Across Oliver's Desk 

Dear Parents,

SO GOOD TO BE BACK!

Welcome back to another exciting year at WYPS!

I hope you were able to get a break with family and friends, we certainly all needed it after the great pause of 2020.  It has been a brilliant start to the year, and to be honest it’s terrific seeing smiling faces in the school and a return to normality. 

As a community we need to extend a big welcome to some new staff, students and parents. Ben Eaton (3/4B), Danielle Marnock (5/6D) and our tutors/support teachers, Mel Jacobs, Nat Telpuk, Lucie Aperloo, Zena Earsman, Kristy Malcolm and Lucy Derix, have joined our growing staff. We are very lucky to have so much talent coming to our school. – I hope you really enjoy your time at WYPS.

Our 63 new Preps have made a fantastic start to life at primary school.  They look so wonderful in their beautiful new uniforms and have already impressed their new teachers with their enthusiasm and energy. 

As well as our new Preps we have some new students starting across the rest of the school. A big welcome to Jordan Wheeler, Mckenzi Wheeler, Eli Ames, Jed Ames, Kaylee Monk, Yana Patel and Janna Rodriguez.  Welcome to our beautiful school. 

‘TAKE PRIDE AT ALL TIMES’

You will have noticed over the holidays that we have had the area around the portables beautified with new picnic tables and artificial turf put down. Great work from our current school council to have that work planned and completed under budget.   I would like to thank all the parents that completed the survey at the end of the year about what our school may look like in the future.  It is an exciting time for the school as we discuss what new facilities potentially we will have.  I have completed the first stage of paper work, I included lots of the ideas that parents came up with.  I’ll keep you up to date as the process moves along.

2021

The focuses for our school in 2021 are the following:

• Writing
• Reading
• Tutoring program for students that struggled with remote learning
• Our school values
• Presentation of the school
• Student leadership

We are going to reach for the stars this year.  As I wrote last year, we aspire to be the best school in Australia. 

UNIFORM

A real push at the start of the year is to make sure we get our uniform right and that our students wear their uniform with pride.  On the first day of school we had a number of students who didn’t have black shoes as a part of their uniform. Our uniform includes predominately black shoes, (see photo) with white or black laces. 

Our staff and our school council will be pushing our motto, “take pride at all times”, which includes wearing your uniform correctly and with pride.

Thank you again for your support of the school’s uniform policy, we really look smart as a school when everyone is on board.

GRADE 5/6 CAMP

Excitingly it is not long now until our grade 5/6 students head to their city camp experience. Every year we timetable our 5/6 camps to be in first term to give our students the opportunity to bond as a group and to start off the year really positively. 

VERONICA TIRCHETT

Veronica has been our chaplain for 14 years.  In that time she has become somewhat of an archangel and a legend. Veronica helps countless families and children each week. She started our breakfast club program, helps run playgroup, liaises with services, works with charities to help families and helps children with their emotions everyday she is at work. Parents, staff and children just adore her and I have often heard people saying, ‘what we do without Veronica?’  She is a very special person. 

On Australia day I was privileged to attend a ceremony recognising Veronica’s work to our school and the Woori Yallock community.  The service was attended by our local federal member Tony Smith MP and the state Member for Evelyn, Bridget Vallence.

Veronica received a well-deserved community service award. 

BUSHFIRE AT RISK REGISTER

We have been identified as a school that closes on days that are deemed to have a fire danger rating of code red.  Luckily there haven’t been any significant fires in our immediate vicinity. See below for more information regarding our school being on the Bushfire-At Risk Register.

School procedures for the bushfire season

The way schools in Victoria respond to bushfires is being constantly revised. Fire danger ratings and warnings are used in Victoria to provide clear direction on the safest options for preserving life.

Schools – and children’s services – identified as being at highest bushfire risk have been included on the Bushfire-At Risk Register (BARR) and will be closed on days determined by fire authorities to be Code Red. Our school has been identified as a school at highest bushfire risk and is listed on the BARR.

Where possible, we will provide parents with up to three days notice of a planned closure following the issue of a Code Red warning by the CFA.  We will contact you directly by email, SMS or letter sent home with your child with advice on planned closures and will confirm the decision to close by 12 noon the day before the planned closure. 

Once confirmed, the decision to close will not change, regardless of improvements in the weather forecast.  This is to avoid confusion and help your family plan alternative care arrangements for your child.

• No staff will be on site on days when the school is closed by the risk of fire.
• Out-of-school care will be cancelled on these days.
• School camps will be cancelled if the area where the camp is taking place is at risk.
• There may also be changes to school bus routes. Depending on routes, this may also occur on days when the school is not closed.

On these Code Red days families are encouraged to enact their Bushfire Survival Plan – on such days, children should never be left at home unattended or in the care of older children.  For those of us living in a bushfire-prone area, the safest option when a Code Red day is declared may be to leave the night before, or early in the morning of the Code Red day.

As part of preparing our school for the threat of fire we have updated our emergency management plan; reprioritised any maintenance works that may assist in preparing for the threat of fire and cleared our school grounds and gutters.

What can parents do?

• Make sure your family’s Bushfire Survival Plan is up-to-date and includes alternative care arrangements for your children in the event that our school is closed.
• Ensure we have your current contact details, including your mobile phone numbers.  Keep in touch with us by reading our newsletters, by checking our website, and by talking to your child’s teacher or any other member of the teaching staff about our emergency plans.
• Most importantly at this time of year, if you’re planning a holiday or short stay in the bush or in a coastal area, you should check warnings in advance of travel and remain vigilant during your stay.
• If your child is old enough, talk to them about bushfires and your family’s Bushfire Survival Plan.
• You can access more information about school closures on the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development website – see http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/health/pages/emergencies.aspx

For up-to-date information on this year’s fire season and Bushfire Survival Planning, visit the CFA website at www.cfa.vic.gov.au or call the 24-hour Victorian Bushfires Information Line on 1800 240 667.

WEATHER – HATS

In Term 1 and Term 4 our school policy is that all staff and students need to wear hats when outside at recess and lunchtime.  With  extreme heat we ensure all of our students are drinking enough water and that they are in the shade on those days.

SCHOOL SPEED ZONES

A reminder to everyone now that we are back at school that the speed limit in the school speed zone during specified times from 8.00 - 9.30 am and 2.30 - 4.00 pm is 40 km/h. Each year we consistently have marked and unmarked police patrolling the stretch of road outside the school.

And remember when life gets a little difficult, escape to the wonderful world of a book! On the holidays I read, the happiest man alive and I’ve almost finished Peter Fitzsimons book, Breaker Morant. It paints a very different picture to the one that is depicted in the movie.  A bit Ned Kelly like: was he a hero or a villain? 

Oliver Thockloth

Principal