Dear Members of the Glen Waverley Primary School Community,

I trust all is well with you and your family and welcome to this fortnight’s newsletter where so much is shared about our wonderful school.

As per usual, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me on 9802 9938 or via email at frank.catalano@education.vic.gov.au.

End of Term One

I always find it difficult to believe that another school term is about to come to an end. Nevertheless, it certainly has been a fantastic term as we have accomplished so much as a school community such as:

The Prep children commencing school so confidently
The entire student body beginning their learning with rigour and intent
The very successful Year 5 camp and swimming programs
Sporting tournaments and incursions
The completion of the NAPLAN assessment tasks in Term One for the very first time.

What’s planned for our school during the forthcoming holidays?

The holidays are an opportune time to have tasks completed throughout the school, these holidays we plan to:

Refurbish the student bathrooms near the library – change the sinks, taps, tile the walls, and paint the ceilings
Place plants in the indigenous garden
Install new shelving in some of the classrooms and
Install the drinking taps which were purchased at the end of last year.

I look forward to sharing some photos in the next newsletter.

School Photos

Thank you everyone for supporting this year’s school photographs and we look forward to them being delivered next term.

Congratulations to Akshara

Akshara (Year 3) loves to perform and sing! Last month she auditioned for the Victorian levelled singing competition ‘Take the Mic,’ and recently she performed at Chappel off Chappel, in front of renowned judges Thando Sikwila and Taylor Henderson and an audience. Akshara sang Stone Cold by Demi Lovato and loved the experience.

Although she was not selected for the finals, she had a fabulous time, learn a great deal and also received a special personal comment from Thando at the end of the show.

Well done and congratulations Akshara we look forward to hearing all about your progress in the future!

Congratulations to Yuvraj

Yuvraj loves to play tennis and recently he played in the Grade D3 competition organised by Waverley District Tennis Association (WDTA). In the grand final, they played against Eley Park and won (4-2) who were undefeated throughout the competition. Yuvraj’s team played them twice throughout the season and lost 2, 4. Yuvraj contributed by winning the last doubles match convincingly (6-3) and securing the premiership after being third on the competition leader board.

Well done and congratulations Yuvraj!

Congratulations to Joshua

Joshua in 6A is an avid swimmer and recently competed in multiple competitive swimming events across the state including :

Eastern Metropolitan Primary Swimming Mixed Region Championships - Placed 1st in Butterfly and Freestyle
Syndal District Swimming - Placed 1st in Butterfly and Freestyle
Monash-Waverley Primary Swimming Mixed Division - Placed 1st in Butterfly and Freestyle and
Eastern Metropolitan Primary Swimming Mixed Region Championships - Placed 7th in the 50m Freestyle and 3rd in the 50m Butterfly.

Congratulations on your well-deserved success's and achievements in swimming. Your determination and efforts are second to none, and we wish you even more success in the future. Keep up your hard work and perseverance, and we look forward to hearing more about your swimming journey in the future.

Congratulations to Veer

Veer loves all things karate and recently he participated in the National All Styles Karate (Forms) championships and I am extremely proud to report that he placed 1st which is an amazing and fabulous achievement!

Well done and congratulations Veer, we are so proud of you and look forward to hearing how you go in the world championships later in the year!

Congratulations to Hirun and Onalee

Hirun and his sister Onalee love athletics and recently, they both participated in the Knox Little Athletics Club Championships .

Hirun received a total of 5 medals:

- Silver in Triple Jump and the 70m sprint and

- Gold in the 80m hurdles, Long Jump and High Jump.

Well done, congratulations and keep up the fabulous effort Hirun!

Congratulations to Onalee who participated in the Under 7’s events and was awarded:

A bronze medal for the 100 m sprint and
A silver medal in the 70 m sprint.

Well done, congratulations and keep up the fabulous effort Onalee!

Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal “Coin Race”

It certainly has been fantastic to see the children come to school with lots of coins for our much-anticipated Coin Race. As mentioned in a Compass post by Sahana, Sara and Akeesha (Year 4) the children are very excited about this initiative and can’t wait to see the various coin races throughout our school, announce how much has been raised and then announce the winning class ……………. The class with the longest line!

Vivaan’s Special Experience

Recently Vivaan visited Monash University and he wrote to me as he wanted to share what he had learnt:

Newton’s Tree

Dear Mr Catalano,

I wish to share a great experience with you. On the Labour Day public holiday, I visited a very special tree! We went to Monash University Clayton Campus. There they have planted an apple tree, which is a cutting from the original tree when Sir Isaac Newton observed gravity. The tree was planted in 1975.

I had a great time.

Yours,

Vivaan (Year 3)

Vivaan, it is quite obvious that this encounter has had a profound impact on you. Thank you for sharing and please keep up your love of learning!

District Athletics Day

Tomorrow our school Athletics Team will participate in the Syndal District competition. May I take this opportunity to wish all of the children the best of luck and look forward to sharing our successes in the next newsletter.

Year 6 Sports Top

I am pleased to let you know our brand-new Year 6 Sports Top is now available for purchase from the Uniform Shop. It seems to be quite popular, with many of the Year 6 students already purchasing and wearing their tops to school on Fridays.

As mentioned in a previous Compass Post the sports top was designed by our 2022 House Captains, which gave our 2022 Year 4-6 students the opportunity to vote on their favourite design. The purpose of the new sport uniform is for our current and future Year 6 cohorts to wear the top every Friday to represent our school in various sporting events, effectively establishing a connection with our school brand, and making a lasting impression.

Our New Football Jumpers

I am incredibly proud to report that our school’s new football jumpers have arrived just in time for the winter inter-school sport competitions.

The jumpers were organised and designed by the 2022 House Captains in conjunction with the Year 4,5 and 6 students. Congratulations to the children involved and a sincere thank you to A Plus school wear, our uniform suppliers, for agreeing to sponsor our new jumpers. I look forward to the children proudly wearing their jumpers next term!

School Holiday Program

A reminder that our school implements a school vacation care program every school holidays. A copy of the program is attached for your information and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact or see Meththa our school coordinator.

Staffing Update

It is with a touch of sadness and also lots of joy that I announce that the following staff are about to take maternity leave:

Ms. Tracey Tsang and Ms. Trish Singh – who are both expecting their first child.
Ms. Tsang was in a support role this term and is being replaced by Ms. Lucy Lou. Lucy commenced with us at the beginning of the school year
Ms. Singh’s class will be taken by Ms. Annie Lou. Ms. Lou has been a member of our staff for several years although she spent 2022 and Term One this year teaching in Vietnam
Ms. Sarah Donald – is expecting her second child. This term she has been in a support and coaching position and is not being replaced.

Please join me in wishing Ms. Tsang, Ms. Singh and Ms. Donald all the very best as they enter this exciting time in their lives and also welcoming Ms. Lou back to our school.

I look forward to sharing additional news ASAP.

I also take this opportunity to:

Welcome Mr Solly (Sol) Moosa to our school community and staff team. Solly has experience in school maintenance and will be joining Michael as part of our maintenance and school improvement team. Please join me in welcoming Solly and please ensure you say hello and make yourself known when you see him and
I am thrilled to announce that our Speech Pathologist, Grace Wong has extended her days with us and as of the beginning of next term, she will be working Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday which will enable Grace to extend the support she provides the children, parents, and staff.

End of Term Reminders

Please be aware of the following pertaining to next week and the first week of Term Two:

Next week:

Next Thursday 6th April, the final day of Term One and the children will be dismissed at 2:30 pm.
Our After School Care Program will subsequently commence from 2:30
An end of term assembly will be held from 1:40 in the gymnasium and all parents are most welcome to attend
The last day of each term is also a “free dress” day and there is no cost to participate.
Childcare (Vacation Care) is available throughout the forthcoming holidays at our school. Please see Meththa (our Out of School Hours Coordinator) to make the necessary arrangements or our website: www.glenps.vic.edu.au and follow the links to Before and After School Care.

First Week of Term Two:

The commencement of Term Two this year is different than normal as per the following:

Monday 24th April is a Curriculum Day at our school:
In the morning we will update our First Aid qualifications (at our school all staff have a minimum Level Two qualifications) and
In the afternoon we will focus on assessment and reporting.
Please be aware that our school’s Vacation Care program has been extended to include Monday 24th April.
Tuesday 25th April is the ANZAC Day Public Holiday
Hence, school will resume on Wednesday 26th April at 8:50am.

Principal Awards

Congratulations to the following students for receiving a Principal Awards recently:

1C

Ryleigh and Seth for working so hard on their CDW learning

1E

Abha and Jacob for working really hard on learning how to spell really tricky words

2A

Samuel, Anusha, Hansen, Jacob and Aaradhya for continuing to make the most amazing growth with their writing skills
Austin and Siddharth for writing very interesting narratives

2C

Deana for making amazing progress with her writing. She wrote an extensive narrative about Chicken Fox
Tasmira for being a wonderful friend

3B

Riaan for working exceptionally hard on his home learning in particular his research on Albert Einstein

3C

Veer for placing first in a karate tournament. Although he currently is in Orange belt, he competed in the Brown belt competition and still placed first!
Saheli and Tianna for writing outstanding rhyming narratives
Nuvee for writing a very funny rhyming narrative about an elephant with a huge tail that wanted to be an astronaut
Eva for being a wonderful friend

3D

Aibel for working very hard to build a variety of Lego Ninjago characters and then for being incredibly generous by adding them to our schools Lego display cabinet

4A

Hridu for making outstanding progress wth his maths

4D

Kyra for continuing to excel with her home learning and learning in general

Wishing everyone a safe and happy fortnight.

Frank Catalano

Principal

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