Term 2 Week 6 2017

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents and Carers,

Principal Position

As you may be aware Ms Passmore remains unwell and is unable to return to Waterfall PS at the

present time. The Director of Public Schools NSW has asked me to continue in the relieving

position until such time that Ms Passmore is able to return. Thank you for understanding and

ongoing support in this matter.

Biggest Morning Tea

Last Friday was a wonderful day for the Waterfall PS biggest

morning tea. Delicious food was baked or donated by many lovely

families, along with fantastic raffles and lucky door prizes. A lot of

time and effort went into the organisation for the day. It was great

to see many new and familiar community members who joined us

for morning tea. Thank you to our P&C President Sarah Stojanovic

and helpers who organised a fabulous morning tea fundraiser in support of cancer research.

Zone Cross Country

Last Friday many of our 8 to 12 year old students represented Waterfall PS at the annual zone

cross country at Heathcote Oval. Congratulations to all competitors for their amazing efforts and

impressive sportsmanship. Well done and thank you to Ms Porter and Mrs Westbrook who

coordinated the event for the students.

Enrolments for 2018

Enrolments for the 2018 school year are now open; please notify any friends or family who may be

considering enrolling children at Waterfall PS. Enrolment forms are available online or at the office

and school tours can be arranged by appointment.

Waterfall Public School

15 McKell Avenue

Waterfall NSW 2233

9520 9638 F: 9548 1238

P: 9520 9638 F: 9548 1238

web: http://waterfall-

p.schools.det.nsw.edu.au

Principal: Mrs Liz Chick

Teacher PL

Teachers continue working on the students’ academic reports that will be sent home on Friday 23

June. Last Thursday Ms Porter and Mrs Gilmore attended professional learning at Kirrawee PS

focusing on student wellbeing and learning. This Wednesday Mrs Gilmore will be attending a

Principals’ conference at Gymea.

Fidget Spinners

Many of our students seem captured by this new and exciting craze and are bringing ‘fidgets’ to

school. While the intended benefits of using a fidget spinner are to soothe and calm, it seems that

some students are not utilising their ‘fidget’ for such reasons. Unfortunately the ‘fidgets’ are being

used as toys, causing distraction and unrest in both the classroom and playground. Therefore, we

request that ‘fidgets’ are not brought to school unless a student has a specific individual learning

plan (agreed on by the school’s learning support team) that requires the specific use of a ‘fidget’.

Gymnastics

On Tuesday Ms Bernie and Miss Jordan from Engadine Gymnastics Club began the first of four

gymnastics sessions for K-6. The students thoroughly enjoyed the sessions and were eager to use

the great equipment. The program has been fully subsidised for all students via the Sporting

Schools Funding Grant. Thank you to Ms Porter for acquiring the grant and organising another

exciting sporting program for the students to experience. All students need to wear their sport

uniform on Tuesday until the end of this term.

Awards Assembly

The next awards assembly is this Thursday at 2.15pm in the Library. Parents and friends are most

welcome to attend.

Have a fabulous week ahead!

Mrs Nicole Gilmore

Relieving Principal

School News Science & Technology

K-2 Wattle are investigating light and sound and this is a picture of a magpie singing by Jayde:

3-6 Banksia are investigating weathering and erosion. Here are some photos of our collaborative learning

teams comparing soil samples:

Kind regards,

Karen Lundin

Public Speaking

This week the students have been learning about speech preparation in class. The school public speaking

competition will commence during week 8, beginning on Tuesday 13 June. All students are expected to

prepare a speech at home and participate in the class competition. See set times for each stage below:

Prepared Speeches

Impromptu Speeches

Early Stage 1 1 minute Early Stage 1 No Speech Stage One 2 minutes (bell at 1

minute 30 seconds) Stage One 1 minute

Stage Two 3 minutes (bell at 2 minutes 30 seconds)

Stage Two 1 minute

Stage Three 4 minutes (bell at 3 minutes 30 seconds)

Stage Three 1 to 2 minutes

Preparing a speech

At least a week before you have to give your speech, choose a suitable topic. Our school competition is for

speeches that argue a point of view. For younger students this can be as simple as ‘My dog is the best

dog in the world’, but a topic such as ‘My dog’ WOULD NOT be suitable. Your teacher will make sure that

the topic chosen is a suitable topic for the stage/grade (that is, it argues a point of view).

Tips

Before trying to write the speech down - think about the topic you are going to argue.

Think of the first reason why you believe this. Think of an example of why this reason is so.

Think of the second reason why you believe this. Think of an example of why this reason is so.

Think of a third reason why you believe this. Think of an example of why this reason is so.

Write the speech down in this format:

I think that …………………………...(state your opinion here).

The first reason I think that ……….(THEN give your example of why this is true).

The second reason I think that …...(THEN give your example of why this is true).

The third reason I think that ………(THEN give your example of why this is true).

So ……………………………………(this is where you restate your opinion. You must leave the audience convinced that your opinion is worth supporting. Conclude your speech so that the audience knows your speech has reached its end).

Things to remember when writing your speech

Don’t introduce yourself - don’t say thank you at the end - don’t use props. Speak clearly and at a normal speaking pace. Time your speech at home.

If it’s too short, add some more arguments or expand on the arguments you already have. If the speech is too long, cut something out. Then retime the speech and see if it’s within 30 seconds either side of the correct speech time.

Write your speech word by word onto palm sized cards. Cardboard is better than paper which can curl up in your hand. (10 x 15cm for Years K-2, 7 x 10cm for Years 3-6).

Start practising how you deliver your speech. This will take at least several days to get right! Many people miss this step out completely and just hope it will turn out well ‘on the day’. Of course you have to practise if you want to do something well.

Things to practise

Stand properly on two feet. Do not shift from foot to foot or sway as you speak.

Keep your head up. Look at your audience and make eye contact with them.

Speak clearly and loud enough for everyone in the room to hear you.

Make sure you pause between the different parts of your speech. Pauses get people’s attention.

Vary the pitch and tone of your voice. People get bored listening to the one note. Let your voice rise and fall.

Write key words that will remind you of your speech onto palm sized cards (these could be pictures for Kindergarten, sentence beginnings, or simply words that remind you of the sentences you should be saying).

Practise delivering your speech over and over in front of the mirror using only palm cards.

Good luck, happy speaking and most of all, have fun.

The Waterfall 8 Term 2, Week 6 Guest Editor –Justin

Welcome to the Waterfall 8, a page dedicated to student life at Waterfall Public School,

compiled and edited by Year 6 students.

Touch Football Program

Thursday 25th of May was the last day of

touch football program. I would like to thank

Kristy for coming to our school and helping

us with our passing and LOTS more.

Every Thursday we would go on to the field

and practise our skills and we would play

some passing games and on the last day we

could actually play a game of touch football.

Thanks for the touch football program

Humans of Waterfall My name is Laura and I am in year 3. I like playing

with my friends at school. My favourite colour is

pink

On Monday I go to dancing at Dance Network and

I really love it. My favourite dance style is Tap.

.

Engadine Zone Cross Country Carnival

On Friday 26 May, a team of students attended

the Cross Country carnival at Heathcote Oval. It

was a great day and everyone participated well

and put in a great effort. Beau and Jayde both

came 7th in their races which was a great result –

well done to them both!

Sydney Debating Competition – Round 2

On Thursday 1st May, the Waterfall debating

team of Julia, Johnathan, Olivia and Emily will go

up against the Engadine West team. The debate

will be at 1:30 pm at Waterfall P.S. The debate

team have had several practice sessions with

against some year 6 opponents with some

interesting arguments being developed.

P & C News Message from the P&C

Congratulations to all the children that ran at the cross country last Friday. I heard that all the kids tried their best

and well represented the school. Well done!

While the kids were running, there were many adults eating and drinking at the Biggest Morning Tea, raising money

for the Cancer Council. I would personally like to thank my helpers, Allison, Belinda, Lesley, and Michelle, who

assisted with setting up, serving and cleaning up. A big thank you goes to Belinda who also sold raffle tickets and

collected the donations.

Thank you to all that contributed with the Morning Tea. I think it was fair to say we all had enough food to eat.

Congratulations to the raffle winners! I was blessed to have some wonderful prizes this year and many from our local

businesses, including IGA Heathcote, Sunrise Nursery, Kore Property Group, Legendary Seafood, Heathcote

Newsagent and a special mention to Heathcote Bakery who supported by donating many pastries to the morning

tea and Oz Jet Boating for their prize. It is worth supporting and shopping at our local business.

We raised approximately $350 for the Cancer Council. It is not too late to donate, please see me.

The next General meeting for the P&C is on Tuesday 13th June from 7pm in the library due to public holiday on the

Monday. All welcome to join. There will be a few new items on the agenda which will go out next week. If you would

like anything added to the agenda, please come and see me. If you can’t make it to the meeting, but would like

something raised, please let me know.

Make a note that Pizza and PJ day will be held on the last day of term, Friday 30th June 2017. This event will be put

on by the P&C, so there is no cost to parents.

That’s all for now,

Until next time,

Sarah

Upcoming events

Vaucluse House - Please confirm with Ms Maddocks or Mrs Gilmore if your child will be attending this

excursion by Thursday 1st June. We need to confirm our booking. At this stage we do not have enough

notes returned.

Dates for your Diary

June July Thursday 8 June

Interrelate – Heathcote East PS 7.00pm-9.30pm (Parents/Carers) Monday 12 June

Queen’s birthday public holiday, no school Tuesday 13 June P&C meeting 7.00pm Library Friday 16 June

K-1-2 Wattle excursion to Vaucluse House Friday 23 June

Student reports home Monday 26 June

Parent and Teacher interviews Tuesday 27 June

Koori Kids on the Park Wednesday 28 June

Small schools athletics carnival – Sylvania Athletics track Friday 30 June

Last day Term 2

Monday 17 July

Teachers return – Staff development day Tuesday 18 July

Students return to school for Term 3

Community News