Wallington P.S. Newsletter Term 1 Week 3 2025
Upcoming Dates
Principal's Report
Dear Families,
OFFICIAL VISIT – ALISON MARCHANT MP
Last Friday we were privileged to be visited by our local state MP, Alison Marchant, who came to meet with some of our students and check progress on our exciting new building. Alison was given a tour of the building site by three Year 6 students and was deeply impressed by their maturity and generosity. Their actions exemplified our school values, and they made everyone in our school community proud. Alison, a former primary school teacher herself, also had time to read a story to the Prep class, again noting how impressed she was by the respect and enthusiasm shown by our newest group of Wallington students. See also, progress photos on our school website – ‘Facilities and Grounds’.
From left: Cameron Edwards (principal), Nathan, Lily Brianna, Alison Marchant (State MP for Bellarine), Steve Lyons (Lyons Construction)
MEET & GREET PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS
Thank you to all families for your engagement in our Meet and Greet Parent-Teacher interviews on Tuesday. Teachers were incredibly grateful for you making the time to meet and discuss your children and how we can make the year most successful for all. Your involvement and insights are invaluable in ensuring every student receives the support they need to thrive.
At Wallington PS, we strongly believe that the best outcomes for students are achieved through strong, collaborative partnerships between home and school. When teachers and families work together, we create a shared understanding of each child’s strengths, challenges, and learning goals. This partnership is key to fostering academic growth, wellbeing, and a positive school experience.
We encourage ongoing communication throughout the year. Teachers can always be contacted via Compass, and further meetings or phone conversations can be arranged as needed. Our commitment is to work alongside you to support and inspire every student, ensuring they have the best possible learning journey.
NEW PREPS - INTRODUCTIONS AT ASSEMBLY THIS WEEK (FRIDAY 2:45pm in the HALL)
As promised, tomorrow’s whole school assembly will include special introductions for each of our new preps. The Year 6 buddies have been doing a fantastic job supporting the preps to settle into life at Wallington and are proud to have the opportunity to introduce them personally in front of the school community. We all also be announcing this year’s House Captains and presenting them with their badges. Assembly is at 2:45pm every Friday (unless otherwise stated).
ATTENDANCE
As we begin the new year, it is important to remind families of the importance of attendance at school. As a school, we are making attendance a key improvement action this year, in response to recent attendance data showing our rate of absences well above state and network averages. From the research, it is clear that attendance at school is directly linked to maximising academic and social outcomes.
As a first step, we ask that all absences be reported correctly (i.e. explained) by parents/carers (see ‘Compass - Entering an Attendance Note’). Of course, we understand that medical illnesses are unavoidable, and unwell students should remain at home to recover. Similarly, while we recognise that appointments cannot always be scheduled outside of school hours, we encourage families to prioritise school attendance whenever possible.
Now more than ever, regular attendance is critical, as our school’s carefully designed learning model is structured to maximise student success. Lessons are explicitly planned to build on each other in a deliberate sequence extending the course of the year, incorporating daily reviews and repeated exposures to key concepts. This approach is vital for long-term memory development and ensures students stay engaged and confident in their learning.
Please see the attached ‘Every Day Counts - Fact Sheet’ for more key information on student attendance expectations.
We appreciate your partnership in fostering strong attendance habits and look forward to working together to support every student’s success. If you have any concerns about attendance, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
CURRICULUM DAY – MONDAY 17th FEBRUARY
One final reminder that next Monday is a Curriculum Day – Student-Free Day. While students enjoy the long weekend, our staff will be on-site, working towards our achievement goals and further strengthening our teaching and wellbeing programs.
There are so many exciting initiatives underway this year as we implement major innovations in both curriculum and wellbeing support. Additionally, 2025 is a School Review year, giving us the opportunity to reflect deeply on our successes and strategically plan for continued improvement. As a school committed to excellence, we constantly evaluate our programs and processes, ensuring that every decision we make is focused on enhancing student outcomes.
A strong school is built on a foundation of continual learning, and just like athletes preparing for competition, teachers and school staff need time to train and refine their skills. While we are in the classroom every day, delivering high-quality learning experiences, opportunities like Curriculum Days allow us to collaborate, develop, and strengthen our approaches—ensuring we can bring our very best to teaching and learning.
With a dedicated and committed staff, we are so excited about the direction we are heading. Our focus remains on enhancing academic success and student wellbeing, and we look forward to sharing the impact of our work with you throughout the year. Thank you for your ongoing support in making our school the best it can be.
Cameron Edwards
Parents and Friends
P&F AGM
Friday 21st of February 9:00am School Hall
All are welcome to come along, you don’t have to take on a large role or task, but we love for everyone to get involved and help create those special moments for our children and school community.
Bring along a plate to share, to munch and nibble!
STAY UP TO DATE
With activities, events and news by joining our Facebook Page “WALLINGTON PS PARENTS AND FRIENDS”
SWPBS Awards - Student of the Week
Alby D - Prep
For coming to school each day with a smile on your face. You are trying your best to learn new sounds and build words.
Congratulations Alby!
Bentley McG - Year 1
For demonstrating resilience when working on challenging Maths problems this week with picture graphs. Well done and keep up the fantastic work!
Tyler McM- Year 2
For having a go when working at Maths this week. You persisted and did your best even though you thought it was hard. It was great to see your positivity and your attitude to keep on trying. Well done Tyler!
Elvis S - Year 3
For always having a go at tasks in class. You’re not afraid to keep trying and do your best while staying positive. Well done!
Jasper P - Year 4
For jumping into the learning pit in Maths and ICT. You used strategies and asked for help. Great work staying positive when things got tricky!
Ollie O’R - Year 5
For displaying resilience during Maths. you worked hard to come up with a solution when faced with a challenging problem. Keep up the great start to the year, Ollie!
Beau O - Year 6
For showing great resilience by challenging yourself in Maths, asking for help, and joining in by asking questions in class. Keep up the great work! Well done Beau!
Wallington PS Sponsors
Thank you to our PLATINUM Sponsors
Thank you to our GOLD Sponsors
Thank you to our SILVER Sponsors
Thank you to our BRONZE Sponsors
Notice Board
Junior School Council plays an important role in giving voice in representing all our students. Through the JSC, students are actively encouraged to join in discussions about issues concerning them, supporting decision-making in ways to improve our school, and are empowered to make change.
JSC representatives will run class meetings each week and represent their class at fortnightly JSC meetings, held at Wednesday 2nd lunch times.
We would like to thank the outgoing JSC of 2024 and thank them for their hard work, Lilian O, Arden K, Isla O, Hunter B, Thomas M, Piper R, Willow F and Isiah A. 2024 JSC implemented the chicken scraps bins, replaced recycle bins, purchased new basket and netballs, organised the Spud Olympics, contributed to Wellbeing Day, Footy Colours Day and Pj Day, raising money for the Story Dogs program and towards new basketball rings. Well done and congratulations on your efforts.
Next week students have the opportunity to speak to class members about why they would be a great representative for their year level and a councillor will be elected by a blind vote. The 2025 Junior School Councillors will be announced on next weeks newsletter and presented to the school community at assembly.
Wallington Breakfast club is up and running! It was great to see so many smiling faces having a quick snack before school this morning. Thank you to the Year 5 and 6 helpers who did an amazing job making toast and taking orders. Breakfast club will be running every Thursday morning at 8:45, drop by the Hall kitchen window for some toast and a chat.
