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PO Box 20 15-29 Hospital Street Wedderburn Victoria 3518 Tel No. (03) 5494 3011 e-mail: wedderburn.p12@edumail.vic.gov.au website: www.wedderburn-college.vic.edu.au

Term 4 Week 10 12th December 2018

The Newsletter is designed to offer an information service to the parents of Wedderburn College students and local people interested in Education.

Deadline for newsletter articles is STRICTLY 9am Tuesday via email address above.

FROM THE PRINCIPAL Dear Parents, Guardians, Carers and Friends of Wedderburn College GRATITUDE TO PARENTS ASSOCIATION I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our students and their families for their positive contribution to our school community in 2018. I look forward to celebrating the achievements of the year with you all on Awards Night. I would like especially to thank the Parents Association for their dedication and commitment to our school. So many volunteers assisting with great events that not only raise funds to assist our school activities, but also build community and friendship. This year, several of the outgoing office bearers have been very long serving and I wish to acknowledge them by reprinting below the words

spoken at the final meeting and AGM last week. I also congratulate the newly elected office bearers. On behalf of the whole school community, thank you for all the ways that you enrich our school with your generous service!

THANK YOU SUSAN KELLER Susan has been a volunteer to our association since 2006. She has actively volunteered her time to do many functions, fundraisers and meetings throughout the years. We thank her for taking on the role of catering officer for the past 2 years and thank her for her dedication to the Parents Association, College students and the College as a whole for the past 12 years.

THANK YOU TRINA VAUGHAN Trina joined us in 2013 as a keen volunteer and became our President in 2015. She has actively led our team of volunteers and has contributed enormously to the success of the association over her time. Although we have had some rough patches, she has come out the other side, leading this association on the path for the future. We thank Trina for her time and volunteering leadership.

THANK YOU AMBER GIBSON Amber has been a volunteer to our association since about 2006. She has actively volunteered her time to do many functions, fundraisers and meetings throughout the years. We thank her for taking on Secretary for the past 4 years and for her dedication to the Parents Association. She has done a fantastic job making sure all the book work was up to date along with all paperwork needed for each meeting. Amber was always organised and would let everyone know in advance whenever the next meetings were including the treasurer and leadership. We worked well together and I could not have done the role of President without such a dedicated and supportive Secretary who I can also call a friend. By Trina

FINAL WEEK Next week we will have an alternative program running to allow us to complete all of the tasks required for the end of next year in preparation for next year. Thursday and Friday will be dedicated for school clean up and staff preparation for 2019. Students are not required to attend on these days, but can assist with clean up or Christmas activities if they would like.

DATELINE Tuesdays - Playgroup from 9:00am to 10:30am

Dec Wed 12th Maths Pathways Information Session at 5:15pm (Current Grade 4 students/parents and all parents interested) Tues 18th Awards Night 7.00pm Fri 21st Term 4 ends– P-10, Dismissal at 1:30pm Jan 2019 Thurs 24th Book Collection Day 10.00am-2.00pm Tue 29th Staff start Wed 30th Term 1 starts for students

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CURRICULUM ELECTIVES Year 9 and 10 students will choose their electives on Thursday and Friday this week. This will be distributed via classes and via Compass. Year 7 and 8 classes will do one semester of Materials Technology (Wood) and one semester of Food Technology in 2019. STAFFING AND CLASSES The staffing and classes for next year are close to being finalized, however it is usual in schools for there to be late changes due to staff movements, which, in hard to staff rural schools like ours, can sometimes go into January. This is why I am so grateful when families and community members extend warm hospitality and welcome to our staff, because we are lucky to have them and we should work hard to try and retain those staff who are high-quality and professional. Therefore I am not yet in a position to notify families of teachers yet, but will distribute via Compass when possible, which may be in the New Year. Please contact the Office if you cannot currently access Compass. CHRISTMAS I extend my warm wishes to all for a happy and safe festive season, and a restful break. See you in 2019. School resumes for students on Tuesday, January 30 2019. Ms Rachel Lechmere, Principal

FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

As the 2018 school year draws to a close our attentions are quickly focused on 2019. There have been some significant milestones throughout the year, with the implementation of our mobile phone and integrated technologies policy and improvements made to our uniform policy. With the improvements to our uniform policy some changes are implemented at the start of 2019 that students, parents, guardians and carers need to be aware of. All students hats at the start of 2019 must be either a bucket or broad brimmed hat with a school logo and socks must also be navy blue. SWPBS (School Wide Positive Behaviour System) continues to progress within the school, with Ms Michelle Stone our SWPBS coach coming today to work with staff on essential feature 6. Responding to Inappropriate Behaviours. The SWPBS team have continued to work hard and are still meeting every Monday afternoon, we are now working on essential feature 5. Acknowledging Expected Behaviours. Next year will see the implementation of SWPBS across the year levels with a launch day around mid term. I wish all members of our College the very best over the Christmas break, be safe and are already looking forward to the start of 2019. Mr Dean Lockhart, Assistant Principal CENTREPAY As you know family statements are sent out during the year. Wedderburn College has set up a Centrepay Business Application so we can receive payments directly from your Centrelink payments. Centrepay is a voluntary direct bill paying service for families receiving Centrelink payments. With Centrepay, families can pay their statements by having regular amounts deducted from their Centrelink payments and paid directly to the school’s bank account. If you are interested in setting up payments to the school, you can contact me at the front office. Mrs Marie Marsh, Business Manager FOUNDATION/GRADE 1 Our swimming program draws to a close this Friday. After that first initial cold day we have enjoyed the opportunity to learn some new skills. Thanks to Mrs Turnbull for giving us this opportunity. The end of the year is also rapidly approaching. A note went home in your child’s diary informing you about this Friday and next Wednesday. As this is the last newsletter for the year I would like to wish your all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Looking forward to seeing your smiling faces back at school next year.

Mrs Tanya Chalmers, Classroom Teacher GRADE 1/2

Just a reminder that a note went home about our class party and Kris Kringle to be held on next Monday. If you did not receive that information, please let me know.

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This week is our last week of swimming and it has been wonderful to see students grow in confidence and skill level. Thank you to Mrs Turnbull for coordinating this, and also to our fantastic instructors for their patience and encouragement. Next week is our last week of school for the year and we will be participating in different activities in the classroom including lots of art and craft.

Next week the students will need to bring a bag to take home some of their treasures and work books from 2018. Enjoy spending time with your families over the holidays! Mrs Deirdre McKenzie, Classroom Teacher GRADE 3/4 T NEWSLETTER Thank you to all students for a great school year! We have been very busy this term discovering space and the planets in our solar system. The students will have some great work to bring home and show their families and friends. Please be reminded about the following:

* Our class party and ‘no-name’ Kris Kringle will be next week

* Students need to bring in a bag or two over the next week to start taking home school work and supplies

I hope you all have a fantastic break and a very merry Christmas, happy holidays! Miss Laura Trembath, Classroom Teacher MATHS PATHWAYS There will be a Maths Pathways information session Wednesday, December 12th at 5.15pm in the Maths Room. As most parents would already know, we run Maths Pathways from Grade 5 through to Year 10. The information session will provide parents with key points about the program and give an opportunity for them to have any questions answered. It is targeted at parents of Grade 4 students who will be in Grade 5 next year, but interested parents of students from other year levels are most welcome to attend. If you do intend to attend, can you please let Mrs McHugh or Miss Milne know prior to Wednesday. Mrs Carolyn McHugh. Maths Pathways Coordinator

COMPASS Don’t wait for the end of semester to view your child’s progress. Log in to Compass and view teacher feedback and feed forward at any time by checking out your child’s Learning Tasks. Children also receive regular (every 5 weeks) progress reports on their Organisation, Behaviour, Attitude to Learning and Work Completion. Learning Tasks and Reports can be found on your child’s profile page.

GENERAL NEWS HOUR OF POWER The Power Hour allows students a quiet and supervised space and time to complete homework and get support. This year it is on Thursday, straight after school in the Library. LIBRARY NOTES Please hunt out those lost or lurking Library books and return them before the end of this week. Students may borrow books to read over the holidays, providing that they have no overdues already. It’s important to maintain daily reading habits during the holidays so that you keep improving. Some of the most popular books in the Library this year have been: “Murder on the Orient Express” by Agatha Christie (Year 8-10) “Deadly Unna” by Phillip Gwynne (who visited the school) (Year 7-10)

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Fleur Ferris Australian thrillers for teenagers (“Found”, “ Black”, “Risk” etc) (Year 7-10) “Ugly” the autobiography of Robert Hoge (Grade 5 & 6) “Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls” (Books 1 & 2) (Grade 3 – Year 9) “104 Storey Treehouse” by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton (Grade 2-6) “The Amazing Monster Detectoscope” by Graham Base (P-6) The “Lulu” stories by Judith Viorst (Grade 1 & 2) This just goes to prove that a good story is not necessarily the newest story. Wishing you some hot reads for cool days until next year. Miss Hilary MacKay, Teacher Librarian and Drama Teacher CANTEEN NEWS Please be reminded that students in Foundation to Grade Six are to place their lunch orders in their class tubs (located in their classrooms). For students in Years 7 to 12, orders are to be placed in the blue lunch order box, which is located in the BER building, before 10:30 am. 2019 Canteen Menu/Pricelist, is attached to this newsletter. The Canteen will be open until Friday 14th December 2018. Parent rostered for Friday 14th December to help in the Canteen is Mrs Jo Winslett. Ros Witham, Canteen Manager WEDDERBURN COLLEGE 2019 PARENTS ASSOCIATION OFFICERS After our Parents Association's AGM on the 3rd December a new group of lovely ladies were voted in. Our new officers are as follows: President: Kylie Cunningham Vice President: Melinda Springthorpe (Melinda has been in this position for the last five years already and was re-elected) Secretary: Jo Winslett Catering Officers: Stacey McCoy and Errin Leach Well done ladies on being elected to your positions. Wishing you all the best for next year. The Association is in good hands. Trina Vaughan, Post Parents Association President WEDDERBURN COMMUNITY SPLATTER RUN. After much anticipation, we can finally announce our grand total for our 2018 Wedderburn Community Splatter Run. We’re pleased to announce that the grand total we’ve raised for the Community Hair Salon is $2,659.43. We are delighted with the result and will display our certificate in the College office foyer. Student prizes will be distributed shortly and I thank Tina immensely for assisting with this!

Miss Kirsten Graham Community Engagement Projects Teacher WEDDERBURN COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL 2018 Thank you everyone for entering or visiting the Christmas Festival on Friday 30th November and Saturday 1st December. We were almost overwhelmed by the number and standard of entries for display and competition. Just as well we had a new set of quilt stands commissioned from the Wedderburn Men’s Shed this year.

Thank you to the staff who brought their classes to the hall and to Jake Murphy who played trumpet to entertain the visitors in the evening with the Community Singing Group.

There were many positive comments about the behaviour of students at the Hall and it was great to see the Grade 6 students and their Prep buddies attempt the Eye-spy quiz.

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Eye Spy quiz winners: Erno Kalmar and Brodie Turnbull, Georgia Stephens and Zac Pierce. Junior Challenge Winner: Ava Rose, Runner up: Amelia Rose

The Kinder came first in the schools’ decorated tree section. Other entries included the P-6 tree based on Jane Godwin’s book, “What do you wish for?”, the Library Tree, Bealiba Junior CWA group and the Wedderburn College MATES tree.

The raffle quilt was won by Tracey Wilson. $1,000.00 from the proceeds has been donated to the Community Hair Salon.

Look out for information about next year’s Festival.

From Wedderburn Patchwork Group and all the other helpers

LODDON SHIRE’S WALK TO SCHOOL PHOTO COMPETITION WINNERS

Highly Commended - Tyson Blair, Wedderburn College

1st Elsie & Laura Poole, Pyramid Hill College

2nd - Elyshia & Ryan Isaac, St Mary’s Inglewood

3rd - Ellie Bellenger, Tarnagulla Primary School

Foundation-Grade 6 Christmas tree

Foundation-Grade 6 Artwork

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COMMUNITY NEWS

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FENTON’S CREEK CFA

CHRISTMAS TREE 2018

FRIDAY DECEMBER 21 at 7.00pm

At Fentons Creek Hall

Bring along savoury and sweet items to share for tea.

Santa will arrive after dark.

(Guardians to provide a small wrapped gift for your children)

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