Year 5 Howqua Camp Thanks

What an unprecedented camping experience our Year 5 students participated in last week!

Whilst the earlier return on Thursday was disappointing, a revised activities program on the Wednesday, resulted in most students completing the more anticipated activities on offer at the camp, therefore enjoying a great camping program over the first three days.

I cannot thank our wonderful staff and parents volunteers enough for the fantastic support and care that was extended to all of our students, particularly in light of some fast manoeuvring that was needed with the earlier departure.

Secondly, I would like to deeply thank the Year 5 parents who had to navigate a rapid stream of COMPASS communications last Thursday in order to follow the school’s decision making and planning. All of these newsfeeds were sent out with the same level of high priority from the school’s end, however we understand that not all messages were consistently received by parents therefore generating some uncertainty at times. Fortunately, the tight Willy North ‘grapevine’ worked a treat and everyone remained updated.

We hope that last week’s camping experience and resulting early departure, clearly evidence the school’s unwavering commitment to ensuring student safety and wellbeing. The duty of care extended to all students was simply outstanding and I would like to once again thank the following staff and parent volunteers for going above and beyond under some difficult circumstances:

Willy North Staff: Belinda Chandler, Tess Holland, Finnia Gray, Georgie Petty, Patrick Kelly, Giorgia Moss, Laura Breen, Tracy Carroll and Belinda Gill

Parent Volunteers: Sophie Hickford, Simon Middleton, Justin Chrimes and Patrick Brady.

A very special mention to Belinda Chandler above, who did a brilliant job coordinating months of planning leading up to the camp and then oversaw all of the camp operations last week.

COVID-19 Update

The following settings, based on advice from the Department of Health, are now in place for all Victorian schools. If your child is unwell and/or COVID positive, we ask that you follow these new guidelines:

It is strongly recommended that students:

· who test positive to COVID-19 stay home and isolate for 5 days

· should not attend school after 5 days if still symptomatic

· who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school

· advise the school of the COVID-19 positive test result

Where students become symptomatic at school they should:

· be collected by their parents/carers

· undergo testing for COVID-19

Main Office Operations/Business Manager Appointment

We thank all parents for their patience over the last fortnight as the school’s front office has operated with a skeleton staff.

Judy Coleman, (main reception), is currently recovering from a broken wrist and will begin to undertake some part time work from this week onwards.

A state wide selection process has now concluded for our school’s new Business Manager and we will be delighted to welcome Fiona Knobben to the office team from this week onwards.

A huge thankyou to Cara Pepe who stepped into the office last week and did a great job, whilst Belinda Gill was on camp.

2023 Planning Update

As mentioned in our first newsletter for the term, the school’s consultative processes are now working through many key aspects of planning for 2023.

Several grade structures are currently being evaluated by teachers, to ensure we carefully manage the size of classes at each level next year. As soon as this has been finalised, we will provide a breakdown of the 2023 grade structure through the Newsletter.

Over the next fortnight, students will be asked to identify their learning buddies for next year. Learning Buddies are those peers which support their learning and connectedness in the classroom. Our school’s processes ensure that each student will be placed with at least one of their Learning Buddies for their future class.

On Wednesday 5^th October, we asked parents to forward any extenuating circumstances that the school may need to consider when forming the new classes for next year. I thank parents who have already forwarded some important points through to me for our leadership team to consider. We ask that you do not forward friendship or teacher requests for your child.

If you feel that there are extenuating circumstances that need to be considered for child’s placement in 2023, could you please forward these to me by COB on Friday 28^th October at jim.cahill@education.vic.gov.au

Principal Selection Process

A quick update to let everyone know that the advertised period for our school’s Principal vacancy has now closed. The selection panel, which is led by our school’s Senior Education Improvement Leader – Judy Maguire, will assess applications over the next few week to shortlist applicants for this position, with an extensive interview process to then follow. As you can appreciate, all of these process are highly confidential and unfold beyond the school.

Once an applicant is recommended for the position, this will be presented to our School Council for endorsement. I would anticipate an announcement on the successful applicant will be made mid to late November. The newly appointed Principal will take up the position from the start of the 2023 school year.

Walkathon Funds

It’s terrific to see our students enjoying the new goal posts on the soccer field, which were recently installed as a result of the fundraising from last term’s Walkathon.

A further ten thousand dollars has been allocated to installing new basketball posts and backboards in the coming weeks, with the last few thousand dollars being used to purchase a new portable PA system for major events.

We again thank all parents and students for their hard work last term to raise these funds, thereby supporting our school’s commitment to continually improving our facilities and opportunities for students at Willy North.

Congratulations Bayside Secondary College

The Age editorial team recently recognised Bayside P-12 College with a Schools that Excel Award. The following link takes you to the message Andrew Harnett (Bayside College Principal) sent home to his community shortly after the announcement: Bayside P-12 College - Principal's Update

We congratulate Andrew and the hard working staff at Bayside Secondary College on this noteworthy award which recognises school’s that achieve highly over many consecutive years.

Weekend Access to the School Grounds

We would love to hear from some nearby Willy North parents, who wouldn’t mind opening the pedestrian gate adjacent to the bike shed each Saturday and Sunday morning (around 9:00am). We know that many families are eager to use the grounds on the weekend, particularly as the weather warms improves.

Ideally, it would be great to put a small roster together to help share this load.

If you feel you may be able to assist, could you please send through a short email with your details to belinda.gill@education.vic.gov.au

(Please note that these gates do not need to be locked at the end of the day, as our security guards undertake this on the weekends).

Child Safety Standards – Working With Children Checks (WWCC)

With camps and many excursions planned this term, we encourage parents to check that they have a current Working With Children Check (WWCC) so that you may assist on these external events. As part of our Child Safety Standards, the school must maintain an up to date register of all WWCC cards.

If you have recently updated your WWCC, could you please provide the office with a copy of your new card. If dropping by the office in person, we can take a copy of the card for you.

Big Night In

We have our fingers crossed for some clear weather for this Friday’s Big Night In for students in Years 1 & 2. This is a highly anticipated event by our junior students and forms part of our school’s early camping program as these students lay the foundation for extended camps beyond the school in later years.

We thank parents for carefully following the added communications needed for this event and particularly emphasise the importance of the various drop off and pick up arrangements for each year level on Friday evening and Saturday morning.

We sincerely thank the Year 1 and 2 teachers for the extensive planning that has gone into organising this event to date; I’m sure the excitement is building for all of our students in Years 1 & 2!

Staff Training Day Reminder

Please note that the school’s final staff training for 2022 is scheduled for Monday 31^st October (the day prior to Melbourne Cup day). This will result in students having an extra long four day weekend. School will resume as usual on Wednesday 2^nd November.

In further support of your planning, please also note that students finish at 1:30pm on Tuesday 20^th December, which is the final day of the school year.

Enjoy the rest of the Week

Jim Cahill - Principal

Williamstown North Primary School

Health Hub News

CAN HAYFEVER MAKE ASTHMA WORSE?

Yes, hay fever can make your asthma worse. Another word for hay fever is “allergic rhinitis.”

Most people with asthma have hay fever too, the two conditions are linked. Hay fever affects 80 percent of people with asthma¹.

Asthma and hay fever both involve inflammation and sensitivity in your airways – in your nose and lungs. Uncontrolled hay fever symptoms can worsen asthma symptoms. If left unchecked, this can seriously impact your quality of life or that of your child. It can also put your health in danger.

It is important to treat the allergies in your nose, as well as treating asthma in the lungs.

Watch this video to learn about Asthma Management:

WHAT IS HAY FEVER?

Hay fever is an allergic reaction to particles found in the air breathed in through your nose. The particles could be pollens or grasses, dust mites, mould or animal dander. These are called ‘triggers’.

Breathing in a trigger causes your body to react with an “immune response” in the lining of the nose. This causes the inside of your nose to become red, swollen, and sensitive. When this happens, you can experience hay fever symptoms.

WHAT DOES HAY FEVER FEEL LIKE?

THE MOST COMMON SIGNS OF HAY FEVER ARE:

· Itchy nose or eyes

· Runny nose

· Sneezing

· Blocked nose

· Throat clearing or coughing to clear the throat

· Snoring

· Mouth breathing

· Always feeling like you have a head cold

You may feel tired

You do not need to have all these symptoms to have hay fever. You might only experience a few.

OTHER SIGNS OF HAY FEVER

· Disturbed sleep, Daytime tiredness, Poor concentration, Recurrent headaches, Frequent sore throats, Hoarse voice, Reduced sense of smell, Recurrent sinus infections in adults, causing facial pain or pressure, Frequent ear infections in children.

Some people may experience hay fever at certain times of the year like spring or summer due to pollens in the air. Other people experience these symptoms all year round and need treatment all year.

If you have any of these signs or symptoms, tell your doctor. Your doctor can help you figure out if hay fever is causing them, and what the best treatment for you is.

Grade 2 Bottomless Brunch

A couple of pictures from what was another very successful Grade 2 Mums lunch on Saturday. The Dad’s have also been looked after as I arranged a Blokes Brewery afternoon. It’s been so good to be able to get to know the Grade 2 parents better this year.