Dear Parents and Carers,

This week I was talking with Principal colleagues in the outer east region that have been affected by the recent extreme weather events. 

Schools in the Mount Dandenongs have been hit extremely hard with fallen trees, no heating and no communication services. To my knowledge most school buildings have survived but students in some schools have had to be transported to other schools down the mountain to access lessons.

Schools in the inner east have indeed been fortunate. The only damage to this school was the large sail across our playground equipment. This is covered by insurance and will be replaced hopefully well before the hot weather arrives. All of our trees escaped the brunt of the extreme winds.

This weekend, Assistant Principal Mr Steve Donohue and I will be busy reading and editing student reports. All teachers have completed Semester One reports for your children. Reports will be distributed next Thursday if all goes to plan. Please ensure to take the time to read and celebrate the achievements of your child with them. It is important that students receive your feedback about their learning as well as their teachers. If you have any questions about your child’s report, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher by email for a follow up interview if necessary.

It’s a very exciting day today with a ‘Friday Donut Day’ to celebrate the reopening of the school canteen next week for Monday and Friday. Our new Canteen Manager, Mrs Charlotte Stilve, has been working and researching hard behind the scenes to develop a new menu that is both healthy and affordable. At this stage the canteen will provide lunch orders by a Flexischools app and no over the counter sales as yet. Please see the Flexischools information attached to order lunches for Monday and Friday.

We will still be relying on parent volunteers to provide an hour or two to assist Charlotte in the canteen. It is not a job that Charlotte can do alone. Many thanks to the parents who have kindly volunteered their time to help out next week.

I would like to sincerely thank the many members of the school community who participated in the canteen survey earlier in the year. The School Council certainly viewed all of the responses and their decision on the future of the canteen services was made based on your views. Fingers crossed that the canteen will be able to operate for the rest of the year with minimal disruptions.

Late yesterday afternoon the school received updated Schools Operations guidelines. The most salient points are listed below and it is with regards to QR codes- If parents are to enter any buildings you must record your attendance via the QR code or proceed to the office and record your attendance by signing a register.

QR code requirements in schools

The use of Service Victoria QR codes for electronic record keeping is mandatory for all workplaces to enable the effective contact tracing of any COVID-19 cases. This now includes schools.

 The public health intent of including schools in the QR code check in system for workplaces is to capture those visitors accessing school buildings or indoor facilities, but not those entering the school grounds for reasons such as school pick up.

 QR codes will be required to be used by:

• all visitors, including contractors, external Department staff and building and maintenance staff
• all parents who enter buildings when on the school site

QR code check ins will not be required for staff or students, or parents who come onto school grounds for drop off or pick up, but do not enter buildings.

 Schools can permit parents to enter buildings on-site for student pick up and drop off providing sufficient QR code locations can be identified and utilised to ensure parents are able to check in. Locations should include:

• Site entry and exit points
• Building entrances

It’s hard to believe that we are entering the last week of term 2 next week-the end of June. Even harder to believe that it’s our first full week of onsite learning in a month! But it’s the perfect weather to be tucked up inside with a book or maths puzzles after a long walk or run in the rain. So important to make sure our students are learning within and beyond the classroom.

Warm Regards



Gayle

Our canteen operates on Mondays & Fridays for lunch only. Lunch for Monday order by 4pm Sunday Lunch for Friday order by 4pm Thursday To place an order, please download the free Flexischools App from the App Store or Google Play.

Canteen: Ordering

Our canteen operates on Mondays and Fridays for lunch only.

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

Monday orders by 4pm Sunday

Friday orders by 4pm Thursday

Orders placed after these times will have a limited number of items to select from our 'Last Chance Canteen'

This allows our Canteen Manager, Katrina, enough time to get things organised.

To place an order, please download the free Flexischools App from the App Store or Google Play. Once you have downloaded the app you will be able to view and select your orders, and pay online. 

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!

Mrs Katrina Longayroux is our new Canteen Manager.  Please make her feel welcome. And remember - we are always looking for volunteers! Please call the office on 9808 2165 to find out more about how you can volunteer with canteen.

1. Open Day 2021
Please note the NEW date : 9-11am Saturday, July 17th

2.The Dental Van is Coming!

We will be visited by the Dental Van during the week of 9^th August – COVID19 permitted.

Your children  have received a flyer.  If you wish your child/ren to see the dentist, please fill out the form and return it to the office by Thursday, 24^th June.

Extra flyers will be available at the office.

3. Twilight FETE

Our WPPS 2021 Fete is coming!

We are so excited to be holding our fete this year on Saturday 27^th November from 3pm – 9pm. It’s a fantastic opportunity for the school community to come together and celebrate.

With your support, we can make this a fantastic event!

How can you help?

We have a number of roles available and would love your help. You will receive support from a friendly team of parents and helpers, and access to information from previous fetes.

• Treasurer
• Marketing and sponsorship
• Raffle and silent action
• Logistics
• Food and Beverage Coordinator
• Stall Coordinator
• Stall Coordinators for each year level’s stall (If you’re a class rep you might like to consider this role with other class reps in your year)
• Student Art Coordinator
• Student Stalls Coordinator

You can also assist with:

• Donations! We need plants, pots, potting mix, seeds, items for the raffle and silent auctions. 
• Making crafts / donating items for our craft stall – think of what your kids would love! Even if you aren’t a crafter, consider donating items we can use. 

• Closer to the fete:

o   Provide home made jams and preserves

o   Provide jars for jams made in our Stephanie Alexander program

o   Provide books & used toys (Please note: All goods must be in a saleable condition. A good tip – if you wouldn’t buy it, please don’t donate it)

If you can help with any of the above, please contact Christina at wppsfete@gmail.com or call on 0417305996. 

For more information: https://www.wppsfete.com.au/ or

https://www.facebook.com/wppsfete. 

We’d love you to be involved!

4. Jars Wanted   

Families are kindly asked to donate any used spare jars.

The Year Three and Four children are preserving fruits and vegetables at the moment for the kitchen and also the fete.

We require jam sized jars and smaller.

They need to be clean and label free.

Leave them near the office in the container labelled ‘USED JARS’.

Thank you

5. Return of School Uniform

During the week it has been necessary for some students to change their school uniform and borrow spare school uniform from the sick bay. (this has been due to playing in the very muddy grounds)

Can all borrowed uniform please be laundered and returned to the school sickbay for any future incidents.

Thanking you in advance.