From the Acting Principal, 

Elissa Campbell

We are midway through Term 3 and what a busy term it has been so far, with plenty more planned for the remainder of the term and into Term 4.

Yesterday the weather held out and allowed some sun to shine through allowing us to undertake our annual Lap-a-thon. Many students took the opportunity to dress in their House colours and got into the festive feeling of the day while walking/running many laps of the course around our school grounds. It was fantastic to see so many families cheering them on from the sidelines or participating in the walk with their child, not to forget indulging in a BBQ sausage or two for lunch. This event would not be possible without the co-ordination efforts of Ms Sandra Mann, our always enthusiastic staff, our parent volunteers who cook and serve our BBQ lunch and of course our energetic students. Thanks to all for their support of this event, including those who have made generous donations that will continue to support our school. Unfortunately, we were unable to hold our whole school tug of war due to the soggy condition of our oval, we will be scheduling this in the near future as soon as the ground has dried out a little.

In the last two weeks our students and teachers have participated in many educational and engaging experiences. As part of the Greater Western Water 'Trees for Schools' Program all Year 4 students took part in a tree planting day at Carlsruhe, planting approximately 20 new trees which they will be responsible for taking care of over the next few months. Our Year 1 students visited Hanging Rock to allow them the opportunity to immerse themselves into the natural landscape and draw inspiration from it as part of the Indigenous Connections unit they are currently undertaking. This experience will support their learning across many areas of the curriculum, and we look forward to seeing the work they produce as a result of this excursion.

The Year 5/6 teaching team of Mrs Evans, Mr Spilsted, Ms Geer, Mrs Richardson and Ms Dodds, along with Mr Condon and myself, were fortunate to be invited to Gisborne Secondary College last week to participate in a Maths Learning Walk. Learning Walks are a common practice in schools across Victoria and allow teachers the opportunity to observe school and teacher practices in different environments. During our visit we saw two Year 7 Maths STEPS classes and were able to talk to the students and teachers about their experiences with this class. In a few weeks’ time teachers from Gisborne Secondary College will be visiting our Year 5/6 Maths classes to observe our teachers and students during classes with a focus on multiplicative thinking. By participating in these experiences, we are aiming to strengthen the connection between primary and secondary teaching practices in mathematics.

On Monday morning some families may have noticed a number of Principals, Assistant Principals and School Leaders from our neighbouring schools arriving at our school, as we hosted our Macedon Ranges Principals Network meeting. This group meet regularly throughout the year to discuss DET initiatives, make collegiate connections and undertake learning opportunities. A large focus of our meeting on Monday was to review our recent NAPLAN data and learn about the four new proficiency standards that were introduced this year, that have replaced the previous 10 NAPLAN bands.

Today we have 46 students from Year 4-6 who will be representing our school at the CDSSA Athletics Carnival at LaTrobe University in Bendigo. These students were selected following their achievements at our school athletics carnival in Term 2. We wish them all the best of luck and look forward to hearing about their experiences at our next assembly.

As mentioned in our last newsletter, Book Week is fast approaching, we have planned a dress up day and Literacy Open morning on Wednesday 23rd August, families are welcome to watch our parade and then visit classrooms to participate in our literacy sessions. We are looking forward to reading some of the shortlisted books and sharing the learning connected to these, with our families.

Mr Bromley has commenced the planning for our bi-annual Whole School Performance, which this year will have an Australian music theme. We have tentatively scheduled two dates in early November and will communicate these with families soon. Students will be preparing for their performances during Music sessions leading up to this time. We will continue to provide you updates about this event via the newsletter and Compass.

This year the Department of Education has modified the school enrolment process for Foundation students in 2024, acceptance letters have now been mailed out to all families who have submitted enrolment forms. If you have a child who will be commencing primary school in 2024 and you have yet to submit your application, please contact the office as soon as possible. If you know of any local families who are yet to enrol, please encourage them to get their application in as soon as possible.

This is the time of year when we begin to plan for 2024 and it is important for us to gain an accurate idea of how many students we will have enrolled at our school, this allows us to work out class sizes and ensure we have enough teaching staff. If your child will not be returning to Woodend Primary School next year, please send an email to woodend.ps@education.vic.gov.au.

We are looking forward to continuing the learning journey with all our students and community over the remainder of Term 3.

Acting Principal

Elissa Campbell