Hello Everyone,

Thank you to everyone who attended our Parent Teacher Interviews this past week. They were held on Tuesday and Wednesday in a hybridised form of both online and in person depending upon what was considered most appropriate by parents/carers and teachers.

 Due to feedback contained in our Parent/Carer Survey we implemented earlier this year, phone interviews were not utilised unless by specific request of the parents/carers in question. 

Our students

A message from our PE teacher Mr. Lindsay 

The Year 5 & 6 girls attended the division football. On a wet and muddy day at Bulleen Park the girls had a great day, making it through to the semi final before going down on a last second goal. 

Special thanks to Sharon Frawley and Kelly Baird for coming along on the day and helping out with goal umpiring.

Our Staff

Continuing getting to know our staff at WPPS, here is an introduction to Ms Easterbrook:

It has been absolutely wonderful to be part of the Wattle Park School Community and I have been teaching here since 2018. How time flies! Since I began at Wattle Park, I have taught in the Year 3/4 team and it has been fantastic to meet and get to know so many families over this time. After teaching Year 3 for the past 4 years, I am certainly enjoying my time in 4B. Year 4 is such a busy time for students as they prepare for the transition to senior school, with a highlight certainly being the additional responsibility of ‘Chicken Monitor!’

Thank you all for being such a supportive school community and I look forward to meeting and working in partnership with those of you I have not had the privilege to meet as yet!

Foundation Living Eggs

As part of the Foundation integrated studies topic on farms and farm products, we have a chicken hatching program in the Foundation classrooms over the next fortnight.

During this time, the children will investigate the life cycle of a chicken. An incubator and brooder box has been left in the classroom to enable the children to experience and record the development of the newly hatched chickens.

This program introduces children to the wonders of nature and provides hands-on experience in life cycles and growth and development. The children have shown care for the chickens as the program also encourages nurturing skills and opportunities for turn-taking and social interaction with their peers.

Mon 22nd August  - Student Free Professional Practice Day

A whole school Professional Practice day has been mandated for term 3 by Deputy Secretary of Education, David Howes. On Tuesday night the School Council approved Monday, 22nd August. This is also noted on our school calendar.

Please note that this will be a student-free day and therefore students will not attend school on this day.

To assist families, TeamKids will operate. Please contact TeamKids directly to make bookings. Tel: 1300 035 000

Thank you

Thank you to Steve Lew and Aiesha and Duncan Gray who turned up last Saturday to do two things. Remove one of the star pickets in the garden whose very existence baffled me, and ram it way into the ground to operate as a tether for Wattle and Rosie. Thank you for all of that as well as supplying the rope and collars. 

Carpark

Earlier this week I was up in the staff car park just before 9am. Screeching around the corner , flying faster than the speed of light (which, yes, l know, ironically actually means going backward according to the laws of physics - but let's not let that stand in the way of a florid description intended to make a specific point about safety), comes a car. Not only did it hurtle down to the bottom of the car park, but it also parked in the disabled car park, dropped off a student, then flew back up to Somers St at a speed not dissimilar to the rate at which the Earth rotates around the Sun.

This is dangerous for our students. 

The car park is for staff. 

The disabled car park is for disabled people.

If you are running late, remember safety first. A late pass for a child is far better than an injury or death for another. 

Dogs

We have vast grounds which are a marvellous place for our students to play. Because of these vast grounds we quite often have people who bring their dogs onsite after school which is also marvellous.

However, this week we had an incident where a student was patting another person's dog, as they had done in the past, and the dog bit this student on the face. Every party in this situation was horrified and fortunately the families involved navigated this in a very reasonable and understanding manner. Thank you to all involved. The offending canine is no longer coming onto the school grounds. This does however prompt me to remind people to be aware of their dogs behaviour. 

Only bring dogs onto site that are friendly to both humans and other dogs.

As a result of the discussion I had with both families I learned a new thing! This is, there are dog harnesses that tell people who don’t know your dog what they are like. The harnesses say things like, ‘NERVOUS’, CAUTION’, ‘TRAINING’, ‘DO NOT PET’. You can find more information about this HERE.

Face masks

Current advice from the Victorian Government recommends face masks are worn in indoor settings (except for close contacts, who must wear a mask indoors unless an exception applies). Students who are close contacts and want to attend should still take 5 RATs over 7 days and wear a face mask whilst indoors if they are aged 8 years or over. A letter provided by the Department of Education and Training has been sent out this week via COMPASS to explain DET’s current position. 

Calendar

Lots of events happening this term including School Camps, and various excursions. Please check the calendar on our school’s  website to keep up to date. Events can be clicked and downloaded to your phone - a marvellous way to make sure you are not startled by the words “Mum, Dad, I need to get ready for camp this morning” (!)

Chickens

The students are not always onsite so we need volunteers to help look after the lambs and the chickens. 

Sheree Spiteri, a parent of one of our Foundation students, is currently organising a weekend roster for our school lambs and chickens in her role as Chicken Care Coordinator and she is now seeking volunteers for the weekends throughout Term 3. Everyone is welcome to volunteer and support if available.

Responsibilities:

• Let the chickens out in the morning and bring them in late afternoon
• Check for eggs
• Empty water containers and refill with fresh water
• Check food and grit containers and ensure there are adequate amounts of food for our 8 fabulous ladies
• Clear any chicken droppings/feathers from the laying boxes and water/food/grit containers
• Replenish hay in the laying boxes 

The chickens are such an important part of the WPPS community and the SAKGP. Ensuring they are cared for outside of school hours is essential to their health and wellbeing… and egg laying! If you are interested, please contact Sheree at: shereespiteri85@gmail.com  and advise of the following:

• Name
• Email address
• Mobile number
• Availability (even one weekend will help)

2023 Enrolments

2023 school planning has commenced. We are having quite a few families who are asking to enrol from outside our zone due to various factors - all of which are inherently a very positive reflection on WPPS!  So, if you have a child/children due to commence school in 2023 please complete a school enrolment and forward to the school office along with a copy of their Birth Certificate & Vaccination Certificate ASAP. A  2023 School Enrolment form is available HERE on the WPPS website or the school office.

And one more thing!

We are padlocking shut the gate to Warrigal Rd. after 9.15am every morning. It opens again around 3pm. We are doing this because we have a student who has a penchant for running out of the class and out of the school grounds. There are processes in place to ameliorate this issue but the safety issues are abundantly evident. Thanks for your understanding on this one.

Have a great weekend.

Steve Donohue

Principal

2. School Council Dates for 2022

Tuesday, 23rd August, 7pm
Tuesday, 18th October, 7pm
Tuesday, 13th December, 7pm

3. Car Parking, Banksia Street

Parents, out of courtesy to our neighbours please do not park across their driveways in Banksia Street, when dropping off or picking up your children. Whitehorse Traffic Officers will be patrolling during these times.

We operate a first aid room at Wattle Park Primary school. In order to keep our First Aid Room clean and tidy, we require parent volunteers to assist us each Friday. We'd love 40 families to help - so you only have to help once a year!
For only around 15 minutes we appreciate you checking the area, changing the sheets, and returned washed sheets the following Monday. 

How to assist

• Click on the link below, choose the date you can assist, and sign up.
• You will not require an account or to keep a password. 
• If you would prefer not to use your email address, please email the school and your details can be entered manually to include you on the roster. 
• To assist with tidying the First Aid room please sign up here: 

https://signup.com/go/bpUzddO