-

16 Smith Rd, Elermore Vale, NSW 2287 Ph: 02 49559963 or 02 49516669 Fax: 02 49502179

Email: wallsends-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au Follow us on Skoolbag

Website: http://www.wallsends-p.schools.nsw.edu.au The Wallsend South Public School community values and respects all people as individuals and believes in life-long learning, the celebration of success and the achievement of academic and social potential for all, in a secure, stimulating and challenging environment.

Week 4 Term 1 2018

Day Canteen Helpers Uniform Shop Helpers Tuesday Carmel Stormer, Sandra Dart 8.45-9.15am

Tammie Jones, Nina Afza Pam Baas (Reserve)

Wednesday Jemma Greentree, Jane Peck 2.30-3.00pm Carolyn Dean, John Stewart Rachael Hawkins (Reserve)

Thursday

Francis Lambkin, Jane Chapman Not Open

Friday Leanne Sendjirdjian, Nicole Crooks, John Stewart

8.45-9.15am Leah Taylor, Amanda Maguire Kim O’Connor (Reserve)

Monday

Jaime Matthews Not open

Principal’s Reflections Memorandum of Understanding Good news. Our school is currently in the final signatory stage for a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ between The State of New South Wales by its Department of Education through its Wallsend South Public School and Romdoul Primary School for a Sister-school Agreement. When completed, this will be proudly posted on our web-site and also sent to the Department of Education International for their records. For

Day This week is Week 4 Term 1 Commencing Monday February 19

Next week is Week 5 Term 1 Commencing Monday February 26

Monday Junior Band 3.00 to 4.15pm SRC to be given their badges @

9.00am Assembly

Junior Band 3.00 to 4.15pm

Tuesday

Wednesday Senior Band 3.00pm to 4.15pm Senior Band 3.00pm to 4.15pm Spider Day @ the Canteen

Thursday School Banking Senior Band 1.00pm to 1.40pm Zone Swimming Carnival

School Banking Senior Band 1.00pm to 1.40pm

Friday

those who are unaware, Romdoul PS is in Cambodia and our school has had an on-going positive relationship over a number of years. This MOU “future proofs” this relationship and gives clarity, certainty and structure for both schools. The DoE lawyers have approved this MOU. Student Representative Council (SRC) Semester 1 Leaders Congratulations to the following students. Investiture occurred today. The SRC meets every Thursday at 2:30 with Mr Parkinson. Out of Uniform Days and special fundraising events, is one of the key planning elements with our SRC. 3M Kyrah Brogan 3P Bridie Chapman Cole 3S Sarah Carroll 4H Natalia Diaz 4J Luke Hargrave 4S Darcy Stankovski 5A Felix Keon 5D Mia Higgins 5L Taliah Smith 6M Alicia Pearce 6N Neeve Maguire 6V Georgia Ellenor Front of Office Rolling Visual Display A new visual display has been installed at the office which replaces the staff photograph board which is now in the Meeting Room. Special events, electronic displays, notices, student achievements and celebrations will be displayed here Student comments …”It is cool!” Crossing, Parking and New School Zone Offences After school is a very busy time and traffic is often conjested. However, please do not park over driveways; always park legally; obey the parking signs; and always use the crossing. Police have been notified as such issues impact upon the safety of our students.The NSW Government has recently updated school zone offences by increasing fines and demerit points. Information is available on our website. Let’s keep them all safe ! Scripture 2018 It is anticipated these lessons will commence on Friday 23rd February for students in Yrs. 2, 3 and 4. For Yrs. 5 and 6 Scripture will commence on Friday 2nd March. Parent permission is required for students to attend Scripture lessons and Ethics lessons. Steering Committee Celebration Night We are in the process of forming a steering committee with both parents and staff to ‘future proof’ our Celebration Night (booked for Wed 5th December) . The first meeeting will take place early next term and will be a joint venture not unlike our Yr. 6 Celebration Night organisation committee. If you are interested in being part of the committee, could you please let me know or let Mel O’Brien (P&C President) know. Sleep and Children Children need around 9 and 1/4 hours sleep per night. This maximises their academic, behavioural and emotional wellbeing. Please consider. Annual Report 2017 This has been published and is on our school website. Thank you to the groups who contributed to this publication. It is a huge effort each year.

School Council Parent Members Opportunity Our school is one of the few schools across the State that still has a School Council. Our School Council was formed on Monday 3rd September, 1993. The purpose of the School Council is to: • encourage community participation • promote community understanding and involvement • assist in setting and achieving educational goals • develop, implement and monitor financial plans. Every few year positions become availabe on our School Council. The tenure is for 2 years. One Parent and one Community position are now available. If you wish to be nominated could you please contact either myself or Peter Vernon (President) to discuss. An election process applies. More information to follow in the coming weeks as to nomination forms, election process and ballot held. General Message on Behalf of the School Council President On behalf of the Council and the school community I would like to thank the Staff and Leadership of WSPS for the incredible efforts they put in each year to make the school the wonderful place it is for our children. From the academic and sporting achievements to the day to day teaching of our kids, I think we are very fortunate to bring our children to a school where they are cared for and nurtured in a very safe and friendly environment. I would also like to thank the P&C for their amazing fundraising efforts which help immeasurably with the facilities our children enjoy. Lastly thanks to the school community and the numerous volunteers who contributed their time and knowledge in many ways. Together we all make WSPS the wonderful community it is. Final Cut off Dates for Excursions, Special Events and Sporting Events Reminder We will always consider any exceptional circumstances of our students and make appropriate adjustments. However, the cut-off date set is critical for those teachers / committees organising such events, as the correct student numbers impacts upon costs and the booking of buses, venues and other requirements. It also impacts upon teacher / committee time to adjust such events and costs. In some cases this has happened several times! Please be aware, as we will become stricter with such dates and time-frames set. Waiting lists pending any vacancy will be established after the cut-off date. Such lists will be no guarantee of availability. Yours in public education Christopher Parkinson M.L.M.Ed.; M. Ed. Studies.; B. Ed.; Dip. Teach. Principal Year 7 2019 Lambton High School Lambton High School is conducting a tour of the school and information evening on Tuesday 13 March beginning at 4.30pm. Please view the LHS website for more information. http://lambtonhighschool.com.au/calendar/

Parking on the School Grounds We ask all members of the school community to please refrain from parking on the bottom school oval or in either of the two staff car parks. Each area has been sign posted “Staff Parking Only” but there is still a small group of people putting our children at risk by parking in these areas.

Asthma Plans If your child has the need to carry Ventolin they must also carry a fully prepared Asthma Plan completed by the doctor. We ask all parents and carers to ensure Asthma Plans are current and Ventolin is not out of date. All new plans also need to be updated through the office to ensure our records are up to date, so if your child carries their own puffer please supply the office with a copy of the updated plan.

Tallong Distribution

The school newsletter is available to view in either of the following ways;-

School Website

Via Skoolbag App

Emailed to you

Hard copy given to your child

Hard copy available in the school admin foyer area

If you require a hard copy or emailed copy to be sent to you and have not previously advised the office, please do so.

PLEASE NOTE: OUR KINDER PARENTS WILL NEED TO NOTE THAT THIS WILL BE THE LAST WEEK OF ALL KINDERS RECEIVING A HARD COPY OF THE NEWSLETTER AND WILL NEED TO ADVISE IF A HARD COPY OR EMAIL COPY IS REQUIRED EACH WEEK FROM NOW ON.

Court Orders

If you have any new or updated court orders/parenting plans, please supply the office with the latest copy as soon as possible.

Attention Clarinet Students

Please note that Clare Gibbons' phone number has changed from that printed in this year's band booklet. For tuition information, please contact Clare on 0418674032.

LIBRARY NEWS

Congratulations to Morris Gleitzman who has accepted the role of Children’s Laureate for 2018 and 2019. The role of the Laureate is to promote the importance of reading, creativity and story in the lives of young Australians. His theme for the 2 year period is Stories Make Us – Stories Create Our Future.

“Young people need stories more than ever,” Morris says. “Stories to delight, stories to beguile, stories to inspire, stories to move deeply. And through these experiences, stories that equip young readers to embrace an often dark and uncertain world with optimism, resolve and creativity.”

We house over 40 books of Morris’ in either the Fiction or Senior Fiction collections. Perhaps your child has brought one home recently?!

Thank you,

Library Teachers

(Author unknown, Updated 10/2/18, New Australian Children’s Laureate Announced, 13/02/18, <http://www.childrenslaureate.org.au/2018/02/new-australian-childrens-laureate-announced/>)

Book Covering Helpers Needed!!!

We have recently purchased a large number of resources to support the History curriculum for our Year 3 to 6 students. We are looking for any helpers who are willing to cover these books in the library on Wednesday, 28 February (week 5) from 9am to 11am with our Library Assistant, Mrs Nea Couper. No

experience is necessary, as Mrs Couper will be providing training on the day. We ask for any volunteers to ensure they have their WWCC details registered at the office.

Many thanks,

Library Teachers

Clean up Australia Day Once again, we will be participating in Clean up Australia Day. We will spend time cleaning up the school grounds and fence line on Friday March 2. We will be speaking with the children about not touching sharp/dangerous items but recommend that your child brings a pair of gloves to protect their hands. We would also like to reuse old shopping bags to collect the rubbish.

Rock Band Auditions ; Years 5 & 6; !! round1 Rock Band/music group VOCALS, GUITARS, PIANO & DRUMS auditions will be held in the hall next Thursday morning February 22nd at 8.00 am… Auditions are only open to Years 5 & 6 . All auditions must be kept short (2 mins max ie; 1x verse/1x chorus) Singers may use a C.d audio backing track (karaoke style) with no existing vocals on track. Students may use sheet music/lyrics. Mr McDonald will provide microphones, drums, guitars & piano on the day. (& a small collection of past Rock Band songs- or maybe you could sing the school song? ‘Learn for Life”,) Successful students generally have at least 2-3 years musical training. ( not beginners- except vocalists )- please let your child be aware of this! Students should have a love for music & those selected should be willing to attend weekly practice throughout the year. ** Feel free to give Mr McDonald your musical resume! Bring this form to your audition thanks.. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name; Instrument/ or vocal; Training/experience; Class; ------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks Chris McDonald

Coles – Sports for Schools

Our school is participating in the Coles Sports for Schools. Please drop any vouchers into the box in the Office for P & C to collect.

Canteen - Spider Day

On Wednesday 28th February we will be having Spider Day. Notes and money are due back to the Canteen by this Friday 23rd February 2018. Spiders are $2.50 each.

Qkr! App Instructions for new families

$$$ School Banking News $$$

Woohoo…what a fabulous effort with a total of 134 students banking & $1,057.05 deposited!

The class with the most deposits was 2P congratulations this is record breaking!!

It’s challenge time…let’s beat our current school banking record of 146…can we beat it…yes we can…!!!

Weeks in Term 1

Total Student Deposits

1 93 2 119 3 134 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

School Banking day is Thursday Remember, Thursday is School Banking day and students should bring in their weekly deposit. For every deposit made at school, students will receive a silver Dollarmites token. Once students have individually collected 10 tokens they can redeem them for an exclusive School Banking reward item in recognition of their regular savings habits.

School Banking is also a great fundraiser for our school. Our school receives a Regular Savers Contribution of $5 for every 10 deposits processed per student as well as an Annual Contribution which is based on the number of students who made at least one School Banking deposit in the prior year.

If your child has lost their book, they can bring their money to school in a sealed envelope with a note on the next School Banking day. We will issue them with a replacement. Thank you for supporting the School Banking program.

Class Students

banked -16/2/18

Class Students

banked -16/2/18

KK 6 3S 6

KM 3 4H 6

KW 5 4J 9

1G 5 4S 8

1J 7 5A 3

1S 6 5D 3

1/2L 9 5L 4

2L 8 6M 6

2P 14 6N 0

3M 6 6V 5

3P 5

Ex students/Siblings 6

If you would like to know more about School Banking, please ask for a 2018 School Banking program information pack from the school office or visit commbank.com.au/schoolbanking. Keep on banking!

From your School Banking Volunteers Team - Holly Spannenberg, Leah Walker (School Banking Co-ordinator), Leanne Outram, Shannon Smith & our guest helper Kirrily McMurtrie

Found – a pair of ladies prescription sunglasses, please contact the office

COMMUNITY NEWS

South Wallsend Netball club

South Wallsend Netball club are in DESPERATE NEED of players aged 7 and 8. Please contact Anne Attwood on 0412 516 843 if interested.

Want to play hockey – come and give it a go.West Junior Hockey Club is looking for new players (both boys and girls) to join their teams.

All training and games are played at Broadmeadow International Hockey Centre

For more information please give me a call.

Matt Lewsam

President

West Junior Hockey

Mob: 0410 443 418

Email: westhockeyjuniors@gmail.com

Website: www.revolutionise.com.au/wjhc/