WHEELERS HILL PRIMARY SCHOOL

Principal's Report

3rd May

Welcome Back 

Welcome back to school for another productive term of learning and school activities. I hope all our WHPS families had a relaxing holiday and are looking forward to a great term ahead. 

 

Year 4 Camp

Thank you to the Year 4 teachers and other staff for running such a successful Year 4 Camp at Camp Manyung earlier in the week. The campers had some beautiful weather and enjoyed many great activities and experiences. Our camp program is a great opportunity for our students to develop resilience, responsibility and take risks in a safe environment with the fun adventure and outdoor activities provided. 

 

My School Website

The Australian Government website My School has been recently updated and provides results and information for Wheelers Hill Primary School, mainly related to NAPLAN results.

https://www.myschool.edu.au/school/45014

Highlights for Wheelers Hill Primary School include:

  • Most students in Years 3 and 5 in the top two bands for NAPLAN
  • Most of our results in Year 3 and 5 for NAPLAN higher than similar schools
  • Consistent improvement in NAPLAN results over the last 8 years
  • Learning growth between Years 3 and 5 is higher than similar schools
  • The school is in a secure financial position

We are very proud of the academic achievement of our students at Wheelers Hill and the quality teachers and learning programs we have to support our students such as:

  • MSL (Multi-sensory structured language) approach for literacy
  • VOICES framework for writing
  • Quality differentiated mathematics programs
  • STEM, coding and robotics program
  • A wide variety of literacy support staff and programs
  • Mathematics extension programs
  • Our wide range of specialist subjects such as French, Mandarin, Visual Arts, Performing Arts
  • Regular professional development for staff on up to date teaching approaches
  • A diverse  program of camps, excursions and incursions

School Budget

Every year around the end of April the school budget for the year is finalised and approved. This occurred at School Council earlier in the week. Apart from the general running expenses of the school such as electricity and water the school budget is structured to focus on the best learning outcomes and programs for our students. The majority of our limited school funding comes from the state government and although important and valued, parent fees and fundraising don't contribute as much to the school as from state government grants. In 2019 some highlights of the budget in addition to our regular programs and spending include:

  • 10 new Smart TV's in our Prep and Year 1 classrooms to replace ageing interactive whiteboards
  • 70 new laptops to upgrade and replace old ones throughout the school as well as upgrades to ICT infrastructure across the school
  • Funding for a MSL specialist (Mrs Jarvis) to train and support staff with the implementation and management of our MSL literacy program
  • Continuing to fund two assistant principals (Mrs Spicer and Ms Richards) who manage student wellbeing and curriculum
  • Funding for an STEM / ICT learning specialist (Mr Stockton) to run our STEM / robotics programs and to support teachers with ICT teaching in the classroom
  • Upgrades to the school grounds and play equipment (as outlined below)
  • Planting of more trees and new gardens around the school
  • Painting and new carpeting in the older portables
  • Increases to the English and Maths budgets to purchase modern and updated books and resources and teaching materials
  • The employment of a Leading Teacher for literacy (Mr Doyle) to support to run and support teachers with literacy programs, such as the VOICES writing
  • A literacy support program that is based on MSL that reaches over 50 students a week
  • Regular and quality professional development for our staff to ensure they are teaching quality up to date teaching methods
  • Educational consultants, for example in mathematics to support quality teaching and current practice
  • Excellent social and emotional learning programs such as the resilience project and up to date restorative practice training
  • Support for the School Wide Positive Behaviour Support initiative which enhances the wellbeing and welfare programs at our school
  • Funding the Professional Learning Communities program for the Year Level Leader staff to assist them in running effective and productive teams focussed on continuing to improve student outcomes
  • Extra staffing and hours to support students with additional needs
  • Additional staff for IT support

All of these programs, initiatives and staff could not have been funded only just a few years ago and demonstrate the schools commitment to provide the best for our students and their learning outcomes. As the My School results show above, our students are greatly benefiting from these additional programs, staffing, initiatives and resources in the school. We also greatly appreciate the amount of parental support we have here at WHPS which greatly enhances our students learning experiences as well. 

 

New Play Equipment / School Grounds Works

Over the holidays and last few weeks a number of works have been occurring around the school grounds. These include new concrete in front of the portable by the basketball court and increasing the play options for our students through a new cubby house and sandpit (nearly completed) by the gym, another new sandpit by Threadbow Drive and relocation of the gaga pit behind the goal posts. The school is also finalising plans for an upgraded and new play equipment which include extra play equipment in the junior and senior playgrounds and also a brand new playground for the middle (Years 3-4) students. If you would like to look at or talk about these playground plans please drop by my office.

Play options and equipment have not been the best for the last few years at our school and require large investments of money (into the hundreds of thousands of dollars) so upgrades and enhancements cannot occur all at once. However with the plans outlined above we all look forward to seeing some improvements over the next few months for our students in addition to what is already occurring.  

 

Prep Enrolments 2020 and Class Numbers

Just a reminder if you are planning on enrolling your child at Wheelers Hill Primary School next year please pick up an enrolment form from the office or download one from the website. Please return it to the office as soon as possible as we are having very strong interest in prep enrolments again. We anticipate that approximately 100-105 prep students will be enrolled in 2020 which will be split into 5 classes of 20-21 students. 

 

The Department of Education recommends classes in Year Prep-2 are approximately 21-22 students. At Wheelers Hill Primary our average class size across Prep-Year 2 is 22. In Year 3-6 the Department of Education recommends classes sizes of 26 students. Across Years 3-6 at Wheelers Hill Primary School the average class size is 25.75. 

 

School Review Parent Survey

In Term 3 our school will be participating in a School Review. This occurs every four years and is a part of our ongoing School Improvement Cycle. We collect data from many sources to reflect on the last four years at WHPS and to help improve and inform the future directions of our school. We would greatly appreciate your feedback by answering the questions in the survey link below.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PH6XSFS

We will use your responses to help prepare and inform us for the review. Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey.

 

Michael Ramsey

Principal