Newsletter
Friday, 18th November, 2022
From the Principal
Today we wrap up our two-week intensive swimming program. Our students have thoroughly enjoyed their time at the Geelong Aquatic Centre and have been wonderful representatives of Wangala Primary School out in the community. Thanks to Mrs Hueston for her organisation and to Miss Margetts, Mrs Hueston, Stef, Georgie, Nat and Lauren for going above and beyond by jumping into the water each day to help some of our students.
During the week we had our final School Council meeting for 2022. I would like to thank Melinda, Kate, Trent, Simon and Kristy for being great representatives of our community. I would also like to thank Miss Margetts, Miss Wise, Mrs Sobczynski and Bec for their time on our council as well. A huge thank you goes to Tamara Lake for her time as our School Council President. School councils play a very important role in the operation of every school and have especially worked together to help establish the broad direction and vision of the school. These councillors are always available to discuss matters with and fantastic voices for our school community.
At the School Council meeting this week we discussed works currently wrapping up and others beginning shortly. Our gymnasium car park is now asphalted and will soon be accessible, with only hydroseeding of the boundaries to be actioned. During the week temporary fencing was placed alongside our administration building to prepare for the installation of a substantial ramp which will lead from our courtyard up to the gymnasium, linking in with our merbau terraced decking. We will also see our main doors swapped over to be automatic doors and will have a hoist installed in the bathroom in our back building. There is much happening!
Last week we had our 2023 prep students attend for their first onsite transition. We were all very excited to have them together for the first time at school and cannot wait to have them here next year.
Next year our prep class will have Miss Margetts as their teacher. Throughout their transition program we have introduced Miss Margetts as Mrs Beaumont because Saturday, 26th November is her wedding day! We wish her and her fiancé, Josh, all the best on their special day and in their life together.
I would like to welcome Liz Nicopoulos to the staff in 2023. Liz was the successful applicant for our Education Support Staff position recently advertised.
Thanks to everyone who has volunteered their time to help with the State Election Fundraiser at our gymnasium on Saturday, 26th November. This is a great opportunity to fundraiser outside our own school community and your help is absolutely appreciated, raising funds for further great things for your children to enjoy at Wangala Primary School. Read the article on how you can support our Cake Stall further on in the newsletter.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Steven King
Principal
Dates to remember
Wednesday 23rd November
Whole school Sovereign Hill excursion
Thursday 24th November
11.30 – 1.30 Prep Transition session
Friday, 25th November
Cake Stall donations due back to school for our Election Fundraiser
Saturday 26th November
State Election – Polling Booth at the Wangala Primary School Gymnasium
Saturday 26th November
Miss Margetts Wedding Day!
Tuesday 29th November
Sommers Camp for some senior students
Friday 2nd December
Newsletter released
Wednesday 7th December
11.30 – 1.00 Prep Transition to Wangala Wednesday 7th December
School Assembly
Thursday 8th December
Wangala’s Got Talent!
Friday 9th December
2.00pm Wangala Graduation Day
Tuesday 13th December
Whole School Transition Day
Wednesday 14th December
2.00pm Thank You Afternoon Tea
Thursday 15th December
Whole School Celebration Day at Adventure Park!
Friday 16th December
Newsletter released
Final Assembly
Monday, 30th January
First day for all students
Wangala Primary School acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land we are on, the Wadawurrung people, and thank them for sharing thier long lasting culture with us as we learn and grow together.
State Election Fundraiser - Saturday 26th November 2022
Today all families will have received a ‘Cake Stall’ package which includes a paper plate, instructions sheet and an ingredients sheet for you to record the ingredients in your donated bake. This donation will be sold during the election bake stall to raise funds for our school. If you have any queries regarding this, or require more plates etc., please don’t hesitate to contact us. W e are also seeking more volunteers to work on the day assisting with our ba rbeque and the cake stall. If you can spare an hour or so between 8.00am and 2.00pm on the day, that would be appreciated! Please let us kn ow as soon as possible to help us with rostering.
Gymnasium Update
How lucky are our students to have our gymnasium as part of the facilities at Wanga la Primary School, something we’re sure is the envy of many other primary schools! During the week we had a sign writer install some vinyl wrapping in the lofted ceiling space of our gymnasium foyer, celebrating Wangala Primary School with our logo and name front and centre, with our yarning circle logo repeated throughout the space. Did you know that we hire our gymnasium out? We currently have several basketball groups who practise in our gymnasium after school hours as well as a karate group who train in our space as well. Not only do we have our gymnasium space available, but our commercial kitchen facilities as well.
Naming our Buildings
We have recently discussed naming our buildings utilising Wadawurrung names and have settled on names that reflect our local bird population. See the new names selected!
Thank you to our Volunteers!
Many of you may have heard about or even seen some of our very generous volunteers who help across the school. We’re incredible lucky to have a num ber of people who help in their own different ways. Rob helps each week in o ur ‘Hands on Learning’ (HoL) program, assisting with construction programs and helping students on their own projects. He has also spent time cleaning out our shipping containers and sheds. Janine helps two days per week in our HoL café, assisting with preparation of meals. She also assists in keeping our library up-to-date and is a friendly face for students who attend the breakfast club on those mornings. Ann is another café helper who imparts her knowledge and love of cooking onto our students. We recently welcomed Gray who is ass isting students with their mathematics learning. We are incredibly lucky to have a group of amazing people who generously donate their time to our sch ool, all to ensure our students have the best opportunities. Thank you to e ach one of you for all that you do!
What are they reading in the Middle Classroom?
The Middle students are reading Roald Da hl’s, ‘The Witches’ as their class novel. This week the students drew a witch and thought of some adjectives and similes for their witch.
Sovereign Hill Excursion
Many of you may have heard about or even seen some of our very generous volunteers who help across the school. We’re incredible lucky to have a num ber of people who help in their own different ways. Rob helps each week in o ur ‘Hands on Learning’ (HoL) program, assisting with construction programs and helping students on their own projects. He has also spent time cleaning out our shipping containers and sheds. Janine helps two days per week in our HoL café, assisting with preparation of meals. She also assists in keeping our library up-to-date and is a friendly face for students who attend the breakfast club on those mornings. Ann is another café helper who imparts her knowledge and love of cooking onto our students. We recently welcomed Gray who is ass isting students with their mathematics learning. We are incredibly lucky to have a group of amazing people who generously donate their time to our sch ool, all to ensure our students have the best opportunities. Thank you to e ach one of you for all that you do!
Celebrating School Wide Positive Behaviour
At Wangala Primary School students who display the positive behaviours outlined in our ‘Positive Behaviour Matrix’ earn special tokens which they collect and then cash in for experiences. Recently, a number of students have selected to have lunch with our Principal, Mr King and have enjoyed a special as part of this experience. We also had Seb and Georgia cash their tokens in to be helpers in the office for an afternoon, calling up their brother to office over the speaker and ‘doing some filing’ to help out Bec and Kim. Next week our Middle class have all cashed in some tokens each for a ‘casual dress day’. See our ‘Positive Behaviour Matrix’ below.
Writing Raps in the Junior Classroom
The Junior class have recently been writing raps using words that rhyme. Amazing job, Junior Class!
Basketball Clininc with Bellarine Basketball
The Middle and Senior classrooms were involved in a basketball clinic as part of the Physical Education lessons over the past few weeks. Members of the Bellarine Storm came out to run the clinics in our gymnasium. Basketball is very popular amongst the Wangala Primary School students’ and the clinic was enjoyed by them all. Our students focused on the using the correct techniques and skills to play basketball. A big highlight was learning how to do a layup correctly. Thanks to the representatives of Bellarine Storm for facilitating this for us!
Visual Arts News
During November our students are going to have the joy of experiencing how to ‘tye-dye’ materials. To do this, each student will need to provide either a white t-shirt or a white pillow case. Please make sure they have their names on them and are have them at school by 21st November.
Well done to our Star Students!
Wangala's Got Talent
Can you sing, dance, act, play an instrument, do magic tricks, tell jokes, do circus tricks, or anything else that entertains!?…
Then be sure to enter Wangala’s Got Talent! Thursday, 9th December 2.30-3.15pm.
Entry forms will be available from the office next week.
More Fractions Fun!
The Juniors enjoyed making fairy bread fractions last week. They carefully spread butter and gently sprinkled 100s and 1000s on their bread. After this, they chose to cut their whole piece of bread into halves or quarters, making sure that all parts were equal. Jaxon took it one step further and cut his bread into eighths!
