newsletter 21 february 2017, issue 2 westgarth primary schoolgr 6 t20 district cricket day grade 6...
TRANSCRIPT
Newsletter
Be Safe, Be Fair, Be Friendly
Westgarth Primary School
21 February 2017, Issue 2
From the Principal
Welcome Picnic Thanks It was great to see many families coming along to our Welcome Picnic on Friday evening. A big ‘thanks’ to the team of parents who assisted with the food and drink stalls on the night and to Parents and Friends for organising everything. The weather was also kind to us.
No Riding in Yard Riding bikes and scooters to school are a wonderful active way to travel, however we must ask for parents to ensure their children are not riding them in the school grounds. One of our preps was badly injured last week when knocked over by a scooter. Please assist us with this so that all children, parents/carers and staff can move through the school safely. Student leadership We have a variety of ways to involve student leaders in taking responsibility for the school. Last week the students from Years 3 to 6 voted for House Captains. These students were presented with their badges at assembly on Monday morning. Congratulations to the following students who were elected by their peers: Rucker: Captains: Lizzy V & Holly G (co-captains) & Leo C Vice captains: Francis L Gerrard: Captains: Asha D & Leo S Vice captains: Aoife D & Joel A Urquhart: Captains: Maya K & Darcy W Vice captains: Neave M & Lachlan H Walker: Captains: Sabine M & Thomas MP Vice captains: Maddie P & Nathan M Junior School Council elections will be happening soon for students in year 3 – 6.
Indigenous studies In our Annual Implementation Plan we have committed to “Explicit use of the content descriptions (and elaborations where practical) in planning documents to increase the profile of First Nation Australians.” While we believe celebrating and acknowledging indigenous cultures on special days such as NAIDOC, Sorry Day and Reconciliation Day is an important component of our approach, we are keen to develop much deeper understandings of the history and culture of indigenous Australians for our students. We have engaged a Koori Engagement Support Officer (KESO) called Wanda who will work with the school once a fortnight to assist our development in this area. Year 4 teacher Tom Hardisty is taking leadership of this aspect of our planning.
Family Payments Thank you very much to all the families who have paid their School Charges and Voluntary Contributions so
far. Our thanks also to those who have generously contributed to our Tax Deductible Building Fund as we
have lots of Masterplan building and ground works happening around the school at present.
Regards,
Jo Wheeler
School: 9481 5577 Email:[email protected] Website: www.wgps.vic.edu.au
OSHC: 9482 3323 Email: [email protected]
Newsletter items required by 3.30pm Monday: [email protected]
Diary Dates 2017 Mon 13 Mar Labour Day Public Holiday Fri 17 Mar Years 3-6 Commencement of Swimming Program Mon 20 Mar Prep commence their full week at school Tues 21 Mar School Photos Fri 31 Mar Last Day of Term 1. Students dismissed at 2.30pm After care available for care from 2.30pm Tues 18 Apr First day of Term 2 Term 2 Prep - Years 2 Swimming Program Thurs 14 Dec Year 6 Graduation Meetings 2017 School Council Wednesday 22 February 7.00pm Staffroom P & F AGM Wednesday 15 March 7.00pm Staffroom
Westgarth Primary School 2
Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) The Department of Education and Training have a ‘Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund’ to help ensure that no student misses out on the opportunity to join their classmates for important, educational and fun activities. CSEF will be provided to eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.
If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. For concession card holders CSEF eligibility will be subject to the parent/legal guardian’s concession card being successfully validated with Centrelink on the first day of term one (30 January 2017). A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.
The annual CSEF amount per student is $125 for primary school students and $225 for secondary school students. To apply contact the school office to obtain a CSEF application form or download from the CSEF web-
site. www.education.vic.gov.au/csef
A reminder to existing families using the Qkr to update your details on the app. Instructions were sent home with the 2017 School Charges and Voluntary Contributions note.
How to contact a teacher ??? You can contact a teacher direct via tiqbiz by going to the app and selecting the ‘contact’ icon. This will enable you to select the staff members name, add your message and your contact details. We recommend you use the tiqbiz app to contact teachers rather than using the school’s email address as we do receive a high volume of emails at the school. This is to ensure all message are dealt with in a timely manner. If you need help downloading the tiqbiz app please come and visit us at the office so we can assist you.
Westgarth Primary School 3
Homework Survey
We are currently reviewing our homework guidelines and policy and would like your input and feedback.
Our current homework policy can be accessed at: http://wgps.vic.edu.au/app/webroot/uploaded_files/media/Homework.pdf
Our current homework guidelines can be accessed at:
http://wgps.vic.edu.au/app/webroot/uploaded_files/media/Homework%20Guidelines.pdf This homework survey draws upon the findings of a recent Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry on homework. This inquiry - including its findings - can be accessed at: http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/file_uploads/ETC_Homework_Inquiry_final_report_PWkrPPVH.pdf The purpose of this survey is to gain your feedback on issues including:
1. The amount of homework your child/children receive 2. The amount of time your child/children spend doing homework 3. The type of homework your child/children receive 4. Your input into how our homework practices could possibly be refined/improved.
This survey uses adaptive survey logic - the following question is dependent upon your previous response - and as such contains up to 19 rating and ranking questions. It also has space for you to make comments/suggestions about homework at Westgarth. This survey cannot be saved. It needs to be done in a single sitting. With the exception of question 1, all of the questions and responses are optional. Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. The results of this survey will assist us revise our homework guidelines and policy. The results of this survey will be published in 2017. Regards, Donald Eddington, Assistant Principal
Westgarth Primary School 4
Clarinet, Flute and Saxophone lessons at WPS
Lessons on these instruments will be available in 2017 to students in grades 4, 5, & 6. These lessons occur after school on a Tuesday and no prior experience is required. For enquires email Lauren at [email protected].
The school has some flutes and clarinets available for use until you have managed to source one for yourself. Please see John if you wish to borrow one.
Thanks, John Carr, Music Specialist
Westgarth Primary School 5
Helping your child at home with maths Have you ever tried to help your child with maths, only to have him or her say, “That’s not how the teacher does it”?
In 2016, teachers at Westgarth completed 20 hours of professional development that focussed on best practice for teaching number-related concepts. We will be running another 20 hours of professional development this year related to ‘non-number’ concepts such as geometry, measurement, statistics and probability. To support our teachers to implement consistent language and approaches – including the notion that there is more than one way to solve a problem - a series of short video clips were created that explain how to do the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) - as well as some other mathematics concepts.
Based on parent requests for wanting to know how we teach mathematics, these clips have since been uploaded to YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8kLk_0uqDUsvHWYRPSnGHg/playlists). The clips on the channel demonstrate both traditional and alternate approaches for each of the operations and, importantly, use the same language and approaches used in classrooms at Westgarth Primary School. Please note, the clips are low-tech but the demonstrations are helpful due to their simplicity, repetitive format, setting out and consistent use of language.
These approaches may be familiar to many parents and carers as they may have learnt these when they went at school. For some parents and carers, these approaches – that emphasise place value – may be new. So we encourage you to watch them so you can better support your child at home with mathematics.
Parents and carers can choose to subscribe to the YouTube channel so that they can be notified if/when new clips are uploaded – and more clips will be loaded in 2017 particularly in relation to using strategies for learning the basic number facts.
There are currently 34 subscribed. Once there are 100 subscribers, an easy-to-remember URL (website address) can be created… so your support in achieving this goal of 100 subscribers is much appreciated.
Donald Eddington, Assistant Principal
Get Active this April! The Premier's Active April challenge is nearly upon us. It encourages all Victorians to participate in 30 minutes of physical activity each day in April. It's free to join and just by doing so you are eligible for 10 free passes to your local YMCA! Last year the school won a visit from a professional athlete just by participating. So what are you waiting for? Join our team online by registering at https://app.activeapril.vic.gov.au. Team Name: Westgarth Primary Team ID - westgarth-primary Your whole family is encouraged to participate. Let's get active this April! Aimee Murphy Active April Coordinator
PE News
We had our sport captain elections last week. We had a record number of candidates this year. Grade 6s who nominated themselves prepared a 2 minute speech to deliver in front of grade 3-6 students in their house colour. It always amazes me how confident our students are in front of an audience. Their speeches were absolutely wonderful – many added a touch of humour to their speech as well as talking about their passion for sport and motivating/leading people. Well done to all of the grade 6s who delivered a speech!
Our 2017 House Sport Captains are:
Most of our 2017 sport dates have been confirmed. Please pop them into your diary so you don’t miss any events!
Gerrard
Captains:
Asha D & Leo S
Vice Captains:
Aoife & Joel
Rucker
Captains:
Lizzy & Holly
(co-captains)& Leo C
Vice Captains:
Francis
Walker
Captains:
Sabine & Thomas MP
Vice Captains:
Maddie & Nathan
Urquhart
Captains:
Maya & Darcy W
Vice Captains:
Neave & Lachlan
Westgarth Primary School 6
Event Who Date Venue
District Swimming Sports Selected students only Tuesday 28th February Northcote Aquatic Centre
Division Swimming Sports Selected students only Tuesday 7th March Northcote Aquatic Centre
Region Swimming Sports Selected students only Wednesday 15th March Northcote Aquatic Centre
Gr 6 T20 District Cricket Day Grade 6 interested students
only (subject to numbers)
Thursday 16th March Doug Nicholls Reserve
Westgarth Cross Country time trials
All Grade 3s, Grade 4s,
Grade 5s & Grade 6s
Monday 8th May & Tues-
day 9th May
Westgarth PS
District Cross Country Selected students only Tuesday 23rd May
afternoon session
Bundoora
Division Cross Country Selected students only Wednesday 14th June Bundoora
Region Cross Country Selected students only Wednesday 21st June Bundoora
Grade 6 District Basketball Interested Grade 6s
(numbers permitting)
Wednesday 9th August Coburg basketball stadium
Westgarth Grade Prep – 3 Tabloid aths fun day
All Grade Preps, Grade 1s,
Grade 2s & Grade 3s
TBC Westgarth PS
Westgarth Grade 4-6 Athletics carnival
All Grade 4s, Grade 5s &
Grade 6s
Tuesday 8th August (back
up day 15/8)
Collingwood Harriers
District Athletics Selected students only Monday 11th September
(back up day 15/9)
Collingwood Harriers
Division Athletics Selected students only 10th October Meadowglen
Region Athletics Selected students only 18th October Meadowglen
Gr 6 district girls soccer day Interested Grade 6 girls TBC TBC
Triathlon Interested Gr 4, 5 & 6
(subject to entry numbers)
Friday 10th November Northcote pool &
McDonnel oval
Westgarth swimming trials Interested Grade 3s, 4s & 5s Friday 24th November TBC Northcote Aquatic Centre
Westgarth Primary School 7
Term 1 Sport Diary Dates Swimming (selected students only) Tuesday 28 February District Swimming 9.30am-1.00pm Northcote Aquatic Centre Tuesday 7 March Division Swimming 9:30am-2.30pm Northcote Aquatic Centre Wednesday 15 March Regional Swimming 9:30am-2.30pm Northcote Aquatic Centre Grade 6 Interschool sport All interschool sport games run from 9.30 until 11.00am Friday 24 February Away game against Preston South Primary (no softball) Cricket played at Oulton Reserve Friday 3 March Home game against Penders Grove Primary (no softball) Cricket played at McDonnell Park Friday 10 March Away game against Wales St Primary Softball & cricket played at McDonnell Park Friday 17 March Home game against Bell Primary (no bat tennis) Cricket & softball played at Capp Reserve Friday 24 March Away game against St Josephs Primary (no softball, cricket or rounders) Played at Mayer Park
Kitchen-Garden review: Expressions of interest to join a working party
The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden (SAKG) also known simply as Kitchen-Garden
is now its 10th year and as such School Council has requested a review. This review was
first flagged by Ian MacLean (School Council President) on page 6 of the 29 November
2016 newsletter.
The role of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Working Party (SAKGWP) will be to make
recommendations to School Council and/or Principal (whichever appropriate) based on its review and
findings in relation to the benefits and costs of the program to Westgarth Primary School.
This will include a review of the program rationale, the kitchen and garden curriculums (both visible and
hidden), financial contributions by parents (compared to overall costs) as well as parent and student
feedback about the value of program – both extrinsic and intrinsic.
The working party will be made up of: Principal class member (convener) A member of the finance committee Three staff members (including SAKG staff) Three parent members Two co-opted members approved by School Council.
It is envisaged that the working party will meet 1 to 2 times a term at a mutually convenient day/evening and time.
Please complete the online expression of interest by Tuesday, 7 March if you are interested in joining the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Working Party. This involves recording your contact details as well as the knowledge, skills and/or expertise you could bring to the working party as it reviews the SAKG program at Westgarth.
Expression of Interest: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SAKGWP
Donald Eddington, Assistant Principal
Westgarth Primary School 8
El rincón del Español The Spanish corner
¡Bienvenidos! Here you will find all about the different activities children are doing in Spanish at Westgarth. To see more of their projects you can check the Spanish website http://wgpspanish.wix.com/westgarthspanish ¡Hasta pronto! Marta, Esmi y Pilar J
ESPAÑOL / DRAMA Year 1&2 students are
learning to slow down and
think about how their move
their body and use their
voice. We are following the
example de los
perezosos de
Zootrópolis.
We are also learning that
children in Spain and other
Spanish speaking countries
are watching the same films
as we do!
ESPAÑOL / ARTE
It’s been a really great start to the year in the Spanish through Art classroom. After revising our rights and responsibilities students have made beautiful drawings to illustrate the rules in the SpART classrrom. Preps have had their first few sessions and have made stunning paintings inspired by the book “The Dot”. Grade 2s have started to write their letters for their pen pals in Spain. Grades 3 to 6 have made amazing symmetric name tags. And grade 5s have come up with great ideas for their designs for the mural to go on the wall of the computer room. More details coming soon!
ESPAÑOL / CIENCIA
What a great start of the year we had in the Spanish/Science class! In Prep, Y1 and Y2 we found out about the different types of sciences. Students discovered what different scientists do and described what type of científico (scientist) they would like to be. Students in Years 3 to 6 were introduced to the nature and processes of science. They observed, made a hypothesis, gathered data using their senses (los ojos, la nariz, las orejas, las manos), collaborated and made a conclusion about what is in la caja misteriosa (the mystery box).
Westgarth Primary School 9
Calling for Volunteers from The Farm House
Virginia – [email protected] Mary – [email protected]
Some of the classes below have no volunteers or are very short. If you or extended family members were able to join us, even on an occasional basis, it will give the students a greater opportunity to develop their kitchen garden skills. With limited volunteers the class needs to run in a reduced format for health and safety considerations. We rely on volunteers to ensure the continuity of this program.
If you can make time for us in your tight schedules, either register on Geddup below or contact Mary or Virginia on the email addresses above. Thank You!
We aim for 1 volunteer for each activity group. Thus 4 volunteers in Garden sessions and 4 or 5 in Kitchen Sessions.
The Geddup system lets you know if those numbers have been reached so you can come to a session more in need. The numbers above are those coming for the 1st week. They will not necessarily be able to come every week.
Here are the instructions for registering on Geddup. Register As A Volunteer To help our coordinators manage the volunteer roster Westgarth Primary has started using Geddup. This is an interactive roster and messaging system that is quick for you to set up and easy to use. To register please follow these instructions: 1. Go to the webpage: gddp.me/wps-sakg.
2. Enter your email address. 3. Enter your name, mobile and create a password. 4. As Westgarth SAKG is a private community Mary or Virginia will need to approve your subscription. This may take 24 hours. Once approved you will be sent a welcome message to finalise your account. 5. Please read the Welcome message. On it is a set-up membership button. Click this, and you will be taken through a 3-step process.
Our Cooks First Week The culmination of our Introductory Kitchen sessions was the preparing and sharing of a variety of fruit from our garden, Virginia’s parents little orchard and some donations from families. On the fruit platters we added a mint from our herb boxes called choc mint and a Spiced Yogurt dip. The students hadn’t been involved in making the dip so the challenge for them was to work out what spices they were tasting. It is amazing how their taste buds have developed. Between everyone they were able to suggest all of them. Below is the loose recipe. You can use a mixed spice or add them individually.
A typical good quality mixed spice would have the following ingredients. 1 Tbsp ground all spice (a dried berry, also called Jamaican spice) 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon, 1Tbsp nutmeg, 2 tsp mace, 1 tsp cloves, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp dried ginger. As the dip was popular and we have so many more prune and green gage plums from Virginia it can be in-cluded in the next menu as a dish. We will add a few more spices this time. When introducing some unfamil-iar flavours to students it is often beneficial to add a little more sugar initially and reduce it in time. This was last week’s version. Spiced Yoghurt - 1 cup natural yoghurt, pinch ground all spice, pinch cinnamon, tiny pinch nutmeg, tiny pinch clove, tiny pinch dried ginger, ½ Tbsp brown sugar (or to taste),
Classes in need (any class under 4)
Kitchen current
number of
volunteers
Garden current
number of
volunteers
6S Mon 9.00 4 2
6N Mon 11am 2 2
6T Mon 1.30 pm 0 0
4AD Tues 9am 2 1
5R Tues 11am 1 1
5 HJ Wed 9am 2 3
4T Wed 11am 2 4
5M Thurs 9am 2 2
5K Thurs 11am 2 3
6M Thurs 1.30pm 4 2
4G Fri 9am 4 0
4B Fri 11am 3 2
Westgarth Primary School 10
WELCOME PICNIC Thank you to all the people who volunteered their time at this year’s Picnic. Thanks to Dan Tyrell for the music; Eric, Brad and Michael on snags; and Carissa, Julie, Shazeena, Rebecca, Lyndall, Kylie, Allison, Emma, Jessamy and Anson for selling. A solid turnout saw all the food go, and thanks also to Annette Williams and family for the addition of chocolate goodies this year. Final figures on funds raised will be announced soon. Now…talking of chocolate… EASTER CHOCOLATE FUNDRAISER Did you sample some of the chocolate at the Welcome Picnic? The yumminess continues this Easter, as the legendary Annette Williams organises for our community to enjoy discounted Australian made chocolate bunnies and eggs from the Chocolatier range. An order form will come home soon. Buy up big for friends, family, the office, yourself! It’s a great way to thank someone who’s helped you this year and raises much needed funds for our school. AGM for Parents and Friends Our AGM will be at the next meeting on Wednesday 15 March at 7pm. You can nominate yourself or a friend for an office bearing position, become a general member, and join the discussion for activities in 2017. After an incredible job of establishing and running Parents and Friends, Jessamy and Emma are stepping down this year from the roles of President and Secretary SOCIAL REPS Thankyou to all who volunteered to coordinate and circulate a class list of parent /carer contact details. If your class does not already have a list going around, a class list will be posted on your classroom door later this week for parents to fill in. The details you give are only shared amongst the parents/carers of your class. If you have any questions, please contact us on [email protected]. There are still some gaps for certain class years, so please put your hand up. Jessamy, Emma, Nerida and Jac [email protected]
Westgarth Primary School 11
Westgarth Primary School 12
Hook in2 Hockey!
Come and try hockey for free.
Yarra Valley is running a come and try day
which leads into a 6 week program for 5-12
year olds.
Saturday 25 February, 10.30-11.30 at
67 Liberty Parade, Bellfield.
Please contact Rachel Watson for more
information [email protected].
The Westgarth Primary School Council does not endorse any of its sponsors or advertisers, but we do acknowledge their support.