A Word from the Principal

A Warm Welcome to our Weeden Heights Community

A warm welcome to our community

Welcome back to term three!  That break certainly went way too quickly so I hope you enjoyed having your children home for the holidays.  This is our first newsletter for term 3. 

What a start to the term…..being back in lockdown who could have imagined.   I once again would like to thank my whole community for their committed and continued support.  To the staff who I know have worked all weekend, to prepare learning tasks for students who should be on a camp, thank you.  To our parents who are juggling work, home and learning, thank you.  To our incredible students who continue to be given the biggest life lesson in being resilient, you amaze me every day. The main priority is we are all safe and well and doing our best each day.  

Please make sure you are taking time for yourself during this fifth lockdown. We are all experts now but there are days where life will be difficult and that is ok.  Take a break and start again the next day.  Hang in there everyone!                

Future Capital Works

Last term I submitted the Asset Management Report (AMP1) to the department which contains our teaching and learning approaches and includes your vision for our future school. 

Last week I toured the tendering architects so that they could see our school and understand what they could be potentially working with.  Our school is quite unique as part of block B sits on top of block A and this is never represented well on the map.  They loved the light and spaces and this will be included in their scope of works. I cannot wait to see what they might come up with. 

I will be on the panel to select the architect along with the Provisional Planning Officer from DET and the project manager for the VSBA (Victorian Schools Building Authority). This will happen in the coming weeks.

The feedback that you provided the school aligned fairly well with the staff.  Here is a summary of the feedback from the community that I used in the AMP1:

• The vibe: trust, safety, warm, welcoming, colours, supportive positive, relaxing, mindfulness
• Physical aspects of classrooms: large, open but the ability to close, keep specialist rooms, quiet spaces, opportunities for direct instruction and group work, performance/public speaking spaces, good airflow, heating and cooling, inspiration for students to be curious
• Classrooms to support extra curricula focuses; multimedia, tv studio, science lab, control of lights, oval upgrade
• Other spaces: upgrade bathrooms, modern art room, refresh the kitchen, break out rooms
• Environment: flow between inside and outside, sustainable focus, don’t lose natural light, interesting outdoor spaces for interactive play, signage, park like environment, upgrade play equipment and sandpit, cover BB court, natural gardens but no gumtrees, promote environmental and sustainable aspects of the school, solar hot water, rain harvests, cosy and warm
• Community aspects: fitness track for the community, enhance connections with the community, playground/café, warm and welcoming front area, OSHC space with so many working parents
• ICT focus: better ratio of computers and ICT, robotics, 3D printers, audio/visual equipment, programing
• More storage across the school
• Keep the library – maintain books, upgrade titles and expand
• These fell under a wish list: parents theatre, basketball stadium pottery kiln, bring back PMP, quality reference materials, holiday programs and bike shelters

Many ideas were repeated and I’ve only listed them.  Thank you so much for your ideas and directions.    The main focus of an upgrade is to remain water tight (which we are not) and they will remove all of the gas heaters/evaporative coolers and fingers crossed….replace with split systems.  This will reduce maintenance costs in the future.  The rest will be a bonus as while the upgrade sounds like a lot of money, there are many costs involved. 

Equipment is not included in capital works but hopefully we can fundraise for new play equipment. I’m really hoping for loads of new PowerPoints and usb hubs to cater for technology.  It’s going to be exciting!

Active Schools initiative – apply!

Please take a moment to look through the newsletter and find if you are eligible to apply for a grant to help with the cost of physical activities.  Parents need to apply and you could be eligible for up to $200 and we all know that would go a long way.

2021 School Production!

Mrs Watts is very busy teaching Performing Arts (Music and Drama) this semester.  There is a hype of excitement as our students begin to audition for the bi annual school production, We’re All Going on an Aussie Holiday!  This production will take you back to the good old days where we went on holidays!   It is also a showcase of our amazing country and what it has to offer.  I think that we all have a new appreciation of our country now and it will be the place where we travel for many years to come.  We will be looking for your support to make this a huge success and it is so very exciting. 

The school production is also an assessment piece for all students and they are expected to perform on the night.  The production is week eight in term 3.  Please save the date…. Monday 30 August at Crossways (on Springvale Rd at the top of Weeden Drive).  We are looking forward to seeing everyone on the night.

Mrs Watts has also written this play herself so should anything happen,  we will be producing an amazing video.  Let’s cross our fingers now that the timing will be ok. 

Student Led Conferences

Next week you will participate in student led conferences with your child and their teacher.  It is an excellent opportunity for your child to take responsibility for their learning and discuss the evidence that they have produced to support the teacher’s judgements in the school reports. 

Senior students will share their online portfolios and they are being taught this week about how to share their screens during an online conference.  Junior school students who live within the 5km zone of the school that were able to collect their portfolios on Friday from 2:00-5:00pm and they can use these to help facilitate their meeting, however students who were unable to collect their portfolios will be guided and supported throughout the interview by their teacher.  Remaining portfolios will be distributed upon our return to onsite learning.

Students will highlight samples of work that they feel proud of and are prepared to discuss with you the learning that takes place.  Thank you to the teachers for supporting them in this process as well. There are some parents who have not booked a meeting so unfortunately some students will be very disappointed as they will not have opportunity to talk through their portfolio with their parents and help develop future learning goals.  If you did not book for a student led conference then please take time at home to discuss the portfolio when it does come home as the children have put a lot of work into them. 

2022 Enrolments

I would like to remind families with children who will be beginning school in 2022 that we are still able to take enrolments.  Even if you currently have children at our school and we don’t have your 2022 enrolment form, then your preschool child is not included in our numbers as yet. Enrolment forms are available on our website.  Please return them to the office ASAP.  The Bright Beginnings transition program is about to start and you do not want to miss out. If you have neighbours that have not yet enrolled, please encourage them to come and visit the school (when it is safe) for an enrolment form.  These are also available on our website.

Until next time…… stay safe and well!

Kylie Campbell

Principal

Futures are Bright at Weeden Heights!