Newsletter Week 7 Term 1, 2023 – Message from Administration, Faction Swimming Carnival Results, P&C Voluntary Contributions, Canteen Harmony Week, Library, Wembley DOGS, Auskick, Rutter Park Sunset Beats

Message from Administration

Dear parents and caregivers

We had a fantastic week of community events last week with our faction swimming carnival and P&C Welcome Picnic. It has been so incredible to see our community coming together again at events such as these. I thank the P&C for reinstating this community event on the calendar and to all our Year 6 parents and students for supporting the first fundraiser of the year – the cake stall and sausage sizzle! Friday was a great start in helping families to reduce the cost of Year 6 camp. Thank you for supporting our school and your children.

NAPLAN:

This week our Year 3 & 5 students will begin to participate in NAPLAN testing. Keeping normal routines in place, being on time to school, packing healthy food and snacks, and avoiding undue attention on the tests is suggested. These assessments are a snapshot in time and the move to earlier in the year will hopefully see the school receive these results sooner so teaching and learning can continue to be targeted to student needs.

Wednesday 15 March – Year 3 & 5 Writing

Thursday 16 March – Year 3 Reading

Friday 17 March – Year 5 Reading

Monday 20 March – Year 3 Language Conventions

Tuesday 21 March – Year 5 Language Conventions

Wednesday 22 March – Catch-up Testing

Thursday 23 March – Year 3 Numeracy

Friday 24 March – Year 5 Numeracy

Each day, NAPLAN Coordinator Mr Sullivan will also conduct any catch-up testing as needed. All testing must be completed by Friday 24 March so if your child is away towards the end of the testing period, this may impact their ability to participate in all assessments. Importantly, NAPLAN results do not define a student, your children have an amazing array of talents which NAPLAN can’t measure.

Year 4-6 Faction Swimming Carnival:

It was wonderful to see so many parents, carers and grandparents supporting our students at the carnival. It was a great day and we were so impressed with how our students participated throughout the day, particularly our Year 4 students at their first swimming carnival. Sportsmanship, courage and resilience were on full display. A huge thank you to Mr Bowman and Mrs Watson for all their organisation prior to the day and on the day, ensuring a successful well-timed event.

It was a team effort and our staff and parent volunteers did an amazing job in very sticky and hot conditions. An extra special thanks to Jayne Malone for all her help and continued support with swimming training and on the day. Anna Teh, Susan Havlin and Sara Tuohy did an excellent job with the recording which is so fast paced. Thank you. Our new Deputy Principal Mr Sullivan also revealed a secret talent – commentating! The energy levels of the spectators were certainly high and it was such an enjoyable day. Well done to the students who were outstanding on an individual level and were recognised in the Champion Girl/Boy and Runner-up presentations. Farmer were the overall winner for the 4^th year in a row. Congratulations to our Farmer students and all Year 4-6 students for their efforts.

Mrs Lisa Thompson’s Retirement:

Our beloved Year 1 teacher Mrs Thompson will be retiring at the end of this term after an amazing 41 years as a teacher in public schools and 15 years at Wembley PS. Mrs Thompson has taught thousands of children since 1982 and while we will be sad to say goodbye, we know that Mrs Thompson now deserves some time to relax and enjoy her retirement after giving so much to the education system throughout her life. With a career which has taken her from the Wheatbelt to various schools in the metropolitan area, we will be celebrating her contribution to public service with a special assembly on Friday 31 March at 2:40pm. We hope the community will join us to farewell Lisa alongside her family, staff and friends.

School Grounds:

A huge thank you to parent Julia Foulsham and her husband Luke Dwyer for installing an additional 3 stepping stones into our Junior Playground. Julia worked with our students on the first 3 last year and they all brighten up the area and add to the individualisation of our school grounds. Thank you!

Kiss and Drive:

We have a huge student population at Wembley and this can cause some traffic congestion around the school at drop off and pick up. I encourage families to consider walking, riding or scooting wherever possible to promote active, healthy travel for our students, particularly while the weather is good. It can be necessary to travel by car to school and we have Kiss and Drive bays on both Simper St and a small area on Alexander St. We have a Kiss and Drive brochure on the school website here for those who need a refresher or are unfamiliar with how to navigate the Kiss and Drive. These handy hints help the Kiss and Drive flow and ensure student safety. Our main aim is to keep our students safe and prevent any accidents occurring;

• Move as near to the front of the Kiss & Drive bays as possible
• Always be courteous to other road users
• Parents and carers should stay in the car
• Children will wait in the area adjacent to the
  Kiss & Drive bays
• Bays to be used only for set down and pick
  up of students
• If your child is not ready, don’t stop – drive
  up to the roundabout on Alexander or south
  down Simper Street, drive around the block
  and back to the Kiss & Drive, re-joining the
  queue
• There is no parking permitted in
  the Kiss & Drive bays
• Always indicate to enter and leave the Kiss &
  Drive bays
• Ensure children entering the vehicle put on
  their seat restraint quickly before moving off
• Always move forward to the top bay to prevent queues forming

 

Neurodiversity Celebration Week:

This week we are shining a spotlight on the amazing students in our community who process the world in a different way. Neurodiversity is an umbrella term used to describe alternative thinking and processing styles such as Dyslexia, DCD (Dyspraxia), Dyscalculia, Autism and ADHD.

Regardless of labels, neurodiversity is about recognising those who think differently. And no matter which environment you are in – school, work, community activities or on the sporting field, we can all benefit from different thinkers! Approximately 15-20% of population has a neurological difference.

Instead of labelling people with deficits or disorders, when we use the term neurodiversity, we take a balanced view of an individual’s unique strengths and challenges. Many ‘challenges’ neurodivergent people face are more to do with the environment and systems they are placed in, often designed by a majority population.

There are a number of fantastic resources you can access as a parent on the Neurodiversity Week website here. There are also some great resources you can share with your child here for our older students and in the library we have many fantastic picture books which support awareness and understanding.

As an inclusive and supportive school community, we can all do our part to help our students understand and celebrate these differences.

School Board Parent Representatives:

As advised, at the end of March, the terms of three (3) current School Board parent representatives are expiring; Scott Crawley, Paul Wallman and Evita Soldo.

Paul Wallman and Evita Soldo are stepping down from the Board at the end of their terms. Paul has been an exceptional contributor to our community on the Board over several years, working closely with a Board sub-committee to develop the suite of policies for our Community Engagement Plan and offering his expertise and knowledge from the perspective of being a paediatrician has also been invaluable. On behalf of the Board, I thank Paul for his time and contributing to our school through his appointment.

Evita has also been an outstanding member of our School Board for the past three years. With her expertise in the psychology field, we have greatly benefited as a school and Board from Evita’s perspective and experience. Evita has contributed to a raft of policy reviews and positively represented our Board in the community. We also thank Evita for her time and contribution. We are grateful to Evita for continuing to contribute to the school through volunteering as the Kindy/Pre-primary P&C Convenor this year. Your active involvement in the community is so appreciated.

After calling for nominations in the last newsletter, we had five (5) nominations for the three (3) vacant positions. An election will be now held as more than 3 nominations were received. Thank you to the nominees for their willingness to contribute to school governance.

The election will be held online and each nominee has provided a short bio for consideration. You can read the bios of all 5 nominees here. A unique link to vote will be emailed today and the election will close at 8am on Monday 20 March.

Important Dates  

Year 3 & 5 NAPLAN Testing: Wednesday 15 March – Friday March 24

Harmony Day: Wednesday 22 March. Students can wear orange clothing and enjoy a special multicultural recess at the canteen.

Mrs Lisa Thompson’s Retirement Assembly: Friday 31 March at 2:40pm

Interschool Swimming Carnival: Tuesday 4 April (HBF Stadium – Outdoor Pool)

Edu Dance Concerts: Tuesday 4 April 2:30pm (PP2, PP3, Room 9, Room 10, Room 5, Room 6, Room 1, Room 3)

Wednesday 5 April 2:30pm (PP1, PP4, Room 8, Room 11, Room 7, Room 4, Room 2, Room 26, Room 27)

ANZAC Day Service (Year 1-6): Thursday 6 April at 9am

Parent-Teacher Interviews ½ day school closure: Wednesday 3 May 12pm

Connect, Collaborate, Communicate, Care

Yours in learning

Tamara, Milani, Scott, Stacey and Natalie