Weetangera Primary School Newsletter | Week 3, Term 4 2025

From Julie

Dear Families

In late January 1979 I received the letter I had been waiting for; you have been appointed to Eglington Primary School. Upon reading my appointment letter to the NSW teaching service I asked my dad and mum; ‘Where’s Eglington?’ my dad replied, ‘I’m not sure pet!’

‘Well, I need to know before Monday because that is where I’ll be teaching!’

After packing my worldly goods (AKA shoes and clothes and music books) into my 1969 Hillman Hunter – gold with a black hard top -  I discovered that Eglington was a small town on the outskirts of Bathurst, an interesting place where I spent 6 weeks cleaning out cupboards as, surprisingly, there was a surplus of teachers in 1979 and myself and a great many of my friends had made a commitment that along with our Commonwealth Scholarships we would go anywhere and teach for at least 3 years upon completion of our teaching degrees.

After only 6 weeks I moved to Dubbo where I was to spend the next 12 and a half years. I married an auctioneer/stock and station agent, had 2 children, continued teaching and spent my school holidays being a penciller at the saleyards. I learnt a lot about life in the country; travelling to Walgett, WeeWaa, Bourke, Brewarrina and Broken Hill to also help out with machinery auctions and clearance sales. It is fair to say that a girl from the ‘Gong’ (AKA Wollongong) had a steep learning curve in the West.

We moved to Canberra in 1992, and I spent the next few years in quite a few different schools; Arawang, Bonython, Richardson, Mawson. At Farrer I began the next part of my learning becoming an executive teacher and then onto Conder in the same role, then the Deputy of Caroline Chisholm P-10 School, Deputy at Amaroo P-10 school and acting principal stints at Richardson, Isabella Plains EC School, Amaroo and Caroline Chisholm. Finally, I won the coveted role of principal of the brand-new Franklin Early Childhood School in 2012. This too was a steep learning curve and an awesome opportunity. After 7 years at Franklin, I spent 2 years working as a Director of School Improvement for the South Weston Network of schools, building and working alongside the 25 schools in the South Weston region. This was an exhausting and exhilarating opportunity.

And then it was 2021 and I arrived at Weetangera Primary School. And now I come to the point of my relaying my history in education because after 46 years in education in many and varied settings I have made the decision to retire at the end of the 2025 academic year.

Reflecting upon Weetangera Primary School, my leadership of the team of teachers, administrators and support staff, the students in our care and the families and extended families is critical to my farewell message. My aim over the past 5 years has been to set a clear direction for improving outcomes for students, ensuring that as a collective we stay on message and build the capacity of each and every student who walks through our doors and into our care and to ensure that EVERY single day we are all on top of our game so that ALL of our students get what they need to be successful.

I also appreciate that trying to please 500 students, 60 staff members, the almost 800 parents and families, the extended and connected family members located here in Canberra, in various parts of Australia and around the world is indeed HUGE and that not everyone is happy all of the time about decisions made. Realistically, I thank those people who shared their opinions with me as this is a learning curve for all of us.

My approach to ensuring learning success for your children at WPS has been based upon the following principles:

1. An explicit improvement agenda:
   1. Knowing the direction in which we need to be heading
   2. Setting the direction in consultation with staff
   3. Making a clear and concise plan
   4. And then collectively tasking all members of the school to do the work that ensures that we stay focused on the outcomes we seek
2. Analysis of data
   1. A fancy way of saying; who are our students, what do they know now, what do they need to know next and how will we go about ensuring that progress is made?
   2. Looking at the story of every individual and ensuring that we take into account who they are when they are at school and supporting them to build skills, focus on what they need to do to continually improve and modelling kindness and care
   3. Writing comprehensive and informative reports that enhance a family’s understanding of who their children are when they are at school
3. Promoting a culture of learning
   1. School is about learning; academic learning, social learning, physical learning, emotional learning.
   2. Introducing Positive Behaviours for Learning and re-branding our school to enshrine the 4 values has enhanced meaningful progress in the area of awareness around the needs of students and how to support ALL students with shared knowledge and ways of being in all settings at school
4. Targeting school resourcing
   1. I have made it the corner stone of much work at WPS to nag the directorate about the quality of our school regarding accessibility, out dated facilities and targeting improvement that make a difference for our students. I am determined that the much-awaited updated toilets for students will be enacted in 2026.
   2. Building the library collection, the literacy resources in classrooms, the maths resources, building resources for the enhancement of global concept learning and connecting resourcing to the learning programs in a well-thought out and strategic way.
5. Building an expert teaching team:
   1. Identifying what it is that we must focus upon to build the capacity of all staff. The development of the Global Concepts (Which you would have seen in action at the Galleries of Learning Global Concepts Showcase at the end of term 3) has enabled our students to have a voice in their learning and has built connected and engaged learning programs across the school from P-6.
   2. Ensuring that staff can spend their time usefully and appropriately during planning time and in their professional learning communities. Aligning the principles and practices of excellent teaching and learning programs has uplifted the work of WPS in more ways than one.
6. Leading systematic curriculum implementation & developing effective pedagogical practices
   1. Enabling all staff to know and understand the Australian Curriculum (AC)
   2. Building the capacity of the team leaders to support each year level team to align their work with the most relevant aspects of the AC, and never leaving planning to chance and always being assured of a focus on excellence across the school.
7. Personalisation in learning
   1. Tailoring the educational experience to meet each learner’s unique needs, strengths, interests and goals. It focuses upon building meaningful relationships, understanding the individual and creating pathways that empower learners to achieve their fullest potential.

Thank you for welcoming me to Weetangera. I have enjoyed the past 5 years; I have focused on what I believe is an imperative in education in the 2020s and I would like to think that WPS is well-positioned to continue to flourish and thrive.

After 46 years working in education, it is time to well and truly hang up my heels and focus on other opportunities and the next adventures coming my way. Of course I will miss my work, our school, the students who I have the deepest regard for and the families who comprise the community of Weetangera. I have worked with some amazing educators and leaders and I have the greatest respect for the team of leaders, teachers, administrators and support staff who are the team at Weetangera. These are people who truly make an inspired difference for your children each and every day.

I look forward to the concert next week and will be back in Weeks 9 & 10 to spend my final 10 days in education at WPS: Our place of learning.

Thank you for everything, it’s been a wonderful career.

So, I’ll just say…. See you around and thanks for the memories.

Regards

Julie E Cooper

Julie.cooper@ed.act.edu.au

From Mel

What exciting news for Julie! I have learned so much from Julie and have loved working with her at WPS over the past 4 years. We will keep you posted on what's next for Weetangera, once we have more information. 

Last week, we had a visit from the Director-General of the Education Directorate, Jo Wood, along with the Executive Group Manager of Finance and Infrastructure, Vanessa Attridge. Our school leaders Rivennie, Kevin, Harriet and George were excellent tour leaders; talking to our guests about being year 6 school leaders, learning at Weetangera PBL, as well as some of our challenges around accessibility and the geothermal project. Please see below a letter from Jo thanking us for the visit. 

Dear Mel and the Weetangera team,

Thank you so much for welcoming me to your school and taking the time to show me around. It was a real pleasure to visit and see the great work happening across your community.

Your student leadership team were outstanding, they should be incredibly proud of the way they represented the school. Their confidence, enthusiasm, and commitment to ensuring Weetangera is inclusive and sustainable  was impressive.

I also wish you all the best as you continue with the heating and cooling infrastructure improvements. I hope the process goes smoothly and brings lasting benefits to your school community.

Warm regards

Jo Wood

Director-General

Geothermal Update

The team is very close to finishing the drilling, with one more hole to go! They should be finished by next week. In the meantime, they have started digging trenches and laying the pipes that will transport water from deep underground and throughout the school to the main boilers. 

Next month, we are expecting the delivery of the Relocatable Learning Units (RLUs) that will sit over the top of the current geothermal site. In 2026, this is where our students will relocate to while their classrooms are updated with new heating and cooling units. 

Information Session - Learning at WPS

As you know, over the last 3 years we have made some changes to the way we plan and assess for learning. And you will have seen the impact of this in the amazing work our students do at assemblies and last term's global concept galleries of learning. Hopefully you hear about it at home too!

After recent discussions with members of our school community, we thought it would be helpful to invite you - our parent community - to an information session about learning at WPS. We'd like to talk to you about how we plan for personalisation, what global concepts are and how we plan learning within these, and just what mindful assessments are (among other things). This session will be held on Tuesday 18 November, from 5.30pm. To ensure that we arrange the most appropriate space for this session, please let us know you are coming via this form. 

Multi-age classes update

Last week, we mentioned a change to class organisation in year 3/4. Thank you to those of you that have submitted questions via our online form. Please see a list of frequently asked questions here. 

As always, if you'd like to talk to me about anything that's happening here at Weetangera, please don't hesitate to send me an email. Melanie.Bezear@ed.act.edu.au.

Have a great weekend. 

Mel

Community Concert - 7/11/2025

Dogs on School Grounds

We love dogs at Weetangera, but not everyone is as comfortable with having dogs close by.

A reminder that under the policy set by the ACT Government, dogs should not be on the school grounds at WPS unless they are an assistance animal.  ACT City Services states that dogs are not allowed in the following areas:

• childcare centres, preschools and primary schools
• high schools and secondary colleges during school hours (or when school sports or training is being conducted, including after hours training).

The fine for taking dogs onto the grounds of a childcare centre, preschool or primary school is $350.

If you choose to walk your dog while dropping off or collecting your children from school please wait a safe distance from entry and exit points to ensure the safety of students and your pets. Please do not tie your dog's leash to the gates around the school, and leave them unattended, also to ensure the safety of students and your dog.

If you have any questions please visit the ACT City Services webpage or contact the school.

What's Happening in the Seals

This fortnight in Year 3, our learners have been diving into some exciting topics across all areas of learning!

In Mathematics, we’ve been exploring fractions — using concrete materials to find fractions of groups and even creating our own fraction calculators! The students have shown fantastic problem-solving skills and teamwork as they discovered how fractions connect to everyday life.

In Writing, we’ve been focusing on descriptive language. The children have been busy crafting vivid pieces that come to life with similes and metaphors — their creativity and imagination are truly shining through!

Here are some examples of metaphors:

The humans in this world are in a car, driving into traps and escapes - Callum

The key was a rattle snake rattling as you unlocked the door - Ava

The cloud was a pillow waiting for someone’s head - Hannah

Our Global Concept Learning unit, Environmental Stewardship, is well underway. We’ve been learning about life cycles, repurposing items to create musical instruments, and dancing up a storm in preparation for our upcoming ‘Environment’ concert. It’s been wonderful to see students thinking deeply about how we can care for our planet in fun and creative ways.

Last Monday, we went on an excursion to the Botanic Gardens. We learned about the different creatures that live in the ponds, as well as the plants that Aboriginal people have traditionally used for medicine, tools, and food.

Well done, Year 3 — what an amazing few weeks of learning and discovery!

Joanne Lawson & Jo Burns 

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What's Happening in Category 5/6

We have been keeping very busy in Year 5/6, with our final Global Concept of Environmental Stewardship. Students have been really enjoying ‘storytime’ as we work through a range of high quality picture books in our Visual Literacy Unit. We have also started researching a range of environmental topics such as deforestation or the health of the ocean. We can’t wait to start writing our own books!

Speaking of… we are actually already published authors! Our amazing PBL book that we took photos and drew illustrations for has been added to the library for everyone to enjoy. We are really proud of the teamwork and cooperation needed to undertake this massive task and are stoked with how the books turned out. You can borrow a copy in our school library (although both copies are currently checked out, due to this being a very highly anticipated and popular new book!). Let us know what you think if you read it!

Emma Cottam 

What's Happening in the Ground Breakers

Emily Dziubinski

Scholastic Book Club

Scholastic Book Club Issue 7 is available now and all orders are due by 3 November 2025

Canteen News

🍣 Weetangera Primary School Canteen – Term 4 Sushi Special Lunches! 🍣

Back by popular demand! We’re rolling out our Big Crunch Sushi Specials for Term 4 on these dates:

📅 Wednesday 19th November (Week 6)
📅 Wednesday 10th December (Week 9)

✨ Meal Deal – $10.50
1 x Big Crunch Sushi Roll + 1 x Chill J Drink + 1 x Frozen Juice Cup

🥢 Individual Rolls – $4.50 each
A variety of options available including GF, DF, Vegan & Nut Free.

👉 Orders close 7:30am Tuesday before each special lunch. No late orders can be accepted.
👉 Please note: the regular canteen menu will not be available on these days.

If your child is away on the day, unfortunately we cannot cancel or refund orders. However, meals can be collected from the canteen on the day — please email wpscanteen@hotmail.com before 9:30am to arrange pickup.

Order online via Flexischools and don’t miss out on your child’s favourite lunch!

Thank you for your ongoing support – we can’t wait to roll it out! 🎉

Christian Education in Schools

Christian Education in Schools (CEIS) will be visiting Weetangera Primary School this term on Monday 15 December.

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.

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. 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. 

Communication at Weetangera

Community Notices