Hello Everyone.

A huge thank you to Teneile Kost, who, once again, single handedly, ran Sushi Day on Monday this week. Not only does this make money for our new playground, but the students (and many teachers) love it!

Thank you Teneile!

On Wednesday this week, there was the one year anniversary of the Auburn South Primary School, acknowledging the tragic accident that claimed the life of one of their students. Our thoughts go out to the family. 

It brings to mind how precious our children are and how important road safety is to everyone.

Sunday, 16th November Working Bee 9.00am -12 noon
In preparation for our upcoming Fete, we will be having a Working Bee to distribute the gigantic pile of mulch we have in the yard.

Come along, use a shovel and/or wheel barrow and join in! Drinks supplied!

Social Media Delay/Ban
From 10th December, 2025 the Australian Government will implement legislation that expects age-restricted social media platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 years old from having accounts on their platforms. 

While no formal assessments have been made, the age restrictions are likely to apply to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube, among other platforms.

I mentioned this in last week's newsletter, but you may be interested in these references from the ESafety Commissioner.   

• E Safety Commissioner.

• Social media age restrictions

• How will the social media age restrictions affect me if I'm under 16?

Our Students
Ethan L & Opera Australia’s production of Carmen
Ethan L  has featured in many productions, at times sharing the stage with other students of ours. This November, you can find him at the Regent Theatre in Opera Australia’s production of Carmen.

For tickets, go here: https://opera.org.au/productions/carmen-melbourne/

There are likely to be alternate casts of children for the production, so please check with his mum Alicia for details of which shows he is in.

Students of the Week!
As a result of our recent School Review, as well as the work we are doing with our School Wide Positive Behaviour Support Program, our school values have changed from six:

Respect, Responsibility, Care, Encourage, Value and Challenge to the ‘Three R’s’;

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience

Congratulations to all of our students who have displayed these values this week.

This week, we investigated RESPECT -  and how it looks in SHARED SPACES. 

You can view the video HERE 

Mathletics Champion
A round of applause for:

 Jake Y - 4A

who has excelled in Mathletics this week through consistent participation and impressive performance. Well done Jake!

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. 

2026 Classes
As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, class formation for 2026 is well underway.

For 2026, we will have this class structure:

Foundation   x 1 (if we have 10 more enrolments we will make another class)

Please note our Class Formation policy mentioned later in this newsletter.

NAPLAN 2026 
Our next NAPLAN assessments will take place in March 2026.

Past NAPLAN papers, please email samantha.kwong2@education.vic.gov.au. 

Spare practice papers are at the office for collection.

Year 3 Reading Practice question example:

Year 5 Reading Practice question example:

How you can help at home

Available online platforms

Year 3 NAPLAN practice site FREE!

Year 5 NAPLAN practice site FREE!

• Rise+ – https://riseplus.education/naplan-practice-tests/
• EXCEL Test Zone – https://www.exceltestzone.com.au/

These platforms closely resemble current NAPLAN assessments. They offer timed test conditions, instant reporting, growth analysis, and rankings that compare your child’s results with other national test takers. 

NAPLAN resources

• ACARA past papers (FREE):
• NAPLAN 2012–2016     
• https://acara.edu.au/assessment/naplan/naplan-2012-2016-test-papers
• NAPLAN 2008–2011
• https://acara.edu.au/assessment/naplan/naplan-2008-2011-test-papers
• Blake’s Back to Basics NAPLAN (Officeworks, Amazon, Booktopia)
• EXCEL NAPLAN-style tests (Officeworks, Amazon)
• School Zone NAPLAN (Kmart, Target, Officeworks, Amazon)
• Test Mate NAPLAN (Amazon)

Our Staff
Continuing our series on getting to know our staff at Wattle Park Primary School, we re-introduce Ms Skantzos, who teaches Foundation A:

Hello Wattle Park Families!

Some of you may already recognise me, as this is my 16th year at our wonderful school!

During my time at Wattle Park, I’ve had the pleasure of teaching in almost every year level and have seen so many positive changes and additions to our school community.

I am currently teaching Foundation A and have enjoyed a fantastic year. I’m looking forward to our final term filled with fun, learning, growth, and supporting our amazing students as they continue their journey.

I also help run the SRC, which has been a wonderful opportunity to connect with students from across all year levels who are passionate about representing their peers and promoting student voice.

I have three children, a spoilt dog and am local to the area. I love going for coffee and am patiently waiting for the new coffee shop to open across the road!

Please feel free to say hello if you see me around. I love connecting with our school community!

Kathy Skantzos

Notices
MND Awareness - SHUT UP! TO MAKE A LOUD IMPACT

On Thursday 13th November, WPPS will be taking part in the SHUT UP! FOR MND challenge. 

As a school community, we will go without our voices to support those who have lost theirs to MND. By taking part, WPPS will help to raise vital awareness and funds for those living with MND now. Each class will endeavour to remain silent for an hour or more in acknowledgement of people with MND often losing their voice as the disease progresses. 

If you'd like to donate to this very worthy cause, please follow the LINK!

Class Formation Policy
WPPS is sorting out 2026 classes.

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

If you feel your child has specific educational needs in relation to class placement, please communicate this via email to steven.donohue@education.vic.gov.au by Friday 15th of November.

The WPPS ‘Class Formation Policy’ is on our school website.

Running Club
The ever popular Running Club is back up and running for term four. Join the team on the Top Oval every Thursday at 8.00am 

‘Hats on in September’ … and till the end of the year

Have a great loooong weekend.

Our Silent Auction is LIVE! ⭐

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