Newsletter
Friday, 24th March, 2023
From the Principal
What a fortnight it’s been!
Students in Year Three and Five have completed their NAPLAN assessments over the past fortnight, putting in a great effort! Well done to them all. NAPLAN data is used as a key piece of data for tracking and comparing schools academic progress and achievement, as this information is collected from every school across the nation. Our students will receive their own individual results which will be sent home to parents and carers in due course.
On Wednesday we practiced our emergency procedures to ensure that everyone in our community knows what to do in these situations. We began with our ‘lockdown’ procedure, which sees all staff, students and visitors silently lock down our buildings to keep everyone safe, and ended with an emergency evacuation. It was great to see everyone remaining calm and listening to the instructions given to quickly move to action. Next term we will practice these without notice and I am sure each and every person will respond in the same way.
During the week the classroom teachers and I moderated writing samples of students across the different classrooms, with a school wide writing prompt utilised for our writers. We moderate writing once per term as an opportunity for our teachers to check that their teacher judgements are consistent across classrooms, and to discuss the ‘next steps’ in writing on a whole class and individual level. We have some absolutely amazing writers in our school with their writing improving so much! In coming newsletters we hope to share some of the amazing writing from across our classrooms.
As the end of first term nears, we reflect on everything we’ve achieved over this time. Our prep students have settled beautifully into the routine of school, and students across the other year levels have slotted straight back into the routine of learning. Our school leaders, with their multiple roles, have had a great impact on the school. Well done to everyone for a great first term!
Next week will be my last week for the term as I take long-service leave for the four days prior to the Easter holidays. During this time, Mrs Hueston will be available if you need any assistance. I look forward to seeing everyone back here on the first day of term two, Wednesday, 26th April.
Lastly, thanks everyone for the messages of congratulations around my appointment to the substantive Principal position at Wangala Primary School. I’m very excited to continue the work we have all embarked on over the past two years to ensure Wangala Primary School the best school in Geelong!
Regards,
Steven King
Principal
Dates to Remember
Sunday, 26th March
9.00am – 12.00pm Working Bee at School
Tuesday, 28th March
School Council AGM and Meeting
Tuesday, 28th March
Common Ground Project Excursion
Tuesday, 28th March
No Cafe lunch today
Friday, 31st March
Summer Lightning Premiership for 5/6s
Monday, 3rd April
There will be no assembly today
Tuesday, 4th April
Cafe Lunch
Thursday, 6th April
9.15am Easter Hat Parade
Thursday, 6th April
10.00am Open Classrooms
Thursday, 6th April
2.30pm early finish for last day of term
Monday, 24th April
Student Free Day
Tuesday, 25th April
ANZAC Day public holiday
Wednesday, 26th April
Students return for the first day of term three
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.
Star Students
Well done to our Star Student, Principal Award and Kitchen Garden Award recipients…
Prep – Hazel, Flora, Sam
One and Two – Eloise, Kaylah
Three and Four – Chavelle
Five and Six – Curtis, Beth, Dayne, Keyana
GELC – Armaan
Reminders
Mobile Phone Policy
Please be reminder that any device that can call and/or send a message and/or take pictures and/or take video is not allowed at school. Any device of this nature, including some ‘smart’ watches, must be dropped off at the school office at the beginning of the day (as soon as students arrive) and will be collected at the end of the day. For further information see the Wangala Primary School Mobile Phone Policy on our website.
Working Bee – Sunday, 26th March
School council will be holding a working bee on Sunday, 26th March from 9.00am to 12.00pm. A Compass notification was sent during the week outlining the tools you might be able to bring along to help. We would love to see you all there!
School Tours
It’s always such a pleasure to show potential families around our school and showcase the calm, warm and engaging tone across the school as we wander into classrooms. As we walk about highlighting the wide range of curriculum opportunities and facilities our school has to offer, our students are always keen to welcome visitors and share their learning. We have so much to be proud of at Wangala Primary School!
If you know of any families in our neighbourhood zone who are looking at beginning their child’s schooling journey in 2024, please let them know that we are holding school tours. These can be booked in through the school office.
Lost Property
Kids will be kids, and will quite often take their jumpers off, dropping them where they are. If you’ve lost any uniform or other items, we do have a lost property box at the front office. We encourage you to name all school uniform as we will ensure that any named uniform makes its way back to its owner.
Start of the Term Two
A reminder that Term Two will start on Wednesday, 26th April.
Monday, 24th April is a ‘Student Free Day’ as the school staff take the day to prepare for the term ahead.
Tuesday, 25th April is a public holiday for ANZAC Day.
Supporting Sleep Health
While we know sleep is essential for good health, research shows that many children and young people are not getting enough sleep on school nights. This can affect thinking, concentration, memory, reaction times and mood.
Research shows about 12% of primary school-aged children, a quarter of 12- to 15-year-olds and half of 16- to 17-year-olds don’t get enough sleep on school nights. The recommended amount of time to sleep for primary school-aged children is 9 to 11 hours. For teenagers, it’s 8 to 10 hours.
Signs that your child is not getting enough sleep can include:
– low mood and irritability during social interactions
– reluctance or arguing about getting off devices and going to bed
– falling asleep during the day
– difficulties waking up for school and sleeping in late on weekends to catch up
– changes to communicating or interacting at home.
You can help your child to improve their sleep by:
– establishing a regular sleep pattern and consistent bedtime routine
– supporting them to avoid using electronic devices such as smartphones before going to bed and in bed
– encouraging your child to exercise and spend time outside in daylight, steering clear of vigorous activity in the hour before sleep
– encouraging them to wind down and relax before going to bed.
If your child is still having trouble sleeping, has persistent problems with low mood, excessive daytime sleepiness, restlessness in bed, severe snoring or wakening unrefreshed, despite getting adequate length sleep, they should see a doctor.
Harmony Week
From the 20th -24th of March Wangala Primary will be celebrating Harmony Week.
What Is Harmony Week? Harmony Week is a time to celebrate Australian multiculturalism, and the successful way Australia has brought all cultures together. Australia is one of the most successful multicultural countries in the world and we should celebrate this and work to maintain it.
Harmony Week Message The message of Harmony Week for 2023 is Everyone Belongs. It is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians, regardless of cultural or linguistic background, united by a set of core Australian values.
As part of the celebrations, students at Wangala Primary School worked together to create a ‘Harmony Poster’.
Kitchen Garden Program
It’s been a busy few weeks for the garden crews, with many seedlings planted, weeds pulled and leaves swept! Our space at the end of the tennis courts is coming together nicely, with a new fence being erected to keep the chickens out of the veggie patches. Speaking of chickens, our girls are laying regularly now, it’s fabulous having fresh eggs on hand to use in the cafe.
We have planted a heap of flowers to attract the bees and help with pollination and can’t wait to watch our seedlings grow over the coming weeks!
The bird houses that we built late 2022 have been installed in the gums around the new yarning circle, they have been painted to camouflage, see if you can spot them all!
The yarning circle area is such a fabulous space, we spent some time there on Tuesday sitting and watching the wildlife. Be sure to pop past and check it out!
If you are a budding gardener and can spare some cuttings or seedlings, please feel free to drop them off at reception, we will happily take them off your hands and nurture them into thriving plants!
Sustainability
We have recently introduced compost and chicken scrap bins into all of our classrooms, with the addition of a worm scraps bin in the kitchen also! (for our upcoming worm farm!)
Our Sustainability Leaders have taken charge of this project and are also responsible for ensuring that the bins are emptied daily into the correct locations.
Common Ground Project Excursion - Tuesday, 28th March
On Tuesday the 28th of March we have our whole school excursion to Common Ground Project in Freshwater Creek. This excursion is a celebration of all of our learning in our first unit of inquiry. Prep, One and Two’s have been exploring ‘Where does it come from?’, grade Three and Four have been exploring ‘How is it used?’ and grade Five and Six have been exploring ‘How can we produce it?’. During this excursion students will participate in an interactive farm tour and complete a workshop based on our unit of inquiry.
Common Ground Project have kindly asked that we are mindful of the rubbish that we are bringing to the farm and have suggested that we bring our snacks and lunch in the form of ‘nude food’ if possible. This means that food is encouraged to be brought in reusable packaging such as containers.
The bus for this event will be leaving at 9:15 sharp so it is important that students are at school on time.
Cultural Leader
Our Cultural Leader, Ruby, purchased two books written by former AFL player and author, Eddie Betts, with her own money to donate to the school. Ruby will be reading these books with small groups of our Preps next week to share about indigenous culture.
From the Grade 3/4s
This week in the Year 3 & 4 classroom the students have been learning how to make inferences using clues we get from pictures in texts when reading. The students have also been working hard on developing their Literary recount skills and worked on adding more detail to their writing through the use of adjectives.
In the Seniors
The senior students have been learning about the Cartesian coordinate system in maths, and have been practising using coordinates to follow directions using the x and y axis.
GELC Eastern Beach Excursion
On Wednesday, my friends and I went to the Botanical Gardens and Eastern Beach to play and see.
First, we went to the bus and went to the Botanical Gardens.
Then, in the Botanical Gardens we saw some trees and we played on the grass.
Next, after our morning snack, we walked to Eastern Beach.
After that, we went on the Thomas Train and played on the playground. We took a school photo and we went home.
It was a fun day at the botanical gardens and Eastern Beach.
Mia
Cyber Safety
This week we had Robbie Noggler from the Victoria Police come into the school to speak to the middle and senior students about how to be safe online. Topics covered included not sharing private information, the importance of privacy settings and speaking to trusted adults if anything makes them feel uncomfortable.
Marble Runs in STEAM
This week the grade 3/4 students have further developed their knowledge and understanding of how things can move and began to create a marble run out of all sorts of different materials. Following the Design Cycle process, they are working collaboratively in small groups. We can’t wait to see how they turn out and share them with you. So much creative talent in one class! Engineers in the making!
PMP
The senior students are continuing to do a fantastic job of sharing their expertise with the Prep’s during their PE sessions each week. It’s amazing to see how far the Prep students have come in such a short time. This week we were focusing on striking a ball, hand eye coordination and running and kicking. The preps have been loving finishing off our lessons with a game of indoor soccer. Thanks senior students for all your help, it’s much appreciated.
Our Positive Behaviour Matrix
