Newsletter 9

From the Principal

Dear Waddington Families,

I would like to say a big thank you to you all for your support with our Faction Carnival on Friday. For those who attended and weathered the rain and chill, for those who supported with faction themed dress, and for those who were unable to attend but support from the sidelines. You are all appreciated. A big thank you also goes out to our P&C who provided refreshments and a delicious sausage sizzle on the day.

Swimming lessons are approaching mid Term 4.  The information regarding timings and payment options are coming home with students today. Due to a change in scheduling of the lessons, the cost is less this year. Kindergarten students do not attend swimming, and so will remain in school with their teacher following a normal timetable. 

The last two weeks of term are going to be busy, with lots of exciting events planned. Please check the calendar of events that is on our website to keep up to date with what is happening. On the last day of term, we are celebrating Book Week at Waddington. The theme this year is Reading is Magic. Students are invited to dress up as a favourite book character. Families are invited to the Book Day Parade at 2:40pm to see our staff and students showcase their costumes.

On a side note, can I please ask that we do not have dogs on school site. We have noticed an increase in parents bringing dogs with them at drop off and collection times. While I appreciate that they are much loved members of your family, it is a Department of Education policy that dogs are not permitted on school sites. We do have our Story Dog, Bailey who visits us and works with students. He undergoes rigorous training and safety assessments before this happens to ensure that he does not pose a risk to any students or staff.

Thank you again for your support for our school. I wish you all a safe and happy holiday. Please note that Monday 7th October is the first day back for students.

Warm wishes,

Ms Katherine Chivers 

Principal

From the Administration Team

Planning for 2025

Just a reminder for families to notify the school if they are not returning to Waddington PS next year. This assists the school with planning for 2025. If your child(ren) will not be returning to Waddington, please drop into the front office as we have copies of the forms sent out earlier this term for families to notify us in writing if they won’t be returning. Thank you in advance.

Term 3 Planner

The term planner is updated regularly and below are some important dates to be aware of for the rest of this term and the start date for Term 4. Students and Staff now start back on Monday 7 October 2024 as the Staff Development Day has been moved to Friday 1 November 2024.

Please refer to the Term Planner page under the ‘Community’ tab for the most up-to-date events for the term (but this may be subject to change so please check regularly). To assist families with planning for the busy end of the school year, we have also uploaded the Term 4 planner.

Important Dates

9 September 2024 – Newsletter published

10 September 2024 – Story Dogs 8.45am – 10.15am

10 September 2024 – Brownes Dairy Excursion – Years 2 – 6

11 September 2024 – Family Afternoon Tea – Staff Room 1.45pm – 2.30pm

12 September 2024 – R U OK Day

13 September 2024 – Assembly – Room 9 and 4

16 September 2024 – Book Fair 3.00pm – 3.30pm

17 September 2024 – Story Dogs 8.45am – 10.15am

17 September 2024 – Book Fair 3.00pm – 3.30pm

18 September 2024 – Book Fair 3.00pm – 3.30pm

18 September 2024 – Student Leaders YES Conference

19 September 2024 – Fire and Emergency Incursion Room 8 – 2.00pm – 3.00pm

20 September 2024 – Book Week Parade 2.30pm

20 September 2024 – P&C Pizza Day (Free for students)

20 September 2024 – Term 3 ends

7 October 2024 – Term 4 starts for Staff and Students

Interm Swimming – Term 4 Week 5

Today students in Pre-Primary to Year 6 will be bringing home their term 4 interm swimming notes. Please check your child’s bag for this information.

This year lessons are condensed into one week and the cost for families is therefore reduced to $37 per child. Lessons need to be paid in full by Friday 25 October. Please see below details of payment options for families.

Important Reminder – School Carpark Area

We ask families to please refrain from using the disabled parking bay when dropping off or collecting children. This is not a general parking area and must only be used by those who are eligible to use it. Thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation.

Family Afternoon Tea – Wednesday 11 September 2024

Please see the flyer below for this weeks Family Afternoon Tea. Please RSVP today if you would like to attend.

Free internet for unconnected families with school-aged students

School Student Broadband Initiative provides free home internet for unconnected families with school-aged students until 31 December 2025. 

The Australian Government School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI) is offering free home internet for eligible families with school-aged students until 31 December 2025.

To be eligible, families must:

  • have no active broadband service
  • have a device capable of accessing the internet
  • live in premises where they can access a standard NBN service
  • have a child living at home who is enrolled in an Australian school.

The free broadband starts from the day the service is activated with a participating internet provider. Families will not be placed on a paid service by the internet provider at the end of the free service without consent.

For more information and a list of participating internet providers, visit NBN Co School Student Broadband Initiative or call 1800 626 269.

If you think you are eligible and want to self-nominate for the free broadband offer:

  • call the National Referral Centre on 1800 954 610 (Monday to Friday, 10 am to 6 pm Australian Eastern Daylight-saving Time)
  • visit the School Student Broadband Initiative website.

For technical support in more than 100 regional and remote communities throughout Western Australia, contact your local Community Resource Centre.

Everyday counts!

2024 Faction Athletics Carnival Results

Last Friday we held our Faction Athletics Carnival, even in the rain and wind the students, staff and supporters gave their best. Thank you to Mr Milner for organising, setting up and running the day, along with all the staff who supported him.

Congratulations to Meeka who were the overall winners on 362 points, followed very closely behind by Kala on 353 points.

Please see below the students who placed Champion and Runner up on the day. Well done to all our competitors!

2024 FACTION ATHLETICS CHAMPIONS
  
Junior GirlsJunior Boys
Champion Syeni W
Runner up Angeline D
Champion Angus W
Runner up Mason L
  
Intermediate GirlsIntermediate Boys
Champion Harleyah M
Runner up (tie) Lilly C and Nevaeh J
Champion Naksh B
Runner up (tie) Jayden F and Ehsan H
  
Senior GirlsSenior Boys
Champion Eboni W
Runner up Asija O
Champion Yusuf J
Runner up Subhan R

From the P&C

We have a number of activities coming up which we would like to let families know about. Please have a read and mark these dates in your calendar!

P&C Pizza Day – Free for all students (PP to Year 6)

The P&C are providing all students on the last day of this term free pizza and a drink for our wonderful students and to acknowledge the additional expenses families have had this term. What a wonderful way to end what has been a very busy Term 3.

TERM 4 2024 P&C ACTIVITIES

P&C Bunnings Sausage Sizzle – Term 4 end of Week 3

P&C will be running a Bunnings Sausage Sizzle fundraiser on Saturday the 26 October 2024 at the Malaga store. The P&C will be looking for volunteers to help out with shifts during the day. If you can spare some time to help out, please let the front office know. Further details will be available next term.

P&C Halloween Disco – Term 4 Week 4

P&C will be running their annual Halloween Disco in week 4 of next term on Thursday 31 October. Further details will be available at the beginning of next term so keep an eye out!

From TheirCare – Before and After School Care

Look what our students have been up to with TheirCare this term.

Breakfast Club – Thank you Woolworths Mirrabooka!

We would like to acknowledge with thanks Woolworths Mirrabooka for supporting our schools breakfast club, our students appreciate you!

From the School Nurse

Dental Health – Keep Your Child’s Teeth Healthy

Teeth are important possessions. Here are some tips for keeping them healthy.

  • Clean teeth, gums and tongue at least twice a day with a soft toothbrush. Parents should supervise tooth brushing until children are 8 or 9 years old as children do not have the dexterity to brush the molars properly until then.
  • Adults and children should use a pea-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste. Toothpaste should be spat out after brushing and never eaten or swallowed. Do not rinse your mouth out with water after brushing your teeth.
  • Rinse your toothbrush thoroughly after brushing and store it hygienically. Replace your toothbrush regularly.
  • Older children and adults should floss their teeth daily.
  • Eating and drinking healthily is important for keeping your teeth healthy – try to keep away from too much sugar, especially between meals.

For more dental health information, go to http://raisingchildren.net.au  or http://www.dental.wa.gov.au/ . The School Dental Service provides free general dental care to school children throughout Western Australia, from pre-primary through to Year 11 (or 17th birthday). To contact your closest Dental Health Services call on 9313 0555 or go to https://www.dental.wa.gov.au/Find-a-Clinic/?service=sds.

Ms Mel Arnson

School Nurse

Room 1 – Travelling Through Term Three

Room One had an absolutely jam-packed, exciting term filled with adventure and loads of learning. This term was inspired by the Olympic Games and our own Sports Carnival. Through these, students experienced what it would be like to travel to another country and explore the wonderful landmarks of the world, with the Eiffel Tower being their favourite! Did you know that nearly 7 million people visit it every year? Students enjoyed the challenge of constructing their own towers in Design and Technology, built to hold two Lego people. The learning and language that came out of these experiences were amazing!

Students also wrote fabulous narrative stories about traveling to different destinations, each running into a problem along the way. Luckily, our young writers always had a solution up their sleeve. Students loved the way they could travel through writing and reading without leaving the classroom! And just like our Olympic athletes, they learned the importance of keeping themselves healthy and fit, which was the theme of our persuasive texts. Did you know that ‘moving’ sends positive messages to your brain and makes you feel happy?

In Geography, Room One has been learning about ‘Australia and Our World,’ exploring natural, constructed, and managed features, as well as various landforms. It was fascinating to discover how we are connected to different countries through family, food, clothing, and travel.

It has been wonderful to see students working hard on strengthening their mental number facts this term! They have gained speed with quick recall of adding, subtracting, and multiplying facts through timed ‘two-minute number fluency’. Students love reading large numbers with five, or more digits and identifying which are odd and which are even. They are even reading numbers into the millions! Room One has also enjoyed working on money tasks through buying and selling activities, and giving change. They are becoming experts in 3-D shapes as well; describing, identifying, drawing, and constructing different shapes and objects.

And to think, we still have more exciting things to look forward to this term, including the Browns excursion tomorrow! Students have loved investigating the journey of milk, from the ‘cow to the table’, and now we will get to see part of it in action!

An absolutely wonderful term Room One, and who knows where Term Four will take us….maybe into Space!

Community Notices

Free parent workshops (online and face-to-face) Term 3 and Term 4 2024

Please see below some flyers for a number of parents workshops this term and term 4 2024 and some September school holiday activities.

Wanslea – Bringing up Great Kids (Term 4)

Please see the flyer below for term 4 free parenting workshops being held at the City of Stirling (Mirrabooka).

Please click on the link below to register if you are interested in attending.

https://events.humanitix.com/bringing-up-great-kids-workshops-term-4-2024

Better Health Program – FREE Government Funded

Please see below details of a free 10 week program for families, just register via the details in the flyer.

Saver Plus Program

What is Saver Plus?

Saver Plus is a program for people on lower incomes. It’s about enhancing financial skills, to develop (and keep) good savings habits.  Since 2003, Saver Plus has supported more than 60,000 people to start saving.

Saver Plus has helped overcome the barriers around education expenses. And sets families up for a brighter future.

To be eligible You must have all of the following:

  • A Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card  
  • an eligible Centrelink payment*
  • Be studying yourself OR have a child in school (can be starting school next year)
  • Have regular income from work (either yourself or your partner)* including Carers Payment / Child Support / Cash in hand
  • Be 18+ years old
  • Agree to join in free online financial education workshops called MoneyMinded
  • Not completed Saver Plus previously

* Many types of income and Centrelink payments are eligible, see the Saver Plus terms and conditions for more information.

Landsdale Little Athletics Registration Day

Please see below the flyer for this sporting clubs registration day this Saturday 14 September 2024.

Newsletter 8

From the Principal

Dear Waddington Families,

I would like to begin by saying a huge thank you to Ben Ker for stepping in as Acting Principal during my absence. I have had very positive feedback from staff and students, and am reminded that we are all part of a wider educational community that works together to support our students and staff.

Our Year 3 and Year 6 students have all received their NAPLAN results. The overall trend is continued growth in a positive direction. This tells us that the whole school programs we have in place are effective but in education we always work for continual improvement. An area of focus that is a school priority is to build reading fluency. This decision is driven by different sources of information; NAPLAN, school based assessments, joint initiatives with schools in our network, and of course, teacher judgements on each child. No change can happen over night, but I would ask what you as parents and carers can do to support this initiative? If reading each night is a challenge, maybe you could make one or two nights special reading nights, try to read anything anywhere – road signs, food labels, read aloud the instructions when cooking, change the material that your child is reading; comic books, science books, joke books. Any reading is still reading, and we want our children to enjoy it. 

On the topic of reading, we are holding a Free Dress Story Dog Fundraiser Day on Friday 23rd August. There is a competition to guess the names of the two toy Story Dogs in the front office. The prize for our two winners will be the toy Story Dog and their book. Everyone is welcome to wear free dress, please bring a gold coin. All proceeds will be donated to the Story Dog organisation.

We had a fabulous afternoon with the Wild Cats last Tuesday. All students watched the match with Years 3-6 joining in. Basketball is becoming very popular at lunchtime! 

Please remember that we have our Faction Carnival approaching on Friday 6th September. Families and carers are welcome to attend to support our school.  

We look forward to a jam packed end to Term 3. As always, if you have any questions, please come and see me. 

With warm wishes to you all.

Ms Katherine Chivers 

Principal

From the Administration Team

Planning for 2025

A letter was sent home a few weeks ago to Pre-Primary to Year 5 students asking families to notify the school if they are not returning to Waddington PS next year. This assists the school with planning for 2025. If your child(ren) will not be returning to Waddington, please hand the form into the front office. Thank you in advance.

Term 3 Planner

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

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

Important Dates

19th August 2024 – Cross Country Carnival

20th August 2024 – Story Dogs 8.45am – 10.15am

20th August 2024 – School Nurse Girls Health talk – Year 5 girls

21st August 2024 – Ear Health Screening

22nd August 2024 – Year 5/6 Careers Talk Koondoola PS

23rd August 2024 – Story Day full day visit

23rd August 2024 – Story Dog Fundraiser Day & Free Dress (gold coin donation)

26th August 2024 – School Photos

27th August 2024 – Story Dogs 8.45am – 10.15am

28th August 2024 – P&C Father’s Day stall – Kindy students

30th August 2024 – P&C Father’s Day staff – PP to Year 6 students

2nd September 2024 – Jumps and Throws Carnival

3rd September 2024 – Story Dogs 8.45am – 10.15am

3rd September 2024 – School Nurse Puberty Talk – Year 6 students

3rd September 2024 – School Board Meeting 1.45pm

6th September 2024 – Faction Athletics Carnival

9th September 2024 – Newsletter published

10th September 2024 – Story Dogs 8.45am – 10.15am

10th September 2024 – Brownes Dairy Excursion – Years 2 – 6

11th September 2024 – Multicultural Afternoon Tea – Staff Room 1.30pm

12th September 2024 – R U OK Day

13th September 2024 – Assembly – Room 9 and 4

16th September 2024 – Book Fair 3pm – 3.30pm

17th September 2024 – Story Dogs 8.45am – 10.15am

17th September 2024 – Book Fair 3pm – 3.30pm

18th September 2024 – Book Fair 3pm – 3.30pm

18th September 2024 – Student Leaders YES Conference

19th September 2024 – Fire and Emergency Incursion Room 8 – 2pm – 3pm

20th September 2024 – Book Week Parade 2.30pm

20th September 2024 – Term 3 ends

7th October 2024 – Term 4 starts

School Photos – Monday 26th August 2024

School Photo Day is next Monday. Individual Student envelopes were sent home a few weeks ago. Please remember to place your order online and bring the order form in on the day to give the photographer. If you would like to order a new school uniform, please contact our front office or use the order form on our website.

Please see below important information from Fotoworks regarding our school photo day.

TheirCare – Before School Care Now OPEN

Free internet for unconnected families with school-aged students

School Student Broadband Initiative provides free home internet for unconnected families with school-aged students until 31 December 2025. 

The Australian Government School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI) is offering free home internet for eligible families with school-aged students until 31 December 2025.

To be eligible, families must:

  • have no active broadband service
  • have a device capable of accessing the internet
  • live in premises where they can access a standard NBN service
  • have a child living at home who is enrolled in an Australian school.

The free broadband starts from the day the service is activated with a participating internet provider. Families will not be placed on a paid service by the internet provider at the end of the free service without consent.

For more information and a list of participating internet providers, visit NBN Co School Student Broadband Initiative or call 1800 626 269.

If you think you are eligible and want to self-nominate for the free broadband offer:

  • call the National Referral Centre on 1800 954 610 (Monday to Friday, 10 am to 6 pm Australian Eastern Daylight-saving Time)
  • visit the School Student Broadband Initiative website.

For technical support in more than 100 regional and remote communities throughout Western Australia, contact your local Community Resource Centre.

Everyday counts!

Perth Wildcats Inspire – Friendly Basketball Game

On August 13th Keanu and Michael were joined joined by their other team mates to take on a student team for a few games of basketball here at Waddington! Here are a couple of photos of the fun students had on the day. One of our student teams even won their game against the professionals!

Breakfast Club – Thank you Woolworths Mirrabooka!

We would like to acknowledge with thanks Woolworths Mirrabooka for supporting our schools breakfast club, our students appreciate you!

From the School Nurse

Colds

Upper respiratory tract infections or colds are everywhere, especially in winter, so it is almost impossible to stop children from catching them. Here are some points which may help:

  • Teach your child to cover his/her nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, and to wash hands straight afterwards.
  • Hands should be washed after blowing noses and before eating.
  • Use tissues once and then throw them in the bin. (Avoid using handkerchiefs.)
  • Keep your child home from school if he/she has a cold/cough/fever/pain.
  • Make sure that your children eat a balanced diet of plenty of healthy foods.
  • Keep children away from smoke – it irritates their eyes and nasal passages, making it more likely that they will catch a cold. 
What to do if your child gets a cold

No treatment will cure a cold or make it go away more quickly, but you can help your child feel more comfortable:

  • Rest: This need not be in bed.
  • Provide extra drinks: If your child doesn’t want to drink much, try giving lots of small sips of water, milk or juice, or ice blocks to suck for older children.

Ms Mel Arnson

School Nurse

Room 4 – Come on Our Learning Journey

Wow! Can you believe we are halfway through the term. The students have adapted so well to not only one but two new teachers. We have been busy learning and the students should be so proud of their efforts.

During Literacy, we have been learning how to write a Narrative, particularly, a warning tale. We chose a classic, “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. We captured the student’s attention by setting up a Daddy Bear, a Mummy Bear and a baby bear in the classroom eating porridge. We explored new vocabulary in the story like: cottage and forest, we used adjectives to describe Goldilocks and all the students did so well to write their own narrative. Lastly, the students tried some sweet porridge. I wonder if the students asked any parents/carers to put porridge on the shopping list.

In Numeracy, we have been focusing on number. The Pre-Primary student’s have been fine tuning numbers up to 20. The Year One’s have been learning about numbers up to 100. The students have also been studying “shapes”. They used shapes to make a tangram turtle. We have been making time before our Maths lesson to learn some new Mental Maths games like: “Odd and Even” and “Beat the Teacher”. After our Maths lesson, we have been playing board games like “Snakes and Ladders”. These games help students build skills like, turn-taking, sharing and resilience.

For Health, we have planned a real focus on our talents. We made a display about a “Web of Talents” in the classroom. The students discussed so many talents they have as individuals and as a class, we have an endless amount of talents like: soccer, gymnastics, gaming and so much more. We talked about calling on our friends to teach us their talents. This is something we can add to throughout the term. I can’t wait to see how our talents have improved over the term.

We also had a visit from Beth who works at West Oz Wildlife. We met four Australian animals: Nutella, the koala, Toothless, the blue-tongued lizard, Tully, the sugar glider and Savannah the Woma python. The students had so much fun. We got to get up close with the animals, most students were even brave enough to hold the python around their neck.

Community Notices

Free parent workshops (online and face-to-face)

Please see below some flyers for a number of parents workshops this term.

Better Health Program – FREE Government Funded

Please see below details of a free 10 week program for families, just register via the details in the flyer.

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