Weetangera Primary School Newsletter | Week 9, Term 2 2022

From Julie

Dear Families

Thank you for a term of ongoing support and patience as we move through the changing times of access to the school, engagement with families within the school and opportunities to attend events. During term 3 there will be increased opportunities for families to be present and involved and next term we will set out what this will look like.

This week we have been informed that the transportable will be available, ready and complete in the first two weeks of term. Moving the two year 5/6 classes into their new learning space will be a great adventure and I can assure you a great relief for all involved.

On Wednesday, 22 June all staff were involved in the second planning day for this term. Each of the teaching teams were committed to outlining the learning plans for next term whilst also ensuring that the Australian Curriculum was embedded into all aspects of their work. Additional time was also spent analysing the achievements made in term 2 that will inform the learning actions for term 3. It has been very beneficial to be able to access the planning days this term. And yesterday all schools were informed that the ACT Education Directorate has organised 2 planning days in Term 3. A letter will be sent home to families next week, Week 10.

Reports have been finalised and this semester we will be providing students with an overall A-E grade (years 1-6), and an assessment of achievement standard statements on a 5-point scale. While Semester 1 reports won’t include detailed teacher comments parents are encouraged to speak directly with their child’s teacher(s) if they have any questions regarding their progress. Our teachers will also continue to communicate directly with you when there are any concerns about student learning or other updates.

The advent of assemblies this term has been truly magnificent. Receiving awards, recognising achievements, sharing learning and progress, singing favourite songs and dancing and moving creatively have been some of the features of our assemblies. Each week I am able to recognise the Inspired Learners of either the Senior or Junior School and the skills and attributes being developed in all of our classes are outstanding.

In Term 3 cohorting will continue across the school. This means that the junior school and the senior school will continue to access the outdoor play areas at different times. We are endeavouring to ensure that the ability to use the playground areas in an organised, safe and supportive manner will impact positively on all of our students. As the term progresses we will continue to monitor the success of our playground and the students ability to use the areas successfully.

Earlier this term the Weetangera Primary School Cross Country Carnival was conducted, and it is fair to say we have some very fast runners with endurance for longer distances. Once the school-based carnival is completed a smaller group then proceed on to participate and  represent our school at the Belconnen Carnival. After the district carnival runners then move on to the next layer of cross-country carnival representing the Belconnen Network at the ACT Cross Country Carnival. If you were to be successful at this carnival you have then managed to become a competitor in the ACT Cross Country Team to represent the ACT in Adelaide at the Australian Cross Country Carnival. Not only do we have 2 of our very own representatives attending the carnival, in Adelaide, but our 10 year old runner, Kai – Year 4, has come first in every single stage of this process. We are all very proud of Kai and this brilliant achievement and we all know that while Mr Erwin McRae (Kai’s dad) is a quiet achiever he is bursting with pride too! Well done Kai this is an awesome achievement. Congratulations also to Evan in year 6, who will also be representing Weetangera and the ACT in Adelaide.

Please check that you have booked in for your family conversations with your child’s teacher next week, keep an eye out for the reports that will be emailed home today, Friday 24 June and enjoy the plans you are making for the holidays that begin next week Friday, 1 July.

All teacher parent meeting will be conducted in the Library and the Year 2 Unit. All parents are asked to enter through the front doors of the school and check in using the QR code on entry. Meetings are for 15 minutes and there will be ushers who will be supporting teachers to stay on track with their conversations so that we can ensure each family is able to access their meeting time on time.

Our thought for the week:

Education is the proper way to promote compassion and tolerance in society. (Dalai Lama)

Have an excellent weekend

Regards

Julie

Julie.cooper@ed.act.edu.au

Principal Weetangera Primary School

What's happening in the Galahs

2T have been exploring the scientific concepts of forces and simple machines to design solutions to problems such as minimising pollution within the environment. Over the term we learnt how to make detailed drawings that show multiple viewpoints of our design solution. We had to list the materials we would need (recycled from home and school) and then construct and reflect on the effectiveness of our construction. First we explored some tower landmarks from around the world and tried to imitate them with only being allowed to use 12 straws. Our second project was to construct a car that used simple machines such as wheels and axles, levers and pulleys. Some vehicles incorporated push-pull, others utilised wind energy where students’ added sails or balloons to their build. The students within 2T and the cohort all thoroughly enjoyed these projects and it certainly provided us with some building challenges to work through.

Louise Tominich

What's happening in the Pugs

Wow! We can’t believe it is almost the end of term 2, we’ve achieved so much. 3MF have been developing as writers by using our understanding of ‘Show! Don’t Tell’, to write about a setting, remembering to use descriptive language to engage the audience and create images in their minds. To help us write, we thought about a setting and then discussed our ideas about how we were going to use our five senses to describe the setting. We then recorded our ideas onto a writing planner. Afterwards we drafted our work in our literacy books, and after conferencing, we’ll publish our work into class books so we can share our written pieces and celebrate our success. Here are some of our writing samples:

Guess the setting

The boiling sand burnt my feet but as I slowly walked into the freezing cold water it cooled my feet down massively. I could smell the soft scent of salty water, with a small punch of aglae. The waves coming in from the shore sounded peaceful and calming, it made me want to fall asleep… By Dora 

I arrived really excited. I couldn’t wait to get in. When we got in we first went on the scariest thing there…. Dad asked me if I wanted to go on the second scariest ride. I looked up and thought for a bit but then said yes… By George

As I slowly walked into the dark and quiet hallway, I saw ghosts, zombies moaning and spiders crawling along the walls in a line. As I walked forwards the doors shut behind me so quickly, I could not speak. The further I walked in, the darker it got. I wanted to get out… By Isla

We have continued to develop our understanding of language features in non fiction texts. We are now reading, scanning non fiction texts, identifying and explaining how the language features help the reader understand the text.  For example we read Antarctic Tundra and identified it had the language feature of bullets which were listing the animals that live in or around the islands.  

During Mathematics, we are exploring the measurement of time. Last week we played some Kahoot quizzes to check our understanding. This week our maths game is focusing on reading analogue clocks to help us become more confident in reading time. In class, we practise reading and making times on analogue clocks. We then write the digital equivalent and practise using the language. For example 6:50am can also be said as 10 to seven. There are several students who are very confident and can convert clocks into 24hrs. Time can be tricky so make sure you make the ‘time’ to practise time.  

Last week we finished making our ‘Whack - a - mole’ game using the Scratch program. It really helped develop our coding skills and demonstrated what we had learnt. We were able to challenge our coding ability by adding extra features to the game to make it more interesting and fun. Once completed, our peers could play our games and give feedback.

Megan Ferdinand

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What's Happening in the Demons

Year 4 have been busy mathematicians. We have been working on developing our money skills by creating our very own donut shop. We learnt about product purchasing for our shops and how this effects the sale of our goods. We developed a cost price for each donut and worked out how much we should sell our donuts for. We then practiced purchasing paper donuts from each other’s shops and calculating how much change we were to receive. This week, we set up our very own healthy ‘apple donut’ shop. With a set amount of money, we needed to work out how much we could spend on each topping and if we had change to purchase a second apple donut.

During zones of regulation, the Demon Dentists learnt about the different strategies we can use in each of the zones. We demonstrated how it feels to be in each zone and how this effects other people around us. During these sessions we promoted that all zones are ok and that students need to be able to recognise which zone we are in, to work out which is the best strategy for us to use at that moment.

In writing, 4RT took up a persuasive writing challenge where we were tasked with developing a persuasive advert for a spy dog company. We had to use convincing vocabulary to persuade the reader to use our company to help solve dog problems. We were limited to only using 100 words to create our advert which made our word choice even more important. This was a tricky task for some of us but we all worked hard. This showed us that with help from our teachers and each other, and with a growth mindset, we can learn new skills.

Robyn Trenton

What's Happening in The Thingamabobs

Zones of Regulation

This term we have been learning about how to regulate ourselves through the Zones of Regulation. Sometimes we will need to use a strategy to move ourselves into or out of certain zones. We add these to our 'toolbox'.

For example, if we are in the Blue Zone and feeling tired we might need to do something physical, such as stretching, going for a walk or maybe even having a quick dance break!

If we are in the Yellow Zone and feeling frustrated or a little bit silly we might want to do a breathing activity, sit and read for a little while, or debrief with a trusted adult.

We will give you a new strategy to try out each newsletter from now on. Everyone needs different strategies and even different situations will call for new tools in our strategy toolboxes. We can't wait to hear which strategies are your favourites and what works for you!

Inspired Learners Awards

ACT Cross Country Results 2022

On Wednesday 16 June six students represented Weetangera School at the ACT Cross Country Championships at Stromlo Forest Park. Our students should be proud of qualifying for this competition and we would like to say well done for your determined performances on the day!

Willa M had a solid performance in her debut in the 8 year’s girls 1km race while Harriet O finished a creditable 15th in the 11 year’s girls 3km. In the 9 year’s boys 1500m event we had two good results- Ben C was 12th while Callum M finished in the top ten with an excellent 8th place. Evan M ran a sound tactical race to finish 7th in the 12 year’s boys 3km for another top ten finish at ACT while Kai M performed extremely well to win the 10 year’s boys 2km event. Evan and Kai have now qualified for the School Sport Australia Cross Country Championships to be held in Adelaide in August. Congratulations and best wishes to you both!

Erwin McRae

P&C News

P&C election day stall success

The P&C’s election day BBQ, book and market stall was a huge success. There was a terrific community vibe, with lots of people buying democracy sausages, perusing our market stall items, buying succulents in gorgeous jars, stocking up on delicious baking, chutneys and jams, chatting with people and getting some good bargains on books.

Highlights included Sophie’s fairy bread slice, Haylee’s beautifully packaged choc mint cookies (see recipe below), Angelina’s mixed berry jam, Wattlebird’s handmade soaps, Hide ‘N’ Sew’s sleeping masks, Megan’s Constitution Cupcakes, Camille’s dried citrus jars and Lucy’s amazing cakes. 

We had to make three emergency dashes to the shops to get more sausages and other BBQ supplies as the BBQ was so popular. Thanks so much to all the people who helped set up, run and stock the stall and BBQ.

Roundabout Canberra clothing drive

Roundabout Canberra is a volunteer powered charity that takes donations of pre-loved baby and children’s items and works with social services and community organisations to provide them to local families in need. In 2021 Roundabout helped 2039 local children through over 90 social services.

Roundabout is receiving an increasing number of orders for older children, and just can’t meet demand for clothing in children’s sizes 5-16.

To support this wonderful community initiative, Weetangera Primary P&C is hosting a collection drive for the remainder of Term 2. A donation tub is available near the school front office where you can drop off the following essential items:

• Children’s clothing & sleepwear sizes 5-16 (very good quality)
• Socks, undies, singlets sizes 5-16
• Sun hats
• Unopened children’s toiletries, tooth brushes & toothpaste
• Hair accessories
• Lego

For a full list of items accepted by Roundabout Canberra, and details about donating directly to them (including items not on the above list), see:

https://www.roundaboutcanberra.org

https://www.facebook.com/roundaboutcanb

Thank you for your support.

Weetangera Primary P&C Second hand clothing stall

Our second hand clothing stall is open for business - please contact weetangera.uniforms@gmail.com with your requests.

If your child has grown out of school jackets or size 10 or 12 polo shirts (short or long sleeve), we would love to have them. Please drop school clothing donations off at the school front office.

Meet your P&C committee members

• Kate Donaldson (Vice President), parent to Isabella (Year 6) and Jack (Year 4). Member of the P&C since 2016. Email Weetangera.pc.vp@gmail.com

• Runs the P&C’s Mother’s Day and Father’s Day stalls and the Mango Drive.

• Likes: baking, jigsaw puzzles, local walks, reading bedtime stories with her children.

• Dislikes: trying to dry washing during winter, soggy shoes and snails eating her veggie garden.

• P&C activities looking forward to: the lapathon – it has such a fun, carnival atmosphere.

Community Notices