The term is in full swing, and students are taking every opportunity to set up good habits for the year in their learning. I have now met many of the students and parents and it is a joy to interact with you all. In the last newsletter I talked about assessments; it is important to recognise that school isn't all about academia, and it is important that everyone is managing after such a tumultuous past 2 years. There is also a lot of unrest in the world today which can make our children feel anxious.
With this in mind I thought I would take this opportunity to refresh your minds about the Pastoral Care system we have at Werribee Primary. This year we have a new Student Welfare Coordinator called Leah Davie. Leah works across the Melton and Werribee campuses and across Primary and Secondary sub-schools. Leah comes from a background in youth and social work and is highly skilled in this area. David Baird is the Primary Pastoral Care Worker; you may have seen him in online devotions during lockdown and during Parent Prayer on Blue Week Mondays.
The purpose of Pastoral Care at Heathdale is to support students in times of social and emotional need. They are a first port of call. It may be that after seeing Pastoral Care, other avenues or extra or specialised guidance is recommended, in which case Pastoral Care will play a supportive role.
Pastoral care works on an early intervention approach. This means you may see the team in assemblies, in the yard, running programs, in devotions or even playing down ball with your children in the morning.
If at any point you believe your child would benefit from accessing Pastoral Care for a specific reason, please email your Homeroom teacher to discuss. Our desire is to partner with you in all aspects of schooling and Pastoral Care can be another piece in your family's journey.
Swimming Trials
Swimming trials were held on the 18th February at the Werribee Outdoor Pool in order to select our interschool swim team for 2022. This year we have entered two interschool swim competitions (School Sport Victoria and Christian School Events Network). We had about 90 students attend the swim trials.
It was a great day where everything ran smoothly and from the results that we obtained, we were able to select a team of about 45 students to head to the Werribee Outdoor Pool for the District Swim Carnival. This event is between the local schools in the Hoppers Crossing area. This event was held on the 28th February and was won this year by our swimmers!
There were some outstanding performances from our Year 3-6 swimmers. Swimmers of note were Mia Manney, Gabriel Wong, Gavin Danny and Luke Feng. Children will be competing in the Division Swim Carnival (SSV) on the 16th March and CSEN on the 17th March. We wish them all of God’s blessings as they keep on swimming!