Weetangera Primary School eNewsletter

From Julie

Dear Weetangera Families

Kindergarten’s First Assembly

It was a truly exciting day today! Our kindergarten students performed and ran their very first school assembly. There was much excitement, many smiles and a great deal of anticipation and that was just the audience. The kindergarten students performed their roles with a great deal of enthusiasm and perhaps even some slightly nervous tummies. At the conclusion of every assembly I write a Thank you letter to the year level involved. Below is a copy of the letter kindergarten received. It is a great acknowledgement of their focus, practice and desire to share their learning success with the students and their families.

Technology Use & Social Media

On another note I would ask that parents of students with their own phones and access to various social media platforms check that your children have all of the correct privacy settings in place, that they aren’t accessing social media platforms not designed for their age group and that communication between and amongst friends and cohorts is kind and respectful.

Technology is a wonderful thing that has changed access to information, streaming services and the world in general. Social media platforms can also be insidious and devastating tools that impact the lives of families, children and create angst where none should be. I would actively encourage all families to ensure that they maintain a close watch on technology use, ensure it is used purposefully and respectfully and let your children know what is acceptable and what is not.

Gakkou Souji

At WPS we value clean and tidy learning spaces. Do our students always leave their learning spaces clean and tidy at the end of the day? The short answer is NO!

Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv4oNvxCY5k and be inspired by the way Japanese schools implement the concepts of respect and responsibility into the daily lives of their students.

We are not in Japan and cannot replicate the traditions and practices, we are certainly inspired by the ideas.

We have been trialling this: At the end of each school day music is played indicating that it is time for the learning spaces to be tidied up ready for the next day. Obviously, our cleaners and Glen, BSO, will still be doing their work and we will not be asking students to clean up ‘big messes’. What we are looking for is for our students to look after their learning spaces and tidy up; an opportunity to re-set the classroom ready for the next day’s learning.

An opportunity to pack, stack, tidy and prepare classrooms so that they can step back into learning the very next day. This is a real-life opportunity to help each other, take responsibility for the area and have respect for the place that we all call ‘home’ during the day when we are at school.

National Reconciliation Week: Public Holiday Monday29 May

Keep up the momentum for change: the theme for National Reconciliation Week 2023 is Be a Voice for Generations. The theme encourages all Australians to be a voice for reconciliation in tangible ways in our everyday lives – where we live, work and socialise. For the work of generations past, and the benefit of generations future, act today for a more just, equitable and reconciled country for all.

National Reconciliation Week – 27 May to 3 June – is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

Find out more about National Reconciliation Week #NRW2023

Reports

Teachers are in the midst of finalising Semester One Reports. These will be delivered, electronically, to all families on Friday, 23 June (The last day of Week 9) and student learning conversations and parents meetings will be held in the following week; beginning Monday 26 June. Please keep an eye out for the time slot allocation for conversations with teachers.

To support those writing reports the quote of the week was a visual:

It is fair to say some of us have consumed more chocolate than usual during this time.

Have an excellent weekend.

Regards

Julie

Julie.cooper@ed.act.edu.au

Enrol for 2024

Have you remembered to enrol for the 2024 school year? If you apply by midnight 2 June you will receive an offer from 24 July 2023. Applications received after 2 June may receive an offer later in the year. Enrolments are open for students from preschool through to year 12. Going local leads to great things – apply online at https://bit.ly/3Zqhoj9

Need help or have a question? Call the Enrolments Helpline on 6205 5429 or email education.enrolment@act.gov.au.

Stranger Safety

This is a reminder to ensure your children and young people understand the importance of stranger awareness safety and information has been included on how to report an incident.

Please support us to keep our children safe by having conversations about moving safely around the community. You may wish to visit the Australian Federal Police website section on Child Safety for tips. In addition, the Safety4Kids is a non-government website that has useful information and links. The Constable Kenny website also has a number of tips for parents for younger children.

If you become aware of an incident or notice anyone acting suspiciously around a school or student, contact police immediately on 131 444 or in the case of an emergency call 000. If you witness an incident or if you have any information that could assist police, contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Information can be provided anonymously. We would also ask that you notify the school so we can also support the wider school community to be aware of incidents.

Student Supplies & Voluntary Contributions

Student_Supplies_Vol_Cons_Note_2023.pdf

Active Travel Program Evaluation

Transport Canberra and City Services (TCCS) is undertaking an evaluation of the school active travel programs, including the Ride or Walk to School, Active Streets for Schools and School Crossing Supervisor programs.
As part of the evaluation, TCCS is requesting school communities to complete a short online survey about their travel habits to and from school. The survey can be accessed through this link or via the QR code below.

TCCS has engaged First Person Consulting (FPC) – a Melbourne-based evaluation consultancy – to manage the evaluation and the surveys. FPC will not be collecting any identifiable information from anyone completing the survey, and all responses will be kept confidential and anonymous.
TCCS appreciates your support to evaluate these programs to continue to enhance the program offerings to schools.

We need your input! WPS 50th Birthday

Weetangera Primary School is turning 50!

To celebrate this milestone, and in conjunction with our Positive Behaviours for Learning journey, we would like input from the wider school community about what Weetangera means to them.

Please find time to answer the questions in the survey below!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScxRBcnN_YOPKYtfabeBE8GTc-D6rDa60X1LVk0FmBrklkb1g/viewform

Our aim is to collate the information gathered and use it to revamp some of the, shall we say… outdated, aspects of the school.

You know what they say – a change is as good as a holiday – and at 50 we are feeling ready for a change.

We are also on the lookout for ex-students and previous members of the Weetangera Primary School community for some events and activities we are planning for later in the year. If you can help us with this, please email info@weetangeraps.act.edu.au.

Chief Minister's Reading Challenge

What's Happening in the Exceptional Elephants & Marvellous Meerkats

This term preschool guided inquiry unit focuses on the responsibilities of being part of a community and we have been looking at questions such as

- In what ways do we collaborate and work with community members?

- What does it mean to be respectful others?

- What does it mean to be part of a team?

- How can I be an active participant in my community?

We have been exploring the roles and responsibilities of different community workers (e.g., emergency services, shop workers) and we have set up the dramatic play spaces so we can investigate different occupations.

Last week we visited the school garden to look at the worm farm and talked about some of the different ways we can be a responsible community citizen. Composting our food scraps for the worms and recycling has played an important part in these discussions.

Get ready for LIFT OFF! The Brainbreakers are going to Outer Space this term! We are learning all about the Solar System and we hope to answer some of our amazing questions we wondered about in our first lesson. What do we already know about Space and what do we want to learn more about? We have learned over the past four weeks about planet Earth, shining balls of hot gas, which are the stars in the sky, and the moon. We have been busy writing all about our learning and we have created some stunning pieces of artwork for our space wall and art area in our classroom. We have also become fit and flexible by doing ball yoga a couple of times a week, which we very much enjoy!

Trivia is coming!

Trivia Night

A big focus for our P&C events in 2023 is reconnecting our school community after the last few years. We’ve had some great events for the children, and now it’s the turn of the parents and adults in our school community to enjoy an evening together!

The P&C is hosting a trivia night on Friday 11 August at the Belconnen Labor Club, 6:30pm arrival for a 7pm start. Mark it in your calendar, book in some childcare and start to talk to your parent (and non parent!) friends about getting together a group of 10 to make a table, or just book for yourself and let the trivia crew help you find some new friends. Keep an eye out in the next newsletter and on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/WeetangeraPandC) for more information on how to book.

We are also looking for sponsors and donations of prizes for the trivia night – for our raffles, silent auctions and of course goodies for our trivia winners! If you have a small (or big) business and would like to chat to us about how you can support the event, please contact our Secretary Susan at weetangera.pc.secretary@gmail.com.

Organisers needed!

We’re looking for people to help us with running some of our events later this year. In particular, the annual lap-a-thon will be back on 18 October, and we’re looking for new organisers to come and learn from the tireless Olivia and Angelina who will be stepping back after lap-a-thon 2023. It’s a chance to help with one of our major fundraising events for the year, and to marvel at the sight of 500 students from K-6 running, walking and enjoying the spring sunshine.

The lap-a-thon coordinators work with the school to get fundraising sheets distributed through classrooms, ask the SRC to set a theme for the day, make sure we have a sheet for each student to get their laps marked off as the morning progresses and enough helpers to mark off sheets, and work with the canteen to organise fruit and veggie snacks for the children after a big morning of lap-running.

All of the money raised will go towards the playground upgrades, and the whole P&C team will also be happy to help out with finding volunteers and promoting through social media and this newsletter. If this sounds like something you’d like to get involved with, email our President Ben at weetangera.pc.president@gmail.com

Let’s Get Social!

Facebook not your thing anymore? We’re now on Instagram! Follow us for updates on all the P&C happenings: @weetangeraschoolpandc

P&C Meetings

Did you know that every single parent is automatically a part of our P&C? There’s no need to sign up, just show up!

The next P&C meeting will be held on Tuesday 6 June at 6:30pm in the school staffroom. Come along and join in the conversation about events coming up in the second half of the year, or get a sneak peek at some of the playground upgrade plans that we have been fundraising for over the last couple of years.