Hello Everyone,

Happy Mother’s Day for Sunday to all of those much loved Mum’s in the community!

A great big thank you to Sjaan Keen and her band of trusty PFA volunteers who made our Mother’s Day stall a wild success. A well organised and much appreciated event.

This week we were visited again by The Age newspaper in response to former students from WPPS who contacted the paper to fill in the gaps of some history of the school and surrounding areas. This has involved Ms Antonino, various other long term members of staff and two of our long term neighbours from Banksia Street. Keep a lookout for it on this week's The Age newspaper.

This week also involved the first of four tests for our Year 5/6 select entry Maths Olympiad Class. Last Year WPPS topped the state in the competition. Over 37,000 students entered nationally.

The Maths Olympiad competition aims to:

• Introduce students to important mathematical concepts.
• Teach major strategies and develop flexibility for problem solving.
• Foster creativity and ingenuity and strengthen intuition.
• Stimulate enthusiasm and enjoyment of mathematics.
• Provide for the satisfaction, joy and thrill of meeting challenges.

Each test lasts for 30 minutes and has contains 5 questions: Here is one from this week's test:

Chooks
Thanks to the Stringer Family our fabulous feathered ladies have returned! Thank you to Ms Woodhouse and Ms Duong for incorporating the assistance of Team Kids and the Cameron Close residents to populate our feeding schedule so we do not have to appeal so desperately to our school families to attend to the ladies on the weekends.

Click here to visit the Volunteer SignUp page.

Click here to read more about what is required for Chicken Care

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 Mia Y in 6A 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 has it displayed in the foyer of the school. 

Assembly
9.15am  Fridays

YEAR 5 & 6 JOHN MONASH PROGRAM

On the 1st of May, four Year 5/6 students went to John Monash Science School (JMSS) to participate in the Little Scientists program (Lena Z, Zoe W, Jackson L & Khang T).
We were selected after completing an expression of interest, and we learned about chemistry and pH levels. The experiment we did was using a purple cabbage indicator and Universal Indicator to see whether a substance was acidic, basic, or neutral due to its colour. For the purple cabbage indicator, the more red it was, the more acidic the substance was. Purple is neutral, and the basic colours were blue, green, and yellow. 

For the universal indicator, the colour green would be neutral and for the colours more closer to red, would be acidic, and if it was closer to purple it would be basic. We were helped by a Year 11 JMSS student there and we also learnt about lab safety. Next time, we are going to learn about biology and microorganisms. We loved this program and we are looking forward to the next session.

By Lena Zhang & Zoe Wang - Year 6

Education Perfect
All students in Years 3 - 6 at Wattle Park Primary School have been invited to take part in the Education Perfect Global Language Championship 2024. This competition will be held from Tuesday 7th May starting at 10am and finishing at 10am on Tuesday 14th May inclusive. Please check here for the full participation guide, rules and tips.

Education Perfect is an online self-directed learning tool that provides an interactive learning experience. It is currently used in LOTE sessions in the classroom for set tasks. Students are also encouraged to practise 5-10 minutes every day at home if time permits.

To log into Education Perfect, go to https://www.educationperfect.com/, or download the Education Perfect app from the Apple iTunes Store/Google Play Store. Please use the child’s username and password provided in class over the past couple of weeks. If you have any questions regarding Education Perfect or if your child has lost their username and password, please contact your child’s teacher or our LOTE teacher Ms Sabrina Lin at: sabrina.lin@education.vic.gov.au

ICAS
We are delighted to inform you that  we will be participating in the world-renowned ICAS competition this year across Years 4 – 6.  

What is ICAS?  
ICAS (International Competitions and Assessments for Schools) is an online academic competition that is designed to assess students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling and Digital Technologies.  

Each assessment celebrates students’ accomplishments by providing opportunities for recognition and development. Every student who participates will receive a printed certificate and an online results report. Top performers will be eligible for medals.  

We encourage you to consider entering your child (Year 4-6 only) into ICAS this year.   

How to participate in ICAS  
If you wish for your child to participate in ICAS this year, please:  

1. Read about ICAS subjects and prices here.
2. Read the terms and conditions here.
3. Go to Parent Portal to purchase tests here.
4. Enter our school’s access code –  IOQ829  
5. Enter your child’s details, select the tests you would like to purchase, then proceed to   payment.  

Please note that the ICAS tests shown for selection are at the school’s discretion.   

After payment is made via the Parent Payment System, you will receive an order confirmation email. Please keep this for your records.  

ICAS Results and Certificates 

We will notify you of the date(s) that we run ICAS at the school and when your child’s ICAS results are ready. You will have until Monday 29th July to make an order, and your child will be sitting the test/s in August. Once we have received your child’s ICAS certificate, we will send it home with your child. The back of the certificate shows ICAS results and the login details, “TAP ID and Pin”, that you and your child need to enter on the Results Portal.  

Our Staff
Continuing our series on getting to know the staff at WPPS, we introduce Beth Hedt who is a valued addition to our highly skilled Learning Assistant Team:

My name is Beth and I am super excited to have joined the WPPS Learning Assistant team this year! I finished a Diploma in Teacher Education Preparation last year, and  I am currently studying a Bachelor of Primary and Early Learning Teaching. I love having the opportunity to work in the classroom as a Learning Assistant while I study. I have a particular passion for working with neurodivergent students! 

I look forward to working with students of all year levels throughout this year on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. 

Beth Hedt

Notices
Uniform Shop
https://www.wattleparkps.vic.edu.au/page/58/Uniform-Shop

School Bags
Available from the school office

Second Hand Uniform Shop
Located in the school gymnasium 
Cash only

Last friday of every month - next opening time
Friday 24th May 8.30 - 9.15am
Friday 28th June 8.30 - 9.15am

• Donations of second hand uniforms are welcome. 
• Clothing must be washed and in very good condition. 
• Please bring donations to the school office.
• Thank you for supporting this initiative!

Volunteers course

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

And for those of you who made it to the end…

After a series of steps that enable us to find the greatest possible value for ‘A’, we can deduce the greatest possible value for the word LEARN is 18570.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Steve Donohue

Principal

Wattle Park Primary School

With Mother’s Day fast approaching, we would like to invite you to our annual WPPS Mum’s Social Event. 

Please join us for a catch up with friends, a glass of bubbles and delicious canapés. 

Tickets are available via the following link, including raffle tickets for your chance to win a fabulous prize. 

We hope to see you all there! 

WPPS Mums Social Event 2024 | Humanitix

Forms have been given to your child/ren this week.  If you wish for your child to visit the dental van, please return these forms to the classroom no later than 15^th May.   Please note the quick time frame for these forms to be returned.
There are extra forms at the office also.

Second Hand uniform shop will be in the school gymnasium on 

• Friday, 24th May - 8:30am – 9:15am
• Friday, 28th June 8.30 - 9.15am 

• And then - Last Friday of every month, same bat time and same bat station.
                                                 

3. School Beanies

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 $150 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.

This procedure should also be followed for eligible existing families, for 2024 payment.

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

5. 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 sign up HERE.

6. 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.

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