Staffing Farewells

We were so thrilled to host a dual retirement function last week for both Wendy Drayton and Fran McCormick. These two dedicated teachers have amassed 80 years of service to the Victorian Education system, with 60 of these years being at Willy North! There are few schools and work places who can indeed boast such extended periods of tenure. On behalf of the thousands students/staff & parents who have had the good fortune to work with Wendy & Fran, we extend our thanks for their many years of devoted teaching service and wish them well for a long and healthy retirement.

In addition to these two retirements, we were also saddened to learn last week, that after 26 years of welcoming and supporting visitors to the main office, Judy Coleman will also be retiring next Tuesday. I know this will be a big surprise to all students, staff & parents, who have all come to expect Judy’s helpful demeanour and friendly face at the front office. In working at Willy North for so long, Judy has an amazing memory for student names & sibling connections as well as a deep history of the local area, which I have personally called on so many times over my years at Willy North. Judy certainly leaves very big shoes to fill in the office area. Unfortunately we won’t have time to mobilise a formal farewell for Judy, but we will however aim to send her off at our last assembly. If you manage to drop through the office area over the last few days, please take a moment to thank Judy for her many years of dedicated service to our school.

Finally, we congratulate Finnia Gray on her appointment to Kingsville Primary School. We thank Finnia for enthusiastically stepping into Year Five from term two onwards this year. In her short time at our school, Finnia has willingly supported so many school events and functions. We warmly extend our best wishes to Finnia for a smooth transition to her new school.

Meet the Teacher

The final stage of our school’s transition program is scheduled for this coming Friday morning whereby all students will meet their 2023 teacher and also find out who their fellow classmates will be for next year. We hope your child/ren will be excited to share all of this news with you at pick up time on Friday afternoon!

Parent Payments

A huge thank you to the many parents who have already paid their contributions for 2023. These payments are so helpful for enabling the school to meet our commitments to our suppliers. The curriculum contributions component of these payments goes to ensuring your children will have all of their school books waiting for them on the first day of next year.

In providing this support on your behalf, we would be so grateful if parent payments could be finalised before the start of the new academic year. If you have any queries regarding these contributions, or would like to discuss an alternative payment plan, please feel very welcome to contact the school’s main office on 93975722.

Community Carols

Our sincere thanks to all families for the understanding around the rescheduling of our Community Carols. Melbourne’s weather is certainly a challenge at present. We are hopeful for much more pleasant conditions next Monday 19^th December.

As previously shared, gates will be open from 6:15pm for those families who wish to bring a picnic dinner along.

The Carols will begin at 7:00pm sharp and will be expected to finish at around 8:15pm.

We sincerely hope that all families will still be able to join in the festivities next Monday evening.

End of Term Arrangements

We confirm that the last day of the school year is next Tuesday 20^th December.

Please note that students will be dismissed from the Gymnasium at 1:30pm to go home for lunch and begin their summer break next Tuesday. (Students attending next Tuesday only need to bring along their morning snack).

The final whole school assembly for 2022 will get underway in the Gymnasium at approximately 1:00pm.

We sincerely hope that all families have a wonderful Xmas and restful summer break.

Richard Buckingham (new Principal) will look forward to welcoming all students back for the start of the 2023 academic year on Monday 30^th January.

It’s been a pleasure to step back into the Principal role briefly for Term 4. Willy North is such a vibrant and caring school community. I feel so blessed to have finished my career at such a fabulous school. After ten and a half years as Principal, it’s now definitely time to pass the baton on for the next generation of educational leaders to shine. I look forward to visiting for future events and hearing about the wonderful achievements of Willy North students and staff for years to come.

Thank you for reading my last ever newsletter!

Enjoy the rest of the Week

Jim Cahill—Principal

"The clinic will see kids with virus-like symptoms: ongoing cough, fever, asthma, vomiting, nausea, etc." Help support Emergency Department.

A new GP-led respiratory clinic (GPRC) for kids has opened in North Melbourne. It connects children with respiratory symptoms to doctors and nurses, thereby avoiding unnecessary trips to hospital Emergency Departments. For more information, please visit:

https://www.cohealth.org.au/media-release/kids-respiratory-clinic-in-north-melbourne-will-ease-hospital-burden/

Kids’ respiratory clinic in North Melbourne will ease hospital burden

A new GP-led respiratory clinic (GPRC) for kids has opened in North Melbourne. It connects children with respiratory symptoms to doctors and nurses, thereby avoiding unnecessary trips to hospital Emergency Departments. www.cohealth.org.au

Find your local accredited exercise physiologist atwww.exerciseright.com

Obesity refers to increased weight above the recommended guidelines according to height. Scary but true, 23% of Australian children are either overweight or obese.

exerciseright.com.au https://exerciseright.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Exercise-right-for-kids-Condition-Factsheet_Obesity-1.pdf

Good Oral Health

Good health, including oral health, allows individuals and communities to live full lives, free from the burden of disease. Many professionals have the opportunity to promote better oral health and general health as part of their role. DHSV is pleased to offer a range of oral health resources to support this. Top 10 oral health tips for primary school children (5–12 years):

https://www.dhsv.org.au/oral-health-advice/dental-health-advice/children

Year 4 Spread Joy Around The World

The Year 4 are so thrilled to share the news about their wonderful donation to World Vision again this year!

The students should be so proud of their efforts as they have worked hard to earn some extra dollars to donate. They did some chores around the house, vacuuming, washing dishes, sweeping leaves etc (much to the delight of their parents) and some students even donated some money from their savings! It was so inspiring listening to the student's speeches as to why their gift would help the community really demonstrating how important this donation is!

It is with great pleasure to announce the Year 4 raised a grand total of $755.45. An absolute amazing effort, all in just over one week!

The students were so excited to choose the gifts to donate knowing how these gifts can help the world's most vulnerable children and adults break out of poverty.

Below are the gifts which the students chose to buy.

1 Trio of farm animals, 1 goat, 1 lamb, 3 piglets, 9 chickens and eggs, 1 fast growing seeds, 1 Clean drinking water, 1 Blanket, 2 Fish farms, sending a girl to school, childhood immunization and combating climate change.

What an amazing effort! Congratulations Year 4!

CONGRATULATIONS

Xavier S, from Year 5H has been a part of Air League, Niddrie Squadron, for a year and a half. This year, at the Group review, he placed first in the essay competition in Victoria, second in the photography and last night won most improved. Congratulations Xavier!