Hello Everyone,

Our Students
Year 6 Leadership Positions
After writing their job description and delivering their speeches, the Year 6 leadership positions were announced last week as part of our Start Up program. Congratulations to our Year 6 students who have been awarded the following roles:

School Captains	June	Flynn	Zane	Oscar R
ICT	Megan	Zoe	Calum
Blue Gum	James	Marc	Owen	Josh
Waratah	Eric	Bobby	August
Lomandra	Ammar	Issy	Liam	Nick
Acacia	Lachie	Kaylee	Franki	Mia
Visual Art	Abby F	Xoli	Abigail S
Performing Arts	Zara	Lila	Leen
Wellbeing/SRC	Sophia	Ethan	Archer
Environment	Alfie	Elly	Benjamin
Numeracy	Maggie	Damon
Literacy	Lewis	Autumn
STEM	Lena	Oscar P	Lili

Each student was awarded their badge today at a Special Leadership Assembly hosted by our special guest presenter, former Principal of WPPS Gayle Cope!

Alumni
Congratulations to former student Peter Holland, who achieved a terrific ATAR last year. Well done Peter!

Cyber safety
Wattle Park Primary School begins each year with a two week long Start Up Program. The purpose of this program is:

• Establishing significant time to get to know our new group of students and allowing them time to get to know us as a significant adult in their lives and each other.
• Allowing our students to identify the unique qualities that make them special.
• Understanding our School Values and how these look in action in different ways around the school
• Recognising that each student and adult brings something to the group and that each will be valued as an individual.
• Developing clear understandings about the ‘ways we want to be treated’ from both an adult and student’s perspective.  Including developing an awareness of Cybersafety.
• To assist students and staff in making the transition between levels within the school.
• To support staff new to our school or a level to develop an understanding about what we value as a school.
• Help introduce skills and tools to students using information that is known to them, so they can use the same strategies later with challenging new information and learning. 

Cyber safety is a major and growing concern for every school. Both Primary and Secondary. 

As part of our Startup Program, we have the Police Youth Liaison Officer in to talk to the Year 3, 4, 5, and 6s about Cybersafety. Year 3 and 4s had their sessions on Monday and the Year 5 and 6s on Tuesday.

It is well worth noting the following minimum ages:

The Australian government’s Esafety Commissioner site has an informative summary of the latest games, apps and social media, including how to protect your information and report harmful content.

Do you know what your child is doing when they are online?

Cyber Safety  - Year 3s

Senior Constable Heath Williams came to speak to the Year 3 students about cyber safety on Monday 5th February. He shared many insightful stories about his life in the police force and the importance of staying safe on the internet. As a group, we discussed the legal age limit for using certain apps and how to keep our personal information safe. It was an amazing incursion. We thank Heath for his time and the knowledge that he shared with us about cyber safety.  

Cyber Safety - Year  56s
Today, we had a lesson about cyber safety with Heath and Verity, two Police Officers who taught us the importance of staying safe online. They showed us how we can stay safe on the internet, such as: when we are posting anything online, we never post anything that shows others our personal information. We learned what apps are inappropriate for children of our age, and to delete these apps if we have them. We know only to chat online with people we know in real life and beware of suspicious behaviour.

By : Literacy Leaders- Autumn Cadman, Lewis Longayroux
ICT Leaders -Megan Li, Zoe Wang, Calum Ballenden       

Our Staff 

Hi Everyone,

My name is Gabriella Williams, I have recently been appointed as Business Manager with Wattle Park Primary School.
I am available 5 days per week unless otherwise specified.
I am very excited to embrace my new position here looking after HR and school finances. I come with many years of experience in schools and have a finance background from working in private enterprise.
My passion is family, travelling, meeting new people and experiencing all that life has to offer.  I have an open heart and mind and look forward to getting to know this wonderful new staff and community. Thank you! 

Notices
Uniform Shop
Thank you to Kathy Bagust and Julie Chapple, who have gallantly responded to the call to take over from Kelly Baird, who has run our Second Uniform shop for a thousand years.

Uniform shop is next open: Monday 4th of March 8.30 - 9.00am 

Term 1 Parent-Teacher Meetings

Parent-Teacher Meetings are an opportunity for you to talk to your child’s classroom teacher/s to discuss how we can work together to provide the most beneficial educational experience for your child. These are held in Term 1 and Term 3. Parents who normally have a Student Support Group Meeting (SSG) each term do not have Parent Teacher meetings.

Student reports are provided in terms 2 and 4.

Parent Teacher Meetings this Term will be held in 10-minute sessions on the following days:

Tues 20.2 from 3.50 – 7.30 pm

Wed 21.2 from 3.50 – 5.00 pm

Interviews will be held face-to-face unless otherwise organised with the classroom teacher via Video Conferencing (Zoom/WebEx).

Parent Teacher Meetings will be available to book via your COMPASS portal from 4.00 pm tomorrow (Wednesday 7.2). Bookings will close at 12 pm on Tuesday 20.2.

Please contact the office on 9808 2165 if you need assistance.

2024 WPPS Annual Permission Form on COMPASS

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Every year, we send out a list of permission questions (see below) to be completed, covering your child for the entire year. Starting this year, the WPPS Annual Permission Form will be moving online using COMPASS.

This form will be sent as an event, '2024 WPPS Annual Permission Form,' and we ask that you complete sections 3 and 4 by Friday 1st March, 2024. This should take no longer than a few minutes to complete.

Please answer the questions below regarding:

• Accident Declaration

• Permission and Authority Form for Walking Excursions

• Media Permission Internal - School Newsletter, Website

• Media Permission External - Newspaper, Television

• Head Lice Check Consent

• Health Management Plan

• Volunteering

Please contact the office if you need assistance.

Assembly
Fridays at 9.15am - today was our Leadership Badge Ceremony with our Special Guest Presenter, Gayle Cope

Thank you to the JOCKEY Club!
Thank you to Ben Beard, who rallied members of the Jockey Club (Micheal Hunt and Macca l saw in action), who spent Tuesday afternoon scouring the site for random volcanic rocks and creating what was a desolate wasteland into a plot ready for a bank of dwarf limes to be planted. An ideal addition to our Kitchen Garden program.

903 Bus Route
Up to 20 of our students were using the 903 until it was removed.

In response to this,  the WPPS School Council met with the State Member for Box Hill, Paul Hamer, to establish what could be done about providing access via public transport to WPPS. 

One of the ideas muted was a bus service that ran for limited hours during pick up and drop off times.

Paul said our energy was best placed accumulating stories from those affected explaining how the absence of the 903 bus affects them personally.

Please email me on steven.donohue@education.vic.gov.au with any comment, narrative, impact statement of how the absence of this service has affected you. 

Please do this by Thursday Feb 29th.

We will collate them and present them to Paul to be taken higher up the governmental tree.

HERE is the petition to sign

Canteen
Our canteen operates on Mondays and Fridays for lunch only.

          Ordering - Full Menu

To place an order, download the free Flexischools App from the App Store or Google Play. Once you have downloaded the app you will order and pay online. 

Orders must be placed by 4pm the day before the order is required.

Monday orders   by 4pm Sunday

Friday orders      by 4pm Thursday

         Last Chance Ordering - Reduced 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.

Please be aware Flexischools does not automatically change the class of your child to their 2024 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!

Running Club
Running club begins again next week at 8am  Thursday 15th of Feb.

Volunteers course
If  you’d  like to volunteer in 2024 please obtain a Working with Children’s Check and complete our Volunteers course:

Hats on in Term 1
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.

Annual privacy reminder for our school community

A standard school update for all government school from the Department of Education

Annual privacy reminder for our school community

Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy and the Schools’ Privacy Collection Notice.

Wattle Park Primary School’s Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn. We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use [Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education] safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using [Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education], please contact the school. For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. This information is also available in ten community languages:

* Amharic

* Arabic

* Dari

* Gujarati

* Mandarin

* Somali

* Sudanese

* Turkish

* Urdu

* Vietnamese

Have a great weekend!

Steve Donohue

Principal

Wattle Park Primary School

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Up to 20 of our students were using the 903 until it was removed.

In response to this the WPPS School Council met with the State Member for Box Hill, Paul Hamer to establish what could be done about providing access via public transport to WPPS. 

One of the ideas muted was a bus service that ran for limited hours during pick up and drop off times.

Paul said our energy was best placed accumulating stories from those affected explaining how the absence of the 903 bus affects them personally.

Please email me on steven.donohue@education.vic.gov.au with any comment, narrative, impact statement of how the absence of this service has affected you. 

Please do this by Thursday Feb 29th.

We will collate them and present them to Paul to be taken higher up the governmental tree.

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Please scroll through to see all of our latest notices!


1. CSEF
2. Student Update Information
3. Running Club 
4. Volunteer Needed for the First Aid Room
5. School Photo
6. Book Club
7. School Hat
8. Late Students
9. Second Uniform Shop

Remember September to May - No Hat No Play

1. CSEF
Welcome, all new families to Wattle Park Primary School for 2024.

If you are the holder of a Govt Concession Card or Health Care Card, you are eligible for Government assistance called CSEF, (Camps, Sports, Excursions Fund).

This payment of $125 is for any school activity including camps.

Please fill out the form HERE along with a copy of your concession card, and hand into the office.

If you have  any enquiries, please contact the office on 9808 2165.

2. Student Update Information
Today, Year 1 Parents/Carers will receive an email requesting parents to check over contact details for their child.

It is imperative we have the latest contact information, along with emergency contact details.

Please print off the sheets with any changes to be clearly marked, and return to the office for amendment.

The office will send out emails to each year level, week by week.

Thank you for taking time to read through contact information.

3. Running Club - begginning on the 15th of Feb

4. Volunteer Needed for the First Aid Room
Much appriciated if any one can help us clean the sheets in First Aid Room. Your help can make the First Aid room a more safer and cleaner enviroments.We have had no one since mid last term. Please see Office for more information.

5. School Photo


6. Book Club
Please note that book club on line orders need to be placed no later than 15th February.

7. 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.

8. Late Students
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.

9. Second Uniform Shop
Second Hand uniform shop will be in the school gymnasium.
Monday 4^th March - 8:30am – 9:00am.

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Support your local businesses.












REGISTER HERE - https://www.playhq.com/afl/register/5abcb2 or
scan the QR Code on the flyer below!

The details are as follows:
Dates: Thursday 15^th Feb to 21^st March (6 week program)
Time: 1:00 to 3:00pm
Where: Central Ringwood Community Centre, Bedford Park, Rosewarne Lane, Ringwood 3134
Cost: Free for parent’s living in Melbourne’s Eastern suburbs - Maroondah, Knox, Whitehorse, Manningham, Monash, Boroondara and Yarra Ranges.
Registration link: Click here (form will close once program is fully booked)
Please note: Parenting anxious children is an interactive parenting program, so unfortunately not appropriate for children to attend.

The topics will include:

1. Understanding anxiety in early childhood
2. Strategies to deal with feelings
3. Communicating with anxious children
4. Dealing with challenging behaviour
5. Building Resilience
6. Parental self-care

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