Hello Windsor Primary School Community,

Unless my calendar is inaccurate, this newsletter brings me to my final one as Principal of the school. I had no idea what pleasure this role would bring back in late 2017 when my association with WPS began. There have definitely been some interesting times that I have been confronted with during my time as principal, some are obvious such as leading a community through a pandemic (particularly challenging for a community that mostly lives in condensed residence) and managing a complete multi million dollar facility rebuild/refurbish. Some are less obvious such as the general cultural and behavioural expectations of the students attending the school that were built through relationships, modelling and establishing clear expectations.  What I have achieved is significant, however it is superseded by what I have learnt.

Regardless of the facilities and programs, the heartbeat of Windsor is the people. There has been a lot of change at Windsor, however a consistency throughout this change has been the authenticity, the shared values and the objective perspective of everyone. Never perfect and sometimes dealing with mistakes and ill directed decision making, everyone has operated inside very healthy parameters in respecting each other and building an understanding of the difference that we all bring to 12 Hornby Street; this is something I take great pride in.

I would like to thank every single staff member who has been part of Windsor during my time as principal, every family who has walked through our gates (whether it be for seven weeks or seven years) and to every single student who has worn the navy blue and yellow – they are the ultimate reason why I come to work each day.

I now welcome Jacqui Burrows to our amazing community and look forward in supporting her in our work together and her getting to experience what is so wonderful about Windsor.

Parent Teacher Conferences

Each year we allocate a mid-year student free day to allow parents and teachers to meet to discuss student progress. This is Monday, Jun 22 (no school for students). This is an opportunity that we ask all parents/carers to take up. While a report will be issued to parents/carers at the end of each semester, the conversation between teachers and parents/carers is much more beneficial. Work samples and test results can be shared, academic learning priorities discussed, and personal development learning aspects evaluated.

A Compass message will be sent to inform you about the booking procedure for these conferences, where a booking can be made for a face to face meeting, a video link or a phone call.  Again, I ask all parents/carers to take advantage of this opportunity.

Semester One Reports

As we work our way towards the end of Term 2, it signals our first reporting cycle (and the first school report for our Prep students). While we promote continual parent/carer and teacher communication about the learning progression of students throughout the year, it is at the end of Term 2 and Term 4 that we publish a written report.

This end of semester report grades the students on all the learning outcomes that have been in the teaching curriculum and also grades the students against the Victorian Curriculum standards. Students are graded against the standards based on the following system -

D – at the expected level for Pre-Prep

0.5 – at the expected level midway through Prep

F – at the expected level end of Prep

F.5 – at the expected level midway through Year 1

1.0 - at the expected level end of Year 1

1.5 - at the expected level midway through Year 2

2.0 - at the expected level end of Year 2

2.5 - at the expected level midway through Year 3

3.0 - at the expected level end of Year 3

3.5 - at the expected level midway through Year 4

4.0 - at the expected level end of Year 4

4.5 - at the expected level midway though Year 5

5.0 - at the expected level end of Year 5

5.5 - at the expected level midway through Year 6

6.0 - at the expected level end of Year 6

6.5 - at the expected level midway through Year 7

7.0 - at the expected level end of Year 7

This grading will be shown as a graph on the school report.

Even though our explicit teaching ends with the Year 6 curriculum, when assessments and student work indicate that they are working above this level, Year 7 gradings and beyond are used.   

The teacher’s judgement of how students are progressing with the curriculum learning outcomes (Well Below, Below, At Level, Above, Well Above) influence the overall Victorian Curriculum grading. This year the school has introduced an assessment tracker for English, Maths and Science. This tracking document significantly influences how a student is graded on their school report. Sharing this document with parents/carers will be a big part of our Parent Teacher Conferences at the end of the term.

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Important Dates

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Parent/Teacher Conference

WPS Breakfast Activities Club

A reminder that staff supervision in the morning does not begin until 8:45am. Students arriving before 8:45am without parent supervision are required to be booked into the WPS Breakfast Activities Club, which runs from 7:30am - 8:45am everyday. Students must be pre-booked to attend. The cost is $10.75 per session per child and includes breakfast and activities. 

Bookings can be made via the QR code:



or the following website: https://www.trybooking.com/CNWMT

After School Care

Our After School provider is Community OSH, which runs from 3:30pm - 6:00pm.
To book your child/ren visit www.commosh.edu.au

School Uniform

Please ensure that your child is dressed in correct school uniform before they leave the house in the morning.
School uniform can be purchased at the office.

School Uniform Order Form

Lunch Orders

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Prep A


1/2A

3/4A

Year 3/4 students have recently been learning about symmetry, including line symmetry and rotational symmetry. To showcase their understanding, they designed and created beautiful mandalas featuring lines of symmetry and rotational symmetry of order 3.

A mandala is a symbolic circular design that originated in ancient cultures that practised Hinduism and Buddhism. The word mandala means “circle” in Sanskrit, the classical language of India. Mandalas are made up of symmetrical patterns and shapes that radiate outward from a central point.

Throughout history, mandalas have been used in art, architecture, and spiritual practices. Many people believe they represent the universe and the interconnectedness of all things. Creating or observing mandalas can also promote feelings of calmness, focus, and mindfulness, making them a meaningful and creative way to explore mathematical concepts.

5/6A & B

In 5/6, we've had a fantastic month! We visited the St Kilda Eco Centre, where students discovered that many native frog species live right in our local area, including Alma Park. We learned about the Boon Wurrung people's six seasons (compared to the usual four) and explored native plants used as bush foods and medicine. At the garden's pond, we collected water samples and found mosquitofish ('gamboosha'), an invasive species that kills tadpoles and threatens local frog populations.

We also had a Vic Health incursion where all students learned about menstrual health. Everyone participated maturely and took a lot away from it.

In Maths, students have been discovering probability, statistics, number patterns, and geometric reasoning. In Literacy, we wrapped up our unit on Shaun Tan's The Lost Thing, with students producing some excellent essays in response to the text.

AFL gala day happened a couple of weeks back. Our participating athletes represented the school with pride and enthusiasm.

As always, please continue practising number facts and reading for 20 minutes each night.

Kieran and Tom

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WPS Athletics Trials

On Wednesday 3rd June the Year 3-6 students participated in our WPS Athletics Carnival, which took place at school and the reserve. There were 6 events, which the students could have a go at, house points were awarded for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place getters for each event. It was a great day where everyone tried their best and brought a positive attitude. The district Athletics team will be selected based on their performances on the day and will be announced before the end of term, keep your eyes peeled! Congratulations to Wattle who came 1st with 660 points, Bluegum 2nd with 520 points, Waratah 3rd 510 points and Peppercorn 4th with 450 points.

Taekwondo

Over the last month the WPS students have been participating in Taekwondo lessons in PE with trained coaches from the Melbourne Taekwondo Centre in Malvern. It has been fun learning a new sport and all about Korea’s martial art form. Our lesson’s have involved new skills such as palm and knee strikes, round house and push kicks, bag work, body blocks, board breaking and sparring. During our final lesson there will be certificates of completion for all students and even some medals for students who demonstrated a great attitude, hard work or most improved!

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During Art classes, this Semester the students have emerged their learning into making art by using recyclable materials which we collected from our school community donations, to create some lovely works of Art!

Students were given time to plan with a partner their ideas and make 3D installations by using boxes, fabric and plastic donations to create their masterpieces! It was a very busy time in the art room, collecting and selecting props for all these great inventions! 

Our students had to make decisions and plan by working with others together making remarkable Artworks which is going to be displayed in the art room for all of us to view.

Lots of cutting and gluing learning took place using materials which in times were hard to manipulate, but due to our students’ imagination nothing was to hard to accomplish!
 
We will invite you to come and see this fantastic work! 
During our Greek lessons we practice reading words and sentences extending our reading and learning.

P-2 classes worked on their reading and writing simple words and sentences.
  
Songs and reading aloud our Greek Learning books helped to reinforce our learning.

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Toasties Tuesday

You can order your cheese toasties for lunch each Tuesday morning. Simply bring along your $2 and give it to your teacher at roll call and the toasties will be delivered to the classrooms at lunchtime.

Hot Chocolate Friday

Come and grab a warm hot chocolate with marshmallows at 3:30pm on Friday's, only $2 at the Food Tech window. Bring your own mug and receive an extra marshmallow!

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