Message from Administration
Dear parents and caregivers
This morning, we had a wonderful celebration for our graduating class of Year 6 students. Parents and caregivers can feel so proud of their children as they prepare to go to high school in 2023. I have greatly enjoyed seeing our Year 6 cohort grow into fine young people over the past several years. Congratulations to our Year 6 students, teachers and families. Tomorrow night, the dinner dance will be a brilliant way to farewell our students as they complete their primary school years. Many thanks to the Year 6 teachers, Year 5 parents, Mrs Hunter and all our parent volunteers who contributed to the graduation morning tea for making today such a success. A special thanks must also go to Mrs Barratt who coordinated the special graduation art exhibition for our Year 6s.
End of Year Goodbye:
We will hold our traditional Final Countdown and Goodbye, particularly to our Year 6 students in the Undercover Area on Thursday afternoon at 3pm. Parents/caregivers are welcome to join us.
2022 Reflection:
As we wind down towards the end of 2022, it is time to reflect on the year that was. It has been a year of highs and lows. Just a few short months ago, we were contending with the most significant disruption to education in Western Australia since wartime. It was challenging but through it all, our staff and community banded together and supported one another through this period. Our aim was to keep school open for learning and to minimise the disruption caused by the pandemic. It wasn’t easy at times, for families and staff to navigate the uncertainty and changes. However, I am proud that we have continued to support our students to make academic and social progress by working towards their goals and developing their creative habits of learning in the process. Our community spirit remained strong and I thank you for your contribution to this.
This year we have also collaborated as a staff to refine how we approach teaching and learning. We are committed to high quality teaching aligned with the research on how students learn. After a thorough consultation process and professional reading, learning and dialogue, we will be launching the Wembley Primary School instructional model in 2023. An instructional model outlines the essential components for high impact teaching and will assist our teaching staff to plan collaboratively and use consistent language and strategies for professional growth which will positively impact student outcomes. This instructional model is aligned with the Department of Education’s recently released, ‘Quality Teaching Strategy’ and Focus 2023. Our professional learning will be aligned with this in the years ahead.
We also look forward to launching our new strategic plan, the 2023-2025 Business Plan. I am excited about the future for our school community and feel very grateful to be surrounded by such forward thinking leaders, staff and parents/caregivers.
2023 Transition Morning on Thursday:
On Wednesday afternoon, parents and caregivers will receive their child’s class allocation by email. Our staff spend weeks on class placements, with careful consideration given to the balance of classes for academic and social needs. Class placement requests closed on November 21 to enable us to have the time to begin this process. Once class lists are published, these are final and no changes will be made. It is important to remember that your child was given the opportunity to name peers they work well with and play well with and we always endeavour to place at least 1 peer in their new class. It is also important to remember that a new year brings new opportunities to widen their social circle and learn from new teachers. The playground provides opportunities to connect with new friends and established friends. However, social connection is just one part of the puzzle. Balancing the learning needs in a classroom is also crucial. You can view our class placement policy here on the school website. Your child’s teachers have had the most input into their placement and I ask you to trust in us that we have your child’s best interests at heart and we do our very best in this very time consuming and complex process.
This Thursday morning, students will have a 45 min session in their new classroom, in most cases with their new teacher. There will be labelled chairs in the grassed quadrangle and play area for Year 1-3 classes to meet their teacher outside. In Year 4-6, labelled chairs will be on the basketball court. Pre-primary students will wait outside their new classroom. Teachers will be wearing high-vis vests and will wait by the chair for students on their new class list before heading inside to their 2023 classroom by 9am. Following this session, students will return to their regular 2022 classroom for the remainder of the day. In previous years, this transition session has greatly assisted to reduce any anxiety about the new year prior to the school year finishing.
Leadership
2023 School Leadership Team:
As previously communicated, Mrs Rachel Cusack has been on leave this term and has taken the opportunity to pursue a passion of hers, working with school leaders and staff to build their capacity in data responsive teaching. After more than 20 years in schools, she is enjoying the opportunity to work with a range of schools across the state to positively impact students at a system level. Rachel will continue to pursue this in 2023 and will be on leave next year. We wish Rachel every success with this endeavour.
Recently, the school conducted a recruitment process to appoint a new full-time permanent deputy principal. I can now announce that Mr Scott Sullivan is the successful candidate and has been appointed to the role starting in Term 1, 2023. It was a highly competitive process, with 17 applicants and attracted a range of high-quality school leaders.
Mr Sullivan is an experienced deputy principal who has been in the role for the past 6 years in the South Metropolitan Region. He also spent 6 months as a Level 3 principal in the Wheatbelt. His teaching career included time in both the North Metropolitan area and the Pilbara. He was awarded Level 3 Classroom Teacher status in 2016 and is now a Level 3 Assessor for the Department of Education. We look forward to welcoming Scott to the school community next year.
Mrs Milani Grace, Mrs Stacey Hunter and Mrs Natalie Mueller will continue to form part of the school’s leadership team next year. I thank our entire Admin team for their tireless work supporting our students and families in 2022.
2023 Senior Leadership Team
Principal: Tamara Doig
Deputy Principal: Milani Grace (Early Childhood leadership, Curriculum and Data)
Deputy Principal: Stacey Hunter (Year 5/6 leadership, Student Services)
Deputy Principal: Scott Sullivan (Year 3/4 leadership, Curriculum and Expansive Pedagogies – ICT, STEAM and Inquiry)
Deputy Principal: Natalie Mueller (Thursday – K/PP leadership and Literacy)
Manager Corporate Services: Lee Masters
Staff Farewells:
We say goodbye to a number of staff at the end of the year. Last week we held a Farewell Assembly for Mrs Christine McGovern who is departing to take a position at her children’s school. Mrs Liesel Erskine has also accepted a role closer to home but will continue to be available for part-time relief at Wembley. Mr Mike Harrod begins his retirement and Mrs Mary-anne Goyder enters her second retirement!
Ms Isla Holmes is taking some leave next year to travel but will return in the future, as will Mrs Sandy Mullane. Mrs Tess Thaung has accepted a position for 12 months at Bob Hawke College in 2023 but will remain permanently attached to Wembley. We also wish Mrs Ceri Carter and Mrs Samantha O’Donnell all the best as they both prepare to welcome their second child. Good luck to all our much-loved staff as they take on new opportunities. Many will return in the near future and we look forward to welcoming them back soon.
New and Returning Staff:
We are lucky to have several staff returning in 2023. Mrs Suzi Hollier, Mrs Jessie Ross, Mrs Kate Chadbourne, Mrs Michelle Lucas and Mrs Nadia Martino are permanent, experienced teachers who will be increasing their work fractions next year and will re-join the teaching team.
Mrs Jessica Ralph returns from maternity leave to work in Early Childhood and we look forward to her being back on staff.
Ms Celeste Cunningham is an experienced Level 3 Early Childhood teacher who joins us from Dalkeith Primary School. Celeste will be working in Kindy and Pre-primary next year and we are thrilled to have a teacher of her calibre join our school.
Teaching and Learning
All Stars Concert:
Last Thursday, our students were just incredible as they entertained a large crowd at the Churchlands SHS Concert Hall. So much talent! The instrumental music students, junior and senior choirs, petite chorale and concert band were absolutely amazing. Mrs Kate Humphreys drives our music program with such passion and dedication and the results are just incredible. Our 2022 Music Captains Charis and Erik did a wonderful job as our comperes for the evening, congratulations to you both for an outstanding year in your roles.
I feel so proud of all that has been accomplished in our music program in 2022, particularly with such a delayed start due to Covid restrictions earlier in the year. Thank you for all that you do, Mrs Humphreys. I also extend a huge thank you to Mrs Mary-Anne Goyder for her support and guidance for our students this year. Mrs Goyder will be focusing on Massed Choir Festival next year so will step back from teaching Music on Mondays.
The night would not have been so successful without the help of our parent and staff volunteers who assisted with stage set up and supervising students backstage. Another incredible team effort to provide opportunities for our students in The Arts.
Community Engagement
P&C and School Board:
Thank you to the School Board and P&C for all their support this year, in particular Board Chair, Professor Tama Leaver and P&C President, Mrs Danielle Clyne. We have such a committed group of parents and caregivers who generously give their time to support our school. I feel very privileged to work with such a dedicated group of people who time and time again step forward and assist the school.
It has been a big year of events and the community has gone above and beyond. I hope you enjoyed the opportunity to connect with one another and get involved with the goal of benefiting your children’s learning environment. Wembley has a wonderful community spirit and after so many restrictions earlier in the year, it has been fantastic to be able to hold so many events in the last two terms, including the Wembley Family Fun Day. Thank you for all your support, no matter how small or large, every contribution makes our school better.
Our Canteen:
We are so very lucky to have the quality of canteen that we do. Such love and care goes into the food with the freshest, healthiest ingredients and lots of creativity. As many of you know, Genna goes way above and beyond for our community. She works an incredible amount of hours whipping up delicious home-made food that our kids and staff love to eat. Then there are the extras; the weekend packs, granola, jams, lavosh…the list goes on. Thank you Genna and to all of the dedicated canteen staff, parent helpers and volunteers.
Your fundraising will be going towards upgrading our canteen, with some works already completed and more on the way. So much hard work has gone into the planning for this – particularly our Manager Corporate Services Lee Masters and P&C Canteen Sub-committee convenor Vanessa Saunders. There has and continues to be an incredible amount of work being done behind the scenes by both Lee and Vanessa. Thanks to both of you for your persistence and attention to detail – we are making progress! We would love to see the community continue to support the canteen in 2023. Thanks for a great year Genna and team.
Compass:
Events have now been moved to Compass for the 2023 school year. Please log onto the Compass website and select the Calendar icon and you can view all future events and important dates that are currently in our calendar. These are categorised for convenience and filtering. Future events are best viewed on the website version of Compass. On the Compass app, any events scheduled for that day will appear at the top of the screen. The calendar on the school website will be disabled in the new year as we shift more operations to Compass.
I wish our entire community a safe and relaxing festive season. Have a lovely Christmas and we look forward to welcoming you back to school on Wednesday 1 February for the first day of Term 1.
Connect, Collaborate, Communicate, Care
Yours in learning
Tamara, Milani, Stacey and Natalie
Important Dates and Information
STUDENT REPORTS – Will be emailed to parents on Wednesday 14 December. All parents are reminded that their child’s school report link is only available for one month. It is imperative that you save/print a copy for your own use at other times.
CLASS ALLOCATIONS – Students 2023 classrooms will be emailed to parents on Wednesday 14 December.
2023 TRANSITION SESSION – Thursay 15 December 8.50am to 9.45am. Students will attend a short session with their new teacher in the new classroom. More details to follow.
TERM 1 FIRST DAY FOR STUDENTS – Wednesday 1 February 2023
THE SCHOOL OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED – from Thursday 15 December 2022 and will reopen on Wednesday 25 January 2023.
WEBSITE SUBSCRIPTION – Please take the time over the holidays to subscribe on the home page of our website.
COMPASS – make sure you have downloaded the App. Please ensure you have a parent login as all communications will be sent by Compass. If you have not got a parent login, please contact the office this week.
CANTEEN – reopens Friday 3 February 2023
SCHOOL GROUNDS SECURITY – Department of Education Security – 1800 177 777
Library
Holiday Reading
Firstly, this is a final reminder for students to return all books please.
Any student who is keen to borrow over the holidays is encouraged to do so! Parents and students are welcome to come into the Library before school and after to choose some fabulous holiday reads!
Thank you to all our helpers throughout the year. Happy Holidays!
The Library Staff
Students Term 1, 2023
Students return to school on Wednesday 1 February 2023.
If your child will still be away on holidays and not returning on the first day, please email the office at: wembley.ps@education.wa.edu.au, advising date of return and the reason for absence.
Please note this attendance will also need to be logged via the Compass App.
Canteen
THANK YOU!
A final thank you to our volunteers and Gift A Shift Donors for all of your time over the past year. Every moment you have volunteered with us has been greatly appreciated.
We had a great little catch up for all P&C volunteers last Friday night. Thanks to all who came to celebrate a great year.
Big thanks to our resident florist Mum, Jen for demonstrating how to make a stunning Christmas wreath from foraging in your own garden.
Thanks also, to our kids and parents for supporting our canteen this year and farewell to our Year 6 kids. Best of luck in your new schools. We miss you already.
Canteen Hours
It’s our Final lunch service tomorrow, Wednesday.
We’ve limited our menu so get in quick to secure your favourite choices.
Thursday is Slushie Day.
We will be breaking down the kitchen on Thursday in preparation for the removal of our central wall during the break.
There will be no food service though slushies will be available!
Merry Christmas to you all and we hope you enjoy the summer break.
Genna
Canteen Manager
Picture Plates Delivery
The boxes containing the picture plates have been separated during transit from NSW and are arriving at different times.
Plates are being delivered as they are received. This means some children in a class may receive them before others.
Please be patient and we will endeavour to have plates distributed by next Wednesday.
If you are going on holidays before this time please email gctick@hotmail.com to arrange collection.
We thank you for supporting the P&C and for your patience.
Georgie & Julia
Tennis – Holiday Program and Before School Program Term 1, 2023
For the coaching program held before school at Wembley PS, for more information please click on below link:
Tennis Before School at Wembley PS Term 1 2023
For the coaching program held after school at Floreat Park Tennis Club, for more information please click on below link:
Tennis Junior Program Term 1 2023
For the Summary Holiday Program, please see below flyer:
Mark Lee Football Coaching (Soccer) – Term 1, 2023
– Before School on Thursdays is Back in Term 1!
Mark Lee Football Coaching is and suitable for all children from Pre-Primary to Year 6
The program has been running at Wembley PS since 2015 and we are delighted to offer it to the students once again in Term 1!
Dates Thursday 16th February to Thursday 23rd March
Time 7.30am-8.30am
Cost $119 per child for 6 week program
To register simply call/text or email Mark
0430 788 703
Chess
Friday lunch time Chess classes will continue in 2023, a flyer with more information will be included in newsletters in 2023.