Weetangera Primary School eNewsletter

From Mel

Dear Families

Thank you for reading our newsletter. It is the main source of information to our community, and there are usually some important messages and exciting updates. It is also one of the key ways that we connect with you, our community.

Julie has been away this week enjoying some sunshine. I am so glad that we haven't missed out either. The weather has been quite lovely, and our students are enjoying their outside time a little more.

The warmer weather is a reminder that as part of our Sunall students need a SunSmart hat when learning and playing outside. If they don't have a hat, they will be directed to sit in the shade. Please make sure the hat is clearly labelled with your child's name. Also, please ensure any jackets and jumpers are labelled, as students often start the day with one on, then peel off the layers as the day gets warmer. Many jackets and jumpers are left on the playground and end up in lost property.

On Tuesday, we were delighted to have a generous groups of grandparents and grandfriends visit for a cuppa and a conversation with our year 1 students. They have been learning about school in past times, and were very lucky to hear some first hand stories about what it was like to go to school in a different time. Thank you to those that were able to join us for the morning, and to our year 1 team for organising such a lovely event.

It has been so wonderful to welcome our community back into the school. Our assemblies have been well-attended lately, I think reaching capacity with the kindergarten assembly last week, which was just lovely! Our year 4 students put on a very informative and respectful assembly today, with many of their family and friends in attendance too. On Friday afternoon last week, the P&C hosted a family picnic, and it was just so nice to see so many Weetangera families enjoying the warm evening.

In the last newsletter, we asked for your feedback for our Playground and Landscape Masterplan. If you haven't yet, please click this link to have your say on what our playground and landscaping will look like in the future.

Finally, next week is our Scholastic Book Fair. These book fairs are a great way to raise money for the school. your child may come home with a wish list, we encourage you to have a look and see if there's something you could buy. A book is always a good investment, and makes a great Christmas present!

Have a fantastic week!

Mel

Melanie.Bezear@ed.act.edu.au

Book Fair

We Need You! Help make your fete great!

The Weetangera Primary School fete is fast approaching, and the P&C needs YOUR help to ensure it is amazing. All the information about how to help and what we need is available on the fete website:

https://sites.google.com/view/weetangerafete2022/home

What's Happening in Preschool

Great times with the Investigators and Adventurers

Library

We’ve had a lot of things happening this term in preschool! The Investigators and Adventurers have started going to the school Library once a week to read, look and borrow books for the class.

On the way to the library, we visit the office. We have been discussing with Candi, Camilla and Patricia what the office is for and how they can help us in Kindergarten with Sick Bay and calling our parents.

Once we get to the library, we have been learning about where all the books go, how to find books to read and how to return the books once we are finished. Our stamina for silent reading has grown expectantly! Over the term we are hoping to explore different areas of the library and more of the BIG school!

This Term, we have been focusing on different mentor texts. We have been working a lot on Handa’s Surprise!

Handa's Surprise by Eileen Browne tells the story of Handa who wants to take a present of fruit to her friend Akeyo to surprise her. On the way different animals can't resist helping themselves to the fruit in Handa's basket until eventually there is no fruit left!

We have done many different activities on this story such as sequencing the story, researching the fruits and animals, and painting our own fruit baskets! While painting Handa’s basket, we picked out lots of different fruits to have on the table to help us paint. After many discussions on fruit, we discovered a lot of children in our classes love mangoes! The Adventurers class all got to open and try the Dragon fruit! Most students had a try of this strange fruit, we noted it has the same texture as a kiwi fruit! Delicious!

Sofia Ritman

Year 3 & 4

This semester in music, the students in year 3 & 4 have been exploring different composers throughout history. This term, the students have been working in small groups to develop their own compositions, creating a song using a melodic instrument (xylophone) and a percussion instrument. Once they have completed their composition and practised very hard, they will perform their work to their peers. Here are some photos of the composers at work.

Year 5 & 6

In music this term, the students in Year 5 & 6 have been working in groups to prepare and practise their own composition of a soundscape. Using an Indigenous artwork, the students have worked together to develop a graphic notation inspired by the image. They have been hard at work organising and arranging sounds and symbols and combining those with the elements of music to create their song. Performances of their work have already begun, and they are very impressive so far! Here are some photos of the composers during their rehearsals.

Junior Choir & Bucket Drumming

The choristers and bucket drummers are preparing for their first public performance this year. They will be showcasing their super singing skills and their dramatic drumming at the specialist assembly in week 8. The junior choir will lead the Acknowledgement of Country and will sing ‘I’m a Green Pea’ by John Shortis. The bucket drummers will perform a dynamic display to the song Radioactive by Imagine Dragons.

Sarah Masling

What's Happening in French

As part of our French program in term 4, we are continuing to extend our learning in both written and spoken modes when expressing simple greetings. Kindergarten students have been identifying simple words when it comes to colours in French. They have enjoyed learning a “French colours” song which we have practised in class as well as some written work to extend their learning.

We have also enjoyed revisiting the concept of numbers from 0 to 10 in French. We have explored this idea through simple games such as “building the numbers” that our friends tell us in French and a whole class game of “Spider” where we explore how the numbers are spelt by guessing the letters in the words.

Here are some examples of ways students have shown their understanding of the different topics in class:

This term in French, Year 1 and 2 students have been exploring how to make simple sentences when expressing ideas about the weather. This learning was done through multiple role play opportunities such as acting and guessing and written experiences such as worksheets.

They have also been learning about the four seasons in French. Students enjoyed being able to identify the different seasons and connecting their learning to the weather they had learned about in previous lessons.

The year 1 and 2 French learning experiences have been supported and extended through songs, visuals, written work and classroom games.

Here are the different ways we have explored French this term:

In term 3 some years 3, 4, 5 and 6 students had a chance to participate in the French poetry competition where they learned a poem off by heart. Their challenge was to learn the poem by heart and be able to recite it with minimal mistakes. Out of the participants 2 students were chosen per year level to represent the school and their poetry recital was sent to the judges. We were very lucky to have 3 students be chosen from our school as our winners. The students are as follows; Elena Lorimer in 2nd place for Year 3 non francophone, Samuel Cevic Compiegne in first place in CE2 francophone, and Evelyn Shaw in first place in Year 5 non francophone. These students attended the prize ceremony on Wednesday 9th of November along with family and had a chance to recite their poems in front of the French students community and got special prizes. Congratulations to these winners!

Shamim Sabetraftar

What's Happening in P.E.

Year 3/4

This term in PE, the students have been focusing on Aussie Rules and the different skills involved in the sport. to help them further develop their fundamental movement skills. They have practised passing, marking, running bounce and drop punting. We also played different games to help focus on using teamwork and effective communication with each other in order to be successful.

Year 5/6

This term in years five and six, the students in PE have been learning about Aussie rules and incorporating these skills into different games. This includes passing, marking, running bounce and drop punting. Fair play is always a focus in PE, and we have been using Aussie rules and variations of it as a way to show teamwork and sportsmanship within the classes in order for the students to understand how important being a team player is.

Year 4, 5 and 6 Sport Afternoon

The year fours, fives and sixes were lucky enough to have had the opportunity to participate in a special sports afternoon organised by Belconnen High students down at the Weetangera Oval. There were a wide variety of sports that were being taught by the Belconnen High students and it was a great afternoon of students participating in new activities and being active in a different environment.

Tyler Beltrame

What's Happening in Health

Year 4 Health Update

In Health we have been learning about Respect, Empathy and Diversity.

Each class came up with their own list of the four to five most important things about what Respect, Empathy and Diversity mean to them with the following examples based on Respect:

4MS - Treating people how you would like to be treated, listening carefully, being positive and using manners.

4RT - Thinking of others, speaking positively, listening for understanding, seeing the good in everyone and using manners.

4Y - Being kind and understanding, listening, sharing and treating others how you’d like to be treated.

Year 5/6 Health Update

This term in Year 5/6 Health we have been learning about how to access health information, decision making and problem solving.

We have been looking at advertising for food and health products such as vitamin tablets with our focus question being:

Do vitamin tablets work and are they needed in a healthy diet? List the pros and cons of vitamins.

Remembrance Day

Today, 11 November 2022 is Remembrance Day. At 11am, the junior school observed one minute silence to to remember those who died or suffered for Australia's cause in all wars and armed conflicts.

Year 4 students have been learning about the significance of Remembrance Day. Recently, they were visited by Mr Aspley-Davis who shared some stories and played the bugle for the students. During their assembly today, year 4 reflected on what they learned from Mr Aspley-Davis, shared their understandings and led the assembly in a minute's silence.

Here are some reflections from year 4:

Gus- To me, Remembrance Day means time to respect all the brave people of our country who died in war. I think it is a time to reflect on the actions of the past, so it does not happen again. In short, I think that Remembrance Day is not just about remembering the soldiers who died in wars, but also the war itself.
Maddy- I think that the golden glow of the sunrise on November 11^th helps you to reflect on the lives of the brave soldiers who were always there for our country. The bright fields of poppies helps you to remember all the tragic conflicts and the Australians who were killed for our country.
Bobby- Remembrance Day is a day where we remember the men and women who died in the wars. We all hold one minute's silence to reflect on their lives. The minute's silence is held on the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month.

ICAS Exams

Well done to the 53 Weetangera students who participated in ICAS exams in Term 3. Students from all over Australia and a number of countries in the Pacific region take part in these exams which are designed to challenge participants and assess their problem-solving skills. Certificates were presented in units last week for those receiving a Participation, Merit (top 35% of all students worldwide), Credit (top 25%) and Distinction (Top 10%) award. Congratulations to the following students on receiving a Distinction:

Year 2

Kayla T- Maths

Anthony N- Digital Technology, English, Maths, Science and Spelling

Year 3

Henry M- Digital Technology

Elva B- English and Writing

Kevin C- Maths and Science

Rivennie L- Spelling

Year 4

Madelena O- English and Writing

Gus C- Maths and Science

Year 5

Sam D- Digital Technology and Science

James F- Digital Technology

Zalie G- Digital Technology

Krish V- Digital Technology, English, Maths and Science

Evie J- English

Meg S- English

Vin B- Maths and Science

Year 6

Eryn H- Digital Technology

Emma S- English, Spelling and Writing

Three of our students received a High Distinction which is awarded to those finishing in the highest 1% of participants:

Kevin C from Year 3 in Digital Technology, Evelyn S in Year 5 for English and Eryn H in Year 6 in English. Congratulations on this amazing achievement!

Please note, there has been a delay in sending out the Maths certificates, when these are received from ICAS we will present them.

Erwin McRae

ICAS Coordinator

Band Concert - 30 November

P&C Update

WPS_Pick_A_Jar.pdf

Zones of Regulation - Strategy of the Week

Category- THINK IT

Press Pause

Stop what you are doing in the moment to take a pause. Notice what is going on around you. Take a deep breath. Think about what you are going to do before you do it.

How do you feel? What Zone could this be helpful in?