Dear Parents and Carers,

It’s the end of term today and yes, we’ve survived another period of lockdown for most almost all of this term.

Everyone I’m sure will be eagerly awaiting the Premier’s announcements on Sunday about the ’Roadmap’ forward for Victoria. Just so you are aware School Principals do not receive any advance warning of lockdowns or changes to restrictions ahead of any other member of the public. We receive the information via the Premier’s public briefing to all Victorians.

Many thanks to the community members who answered my call for positive accounts to include in the newsletter this week. See them below:

 (1) Getting to know all the school families that live close by. It has been great bumping into families we did not know well but have got to know a lot better during our daily exercise.

 (2) Seeing the kids grow and learn. As parents, we don't usually get the privilege of watching our kids learn academic skills. It has been fulfilling seeing how this happens - although we are also really looking forwards to putting our trust back in the teachers and relinquishing our role as teaching assistants ASAP.

 (3) Max G in Year 4A created a team call https://tourdekids.org.au/t/the-phoenix-dashers 

Tour De Kids raises money for The Starlight Foundation. You select how many kilometres you are aiming to ride and how much you want to raise.

There are 3 Wattle Park students in the team; Max G (yr 4), Charlie G (yr 2) and Ned B (yr 4). Max and Charlie’s dad, John has also joined the team. He rides with the boys after work which is a good way to end the day.

They are aiming to each ride 200km over the month of September and want to raise $500.

That is about 7km a day each for the month of September. There are also some Wattle Park Primary School families that have sponsored the team and have done some rides with the boys to keep them motivated.

 The boys are all on track to exceed their target of 200km at the halfway point. As of Wednesday, the team altogether have completed over 750km!

 (4) Baking is our new hobby and the kids love to cook and eat what we bake.

 (5) Caring for the lambs on weekends. It has been wonderful to have part-time pets, Haysie, Lizzie and Jake that are very different to usual domestic animals of cats and dogs.

 (6) Realising that teaching is a specialised skill. We’ve always known that teaching a classroom of children has its challenges but never realised the breadth of what teachers have to organise and teach while at the same time being able to motivate them.

 (7) Learning about every nook and cranny of our neighbourhood within 5 kilometres.

Please be aware that we are well into planning for 2022. If you have not enrolled your child for Foundation please do so immediately to ensure that we have allocated the appropriate number of staff and classroom spaces. Similarly, if you are exiting the school, please ensure to contact the office immediately. Student enrolment numbers determine the staff that schools need to employ.

For those students who are 12 years or over it is imperative for them and their families to read the ‘Vaccine Availability for Students Aged 12-15’ from the Deputy Secretary of Education, Dr. David Howes on our school website.

Well, that’s it from me for another very unusual term.

Thank you one and all for your efforts and support this term. Appreciate very much those families who have sent well wishes to all of our teachers and leadership staff for their work this term. It has been a big learning curve for everyone.

If you have the time, watch the Channel 7 news at 6:00 p.m tonight. You’ll see Assistant Principal, Mr Steve Donohue on camera and some our students with our lambs Haysie, Lizzie and Jake.

The lambs have returned to the farm as sheep and will now be living on a farm in Fish Creek. Thank you everyone who took such great care of our lambs. Without your nurturing they would not have survived.

Warm Regards



Gayle