Warragamba Public School

Keeping in Touch – Term 4 Week 1014 December 2017

Thursday 30 April 2015

Thursday 2 April 2015

Principals Message

It is hard to believe that we are at the end of another great year!!!! This year has been jam packed with so many great activities and events. We are so proud of how all of our students have participated in all of the school activities throughout the year.

I would like to thank my staff for their unwavering energy and passion for their roles within the school and the care and compassion they show the students on a daily basis. Everything that occurs here at the school would not be possible without the dedication of our wonderful staff. I am grateful every day for the staff I have and I look forward to working with them again next year. We farewell Mr Bruny and Mr Smith this year and wish them well as they embark on their new adventures. Mr Smith has been successful in gaining the permanent principal’s position at Emerton PS and Mr Bruny has obtained a transfer to Blacktown North PS. We also say farewell to Mrs Bartush as she has been offered a fulltime position for T1 next year at Surveyors Creek PS in the support unit. Mrs Bartush will then be off on maternity leave so we wish her well for her position at SCPS and the new addition to her family in May 2018. Mrs Kelly will be returning to work in T4 next year 2x days per week, Mrs Channing will be returning in T3, 1x day per week and Mrs Eccles will be returning full time from Week 9 T3, 2018. Mrs Chatkeo will officially retire at the beginning of 2018. In terms of our staffing for 2018 we will need to appoint two new Assistant Principals to our school and a classroom teacher. All applications are in at our staffing office and I am just waiting on advice as to when that process can start. At this stage it appears that those positions will filled during Term 1 2018.

Thank you to our amazing students who have worked hard all year and achieved many successes. We have seen many of the students achieve their own personal learning goals or meet challenges they believed they could not achieve at the start of the year. We always encourage our students to aim high, reach for the stars and dare to dream. With a strong work ethic and a commitment to improvement we can all achieve great things. We are saying goodbye to some students at the end of the term who are moving away from the area. We will miss you all. We will be welcoming many new families to the school at the beginning of the 2018 school year.

Thank you to our parents, carers, grandparents and school community. You continue to support us in all that we do and we enjoy seeing you in and around the school. The attendance at school assemblies has been fantastic to see this year and we hope that we see more of you visiting in 2018. Thank you to our wonderful P&C, Jess Sharp, Jenna Munroe, Natalie Saunders & Louisa Stalling for their ongoing support and commitment to supporting the school. It is always very much appreciated by me. I would also like to thank Andrea in the canteen for the outstanding job that she continues to do. She has catered many of our school functions and staff functions this year and she does an amazing job every time.

I would like to wish you all a fabulous Christmas and a very happy new year. Enjoy the school holiday break. Stay safe and healthy and we look forward to seeing you all back here in 2018.

Principal’s Merit Award Respect Rule: Outstanding role model for others!!!!!! Mrs Shepherd will nominate and send out a surprise award to one student from each class!!!

New Bell Times

As part of our school evaluation process we evaluated many of the day to day management processes within the school. We are going to implement new bell times throughout the day to ensure more consistent amounts of teaching and learning time during the day. These changes do not affect start or finish times. The new bell times are;

These changes allow for; Equal amounts of play time at recess and lunch Lunch games (active) in the cooler part of the day Recess activities (quiet) in the warmer part of the day Potentially, reductions in playground incidents that mostly occur in the later 10mins of the current lunch break because the break is too long Students are eating a more substantial meal earlier in the day and saving their ‘snack foods’ for the later part of the day. Other schools have implemented similar break times and have found it to be more positive for the students. The students are not losing any time as it has just been evened out. We will be monitoring the changes and will evaluate at the end of the year as is normal process. The canteen have been advised and we will work with them to ensure a smooth transition. Crunch and Sip will still be a feature in the morning session. Music RFF Miss Foster will be taking on the role of Music RFF teacher next year which means that she will have every class for at least one hour through the week for music. Music is a fundamental part of the curriculum and it features in our curriculum from K-6. Miss Foster has a passion for music and each year we see her inspire this passion in so many of our students. We hope to further inspire the students through this program and potentially uncover the many hidden talents within the school. Miss Foster will still be our technology coordinator however classroom teachers will be taking on the role of technology teacher for their own classes from next year. Students in each grade will have expectations that need to be addressed through technology lessons.

Leaving us in 2018? If you know for sure that you won’t be returning to Warragamba Public School in 2018, please advise the school office in writing as soon as possible.

K-2 Picnic Day and Assembly Reminder

K-2 Assembly starts at 12 noon on Friday, Prep Dance and Prep Choir will be performing. The picnic will commence at the end of the Assembly. All parents and carers welcome.

3-6 Pool Day Reminder

Primary Pool day is on Friday, don’t forget your admission fee, towel, dry underwear, sunscreen and a hat.

8.30am – Morning duty bell

8.55am – Start of school bell

10.50am – Eating Time Bell (Lunch)

11.00am – Lunch play bell

11.30am – Return to class

1.30pm – Recess Bell

2.00pm - Return to class bell

3.00pm - Home

Presentation Day Awards

Award Recipient

Sports person of the year Keenan B & Deanna A

WWSC Sports Encouragement Award Nicholas C

Premiers Sporting Challenge Medal Caitlin Borg

School Service Award Jacinta & Jason C Carolyn L

Water NSW Cultural Award Emily S

Citizen of the Year Sophie L

Excellence in Effort Jessica H

Water NSW Environment Award Natasha K

WWSC Scholarship Cheryl –Lee K

Rotary Service Above Self Shay K

South West Connect – Outstanding Work Ethic

Jasmyn W

Dux 2017 Aleks M

Wollondilly Mayoral Citizenship Awards ES1 – Ateyah B Stg 1 – Madalyn A Stg 2 – Callay K Stg 3 – Joel S

Public Speaking Awards ES1 – Michael L Stg 1 – Abbie G Stg 2 – Emma W Stg 3 – Aleks M

Spelling Bee Awards Stg 2 – Chloe L Stag 2 – Baylee B Stg 3 – Emeline P Stg 3 – Sean L

Upcoming Events

Date Event

15.12.17 3-6 Pool Day & Last day of school for 2017

K-2 Christmas Picnic Day

29.01.18 SDD – Staff only

30.01.18 Students return for the 2018 school year

Please note if there is a need to change a date we will let you know through the newsletter.

This fabulous young lady came to my office a few weeks ago to show mw her wonderful

story that she had written. Her story was about a little girl ghost who lived in a friendly

castle. The little ghosts’ name was Lily and she was really nice because she helped poor

people. A green horrible zombie tried to interrupt what she was doing so she managed to

lock him in a cage. She hoped that she would never see a zombie again.

Paige used great descriptive language and her story structure was excellent. Well done Paige!!! I very much enjoyed reading her story.

A Message to All Our Year 6 Students

Congratulations to all of our wonderful Year 6 students who will be leaving us on Friday. We have enjoyed working with

you and we will miss you when you leave. Remember to always work hard and follow your dreams!! We look forward to

hearing great things about your new adventures in high school.

Thank you to our School Captains, Emily & Nicholas and our Councillors, Sophie, Emeline, Shay, Deanna, Keenan, Tyler, Aleks & Jordan. You have all done an amazing job this year and I, and your teachers, have appreciated the efforts you have gone to, to carry out your

many responsibilities. Thank you to our Tech Team, Library Monitors, Bus Monitors & House Captains and Vice Captains for the wonderful work you have done this year too. So many great helpers for our school!!!!

Russ the Story Bus Visits Warragamba! On Monday the 4th December, Russ the Story Bus came to visit

Warragamba. As part of the Sydney Writer’s Festival, Year One

students had the opportunity to explore the Story Bus and listen

to author’s talk about how they made their books and how our

students can

improve their

writing in class. This was a fabulous

opportunity for our year one students and

they all enjoyed taking home a special book

of their own as a souvenir of their visit.

This fabulous young lady came to my office a few weeks ago to show me her wonderful story that she had written. Her story was about a little girl ghost who lived in a friendly castle. The little ghosts name was Lily and she was really nice because she helped poor people. A green horrible zombie tried to interrupt what she was doing so she managed to lock him in a cage. She hoped that she would never see a zombie again.

Paige used great descriptive language and her story structure was excellent. Well done Paige!!! I very much enjoyed reading her story.

ASTHMA and ASCIA PLANS for 2018 - Important Information! If your childs Asthma or Ascia Plan is more than 12 months old or if there have been any changes in medication or condition the school requires a new plan from your doctor as soon as possible.

A Message from the Uniform Shop

The uniform shop will be open on Monday 29 January 2018 (day before all students return to school) from 9am to 11am

New Students 2018 If you know of anyone who wishes to enroll at WPS for next year could you please ask them to call into the school to pick up an information pack asap.

IMPORTANT ROAD SAFETY REMINDER FOR

PARENTS AND CARERS THESE HOLIDAYS

With the school holidays approaching, daily routines will soon change. Different play locations and holiday destinations means different traffic environments.

So to help keep our children safe, families are reminded about these key road safety points:

Stop, look, listen, think every time you cross the road. If your child is aged 8 years or younger hold their hand when walking near or across roads. If your child is 9-10 years old always actively supervise them.

It’s the law that everyone wears a helmet when riding a bike in a public place. It makes sense to wear a helmet when riding scooters and skateboards too!

Click clack front ‘n back every person for every trip. Everyone in the car must be securely buckled up in the right seatbelt or child restraint.

Talk to your child about being a safe road user. Reinforce safe road behaviours by being a good role model! Children learn safe road behaviours from the adults who care for them. Talk about what you are doing to be safe when near roads, in the car and when riding.

Point out road safety differences and dangers in new environments. This is especially important when on holidays in different surroundings. Roads, footpaths, parks, carparks, bike tracks and bike lanes may look different in holiday areas.

The best way to keep your child safe is to actively supervise them.

Talk and teach your child about road safety every time you are out an about.

Remind other adults who care for your children to do this too.