Friday 6th February, 2026

A Message from our Principal!

Welcome back to the 2026 school year! It has been wonderful to see students return with smiling faces and plenty of energy. Also, a warm welcome to all new families joining the school. From a personal perspective, I have felt a strong sense of acceptance from the Wangala PS community, which I am grateful for. A special mention goes to our 13 Prep students who commenced their first day on Thursday 29th of January. It was great to see so many parents and family members onsite to share the important milestone in their child’s life. We look forward to supporting our newest learners as they begin their school journey.

We start the year with 106 students across five classes. For our existing families, you will recognise that the school’s enrolments continue to grow each year, reflecting the strong reputation and supportive community of Wangala PS.

Our focus at the start of the year is on helping every child feel safe, happy, and confident at school. Across all classrooms, there is a strong emphasis on establishing learning routines, reinforcing positive behaviour expectations, and building strong relationships. When children experience predictability, understand boundaries, and feel a genuine sense of belonging, they are best placed to learn and thrive. We highly value the partnership between home and school and thank families for their continued support in helping children arrive on time, ready to learn, and with positive attitudes. Open communication between families and teachers is key, and we encourage you to reach out whenever you have questions or need support.

To help build our sense of community, we look forward to welcoming you to our Community BBQ on Tuesday 10th February, commencing at dismissal time (3:15pm). This will be a great opportunity to meet new faces, reconnect with familiar ones, and introduce yourself to your child’s teacher if you haven’t already done so.

Finally, I would like to sincerely thank Trent Griffiths, Melissa Stokes and Steve Reddington as they conclude their tenure as parent representatives on School Council, and Sarah Sobczynski and Rachael Hibbert as they finish their roles as school employee representatives. Your time, commitment, and service have been invaluable to the school. With this, there will be three parent vacancies and two school employee vacancies on School Council. A Compass notification has been sent with information for anyone interested in nominating. Nomination forms are available from the school office, and nominations close on Monday 16th February.

All in all, it’s been a very calm and smooth transition back to school, laying a strong foundation for the year ahead.

Regards,

Joseph Doyle

Acting Principal

Dates to Remember

Wangala Primary School acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land we are on, the Wadawurrung people, and thank them for sharing their long lasting culture with us as we learn and grow together.

Tuesday, 10th February 2026 Welcome BBQ

Friday, 20th February 11:30am Geelong Advertiser Prep Photos

Monday, 2nd March Summer Lightning Premiership (5/6 Students)

Monday 2nd – Friday 13th March Smile Squad Dentists onsite

Monday 9th March Labour Day public holiday

Tuesday 10th – Friday 13th March Prep Health assessments w/ School Nurse

Wednesday, 18th March School Photos

Friday, 2nd April Last day of term 1 (2:30pm finish)

Friday, 3rd April Good Friday (Public Holiday)

Welcome to 2026!

Our classes have all jumped straight back into their learning for the new year…

P/1S

The Prep/One class has been working on creating two-part movement patterns and two-part object patterns in Mathematics. Students used a range of materials from our classroom to create their own patterns.

1/2HB

Our One/Two HB class has been settling into our new classroom and decided to celebrate by decorating our door with a disco theme! We’ll have disco balls and groovy dance moves on display. We can’t wait for our community to check it out on Tuesday afternoon at our community BBQ!

This week, our Grade 5/6 students joined their Prep buddies for their first PE session together. It was wonderful to see our older students step up and show outstanding leadership by modelling expectations, rules, and positive behaviour. Everyone had lots of fun playing simple games, and the Grade 5/6 students did a fantastic job supporting their buddies to understand how to play. We were extremely impressed with the leadership, kindness, and encouragement shown throughout the session.

Here’s what some of our students had to say about the experience:

Connor (5/6): “I had a really fun experience with my buddy and was amazed at how resilient he was.”
Georgia (5/6): “I loved engaging with the Preps and helping them learn the rules of PE.”
Choesang (5/6): “I enjoyed playing games with the Preps and teaching them the games and rules.”
Jaxon (5/6): “Spending time with our buddies was so much fun.”
Grace (5/6): “I had a fun experience with the Preps. They were quick learners, followed instructions, and I enjoyed spending time with them.”

Lakorra (Prep): “I liked playing games like Poison Ball and Angry Ogre. I liked being with my buddy and having fun. I really liked the stop-whistle games.”
Reef (Prep): “I liked playing Angry Ogre because we had so much fun running away. I also liked the freeze games with the whistle.”
Loki (Prep): “I enjoyed playing Poison Ball and running away from the giant ball. I also liked Angry Ogre and playing with my buddy. The buddies were very nice.”
Adaline (Prep): “I liked doing the relay races. It was fun skipping, running, and high-fiving other people.”

The students will be joining their buddies again next week, and we are very much looking forward to another fun and positive session together.

Meet the 2026 School Leaders

Meet our school leaders for 2026 – Pixie, Leo & Jake!

We wish them the best of luck for their final year of primary school.

2026 Welcome BBQ!

Summer Lightning Premiership!!

Monday, 2nd March

The Summer Lightning Premiership is fast approaching in Week 6! This year, Grade 5/6 students will be taking part in basketball, and we are practising and preparing for the big day.

Quick details:

Date: Monday, 2nd March
Venue : Beyond Bank Stadium in Belmont
Participation: All Grade 5/6 students are expected to join in
Payment & Permission: A note has been sent via Compass with further details, including the cost and permission forms. Please return these by the due date.

This is always a fun, exciting highlight of the year for students — we can’t wait to see everyone get involved!

Annual Privacy Reminder for our School Community

Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ privacy policy and the Schools’ privacy collection notice.

Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students policy, describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn.

We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education, please contact the school.

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ privacy policy: information for parents. This information is also available in eleven community languages: