Welcome Back!
Welcome back to the 2020 school year! I hope you enjoyed a wonderful holiday season and are ready for a fabulous year of learning and opportunities at Wattle Grove. The new school year promises to be successful and positive. It was a joy for me to see so many happy and smiling faces as I addressed the students on the first day back and joined them for recess and lunch. On behalf of our wonderful school, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our Kindergarten students and new families starting at Wattle Grove this year! We are very excited to have you as part of our learning community. I am looking forward to working with the school community to continue building upon our excellent programs and enhancing learning outcomes for all students.
Staffing Changes
We welcome Mrs Valensise who successfully applied for our permanent Deputy Principal Position. Mrs Valensise comes with extensive experience in leadership, curriculum and student wellbeing across a number of school settings. We also welcome Mrs Styer who is teaching 1 Navy. Mrs Styer comes with a high level of knowledge and skill, having taught across K-6 and Reading Recovery. We are very happy Mrs Valensise and Mrs Styer have joined the Wattle Grove family and I know they will have a significant impact on our teaching and learning programs at Wattle Grove. I am sure everyone will make our newest staff members feel welcome.
2020 Classes
I have been visiting classroom this week and am extremely impressed with the way the students have settled into their new classrooms and started their 2020 learning journey. Students were placed in their 2020 classes last week after finalising our student enrolment numbers. This year we have 610 students enrolled, making 24 classes. The staff worked extremely hard to form these classes, considering academic, social and emotional needs of all students. The students will form many new friendships and continue to grow in independence and confidence as they engage in an array of experiences and opportunities thought out the year!
Community Participation
Wattle Grove welcomes all families and friends to be active members of our school community, working in partnership for our students. There are many ways in which parents and carers can become involved at school and your contributions are highly valued and appreciated. You will receive information throughout the year regarding the different ways in which families can be involved with the school such as visiting us on special days, volunteering, classroom helper roles, donations and much more.
We have a very active P&C at Wattle Grove who work tirelessly to provide opportunities for all our students and community. If you are interested in being part of the P&C, our AGM and first meeting is Wednesday 19 February, 7pm in the staffroom. We would love to see you there!
How do we communicate?
Newsletter - You will notice the new and improved layout of our newsletter! Our newsletter will be published on our SkoolBag App and on our school website every second Friday. Please read the newsletter carefully to keep informed with what’s happening here at school. A small number of hard copies will be available from the office if required.
Facebook - We encourage you to keep up to date with our community messages and good news stories on our Facebook page @wattlegrovepublicschool. We will continue with the ‘What’s on’ weekly reminders published on Sunday on Facebook.
SkoolBag APP – There are many features of the Skool Bag App that are used by the school. These include copies of permission and information notes, school alerts, link to Flexischools (online school uniform and canteen system) and absentee submissions.
Communication
Parent-teacher communication is essential in building positive school partnerships which support and enhance children’s learning experiences at school. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your child’s teacher. In most cases the classroom teachers are able to provide the most accurate information and/or advice. They will happily make a time to discuss items if they are unavailable to meet at the time of your initial discussion. If you are unable to come to the school, please call the front office and the administrative staff will make an appointment for you. In the case of questions or concerns around whole school information, policies, processes and/or sensitive issues, Miss Cameron and Mrs Valensise are more than happy to meet with parents and carers. School and class based items are more likely to be addressed with a positive outcome with clear communication between our families and staff. Thank you in advance for your support in working together.
Student Safety
Just a reminder that all parents and visitors to our school must report to the office when entering the school premises. This procedure is essentially to safe guard the safety and security of all our students and staff. The office staff will organise any instructions as required. Should you be required to make your way to your child’s classroom, a green visitor pass will be issued, which alerts all staff and children that correct procedures have been followed. Please ensure the green visitor’s pass is visible at all times, whilst you are visiting your child’s class. Classroom helpers are issued with a yellow classroom helper pass when volunteering their valuable help at our school. If any parent has a particularly important reason for walking with their child down the walkway of a morning, please call and discuss this with either Mrs Valensise or Miss Cameron. Thank you for your cooperation with these important issues.
What is Waiters?
School finishes at 3:15pm. All students will be dismissed from the main COLA area outside the administration building. We ask that parents and carers keep clear of the walkway entry and exit to allow our students to make their way through the walkway into the playground to be dismissed. With such a large student population, we respectfully ask that families and students exit the school as soon as practical so that we can put students on buses, collect bikes and scooters and assess that all students are accounted for. There is to be no playing in the school playground after school. We understand that there is often traffic congestion around the school on the 3:15pm bell. If students do not have a carer to collect them at 3:15pm, they will come to the ‘Waiter’s Area’ which is supervised by Miss Cameron, Mrs Valensise or a member of the school executive. These students will be supervised until 3:30pm where they will be taken to the school front office. As teachers attend staff meetings, team meetings, parent interviews or lesson preparation, it is important all students are picked up promptly.
School Costs
You will soon receive an invoice for Term 1. This invoice will include costs for school textbooks, resources and Voluntary School Contribution fees. These payments cover student access to Mathletics and Reading Eggs, which are valuable resources used to supplement and enhance their extracurricular educational programs. Each year, schools ask for a Voluntary School Contribution to purchase large amounts of new, up to date, teaching and learning resources for student use. Even though these fees are voluntary, it will greatly help our school to purchase additional and stimulating resources. All money raised through these voluntary contributions is spent on materials for the children – ranging from copying paper to craft materials, computer software, sporting goods and reading books. The school has an online payment facility as well as credit card and EFTPOS facilities that you can use to make your payments to the school. Our preferred method of payment is through the secure online portal on the school’s website http://www.wattlegrov-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/ To access the portal, click on the ‘$ make a payment’ link. If at any time you are experiencing difficulty with school costs, please contact the office or speak directly with Mrs Valensise or Miss Cameron. Payment plans and support are always available, please ask should you require assistance. All information remains confidential at all times.
School Assemblies
School assemblies are held for our K-2 and 3-6 students on a fortnightly basis. These will be held each Thursday at 12.45pm, alternating between a K-2 assembly and a 3-6 assembly. The roster is published in the newsletter and through our ‘What’s On’ Update. Our first K-2 assembly will be on 27 February 2020 in our school hall. The first 3-6 assembly will be the following week on 5 March 2020. Parents and friends are most welcome to attend!
Hats
A school policy of ‘no hat, play in the shade’ will be strictly enforced. The hat is part of our school uniform so we would like all children to obtain the correct school hat to wear during play and on sport days. Hats are available for purchase from the uniform shop.
Lost Property
Please label ALL your child’s belongings clearly and permanently before they are taken to school. This helps any lost items to be promptly returned to the owner.
Swimming Carnival
Our annual school swimming carnival will be held Thursday 20 February for students in Years 3-6 and competitive 8 year old swimmers in Year 2. Information and permission regarding the swimming carnival was sent home with students this week and must be returned with payment by 17 February 2020. We understand that this is a short turn around, however, bookings for the pool are made 12 months in advance and dates are limited to get in quickly before the zone competition.
2020 Staff
Attached is a table of our 2020 staff. You will see the addition of two specialist roles. This year we have engaged two Instructional Leaders, who will work with teachers and students to continue our whole school focus on the implementation of evidence-based practices in the area of literacy. Congratulations to Mrs Foreshew and Mrs Cook who were successful in gaining these positions. The second new role is our Future Focussed Mentor, which Mrs Cabrera was successful in gaining. This role entails Mrs Cabrera supporting and working with teachers to continue their authentic use of technology to enhance student learning and the development of future focussed skills such as creativity, cooperation, critical thinking and collaboration.
Wattle Wanderers
Welcome to the first Wattle Wanders! This week I visited 3 Canary and their new tropical fish. The students in 3 Canary are learning how to care for the fish and will research information around the different species. There may be some more additions in the tank very soon!
Nicole Cameron Vicky Valensise
Principal Deputy Principal
