Dear parents and carers,

As recently communicated, with there being no first round substantive Principal appointment to Williamstown North Primary School, Jim Cahill has decided to return from his Long Service Leave to be Principal of our school for Term 4, 2022. This is great news for our community, as it provides stability and consistency for our students, parents, carers and staff, as a substantive Principal appointment is confirmed, to begin Term 1, 2023.

This week my family and I have tested positive to COVID, so although I have been absent from school, Wendy has done a great job supporting our school onsite and thank her for all her support. I am scheduled to return to school on Thursday 8 September and although I will miss our Walkathon, wish you all the best with the lead up and fun on the day!

On behalf of all staff at our school, we wish all the fathers/special others in our community a great day on Sunday, spending time with loved ones and enjoying the weekend. All fathers/special others play a significant role in each family and Sunday is a day where we can stop and thank our loved ones for their support, love and dedication.

Walkathon Fundraising
This is our last newsletter push to raise money for our Walkathon next Wednesday 7 September. We have just reached over our halfway point with $over $6,500 already donated of our $10,000 target. Please visit www.willynthps.vic.edu.au/walkathon to donate.

All students are encouraged to wear their house colours or Footy Colours (Footy Week) on the day and the timing of the event is as follows:

Foundation to Year 3 - 9.10am - 10.00am

Year 4 – Year 6 - 10.10 am - 11.00am

We hope you will consider a donation to support the students at our school, by:

• scanning the QR code below
• visiting www.willynthps.vic.edu.au/walkathon
• passing on money directly to the student

For the students who raise the most money:
1^st Prize: A children’s bike (age appropriate)
2^nd Prize and 3rd Prize—$100 Voucher (Officeworks or Smiggles)
4^th Prize: $50 Sports voucher

Please download the Kids Emergency Education Project (KEEP) App now!

Walkathon Information
Our JSC student leaders will be visiting classes on the Monday or Tuesday of next week promoting the Walkathon and handing out Blue KEEP water bottles to each student. Teachers will ensure that water bottles are named and filled up with water, ready for the Wednesday morning. There will be a Footy Theme dress for the day as we are celebrating Footy Week next week.

On the day:

• Foundation to Year 3 students will be escorted by teachers and ready and sitting in lines on ‘Tasmania’ at 9:05am ready for a 9:10am start, with their water bottle and tally sheet (for stamping).
• Year 4 – Year 6 students will be escorted by teachers and sitting in lines on the ‘Green Field’ at 10:05am ready for a 10.10am start.
• Wendy Emin and teachers/staff will support classes sitting in lines in each said location (above), along with the teachers and staff supporting. JSC student leaders will go to their position to help with stamping F-3 tally sheets. Tally sheets will not take place for the Year 4 – 6s.
• As classes are getting ready sitting in lines, parent/carer volunteers will be escorted around the track/course to ensure they are spread out and know their supervising responsibilities.
• As parent/carer volunteers are being escorted around the course to their supervision position, students will be briefed about safety, no running, following adults and being responsible during the walkathon etc.
• There will be a water bottle fill up station run by Health Venn (parent volunteer), at the bubblers outside the Year 5 classrooms.
• Students walk around the course for the duration of the walkathon, then returning to class (F-3) and commence recess (4-6).

If you have any questions, please see your child/ren’s classroom teacher.

Walkathon Course

Footy Week
Next week we will be celebrating WNPS Footy Week! Our PE department has been busy organising activities for the students throughout the week such as longest kick and handball competitions, design a footy jumper art and quizzes. We will even get a visit from the Western Bulldogs who will be providing the students with a clinic during lunchtime.
On Wednesday 7^th September students are invited to wear their footy colours for the day.

Year 6 and Year 3 Camps
We know that both our Year 6 and Year 3 camps have been a great success this week. Thank you again to all the staff and parents who attended these camps to ensure that we provide these opportunities and experiences for our students. We look forward to a write up and photos of both camps in next week’s newsletter!

Bonnie McCarroll - National Cross-Country Championships
Congratulations to Bonnie McCarroll, who competed at the National Cross Country Championships last weekend and came 2nd! It was a tough and muddy course, with lots of uphill sections. Bonnie has done incredibly well and we are so proud of her amazing achievement!

Hoop Time Basketball: Last Thursday August 25
Williamstown North Primary School participated in the Hoop Time Basketball event last Thursday which was a terrific day. Our school had ten teams entered overall, for Girls & Boys across Years 3-6, where we competed against other local schools from our District. It was fantastic to have this event back up and running as the students got to play at the Eagles Stadium in Werribee. The atmosphere was very energetic and encouraging which the students certainly soaked up! Each team played four games throughout the day, where at least two teams progressed to the finals – the Divisional stage. This event is scheduled to take place on the 18^th of October.
A huge thank you to all the parents who volunteered in this event last week! Their assistance and hard work were truly appreciated, especially when coaching groups of students extended to some refereeing and scoring games as well! A big well done and thank you to all who were involved.

Canteen – Closure 15^th and 16^th of September
We would like to let our parent and carer community know that our school canteen will be closed on the last two days of school this term, 15 and 16 September. The canteen will be back in full operation from the beginning of next Term 4.

School Works
Over the last few weeks, we have communicated some internal school works, with the upgrading of our automatic doors and disabled toilet within our Admin Building. These works have been completed this week.

We have received the good news that the planned works that were scheduled to impact Year 1 classrooms will now be scheduled to be completed during the school holidays. This means that Year 1 classrooms will not be impacted and that our Melbourne Road entry and exit will remain open.


Parent Opinion Survey
Our school is conducting a Parent Opinion survey to find out what parents/caregivers/guardians think of our school. The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement.
We encourage all families to participate in this survey. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.
A random sample of approximately 30 per cent of parents/caregivers/guardians have been selected to participate in this year’s survey. The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey will be conducted from Monday 15^th August to Friday 16th September.

If you receive the link, please complete the survey as we really want to hear our community thoughts on our school and how we can improve it.
Also, if you are having issues with logging on, or submitting information, please ensure that you email the support/help email address, as the school is unable to support parents/carers as it is an external survey provider.

Orima Technical Support
Should you have any technical queries regarding the "Your School, Your Say" portal, please do not hesitate to contact ORIMA Research on 1800 654 585 (toll free), or by email: pos@orima.com

Should you have any participation or general survey-related queries, please contact the department by email: school.surveys@education.vic.gov.au

Prep Tours Due and Enrolments
If you or a family you know have a young one that will start will us in Prep in 2023, please ensure that you book in Prep Tour or complete your child’s enrolment or tour at:

Student Enrolment:
https://www.willynthps.vic.edu.au/enrolment/enrol-your-child

Prep Tours:
https://www.willynthps.vic.edu.au/enrolment/book-a-tour

With Prep enrolments now due, it is vital that you enrol at our school so we can plan for all our students for in 2023.

2023 Enrolment Intentions – Student Exits
We know that some families unfortunately won’t be with us next year, due to moving house etc. If that includes your family, we are sorry to see you leave our community.
Please ensure that you call the school on 9397 7722 or email williamstown.north.ps@education.vic.gov.au to let us know.
This supports us with our planning for next year. We thank you for your support and understanding.

On the evening of Tuesday 13th of September Williamstown North Primary School will be hosting a STEAM Expo that celebrates our love of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.

There will be a number of displays and exhibits including;

• Art displays of all the WNPS student learning and artwork from their Visual Art specialist
• Interactive and fun activities and exhibits such as art and craft, science experiments and technology, robotics and coding
• The Astronomical Society of Victoria providing their telescopes to view Saturn and Jupiter from 7pm

This event is open to the whole community! It will begin at 5pm and conclude at 8pm. Families are invited to attend at a time that best suits them. A map of the expo as we as promotional flyer are below.

Over the next two weeks students across the school will also be taking part in Science and Art incursions in their classes. Students in F-2 will be taking part in science incursions with Mad About Science while students in Year 3-6 will be helping to design and paint a school mural in the junior playground next to the sandpit.