Monday 16th June 2014 Dear parents and carers,

During the last month teachers and supervisors have been preparing

student half-yearly reports, which will be sent home early next week.

Information about interview times is included in this newsletter. If you are

not able to attend an interview next week you can also arrange an alternate

time for a meeting or a phone conversation with your child’s teacher.

During the winter months student attendance tends to plummet, as

students succumb to illness. However, this doesn’t mean that children

should stay home just because it’s a wet day or the weather is cold. Our

classrooms are heated, and we offer indoor play options for recess and

lunch. So, as long as children are dressed appropriately for the weather,

with a singlet or t-shirt under their uniform and a jacket or jumper on top,

school is the right place to be on school days. Of course, if your child is

unwell they need to stay home and indoors until they are well enough to

return to school.

Recently I have been talking with some parents about the issues of passive

smoking. Did you know, that under the Smoke-free Environment Act

smoking has been banned within 4 metres of a pedestrian access point to a

public building? While there have been bans on smoking in schools for a

long time, the law now extends the ban to 4 metres from an entrance used

by pedestrians to access a public building. Once our new external fence is

complete No Smoking signs will be installed at all pedestrian entrances.

Further information on the effects of passive smoking on children’s health,

and brochures about the need to make cars and homes smoke-free zones,

can be collected from the school office. Information about the Smoke-free

Environment Act is also available at www.smokefreezone.org.au.

Mrs Lock

Principal

WHALAN PUBLIC SCHOOL Karangi Road, Whalan N.S.W 2770

Telephone: 02 9625 7757 02 9625 9038

Facsimile Number: 02 9832 2452

www.whalan-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Our school is built on Darug land

A Message from Mrs Polios

Just two more weeks and term 2 will be over!

Next week, semester 1 reports will be sent

home and parents will have the opportunity to

attend parent /teacher interviews.

Our students have worked hard to achieve some great results this term.

Many of them have made great improvements in all areas of their

learning. You’ll notice a small change to our reports for this semester

which is a result of the implementation of the new English syllabus.

The new syllabus is not structured around the three sub strands of

reading, writing, talking and listening. Therefore, you will not see an

achievement grade given for these sub strands in our reports. You will

only have an overall grade given for English which incorporates a

student’s achievement across all five objectives of the new syllabus.

The five objectives are:

A communicate through speaking, listening, reading, writing,

viewing and representing

B use language to shape and make meaning according to purpose,

audience and context

C think in ways that are imaginative, creative, interpretive and

critical

D express themselves and and their relationships with others and

their world

E learn and reflect on their learning through their study of English

Next Wednesday at 9.15am we will hold our second whole school

assembly for the year. This term, the assembly has a maths focus.

Parents and carers are welcome to join us. You can expect to see:

A student from every class awarded a Principal’s Award

Attendance Awards given to students who have improved their

attendance this term, compared to last term

Class photo collages of students engaged in mathematics

learning

Our junior dance group perform

A mathematical challenge which will result in prizes given to

classes who can meet the challenge.

PARENT / TEACHER INTERVIEWS

Semester 1 reports will be sent home next Monday 23rd June.

Parent / Teacher interviews for all classes except 3-6D and 1S will be

held on Tuesday 24th

June and Thursday 26th

June between 3:15 –

5:00pm.

Please fill in the tear off section and return it to your child’s teacher as

soon as possible so a day and time of your choice can be allocated to

you.

Spare invitations will be available from the office on request.

If the days and times of the Parent/Teacher Interviews do not suit you,

please see your child’s teacher to organise an alternate day and time.

This is your opportunity to find out about your child’s progress and

celebrate in their successes!

Students in years 3, 4, 5 and 6 will participate in 3 way interviews this

year. This means that your child will help to lead the interview.

In the last newsletter, I promised to share some of the poetry that stage

3 students have written. Here are four poems from students in 5/6K.

WAR Here we are to defend our country

On this reckless ship worried like a sharks prey

Hardly anyone here wanted to come

Most were selected and forced to come

They’re only buds that haven’t flourished

The boat crashes onto the shore like a beached whale

We take our first steps onto the sand

We can feel the heat of the sand through our boots as we start walking

up the hill

It is big its grey rocks like tears

It is saying go back it’s a trap go back!

We keep walking

I can taste danger the more we get closer and closer to the top

Flying bullets come out of the caves like lightning bolts

Bombs and landmines, staring in a serial killers face

A bomb explodes in front of me, my feet vibrate and my ears make

weird noises, it hurts the pain

Lots of men and women fell into their graves that day, including me

By Ryan

“The winning team”

The whistle blows we begin to play,

I storm forward at a swift speed,

The sun glistens down like a bright blazing light,

Sweat drizzles, trickles fast,

My teammate passes me the ball with a

fume of energy,

My partner sticks to me like glue,

Time flies rapidly just one more score,

I come to the goal slow and steady,

The goal is as high as a giant,

My partner’s hands are long tentacles,

"I shoot” the ball dances through the hoop,

I can feel emotions of thrill rush to my heart,

I see a wave of eyes cheer and roar,

The whistle blows it’s the end of the game.

By Ariana

As the coldness spreads people draw near to the fire

The icy wind blows hard and pushes anyone in its path

I lay quietly beneath a warm blanket, staring at the ceiling

My eyes then gaze at the fire that is blazing with excitement

I take a sip from my cup of hot chocolate and it lightly dances on my

tongue

It keeps me warm for a while but then the feeling of the cold winter’s

air rushes back

The cold stands like an endless flu

My body becomes ice as the temperature rises higher and higher

I turn to the window and look outside

The roads and houses are sheltered with ice that shines like crystals

Pushing the glass away from its place

A cold freeze falls over me

By Avril

Fireworks

Colourful thunder throughout the night sky

Bright and loud – Up really high

Attracts a crowd as fast as an AFL game

To amaze you is their aim

Always exploding when there's a celebration around

They'll surely turn anyone's frown upside down

Costs money to view them? I don't care, I'm still sold,

Because they're blue, green, red, yellow, purple, orange and gold

Turns everything bright - It used to be dark

Fireworks dancing around in the night sky, before exploding into

sparks

By Daniel

As this is our last newsletter before the end of the term, we’d like to

thank you for a great term.

We hope you have a safe and restful holiday!

Mrs Polios

Deputy Principal

Staff News

Last week, Mr Davies began his leave which will extend to the end of

the 2014 school year. Mr Shannon Boyd who has been teaching 3-6D

every Friday, will be 3-6D’s teacher until the end of the year.

Next Friday, Miss Lansdown will go on maternity leave. We wish her

all the best in the coming weeks and look forward to a visit from her

and bub sometime next term.

Parents and carers want the best for their children – a good

education can be life changing!

Week 5 ‘Best attending’ class results

K-2 results 3-6 results

1K 92% 2/3P 96%

1S 91% 3/4P 94%

2C 89% 3-6L 94%

2M 89% 3/4K 90%

K-6K 86% 3-6D 88%

KH 83% 5/6K 88%

KR 76% K-6M 86%

5/6N 84%

5/6C 82%

Congratulations 1K and 2/3P!

Week 6 ‘Best attending’ class results

K-2 results 3-6 results

2C 92% 5/6K 92%

2M 91% 3-6D 91%

1K 90% 3-6L 91%

K-6K 88% 3/4P 89%

KH 87% 5/6N 89%

KR 86% 5/6C 89%

1S 80% 3/4K 88%

2/3P 87%

K-6M 81%

Congratulations 2C and 5/6K!

The most important thing parents

and carers can do to help their

child get a good education, is get

them to school every day!

What does our school attendance look like now?

The bar represents 100%. The shading represents what our school percentage

for attendance is now, after 86 days of school (90.9%)

Girls percentage = 91% Boys percentage =90.7%

Kindergarten = 89% (decreased by .3%)

Year 1 = 90.2% (decreased by 1%) Year 2 = 91.2% (decreased by .4%)

Year 3 = 90.4% (decreased by .8%) Year 4 = 94.9% (decreased by 1.6%)

Year 5 = 91.2% (increased by .2%) Year 6 = 91.5% (increased by .3%)

How can we get our attendance back up to the mid 90s?

As the number of school days increases, if the number of absences

decreases we will raise our school attendance again.

Imaginative = ability to use the mind to create and form images, ideas

and thoughts, developing new insights, reflecting on one’s own self

and others and solving problems.

Creative = ability to use language to conceptualise, interpret and

synthesise ideas in order to compose texts.

Interpretive = responding to a text in order to draw meaning from it.

Critical = exploring the quality of texts to assess the way in which the

themes, issues or ideas are presented for the audience and purposes

intended.

PARENT SESSION

Next session

Wednesday 25th

June

Come along, with your child’s

report and ask your questions

about their English grade

and comment

WHERE: Meeting Room

(next to canteen)

Time: 1.45 – 2.45pm

COMING EVENTS June

Week 8

Monday 16th Ducks arrive for Kindergarten

3-6 assembly: led by 2/3P

Tuesday 17th K-6 Book giving assembly

Stage 2 After School Sport (years 3 & 4) Please note after school sport finishes at 4.15pm

Wednesday 18th K-2 assembly: KH presenting

Performance by KR

Friday 20th Last PSSA round for Term 2

Stage 3 After School Sport (years 5 & 6) Please note after school sport finishes at 4.15pm

Week 9

Monday 23rd Reports coming home today

Tuesday 24th Parent / Teacher interviews

Stage 2 After School Sport (years 3 & 4) Please note after school sport finishes at 4.15pm

Wednesday 25th Whole school assembly at 9.15am

Parent session starts at 1.45pm (Meeting Room) Come along, with your child’s report and ask your

questions about their English grade and comment

Thursday 26th Poetry in the Park – Stage 3

Parent / Teacher interviews

Friday 27th Last day of Term 2

Lunch with Mrs Lock

Stage 3 After School Sport (years 5 & 6) Please note after school sport finishes at 4.15pm

Monday 14th July - Staff Development Day (staff only)

Students return Tuesday 15th

July to start term 3

Whole School Assembly

We look forward to seeing you at our end of

term, whole school assembly next

Wednesday 25th

June starting at 9.15am.

It will be held under the K-2 Cola just like

last term but this time it will have a

mathematical theme.

PSSA games were cancelled due to rain on Friday 6th

June

PSSA RESULTS FOR FRIDAY 13th

June:

SPORT OPPOSITION SCORE RESULT Player of the

Match

Junior Soccer

Team A

Rooty Hill 0-4 Loss Aaron Marks

Junior Soccer

Team B

Rooty Hill 0-5 Loss Lizzie Jupp

Senior Soccer Rooty Hill 0-5 Loss Nicholas Da

Conceicao

Junior Netball Minchinbury 0-10 Loss Kiara Coleman

Senior Netball Minchinbury 2-19 Loss Jasmine Tupuola

School

Leaders’

Spot

Is your bub turning 4 next year?

Call in to Whalan Public School Preschool for an enrolment form or call 9625 9437 today!

Whalan Public School Preschool Corner of Karangi Rd and Bulolo Drive, Whalan.

Exciting preschool experiences with friendly and caring staff. Please come in to see for yourself!

Wanted:

Families to host a Japanese student 26th – 30th

July 2014

Students are aged 14-15 years & speak some English.

What you need to provide:

a comfy bed (sharing a room is fine)

3 meals a day

daily transport to/from Mamre Anglican School, Erskine Park

Families are paid $50 per night for hosting.

Students attend school on week days & enjoy family life with you on

the weekend.

For further information or any questions - Tel: 9889 4366

http://www.vsoceania.com

Takashi: ushinohama@vsoceania.com mob: 0408 468 538

K-6 Books in Homes Assembly

Tuesday, 17th June at 10:30am

Alan Sunderland, children’s author and an award winning ABC

journalist will be talking to students.

Every student, from Preschool to Year 6 will receive 3 books to take

home, read, enjoy and keep. Students are always enthusiastic about

receiving their Books In Homes books, so it’s a great chance to sit

with them on a cold winter’s night, look at the books they have

chosen and encourage their love of reading.

A big thankyou to the Mums and Grandmas and School Learning

Support Officers who helped to write on bags and labels and then

bag all the books ready for our students to receive. This is a big job

and the help was really appreciated.

Library News

Book Club: Book Club orders and money need to be handed into the

office by this Thursday, 19th June. Book Club Order forms will be sent

home today.

Students need to have a Library Bag

when borrowing from our school library. After the Books in Homes

assembly, every student will have a black water resistant bag to use

for a library bag.

Although we cannot use our library building at the moment, classes

have been borrowing from our “Outdoor Library”.

Students need to return library books each week so you can borrow

another one.

All library books will need to be returned by the end of

term…..Friday, 27th June.

Congratulations to the following students who have earned 5

Connected Certificates and are halfway to a Whalan Medal. They are

also eligible for a prize:

KH – Jocelyn Nisa and Ayrha Angeles

2C – Typeka Ngavaevae and Isabelle Davison

5/6K – Suliana Palu

5/6N – Lee Quizon

When students receive 10 Connected

Certificates, they will be eligible for a

medal.

At that time, they will complete their

Whalan Medal goals form (with signatures

from all of the teachers that work with the

student).

The completed form and the 10 Connected

Certificates are given to the Principal for

approval.

The student is awarded the Whalan Medal

at one of our fortnightly assemblies after

the Principal approves their eligibility.