starting from 2018, our newsletter will be fortnightly · wednesday weekly . starting from 2018,...
TRANSCRIPT
Wednesday Weekly
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STARTING FROM 2018, OUR NEWSLETTER WILL BE FORTNIGHTLY
Diary Dates Term 4 - can be subject to change
9 November Normanhurst Boys HS share picture books 10 November Kindergarten 2018 transition 9am – 10.30am band performing 14 November 2.15pm 3 – 6 assembly
21 November Kindergarten excursion – Farm 2.15pm K – 6 assembly
27 November School captain and sport captain elections this week 28 November 7.30pm P & C meeting 1 December Year 6 Farewell 3 December Band concert 4 December TWOOSH meeting
5 December Public schools high school orientation 2.15pm Final assembly K – 6
6 December Year 6 Fun Day
7 December Religious Instruction Xmas service 10.30am Principals morning tea
11 December Presentation Day Reports home
12 December Volunteers morning tea (including scripture/ethics teachers) 13 December Year 6 Tree Tops
15 December Last day of year! K – 6 Variety show
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Towards 2020
Over the last few weeks we have had three parent focus groups that were well attended. Thank you for your time and sharing your thoughts and ideas. As a school community the partnership between home and school is paramount. As parents who own businesses and work in various professions are extremely knowledgeable about what skills, knowledge and understanding our children will need to the future. These conversations have been inspiring and we look forward to making some of these ideas reality in 2018 – 2020. Below are some key questions we discussed.
Issue 29 2017 Term 4 Week 4 Date 1st November, 2017 A weekly newsletter for families and friends of Thornleigh West Public School
What skills, knowledge and understanding will students in need in the future? How can this be achieved?
• Nurture talents • Mental health is vital • Homework – home “learning” • Confident eager to learn • Play – children learn through play • Literacy and Numeracy skills • Collaborative • Linked to the wider community • Hands on learning • Sustainability – garden extend • Spirals of inquiry • Positive self-talk • Empathy • Creative and critical thinking • Curious • Social skills • Lifelong learner • Technology skills • Outdoor learning • Mentoring • Support for teachers to develop their skills • Communication skills – verbal and written • Problem solvers • Learn to develop relationships • Homework linked to technology – relevant
Kindergarten 2017 will be in the workforce or tertiary education in 2030. What will they need in their backpack?
Resilience Confidence Know how to learn – learning about learning Love of learning Communication skills Use technology safely Physically healthy Active enquiry mind Time management Make connections to real world Empathy and understanding of others Know strengths and weaknesses – growth
mindset Work in a team Leadership qualities Problem solving Curious Confidence speaking Self esteem Adaptability Presentation skills Emotional Intelligence Persistence STEM – Science Technology Engineering and
Mathematics
How can we best lead TWPS so as to result in deep learning for students who will enter the workforce in 2030 and beyond?
o Learning linked to real world o Learning through play o Teachers have a culture of continuous improvement
o Mentor beginning teachers o Build a culture of learning o Student collaborate about learning o Games to develop talk, social interaction, problem solving and learning to loose o STEM o Lego – robotics o Coding o Tools for foster curiosity o Transferable skills o Work with diverse people o Listening skills o Able to cope with change and adapt o School makes connections with industry and corporate world o Physical learning environment – change for flexible relaxed learning to foster creativity o Citizenship o Cultural diversity o Collaboration and communication o Encourage student to be entrepreneurs
How can TWPS connect and flourish with the constantly changing world?
Investigating and exploring Science and Technology Lego - robotics STEM Teacher professional learning in technology and science Creative Arts: music and art Emotional Intelligence Experts to support teachers and student learning Learning how to lean Adaptive Perseverance Accepting change Collaborate with other professionals beyond our own school. Develop links with local High Schools Technology part of everyday teaching Learn more about students with various needs: autism, gifted and talented, ADD etc.. Mentors for disengaged students
Homework is always a controversial topic that people have various opinions on. Research does tell us the following about the impact of homework on children in primary school:
• Homework offers no academic advantage. Instead, it overwhelms struggling children and is boring for high achievers.
• Homework is stressful. A recent study showed a direct relationship between time on homework and
increased anxiety, depression, anger, and other mood disturbances among students.
• As homework increases, national student achievement decreases. Data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study showed the overall correlations between achievement and the percentage of teachers who used homework in grading are all negative.
• Homework increases family conflict. And the more parents help with children’s homework, the more tension children experience. It also reduces time for other activities that provide balance and variety to a child’s life, such as sport, music, art, or other extra-curricular activities, or to relax and simply be children.
• Homework places additional burdens on parents - who often don’t know how to help their children anyway - and on teachers, who have enough to do without having to collect, mark, and redistribute extra work for their students on top of that required by the curriculum in schools.
Research DOES indicate that ALL children should read each night. Reading is shown to increase academic achievement and aid in learning. But reading should not be for a set number of minutes or pages. Similarly, self-directed learning at home by completing projects of interest can aid in positive educational experience and motivation.
Many schools are moving towards a “Flipped classroom”. This is reversal of traditional teaching where students are required to read, view and research to gain first exposure to new material outside class especially in years 3 – 6. They assimilate knowledge through strategies such as problem solving, discussion or debates.
This year at TWPS many of the teaching teams have trialled this model of reading, Mathletics and an inquiry based project once a semester.
Please take the time to complete this survey to help us gain your thoughts on homework.
https://surveyhero.com/c/44a89f7
Have a great week.
Chantal Mamo
BTeach BEd MA Creative Arts
P&C REPORT
Follow us on www.facebook.com/TWPSPC
Dear School Community,
KINDY TRANSITION: P&C EXPO: Big thanks to our amazing P&C Volunteers who introduced the P&C and the sub-committees to our new Kindy Families for 2018. The stalls were Fundraising, Catering, Green Thumbs, Ethics, Canteen, Uniform Shop, MDFDGG, School Banking, Book Club and Class Parents. Lots of interest by new families and we look forward to seeing many attend our P&C meetings in 2018 AGENDA ITEMS: If you have anything you would like on the P&C Agenda please email by no later than 13th November. We will post the agenda on FB and in the newsletter 2 weeks prior to the next meeting to give the community enough notice on discussion topics. Anything sent after this date will be added as general business.
FACEBOOK: Veryan & I were lucky to be invited to Facebook HQ last week to attend a round table discussion with other schools with the Global Head of Safety, Antigone Davis. It was very interesting to hear how Facebook works with parents to ensure cyber safety for children. Over the coming weeks I will post some great links for parents regarding Facebook safety. NEXT P&C Meeting: Tuesday 28th November at 7pm – last P&C meeting for the year. I will be discussing the year in review and also talking about money raised/spent and fundraising ideas for 2018. Come along!
Please follow us on our Facebook pages as above. We often post information during the week on these pages. Vanessa Erickson P&C President [email protected]
BAND NEWS Band Committee Elections
Our P& C Band Committee Elections are to be held on Tuesday 21 November 2017 at 7:30pm at TWPS
Staffroom. The usual Committee Meeting will follow on as per usual.
We would love to see a representative from each family! Our program would not be as cost effective or as personal
if it weren’t for the band parents on the committee. Many hands make light work, and who wouldn’t want to be
involved in a program that assists our children learn an instrument and has bands achieving great results in the
various music festivals? We have at least 45 new Training Band children starting, and would love to see some new
faces.
We would also like to thank Lydia van Elven, Melissa Watts and Warwick Edwards who will be stepping down from
roles this year.
The open committee roles are (Convener, assistant convener, secretary, treasurer, assistant treasurer, band
coordinator (at least two for each band), band camp coordinator/s, fundraising coordinator, tutor coordinator or
instrument coordinator and assistant instrument coordinator).
If you have any questions or would like further information on a specific role please contact email
Congratulations to our “Musos of the Month” – October
This award is given to students who demonstrate a passion for learning, attendance, being a good team member, following the bands code of behaviour and overall enjoying music.
Training Band Kieran L. Daniel M. Joseph K.
Junior Concert Band Grace W. Joseph J.
Senior Concert Band Rueben V. Max G.
Stage Band Roan v E.
Congratulations to Mr David Bell and his wife On the day of the Hornsby North Band Festival in the early hours of the morning, Mr David Bell and
his wife welcomed their second son, Henry Radcliffe to the world. We wish his family all the best in their new exciting stage.
Band dates for your diary Mon 13th Nov – PHHS Orientation Band rehearsal – For Year 6 Band students going to PHHS Tue 21st Nov - K-6 Assembly – Junior Concert Band to perform Tue 21st Nov – Committee Meeting and AGM. 7:30pm Staffroom. All welcome, especially TB parents 2018! Sun 3rd Dec – Band end of year concert – from 2:30pm Mon 4th Dec – JCB rehearsal cancelled Tue 5th Dec – PHHS Orientation Band Performance - For Year 6 Band students going to PHHS Tue 5th Dec – Combined JCB and SCB rehearsal. JCB can be picked up at 4pm. Thur 7th Dec – Combined 2017 and 2018 Stage Band rehearsal Fri 8th Dec – Combined SCB and Senior Choir Anthem rehearsal Mon 11th Dec – Presentation Day – Senior Concert Band and Stage Band performance Mon 11th Dec – Instrument Return – only for Students leaving the program. Robin Beard (Band Convener) and Nicole Ng (Assistant Convener) Email: [email protected] https://twpspandc.wordpress.com/band/
GREEN THUMBS - SCHOOL GARDEN NEWS
Top Row: Corn and Lettuce, Sunflowers
Bottom Row: Green Tomatoes, Cucumber Flowering, Silverbeet and Shallots (Photos: Ingrid Leese)
We are holding our final working bee of the year on Saturday 25th November from 9.00am - 1.00pm. For the first time, we will also be having a Crop Swap on the day. Help us to prepare the garden for summer and bring along your own excess produce to swap with others. We will be sharing some of the veggies from the garden too! We would love it if you have any sugar cane mulch to contribute to the school garden, so we can mulch the beds in preparation for a long hot summer.
Last Friday, the weather co-operated and we were able to run Garden Club at lunchtime. We had lots of helpers in the garden to fertilise the garden with Seasol and plant cucumber seedlings, filling in the gaps where a few of the cucumber seeds planted earlier hadn't germinated. The children were excited when we showed them the
developing cucumbers on a few of the vines and green tomatoes on the tomato plants. Hopefully the tomatoes will start ripening soon, so the children can start harvesting before the summer holidays.
If you are interested in helping in Garden Club, we will meet on Fridays at lunchtime in the Garden from 1.15-2.15pm. Please sign in, before joining us in the garden, in the Visitors book in the school office. We will post updates on Facebook on the Green Thumbs page each week, in case of wet weather, or let us know if you plan to join us so we can inform you of any changes.
We will continue planting with various classes this term. If you are interested in helping with these activities please join our Facebook Group or email us on [email protected] to be put on our mailing list.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TWPSGreenThumbs/
or search Facebook for TWPS Green Thumbs
Best regards, The Green Thumbs Team Patty, Emma and Ingrid
Community News
Congratulations to Maeve McAllister from 6D who has been selected for the very first girls Sydney Swans Academy! This is an outstanding achievement as a few hundred girls tried out. We are very proud of Maeve who is a pioneer for girls AFL in NSW.
THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS
