Hello Everyone,

Due to a myriad of events taking place there was no Assembly this week.

On Friday alone there was the:

Year 1 Cultural Day A celebration of the global community we have in our classrooms

Year 2 Big Day Out An extended school day as preparation for first day of Year 3/4  camp in 2024

Year 6 Bike Ride An 8km bike ride, putting into practice the lessons learned during the  Bike Ed Program, which follows Gardiners Creek Trail to Holmesglen/Jingella Reserve.

Next week our Whole School Swimming Program begins. As a result there are some other tweaks. Please look at your Year Level’s website page for specific information pertaining to classes.

Mon 4.12 

     No Canteen 

Tue 5.12

      Classes as normal

Wed 6.12

     Whole School Swimming Program begins

Thu 7.12

     Whole School Swimming Program

     8.00am Running Club

Fri 8.12

     Whole School Swimming Program   

     3.00 Assembly- Last Student of the Week for the year

Friday 15.12 Christmas Concert!
On Friday, 12th December from 2.20 - 3.30pm WPPS will stage our Christmas Concert in the gym. We are doing it like this for several reasons:

• Our surrounding preschools are attending so we will become more visible in our local community
• Time in Lieu Costs, which are now state government law, make this prohibitive to have outside of school hours
• We will have a Christmas stall and our Uniform Shop in operation 
• We will have no weather problems!

Information about who is singing what songs will come to you via individual classes. There is no cost and we invite all our parents/guardians.  This was a terrific afternoon last time so feel free to come along and join in the fun!

Cameron Close Reading Program 
I have been in conversation with Cameron Close Retirement Village and after some discussion about COVID protocols, we can announce our Year 1 Reading Program will commence in Term 1 of 2024! The benefits of inter-generational relationships and learning are very important, and we look forward to this program commencing in 2024.

Watching Old People's Home For 4 Year Olds in iView
https://iview.abc.net.au/show/old-people-s-home-for-4-year-olds

Watching Old People's Home For Teenagers in iView
https://iview.abc.net.au/show/old-people-s-home-for-teenagers

2024 Classes
Fri 8.12     Teachers in 2024 year levels, published in the newsletter

Tue 12.12  Statewide Transition day - Students learn who their teacher will be for 2024

As mentioned in every newsletter over the last 10  weeks, requests were to be submitted by the 3rd of November. We endeavour to accommodate where we can. 

Our Students
Next Assembly is 3pm on Friday 8th December

Year 6 SolarBuddy Project
As part of our learning about energy and electricity this term, the Year 6 students have been involved in the SolarBuddy Program. SolarBuddy is an Australian charity joining a global community to illuminate the futures of all children. 

We decided to fundraise the money to fund the costs of building solar lights to send overseas to help children living without electricity. Therefore, on Thursday, 2nd November, the Year 6 students and teachers ran a whole school sausage sizzle. In the end we raised a total of $800 and we sold over 300 sausages! 

A couple of weeks later, we had our SolarBuddy Day. The students worked in pairs and small groups to build the lights as well as write letters to those children who will be receiving them.                                                            

The lights will be sent to either Ghana in Africa or Papua New Guinea.

The students enjoyed the combination of learning while also making a difference!

Thanks,

James Feather & Julie Carlson

Year 6 Teachers

Students of the Week & House Points
There are no ‘Students of the Week’ due to the myriad events taking place on and off site this week.

Hello Chicken!
A message from our Stephanie Alexander Garden Program coordinators:

Dear Parents & Guardians,

An exciting opportunity has come up! We are looking to rehome our lovely ladies (chickens)! We need two WPPS families to permanently take the chickens. 

A few considerations: There are four small hens. The small hens will need to go in pairs and they are still laying eggs. 

Please reach out to wattle.park.ps@education.vic.gov.au if you are interested!

The two larger chickens have already been rehomed.

Kind Regards,

Monica & Dominic (SAKGP Coordinators)

Notices

Gleeson Ave parking
A concerned member of our school community bought this recent change to my attention. 

Hi Steve,

There has been a noticeable increase in people parking too close to the corner of Gleeson street when coming to pick up their children from school. This is a significant safety issue as children can then not see past the cars when attempting to cross the road. It is also a serious safety risk to other drivers, particularly those turning off Warrigal Road and onto Gleeson Street.

We have raised this with the Council and they have undertaken an assessment and agreed that this is a concern. In response to this, they have this week installed “no stopping signs” 10m from the intersection on both sides of Gleeson St to make it clear where parking is not permitted.

Can you please share this in the school newsletter as we want to ensure that we keep our school community as safe. Please see updated signage installed below…

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.

Have a great weekend!

Steve Donohue

Principal

Wattle Park Primary School

Thanks to the kind folks who helped at the fete, we have a selection of Christmas goodies that we will be selling at our Christmas Stall on Friday December 15th, from 8am - 4pm.

Parents and carers are welcome during the day (please sign in), with kids able to purchase before & after school, and during recess and lunch.

Cash and eftpos will be available on the day. Prices range from $1 to $15.

Items include:

- Jewellery (earrings, bracelets)

- Gorgeous tote bags in a variety of colours

- Fairy wands

- Ribbon wands

- Bookmarks

- Heat packs

- Gift cards & other cards

- Coasters

- Noughts and crosses travel games

- Christmas decorations

- As well as many other goodies!

See you there!

We are pleased to invite all parents, carers, relatives and special friends to our annual Christmas Carols event at Wattle Park Primary School on Friday 15th December from 2.30pm - 3.30pm in the school gym.

The children have been practising their carols and it is a lovely way to end another great year! Last year's event was a real joy and we hope to see as many of you there as possible. We realise that not everyone can make it at this time, and wanted to let you know that we hold the carols during the day due to the cost of holding extra events outside of school hours. 

Also this year we will have the uniform shop open, as well as the Christmas stall. Come early to sample the goodies and stock up on uniforms for next year! 

The kitchen garden program will also have some of their home-made goodies including seeds, beeswax wraps, candied fruits, flavoured salts, and jams/relishes for you to purchase for your Christmas get-togethers!

Thank you all, look forward to seeing you at carols!

 

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.


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.