Principal's Message

Dear Families

Mothers’ Day

Happy Mothers’ Day to all of our mums – and those who take on that significant role for the students who attend Wyndham Vale Primary School.  I hope you got the opportunity to enjoy some of the wonderful purchases which your son or daughter had the chance to buy at our Mothers’ Day stall.  A HUGE thank you to our Parents and Friends group – and the additional volunteers – who served on the stall over two days last week, assisting children with their shopping.  

We also had the opportunity to welcome lots of mums and special friends to our annual Foundation Mothers’ Day afternoon.  Our youngest students enjoyed getting the opportunity to share some of their school experience with these special visitors.  There are some photos later in the newsletter celebrating the afternoon.

NAPLAN

This week pupils in years three and five undertook the NAPLAN testing.  These annual nationwide tests assess student’s skills in reading, writing and mathematics, and give parents and schools a good idea of the children’s achievement.  At WVPS we use these results to address identified gaps in learning, and adjust our teaching programs as needed. The tests are marked by external assessors and we anticipate having the results back in school in late term three along with reports detailing achievement being sent home to parents.

Year six camp

Yesterday our very excited year six cohort headed off to camp at Anglesea.  This was particularly exciting as this group of students missed out on camp in year four due to the restrictions around the COVID 19 pandemic.  The reports we have received from camp indicate that they are all having a wonderful time.  We anticipate them being back at school prior to the end of the day tomorrow, and expect that they will be very tired.  Thank you to the attending staff, who volunteer their time to go to camp so that they can provide the opportunity for the children of WVPS.  Below is a sneak preview of some of the fun!  

New shade sail

Last newsletter we shared with you the posts installed in readiness for our next shade sail.  This has now been fitted, and provides a protected outdoor learning space for students and teachers to enjoy.  

School photos

We are sorry that we had to postpone our expected school photo days last week due to the photographers having COVID 19.  As you may be aware, we have now rescheduled these for Thursday and Friday, June 16 and 17.  

Enrolments open for 2023

Wyndham Vale Primary School accepts enrolments from its designated neighbourhood boundary only, and we are now accepting enrolments for the 2023 school year.  This boundary can be found at www.findmyschool.vic.gov.au  Parents may call into the office to collect an enrolment form, or utilise the one on our school website.  

Most people would be aware that there is a new school opening in the Harpley estate in 2023, currently known as Lollipop creek. This may well become your nearest neighbourhood school.  If, however, your child is a current student at our school, you do not need to move them to this new school even if you now fall into their zone.  Similarly, siblings of current WVPS students will continue to be welcome at our school.  Of course, should families choose to shift schools as this new school is closer then you are also welcome to take advantage of this opportunity.  If you know of someone who would like to pursue an enrolment at Lollipop Creek, we should be able to provide the contact details of the principal in the next newsletter.  

COVID 19 cases

Thank you to those families who have notified us that their child has tested positive to COVID 19.  This enables us to notify the rest of the class so that they can be on the lookout for symptoms.  With the change of guidelines, the rest of the family no longer needs to isolate when one member gets a positive diagnosis.  They do need, however, to wear a mask when away from their house, and undertake a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) on five out of seven days from the first positive diagnosis of the household contact.  

Election Day

Families will be aware that our Federal election will be held on Saturday 21st May. Our school gymnasium will be utilised as a polling place and we have the opportunity to hold a sausage sizzle stall as a fundraising event on this day. We are looking for volunteers to assist with the cooking of sausages on this day.  If you are able to give of a small amount of time – maybe even an hour – please leave your name and availability at the front office.  

Parent-Teacher interviews

Some advance notice:  the next round of parent teacher interviews, for all students in foundation and year one – six are currently scheduled for the afternoons of Monday, June 20 and Thursday, June 23.  An invitation to book an interview will be issued via COMPASS later in the term. 

Last day of term

The last day for term two is Friday, June 24.  School will finish at 2.30pm following a whole school assembly.  

Attendance

As we are slowly integrating back into onsite learning, following two years of disruption, it is very important that we as a school community ensure that our students are attending each and every school day wherever possible.  

Students are most likely to succeed in school when they attend school consistently. Lack of attendance can result in students falling behind in their learning. For some students lack attendance will also have an impact on building strong lasting relationship with their peers. Schools are not only a place for academic learning but also a place where students learn to socialise interact and collaborate with others. 

Non-attendance has a variety of effects on students, both academically and socially. Absenteeism can increase social isolation, including alienation and lack of engagement with the school community and peers, leading to emotional and behavioural difficulties (Carroll, 2013; Gottfried, 2014). The table provides insightful information relating to the long term effects of student absenteeism. 

Late Arrivals 

Our school day begins at 8.35am with gates open at 8.20am. All children are expected to enter the classroom at this time.  The first part of the school day is the most important part. Every class has a morning routine where students prepare themselves for the day ahead (unpacking their bags, talking to their friends and handing in notes and messages, etc). Students also get valuable reading practice as they get ten minutes dedicated reading time every morning.  This part of the day sets the children up for a successful day of learning. Instruction in literacy and numeracy commences at 8.45am, and children arriving after that will be marked as late.  These children will also miss the teacher’s demonstration at the start of the lesson which means the rest of the session will not make a lot of sense to them.  

Grounds works

You may have noticed some grounds works going on at the back of the oval.  We are in the process of installing some cricket nets for students to use during break time.  I’m sure these will be well received when they are finished.                                                                                            

Enjoy the upcoming weekend everyone.

Kind regards

Sue Seneviratne

Principal 

                                       Our Foundation Mothers Day Afternoon