A Word from the Principal

A Warm Welcome to our Weeden Heights Community

We now have the whole school back together again which is fabulous!

Congratulations to our students from rooms 7, 8 & 9 for their seamless transition back to school last week.  There has been an abundance of smiles each morning as students have entered school grounds and finally enjoyed the opportunity to meet and play with much missed friends. The level of cooperation and patience at our entrances has been outstanding by our entire school community.   

Thank you to parents/guardians for your all of your efforts to adhere to the pick up arrangements which have enabled such a smooth exit each day.  Drop offs have been very smooth as well with parents varying their entry time.  It has been a wonderful week having all of our students back at school and I congratulate everyone on the positive approach to our much anticipated return.

Thank you also to all of our adult school community members, parents/guardians and staff for your continued efforts to exercise social distancing requirements. I look forward to seeing this being maintained so that entries and exits to the school remain managable.

School Survey for Remote and Flexible Learning

Just a friendly reminder to take a moment to fill out the school survey so that we can assess the implementation of remote and flexible learning at our school. 

To participate in the Learning from Home Surveys, simply:

1. Click on the link below, or copy and paste the text into your browser. This link will take you directly to the survey.           https://www.orima.com.au/lfh/parents
2. Select the School and Campus name below.

School Name: Weeden Heights Primary School

PIN: 845228

When complete, please click on the ‘FINISHED!’ button at the end of the survey to submit your answers. Please note that the survey will time out after 60 minutes of inactivity.

Parents complete the survey anytime between Wednesday 13 May and Friday 26 June 2020.

We have had 25 families respond so far and you have until the end of term.  We are also interested in aspects of remote and flexible learning that did work for our school.  Students will be surveyed at school during class time and through class discussions for the younger students. 

I am really looking forward to your responses along with the students as well.  I believe we have done incredibly well in a very short space of time and maintained many routines for consistency.  I feel one of our strong points was the integration of ICT so that all of our families could ‘come on board’ and each week the integration continued to grow.  The plan was for 11 weeks so we only achieved the half way mark when students returned to face to face teaching as directed by the government.  At other schools, many families were asked to come up to school each week to collect a package of student worksheets so managing the interaction amongst adults was terrific.  I do sincerely thank our prep teachers who were driving to houses to deliver work to the youngest of our students who managed to log into the google classrooms for our attendance question each day.  I truly believe we have done incredibly well in a very difficult and sudden situation.

Reporting to Parents against the Victorian Curriculum

Reports will come home via an email on the last day of school next week.  I hope that everyone read the flexibuzz letter that I sent out last week explaining the variation to the current reporting process due to the Corona Virus. A more detailed and comprehensive report will be available for families at the end of the second semester.  The semester 1 reports are being emailed to parents on the last day of term. 

Further information on booking in for our student led conference in term 3, will arrive home on the last day with the report. Conferences this year will be held in the second week back, and particularly on 20 & 21 July.  They will all be conducted via a video conference and focus on the student’s portfolio so we are really going to have to stick to the times so that the teacher is ready for the next conference.  Student portfolios will be sent home in the first week back and are the focal point.  Our student led conferences are highly successful and support the development of student voice and agency which also includes setting future learning goals.

Student Support Group Meetings for Term 2

Thank you to all of our parents who have already participated in student support group meetings with Michelle Simpson for our students with disabilities.   We do very much appreciate the conversations and telephone updates that have occurred with parents of other students that we support further. 

Prep Enrolments for 2021

The Government is still not allowing any school tours onsite or visits of people on to school grounds. This, of course, makes it very difficult for us to promote the school and help families make their decisions about which school in the area to send their children.  After discussions with school council and our staff we have been in contact with pre-schools to continue to promote our school.  

We are also having our first transition session on Friday via a video conference.  Packages have been sent home or hand delivered to families who have registered to participate.  It will be a new experience but will give families a ‘taste’ of what wonderful Weeden Heights is like.  Hopefully the government will allow us to tour soon so that parents can make a decision that is best for their child. 

In addition, if you or any of your friends have a little one ready to start school in 2021, please contact the office to organise an enrolment form or download one from the school’s website.

Final Day of Term – Early Dismissal 

The final day of term 2 will be Friday 26 June at 2.30pm.   There will not be an assembly to finish the day but the whole school will be dismissed together.  Parents have been excellent at maintaining their social distancing so we ask that you be extra careful on Friday.  We are so very lucky we are a smaller school and this make this whole process a little easier. 

Please ensure you have made arrangements for the collection of your children at this earlier dismissal time.  

Well, that’s all from me. Thank you so very much to all of the parents for helping us have such a smooth return to school.  A hearty three cheers to you all!

Until next time……

Ms Kylie Campbell

Principal

Futures are Bright at Weeden Heights!