Hello Everyone,

Of all the myriad things going on this week, the one, rising like the omnipotent tide at the back of everyone's mind has been the imminent return of the WPPS TWILIGHT FETE! 

A pre-emptive thank you to the vital, dynamic and tireless Fete Committee headed up by Amy Murphy, who has courageously led the charge back to re-establish one of our most treasured traditions.

The Fete Committee includes these very capable and hard working members (in alphabetical order) of our school community:

Danielle Boer Emily Beard Elki Breslin Manu Das Hayley Evans 

Sjaan Keen Suskia Malafu Charlotte Maybe Alicia Rennie

For everything you need to know about the WPPS Twilight Fete please go HERE.

See you Saturday!

Our Students
Assembly 9.15am on Friday 

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  Ellie Y from 1A who won this week for his excellent performance and regular participation in Mathletics this week. 

Nudie Foodie Award 
Congratulations to:  

Sienna M from 1B

Talya M from 3A

for winning the Nudie Foodie Award!

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.

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. 

Yr 2 Coding Program
This term Year 2 have been having lots of fun learning to code with our Bee Bots. In this lesson the students built mazes for their Bee Bots to navigate to display their knowledge of directional movement. As the mazes got more complex the students needed to deepen their understanding of sequencing code to achieve the objective of reaching different parts of their maze. We all loved sharing our mazes with each other and we learnt so much about the process of trial and error to perfect our codes.

YR 3 Visual Art
During Art this week, we were visited by Lisa from Box Hill Bunnings. She showed us how to decorate the outside of pot plants. It was a really engaging session as we saw the different ways it could be done. We also planted lettuce and coriander in these pot plants, which was a fun activity to do outside. We were able to share our ideas in this session, which was really enjoyable. We can’t wait to see the lettuce and coriander grow, which we will use in the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program.

By Heidi Beard and Byron Wong

Notices

Petition - REINSTATE the 903 bus along Warrigal Rd

Up to 20 of our students use the 903 but to access WPPS every week. Below is a copy of the letter sent by the School Council and myself to our School Community.

Hi School Community,

We found out this week that the 903 bus route from Mentone to Altona is being re-routed, and will no longer service a large stretch of Warrigal Road (from Elgar Road to Burwood Hwy/Toorak Road). This affects a number of you that use this service - on both sides of Warrigal Road and in both directions.

Instead, the 903 will be re-routed to service Deakin University. 

This change will be happening from this Sunday 15th October. Please check alternate arrangements.

What we can do as a school

As a school we are writing formally to the relevant ministers and local MPs. 

We have also been in touch with local schools, daycare centres and Cameron Close to ensure they are aware.

What can you do?

Most importantly, please check the new route on ptv.vic.gov.au. If you have any difficulties, please contact them directly via 1800 800 007 (Choose "Option 1").

You may also like to contact any of the following:

Paul Hamer, MP for Box Hill - paul.hamer@parliament.vic.gov.au

John Pesutto, MP for Hawthorn (the other side of Warrigal Road) - john.pesutto@parliament.vic.gov.au

Gabrielle Williams, Public Transport Minister - gabrielle.williams@parliament.vic.gov.au

Ben Carroll, Deputy Premier (fmr Transport Minister) - ben.carroll@parliament.vic.gov.au

Lizzie Blandthorn, Minister for Children - lizzie.blandthorn@parliament.vic.gov.au

Ingrid Stitt, Minister for Ageing (if you have family around the area who may be affected) - ingrid.stitt@parliament.vic.gov.au

We appreciate the concern this may cause and we will continue to campaign for a viable service.

Kind regards,

Steve Donohue, School Principal WPPS

Naomi Hanson, School Council President

HERE is the petition to sign

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.

Digital Reports

A reminder from our newsletter (2023.06.23)

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

2024 Class Formation - Policy

As mentioned over the last 6 weeks, requests were to be submitted by the 3rd of November. 

Thank you to those who made requests. We will endeavour to accommodate where we can.

A reminder, students are placed  in classes based on a variety of factors including:

• medical requirements
• legal obligations (intervention/court orders etc) 
• safety concerns
• academic needs and
• student generated friendship preferences

The WPPS ‘Class Formation Policy’ is on our school website and requires requests for student’s 2024 class be based upon ‘specific educational needs in relation to class placement’ 

See you at the Fete everyone!

Steve Donohue

Principal

Wattle Park Primary School

Just a reminder that the transition program for new Foundation students for 2024, will occur on Wednesday, 15th and 22nd November.  All students must be enrolled to attend. Enrolment form can be found here.

2. 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.

3. 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.

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.

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. 

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. Uniform Price Increase

Whitehorse Carols & Festive Season Activities

AUSTRALIAN BOYS CHOIR – AUDITIONS NOW OPEN

Calling all kids who love music!
The Australian Boys Choir are now rehearsing in both Hawthorn and Truganina. With 85 years of experience, the Choir runs an exceptional program of music education, leading to opportunities to perform at the highest standard both nationally and internationally.

Auditions for boys aged 7-9 are currently being held for entry to the program in 2024. Please visit www.australianboyschoir.com.au/join for more info and to book an audition.

The Choir also offers a non-auditioned Early Learners program which is open to both girls and boys aged 4-7 years. Term 4 classes still have a few places available. It is never too late to sign up and get a musical head start. For more info and to book for classes please visit www.australianboyschoir.com.au/our-programs/early-learners/