From the Principal,
Diana Ellis
Congratulations
A big congratulations to Mr. Condon who celebrated his wedding on Friday. Early last week we had a staff morning tea to celebrate the occasion and a number of staff were lucky to be in attendance at the wedding. We wish Mr. Condon and his wife all the best for their future together. Mr. Condon is back at work this week but is hoping to take some leave for a honeymoon later in the year.
Student leaders
Last week we had a special assembly to congratulate all of our elected 2023 student leaders and to present them with their badges. This was also an opportunity to congratulate all students who courageously tried out for leadership positions. Many students stepped outside their comfort zone but presented speeches to their peers and teachers. We were extremely proud of all students who presented and we had the pleasure of learning about the wonderful qualities of each of the students.
School Council
Just a reminder that our School Council Annual General Meeting is on Monday March 20 a 7.00 pm in the staff room at school. We would love some new nominations for parents to come along and work with us and be of the decision making processes for Woodend Primary School. We are required to have eight meetings a year. Our meetings start at 7.00 pm and are finished by 8.30 at the latest. During the winter months we have our meetings via Webex.
If you are interested in joining us, please grab a nomination from the front office. Nominations close Tues March 14 at 4.00 pm.
Dress Code
At Woodend Primary we like all students to feel a sense of inclusion, connectedness and equity. For this reason we have Dress Code Expectations. We expect students to wear the school provided/recommended uniform. Our Dress Code Policy also recommends that long hair be tied up for both boys and girls. Jewellery and nail polish are not to be worn at school. The wearing of jewellery is a safety issue as necklaces, earrings and rings can be a safety risk on playgrounds, during play and in Physical Education sessions. Only stud ear rings should be worn. We hope you will assist us to keep your children safe. We love nail polish, coloured hair and jewellery however we are recommending that these items are weekend wear for social events as not all of our students have access to these items and we would like all students to feel equal.
Around the classrooms
In the classrooms this week I have had the pleasure of watching our Foundation students spend most of their Literacy and Numeracy sessions learning about letters and sounds and how to construct and order a simple sentence and read it. They are continuing to learn to recognise, read and write numbers up to 20. This week they are focussing on number 11. In the Year 2/3 classes students are learning how to use calendars and to how to place the days of the month on the calendar in the correct order and to add important events correctly. The students were adding all of the dates for important events coming up in Year 2/3 including birthday dates for class mates, NAPLAN etc. In the year 5/6 classes the students were learning about elapsed time and how they can represent the time elapsed for hours, minutes and seconds.
In Social and Emotional sessions in the senior unit the students have been discussing the things that make them feel uncomfortable and take them outside their comfort zone. Many of the things discussed were things that we can identify with such as: public speaking, flying on planes, wearing dress ups to parties, being in large groups of people etc.
It was a great opportunity for our students to realise that they are not the only ones who feel uncomfortable in those situations as many of the students identified similar things that make them feel out of their comfort zone.
Principal
Diana Ellis