Weetangera Primary School eNewsletter

From Julie

Dear Families

It is week 3, trivia night is TONIGHT, 9/8/24 and an opportunity to mingle with members of the WPS Community while you ponder the big questions;

What does SAO actually stand for?
What is the fastest time that someone has run 100m, whilst skipping rope and in high heels?
Where is the best place to spend Friday evening, especially Friday, 9 August 2024?

Playground update:

We are in the process of having colourful markings painted in various situations across the school. Slowly emerging will be the alphabet snake, handball courts, a huge compass and various target games marked on the wall.

Phase One of the playground upgrade process was completed and the next steps are in the planning phase. Additional to this process, that has been heavily supported by the fundraising endeavours of the P&C, I also received the following, exciting news from the Infrastructure Capital Works arm of the Education Directorate. For the past 3 years that I have been in residence as the principal I have made application for improvements across the school. I am pleased that I have been able to secure:

The electronic sign
Screens on all windows in all building across the school
A transportable building
The covered outdoor learning area/basketball court
And an upgrade to the front office, staff toilets and staffroom.

Now I am over the moon to be able to report the information below.

Thank you for submitting your proposal for consideration in the 2024-25 Public School Infrastructure Renewal Program (PSIRP) Now renamed Asset Renew Program (ARP).

We are delighted to inform you that the Education Directorate will commit to the following.

External Learning Environment (Woohoo, yay team, so exciting)
Student Toilets and outdoor water fountains (How fabulous)

An Asset Renewal Program project officer will contact you shortly to discuss the next steps and we look forward to working with you on these exciting projects.

This information is pleasing on so many levels the first one being that the student toilets are long overdue for improvement and the water sources outside are less than efficient. I will provide details as soon as they are available and know that you join with me in the excitement of knowing that the student facilities are to be upgraded to align with 21^st Century standards.

I wonder if you are a family of skiiers? The Nguyen family are, and Anthony and Benjamin recently had a wonderful experience. Please read below their dad’s account of their participation. Tai Nguyen has also added further information in case you and your family would like to be involved in 2025.

The 2024 SUBARU ACT & Regional NSW Interschool Snowsport Championships took place in Perisher from 23 to 26 July. Over the four days, 1,300 students from 146 schools competed (totalling over 2700 entries) in skiing and snowboarding events including Alpine, Cross and Moguls, making it the largest of all interschools regional championships in Australia in 2024.

For the first time in five years, Weetangera Primary School returned to this major winter sport event. Two of our students Anthony Nguyen (4LT) and Benjamin Nguyen (KLDMR the Wombats) proudly represented our school in the exciting Alpine events. Both Anthony and Ben had great fun skiing, racing and meeting new friends from other schools across the ACT and regional NSW. They also got inspired by the Australian Winter Olympians who were there to cheer the young athletes on.

For students/families who are interested in having fun skiing/snowboarding and representing the Weetangera in the 2025 Interschools Championships next year, don’t hesitate to contact our Interschool school coordinator Tai Nguyen at nguyendangtai@gmail.com.

For more information on Interschools, check out the website at https://www.interschools.com.au/home-nsw-act-qld-sa

Do you want to contact the school board? Do you have questions, observations and wonderings that you would like to share with the representatives of the school board?

Our board comprises the following representatives:

Board Chair: Yehuwidy Dillon

Deputy Chair: Anastasia O’Donnell

Board Members: Alison Shackleford, Vivian Bevan and Bec Spoors

You can make contact using the following email address: WeetangeraPrimarySchoolBoard@ed.act.edu.au

And finally the thought for the week (In the shape of a cartoon) was this, especially acknowledging the excellent work of Stephen James, supported by Annie, who has uplifted, re-organised, tidied, culled and added to the WPS Library Collection. Thank you, Stephen.

Please consider making your Voluntary Contributions to our Library Fund, if you haven’t already, as the Library Fund donation is a tax deductible contribution and enhances the work of further building the up to date library collection.

See you at trivia night.

Have an excellent week.

Regards

Julie

Julie.cooper@ed.act.edu.au

Playground Update

In case you missed it in our last newsletter, we are now looking to stage 2 of our playground update. We will be talking to staff, students, the P&C and our community to work out what will be our next best step. If you would like to have a say, please complete this survey.

Parent Portal at Weetangera

Parent Portal is now available. It is a secure online platform used to share student information between you and your child’s teachers.

Some reminders about Parent Portal:

If you already have a Parent Portal account, use this Parent Portal access link to start using the great features.
You can’t access Parent Portal directly through the ACT Digital Account website, you need to use the link above.
When you are logged into Parent Portal, we recommend saving the browser as a favourite or to the homepage on your mobile phone for quick access in the future.
The website can only be viewed using a web browser on your computer, mobile phone or tablet. An app is not available at this time.
If you still need to register, you will need an access key and a Parent Portal registration link via email to link your existing account to your child’s records. If you haven’t received this, please contact the school’s front office team for assistance.

Head to our website for all the details:

https://www.weetangeraps.act.edu.au/For_Parents/parent_portal

What's Happening in the Caterpillars

This week I’d like to share something special that the Caterpillars, and in fact all of Year 1, participates in every Friday afternoon. Something we like to call ‘Community Service’.

Each term we gather the students together and provide them with some job options. These include sorting, emptying and cleaning our classroom recycle station, weeding in the garden, picking up rubbish in the playground, sharpening pencils in the classroom, and tidying/organising different spaces in our unit.

We place an important responsibility on the students in Year 1 to feel they are making a difference in their learning space. When we go out to do our jobs, we feel useful! We feel like we are giving back to the school that gives so much to us! We believe this is an important philosophy to impart on children. That their actions can make a difference, and that giving back in some way can make you feel good. It can also make other people feel good. For example, everyone feels good when they come to school on Monday morning and all their coloured pencils are sharp!

We hope to continue to add jobs to our list of community services and spread the word about how happiness doesn’t result from what we get, but from what we give.

Izzy Dunn

What's Happening in the Wedge-Tail Eagles

At the start of this term, Year 3 began their new Global Concept - Sustainability. As a provocation we read the beautiful story The Forgotten Song - Saving the Regent Honeyeater by Coral Vass. This led into a discussion about endangered animals in Australia and why they are endangered. We also carefully looked at the illustrations and what the artist used to create them. After these discussions, we introduced Wild at Art, Australia’s biggest wildlife art competition for kids. Wild at Art is an opportunity for children to unleash their artistic creativity while learning about Australia’s threatened animals and plants and the threats facing them.

To start Wild at Art, each student had to choose an endangered native animal to Australia. We focused on reptiles, birds and mammals, reptiles was a favourite. Next the students had to research about the animal, finding out where they live, why they are endangered and what can be done to help support the animal. While completing the research Year 3 also looked at elements in art, how to create textures, backgrounds and using different materials.

After researching, looking at photos of their animals and practising to draw them (by zooming in), it was time to create! The students then took several sessions to create their Wild at Art artworks, considering what materials they were going to use and what their artwork would look like.

Artworks completed, time to reflect. The students needed to reflect on what they had created by writing a statement about their artwork. Some of their writing reflected why their animal is endangered and how they may show it in their artwork. Reflections also considered what their artwork shows and what they used to create their piece. The student’s writing also included how people can help their endangered animal and how their artwork makes them feel and explain why.

Wild at Art has been an amazing experience and we have had a lot of fun creating and learning about our endangered animals.

Megan Ferdinand

In 4AS Wishing Spells we are deep into our learning of our global concept ‘Sustainability’. Here is a summary about our learning so far:

We began with a scientific focus, learning about different materials and their properties (hard, stretchy, absorbent, transparent, etc.). As a year 4 unit, we completed experiments to explore what purposes materials have and how their properties play an important part in an object being fit for purpose. We then shifted to a sustainability lens, and explored the impact materials have on the environment. Exploring non-renewable resources and alternative renewable resources.

Within reading we learnt about many different environmental issues such as climate change, ocean pollution and food waste. We then used this knowledge to write persuasive expositions encouraging the school to be more sustainable and why we should protect our planet. The expositions had a big focus on what students can do in their everyday life to help the environment and the positive impact it will have.

In Maths, we focused on collecting data using our lunch boxes. We tallied the different types of food rubbish including; worm food, snap-lock bags, plastic packets, foil and cling wrap. Together we found that the class had a high percentage of non-renewable rubbish, particularly small packets. This encouraged lots of conversation as to why families use small packets and snap-lock bags and what they could use instead.

As our final artefact for this global concept and a way to bring all our learning together, students created a sustainable lunch box. We discussed that it had to be a practical, durable, and a sustainable solution that would reduce waste and be fit for purpose. Students had great fun creating a blueprint of their design, considering environmentally friendly materials and creating a prototype using recyclable boxes. There were a variety of ideas that included hot and cold compartments and bento style lunch boxes. Students completed a reflection task at the end where they evaluated their lunchbox and the possible positive and negative impacts it could have on the environment. This unit highlighted their understanding of sustainability, and the role students can have in looking after the environment.

In 4AS Wishing Spells we are deep into our learning of our global concept ‘Sustainability’. Here is a summary about our learning so far:

We began with a scientific focus, learning about different materials and their properties (hard, stretchy, absorbent, transparent, etc.). As a year 4 unit, we completed experiments to explore what purposes materials have and how their properties play an important part in an object being fit for purpose. We then shifted to a sustainability lens, and explored the impact materials have on the environment. Exploring non-renewable resources and alternative renewable resources.

Within reading we learnt about many different environmental issues such as climate change, ocean pollution and food waste. We then used this knowledge to write persuasive expositions encouraging the school to be more sustainable and why we should protect our planet. The expositions had a big focus on what students can do in their everyday life to help the environment and the positive impact it will have.

In Maths, we focused on collecting data using our lunch boxes. We tallied the different types of food rubbish including; worm food, snap-lock bags, plastic packets, foil and cling wrap. Together we found that the class had a high percentage of non-renewable rubbish, particularly small packets. This encouraged lots of conversation as to why families use small packets and snap-lock bags and what they could use instead.

As our final artefact for this global concept and a way to bring all our learning together, students created a sustainable lunch box. We discussed that it had to be a practical, durable, and a sustainable solution that would reduce waste and be fit for purpose. Students had great fun creating a blueprint of their design, considering environmentally friendly materials and creating a prototype using recyclable boxes. There were a variety of ideas that included hot and cold compartments and bento style lunch boxes. Students completed a reflection task at the end where they evaluated their lunchbox and the possible positive and negative impacts it could have on the environment. This unit highlighted their understanding of sustainability, and the role students can have in looking after the environment.

Alex Spencer

What's Happening in the Thingamabobs

Term_3_Newsletter_Item_56CH.pdf

Corinne Hannan

SSACT Football

Congratulations are extended to Aaron, Kai and MJ from Year Six who have been selected in the School Sport ACT 12&Under Boys Football Team. The team will be taking part in the School Sport Australia Football Championships in Perth in October. What a fantastic achievement to have three students from our school all chosen in this team! In Perth the boys will have the opportunity to challenge themselves against some of the best soccer players from all over Australia and we wish you all the best for a successful and enjoyable tournament.

Erwin McRae

Christian Education in Schools

Christian Education in Schools volunteers will provide a session at Weetangera PS on Monday 16 September, 1.45-2.45pm. This session will be provided only to students that have opted in via the permission note. Please visit the school front office to get a copy of the permission form.

News from the Sustainability Team

Sustainability_Newsletter_item_1_.pdf

Book Week

Library News

ISSUE 5 IS NOW OPEN!
Keep your eyes peeled for your catalogue.
In the spirit of celebrating readers this issue, we are creating magic with our FREE BOOKS offer. The more families spend, the more free books they can earn, starting at only $20.
This is an exclusive offer for Issue 5 and one not to be missed!
Families who ordered books on Issue 4 can spend the $5 promo code they earned on Issue 5. Plus, they will get another $5 promo code to spend on Issue 6!*

Orders from Issue 5 are due by 12 August 2024