From the Assistant Principal
Adele Brice
Welcome back everyone! A special welcome to our new families, I’m sure you’ll love being part of our WPPS community.
Class Representatives
Each grade requires 2 parents to act as class representatives. These parents help liase with other parents in their respective classes. If you are interested in becoming a class representative, please contact your child’s class teacher. A meeting for class representatives will be held once all class representatives have been appointed.
Disability and Additional Needs
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions around Disability and Additional Needs. Parents of students who fall under either of these categories are encouraged to contact me to discuss how their child can be supported within our school. Reports from Allied Health Professionals should be shared with both the class teacher and myself via my email address; adele.brice@education.vic.gov.au
Term 1 SSGs (Student Support Group meetings) will be held for these students over the next two weeks.
WPPS Preloved Uniform - Facebook Page
Some members of our community have set up a WPPS preloved Uniform page on Facebook. Please check up the page if you are wanting to access 2nd hand uniforms.
Child Safety Standards
WPPS Child Safety Code of Conduct
Wonga Park Primary School is committed to the safety and wellbeing of children and young people. Our school community recognises the importance of, and a responsibility for, ensuring our school is a safe, supportive and enriching environment which respects and fosters the dignity and self-esteem of children and young people, and enables them to thrive in their learning and development.
The WPPS Child Safety Code of Conduct in requires any staff, contractors or members of the school community involved in child related work to sign a copy of the policy before working with children. This form needs to be signed annually.
The office will have spare copies of this form or you may wish to download it from our website
Please note that you are required to have a current Working With Children Check.
Volunteers
We are mandated (without exemption) to provide training for all volunteers working in our school. It's a requirement that our staff and volunteers are equipped with knowledge, skills and awareness to keep young people safe through ongoing education and training. Training is required to be updated annually.
From 2023 all volunteers working in all school will need to have completed the training prior to working with students at our school. There are two upcoming sessions for anyone who has not yet trained and is looking to volunteer in one of our programs this year;
- Friday 10th February 8.30-9.00am - staffroom - no need to enrol in this session, just turn up.
- Monday 13th February 6.15-7.00pm - online - please contact me by email for the link if you plan to attend this session
Students who bring mobile phones to school must bring them to the general office for storage during the school day. Mobile phones can be collected from the office at the end of the day. You can access the school's mobile phone policy by clicking on the link in the title of the paragraph.
eSafety – Office of the eSafety commissioner
The eSafety Commissioner is a wonderful resource to make yourself familiar with. This space was established in 2015, it's Australia's national and independent regulator of online safety. It is dedicated to keeping people safe online.
Here is some Back to School Ideas that the Commissioner recommends...
It's time to put the festive decorations away, dust the sand off our feet, and get the kids ready to head back to school.
As well as getting the right shoes, pencils and devices, many parents and carers are considering whether their child is feeling prepared for the school year ahead.
Are they ready to be a good friend? How will they deal with playground conflict? How will they go participating in a new friendship group chat?
Online and offline, new challenges await.
With digital literacy receiving greater importance in the school curriculum this year, parents can support their children by having regular conversations and encouraging them to reflect on their online activities.
To help you have these conversations, we've come up with a few ideas using this year's Safer Internet Day theme of Connect. Reflect. Protect. Simple things can help make every day a Safer Internet Day.
Connect
Help kids appreciate the benefits of technology, especially how it allows them to connect to others. Some ideas to try:
- Encourage them to name three good things about spending time online.
- Share examples of how to connect with kindness or respect. You could ask them how they make others feel included in a game?
- Check before posting a photo of others. For example, before posting a first day back at school photo. This action is a great way to help grow their understanding of consent and respect online.
Reflect
Encourage kids to reflect on what they do online and how it impacts others. Some ideas to try:
- Try fun ways to reflect on how the internet makes them feel. You could ask: if the internet was an animal, what would it be? Talk about the different qualities of the animal and explore how this relates to how they feel about being online.
- Talk about how online behaviour impacts how they and others feel. Naming a range of emotions can help kids manage tricky social situations online.
- Plan a ‘checking in’ routine for the year ahead. Discuss how often to check in and the best times and places to do it. For some young people the drive home from school might work, for others they might prefer a text message.
Protect
Make sure your child knows you are there to help them feel safe and protected online. Young people are often reluctant to seek help, so remind them that adults will listen, and they can get help. Some ideas to try:
- Help them identify trusted people they could ask for help or if they have a question about something that has happened online. This trusted person may include a teacher at school, if they want to chat with someone outside the family. They can also contact Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800).
- Explore whether parental controls can help protect your family online.
- Help your child report online abuse to the social media site, app or game, or directly to eSafety.
eSafety is here to help. Here are some handy links to support your family's online safety this year.
- Set up a family tech agreement and parental controls
- Explore ways to stay safe online for parents, kids and young people
- Learn digital skills for staying safe in games and apps using the eSafety Guide
- Get help for online issues by reporting to eSafety
- Join an eSafety webinar to help your children have positive online experiences
Sign up for the eSafety Newsletter to receive the latest online safety news, resources, and advice.
eSafety Commission online workshops for 2023
The eSafety's provide free webinars provide parents and carers with the knowledge, skills and tools to support their children to have safe, positive online experiences.
The schedule for 2023 can be accessed via this link.
eSafety 101: how eSafety can help you
This 30-minute webinar is designed for parents and carers of young people in primary and secondary school.
It will cover:
- who we are
- what you can report to eSafety
- helpful advice and resources for parents and carers.
Term 1 dates (Australian Eastern Daylight Time)8 February 12:30 pm to 1:00 pm 21 March 7:30 pm to 8:00 pm
Setting your child up for success online
This 30-minute webinar is designed for parents and carers of young people in primary school.
It will cover:
- age-appropriate expectations and boundaries
- online risks and strategies to keep your children safe
- where to find support for you and your child when things go wrong.
Term 1 dates (Australian Eastern Daylight Time)8 February 7:30 pm to 8:00 pm 28 February 12:30 pm to 1:00 pm14 March 12:30 pm to 1:00 pm
Getting the most out of gaming
This 45-minute webinar provides families with strategies for supporting children and young people to have safe, positive experiences when playing games online. It is designed for parents and carers of children aged 7 to 14.
It will cover:
- when gaming can be beneficial and strategies to promote better in-game experiences
- how to keep children safe online – using safety and privacy settings in games and platforms
- strategies to promote more balanced gaming and how to create smoother transitions from game-play to other activities
- the key online risks and where to find help for things like bullying and harassment in games.
Term 1 dates (Australian Eastern Daylight Time)14 February 12:30 pm to 1:15 pm 14 March 7:30 pm to 8:15 pm
Navigating online friendships
This 30-minute webinar is designed for parents and carers of young people in secondary schooI.
It will cover:
- how to support young people to have safe and respectful online relationships
- what to do when something happens at school and ends up on social media or private messaging apps
- how to report to social media platforms and eSafety.
Term 1 dates (Australian Eastern Daylight Time)22 February 12:30 pm to 1:00 pm 29 March 7:30 pm to 8:00 pm
Wonga Park BYOD portal
After discussions with School Council, Comp Now has been approached to provide a portal for families who wish to purchase an iPad, the portal can be accessed via this link
Parents are welcome to purchase via this link if they wish.
Casual ES staff register
Our ES (Education Support) team do a fabulous job at WPPS. From time to time we do need to cover our team due to illness etc.
If you are willing to be on our ES casual staff register, please contact me.
Adele Brice
Assistant Principal