From the Principal
Welcome to Week 7 Waddington families! It is hard to believe that we are already nearly halfway through March. It has been a positive term so far with students getting into their learning with lots of enthusiasm. I would like to extend my gratitude to all of you for ensuring students are attending school every day and in their school uniform. As we get towards the end of term, this can get a bit harder (as they get tired) so please ensure that they are still coming every day to get the most out of their learning. I would also like to remind parents that breakfast club operates 8.20 – 8.30am Monday to Friday. We are getting a number of students after 8.40am, however it is too late for them to have breakfast at this time, so please ensure they are coming early if you would like them to eat breakfast.
We would let you know about a staffing update. Miss Bartley (Visual Arts teacher on Wednesday) unfortunately resigned last week and will not be returning to Waddington. We are pleased to let you know that Mrs Sharon Reeves will be taking over her position. Many of you will know Mrs Reeves who does a lot of relief here at Waddington. We are very excited to have her with us again on staff for the remainder of the year.
We are extremely proud to be sending home a copy of our 2023 – 2026 Business Plan. This is the culmination of a huge amount of effort by our staff. We utilised feedback from parents, students and our school board to set our priorities for the next 3 years. The result is a clear and robust plan to ensure each student at Waddington PS is catered for and is making progress. We are focused on caring for the whole child here at Waddington PS, and we have some amazing supports in place for our students. What we offer here at Waddington is exceptional. Please take the time to read through our Business Plan, we welcome any feedback you have.
NAPLAN starts this week and we have been ensuring that our students are ready. As a school, we use the NAPLAN data to inform our directions and to set our targets. However, NAPLAN is only one of a number of assessments that we use. If your child is in Year 3 or 5, please ensure they lots of rest over the next couple of weeks and lots of nutritious food to help give them that brain power.
Our P&C this year is exceptionally strong. They have planned some fabulous activities for the end of term for our students. They are asking for Easter items to be able to use in a raffle, so if you can spare an Easter egg or two, please bring them to the front office and they will be greatly appreciated. The P&C has some positive plans to help our families this year with the money raised.
Our student leaders, faction captains and vice captains as well as our sustainability leader have been chosen. We take our leadership positions very seriously and we are looking forward to helping these proactive students grow and develop in their confidence and leadership capabilities.
Lastly, we would welcome any voluntary contributions which have not yet been paid (notes will sent home today). This money assists us in paying for student programs such as ThinkMentals, stationery and resources. As a small school, we really rely on these funds, so we encourage all our families to make sure they are paid for at the front office.
Kind regards
Jemima Tomlinson
Principal
Friendly School Plus Program
As a school, we are utilising Friendly Schools Plus as our Social and Emotional Program this year. Friendly Schools Plus equips students to understand their feelings, deal with friendship conflicts and bullying. Each newsletter we will be giving you tips on areas that you can be discussing with your child at home to link into the learning they are doing at school. The first one is School Connectedness. This is essential and an area that we work very hard on here at Waddington PS. Relationships with our families are crucial for the success of our students:
From the Administration Team
The term planner is updated regularly and below are some important dates to be aware of for the next four weeks.
Please refer to the Term Planner page under the ‘Community’ tab for the most up-to-date events for this term (but this may be subject to change).
Important Dates
15th March 2023 – NAPLAN begins for Year 3 and 5 students
20th March 2023 – International Day of Happiness
21st March 2023 – Harmony Day
24th March 2023 – National Ride2School Day
31st March 2023 – Assembly – Room 8 (Year 3 and 4)
6th April 2023 – Telethon Institute of Science Incursion
6th April 2023 – Term 1 2023 ends
7th April 2023 – Public Holiday – Good Friday
Room 9 – Our Wonderful Kindy and Pre-Primary students!
Wow, what a busy term we have had already! It is hard to believe we are already in Week 7. Our Kindy A and B groups have settled in well, and they are really starting to understand the daily routines and classroom expectations. Our Pre-primary students have been fantastic at setting positive examples for the Kindy students. Well done PPs! As our Room 9 group build their confidence, we are starting to see friendships blossom as they are become more familiar with, and comfortable around their classmates.
The first half of this term has seen our students learning to trace their name. We are gradually encouraging them to practice writing their name independently, particularly our PP students. In our ‘Talk for Writing’ program, we have been studying ‘Incy Wincy Spider’. The students are now working towards innovating their own version of the nursery rhyme. They have thoroughly enjoyed playing with our Incy Wincy Spider ‘small world’ water play area which has helped bring the rhyme to life.
In maths, we have been focusing on lots and lots of counting! It has been fantastic to see our students demonstrate their number recognition during our Math Daily Reviews and math activities. We have also been focusing on positional language, such as, ‘in front,’ ‘behind,’ and ‘next to.’ The students have been really engaged and are becoming competent using this language to describe where they/things are.
In HASS, we have been learning and talking about families, which has helped to build students’ sense of identity. In Health, we have been exploring wellbeing and life skills, including personal safety.
We are so proud of our Room 9 group, and it has been so rewarding watching them learn and grow this term.
Miss Jones and Mrs Ruthven
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.
City of Wanneroo – School Holiday Programs April 2023
Please see below some flyers for fun school holiday activities for your children.
Better Health Program
In partnership with the Department of Health Western Australia, Better Health Company are delivering free, healthy lifestyle programs to families in Western Australia through to 2027.
Better Health Company are delivering two evidence-based programs:
- Active8 for children aged 2-5 years
- The Better Health Program for children aged 6-12 years
Both programs are designed to provide families with weekly support from qualified health professionals, practical resources to support healthy behaviour change at home, and interactive weekly sessions. The programs are free-of-charge for participating families.
Program delivery
To provide flexibility and accessibility for families, both Active8 and the Better Health Program are offered in two formats:
- Group-based programs delivered in local communities for families to attend face-to-face
- Online programs providing home e-learning modules and weekly personalised health coaching
Making referrals to the program
Eligible participants can be referred with the support of a health professional or self-refer, independently.
*Community Health Nurses may choose to refer families that would benefit from this program after their 2-year-old Universal Contact or School Entry Health Assessment.
Referral options
Eligible children and families can be referred to each program by:
- Completing the digital referral forms available at:
https://theactive8.org/referrals/
- Calling: 1300 822 953
- Faxing a referral form to: 1300 325 301
- Emailing: info@betterhealthcompany.org
Term 1, 2023 programs
Better Health Program group-based delivery
| Mode | Location | Venue | Commencement date | Weekly session days | Session time |
| Group-based (face-to-face) | Port Kennedy | Rebound Arena | 02/02/2023 | Thursday | 4.00pm – 6.00pm |
| Group-based (face-to-face) | Canning | Bounce Cannington | 31/01/2023 | Tuesday | 4.00pm – 6.00pm |
| Group-based (face-to-face) | Joondalup | Bounce Joondalup | 01/02/2023 | Wednesday | 4.00pm – 6.00pm |
| Group-based (face-to-face) | North Perth | Loftus Recreation Centre | 02/02/2023 | Thursday | 4.00pm – 6.00pm |
| Group-based (face-to-face) | Mirrabooka | Herb Graham | 31/01/2023 | Tuesday | 4.00pm – 6.00pm |
| Group-based (face-to-face) | Cockburn | Beeliar Community Centre | 31/01/2023 | Tuesday | 4.00pm – 6.00pm |
| Group-based (face-to-face) | Armadale | Frye Park Pavilion | 01/02/2023 | Wednesday | 4.00pm – 6.00pm |
Active8 group-based delivery
| Mode | Location | Venue | Commencement date | Weekly session days | Session time |
| Group-based (face-to-face) | Port Kennedy | Port Kennedy Community Centre | 16/02/2023 | Thursday | 1.30pm – 3.00pm |
| Group-based (face-to-face) | Westminster | Westminster Parent and Child Centre | 08/02/2023 | Wednesday | 9.30am – 11.00am |
Better Health Program online delivery
| Mode | Commencement date | Weekly phone coaching session days | Time |
| Online | 27/01/2023 | Monday – Thursday | 3.30pm – 9.00pm |
Active8 program online delivery
| Mode | Commencement date | Weekly session days (webinar and phone coaching sessions alternate fortnightly) | Time |
| Online | 27/01/2023 | Fortnightly webinar: Thursday (TBC) Flexible fortnightly coaching calls: Mon-Thurs | Fortnightly webinar: 8.00pm – 8.45pm Flexible fortnightly coaching calls: 3.30pm – 9.00pm |
Term 2 2023 programs
ATTENTION: Registration for Term 2 places open, places filling!
Better Health Program is running for 10 weeks across term 2 and we are delivering this both as an online option, so families can do it in their own time from home, or in group sessions at local community venues.
| Programs for Term 2 are running at: Mirrabooka, Cockburn, North Perth, Bunbury, Cannington, Katanning, Joondalup, Albany, Port Kennedy and Northam Haven’t heard of it? Better Health Program is an evidence-based healthy lifestyle program. It has been developed by health professionals and aligns with current Australian government guidelines for healthy eating and physical activity, including the Australian Dietary Guidelines and the 24-hour Movement Guidelines. Children and families are guided and supported to further establish healthy eating and physical activity habits, for FREE! Eligibility Children aged 6-12years old Classified as above a healthy weight Living in WA Do you have a family who would benefit from a supportive program that encourages healthy change at the family level? |
Athena Calisthenics Club
Please see below the flyer for the above club who are looking for new members for 2023.
