Hello Everyone,

You’ll no doubt be aware there have been some changes to the State Government's approach to COVID 19. As the safety of our students is a priority, let's begin with an outline of where we find ourselves now:

COVID 19 

On Wednesday l sent an email via Compass outlining the new Department of Education’s COVID 19 approach. HERE is information from the Victorian Government about ‘Managing illness in schools and ECEC - information for parents and carers’ . HERE is information regarding facemasks.

A summary below:

The Victorian Government has announced the end of the Pandemic Declaration and associated Pandemic Orders. The following settings, based on advice from the Department of Health, will apply from 11.59pm Wednesday 12 October 2022.

It is strongly recommended that students:

• who test positive to COVID-19 stay home and isolate for 5 days

• should not attend school after 5 days if still symptomatic

• who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school

• advise the school of the COVID-19 positive test result

• students who wish to wear a face mask should be supported to do so, and schools should continue to make face masks available for staff, students and visitors.

Where students become symptomatic at school they should:

• be collected by their parents/carers

• undergo testing for COVID-19

• Parents and carers will therefore be asked to continue to report positive student COVID-19 cases using the VicED COVID Tool.

Next week we will give out test kits one more time. After that they will be by parent request only until we run out.

Weather

Speaking of safety, we have been in for some prolonged periods of rain lately and it’s likely to continue over the weekend. Due to some drainage issues that have previously threatened to submerge the library, (well, yes perhaps submerge is too strong a word, but water certainly laps at the door!) I  had the SES out on Thursday as a preemptive strike to shore up our library with sand bags.  Thanks to Mike and Dave who cleaned out the drains and bolstered our doors, we are better placed to survive a flood over the weekend than we were before their arrival.

Thank you’s

Thank you once again to Paul Summerbell who added to our lucious pile of mulch in the car park. 

Thank you to Anthony Hall who has created our key art for our upcoming show at the Besen Centre.

Working Bee

Pencil in another working bee on the weekend of Saturday, 12th November so we can have the place looking a triumph of horticultural endeavour as a consequence of unrivalled community engagement! Also in time for the election being held here on the 26th of November in the gym.

Our Students

Division Sport

Monday 10th October 20 students who qualified from yr 5 and 6 played in the Division Basketball finals at Mullum Mullum Stadium. These students included:

Here we have our girls who won!

Wednesday 12th October 27 students who qualified for Division Athletics attended the Tom Kelly Athletics track in Doncaster to participate in a number of sports. Of  these students several made through to the next level:

Eva B Shot Put Discuss

Mae P 100m 200m

Henry C 800m 1500m Relay

Ayman R Long Jump Relay

Tom P Relay

Jack W Relay

James C 1500m

Scarlett S 200m

Production!

‘Circus is Coming to Town!’ is WPPS's production this year. Details about this production and a trybooking link to purchase tickets were sent out on Wednesday this week via Konnective and Compass.

Apologies to anyone who wasn't aware of this impending carnivalesque extravaganza. It generally occurs annually but has been cancelled for the last two years. But not to worry - now it’s BACK!  

Click on this link:   https://www.trybooking.com/CCAGA

1.                   Choose the performance
2.                   Select your seats and tickets
3.                   Click ‘checkout’ and pay with your credit card
4.                   A confirmation via email will be sent with your tickets attached
5.                   Print out your own tickets to bring with you to the Production

Important Information

There is no limit to the number of tickets to purchase, so please purchase tickets early to avoid disappointment.

Ticket Pricing: $25 per ticket. A 50 cent per ticket booking fee will be added to your purchase.

Preschool children can be seated on their parents' knee at no charge. Please leave the theatre if your pre-schooler becomes unsettled.

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program

A note from our year 4A teacher,Ms. Woodhouse:

4A enjoyed a fantastic garden session on Monday morning. Due to the recent rain and warm weather, there was plenty for us to do and luckily with three parent volunteers, we were able to accomplish a lot! Our students did an excellent job applying their knowledge of herbs and vegetables to harvest rhubarb, snow peas, Asian greens, mint, parsley and edible flowers for our kitchen session and rocket for seed collection. We also had two teams weeding who were able to differentiate the wild parsley, strawberries and nasturtiums from the weeds that needed to be removed. 

 In the kitchen we put our chopping skills to the test chopping our harvested veggies and herbs as well as garlic, chilli, capsicum and cabbage to make three recipes; charred rice noodles with greens; a cabbage, pea, mint, chilli and parmesan salad; and rhubarb honey cakes topped with lemon icing and edible flowers.

 We’re very grateful to our wonderful volunteers that have been supporting the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program this year.  Your help allows our students to have these active and engaging sessions each week.  We’d also like to thank all families for their continued support washing the tea towels and aprons, every contribution helps our kitchen run smoothly!     

Charred rice noodles with greens

Ingredients

200 gm fresh wide rice noodles

1 tsp dark soy sauce

2 garlic cloves, crushed

Spring onions – finely sliced

1 bunch garden greens - stalks trimmed and thinly sliced, leaves coarsely chopped

Capsicum finely diced

200 ml vegetable stock

2 tablespoons oil

To season: fish sauce and light soy sauce

2 tsp cornflour mixed with 1 tsp water and 1 teaspoon of light soy sauce

What to do

1. Combine noodles with soy sauce in a bowl and season to taste with white pepper. 
2. Heat a well-seasoned wok over high heat, add noodles and cook without stirring until charred (2-3 minutes). 
3. Add 1 tablespoon oil and toss to combine and transfer to a bowl.
4. Heat remaining oil in a wok, add garlic, spring onions, capsicum and greens and stir fry until wilted. 1-2 minutes.
5. Add stock, season with soy sauce, cornflour mixed with water.
6. Bring to the boil and stir until it has gravy consistency.
7. Add noodles, toss to coat.

Garden Equipment renewal

As you may remember from last week we had various tools stolen from the gardening shed in the first week of the holidays. As it sometimes happens, what appears to be a disaster may actually be an opportunity. Our gardener Nikki Browne cannot run as fabulous a program as she does for our Year 3 and 4s without tools. So, in an effort to both replace what was stolen and refresh what remains, l am asking for your help.We are looking for donations of the following:

6 x Secateurs

3 x wheel barrows

6 x garden fork

6 x cultihoe

 Hats on from September!

This term all students must wear a WPPS school uniform hat when outside. This is part of our Sunsmart Policy to protect our students against UV radiation and the ravages of cancer - ugh! More information can be found on our website HERE. 

Assembly

There will be no Assembly  Friday, 14th October due to various events being on at the same time. 

However! Parents/Guardians whose child is receiving a ‘Student of the Week Award’ on the following Assembly, Friday 21st October, will be invited by the classroom teacher to attend. 

After this we will look towards inviting parents/guardians to Assembly.

School Calendar

Please refer to the calendar on the School Calendar to find details about Term 4 dates, finish times and term holidays dates etc.

2023 Classes

Teachers will shortly begin discussions relating to classes for 2023. A number of factors are taken into account when placing students in class groups including, medical needs and educational requirements and student generated friendship preferences.

It is not acceptable for parents to request specific teachers or friendship groupings for their child. 

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 Monday 31st October. 

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.

One more thing!

We are padlocking shut the gate to Warrigal Road 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

Our school day rehearsal : Wednesday 19^th October

This is the Concert run-through - school Gym

Dress rehearsal Monday 24^th October

Please give permission for your child/ren to attend via the Compass Portal

• the students are to come to school in their school uniform with their costume packed in a named bag 
• the dress code for the rehearsal is: black pants/leggings and black top /t-shirt 
• strictly no shorts are allowed
• the dress code for the concert: black t-shirt, black pants/leggings
• Funky Hair and makeup for the concert is allowed but not compulsory 

Concert day Tuesday 25^th October

• The students are to arrive at Besen Centre 6:00 sharp
• Concert starts at 6:30 sharp
• The students are to be dressed in black : t-shirt, black leggings, black pants
• Strictly no shorts allowed

The students will have no shoes or socks on the stage

 

It’s that time of year - September, when all students are required to have on a hat for outside play.  Children will be required to play in the shade if no hat is worn, and being a Sun Smart School its important to have sun protection from now till May.
New hats are available from the office $15.

3. School Council Dates for 2022

Tuesday, 18th October, 7pm
Tuesday, 13th December, 7pm

4. 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

6. Book Club

Please be aware that Book Club is on line ordering only.  Please do not send cash to the office. Delivery of orders will be mailed to school. The deadline for orders is today, 14th October.