Newsletter
Friday, 14th July, 2023
From the Principal
Welcome back to everyone! I hope that all our families found time to spend together during the break and managed to keep warm. I spent some time in Sorrento for a few days of relaxation and visited family up in the Wimmera which is always lovely.
During Term Three we have so much happening with Book Week celebrations, Science Week activities, our 100 days of school celebrations for our preps, and our usual curriculum and learning programs. We will be very busy!
Staffing
We’re very sad to let everyone know that our Education Support member, Georgie, is taking leave for the remainder of the year. Georgie has been given the opportunity to complete an honours year at the Institute of Neuroscience as part of her degree in psychology. This is an amazing opportunity for her, and we wish her the best in her studies. We hope to see her with us in some casual capacity throughout the remainder of the year.
Kim will also be returning after her mishap last term that saw her unable to walk after breaking her ankle! She is very eager to be back with us!
Student Led Conferences
Student Led Conferences were opened up earlier this week for all families to make an appointment to come along and celebrate the learning of their child. Bookings can be made through the Compass app.
Well done to Lily!
After two weeks of tryouts, one of our school captains, Lily, found out that she was selected to represent Victoria in the U11’s and Junior Women’s (12-17 year old) at the inline hockey National Championships to be held in Queensland in the September school holidays. What an amazing effort from someone who should be incredibly proud.
Works around the School
Over the break, builders were onsite to repair damage caused to our buildings caused by the movement of paving against the building. They have removed sections of concrete against the building to then relay the sections with expansion joints to prevent further damage.
The ramp to our gymnasium is now complete with balustrading installed for safety. You may also have noticed that the planters along the decking have all been installed, filled and planted out, and look amazing.
Late last term we installed two large outdoor settings on the decking outside our classroom kitchen as well. This was utilised for our Kicthen Garden dining on Tuesday, and has seen great use each recess and lunchtime for our ‘Stay and Play’ program. A shade sail is due to be installed over this space to provide protection from the elements. Fingers crossed it is in before the summer heat hits us.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.
Steven King
Principal
Dates to Remember
Monday, 17th July
Assembly at 2.45pm in the gymnasium
Tuesday, 18th July
School Council Meeting at 3.30pm
Tuesday, 18th July
Kitchen Garden Program for 5/6s
Wednesday, 19th July
11.30 – 5.00 Student Led Conferences
Tuesday, 25th July
Kitchen Garden Program for 5/6s
Tuesday, 25th July
Tree planting as part of National Tree Day on 31st July
Thursday, 27th July
Australian Ballet performance at Wangala Primary School
Friday, 28th July
Newsletter released
Monday, 31st July
Assembly at 2.45pm in the gymnasium
Tuesday, 1st August
Kitchen Garden Program for 5/6s
Friday, 4th August
Principal’s Day
Friday, 5th August
Newsletter
Monday, 7th August
District Athletics at Landy Field
Tuesday, 8th August
Kitchen Garden Program for 5/6s
Wangala Primary School acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land we are on, the Wadawurrung people, and thank them for sharing their long lasting culture with us as we learn and grow together.
Reminders
New Arrangements for NDIS Funded Therapists
Wangala Primary School is committed to supporting all families to access the supports their children need. From the start of Term Three, all NDIS funded therapists who provide therapy onsite at our school will be provided to submit a ‘Request to Provide NDIS Funded Therapy’ with supporting documents. Communications have been sent to those families who currently utilise the school for their child’s funding. Please contact the office if you have any questions.
2024 Prep Enrolments
Enrolment applications for Prep 2024 are due by Friday, 28th July 2023. All enrolments will be confirmed by the school by Friday, 11th August 2023 through a confirmation letter.
We encourage anyone that is yet to enroll to make a booking for a tour as soon as possible.
School Traffic
We are very lucky to have the parking facilities we have along Kidman Avenue, and especially lucky to have the drop off/pick up road in front of the shelter. We ask that you are considerate of others when utilising this drop off/pick up road. If you know your child might be one that takes their time to come down in the afternoons especially, we ask that you consider parking across at Winter Reserve (utilising the crossing for safe crossing), or along the road on Kidman Avenue to prevent other parents and carers from being blocked in. We also ask that you are patient and wait for vehicles to move off, rather than mounting the island to get around the cars. We suggest that if you are a vehicle at the front of the line and are holding others up, exit and re-enter to allow others to move through quickly. Again, no one waiting in this drop off/pick off area are to exit their vehicles. Thanks for your understanding.
Upcoming Changes to NAPLAN Reporting
Ahead of NAPLAN results for students being released in the coming weeks, we are letting you know of some changes to this year’s reporting. These are changes being introduced by the ‘Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority’ (ACARA).
NAPLAN will continue to measure student achievement in Numeracy, Reading, Writing, Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation, but the results will now be presented in four proficiency levels:
– Exceeding
– Strong
– Developing
– Needs additional support
This change will give schools, parents and carers clearer information that details student achievement against new proficiency levels.
Students’ NAPLAN reports will continue to show how they are tracking against their peers and provide an indication of their skill levels against national averages and where we would expect them to be in order to get the most out of schooling. This provides valuable information to teachers about how we can continue to support your child.
Each set of NAPLAN results is an important milestone but it is also important that students know that one result does not define them – these results are about making sure every student gets the support they need so they can continue to get the best from their learning.
When we provide you with your child’s results, you will also receive information about what the new proficiency levels mean.
Outside School Hours Care
We are so happy to announce that in Term Three we are opening up OSHC to students from other schools who attend the ‘Geelong English Language Centre’ at Wangala Primary School. To begin with, we will only be accepting OSHC enrolments from GELC students for our Before School Care, and occasionally our After School Care, depending on enrolment numbers for that afternoon. If you wish to enquire about this further, please speak to Steph, or collect an enrolment from the office.
It’s been great to see all of our regular OSHC faces back at the school this week. We can’t wait to show you what fun and interesting things we do in Term Three!
Student Led Conferences
On Wednesday, 19th July we will be holding our ‘Student Led Conferences’. For families new to our school, our ‘Student Led Conferences’ will see parents and carers, the classroom teacher and your child coming together to discuss Semester One learning and future goals. These conferences focus on what your child has achieved and celebrates their learning over this time.
Conferences will open for booking through the ‘Compass’ system on Monday, 10th July. Interview times will be offered between 11.30am and 4.30pm You will be involved in a ten minute conference during this time. There will not be an opportunity for discussing other items at these conference, but parents and carers are invited and encouraged to always make an appointment with your child’s teacher to discuss matters at a different time.
We look forward to discussing your child’s progress at this time.
Our Chickens
Every holiday period, our families volunteer to care for the chickens which includes feeding them, making sure they have fresh water and letting them out for a run during the day.
A HUGE thank you to Harvey, Casey and Dayne and their families for taking extra-special care of them over these holidays. We hope the chickens behaved and provided you with some delicious eggs!
1/2 Fraction Action!
The 1/2s have kickstarted the term by learning about fractions in Mathematics. The focus has been on students becoming confident in recognising and describing fractions as one-half, quarters, sixths and eighths. The most important thing about fractions is that they must have equal parts. Students shared their knowledge of fractions by making fraction pizzas, and displaying each slice as part of a fraction.
The Twenty-Seventh Annual African Hippopotamus Race
The 3/4 students have finished reading ‘The Twenty-Seventh Annual African Hippopotamus Race’, written by Morris Lurie, this week. They have worked on identifying the main character, Edward Day’s character traits, and comparing them to their own character traits. They have produced lots of different pieces of work whilst exploring the text.
Next week the students are excited to begin the new text, ‘Dirt by Sea’, written by Michael Wagner.
Focus on Curriculum
Reading Together
Book talk is an important part of reading. Chat about the book before, during, and after reading and really encourage your child to talk about their ideas and ask questions about the book.
Here are some questions you might like to ask at different times before, during and after reading the book:
– What would you like to read about?
– Would you like to choose a book you know?
– Look at the cover – what do you think this book is about?
– What is happening in the pictures?
– How could we work out these tricky words?
– What do you think is going to happen next?
– What was your favourite part of the book?
– Who was you favourite character in the story? Why did you like that character?
– If you could change the ending of this book, what would it be?
Doing Maths Together at Home
Turning Maths into a Story
By presenting mathematics as a story, children can make links to their everyday life. Begin by reading books to your child that include numbers and counting.
Turn everyday events or objects into a maths story:
– count the fruit in the fruit bowl
– cut fruit into six pieces
– count the pieces of toast you cooked at breakfast
– add the total cutlery at the table
– count the number of people travelling in the car or the bus
Encourage your child to draw and talk about the number of things in the pictures they have drawn. Write down your child’s ideas as a story. Here are some examples:
– There are five pieces of fruit in our bowl. Three are apples and two are bananas.
– My lunchbox has four things inside. One sandwich, one orange and two slices of cheese.
Sleep and Learning
About sleep and learning
Good-quality sleep helps your child concentrate, remember things and behave well. This helps your child to be a successful learner.
Poor sleep or not enough sleep affects concentration, memory and behaviour, making it harder for your child to learn. Children who don’t sleep well are more likely to feel sleepy at school during the day and to have difficulties with learning.
Concentration and sleep
Children who are sleepy have trouble concentrating during the day. If your child can’t keep their attention on what they’re trying to learn, whether it’s climbing a tree at the park or singing a song at school, it will affect their learning.
Memory and sleep
Remembering things is part of learning. If your child is tired, it’s harder for your child to remember basic things like how to spell words, how to do maths calculations, or where to find information in a book or on the internet. It’s also harder for your child to remember how to do things like playing a musical instrument.
Our brains create and strengthen different types of memory while we’re asleep. For example, just before your child wakes in the morning, their brain is sorting and storing memories and information from the previous day and getting ready for the day ahead.
Behaviour and sleep
Sleepy children tend to have more problems with behaviour at preschool or school – and at home too!
For example, a sleepy and tired child might not cooperate in class or have difficulty following the teacher’s instructions. A sleepy child might miss out on learning because the teacher is busy managing the child’s behaviour. The child might also miss out on playing with other children if the other children don’t like the way the child is behaving.
Working on sleep problems to help with learning
Many children have sleep problems, which you can often manage with simple behaviour strategies.
A good place to start with sleep problems is your child’s sleep habits. Sometimes changing both daytime and night-time habits can make a big difference to your child’s sleep. For example, you might be able to reset your child’s body clock with a regular bedtime routine, morning sunlight, regular exercise and a healthy diet. If these strategies don’t help to reset your child’s body clock, it’s a good idea to talk about your child’s sleep problems with a health professional, like your GP.
It’s also worth looking at your child’s breathing during sleep. If your child continually snores, stops breathing during sleep, works hard to breathe, breathes through their mouth, tosses and turns at night, or sweats a lot overnight, it might be obstructive sleep apnoea. Obstructive sleep apnoea is another cause of sleep-related learning problems.
See your GP if you think your child’s sleep problems might be related to obstructive sleep apnoea or another medical condition, or if you’re worried your child might have a persistent sleep problem.
For more information go to raisingchildren.net.au
Our Positive Behaviour Matrix
