Weetangera Primary School Newsletter | Week 1, Term 1 2025
From Julie
Dear Families
Ta da!!! We’re back!
There has been much preparation, excited chatter, new learning, settling in and talking about holidays and what plans were made and executed over the Xmas Holiday break. And that was just the staff!
This week, the real work began. We welcomed our new preschool and kindergarten students on Monday, our returning and new recruits from Years 1 – 6 on Tuesday and our final preschool class on Thursday. Managing expectations and nervous energy on 3 occasions over the week certainly adds to the air of excitement that pervades our school at the beginning of each year.
While there were some tears, and some worried faces what we did manage to do was to have the students in their new places of learning, with their new teams of teachers and support staff in a fluid and calm manner. Day One began with your children in their new classrooms by 9.07am. Thank you for supporting their successful return to school.
The teaching staff this year are as follows; with new faces and returning faces:
Preschool Team: Kate de Mey, Krissy Quinell
Kindergarten: Michelle Robinson, Jess Yeo, Hayley Dix
Year One: Tarnii Boland, Megan Ferdinand
Year Two: Teagan Lovett, Shelly Murdoch, Rosie Kingelty
Small Group: Kate Buckmaster
Year 3: Gabe Kearins, Jo Lawson, Jo Burns, Allison Barker
Year 4: Louise Tominich, Tricia Butters, Celeste Tunnecliffe
Year 5/6: Emma Cottam, Corinne Hannan, Emily Dziubinski, Erwin McRae, Bec Spoors
Specialist Team: Shamim Sabetraftar, Sarah Masling, Tyler Beltrame
Library: Stephen James
Learning Support Staff & Preschool Educators: Hayley Smith, Katrina van der Sterren, Heather Boreham, Kerry Saxby-Junna, Jude Elston, Brennan Wade, Rohnin Parsons, Fergus Baird, Jess Hola, Nate Tokley, Alex Churches, Tory Henson, Jack Eager, Annie Moore
Front Office Staff: Patricia Duffy (Business Manager), Candi Jeremiah, Camilla Brown
Building Services Officer: Glen Croker
Deputy Principal: Mel Bezear
Leadership Executive: Anastasia O’Donnell, Sarah Baird, Dan Bartlett
Upcoming events:
- Wednesday 12 February – Swimming Carnival – NOTES URGENTLY REQUIRED 😊
- Week of 17 – 24 February Getting to Know you Family Meetings – Invitations are on their way
- Wednesday 26 – Friday 28 February Birrigai Camp Years 5 & 6. You may have heard about free camps for students, we are awaiting information and as soon as it is clear this information will be shared. If it s a free camp refunds will be provided.
- 28 March – Preschool Photos
- 1 April – School Photos K – Year 6
- 7 April – Preschool Photos
Are you interested in being on the Weetangera Primary School Board? There are 2 vacancies this year: one for a parent member and one for a P&C Association member. If you are interested the nomination forms are attached to this newsletter and at the front office if you wish to have a hard copy.
Each year I remind teachers of the work and thinking of a great educator; Rita Pierson. She based her life’s work on the principle of Every kid needs a champion
One of her most heartfelt quotes is this one:
Have a brilliant week and know that we champion your children and their learning success Every. Single. Day.
Regards
Julie
Staff Introductions
Today, your child's teacher will send home a letter introducing themselves and their goals for 2025. Please read this letter and get to know the teacher a little better. You will have the opportunity to meet them face to face for a "Getting to know you" meeting in week 3.
Please see below letters of introduction for the other teachers that work with your children every day in many different ways.
Mel Bezear - Deputy Principal
Sarah Baird - Team Leader P-2
Dan Bartlett - Team Leader 3-4 and Specialist Team
Anastasia O'Donnell - Team Leader 5-6 and Small Group
Tyler Beltrame - PE Specialist
Sarah Masling - Music Specialist
Shamim Sabetraftar - French Specialist
WPS School Board Nominations
Nominations for the Weetangera Primary School Board are now open. Please see the document linked below for more information and a nomination form.
WPS School Board Nominations 2025
If you require a printed copy, please ask at our front office.
Supporting Student Safety
As school re-commences for term 1, we are reminding parents and carers to please drive and park safely and legally, at and around school grounds.
We all have an important role to play in supporting road safety. Access Canberra has notified us that mobile speed and parking vans will be in operation to support our students’ safety.
These enforcement teams play a critical role in supporting our students get to and from school safely and we thank them for their ongoing support.
In addition to sticking to the speed limit, please remember to park safely – including not parking across pedestrian crossings, in no stopping zones, on corners, verges and double parking.
Unsafe and illegal parking can reduce visibility of our students and motorists to see each other, creating a significant hazard when students cross the road. Let’s work together to keep our kids safe.
The WPS carpark has spaces marked specifically for cars displaying mobility parking permits. To ensure that all members of our community can access our school as they need to, please do not stop or park in these spaces. We thank you for your help in maintaining a respectful and inclusive space.
2025 Uniform Price List
Workin' Gear Schools is the new uniform supplier for Weetangera Primary School. New uniforms with the new SPW logo can be ordered using the link above. Students are still able to wear uniforms with the old WPS logo. There are still limited sizes available for sale at the front office. Please contact the school after 22 January to organise a time to purchase these.
Library News
Library News for Newsletter Week 1 Term 1 2025
SORA – ebooks and audio books
Did you know students have access to hundreds of e-books through our library system?
To borrow e-books and audio books visit https://soraapp.com or download the free Sora app for android or IOS. Students can now also access SORA through the digital backpack.
To access click on Find My School and select ACT Education and Training Directorate, then sign in using your school credentials. (student ID and password)
Once logged in students can access 100s of e-books and audiobooks on almost any device.
Happy reading!
Stephen James
P&C Update and AGM
Annual General Meeting
Notice is hereby given that the Weetangera Parents’ and Citizens Association Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday 25 February 2025 in the School Staff Room commencing at 6pm.
Positions up for nomination are:
- Office Bearers:
- President
- Vice President
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Public Officer
- General members
I strongly encourage you to come along, hear about our fundraising plans, canteen developments and expenditure and to be a part of the P&C – always a fun night, gets you out of bed time twice a term and contributes to the continuous development of Weetangera Primary School for all students.
Welcome Picnic
The P&C would like to welcome all new and returning families for the 2025 school year. We will be putting on a complimentary BBQ on Friday 21 February and invite everyone to stick around after school pick up, enjoy meeting other families, watching the kids play and tucking into snag or enjoying a BYO picnic.
Canteen Update
Flexischools
Please be sure to sign up to Flexischools to ensure you remain up to date with canteen menu items, ordering and also specials offered through the amazing canteen crew!
https://user.flexischools.com.au/register
Parent Portal at Weetangera
Parent Portal is a secure online platform to share information between parents and carers and their student’s teachers. It’s available via a web browser and a mobile app.
Parent Portal has been rolled out across all ACT public schools and allows parents to:
- notify the school when their child is sick or to explain an absence
- book parent-teacher interviews (coming soon to WPS)
- receive academic reports
- receive the school newsletter
- make payments
- access the school calendar and their child’s student timetable (coming soon to WPS)
- update their contact details.
One of the many benefits of the Parent Portal is that it is used by all ACT public schools from preschool through to year 12, so there will be no need to use a different system as children change schools during their public-school journey.
If you have children attending other public schools, you don’t need to sign up to the system twice.
Parent Portal is linked to the Student Administration System (SAS) used by the ACT Education Directorate for administering student data at ACT public schools.
How to register for Parent Portal
- Sign up for an ACT Digital Account if you do not already have one. This is an important step in securely verifying the identity of parents and carers. It will not be possible to set up an account without undertaking this step. Detailed instructions including identification documents required to verify your account are listed on the Education Directorate's website in the Frequently Asked Questions.
- You will be sent an access key (code) and a Parent Portal registration link specific to Weetangera Primary School via email to enable you to link your ACT Digital Account to your child’s records.
Sentral for Parents app
The Sentral for Parents app is the mobile app version of Parent Portal. You can access Parent Portal through the Sentral for Parents app, or using a web browser on your computer, mobile phone or tablet.
You can download the Sentral for Parents app for free from the App Store or Google Play Store.
Communication at Weetangera
Christian Education in Schools
Christian Education in Schools volunteers will provide a session on Weetangera PS on Monday 3 March. 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.
Community Notices
