Principal's Message
Julie Crawford
Welcome back to school for 2023! What a great start we have had to the new school year. A special warm welcome to all of our new students and families. We hope you enjoy being part of our Wonga Park community.
It has been wonderful to see all of our students settle so quickly into their new year levels and classrooms and all of our specialist programs getting underway. We are very proud of our preps who have done a wonderful job settling into school and enjoying getting to know their Grade 6 buddies. It was great meeting our new parents and having our Welcome BBQ last week.
A huge thank you to our teachers who worked so hard in the holidays to set up their classrooms and have everything ready to go on day one. All of our teachers put so much time and effort into making the classrooms so colourful and organised so that they are fun and engaging spaces to learn. A big thank you also to Kerry, Lesley and our ES staff who have helped ensure a smooth start to our year.
Staffing 2023
We have a wonderful team of teachers and support staff who are looking forward to working together to provide a wonderful year of learning for our students. We warmly welcome our only new teacher Jess O'Sullivan (Music/Performing Arts) and welcome back from leave, Jonah Read (Grade 4), Jade Lethbridge (Maker Space) and Michelle Sabbatucci (Prep C - Fridays).
Congratulation to Emily Kiefte who celebrated her marriage to Adam in the holidays. We wish Emily and Adam all the very best for the future. Congratulations and our best wishes also to Carly and Ed Pike who proudly announced the arrival of Annabelle Frankie in early January. We can't wait to meet baby Annabelle!
For your reference I have included our 2023 staffing list -
Principal – Julie Crawford
Assistant Principal – Adele Brice
Learning Specialist (Literacy) – Cindy Norman
Learning Specialist (Numeracy) – Terri Gioia
Business Manager – Kerry Davenport
Reception & Administration – Lesley Grimley
Classroom Teachers:
Prep A – Elle Powell (Team Leader)
Prep B – Natalia Anker
Prep C – Julie Barnden (Mon - Thurs) (PLC Leader)/ Michelle Sabbatucci (Fri)
1A – Anita Beever
1B – Terri Gioia (PLC Leader) (Mon-Wed) / Lauren Goodwin (Wed - Fri)
1/2C – Sharmini Philp
2A– Natasha Tymensen (Team Leader)
2B – Jocelyn Hollyman (Student Wellbeing Leader)
3A – Katherine McGreevy
3B – Cindy Norman (M-Th) (PLC Leader)/Jenny Barr (Fri)
3C – Emily O'Callaghan (formerly Miss Kiefte)
4A – Rachel Barnes (Team Leader)
4B – Jonah Read
4C – Ben White
5A – Meryl Archibald (Team Leader)
5B – Angelina Sercia
5C – Kylie Sledge
6A – Nina Gridchin
6B – Tim Phillips
6C – Kendall Jess (PLC Leader)
Specialist Teachers:
Tutor Learning Initiative (TLI) Grades P- 2 – Clare Tahin
Literacy & Numeracy Intervention Grade 3-6 - Rosemary Storey
P.E. & Sensory Gym – Sean Holland (Team Leader) & Nathan Percy (PLC Leader)
Art – Liz Kearton & Kristy Salisbury
Maker Space – Emma Broadhurst & Jade Lethbridge
Performing Arts/Music – Melanie Lambden & Jess O'Sullivan
AUSLAN – Nathan Percy
Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program – Dimi Mioni
Student Wellbeing:
School Counsellor – Jen Dooley (Monday)
Student Wellbeing Officer - TBC
Education Support:
Georgette Thompson
Wendy Allison
Julie Evans
Lauren Basilone
Elli Grasso
Crossing Supervisors:
Briar
Kathy
Building Parent Partnerships
Communication is important as we build strong partnerships with our families. Sentral is the platform that we use to communicate with our families. Please contact the school for assistance if you are having any trouble receiving communications via Sentral.
The Getting -To-Know-You conversations were a great opportunity for parents to share information about their child with their classroom teacher and to begin building the home-school partnership. Please contact your child's classroom teacher to make an appointment if you have not yet had the opportunity to catch up.
The 2023 Information Sessions will be held this week for Grades 1-6 and Specialist Programs. The Prep Information session will be held later in the term. Information will be sent to Prep families when the date is confirmed.
Session times are -
Level 5/6 - Wednesday 8th February 6-6.45pm
Specialist Team - Wednesday 8th February 7-7.45pm
Level 3/4 - Thursday 9th February 6-6.45pm
Level 1/2 - Thursday 9th February 7-7.45pm
Information sessions will be held onsite in the BER, however you can attend via live stream if it is more convenient for you. If attending online, please refer to emails sent by the school on Thursday 2nd February for the appropriate links. Please note that we are unable to record the sessions, however, a summary of the information will be provided in a Term Overview.
Parents will begin receiving the Wonga Weeklies, this week. This weekly summary provides parents with details of the curriculum for the week as well as any special events or reminders. A special feature are prompts that parents might like to use to start conversations about what your child is currently learning.
Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to be a Parent Representative for their child’s class. Each year we seek two parent reps per class to liaise with the parents in the class, welcome new families and help organise parent helpers for events, fundraising etc. If you are interested in being a parent representative please let your child’s classroom teacher know.
We encourage parents to contact the classroom teacher if you have any concerns or questions. The ‘Golden Ten’ (8:50 – 9:00am) is a good time to touch base with the classroom teacher. Alternatively, please email or phone the school and the teacher will get back to you. The best way to contact a specialist teacher is to contact the office and your message will be passed on.
Assembly and TRIBES
Our first whole school assembly will be held next Monday, February 13th on the basketball roof. Assemblies are held each fortnight, weather permitting and begin at 2:30pm. Families are very welcome to attend.
On alternate Mondays, our whole school TRIBES meet for the final hour of the day. Our Grade 6 students help facilitate the session and help support their prep buddies who are always placed in the same TRIBE. During our TRIBES session the students participate in activities to build relationships with peers from across all levels of the school and practise the TRIBES agreements of - Mutual Respect, Attentive Listening, Appreciation/No Put Downs, The RIght To Pass and Personal Best.
Communication with Staff
The Communication with School Policy is linked for your reference.
The policy explains things such as how to contact your child's teacher, how we manage enquiries from parents etc.
Please take this opportunity to read our policy to ensure you are familiar with our procedures.
If you have an issue that you prefer not to send through the office for confidentiality, please contact either Julie Crawford julie.crawford@education.vic.gov.au (mobile 0409 972 728) or Adele Brice adele.brice@education.vic.gov.au
Office Hours
The office hours for 2023 will be from 8.30am-4.00pm. Should you need to contact the school out of these times, please email us via wonga.park.ps@education.vic.gov.au
Drop-off and Pick-up Safety
Parents are reminded that students should not arrive at school before 8:35am unless they are attending a supervised before school activity. Yard duty teachers begin supervision in the playground at 8:35am. If arriving before this time, please ensure that you supervise your child/ren. Children who are not being supervised will be sent to wait at the office until teachers commence yard duty.
Thank you to our families for helping to make the drop-off and pick-up a smooth process.
It is a busy time, but with patience and courtesy, traffic can flow and students can be dropped off or picked up safely.
Just a reminder that there is no parking along Lantana Drive until you are beyond the gate onto the oval. When dropping-off or picking-up students we ask that parents please stay in the queue and drop/pick-up your child at the designated drop–off point at the oval gate. Students should not get out of cars before the oval gate.
Wednesdays are very busy with the popularity of the before school tennis program. Could we please ask that parents do not park in the staff carpark before school.
Late Arrival / Early Dismissal
The process for students who arrive at school after 9.00am is; sign in late on the iPad located at the office, collect a red Late Arrival ticket, which is handed to their classroom teacher.
Parents wanting to collect their child early during the day due to illness / appointment, will need to; come to the office, sign their child out on the Ipad, collect a blue Early Dismissal ticket, then collect their child from the classroom handing the ticket to the classroom teacher. Unfortunately we are unable to call your child to the office across learning time to reduce classroom interruptions. We are unable to have students waiting in the office area for collection due to the limited space in the area.
Uniform Reminders
Our students look so smart in their school uniforms. There are many choices for students to ensure they feel comfortable. Please remember that students need to wear a wide-brimmed or legionnaire style hat when outside and sunscreen should be applied before coming to school. (Students are welcome to bring along their own sunscreen to reapply as required). Students are encouraged to wear appropriate uniform and footwear on days that they have PE, sensory gym or sport. Teachers will be communicating the specialist timetable in the Wonga Weekly so that students are aware of their PE/sport days.
Curriculum Days
The first two curriculum days for the year (Friday, 27th January and Monday 30th January) were a great opportunity for our teachers to meet with parents for the Getting To Know You Conversations, and for our whole staff to work with educational consultant, Dave Wilkins on exploring our rich Wonga Park culture and how each of us leaves an important legacy by what we bring and contribute. It was also an opportunity for all of our staff to update their CPR and first aid qualifications ready for the year ahead.
Please put the next curriculum day date into your calendar. It is Monday, April 24th, the first day of Term 2 with the ANZAC Day public holiday on the following day. TheirCare will offer all day care on the curriculum day. Students will commence Term 2 on Wednesday, April 26th.
Buildings and Grounds
Maintaining and upgrading our learning spaces is always a priority and over the holiday break the Grade 3/4 learning hub had a big makeover - if you get a chance pop in to see how lovely the space looks now it has being freshly painted and has new carpet throughout!
The accessible building works that commenced late last year continue with the new ramp into the Grade 3 classrooms and steps and decking around the art room now being operational, whilst the automatic doors into the BER and art room and ramp access to the art room hopefully being completed by the end of February.
We are hopeful that our new shade sails that will cover the asphalt area between the Grade 1/2 building, the prep building, the SAKG building and the administration block will be installed in March. This will create a wonderful outdoor shaded space for learning and playing. Planning is underway with some exciting ideas being considered. We hope to have some concept drawings ready to share with the community soon!
The other area that we will be starting work on shortly is our Welcome To Country Garden at the front of the school. The plans look very exciting and I'm sure it will be a favourite space in our school when it is finished!
Canteen
Please note that we currently do not have a canteen operating. School Council is still exploring options and we will keep you posted with any updates.
School Council
Please look out for information that will be coming out shortly about School Council nominations for 2023. We encourage parents to consider nominating for one of the four School Council vacancies.
We are very excited about the year ahead and are looking forward to seeing the joy that our students show as they celebrate working together and having fun learning new skills, knowledge and dispositions and contributing to the special community, that they are all an important part of, here at Wonga Park.
Warm regards
Julie