Hello Everyone,

This weekend 28 of our students head to the John Cain arena for an event as spectacular in name as it is in reality.

Thank you to everyone who has assisted in this endeavour including all the parents who have been transporting their children backwards and forwards to every rehearsal and  each of the two performances that will occur tomorrow. If you can snare a ticket, it really is worth seeing.

A high thank you to Ms Michalska who has used every one of her lunchtimes to work our students up to a standard we are proud to put on display. I’d also like to acknowledge the Herculean amount of work our Learning Assistant , Jo  Gleeson has put into the organisation of our students for this event. Our entry into the VSS would not be possible without the dedication of these two valued staff members.

2023.09.09 Saturday  - Victorian State School Spectacular 

Thousands of kids getting ready for the State Schools Spectacular | 9 News Australia - YouTube

When is the 2023 Victorian State Schools Spectacular?
The 2023 Victorian State Schools Spectacular will be held on Saturday 9th September. The performance times are 1:00pm and 6:30pm. Where is it held? John Cain Arena, Melbourne Park 

How long is the performance?
The show is approximately 2hrs 45min (including a 30-minute interval).

How much are tickets?
Adult: $40 Concession: $30 Child (U15): $20  (a $6.30 service fee per transaction applies on all purchases)

Where can I buy tickets? 
Tickets are available through Ticketek: www.ticketek.com.au/spectacular or 132 849.

Tickets are on sale from 11am on Wednesday 7 June.

Where’s the best seat in the house to view WPPS students?
Section 9, 10, 31, 32, 33, 56, 57, 58

2023.09.02 Saturday - Great Big Working Bee
Last Saturday we had our third of four Great Big Working Bees for the year. 

A great big thank you to all those who braved the initially quite threatening weather to join in the valiant pursuit of creating a cared for environment. Emblematic of our approach to learning at WPPS.

Thank you to:

Who all put in a huge effort to remove random concrete, install a blow vac and whipper ship the site, remove decades worth of debris from under the fence on Warrigal Road and complete the transformation of the garden bed between the PA and the gym.

We have one Great Big Working Bee each term. These are on our website calendar and downloadable to your phone.

We have one to go:

Term 4 Sat 9th Dec     Great Big Working Bee       10 – 1pm

Our Students
Students 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 at next week's assembly.

Mathletics Champion
Congratulations to Elly Y from 5A who won this week for her excellent performance and regular participation in Mathletics this week. 

House Points
The House Points have been collected for this week.  The winning house decorates the trophy with their colours and have it displayed in the foyer of the school. 

Through Road Learning Centre
Last week, the Year Six students begun visiting the Through Road Learning Centre to take part in a reading buddy initiative. Our WPPS students have significant experience with younger children through our existing Buddy Programs, and through this new initiative, we’re looking to enhance our current programs as well as, our community connectedness. Our first two groups of Year Six students did a remarkable job working with a variety of 3-5 year old students. We look forward to this experience continuing into the future.

Mathematics - Year 5
Last week the Year 5’s were learning about angles. One of the exercises that we did was to get tape and make line patterns on the table. After this, we measured the angles that were created. To do this we used a protractor and wrote the answers on the table where they appeared. We did this because it was important to learn how to use a protractor to measure angles, and because it was very amusing to draw on the tables (which we have always wanted to do). Here is what some students had to say about it…

“It was very fun.”

“It was an amazing way to make learning fun and educational at the same time!”

“It was a great way to recognize different angles.”

Overall, everyone in Year 5 enjoyed the activity and would happily do it again!

Flynn and Jialin

Foundation
As part of the Foundation integrated topic about farms and farm products we all went on an excursion to Chesterfield Farm on Wednesday, 30th August.

It was such a fun filled day! A big thank you to the parent helpers who came along to assist us on the day. Students were actively engaged in many learning experiences such as: 

• Going on a tractor ride around the farm and searching for the 35 new spring lambs that were born in the last two weeks!
• Watching a sheepdog at work to see how the dog is trained to round up the sheep.
• Milking a cow
• Visiting and handling many farm animals in the nursery such as calves, guinea pigs, rabbits, lizards, lambs and goats.
• Feeding the animals. We met lots of two legged animals such as emus and ostriches. The four-legged animals included donkeys, llamas, horses, deer, sheep and cows. The goats were very greedy and tried to steal bags of food from the students!

Notices
Chicken duty!

Thank you to those families who have assisted throughout term two including the term two holidays (Tues 25th April to Sun 9th July).

The family who has won the term two family experience is the Shahsavand family. 

Congratulations to Lily and Ayva! 

This competition is still going! 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
•   Bounce
•   Flip Out

Please see this link for more information and to sign up. A special thank you to the Parents and Friends Association for the donation of the prizes.

Jemima the Lamb needs a home for the holidays!

We are looking for two families to take Jemima for the upcoming holidays (one family for the first week and another for the second week). If you’re interested, please email wattle.park.ps.@education.vic.gov.au

Hats on in September!

With our emergence from the Winter gloom into the glorious Springtime sunshine comes the need to be aware of the damage rays can do. As per our Sunsmart Policy WPPS states the following:

From 1 September to 30 April, all students must wear a sun protective hat that shades the face, neck and ears for all outdoor activities. 

“Hats on in September, off in May”

Students who are not wearing appropriate protective clothing or a hat may be asked to play in the shade or in a suitable area protected from the sun.

2023.011.18 WPPS Fete - WE NEED DONATIONS

Over the coming months we will be asking Wattle Park families for certain donations to help make the fete a success. We will try to spread out our requests to not overwhelm families but any donations we do receive will be greatly appreciated.

First up, we are looking for donations of:

HANDMADE GIFTS

•     Homemade candles
•     Jewellery (earrings, bracelets, necklaces)
•     Fairy wings
•     Floral wreaths (to wear)
•     Christmas decorations
•     Dolls Barbie / doll clothes & accessorieS
•     Headbands
•     Cards and Keyrings

CRAFT ITEMS

•     Patterned Fabrics
•     Plain tote bags for library bags
•     Stuffing
•     Christmas wrapping paper & tape
•     Plain magnets that we can stick things onto
•     Plain clear gift bags
•     Dowel stars & sticks (so we can do fairy wands)

Please drop any donations at the school office.

Any questions, please contact Rosie: info@rosacommunications.com.au, Kelly: kelly.baird@hotmail.com or email wppsfete@gmail.com

Follow and stay updated!

Facebook: @wppsfete

Instagram: @wppstwilightfete

Canteen
Hello Everyone,

We are introducing a new late order canteen service called 'Last Chance Canteen'.

This is designed to allow families to place a lunch order via Flexischools, from a limited menu, if the normal daily service cut off has been missed.  Items such as pies, nuggets, sausage rolls, popcorn and drinks will be available as part of this service with a cut off time of 8.30am the day of canteen.

Kind regards,

Charlotte Stilve 

Canteen Convenor

Ordering

Our canteen operates on Mondays and Fridays for lunch only.

Due to the timetable change outlined above, orders must be placed by 4pm the day before the order is required. This means:

Monday orders    by      4pm Sunday

Friday orders       by      4pm Thursday

Orders placed after these times will not 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. 

Please be aware Flexischools does not automatically change the class of your child to their 2023 class. Please ensure you update this information when you next order.

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!

Parent Survey - last chance!

A reminder from our newsletter (2023.08.04)

The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and is open from Monday 7th August till  Friday 8th September via a variety of devices. It is available in English and 10 other languages, including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

To complete the survey, 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/parent

School Name: Wattle Park Primary School

Campus Name: Wattle Park Primary School

Enter your unique PIN

3. Click on the tick button at the end of the survey to submit your answers. 

Digital Reports

A reminder from our newsletter (2023.06.23)

Currently we issue reports at the end of Semester 1 (term 1 and 2)  and Semester 2 (term 3 and 4).

We also publish them on Compass as digital documents by 4pm on the day they go home.

As agreed upon at School Council on Tuesday this week, and as an environmentally responsible school, this Semester 1 report will be the last time we provide all students with a hard copy report.

In acknowledgement of the preference for a hard copy report, we will still provide paper reports to those parents/guardians who request them. All you will need to do is email your classroom teacher to let them know this is what you would like.

For further information regarding how to access your child/rens reports (from as far back as Semester 2017) please go HERE. 

Student reflections will continue to come home as a hard copy in an envelope.

Have a great weekend.

Steve Donohue

Principal

Wattle Park Primary School

Week 7 - Lachlan (Year 4A)

Week 8 - Oliver (Year 3B)

How to win….

It’s simple - students are asked to bring in their Nude Food Lunches. 

Each week a Scarecrow teacher or leader will visit one classroom (at random). They will select one student with delicious, healthy Nude Food.

Their photo will be taken for Assembly and they will receive an amazing  DIY ECO Herb Head Planting Kit.

1. Remember September to May - No Hat No Play
 

It’s that time of year - September, when 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 from now till May.
New hats are available from the office $15.

All late students MUST report to office before heading to class, to receive a late slip.  Otherwise, your child will be reported as absent and parents will receive an sms notification that their child in an unexplained absence.

If you have a child starting primary school in 2024, it’s time to enrol. Even though the dead line for enrolling your child has passed, late enrolments will be accepted

If you are enrolling the sibling of a student at our school for Foundation in 2024, and both children will be attending our school at the same time, your child is prioritised for a place at our school as per the department’s Placement Policy.

For more information, please read about when and how to enrol your child in Foundation at vic.gov.au/enrolling-foundation-prep.

If you are seeking to enrol your child into Foundation next year, please contact our school office on 9808 2165  to request an enrolment form or visit our website https://www.wattleparkps.vic.edu.au/page/80/Enrolment to download a Word Version – 2024 Enrolments.

4. 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

5. 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. 

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.

6. Second Hand Uniform Shop Volunteer
Volunteers are desperately needed to help out our amazing Second Hand Uniform Shop Manager Kelly Baird.  If you can spare some time to help out, please contact the office on 9808 2165. 

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

7. Unclaimed Jackets
If any of the jackets below belong to your child, please collect them from the rack in the Administration building.