Dear Families

After a bit of a taste of spring last week it appears that we are back to winter again this week.....let’s hope more nice weather is just around the corner.

Christmas Raffle

Thank you so much to those people who have already sent in items we can use in our Christmas raffle. Our parents and friends group are already looking to put these hampers together is readiness for the raffle being drawn – which is planned for the assembly on Monday, December 19. For those of you still to contribute, we welcome all types of gifts: as long as they are new and not past their use by date. Toys, foodstuffs, Christmas decorations and ornaments, puzzles, garden tools...... the list is endless. You can leave these with your child’s class teacher, or deliver them to the office. Should you have a business and wish to contribute something, please contact our office so that we can advertise in our newsletter for you.

Tickets for purchase in the Christmas raffle will come home early next week.

State election

Saturday, November 26th is the state election. Just to clarify, the school is NOT a polling place in this election. We are only used when it is a federal campaign. Voting centeres will be open between 8am and 6pm on this day, and your nearest locations to vote at include Iramoo Primary School, Riverbend Primary School, Manor Lakes College and Thomas Chirnside Primary School.

Year two sleepover

Last Thursday was the year two sleepover. This most successful event, attended by almost 170 children was enjoyed by all, although we suspect there were some very sleepy young people by the end of the day on Friday. There were certainly some overtired adults – who didn’t get a lot of rest. Keeping an eye on some very excited young people does not lend itself to much sleep. Nonetheless the evening went off without a hitch: despite the wet weather! A huge thank you to the attending staff, and also to everyone involved in the organisation of this event. The children would not have had the opportunity to experience this initial camping experience without your willingness to be involved.

STEM Day

Yesterday was STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) day and our students were involved in a range of activities....... this time with a focus around designing things for Wynston, our school therapy dog. These activities, which also had a focus on sustainability, were aimed at developed children’s creativity and problem solving skills whilst also involving them in the investigate-design-produce-evaluate cycle. For further information, see a message from our STEM leader, Mr Laird, later in the newsletter under the School News tab.

And also......

....there continues to be a lot of activities planned for students despite the end of the year approaching. Learning takes many forms, and doesn’t stop! Some of these activities include:

The year four museum excursion held this week
The upcoming foundation puppet incursion
The Real Robotics excursion for selected students
The year five author incursion
The year five swimming program
The Foundation – Year two athletics day
The grade six graduation

Student reports are also currently being written

by teachers and will go live to families on or

about December 13.

Foundation class of 2023 - transition

Planning for the transition sessions for our youngest students in 2023 is now almost complete. The first of these sessions is scheduled for next Monday, November 21. Parents will have been notified of the details of this session – which is not the same time for everyone. If you are yet to enrol your young person for our foundation class next year (or know of someone in that situation), encourage them to enrol their child now. There are a further three sessions beyond next Monday, and your son or daughter will have the opportunity to be involved in these IF we have their details.

Reminder: last day of school

As approved by school council, school closes for the Christmas vacation period on Tuesday, December 20th at 1.15pm. Please ensure that your children are collected on time. This dismissal will follow a whole of school assembly at which time we will say goodbye to our current year six group, and send with them our very best wishes as they head off to secondary school in 2023.

Some other arrangements about the final day of school for 2022:

Children will be able to come in casual dress: NO open toe shoes or shoestring straps will be allowed for safety reasons
There will be NO lunch break on this day: students will need to eat lunch when they get home
The canteen will be open at recess but it will have limited stock
NO school bags are to come to school on the last day. Any that come will be collected and stored at the front office
Students will meet their class for 2023 on this day. We will not be able to release this information to families any earlier

The first day of school for all students at WVPS in 2023 will be on Tuesday, January 31st. This may be a day later than some of the other local schools as we have opted to take an additional curriculum day at that time: rather than having it at another time during the year.

School uniform

As the year is coming to a close our students often neglect the need to be wearing full school uniform each and every day. This is inclusive of the need for all black school shoes. As these shoes are able to be sneakers, they will be useful beyond their life as a school shoe. Please assist us in insisting of this as your child leaves home each day

School Council

Tonight is the last of these meetings for this year. My thanks to the members of the school council for their contribution to the running of the school in this way: and acknowledge the out of hours’ time commitment this takes. We do appreciate you!

Congratulations to…

Steph Buck and Mathew upon the arrival of their baby girl, Maize Alma, who was born on Halloween. We look forward to meeting this newest member of the WVPS family.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone. Fingers crossed that we get some good weather.

Kind regards

Sue Seneviratne

Principal

Important Dates