Latest News

From the Principal

Dear Waddington Parents/Carers,

We have had an excellent start to the term and our students have been actively engaged in their learning. We received the preliminary results for NAPLAN and we are exceptionally positive about our students results, with a large majority of our students being in the ‘Strong’ category, especially in Year 5. Our commitment to Explicit Direct Instruction with daily reviews happening every day in Maths and Literacy has meant our students are making solid progress. We have also invested in an assessment program called Elastik which is utilised by a number of schools in WA. Elastik use our school data to help our teachers look at the gaps in student’s knowledge. We are then able to ensure we fill these gaps which may be prohibiting them from progressing. At Waddington PS, we want to ensure all of our students are making progress, no matter their starting point and this is another way to ensure this occurs. 

We greatly appreciate everyone’s understanding with the change in date for swimming lessons which will be for 2 weeks commencing Monday 14^th August. The weather is still very cold, so please ensure your child has a warm towel packed and jumper. Thankfully, the lessons are in the afternoon. Swimming is an essential part of our lives here in Australia and swimming lessons are mandated by the Department of Education for students in Western Australia. 

On the 16^th August we will be celebrating SuperHIRO Wednesday. This is where students get to dress up as their favourite superheroes for a gold coin donation to bring awareness to National Bullying Prevention Week. We take the issue of bullying incredibly seriously and we work tirelessly to foster a safe and nurturing environment for all our students. We firmly believe in promoting a culture of respect, empathy, and kindness, where every individual feels valued and protected. Our dedicated staff are trained to recognize and address bullying promptly, working closely with students, parents, and the wider community to prevent and address such behaviours. By fostering open communication and fostering a supportive atmosphere, we aim to empower our students to stand up against bullying and cultivate an inclusive school community where everyone can thrive without fear. Together, we actively work to create a positive and uplifting environment that nurtures the potential of each and every child. I have included some information in our Friendly Schools Plus section about how to talk to your child about bullying.

Our staff are currently working on our Good Standing Policy which will be implemented alongside our Behaviour Management and Bullying Policies to assist with ensuring positive behaviours across our schools. Last week, Education Minister, Dr Tony Buti, announced a new initiative outlining how families can help to keep schools safe by preventing violence. Connect and Respect is a guide that clearly outlines what is expected when parents and school staff engage. It was sent home last week with students and you are encouraged to read through the information. 

Our Ready! Set! Kindy! program is set to start in WEEK 5 Friday, 18^th August. We encourage families who have a Kindy aged child in 2024 to enrol as soon as possible to ensure they are able to access this excellent program run by Mrs Ruthven. This is another way Waddington PS is ensuring our students have a strong foundation for their schooling life. We are committed to giving our students the best opportunities in their education. 

Lastly, a reminder that students are required to wear their school uniforms to school. There are a number of students who are wearing hooded jumpers instead of school jumpers. We would appreciate it if parents could ensure students are wearing school jumpers or a plain red/grey jumper with no hood. Students are able to wear hooded rain jackets over their jumpers as these are taken off before class. A reminder that you can put an order in for our uniform shop at the front office or it is open every Friday in Block 3 from 2:50pm. 

Kind regards,

Jemima Tomlinson 

Principal

Friendly Schools – What to do about bullying

From the Administration Team

Interm Swimming

Just a reminder that swimming lessons commence Monday 14th August at Balga Leisure Centre. Notes went home last week and we ask families to please return their forms and make payments by no later than Friday 11th August. The cost for the bus this year will be $64 per student and if families need to make payment in instalments please come and see Mrs Jones in the front office.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this matter.

Term 3 Planner

The term planner is updated regularly and below are some important dates to be aware of for this term.

Please refer to the Term Planner page under the ‘Community’ tab for the most up-to-date events for term 3 (but this may be subject to change so please check regularly).

Important Dates

31st July 2023 – Balga SHS excursion (11.45am – 1pm)

1st August 2023 – EduDance

3rd August 2023 – Science Incursion

4th August 2023 – Assembly – Room 1

7th August 2023 – Balga SHS excursion (11.45am – 1pm)

8th August 2023 – EduDance

14th August 2023 – Interm swimming lessons

15th August 2023 – Interm swimming lessons

15th August 2023 – EduDance

16th August 2023 – Interm swimming lessons

17th August 2023 – Interm swimming lessons

18th August 2023 – Interm swimming lessons

18th August 2023 – Bullying NoWay Day!

18th August 2023 – Ready! Set! Kindy! transition program 10.30am – 12.30pm

Active Body, Active Mind………

Room 9 – Our Future Leaders

It’s been a wild time in Room 9!

There is never a dull moment for us in Room 9. How fabulous it is to share our learning, which is coming along in leaps and bounds.

This term our dramatic play corner has been turned into a Vet clinic, with the class helping our sick animal friends from all over the world with their illnesses. The phone rings off the hook as we take calls and bandage up our patients.

We have found our creative flair, as we become more familiar with constructing creations. Our engineering skills are constantly evolving in the block corner, as we explore ways we can be sheltered from the weather.  Without a doubt our favourite centres are playdough, maker table and painting which always produce fantastical inventions and fabulous food creations. 

In Literacy we recounted a Teddy Bear’s picnic. We wrote the bears an invitation, brainstormed the type of sandwiches they would enjoy and made these all by ourselves. Sitting together eating lunch that we made ourselves made us feel very proud and independent! We explored how to use a ruler and made a patterned picnic rug artwork, which combined different mediums to depict our picnic.

In Maths we have been exploring 2D shapes and we created some amazing mobiles that hang in our room and often whirl in the wind with the weather we have had lately.

In Science we have started to explore weather, the seasons and what changes we see. We enjoy making cumulative artworks, and our latest project is sure to impress with each of the collaged elements being individual and unique. We chose clothes that we could wear in Summer or Winter and giggled together as we tried to fit into adult versions of these!

We have learned some new life skills from incursions with St John Ambulance and Bullying No Way, listened to stories, and made new friends with our visitors. We even got to try on some Ambulance uniforms! Our turn taking and sharing skills have come such a long way that we are now able to play a board game with a few friends which makes us very proud.

Community Notices

Saver Plus – The Smith Family

Like many families in WA, your family may also be experiencing the impact of cost-of-living challenges. Saver Plus helps empower families with money skills and assist with school expenses by rewarding them for saving.

What is Saver Plus?

Saver Plus is a free online community money skills program funded by ANZ and the Australian Government, and delivered by The Smith Family in WA:

·        helping people to hit their savings goals,

·        develop life-long savings habits, and

·        receive up to $500 in matched savings from ANZ to assist with school expenses.

Please note an Eligibility criteria applies.

It takes a village!

Please see the flyer below with some information for families with children aged 0 to 5 years who have been living in Australia for less than 5 years.

From the Principal

Dear Waddington Parents/Carers,

It is hard to believe that we are at the end of Term 2, it has been jam packed!

Our students were exemplary last week at the Interschool Carnival and it was truly a moment to reflect on how far we have come as a school. The student’s behaviour and sportsmanship was excellent and to take out some MVP’s and a win for AFL was so motivating for the students. I would like to thank Mr Boon and Mr Greer for doing a super job in organising our students for the event and to all of our staff who assisted on the day. 

We have just finished the process for the Year 3 / 4 teaching position and parents will be informed of the result soon. 

It will be Mrs Helen Brown’s (Cleaner in Charge) last week next week and I would like to take this opportunity to thank her for all of her hard work at Waddington PS for a number of years. We will miss her smiling face every morning and afternoon. 

In line with our School Review last year, we have been creating some important policies to help ensure that our processes are in line with Department of Education policy and processes. We have now created a Bullying Policy. Bullying is something we take very seriously here at Waddington PS and this policy outlines some of the ways in which we prevent and deal with incidents of bullying. Please feel free to have a look at these and we welcome any feedback you might have. We have also created a Nit Policy which helps to outline how we deal with nits within the classroom. Please see below a link to download these two policies.

We hope you all have a wonderful last two weeks of the school term and encourage you to have a look at some of the programs on offer over the holidays for students. There is lots to choose from! 

Kind regards,

Jemima Tomlinson 

Principal

From the Administration Team

The term planner is updated regularly and below are some important dates to be aware of for this term.

Please refer to the Term Planner page under the ‘Community’ tab for the most up-to-date events for term 2 (but this may be subject to change so please check reguarly).

Important Dates

19th June 2023 – Balga SHS Incursion (Room 5)

21st June 2023 – Bike servicing for all students

23rd June 2023 – Assembly – Room 5 (Year 5 and 6)

23rd June 2023 – P&C Spaghetti Day

30th June 2023 – Term 2 ends

17th July 2023 –TERM 3 COMMENCES FOR STUDENTS AND STAFF

Health body and strong minds………

From the PE Teacher

Dear Waddington Parents/Carers,

Last week the Year 3-6 students competed in this year’s Lightning Carnival on Tuesday 13^th June, travelling to Warriapendi Primary School. Students represented Waddington in either AFL, Soccer or Netball.

The emphasis of the Lightning Carnival was on fun and participation. It was wonderful to see our students demonstrate their skills and resilience by coming together and doing a fantastic job. The support, encouragement and sportsmanship shown meant the day was a huge success for everyone involved.

A few highlights from the day included the Waddington AFL team finishing in first place, taking home the shield. On an individual note a huge congratulations to Locklan Jonsson for receiving the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for AFL and Eboni Woodland for receiving the MVP for Netball.

Lastly I would like to acknowledge and thank the following groups for their support:

• All Waddington students who participated and demonstrated the Waddy Way.
• The many staff who gave up their time to support and coach the teams.
• The parents and carers who came down to support and cheer on the teams.
• To Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Tomlinson for their administrative support.

Kind regards

Sam Boon

PE Teacher

Kindergarten Enrolments for 2024 now open!

We are now taking Kindergarten enrolments for 2024. If you have a child who was born between the 1st July 2019 and the 30th June 2020 they are now eligible to apply. If you know other families in the local area who have children born in this period please encourage them to enrol with Waddington!

You can drop into the front office and pick up an Application for Enrolment form or download one from the schools website. Please complete the form and return to the office along with the following supporting documents –

• Your child’s birth certificate (or other identity documents)
• Proof of address document (copy of a power/gas bill, drivers licence, rates notice, rental agreement with your residential address)
• Copies of any Family Court orders or other court orders relating to the care of your child (if applicable)
• Copies of information relating to any health or medical conditions, disabilities or additional needs your child may have (if applicable)
• If your child is not a permanent resident of Australia, you must provide their current visa documents and any previous visa document where they are currently on a bridging visa (if applicable)

Applications need to be in by 22nd July 2023. Families will be advised if their Application for Enrolment has been accepted by the end of August 2023 and then a further detailed Enrolment document will need to be completed to secure their enrolment for 2024.

Room 5 – Term 2 happenings!

What a bumper Term Two the students of Room 5 have had! They have been working hard and building on their individual successes across all learning areas and have continued to build strong relationships with their peers by demonstrating kindness, respect and understanding.

In Science this term, the students have been learning about the use of electricity and how to build circuits. They have successfully applied this knowledge and are currently in the process of ‘building’ houses out of cardboard with working lights! The students are looking forward to sharing their innovative homes with the whole school upon completion. How exciting!

In Art this term, the students have shown strong resilience during all tasks. They have been victorious in creating a colour wheel and designing fashionable footwear. They are currently showing perseverance as they tackle their hardest project to date…a self-portrait!

For Literacy in Room 5 we have been investigating similes and metaphors to add to our writing. Can you find which sentence is the simile and which is a metaphor? If not, our students can help…just ask! The snow is a white blanket. Rapunzel’s hair was as soft as clouds.

Our amazing leaders have been keeping busy with our weekly announcements over the PA system, giving out awards, managing the flags, helping with equipment for recess and lunch. Probably their greatest achievement of leadership this year came during the training sessions they planned and lead for their teams in the Lightning Carnival sports.

Rooms 5 and 8 participated in the Lightning Carnival last week with three other schools and performed impeccably for the entire day. It was wonderful to see parents come along to spur the students on and to witness the strong display of teamwork, flexibility and sportsmanship from all attendees. All students put in 110% on the day and displayed the mighty Waddington spirit!

Community Notices

Food Hampers – The Pantry

The Pantry offer food hampers each week for $10. These contain fresh produce, bread and sometimes cold produce as well. 

These may be useful for families as they are available year round.

The Pantry is located at 5/25 Dellamarta Road, WANGARA.

CURRENT OPENING HOURS

Wednesday – 9:30am to 12:30pm

Friday – 12pm to 3pm

Note: Closed on all other days

Please phone for more information: 0492 955 712.

Stirling Leisure Centre July School Holiday Programs

Roseworth Child and Parent Centre July School Holiday Activities

Better Health Co. – Free lifestyle programs for kids 6 – 12 years old

Ngala free parenting courses – July to September 2023

Please see below some free parenting courses provided by Ngala held every Wednesday from 9.30am to 11.30am starting the 26th July 2023 and concluding 20th September 2023. Registrations are essential.