Newsletter – Week 3, Term 2, 2022 – Message from Admin Team, Kindergarten 2023, Pre-primary 2023, Cross Country, Canteen, Family Fun Day Poster Competition, CSHS Tour and Enrolment

Message from the Executive Administration Team

Dear parents and caregivers

I hope all the mums and mother figures in our community had a wonderful day on Sunday and everyone enjoyed the autumn sunshine! I had a lovely day with my family and I hope you all did too.

COVID-19: With community transmission still very high, parents and carers will be pleased to know that the Department of Education has allocated 20 free Rapid Antigen Tests for each student. We expect to receive our allocation tomorrow. I have reached out to the P&C and classroom representatives to assist with distribution. The tests must be distributed direct to parents in the primary school setting due to a TGA warning on the box about keeping the tests out of reach of children. I thank the team of helpers who have sprung into action to assist and would be grateful to any parents who could help with this mammoth task. Please contact your classroom rep if you can help. Distribution will commence in the coming days with more information to follow by email.

Before school supervision: Increasingly, students have been arriving at school earlier and earlier over the past few weeks. The school gates officially open at 8:20am when there are enough staff onsite to ensure student safety. The gates may be open earlier as the gardener and cleaners are undertaking their duties and deliveries may arrive at the school canteen, however this does not indicate that students are able to be dropped off. The only reason students should be dropped off prior to 8:20am is for cross country training, choir or other extra-curricular activities such as soccer or tennis when adults can take duty of care for children.

If your child arrives between 8:20am and 8:30am, they need to wait under the eaves of the undercover area. Students are then able to play for a few minutes before the classroom doors open at 8:35am. Apart from handball, there are no basketball or other games that can be played before school due to the sheer number of people moving around at drop off time.

If you have work commitments or the need to drive to different schools for other children which require your child to have care before 8:20am, please contact the YMCA to organise before school care. Our primary focus is on safety and students should not be left unattended while there are no staff to supervise. If your child walks, rides or scoots to school please talk to them about the best time to leave home so they arrive after 8:20am. We appreciate your support in keeping kids safe.

Teaching and Learning

NAPLAN: Over the next two weeks, starting today, our Year 3 and 5 students will be participating in NAPLAN. This snapshot in time provides information about how your child is progressing in relation to reading, writing, numeracy, spelling and punctuation and grammar. These national measures are just one of the assessments conducted throughout the year to determine next steps in learning for students. They also provide the school with valuable data to inform our whole school planning. As parents will know, these tests don’t represent everything your child can do. We feel it’s important to celebrate all the unique talents and qualities of our students.

The best way to assist your child in Year 3 or 5 throughout this period is to maintain normality and routines with plenty of sleep, healthy eating and minimal attention on the tests. Our classroom teachers are also doing their part to keep the school environment calm and happy. Most assessments are being conducted this week, leaving plenty of time next week for catch up tests if any students are away unwell or in isolation.

The assessments take time to be processed and we don’t expect to receive any individual results until Term 3 at the earliest. Next year, the timing of NAPLAN is being shifted to Term 1 to enable the data to be used earlier in the year to inform teaching. Further information will be provided later in the year once schools have been given more details.

Community Engagement

WPS Indigenous Design: We are excited to share with you the beginning stages of our journey towards including a unique and original indigenous design in our school uniform. The focus for this design is on local connections to Country, our school culture and student agency. Thank you to indigenous artist and educator Rosie Paine, the 2021 Student Representative Council, our Reconciliation Action Plan committee, the School Board and students and staff for their engagement in this process so far.

‘Collaborate, Connect, Communicate and Care’.

Yours in learning

The Senior Leadership Team

Tamara, Milani, Rachel, Stacey and Natalie