Weetangera Primary School Newsletter | Week 5, Term 3 2022
From Julie
Dear Families
It is such a relief, after what feels like a period of prolonged responses of: No, we can’t do that… Or: Soon we will be able to…. Or: Once the ‘rules’ are changed! to be able to begin to enjoy the events that we have taken for granted in the years BC (Before Covid).
Across the school the regular assemblies for the Senior School; Years 3 – 6 and the Junior School; K – 2 provide opportunities to showcase some of the following:
- Shared learning across and between classes
- New songs, rhymes, stories and skills
- Unique mathematical challenges
- Inspired Learner Awards AKA Achievement Awards and weeks such as
- Science Week which will be showcased by several classes today; Ms Dzuibinki’s, Ms Hannan’s and Mr McRae’s classes
Science Week:
The school theme for National Science Week in 2022 is Glass: More than meets the eye. It is based on the UN International Year of Glass. It will celebrate the many roles that glass plays in our lives – from phone screens to optical fibre to glassware in labs – plus investigating glass as a part of our sustainable future. The uses for and intrinsic nature of glass in science make it a suitable topic for investigation across all strands of science education.
I have caught a ‘glimpse’ of the 5/6 assembly presentation and it is going to be exciting and full of interesting information.
Who doesn’t love an opportunity to dress up? And as BOOKWEEK is next week – I hope you have placed the information on the fridge! There is much excitement between the students and staff as plans are made to dress up in characters from favourite books.
Galleries of Learning: Wednesday, 7 September 4 – 6pm
Galleries of Learning is a joyful celebration that recognises the progress your child/ren have made this year. An opportunity for them to talk about how their day of learning unfolds and for all families to realise that we do so much more than… NOTHING!! The students are looking forward to taking you on a tour of their learning spaces and for all of us to celebrate being together and sharing the work of learning that occurs every, single, day.
When you receive the information note it will provide details regarding how to book your family time so that you can participate in and enjoy their learning success.
In the last week of this term the construction company responsible for building the covered outdoor learning area (Over the basketball court near K, Year 1 & 2) will begin their work. They plan to have the task completed by the beginning of Term 4 and this will enable further areas of shaded, outdoor spaces to be available.
Before the end of this term a small team of us will be meeting with a company of landscape architects and through their eyes we hope that they will bring to life the suggestions and ideas made by students and staff to improve and uplift our outdoor spaces. While this plan will take a little longer than the construction of the covered outdoor area we hope to be able to unveil the plan during next term.
Please continue to read through the newsletter to find out about the learning highlights in specific classrooms.
And my thought for this week is very apt as it links to the intent of Children’s Book Week:
We know that children need help to read, and the best time to start them reading is very young. We believe that when children see adults from all walks of life and from throughout the community reading to them, that is another opportunity for children to see the importance of reading." ~ Jane Bown
Have a week of reading, sharing stories and embracing words
Regards
Julie
School Satisfaction Survey
Have your say!
Today, 18 August 2022, you should receive an email with a link to the annual School Satisfaction Survey. Please take some time to complete the survey and provide valuable feedback for our school. The survey is open until Friday 9 September 2022.
Your responses will help our school to identify what we do well and how we can improve. The data will also be used to underpin school improvement practices and inform government priorities, as well as in research projects and longitudinal studies aimed at improving the quality of education services in the ACT.
The survey link was sent to the email addresses listed as contact 1 and contact 2 within our administration system, noting that if the same email address is given for both contacts then that will be the only email address that receives the survey. If you didn't (or are aware of someone who didn't) receive the email, please contact our front office to check that your contact details are correct.
Athletics Carnivals
The Weetangera School Athletics Carnival was held last Thursday, 11 August. While it started out reasonably dry (if not a bit cold), by midday the rain had settled in and we had to cut the carnival short. Luckily, everyone managed to participate in the 100m race, and we had enough results to ensure a team for the Belconnen Athletics Carnival held yesterday, Thursday 18 August.
Well done to all our students for having a go and earning points for their house. We were very impressed with all the students for getting on with it, despite the cold and damp. What fantastic grit and resilience. Congratulations to those who progressed through to the next level of competition.
We had a number of students represent Weetangera at the Belconnen carnival. Congratulations to the following students, who will go on to represent Belconnen in the ACT competition:
Evan M - 800m
James W – Discus and Shot Put
Zalie G - Discus
Iolanthe T- Discus
Harriet O'S- 800m
Kai M- 100m, 200m and 800m
A special mention to Liam Jones, who just missed out on qualifying for the discus, placing 5th. Well done to all the students who participated.
Book Week 2022
Each year the Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has brought children and books together across Australia through CBCA Book Week. During this time, schools and public libraries spend one glorious week celebrating books, Australian children's authors and illustrators.
This year, Book Week will be held from 20 August to 26 August, with the theme Dreaming with Eyes Open. To celebrate, classroom teachers and teacher librarians are planning some fantastic activities to celebrate Book Week to highlight the importance of reading and a love of books.
Book Week Activities at Weetangera Primary School:
Dress Up Day
On this day students can come dressed as their favourite character from a book and participate in exciting activities in their classes. Be creative in designing your costume and bring the book with you if possible. Please make sure your child’s name is marked clearly on the book.
More information about Book Week, and the shortlisted books from this year’s competition, can be found through the Children’s Book Council of Australia at http://cbca.org.au/.
What's happening in PE
This term in PE, students in years 3-6 have been very busy preparing for the athletics carnival that was held last week! Students have been practising skills related to discus, shotput and running events, including sprinting. Now that the athletics carnival is finished and the students all did a great job, we have now begun to learn about netball and the skills involved within netball. These skills include passing, defending and shooting. Applying strategies for working cooperatively, fair play and refining these fundamental movement skills are the main focus for this term.
Tyler Beltrame
What's happening in French
Kindergarten
As part of our French program in term 3, we have been learning how to interact in both written and spoken French when expressing simple greetings. Kindergarten students have learned the differences between how to say hello to different audiences. Students have also been looking at how to introduce themselves in French. Students have been exploring these concepts through games, songs and role play opportunities.
Here are some examples of ways students have shown their understanding of the different topics in class.
Year 1 and Year 2
As part of our French program in term 2, we have been learning how to interact in both written and spoken French to express ideas and feelings relating to ourselves. We have explored how to say how we are feeling in French and how to identify the different feelings using facial expressions, visual cues as well as written and spoken French. We have also been learning about different classroom instructions and how to respond to them in French.
Students have been exploring these concepts through games, songs and role play opportunities.
Here are some examples of ways students have shown their understanding of the different topics in class.
Shamim Sabetraftar
What's happening in Health
Year 4
At the end of term two we investigated good nutrition and why it is important to eat a variety of healthy foods and drinks. Students looked at how some processed foods are made and we discussed the differences between processed foods and natural foods. We also revisited the 2 and 5 plan for fruit and vegetables. Following on from this the students had to come up with a creative advertisement for a food or drink or even a made-up food/drink shop that sells healthy products.
In recent weeks we have studied social skills and ways to practice social skills. We have looked at conversations and discussed how active listening is an important part of any conversation. Year 4 have practised having conversations in partners and in small groups on a range of topics with a key element being trying to give all students an opportunity to share their ideas and knowledge. We have done self-reflections after these group discussions and it has been interesting to see the different opinions from students on how collaborative their group was!
Year 5/6
At the end of term two we looked at advertising and how it can be used to influence children. We investigated the strategies that some food and drink companies use to try and persuade people to buy their products. From this the students planned and designed their own poster to promote one of the following:
- One food, e.g. carrot, apple, banana etc.
- A group of foods such as tropical fruits, greens etc.
- A pretend business with a focus on making healthy products, e.g. a café, ‘Harry’s Healthy Hamburgers’ etc.
In this poster students were encouraged to use a short, attention-grabbing slogan or catchphrase and to provide some facts to support their product.
Recently we have moved on to social health with a focus on communicating and interacting. Some of our key questions include:
- Do all people behave in the same way?
- Why might people act differently in certain social situations?
- How do we act in a variety of situations?
Students have looked at the similarities and differences between communicating and interacting and discussed what effective communication is and how it is an important life skill. Recently we have looked at role-plays of different social situations.
Erwin McRae
What's Happening in Year 3 Science
Throughout this term in Science with Year 3 we have been learning about the difference of living and non-living things. Using hands-on activities, the students have worked in groups to identify specific features which all living things have in common. They have also been able to group living things with the same or similar features together.
The students all found the ‘Venus Fly Trap’ interesting and enjoyed learning about this plant. The discussions around the Venus Fly Trap led to many questions as to whether plants were living things. As a cohort it was decided that to be classified as a living thing it needs:
- Water
- Reproduce
- Grow
- Eat
- Breathe
Each class has created has a ‘Code for Caring’. Before we could create our codes, each class discussed what a code was and then brainstorm ways to care for small animals. We then explored the playground for small creatures so we could know what creatures to care for and how to categorise them. After returning from the playground, we had a discussion and agreed on 5 ways we can care for small creatures. This became our ‘Code for Caring’. Each of the classes’ code is focused upon protecting the living creatures including small animals out in the school playground. As a cohort, we have noticed students have an increased awareness of their environment and are being mindful of the many different creatures that live in it.
Sarah Cairns
Zones of Regulation - Strategy of the Week
Category- MOVE IT
Jumping Jacks
Stand up straight with both hands by your side like a soldier. Jump while you spread your arms and legs apart like a star. Jump again while closing your legs and bringing your arms back to your side. Repeat!
How do you feel? What Zone could this be helpful in?
P&C News
Lap-a-thon, Father’s Day and Fete Volunteers
Wow this year is flying, how are we half way through term 3 already? It’s been a minute but the P&C wanted to provide you with an update on what we are doing behind the scenes. The next few months will be busy for all of us and we are always keen to hear from parents and carers in the community that can lend a hand, suggest ideas or donate goods to our various fundraisers. In addition to the items highlighted below, we are also planning a picnic day and cyber security information session, so watch this space for updates.
Our annual Lap-a-thon has had a little hiatus due to a pandemic that shall remain nameless. If you don’t know what the lap-a-thon is, it’s like a -read-a-thon but outside in the sunshine doing exercise. Shortly your child will receive a sign-up sheet and they are encouraged to ask friends, family and neighbours to sponsor them. Sponsors can donate a set amount, or amount per lap, and on Thursday, 22 September your child will be asked to come dressed in ‘Fluro’ theme and have a fun day raising funds for our fundraising goal. Watch out for the information pack that will come out shortly.
We weren’t able to have a Father’s Day stall for the last few years, but it’s back and Kate, our VP has been filling up her shopping cart with so many goodies. The Father’s Day stall will be held on Friday, 2 September and there will be a wide variety of goodies up for grabs, with items priced from $1 - $10. Please ensure your child brings small notes or coins on the day! If you are available on the day to help sell items at the stall, which is akin to a Boxing Day sale...madness, please email Kate weetangera.pc.vp@gmail.com.
Who is excited about the Fete? This year is going to be bigger and better and we encourage the whole community—mum, dad, kiddies, grandparents, friends, neighbours, the PM… to join us on Sunday, 4 December from 10-2pm for the Weetangera Primary School Fete! There will be carnival rides, reptiles, pick-a-jar, farmers markets, cake stall, toys and bric-a-brac, books galore and much, much more… Shortly the P&C Coordinators will put out calls for raffle donations and volunteers, please put your hand up, we can’t do it without the support of our community. If you can volunteer, or you run a business and would like to donate or sponsor the Fete, please reach out to Kelli and Kate – weetangeraprimaryfete@gmail.com, they would love to hear from you.
With winter slowly leaving us and spring just around the corner, your child might need some new uniform items. Don’t forget that our virtual second hand uniform store is still running so email through your orders to weetangera.uniforms@gmail.com and our lovely volunteers will pack you goodies and leave them at the front office for collection. We also welcome any donations of clean, unmarked uniform items to keep the shelves stocked. Donations can also be left at the front office.
Did you know that our P&C is keen to hear from the community so we can evolve and deliver the things you need? Well we want to hear from you! Which is why we have set up a survey - https://airtable.com/shrrAuLrEUji3fZkl and… we have a very generous a prize up for grabs, just for entering. The survey is closing on Friday, 19 August 2022 and one lucky person will win a $50 voucher to either the Page Bottler or Burger Villains Page. So click away and have your say and tell us what you want to see from your P&C going forward.
Parents and Carers are always encouraged to make suggestions on agenda items for our meetings, you don’t even need to attend! Our next meeting is on Tuesday, 30 September, in person or online, and you can attend or make suggestions by emailing our Secretary (weetangera.pc.secretary@gmail.com), or leave a message on our Facebook page @WeetangeraPandC
Contact us today!
You can contact all members of the P&C to raise issues, concerns or ideas. For more information or to make a suggestion please email:
Garth Spackman for all things P&C related - weetangera.pc.president@gmail.com,
Kate Donaldson for all fundraising, volunteering or school notice board - weetangera.pc.vp@gmail.com
Community Notices
Wild At Art is Australia's biggest wildlife art competition for kids. Click the link for more information: https://www.acf.org.au/wild-at-art-competition
