Hello Everyone,

Yesterday we had our Foundation and Year 6 Buddies welcome BBQ. 

The purpose of this event is for students and parents/guardians alike to make connections with each other, have an informal chat all while there’s a free sausage sizzle and a Zooper Dooper for the students. 

Apart from being a bit on the steamy side, it was a great success. 

Thank you to Anthony Hall from the PFA who organised sausages and people to cook them.

A big thank you to Wattle Park Cakes who supplied us with all the bread for free!

Managing School Absences
The Department of Education (DE) has a policy for student absences. Part of this policy involves same day notification of parents/carers when there is an unexplained absence. This is why the school calls you if your child is marked absent on the school roll and we have no notification from you as to why on Compass. The DE has asked all schools to inform their community of the processes around absences and what happens when a child is absent for a long period of time.

For more information go to SAME-DAY NOTIFICATION OF UNEXPLAINED STUDENT ABSENCES

Go to  Attendance and missing school for example situations and what to do.

Our Students

Week 2
Class	Student
FA	All of FA	FB	All of FB
12A	Emily B & Parth K	12B	Jean A
12C	Agam P
3A	Wilbur E	3B	Emma L
4A	Asher E	4B	Noah L
5A	Vivienne S	5B	Josh W
6A	Max H	6B	Mariam A

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. 

Class of the Week Awards- Visual Arts
Congratulations 3A who were awarded ‘Class of the Week’ for their exemplary behaviour in Visual Arts!

Our staff

You may be aware Mr Roberts, our PE and Health teacher from 2024 is on paternity leave this term. In his place we were lucky enough to secure the services of Ms Renata Kanagaratnam.

Ms K as I am famously known, because my last name is a challenge (Kanagaratnam)

I am currently the P.E teacher for this Term at Wattle Park Primary while Stephen Roberts is away on paternity leave. I am fairly new to Victoria after having lived in Perth, WA for the past 17 years. I am originally from Malaysia and have a 24 year old daughter and a 22 year old son who are residing in Perth. When people ask them if they have moved out of the house yet? Their reply is “no mum moved out instead”. Ha! I met my husband, Errol in 2019, I reversed my car into his at a shopping mall in Garden City, Perth. We were married in 2021, Errol has four children of his own and we are now the “Brady bunch”. Do you now understand why we ran away from Western Australia and moved to Victoria… Ha!

I have been teaching in Malaysia and now Australia for the past 21 years. I have had most of my teaching experience in Montessori Schools spending many years in different cycles. Children’s House (3-6 years), Lower Primary (6-9 years) and Upper Primary (9-12 years). I have also been a specialist teacher in these schools as a LOTE  teacher (Indonesian) and in Art as well. 

I decided not to return to full time teaching when I moved to Melbourne in 2023, because I wanted to have a feel of working in different schools and to have the freedom to travel at any time. I have over the past 6 months, done casual relief teaching at Wattle Park and have found it to be such a beautiful school with friendly, supportive staff and have found the school was filled with respectful and responsible students. Hence, when the opportunity  to take on a role as P.E teacher I jumped at it.

Renata Renata Kanagaratnam

Notices

Kinder Update

	Mon 3.2	Fencing construction begins
	Fri 7.2	Fencing construction completed
	Tues 11.2	Kinder students first day

Assembly
Fridays at 9.15am

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 11.2 from 3.50 – 7.30 pm
Wed 12.2 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 Meeting are available to book via your COMPASS portal.  Bookings will close at 12 pm on Tuesday 11.2.

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

2025 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. The WPPS Annual Permission Form will be available online using COMPASS.

This form will be sent as an event, '2025 WPPS Annual Permission Form,' and we ask that you complete sections 3 and 4 by Friday, 28th February, 2025. 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 on 98082165 if you need assistance.

Thank you everyone.
Wattle Park Primary School

Canteen
Our community-run Canteen has recommenced with a slight change to operating times. Now open on Thursdays and Fridays and some wonderful new menu items.

Ordering - Full Menu
Thursday orders by 5pm Wednesday
Friday orders by 5pm Thursday

Chicken Care
Our Year Fours do an incredible job caring for our chickens. However, they're not always there to help like on weekends and during the holidays. So, we're in need of some help.

Our SignUp is structured so that you are responsible for the chickens for the full day, but this only requires one visit in the morning (at or before 9am) and one visit in the afternoon (between 3pm-5pm). 

Please sign up here: https://signup.com/go/dKqTDEy

For further instructions on their care, please use the following link:

2025 Chicken Volunteer Duties

Thank you for your help, 
James Feather, Lauren Neilson & Richard Abell
SAKGP Co-ordinators

Running Club
Running club will be on again this year. More information later.

Volunteers course
If  you’d  like to volunteer in 2025 please obtain a Working with Children’s Check and complete our Volunteers course:  This is an annual requirement.  

Hats on in Term 1!
With the glorious summer sunshine comes the need to be aware of the damage rays can do. As per our Sunsmart Policy WPPS all students must wear a broad brim hat when outside.

Have a great weekend!

Steve Donohue

Principal

Wattle Park Primary School

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Looking to be part of something spectacular?

Join the 2025 Twilight Fete committee.

The fete is a fabulous day for our school community to come together for fun, food, and fantastic memories. Thrilling rides, delectable treats, and ending with our fabulous firework display, we're hoping to make the 2025 fete bigger and better than ever - but we need your help! 

We need people to make the big decisions and pull the whole day together. Here’s the commitment.

Meetings (combination online and in-person)

• Term 1 & 2: monthly
• Term 3: fortnightly
• Term 4: weekly

First Meeting: 7pm Thursday 20 February (Future dates to be discussed at this meeting).

Don't want to join the committee but still want to help? We need help sourcing and coordinating:

• Sponsors
• Year level and specialised stalls
• Entertainment 
• Silent auction donations.

Let's make this fete a fabulous day for our entire school community!

If you can help in any way, please reach out to Alicia at arennie@live.com.au. Volunteer signup to help on the day will come out in term 4.

Any questions contact Danielle Boer or Alicia Rennie (Year 4 & 6 parents).

 

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Please scroll through to see all of our latest notices!

1. School Saving Bonus
2. School Hat - Remember September to May - No Hat No Play
3. Second Uniform Shop
4. Book Club
5. School Photo
6. Year Book Distribution
7. Thank you
8. Update Working with Children Check 
    - Annual Requirement
9. Student Update Information



1. School Saving Bonus

By now, you should have been able to access the SSB Portal and allocate where you want the funds to be allocated to.

Once this has been done, please drop the office an email stating where you wish the funds to be distributed to.

This will make allocation of these funds from our end streamlined.

If you have any questions relating to the SSB please contact directly to: school.saving.bonus@education.vic.gov.au or on Tel: 1800 338 663.

Thank you for your co-operation.

2. Remember September to May - No Hat No Play
 

Please note that it’s that time of year 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 $20.

3. Second Uniform Shop
Second Hand uniform shop will open in the school gymnasium from 8.30am - 9.30am on:

Friday, 14th March

4.Book Club


5.School Photo

6.2024 Year 6 Year Book Distribution  

The new reprint of the 2024 Year 6 Yearbook is available for collection from the office or can be posted to your home. If you want it posted, please call or email the school, with the address you wish to have it posted to."

wattle.park.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Please note that it is one book per student.

7. Thank you
A big thank you to Wattle Park Cakes for generously donating 10 loaves of bread to the Foundation BBQ held last night. Your donation is most appreciated by the school community.

8. Annual Updating - Working with Children Check
All parents who wish to volunteer at school are required to update their Working With Children Check (WWCC) and sign the Child Safety Code of Conduct each year.

9. Student Update Information
Today, Year 1/2 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 the contact information.

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