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 2024Term 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.

Newsletter 7

From the Principal

Dear Waddington Families,

I would like to pass on a big thank you to the entire school community for making me feel very welcome in Ms Chivers’ absence. You have a beautiful school with amazing students who are all so respectful and friendly. The staff here at Waddington Primary are extremely hard working and committed to providing the best outcomes for your children. Ms Chivers will return on Monday the 5th August, and she is very excited to be back.

As always Term 3 is a very busy term. Please read the important dates listed in the newsletter. Some of the events include PEAC testing, school photos, book week, West oz Wildlife Incursion, Faction Athletics Carnival, Cross Country Student Council election, Wildcats incursions are all on this term. Plus, the P&C have a Father’s Day stall on the 28th and 30th of August.

NAPLAN reports went home last week to all year 3 and year 5 students who participated in the testing. If you have any questions regarding NAPLAN and the reports, please do not hesitate to come into school and ask.

I would also like to extend a warm welcome to two new teaching staff who have commenced with us this term. Mrs Liz Compton and Mrs Sarah Walker are the teachers in Room 4. We hope you are settling in well to life at Waddington Primary School.

Wishing you all our families a fantastic week.

Kind regards,

Mr Benjamin Ker 

Acting Principal

From the Administration Team

Planning for 2025

A letter was sent home last week 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 term 2.

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

30th July 2024 – PEAC testing

30th July 2024 – Healthy Bodies (School Nurse) – Years 5 and 6

30th July 2024 – Wildcats visit – Room 8

2nd August 2024 – Wildcats visit – Room 8

6th August 2024 – Healthy Relationships (School Nurse) – Years 5 and 6

6th August 2024 – Wildcats visit – Room 8

8th August 2024 – West Oz Wildlife Incursion

9th August 2024 – Assembly – Room 1

9th August 2024 – Wildcats visit – Room 8

13th August 2024 – Wildcats visit – Room 8

14th August 2024 – Multicultural A/Tea – Staff Room

14th August 2024 – Super Hiro – Bullying Zero Incursion

16th August 2024 – Bullying NO WAY Day

16th August 2024 – Wildcats Inspire Game

School Photos – Save the date!

School Photo Day is coming up on Monday 26th August 2024. Individual Student envelopes will be sent out approximately 2 weeks prior. If you would like to order a new school uniform, please contact our front office or use the order form on our website. Individual class times will be distributed the week before photo day. 

Packed with Goodness Free Parent Information Session

TheirCare – Before School Care Now OPEN

Family Afternoon Tea – 14th August 2024

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 Program

Our Year 3/4 students have begun working with Keanu and Michael from the Perth Wildcats. The players have enthusiastically joined in class activities such as  measuring height and perimeter and discussing healthy eating choices. The students have been very motivated to achieve their goals which has been fabulous to see.

On August 16th Keanu and Michael will be joined by other team mates to take on a student team for a game of basketball here at Waddington! The Wildcats will be bringing an MC, music and giveaways! All students from Waddington will be able to attend. More details will follow in the coming weeks.this program and look forward to welcoming the players to Waddington next 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

Bike Safety – Tips for Children

Riding a bike is great fun and good exercise for children and teens. Here are a few tips to keep your children safe while cycling:

  • Children should wear bright coloured clothing when riding.
  • Children under 10 should be supervised when riding a bike.
  • Children should be taught the rules of the road before they ride by themselves.
  • Riding in the driveway should not be encouraged. Children need to know that the driveway is dangerous. Teach them to stop at the end of the driveway, look, listen, and think about whether it is safe to cross the road.
  • Every child needs a helmet that fits correctly. Helmets should be worn at all times when riding. Parents should set a good example by wearing a helmet themselves.
  • Children’s bicycles should kept be in good condition and have the appropriate reflectors.

Ms Mel Arnson

School Nurse

Room 9 – Growing and changing before our eyes!

Time flies when you are having fun!

We cannot believe it is already Term 3 of the school year. Coming back from holidays we have noticed not only are we taller, but there is so many aspects of our learning journey we are proud of.

We have noticed all the hard work we put in paying off in many learning areas. We can easily pinch and roll playdough because of the new grip strength in our hands, which has helped with some of our sculptural works during visual art. The amazing control we have of our pencils means that we can now write our names independently.  The way our letter formation has improved means we can write simple three letter words during Sounds Write. All the little things we practice may seem small but put them all together and we realise we are superstars at so many things!

As a class we are enjoying spending time together outdoors. There is so much to explore, and we always have questions about things we see. Our highlight is exploring the bushwalk. We enjoy playing there at lunchtimes on Wednesday, exploring and collecting interesting seed pods and leaves. Last Term we even recounted our adventure to the bushwalk as part of Talk for Writing. As a class we adventured across, using our senses to make observations as we went. We made a pretend campfire sat around and sang a song together. We spotted lots of birds and flowers with our magnifying glasses.

As part of Visual Art, we are exploring making things with natural and made objects through collage and print making. Collage has been our first focus, as we explore layering paper and material. We took inspiration from artworks others made, as well as some things in the natural world around us. Our first amazing product has been our first artwork, Snails! We textured paper ourselves and cut it up into small pieces to layer. We are amazed at how all this practice with cutting has improved our scissor skills.

In Science we are learning about the natural world, exploring what living things need to survive. We have made models of our pets using playdough. After that we drew what they might need to survive. Another activity was to observe living and non-living things in our playgrounds. We set out to use our looking eyes and listening ears to identify these – we spotted so many great things and drew them onto our class brainstorm.

In Health we are learning about Manners. We are learning that we use them to show respect and consideration for others. Our magic manners words are ‘please’, ‘may I’, ‘thank you’ ‘excuse me’ and ‘I’m sorry’ for when we make a mistake.

In Geography we are learning about place – interesting places and important places, places that are special to us, and how we can help to take care of places. We are so good at looking after our classroom that we are excited to see those skills transfer.

Community Notices

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

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

Saver Plus

Please see below information on Saver Plus and how it can help families save for their educational costs.

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