Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Westlawn Public School
Newsletter Term 4 Week 3
29 October 2019
Strive to Achieve
North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 [email protected]
Last Saturday’s Jacaranda March of Youth was an excellent example of community spirit at its best. The
oldest floral festival in Australia, currently in its 85th year, is definitely something to celebrate. Miss Howard
and her team of year 5 and year 2 students created a stunning banner behind which many Westlawn
students proudly marched. Thank you to Miss Howard and all students involved for their skill and effort in
creating the banner. Thanks also to all students who attended the march and to parents and carers for
supporting their participation. The ‘Sea of Green’ was testament to the strong Westlawn School Spirit.
Things continue to get even better at WPS with the generous donation of funds to refurbish all our
Kindergarten rooms – new tables, chairs, cupboards, display shelves, all delivered by the end of this year
ready for our lucky 2020 Kinders. Thank you P&C and every person who has, in any way, supported their
fundraising ventures. We are so lucky to have such brilliant support.
Speaking of 2020 Kinders, if you know of any families with children ready to begin school next year, thank
you for encouraging them to contact the school to enrol asap. This helps us to plan for 2020 in advance. It is
our hope this year to announce draft classes (difficult to confirm final numbers due to late enrolments and
family movements over the Christmas holiday break) mid this term. Once we have allocated students to
classes, we will have two ‘Step Up’ days later this term where children spend two days in their 2020
classrooms. This will give teachers the opportunity to check the context of the class and students the chance
to meet new teachers and classmates.
A reminder that, with the new school zoning boundaries, all of Junction Hill is exclusively Westlawn PS
zone. The area, up until last term was a shared zone with Grafton Public School. Thanks for spreading the
good news with your neighbours if you live at Junction Hill.
Thank you to those generous souls who took the time to thank our wonderful teaching team on World
Teachers Day last Friday. I am very proud to be leading a team of such skilled, caring, dedicated and hard
working teachers. They do a sensational job!
Cheers,
Sandra
Principal’s Message
Strive to Achieve
North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 [email protected]
PARENTING TIPS FROM MICHAEL GROSE
Surveys have consistently shown that children are being exposed to increasing amounts of screen time each
year. As parents we’re often concerned about the connections children and young people are making and
the subsequent impact on their wellbeing. The time they spend online, scrolling, searching and swiping,
which could be spent doing outdoor activities, is also concerning.
Digital devices are here to stay, so it’s imperative to look at how kids can remain in control of their screen
use, and ensure the time they’re investing online is adding something helpful, positive and meaningful to our
lives.
Here are four tips to help kids develop healthy digital habits. Being mindful of how time is spent on
devices is certainly not just reserved for young people.
1. Encourage creation not just consumption Is your child more of a consumer or creator when they’re online? Check to see if they spend time online time
in creative mode such as making things, creating own videos, editing photos, writing posts, coding a video
game or composing a song. Encourage them to be creative rather than mere consumers of digital content.
2. Discuss who they are following
The digital world encourages leaders and followers. It places people and individuals from all walks of life in
close contact with your kids. They can follow companies, musical icons, sports stars as well as friends.
Encourage your child to follow people and companies that can fuel their passions.
For instance, if they love space, search for NASA and related accounts. If they love photography, help them
find great photographers sharing their work online. When they’re following people that teach, inspire and
ignite their passions, they’re less likely to spend valuable time with energy zappers.
3. Digitally de-clutter regularly
Many kids collect apps on their devices in the same way that former generations collected football cards or
swap cards. Encourage them to delete the apps they no longer use or apps that offer no benefits to their
lives. Could there be better games to play? Are there better videos for them to watch than the ones that the
YouTube algorithm believes they want to see?
4. Show kids good practices
Most kids learn much more from what they see and experience, rather than from what they are told. As a
parent be intentional with your screen time. Do you:
Follow people that support you, challenge you in helpful ways or inspire and lift you up? Interact in positive ways? Give people your attention rather than scroll whilst others are talking to you? Put your digital devices away in order to fit all the other important things into your day?
Setting your kids up with healthy digital habits will help make these practises the norm. If you don’t want
your children falling prey to the harmful and unhelpful experiences online, you need to be sure that they are
focusing on positive and helpful screen time pursuits.
Strive to Achieve
North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 [email protected]
Boys Cricket Knockout Result Westlawn PS took on Wyrallah Rd PS in Round 5 of the knockout competition at JJ Lawrence Fields last Thursday. The ground was hard, dry and very quick. It would prove to be a batsman’s paradise and a bowler’s worst nightmare!
Westlawn’s captain, Kade, won the toss and elected to bowl first. Kade and Ted opened the bowling against quality batsmen. Ted struck in his first over through a great catch by Reece. However, the next batsmen to the crease was only recently selected to play for NSW and he was impossible to remove. The Westlawn bowlers and fielders watched as the Wyrallah pair went to work and put on a 100 run partnership before both retired with the score at 1 for 110 and 13 overs left in the innings. At times it seemed that a gentle push through a gap was all it took for the ball to race away to the boundary. To the Westlawn player’s credit, the heads stayed high and they tried their best to limit the runs after the drinks break. Ted snared another wicket (bowled) and Zane knocked the stumps over as well. Kade also took a wicket after an incredible catch at short fine leg by Zane. That must have sparked a serious surge of confidence in Zane because he ripped through the batsmen in his second spell. In his final two overs, he took three wickets (all bowled) through some lovely swing bowling. The game had to be stopped when he was on a hat trick as he broke one of the stumps off at its base! The bottom of the stump had to be dug out of the ground and replaced before play could continue. Zane raced in next delivery, determined to take a hat trick. To add to the drama, the batsmen was able to get his bat on the ball and decided to run. However, Kade picked the ball up and hit the stumps for a run out and Westlawn had a ‘team’ hat trick! Wyrallah Rd finished their innings at 8 for 190. Bowling figures were: Kade 1-41 from 5, Ted 2-30 off 5, Blake 0-42 from 5, Zane 4-21 off 5, Jaiden 0-10 from 1, Wilson 0-7 off 2, Eli 0-1 off 1, Noah 0-7 off 1. Westlawn’s openers, Kade and Zane, knew they had to score big to give the side a chance of chasing down the huge total. However, things didn’t get off to the best start. Kade looked solid but put a catch to point that was snavelled up when he was on 2 runs. Reece strode to the crease and fended off the first few balls but was run out for a duck after some confusion with the call. Sam was in next and his first ball was a perfect length delivery that brought him forward and just out of his crease. Unfortunately for Sam, the Wyrallah PS wicket keeper is also the NSW keeper and he stood up at the stumps for the entire innings. Needless to say, he had the bails off as quick as a flash and Sam was also out for a duck. Westlawn were in huge trouble at 3 for 13 in the third over. With a cheeky grin on his face, Eli walked to the middle and was very watchful – for a while. Then, once he’d seen enough he proceeded to frustrate the opposition with his power hitting. By purposely standing in front of middle and off, he bludgeoned 8 boundaries through the square leg area. Put simply, he was awesome! Zane supported him with plenty of singles and the odd four and by the 11th over the boys had steadied the ship and took the score to 3 for 72. Zane eventually fell for 17 when he put a catch pack to the bowler. Eli retired on 41 runs. Ted did a great job to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Jaiden added 5 runs to the total before being bowled. Wilson batted like a champion to help Ted out and they took the score along to 130 before Ted was run out for 19 runs. Blake was able to push the ball around and added 7 runs before he was caught. Westlawn were
SPORTING NEWS
Strive to Achieve
North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 [email protected]
7 – 144 in the 22nd over. Hayden looked confident when he got to the crease and smashed a boundary for his first scoring shot. Unfortunately, Wilson and Hayden could not do the impossible but they did add another 20 runs to the total to take the final score to 7 for 164 off 25 overs. A wonderful effort! Wilson finished not out on 27 runs and Hayden not out 10 runs. Congratulations to the Wyrallah Rd team. The Westlawn boys should be proud of their effort to fight back and stay in the game. I have no doubt there are a lot of future stars in this year’s team. We look forward to hearing about your progress over the coming seasons with your local clubs/teams. Thank you to Mrs Jones for scoring, Mr Biele for helping the boys warm up and Mrs Buggy for buying the boys a slushy on a very hot day.
SRC Citizenship Award
The SRC present a weekly Citizenship Award at our primary assembly. Each week we meet to discuss what
encouraging things we have seen happening in our playground and classrooms. The SRC look for behaviours that
are helpful, demonstrate our school rules or an act that shows a student as a positive role model for others. We
then nominate children we have seen displaying these behaviours. Last week the SRC focussed on finding children
who were being positive. The students who were nominated by SRC representatives are Sadie, Hayden, Elke and
Charlee. We all voted. The award winner has been seen and heard being positive towards teachers and students
and making positive choices throughout the day. This week’s Citizenship Award winner is Hayden.
Congratulations Hayden! Over the coming weeks, the SRC are looking for students who being positive role
models.
The library has been a hive of activity as students enjoy the new furniture and many activities. Students in stage 2 and 3 have begun the 2019 Checkers knock out competition this week which will be run over the next couple of weeks.
Library News
SRC INFORMATION
Strive to Achieve
North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 [email protected]
Overdue books
Over the next few weeks I will be sending out reminders of books that are overdue. These maybe in the classroom
or accidently placed on our own bookshelves. If you could assist in looking for these books that would be
appreciated. As a lot of movement has occurred this year in the library please let me know if you think you have
returned your books and we will be double checking shelves here too. Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Happy Reading!
Mrs Palmer
Information regarding Selective High School placement for 2021
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR YEAR 5 STUDENTS’ PARENTS
Applications for Year 7 entry to selective high schools in 2021 must be made ONLINE between 8th October 2019 and 11th November 2019. Late applications will not be accepted. Parents must apply online at https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year-7 All applicants are required to sit the Selective High School Placement Test to be held on Thursday 12th March 2020. A copy of the booklet is available at https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year-7 Or alternatively parents can collect a booklet from the office if required.
Students from our school will soon be undertaking an education tour of the national capital. Students will be
given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia’s history,
culture, heritage and democracy.
The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national
capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the
Australian Government is contributing funding of $30 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education
Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.
Lost Property
A hearing impaired student at our school has accidently lost an expensive piece of listening
equipment in our playground area. Despite extensive searches it remains unfound. We have
also considered that another student may have seen or taken this device home not realizing
what it is. If your child has seen or taken home this device pictured below (black and silver)
please return it to the school at your earliest opportunity. Be assured your child is not in
trouble and no action, other than extreme gratitude, will be taken.
Thankyou
Deb Outram (ISTH)
Year 6 Canberra Excursion
Strive to Achieve
North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 [email protected]
Book Club
Reminder Book Club is due this Friday 1 November.
Westlawn PS was well represented at the Jacaranda Parade of Youth March
Students of the Week
Keira – 5B Alice – 6P Hope - KB Blake – 6H
Strive to Achieve
North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 [email protected]
Lunch Order Sample
In order to assist our canteen volunteers could lunch orders
please be set out similar to the sample below:
Canteen Roster
Wed 30 October Debra Watts, Shane Masters, Christine Cowan
Thurs 31 October CANTEEN CLOSED – JACARANDA THURSDAY
Fri 1 November Shelly Thompson, Anita McLennan, Belinda Bowling,
Kristie Ward
Mon 4 November Jacinda Fletcher, Diane Moran
Tue 5 November Debra Watts, Liz Hamlin, Belinda Bowling
Strive to Achieve
North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 [email protected]
DIARY DATES
Week 3
Wed 30 October Kindergarten excursion
Thurs 31 October Jacaranda Day – public holiday
Fri 1 November Half Day Taster Day for Year 6 at GHS
Week 4
Wed November 6 NSW PSSA Athletics
Thurs November 7 NSW PSSA Athletics
Week 5
Tues November 12 Half Day Taster Day SGHS
Thurs November 14 GHS Parent Information Evening
Fri November 15 Kinder Orientation and Parent Information
Meeting
Week 6
Tues November 19 Half Day Taster Day at SGHS
Wed 20 – Fri 22 November Year 4 Camp to Yarrahapinni
Fri 22 November Kinder Orientation
Week 7
Mon 25 – Fri 29 November Intensive Swimming
Year 6 Excursion to Canberra
Year 5 Lake Ainsworth Excursion
Tues 26 November Half Day Taster Day at SGHS
Fri 29 November Kinder Orientation
Week 8
Mon 2 December GHS 2020 Orientation Day
Thurs 5-Fri 6 December Year 3 Camp to Coffs Beach School
Week 9
Tues 10 December Presentation Day
Primary Disco
Wed 11 December Canteen and P&C Meeting
Fri 13 December Carols Night
Strive to Achieve
North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 [email protected]
Westlawn Public School P&C Newsletter
Term 4 Week 3
Canteen News
Our school canteen urgently needs more volunteers on Monday and Fridays. If
you are able to help out in any way, please speak to Belinda Oxenbridge, Canteen
Manager.
Major Raffle
Anita McLennan and Kellie Marscham are this year’s
coordinators of our P&C raffle. There will be some
fantastic prizes for the raffle. Further details will be
coming in the next few weeks.
Upcoming functions
Westlawn P&C Carols night, which is being coordinated by
Belinda Oxenbridge.
Strive to Achieve
North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 [email protected]
Congratulations Tyla!!
Tyla Spinks from 6H has played in his local soccer club, Westlawn Tigers for 5 years. He has also played
representative soccer for Westlawn Public School and the North Coast team; travelling to Armidale, Port
Macquarie, Newcastle and the Gold Coast. For the past 3 years, Tyla has also played representative futsal for the
North Coast academy.
Tyla attended a West Ham United Academy soccer clinic in Grafton earlier in the year hosted by the Gunners
Soccer Club. He was selected from this clinic to attend the National West Ham united Academy residential soccer
camp at Southport in September. This high quality soccer camp was overseen by Paul Heffer, academy director of
West Ham United Football Club for 30yrs. There were also national coaches, state directors, Institute of Sport
coaches, state academy coaches and professional West Ham players coaching and supporting the players during
the camp.
During the camp Tyla was exposed to a lot of training sessions, soccer matches, seminars, met a lot of
professionals and was able to make lots of new friends. Although there were over 400 soccer players invited to
attend the camp, Tyla was a stand-out showing his skill, hard-work and determination and was selected to attend
a Development Tour in the UK next month.
During the tour he will watch the professionals play, have intensive training sessions with professional coaches
and players from teams such as West Ham, Liverpool and Manchester. Tyla will have the opportunity to play at a
high standard with other academy players from Scotland and England. He will also get an amazing tour around
parts of the UK to see all the huge soccer stadiums and beautiful buildings.
This tour is definitely an important step toward achieving Tyla’s goal to be a professional soccer player. There will
be more selections made from this experience so let’s hope Tyla is one of them!
Congratulations Tyla and good luck!!
