Welcome to Term Three.  We have quite a number of scheduled projects as evident from our School Calendar.  Four that I do wish to point out are the installation of the Koala Crossing on Edward Beck Drive, the installation of the Bike/Scooter Shelters, provision of Shop Fronts for play, and the upcoming workshops being put on by the Parent Network.

Safer Crossing of Edward Beck Drive
The Koala Crossing is finally ready to be used.  Students will not need to put up the ‘Children Crossing” sign, but will still attend the crossing with the portable STOP signs and whistle.  Crossing Monitors have on occasions been frustrated when drivers choose to disobey the parking restrictions, causing them to have difficulty seeing oncoming traffic.  Please ensure that you know where to park and where not to park and adhere to the signage.  Recently a number of drivers were given expiation fines for parking illegally.  The Council Traffic Inspector attended because of the ongoing complaints from concerned parents.  It is a quite expensive fine which can easily be avoided.

WAY2GO – Bike and Scooter Shelter
Over the school holidays the two Bike/Scooter shelter areas were erected.  The bike rails and scooter racks have been ordered and we anticipate their arrival shortly.  Once that happens we will seek help to install them.  Feedback from students in term one indicated that they are keen to have a shelter that would assist in keeping the weather off of their bikes/scooters. The number of users was surveyed in term one and will be carried out again in term 3/4 to assess any increase in students using bikes and/or scooters to travel to and from school.

The Way2Go Committee has been overseeing both the crossing and the bike shelter from application stage to final completion.

Parents In Education Grant
In 2016 the Parent Network successfully applied for a grant to be able to offer workshops for parents related to what the school is doing in relation to student learning in 2017.  The plan this term is to have 3 workshops, each about an hour in length, focused on projects that the school is involved in including our work related to ‘intellectual stretch”, “student voice in learning”, “our current numeracy project”, “inquiry based learning” and so on.  A crèche will be offered and sessions will be at different times of the day to try to make them as accessible as possible for parents.  Please keep an eye out for further information that will come out in the next few weeks.

Shop Fronts in the Street
Parents from the Grounds Committee have been hard at work creating three amazing shopfronts.  They will be installed this term so keep an eye on the street nearest to the Garden.  The shop fronts will be well used by students at break times and by classes on other occasions.

The work of parents in our school is evident in a number of areas and is a strength, supporting all children throughout the school. Thank you to all who have provided support in any manner so far this year.  Our aim is to continually improve how we make the time students have at Woodend Primary School, a launching pad for their future endeavours.

Steve Freeman
Principal