Hello everyone,

Thank You to the Rotary Club of Mont Albert and Surrey Hills

On behalf of our entire school community, I would like to extend our sincere thanks to the Rotary Club of Mont Albert and Surrey Hills for their incredibly generous donation of $1,000 to our school.

After noticing our thermometer fundraising board displayed on the school fence, the Rotary Club kindly reached out to see how they could assist. Their thoughtful contribution will make a meaningful difference to our students and school community.

A very special thank you to Bob from Rotary for making contact and supporting our school in such a generous and community-minded way. 

We are extremely grateful for the ongoing support shown by local organisations such as Rotary, whose kindness and commitment to education is deeply appreciated.

Typing vs writing

I suspect many of us have long believed—or at least suspected—that writing something by hand helps us learn and remember it more effectively than typing it on a computer. Recently, there has been considerable discussion in the media and on social platforms about research conducted by Norwegian neuroscientist Audrey van der Meer, who leads a brain research laboratory in Norway and has published important new findings on this very topic.

While much of the social media commentary referenced her work, few articles linked directly to the original study, so I read it myself—and found it both fascinating and affirming. If you are interested, you may like to read the study HERE

The final paragraph of the paper captures the key message:

“Even though maintaining handwriting practice in school is crucial, it is also important to keep up in the ever-developing digital world. Children should receive handwriting training at school to learn to write by hand successfully, and, at the same time, learn to use a keyboard, depending on the task at hand.”

This aligns closely with our approach at Wattle Park Primary School.

At Wattle Park, we place a strong emphasis on handwriting as a fundamental part of student learning and development. While digital devices certainly have an important place in contemporary education, their use at our school is carefully considered and closely monitored. Technology is used to support learning—not to replace the learning itself.

Van der Meer’s 2024 study found that writing by hand activates the brain in ways that typing does not. Using advanced brain imaging, researchers observed that handwriting engages multiple parts of the brain simultaneously—including areas linked to memory, learning and information processing—creating stronger neural pathways and supporting deeper understanding.

This reinforces earlier research showing that students who write notes by hand often understand and retain information more effectively than those who type. Handwriting encourages students to slow down, think carefully, prioritise key ideas and put concepts into their own words—an essential part of meaningful learning.

For younger learners in particular, handwriting also plays a vital role in literacy development, helping children build stronger recognition of letters, patterns and language structures.

At Wattle Park Primary School, our commitment to explicit handwriting instruction and purposeful use of digital devices reflects what the research continues to tell us: the strongest learning occurs when foundational skills are prioritised and technology is used intentionally—to enhance, rather than replace, the human thinking process.

Year 3 and 4 Winter Sports Gala Day
On a drizzly Thursday, all Year 3 and 4 students participated in the Term 2 Winter Gala Day. The three sports played were Netball, Tee Ball and Soccer. Despite the wet conditions, all students demonstrated enthusiasm, teamwork and excellent sportsmanship throughout the day. Everyone enjoyed the opportunity to represent the school and participate in a range of exciting matches. 

Violet F (Netball) – “Our team was very good and we had good sportsmanship. We worked together to win four out of the five games. The first game we were still getting used to how to play.”

Edward C (Tee Ball) – “Our team was really good; we didn’t lose a single game. We had two games where we scored above twenty runs. Although it was really wet, we still played well. The parents probably won’t like the situation of our school clothes. Full of mud!”

Faye C (Soccer) –”I scored a goal, but it didn’t count. I was in defence, and I was good at stopping the other players from getting goals. We had fun, but we didn’t win any matches.”

Agam P (Soccer) – “On Gala Day, I played soccer. When my team was playing their second match, I dribbled past two Year Four students. We scored one goal! A funny moment was when I slipped!”

Ned W (Tee Ball) – “I loved smacking the ball really far. The ball was soft and I was good at catching it. It was a mad dash to throw the ball back to home base to get the other team out.”

Eva B (Soccer) – “On Gala Day I was doing soccer. I had lots of fun. The first game we were all standing at the soccer net. For the second game we did much better, but we didn’t win any games.”

Our Students
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 changed last year from six:

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

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience

Mathematics Award
A round of applause for:

Austin in 5A

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

ECO MVP

How to win….

It’s simple

 - Continue to bring your nude food lunches

 - Pick up rubbish around the classroom and school

 - Turn off lights and powerpoints that don’t need to be on

 - Turn off leaking taps

 - Dispose of rubbish appropriately.

Each week, a Scarecrow teacher or leader will visit one classroom (at random). They will select one student for the ECO MVP, and their photo will be taken for Assembly. The student will receive an amazing Banana Trophy and Plantable Pencil.

Congratulations to:

Legan  - 1/2B

Class of the Week Awards -  Art Class

Congratulations to: 6A

who were awarded ‘Class of the Week’ for their exemplary behaviour and effort in Visual Arts.

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. 

Our Staff

Hello Everyone! It is an absolute pleasure to see the students of Year 4B each week. I have been teaching for over 10 years now, and I am passionate about helping kids grow and developing their skills. I love supporting each child to reach their full potential and enjoy seeing their progress throughout the year. Outside of teaching, I enjoy playing and watching many sports (Go Bombers!), as well as spending time by the water, which helps me relax and recharge. 

Fun Fact: As much as I love my job, I enjoy hiding from students on the school holidays…

Notices

Uniform Shop next open: Note New Date

Friday 12th June from 8.30 - 9.15 in the gym

ICAS

Dear Parents/Guardians,  

We are delighted to inform you that we will be participating in the world-renowned ICAS competition again 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.   

Learn more about ICAS here.

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.

1. Read the terms and conditions here.

1. Go to Parent Portal to purchase tests here.

1. Enter our school’s access code –  IOQ829  

1. 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 Test Dates, Results and Certificates 

We will notify you when your child’s ICAS results are ready. You have until Monday 27th July to make an order. 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.  

Privacy Collection Statement  
The following information is a privacy notification about how your child’s data is kept private and secure.  

Janison is aware of our responsibility to protect the identity of, and all information relating to, children, and students in general, from disclosure and consequently Janison does not:  

• collect any personal information or data of children other than as required for the purposes of completion of the assessment, test or exam;  
• transfer any personal information or data obtained during the delivery of assessments, tests or exams conducted in Australia to any jurisdiction outside of Australia other than with the specific consent of the person, or his or her parent or guardian;  
• transfer any personal information or data obtained during the delivery of assessments, tests or exams conducted in other international regions out of the child’s jurisdiction other than with the specific consent of the person, or his or her parent or guardian;  
• share any personal information or data relating to children or students with any third parties (other than a third party whose services are necessary for servicing our products, e.g. print/distribution companies, medal engraving, etc.) except with the specific consent of the person, or his or her parent or guardian;  

• use any personal information or data relating to children or students for marketing purposes.  

Janison may retain personal information and data relevant to a child for their future purposes or for research purposes by Janison for the duration of the school life cycle of the child. However, if you or your child at any time wish to have their personal information or data removed from our systems, they or
you may opt out by simply contacting our Privacy Officer at privacy@janison.com.  

We are proud to offer ICAS and look forward to some fantastic results later in the year.  Please do not hesitate to contact the school office if you have any questions or send me an email at james.feather@education.vic.gov.au.

Kind regards,  

James Feather

Year 4 Teacher & Learning Specialist

Assembly                Fridays at 9.15am

Running Club          Thursday 8am - 8:40am 

Kitchen Volunteers!
We are looking for volunteers from our wonderful school community to help support the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program at Wattle Park Primary School. Working with  Children's Check required.

Year 3

Year 4

Weekend Chicken Volunteers!

Our Year Four students do an incredible job caring for our chickens at WPPS. However, they're not there to care for them on weekends so we're in need of some help.

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

Please click here to visit the volunteer SignUp page.

Click here to read more about what is required on your visit with our chooks! 

Have a great weekend!

Steve Donohue

Principal

Wattle Park Primary School

Cash and Card welcome.

Next Opening Time

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).

Payment amounts for eligible family this year is $400 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.

Please return completed CSEF application forms to the office by Friday 26 June 2026

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

In order to keep our First Aid Room clean and tidy, we require volunteers to assist with this task. It is not time consuming and requires approximately 15 minutes of your time on a FRIDAY.

Please click on the link below to sign up.

Thank you for your time

https://signup.com/go/GZAwtYc

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