Hello Everyone,

This is our last newsletter for the term.

Today we also had our last Assembly for the term. It was quite a large event with awards for Mathematics, Leadership and School Houses. A great big thank you to Emily Beard and Alicia Jackson who brought along the Eggtacular Raffle prizes and drew them out (winners who weren't at Assembly will be phoned) and as well as James McGinnes, James Beck and Rachael Crilly who spoke not only of their experience raising money by completing the Oxfam Trailwalker event (which they won), but most importantly talked to the students about persistence and working together. A marvellous way to wrap up our last Assembly for the term. 

Speaking of wrapping up the term, here are our arrangements for the last day of term, all of which can be found on our School Calendar on our website.

Thursday 6th April - last day of term 

Friday, 7th April - First day of school holidays

Monday, 24th April - Curriculum day  - student free
     Dyslexia PD for staff

Tuesday, 25th April  - Public Holiday ANZAC Day
     6am ANZAC Day ceremony at WPPS

Wednesday 26th April - First day of Term 2 for students

Chicken duty over the holidays!
We are giving one lucky family the chance to win a ‘family experience’.  All you have to do is sign up and assist with the chickens on the weekend/during the holidays. Each time you volunteer, you and your family receive an entry into the raffle.  If you win, you get to choose what ‘family experience’ you would like.  These experiences include;

• Ninja Parc
• Hoyts
• Rainbow World
• Inflatable World

There will be a Term One draw when we return from our holidays. A special thank you to the Parents and Friends Association for the donation of the prizes. 
Please see this link for more information and to sign up.

2023.03.17 Movie Night

Thank you to everyone who came along to the Wattle Park Movie Night. It was such a great event which raised just under $6k. These funds will be well used to replace the retaining wall along the SAKGP garden area.

A big shout out to all the amazing parents who helped make this event a success…

• Anthony & Rosie Hall
• Emily & Ben Beard
• Alisha Jackson
• Sarah Reutersward
• Kate Simos
• Sjaan Keen
• Jo Cooke

Plus, all the volunteers who signed up on the night for a duty (or two).  THANK YOU!

Our Students
Fridays - Assembly 9.15am
Student of the week
Well done to all our recipients for actively displaying our school values. Students who are not in attendance to receive their certificate will be awarded it at the next week's assembly.

Class Student

Foundation RACV Visit
On Monday, the Foundation students were lucky enough to have a visit from the RACV Safety Squad. Liz (the RACV educator) covered many themes including passenger safety, pedestrian safety, bike safety and identifying hazards in the home.

Harmony Day
Hello, I am Chandana Halder--Ishan's Mum. On Friday, 24th March, I attended the WPPS assembly honouring the Harmony Day. I wore our Bangladeshi Traditional sari (Hand paint, wattle flowers) honouring multicultural society. 

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program - Hot Cross buns!
On Tuesday this week the Year 3’s made Hot cross buns as part of our SAKGP.

On Tuesday I made hot cross buns with Cooking Kids, Magic Pancakes, Spaghetti Spies and Fancy Chickens (SAKG groups). We made them because it is nearly Easter! Yay! They smelt amazing! I really liked it. It smelt so good when it was ready. What do you do for Easter?
By Vivi

Today (Tuesday) we made HOT CROSS BUNS! We made them because it is nearly Easter. Carolina made the dough. We had to put flour on our hands and chopping board so it doesn’t stick. We shaped the dough into a ball and added the cross. The smell when it was cooking was GREAT! It was soft on the inside and hard on the outside. It was … delicious. 
By Raff

Hot cross buns

Ingredients

500 gm plain flour
1 tsp (about 1 sachet) dried yeast
50 gm brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp allspice
½ nutmeg, finely grated
350 ml lukewarm milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
½ cup currants
2 tablespoons mixed peel – rock and chop
1 grated orange peel
Softened butter to serve

Directions
Combine flour, yeast, sugar, spices and a large pinch of salt in a large bowl. 

1. Add milk and vegetable oil and mix to a smooth dough (it will be a little sticky).
2. Mix in the currants and mixed peel, place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover bowl with a damp tea towel and leave to prove until doubled in size (11⁄2-2 hours)
3. Preheat oven to 190°C and line a 22cm-square cake tin with baking paper. 
4. Knock back dough and, with lightly floured hands, divide it into 9 even pieces. 
5. Roll each under your hand in a circular motion until smooth and round (you may need to dust them lightly with a little flour to prevent sticking), then arrange evenly in the tin and leave to prove until doubled in size (30 minutes).

For flour paste, mix ¼ cup flour and 50ml water to a thick paste that will hold its shape when piped – add a little more flour or water if necessary. 

Transfer to a small plastic bag, snip off a corner and pipe crosses on the buns. 

Bake until golden and cooked through (20-22 minutes). Cool in tin for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool on a wire rack.

For glaze, mix sugar with 50ml boiling water in a bowl, stirring until dissolved. While buns are still hot, brush with glaze, then leave to cool.

National Young Leaders Day
Hi everyone, we are the few students given the opportunity to go to the National Young leaders day at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Monday, 27th March. It was an amazing day where we got to learn about leadership and listen to well known Australian leaders. The following Year 6 students attended:

Gretel, Oliver, Zune, Callum, Leila, Farrah, Ishan, Zoe, Holly, Nelson and Emily.

Along with Mr Feather and Deb, we got to school at 7:30 in the morning to take the tram all the way into the city. As we arrived we joined the rest of the schools to dance and play the worlds biggest game of “Where's Wally”. The person who looked the most like Wally won and got dressed up in a costume. The other games we played were myth busters and twister which were very fun and got us up and moving.

The first speech that occurred was Candy Hertz, a big sports reporter who shared her adventures and experiences about her different jobs, and how she didn’t have a set path, and instead doing whatever suited her and using whatever opportunities she received. One of her problems from moving on was being fired twice, once from her dream job and once from the massive radio company FOX FM, that never stopped her from persisting and achieving more. She was very determined and did not let anything stop her.

The second speaker was Amanda Johnstone who talked about her adventure on how when she was just 16 she called up Nigel, the founder of Cotton On, to be her mentor and she created a very successful online clothing store chain. Amanda lived in Tasmania, and at the time there weren't many affordable options for clothing so she was very happy to be able to work with Nigel. Later she developed a mental health app and she appeared in her dream destination, Time magazine. Although she is mostly recognised for her contribution in the technology industry.

We then heard from Nazeem Hussain, a stand up comedian who shared his experiences with us about coping with bullying, being a naughty child and also how he tolerated racism, all said in a comedic sense that made us all laugh. He studied law but then thought that law wasn't for him and decided to be a stand-up comedian and work on television.

Finally, we were engaged by Robert DiPierdomenico, also known as Dipper, an AFL superstar. He played for Hawthorn Football Club for 20 years and was a captain. He is a five time Premiership player in the AFL and VFL, a Brownlow medallist, three time VFL MVP and he is in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. Wow, truly an inspiring player and an inspiration for everyone.

We have all learnt so much from these sessions such as we don’t always follow a set path, be resilient and always ask for help. That was just some of the priceless knowledge we gained from going to the National Young Leaders Day, and we would go again in a heartbeat! We loved every single one of the speakers, but our favourite speaker would probably be Nazeem because his stories were very interesting and he was exceedingly funny. I can definitely tell why he’s a comedian. We learned and participated in SO many activities on that day, and we definitely had a lot of fun! 

Thank you,

Gretel, Oliver, Zune, Callum, Leila, Farrah, Ishan, Zoe, Holly, Nelson and Emily B - Year 6

School Houses
The House Points have been collected. The winning house gets to keep their house colours on our House Trophy for the week! Well done to everyone awarded House Points this week!

• There are 4 school houses
• Waratah, Lomandra, Blue gum and Acacia
• Each student is designated a school house - your child’s house is on their Compass profile
• 1-3 points system is used school wide. Here are some examples

• 3 points

• Student of the Week Award
• Demonstrating academic excellence
• Representing WPPS at district swimming, completing PRC
• Demonstrating our WPPS School Values

• 2 points

• Participation in extra-curricular school-based events (such as, Running Club)
• Nude food

• 1 point

• Participating in school based events, cross country, good behaviour

Notices
James McGinnes, Rachael Crilley and James Beck took out the 100km Oxfam trail walk as the first group to reach the finish line under the name of the Wattle Park Primary Plodders. 

https://fb.watch/jvKf7hS9uM/ 

School Council
Our school is lucky to have an engaged and active School Council. At our School Council AGM last week, we farewelled School Council President Angus McKinnon after seven years of service to WPPS. Angus’ commitment and dedication has been exemplary and we sincerely thank him for his leadership. We also farewelled Ms Emma Tan who has worked successfully with the School Council since 2018. We elected a new School Council President Naomi Levin and Assistant School Council President Alicia Rennie at our AGM.

Also on School Council for 2023 are:

The role of School Council is governed by the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic). The key functions of School Council are to establish the broad direction and vision of the school within the school’s community, arrange for the supply of materials and equipment required for the school, ensure buildings and grounds are kept in good condition, to inform itself and take into account the views of the school community when making decisions and to report annually to the school community. Our website has some more information on the role of School Council, as does the Department of Education’s website. The Wattle Park Primary School’s annual report will be available to the school community during term 2.

VALE MRS ANNE LODGE

It is with heartfelt sadness that the Wattle Park Primary School community would like to acknowledge the passing of a well respected past colleague, Mrs Anne Lodge. Anne was a long standing Year 1 teacher who worked at WPPS between 1992 - 2002. Current staff Ms Antonino, Ms Downes and Ms Skantzos all had the privilege of working with Anne. She will be remembered for her love of literature, quality mentoring of younger teachers and her dedication to the inclusion and wellbeing of the entire WPPS community.

Lost and Found

• A digital watch was lost at movie night last Friday. Please return it to the office if you come across it on your travels.

• The padlock and chain to the Banksia Street gate was lost at movie night too. Please return it to the office if you find it. 

Our ‘Lost and Found’ looks like a second-hand store with a clinical propensity for hoarding! Please check if you have lost anything.

18th November 2023  Wattle Park Primary - Twilight Fete
The WPPS 2023 Fete has a new planning committee led by Amy Murphy (Sadie Year 2, Audrey F) and is already supported by numerous incredible parents. We are working together to create a fete that supports the school by raising funds to provide equipment, resources and high-quality care for our students. We’ll do this by bringing the community together to enjoy an afternoon of exciting rides, eating delicious foods, watching spectacular fireworks and having a lot of fun in the process.

We are looking for a few more members to fill a couple of positions to complete the committee. These include (but are not limited to) the coordination of the Entertainment, Food and Beverage, Marketing, Sponsorships, Donations and the Logistics portions of the fete. Committee members are required to attend a monthly meeting (via Zoom) on Tuesdays 8pm around mid-month, with more frequent meetings close to the fete on November 18th.

No experience necessary; a willingness to help and a commitment to seeing the fete be successful is all that is required to join.

Please reach out to any of the committee members with any questions or contact Amy on 0408 488 329 or wppsfete@gmail.com

We would love to have you on board!

2023 Twilight Fete Committee Members – 

Canteen: Ordering
Our canteen operates on Mondays and Fridays for lunch only.
Due to the timetable change outlined above, orders must be placed by 5pm the day before the order is required. This means:

Monday orders         by        5pm Sunday
Friday orders             by        5pm Thursday

Orders placed after these times cannot be processed.

This allows our Canteen Manager, Charlotte, enough time to get things organised.

To place an order, please download the free Flexischools App from the App Store or Google Play. Once you have downloaded the app you will be able to view and select your orders, and pay online. 

Canteen: Volunteering
Do you have some time to spare? An hour and a half on a Friday would be great!

Our canteen would not be able to run without the wonderful support of the volunteer Parents and Grandparents in our school. We would love to have you volunteer for us, whether you are an experienced hand or an eager learner. Please see below to sign up.

Here's how it works in 3 easy steps:

1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on SignUp.com: https://signup.com/login/entry/827030846186224028
2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on SignUp.com)
3. Sign up! Choose your spots - SignUp.com will send you an automated confirmation and reminders. Easy!

COVID 19 
If you require RATs please make a request to the school office. HERE is information from the Victorian Government about ‘Managing illness in schools and ECEC - information for parents and carers’. HERE is information regarding facemasks.

A summary below:

It is strongly recommended that students:

• who test positive to COVID-19 stay home and isolate for 5 days

• should not attend school after 5 days if still symptomatic

• who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school

• advise the school of the COVID-19 positive test result

• students who wish to wear a face mask should be supported to do so, and schools should continue to make face masks available for staff, students and visitors.

Where students become symptomatic at school they should:

• be collected by their parents/carers

• undergo testing for COVID-19

Have a safe and restful holiday.
That’s what I’m planning to do!

Kind regards,
Steve Donohue
(No longer Acting ...Principal) 🙂

Wattle Park Primary School with the permission of ANZAC House, holds a linkage (by ABC broadcast) to the dawn service on the school grounds.

We invite any interested persons in our school and community to join us in this opportunity to remember our fallen servicemen and women.

We feel this is a great opportunity for those unable to travel to the Shrine of Remembrance for the occasion.

We shall be following the order of ceremony as directed by the ADCC (Anzac Day Commemoration Council).

We ask those interested to gather at the School Administration area by 5.45am for a 6.00am start, concluding at 6.30am on Anzac Day,

Tuesday, 25^th April.  The Ceremony is an important occasion, so that future generations of young Australians do not forget the horror of war and the importance of ANZAC Day in Australia’s history.

Please join us in remembering and giving thanks to the men and women whose love and sacrifice in wartime has enabled all Australians to live in peace and freedom.

We encourage any children who may be in possession of their grandparent’s medals to wear them on the day, noting protocol; medals should be worn to the right side

The poppies can then be placed on the memorial as part of the ceremony.

                           

                                         

All Year 1 - 6 parents/guardians should have received an email in regards to update contact information. Please return your forms to the office - as soon as possible, even if there are no any changes.

4. Financial Assistance 

5. Remember - No Hat No Play
 In the months of September to May, all students are required to have on a hat for outside play.  Children will be required to play in the shade if no hat is worn, and being a Sun Smart School its important to have sun protection.
Hats are now available for purchase  from office at a cost of $20 each.

6. First Aid Room Volunteer
In order to keep our First Aid Room clean and tidy, we require volunteers to assist with this task. We need approximately 40 families on our roster to ensure that every family only needs to do this once per year. It is not time consuming and requires approximately 15 minutes of your time on a FRIDAY.
https://signup.com/go/MvZZbFq

7. PSW New Deliver Option
From 15th February, parents are able to order PSW school uniforms online and have the order delivered to the school office. Deliveries will be weekly for parent collection. This will save parents from actually having to go to the PSW shop if you  know what you want and sizes. This link is not working at present, stay tuned.

Above is a screen shot of how the screen would look like. 

The parent needs to choose the “Click and Collect” Option, the drop down box will appear and they choose for their item to be delivered to Wattle Park Primary School.

8. TeamKids - Newsletter

Australian Unity is an established Australian mutual company that has been operating for over 180 years, and we are currently recruiting for care worker positions in your local area that would suit jobseekers who are wanting to re-join/join the workforce, a change of career, or mums or dads with school aged children.  We would love to hear from applicants with or without experience.  
The positions:

• Are flexible, permanent, part time work – work within school hours!
• Offer an opportunity to work locally
• Provide ongoing training and development for career advancement
• Offer a comprehensive range or career development pathways
• Provide wellbeing at employee fingertips - employee assistance programs, discounted insurance, wellbeing and community leave.

We encourage applicants to register their details on our Talent Hub and one of our friendly talent team will contact them to discuss opportunities:   

Talent Community – Delivering care roles Southern