Principal's Message

Dear Families

Can you believe it – the year is half over!!!  I’m sure you, like us, are looking forward to the holidays and a rest from the usual school routine.

School finishes early tomorrow

A reminder that school finishes in readiness for the term break at 2.30pm tomorrow, following a whole of school assembly.   Children will need to be collected almost half an hour earlier than usual.  Students are also able to come in casual dress for the last day of term – please, no open toe shoes or bare shoulders for safety reasons – and the                                                                         canteen will be operating as usual.  

Assistant Principal

As you would be aware, John Pickett, Assistant Principal Years 2-4 has been on leave as he has taken on an Acting Principal position at Forrest Primary.  Whilst this appointment was only for a few weeks there is always the chance that this will be extended.  We have appointed Michael Laird to the role of Acting Assistant Principal to fill the vacancy created by John leaving, and Michael will continue in this role for the remainder of 2023 even when John returns.  At that time John will assume oversight of year three and four and Michael will continue with his support and guidance of year two. 

Student Safety

Parents, please don’t call your children to the fence, or talk to them through it.  We are trying to train the children to stay away from the boundary in the interest of their own safety.  Teachers get concerned when they see you speaking with our students as they may not know who you are, and other children will copy this, and potentially engage with strangers whom we know nothing about, as they have been copying your child.  In no instances should you lift your son or daughter over the fence.  That’s when we get reports of a kidnapping.

Shop for your School

Have you checked the leader board of the shop for your school initiative run by Pacific Werribee?  After winning this competition last year, we have now slipped to eighth!  Don’t forget to upload your receipts from any of the nominated shops to the website: https://pacificwerribee.sproutix.com.au/formTix/?f=   to help us make our way to the top three.  Receipts are accepted from any of the following shops: Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, Marketplace Fresh, Pretty’s Prime Cuts, Bakers Delight, Fish Pier, Global Meats & Groceries, Pacific Asia Supermarket and R & V Spice Bazaar. 

We also encourage you to collect receipts from friends and family and upload them as well.  Every entry you submit gives you the chance to win a $300.00 gift card – one is drawn every week!

                Spelling bee

A HUGE congratulations to all students who put their hand up to try out for the spelling bee – the finals for which were held last week.  Four finalists from each year level put in their very best efforts, both representing their house, and attempting to be the champion on the day.  Thanks to Kelsey Matheson who oversaw the organisation of this event.  Spelling words orally, without the help of a pencil and paper, in front of a large group of people and with a microphone can be very intimidating to adults and even more so to our pupils, and all the children who participated made us very proud.  A big congratulations to the following who were ultimately named winners on the day:

We have photos from the spelling bee later in the newsletter, under the School News tab. 

Student reports

Teachers have been assessing the students in order to complete reports in readiness for their release in week one of term three. The report is one way to chart your child’s progress. Other ways include the Parent/Teacher interviews in early third term.

Your children also have learning goals in key subject areas.  Take the time to have a conversation with them about what their goals are, and what steps they are taking to achieve these.  Students acknowledge that having and working on a goal is one way they can take some responsibility for their learning. 

Academic results are important but please remember that all children are more than just that; they are musicians, artists, athletes and friends just to name a few roles and all of these areas need to be recognised as learning. There will be an opportunity in week 2 of Term 3 to discuss your child’s report with the teacher in parent/ teacher interviews. More information about how to book those interviews will be released on COMPASS tomorrow.  

Staffing

Our school, like all other local schools, continues to have a struggle to locate and appoint staff.  Then when you add the usual numbers of staff leaving just through normal life events:  pregnancy, job opportunities closer to home, promotion prospects etc., we are faced with even more pressure.  Please be aware that we are continuing to try really hard to resolve this situation and are working tirelessly in our attempts at recruitment.  Unfortunately, as mentioned, every school is in the same position, and this means the availability of new staff is very limited: and teachers have much more choice about where to work.  We will miss out if they can get a job around the corner from home!!!

Lost Property

We always aim to return what we can but often when items are unnamed, they are added to the ever increasing lost property pile.

We hope to reunite as many items as possible with their rightful owners. If you think your child may have misplaced anything at the school, please take a moment to look through the red chest located near the library entrance.

Please LABEL your children's belongings!

We have an enormous amount of lost property that was not labelled.  Please make sure that all of your child’s uniform is labelled with their FULL NAME, as well as their lunch boxes, drink bottles etc, so that we can ensure that the lost hats, jackets, jumpers are returned to their rightful owners.

If you have already labelled these items, it is also a good idea to check that they are still legible, as a lot of them have faded or smudged in the wash, making it difficult to identify them.

School Tours for prospective families 

We hold school tours on the first Monday of the month, at 11.15am if school is operating on that day.  We encourage you to let people interested in sending their child to our school of this information. Please note that we can only accept enrolments from within our school’s designated neighbourhood area.  Our School Zone is available on findmyschool.vic.gov.au which hosts the most up-to-date information on school zones in Victoria. Students residing within our school zone are guaranteed a place at our school, which is determined on the basis of your permanent residential address. Our school manages enrolments using the Department’s Placement Policy to ensure that students have access to their designated neighbourhood school. 

Enjoy the upcoming school vacation.  I trust that you get to enjoy some down time with your family.  

Kind regards

Sue Seneviratne

Principal