A Warm Welcome to our Weeden Heights Community

Congratulations to our New School Council

The School Council election process is now declared closed. The call for nominations for School Council closed on Tuesday and we can now officially declare that following parents are now elected school councillors that represent the parents:

Gavin Hodgins (Parent Representative 2 year term)
Daniel Rodger (Parent Representative 2 year term)
Currently vacant (Parent Representative 2 year term)
Currently vacant (Parent Representative 2 year term)

Congratulations also to Kerryn Cheetham and Samantha Walls who have accepted vacancies in the DE representative positions. Thank you!

The new council will meet for the first time on Monday 20 March 2023. Please remember that if you would like to ever be a part of the meeting you are more than welcome or please speak with your parent representatives.

VACANCIES

With two parent positions left vacant I have emailed all parents calling for more nominations. If you are interested then please send to me your nomination form by MONDAY 6 MARCH. Please consider and take the opportunity to make a difference at your child’s school.

Capital Works Update

Thank you everyone for your flexibility during the building works. Everyone has managed to find the office which is located in the library and are using the back entrance to the school.

This morning I attended a site meeting and our junior classrooms will be ready to return to for the start of term two along with the reopening of the senior toilets. Our junior students will begin to move back into their new classrooms in the last week of this term. They will arrive to a freshly painted room with two split systems and privacy panelling along the bottom section of the windows (now you won’t see some of the materials that fall behind the lockers!). The senior toilets have lovely new floors and will be outfitted with new toilets and a trough soon.

The old GP room and canteen now has its roof off and will be ready for demolition over the Easter break. The staff office in the junior corridor will also be finished by the end of term and work continues in the admin area. The builders are well ahead of time but experiencing a hold up with Telstra and the NBN at the moment. Hopefully, this issue will be resolved soon so they can stay well ahead of time and get us in the new learning spaces as quick as possible.

Family Fun Night and whole school incursion

It was terrific to have the whole school last week, be involved in listening and creating music with many different types of instruments. The feedback from the students and staff was incredible and many students commented on how they knew the great songs that were played by the musicians. The performers stayed for the family fun night and hopefully you have all caught up with the photos on Instagram and Facebook.

Thank you to those families that came along on a very warm night, to enjoy the barbeque with our community. It would have been great to see all of our families but we do understand that families have commitments during the week. I would like to give a hearty thanks to our fabulous staff who spent the night cooking for you. I truly hope that you were able to catch up with many familiar faces and also make our new families feel welcome.

School Attendance

As it is term one, I wanted to remind parents of the importance of attending school every day and on time. Of course, this is when you are well and not isolating. I have noticed several students arriving late regularly. Late arrival to school is reported to you on the end of year reports along with absences.

Arriving late to school also creates an issue for students as they miss vital information and then disrupt the learning zone when they enter the classroom, distracting other learners. Classroom doors open at 8.50am to allow students to settle and start work straight away at 9am.

The data for student attendance is collected by the department. You will continue to receive this information on your school reports as attendance will affect the results your child achieves.

Please note that the school is providing work for our students who are isolating and learning from home during the pandemic. While students are physically absent from attending school, they are not absent from their learning.

Here’s a guide Weeden Heights used to highlight absences & punctuality and was included in the final report for your child:

Gold Star

Less than 5 days absent for the year

Students are likely to be a ‘star’ performer. They will achieve the best results for their ability and have opportunities to achieve success in further education and the world.

Amber – Caution/ Take Care

6 -9 days absent for the year

Students will be missing up to two weeks of schooling and this will make it difficult for them to keep in touch with lessons and their work.

Red Light – Be Alert

9 – 17 days absent

The student is missing so much school that it will be difficult for them to keep in touch with lessons or work. Your child is missing out on significant learning time.

At Risk – Immediate Action is required

More than 17 days

The student is missing so much time from school that it will almost be impossible for them to keep in touch with class lessons or their learning.

We do not expect students to come to school when they are ill and all of our parents appreciate students being kept home until they are well enough so that nothing is passed onto other students. However, I’m sure that we can all be organised, arrive on time and be ready to learn for 9am. Family holidays need to be planned for during school holiday times so that children do not miss vital and essential learning.

Prep 2024 Tours and Enrolments

We have had many calls already for information regarding enrolments at Weeden Heights Primary School for 2024 and beyond. We have several students enrolled for next year and our tours will begin in a couple of weeks so our students can settle into the new year. Our School Ambassadors will also be a part of the tour in their role as a year 6 leader.

Enrolment information is available now so if you have a child starting at Weeden next year or know anyone who requires assistance with 2024 placements, please direct them to call our office to book a tour date and time. Tours are conducted on a Wednesday at 9.30am. Thank you for helping us with this process.

Social Media

Please remember to check out our Facebook page as we have been posting many photos and information up so that you are of what our talented students and staff are up to. You are also welcome to leave a positive comment as students do like to read what you have written to them.

Until next time……

Kylie Campbell

Principal

Futures are Bright at Weeden Heights!

Teacher Talk

With the Ambassadors: Aisha and Stephanie