END OF TERM DISMISSAL is at 2.05pm on Friday.

The 2017 school year is rapidly drawing to a close. This week is the last week of our school year and as always, it will be a busy one.

Monday is our Annual School Community Christmas Event and the weather forecast is looking like it will be a perfect night to celebrate the year together. Details are available on the blog.

Farewells:  On Wednesday we formally farewell our staff who are leaving the Woodend community at the end of the year. As you would be aware we have 6 staff members retiring: Jennie Hoskins, Marilyn Brown, Jo Cole, Jane Ramsey, Jenny Cullen and Ginny Langton. There are also staff who will be moving on to other endeavours: Barb Williams is travelling to Japan on a teaching exchange in 2018, Keiko Sensei has won a position at Belair Primary School and Belinda Grossman is moving with her family to Queensland.

We will congratulate and express our gratitude to these staff members at a special assembly on Wednesday morning at 9.15am. Parents are most welcome to join us as we farewell these staff and wish them well as they move on from Woodend.

Each year we also farewell students  and their families who are moving on for various reasons: many of these families are experiencing significant changes as they are moving  home  into another suburb or town;  a number are changing employment, some to interstate or overseas locations; some are taking up opportunities in private schools. We are sad to say goodbye and wish them all the very best for the future.  Hopefully the relationships that have been developed here will endure, and of course, as things change,  there may also be future opportunities back at Woodend.

New staff for 2018
Later this week we will post a blog with the names of staff who will be new in 2018.

Graduation on Thursday night: our Year 7 Graduation takes place here at school. Information has been made available to families of Year 7 students.

Graduation Assembly on Friday: our Year 7 Graduation Assembly is always a highlight for our students as the year 7s present their creative dance performances and this year is no exception. This assembly will begin at 10.00am on Friday morning in the Gym.

Farewell to  Families:  Sadly at this time of year we  not only farewell our year 7 students but we also farewell many of their families who have had long term relationships with us.  Many leaving us have made fantastic contributions to the development of the family culture of the school. We will miss them all and we wish them well.

Volunteer Award for 2017: This year’s Volunteer Award is presented to Erika Glovitch. We thank Erika for her strong contribution over the past 12 years.  She has often offered her services as a volunteer in classes, on camps and excursions, working bees, sports, committees and Governing Council, including the last 2 years as treasurer.  It’s been a fabulously generous engagement in the life of the school and we thank her so much for embodying such strong community spirit. Erika was presented with her award at Governing Council on Wednesday night and will be acknowledged during Friday’s assembly.

Student Reports: student reports will be sent home on Wednesday along with information about your child’s class for 2018.

Transition visits to 2018 classes: this will take place during the day on Wednesday. Much time and effort has been put into placing students to ensure student’s needs are met and to strive for well balanced classes. Placement in these classes is final.

We trust you have a safe, relaxing and peaceful holiday break.