wess learning news...choose a favourite wild animal. draw your animal and label its features using...

We are ready to welcome back Preps and Year 1s

What wonderful news we received this week—Preps and Year 1s will be back learning at WESS from Monday and the rest of the school will return, all going well, by late May. We are thrilled that soon we will all learn together again. Things will change to keep our school community safe (see your emails), but we look forward to bringing our school community back to WESS.

From Monday we will welcome our youngest two year levels as well as those children of essential workers from Years 2 - 6. There are new drop off and pick up arrangements so please read all our school communications thoroughly. Knowing these in advance will help make even smoother transi-tions.

Our Prep and Year 1 teachers are ready and excited to see their students again! Our students in Years 2 – 6 will continue to learn using WESS@Home. We’ve got this!

Kim McNamara, WESS Principal

WESS LEARNING NEWS We are all in this togetherMay 2020

Ms Heron, Prep teacher, is ready at the Hardgrave Road gate entrance for Preps and Year 1s to enter on Monday! Leadership team members will be at all other school gates, easing the drop and go process. Thank you for understanding that these measures are in place to assist social distancing requirements.

We are all in this together, we’ve got this! Share your experience at [email protected]

Monday’s changes for Prep and Year 1Drop off

- before 8.15am students should access Outside School Hours Care (OSHC)

- 8.15am-8.45am students are dropped at the new gate on Hardgrave Rd (at the Prep play area near the

zebra crossing)

- parents / carers should drop students off to the teacher at the gate and not enter WESS grounds (to avoid

adults congregating)

- if the Hardgrave Rd gate is closed, parents / carers are to take students to the WESS office and drop them

off there

Pick up

- parents / carers should collect students from the oval between 2.45pm-3pm

- teachers will stay with students until they are collected by parents / carers

- parents / carers are asked to leave WESS grounds immediately after collecting students (again to avoid

adults congregating)

- students not picked up by 3pm will be taken to the WESS office

Other changes to note

- no tuckshop

- no after school activities

- WESS@Home finishes Friday 8 May for Prep and Year 1 students

WESS@Home for Years 2-6Our Year 2-6 students will continue learning at home (or some physically attending school) with Week 4 WESS@Home learning.

Junior, Year 3, ready to continue WESS@Home for a few more weeks

Freda, Year 6, settling into her WESS@Home routine


Preps and Year 1s we can’t wait! ‘We are all very excited for the return of Prep and Year

1 to WESS. There are some things that are the same, like learning, lunch, specialists lessons and playtime. Then some things will be a little different, like drop off gates and pick up areas. Check out the WESS communication that has been sent through to find out how the amazing staff have created a smooth transition for your child in this time.

We can’t wait to see all the smiling faces at the gate where the teachers will be waiting excitedly!’

Ms Heron, Prep teacher.

‘We are very excited to have the students join us back at school on Monday. To support their transition back into the classroom, we will be re-establishing our classroom rules and behaviour expectations whilst delivering quality learning experiences. Hand washing will make a regular appearance throughout the day to ensure we are fostering a healthy and safe environment for our students. It will be an exciting moment for the kids to reunite with their friends and their teachers.’

Ms Ford, Year 1 teacher.

Ms Ford, Year 1 teacher, excited to see her students back on Monday

Student emailYour child’s student email: [email protected] comes with safety nets. Student emails are scanned for viruses, malicious materials, and inappropriate language and attachments. Year 3 and 4 students are beginning to use their school email while our Year 5 and 6 students know well how it works.

Help us endorse safe email use by reminding your child that:

- their school email requires correct spelling, punctuation, and formality, e.g., Dear Mr/Mrs ...

- the school rules and values apply to email use

- any inappropriate language is filtered, quarantined and traced back to the sender

- any inappropriate emails received need to be reported to the schools

- usernames and passwords need to be kept private

For more cybersafety information see https://www.qld.gov.au/education/schools/health/cybersafety/cybersafety-qss


Happy Healthy LearnersTips from Teachers for Years 2-6Learners need to move! In a classroom, we notice concentration waning and focus dropping when students sit for too long.

At school, we break up learning activities with short, more energetic activities.

There are many positive effects on learning when we move! Brain-based learning pioneer, Eric Jensen, is a fan. He says movement:

•increases circulation, moving more oxygen to areas of the brain for learning

•supports brain development such as ‘pruning’ (eliminating unnecessary synapses), ‘neurogenesis’ (new cell growth) and ‘myelination’ (strengthening existing processing pathways)

•allows the brain to break from new content and allows it to form new memories

•regulates neurotransmitters such as dopamine and glutamate to enhance focus, mood and learning

Need ideas for brain breaks?

If you have a favourite brain break, we would love to hear from you!

Send your brain break ideas and pictures / photos to [email protected]


WESS Strategic Plan and YouLook out for our new strategic plan snapshot! From next week you can find it on our WESS website along with the entire strategic plan. Its launch next week coincides with our first signature practice video on Quick Writes, which will be found on the WESS Facebook page and our WESS website.

Other videos coming soon:

- guided reading

- complex instruction

- bump it up

- age appropriate learning

Curriculum link-up (Year 1)Have you ever wondered how what your child is doing at home relates to the Australian Curriculum? Check out our curriculum link-ups!

What the Australian Curriculum says

Living things have a variety of external features. Living things live in different places where their needs are met.

What this means

To meet the Australian Curriculum, students need to learn that animals have a variety of external features, such as wings, beaks, and claws. They also need to learn that these features help the animal to survive in its habitat. Students learn that living things often live in particular places where their needs are met.

What does that look like in the WESS@Home grid?

Choose a favourite wild animal. Draw your animal and label its features using adjectives to add detail e.g. thin webbed wings. Research your animal using Epic to find out about its habitat and what it needs to survive. Use an old shoebox or cardboard box to create an interesting diorama of your animal in its habitat, meeting all its needs (food, water, shelter, oxygen, temperature).

How else can this be learnt?

Saraswathi from Year 1 found and rescued a Barn Owl outside her house and took it to the vet. She researched Barn Owls and their external features. Saraswathi also learnt about the different ways owls’ habitats meet their needs. She created a model habitat using a cardboard box.

Another way this Australian Curriculum element could be learnt is for students to choose their own animal, describing its external features and deciding on a habitat which would meet its needs. Students could also create a collage of a local habitat, using materials found outside.


Freda, Year 6, settling into her WESS@Home routk

Curriculum link-up (Year 5)


Estimate, measure and compare angles using degrees.

What this means

To meet the Australian Curriculum, students need to identify acute, obtuse, reflex, straight and right angles, and identify them around their environment.


Identify types of lines and types of angles. Identify angle types in your environment and a way to extend this could be to identify and list all of the angles in a particular room in your house. Label each part of the angle including rays, arc and measurement and identify whether it is acute, obtuse, reflex, straight or a right angle.

Curriculum link-up (Year 1)


Recognise, describe and order Australian coins according to their value.

What this means

To meet the Australian Curriculum, students need to sort coins, both silver and gold, according to their value.


Sort coins according to their value and create a shop (labelling items with an appropriate price and collecting the correct amount of coins to purchase the item).

Year 1 student, Hannah, working with money

How else can this be learnt?

Another way this Australian Curriculum element could be learnt is for students to label and describe the visual features on each coin.

Year 1 student, Louisa, and her completed Unit Task Year 1 student, Willem, and his Quick Write


Help us keep our community safe The most important ways to help stop the spread of COVID-19

in the school environment are the same as in the broader community. We encourage families to continue talking to their children about these important strategies.

• Clean your hands regularly with soap and water or alcohol-based sanitiser.

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or bent elbow when coughing or sneezing.

• Avoid touching your face, nose and mouth, and avoid shaking hands.

• Stay home if you are sick.

• Practice social distancing, including staying 1.5 metres away from others as much as you can.

Many of the arrangements put in place by WESS will be to enable appropriate distancing between the adults in school grounds. You can support us by following the guidelines and explaining to your child the changes to drop off and pick up routines and the lunch break activities before they return to school.

Deputy Principal, Ms Sotiriou, with some of our WESS supplies

wess learning news...choose a favourite wild animal. draw your animal and label its features using...

Documents