive support through peer and teacher collaboration.

We will approach the results of your child with CURIOSITY but we will not be using these results to define their learning story. We congratulate all of our students for the way they undertook the assessments,  a great demonstration of Brilliance by all. 

NAPLAN results will be shared with families when they arrive at our school, estimated to be at the beginning of Term 3.

Staff Learning Story 

Learning is a daily, life long action. Everyone at Wollert learns together and our staff are committed to strengthening their own knowledge and skills, just as much as building those of our students.

Wednesday our Curriculum Day provided the opportunity for WPS and Edgars Creek PS to join forces in learning. We were very excited to spend the day focused on student (and human) behaviours with Dan Petro, a well known Behaviour Analyst. How a student behaves day to day is important to understand. Happy, well regulated, emotionally strong students are what we hope to grow and what every teacher hopes for in their class day to day. We know however that this is not always the case, depending on the changing needs and developmental stages of children. Behaviour management is a daily teacher task that can be all consuming and impact the positive environment we aim to create.

We were fortunate to learn evidence-based approaches and information that we know will support our positive learning environments and assist all of our students in learning how to manage themselves independently.

We thank Edgars Creek PS for inviting us to join them in such a valuable day.

Gym, Performing Arts, Canteen

We're on track to open and launch our Gym, Performing Arts and Multi-Purpose Rooms at the beginning of Term 3! It has been interesting to see the build come to life and on a recent walk through we were blown away with the quality and enormity of this facility. This part of our build was not opened with our school due a second court being built for the Wollert East Secondary College currently being built. Our school has full access to our facilities, with the Secondary School only able access the second court. However the opportunity for the community to access and use this facility on weekends and after school as a whole once it opens is positive. 

We are currently in the process of securing a canteen service to begin in Term 3 also. Our hope is that the canteen will open to begin Term 3 however this will depend on whether we source a company that meets our needs. Look out for further information about this in future iNewsletters.

Education Week  seesReading open for all to see!

We eagerly welcomed our families to join us for our Independent Reading Routine that consistently occurs every day in both Learning Communities. This was a wonderful time as it brought us great JOY finally seeing our families in our buildings, soaking up our learning in real time. If you didn't get to attend don't despair. We plan on having Open Mornings and Afternoons routinely each term to allow our community to see our learning unfold. Thanks for joining us!