Across Oliver's Desk 

Dear Parents,

A big thanks to all our parents for being patient with our kiss and drop. The kiss and drop does seem to be running well at the moment, although I know there is 10 minutes each night where it does stagnate. I’m sure you are all aware that we do our best every day to keep the traffic moving. Particularly, Mrs Menta who is much better than I am at keeping the traffic moving. 

Please remember not to turn right into the kiss and drop during the morning and afternoon. There is a no right turn sign. I would hate for any of our families to get fined by council or the Police. 

BUILDING WORKS

It is so good to see some progress with our new school building. I went for a walk-through last week with Nat, Jess H and Mary.  We all came away very excited at what it will look like, especially the light coming in from windows. The current timeline (which has changed a lot) is that the building will be finished in September.

ANZAC DAY

I’ve worked in several areas and school networks throughout my time in education. I have to say that the work the Upper Yarra RSL does to include children and families in its services is outstanding. Thank you to all the Woori families that participated in the service at Yarra Junction on ANZAC day. It was a brilliant day weather wise, and as always, an extremely well put together service. Although having to sing ‘God save the Queen’ (because the king hasn’t been officially crowned) felt a little strange. 

WOORI YALLOCK KINDERGARDEN VISIT

At the end of last term we had staff from Woori Yallock Kindergarden visit the school to look at the children’s work. The children were so excited to share their new learning with the kinder staff. We have a great relationship with Adel and our two local Kindergarden’s. We hope to have Adel come back soon. 

During term three and four our Prep teachers will visit and sometimes co-teach at the kindergardens, where we know students are going to transition to our school. 

STEPS MORNING TEA

One of the best things I get to do is having morning tea with our steps winners. Last Wednesday we enjoyed a sweet and savoury morning tea with party pies, sausage rolls, cake, ice cream and a fruit platter. During the morning tea the students talked about how they get step ups from their teacher. I loved listening to the response because they all align with our values of High Expectations and Respect:

• Open doors for people
• Have nice manners and remember to say thank you
• Be the first to be ready for the lesson
• Do your best and try new things
• Give good answers to questions teachers ask
• Clean up your desk and be organised
• Be enthusiastic

ENROLING FOR PREP 2024

I’m currently doing lots of school tours, even though the cut-off date for enrolments isn’t until August. We do like our parents to enrol as early as possible. Next year we will only run three Prep classes because we will have to accommodate for 6, 1/2 classes. This is solely because we don’t want those class sizes to be too big. Therefore, we will be taking a maximum of 54 Prep students in 2024.

Our Prep information evening is scheduled for Tuesday, 30th of May; this night is really for prospective parents or new Prep Woori parents for 2024.

LOCAL HISTORY

I thought I would include a little bit of local history in my newsletters for this term, so here is the first:

The rail trail, why is it there?

Woori Yallock station was situated on the Lilydale-Warburton line which was approximately 23.97 miles long (38km) and cost $93,500 to build. Construction started on this line on 28th November, 1899, and was completed and opened to public traffic on 13th November 1901. Economically the service did not warrant continuation and was closed on the 29th July, 1965. 

At least we now have a great trail to work and ride along!

Have a great week!

And remember when life gets a little difficult, escape to the wonderful world of a book! I’m currently reading Maralinga by Frank Walker. Definitely a shocking piece of our history.

Oliver Thockloth

Principal