West Lakes Shore School Newsletter

TERM 1, Week 1 - Friday 31 January 2020

PRINCIPALS CORNER

Dear Families,

It has been a fabulous, settled start to the term. Another huge welcome to all our new students and families joining our West Lakes Shore Community. We have a strong partnership with families and positive relationships within our community are crucial to our success; working together will ensure we can do our best for every child.

Children and staff have been busy developing classroom expectations aligned to our school values of Respect, Responsibility, Resilience, Honesty and aiming for Excellence, to ensure the right conditions for learning. This term we are building quality relationships through key events, including our week 3 Meet Your Teachers night, our whole-school day of action on Harmony Day and, later in term 1, holding our 3 way student-parent-teacher interviews. We value student input into their own learning and every child across the school will work with their teachers to establish their own SMARTaR goals in Maths and Writing. Some students may also have a wellbeing goal, particularly if we need to work in partnership with you  to develop a positive mindset and build their resilience. Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s classroom teacher to help you resolve any issues or if you need support. Positive feedback is always appreciated too; lets grow gratitude and aim to let others know when we appreciate what they do.

At our Meet Your Teachers night, or through information home, staff will be providing you with copies of our Term 1 Curriculum overviews and updating families on their year level form of electronic communication. These apps are used to stay in touch and keep you up to date with classroom learning. For new families please ensure the front office has your correct email and you have downloaded the free SkoolBag app to your device. These are our main sources of communicating whole-school information. In weeks 1, 3, 5 and 9 of each term the school newsletter includes key information and updates, whilst week 7 showcase's student excellence. If you wish to share any of your child’s out of school achievements please email rachel.roe536@schools.sa.edu.au  

A full Staff list for 2020 is available via the the school website, and we have listed all teachers and classes for 2020 in this newsletter.

A few school reminders:

Hats and water bottles: With the recent spike in hot weather please ensure your child/ren have their hat and water bottle and have sunblock applied before leaving home to support sun safety. School sunblock is accessible in each unit for students who may need to reapply this throughout the day.

Attendance: Learning outcomes are strongly correlated to good attendance and prompt arrival in the mornings. Please always inform school if your child is not able to attend, or late due to family or medical/dental reasons. You can send us full or partial day absences via SkoolBag - under EForms, or leave a voice message on the Absentee Phone Line - 8449 7574.  We require you to provide first and last name of your child/ren, their class number and a brief reason - late, sick or family.

Each term families will receive a letter indicating all unexplained absences and/or late arrivals. If children are late then they must come to the front office to obtain a late slip. Written or verbal information needs to be provided to school so it can be recorded as an explained late.  We understand you sometimes run late and thank you for supporting us to maintain our roll requirements.

Kind regards

Carol Press

FULL STAFF LIST - 2020

TEACHING STAFF

  • SS1                Curriculum SSO's - Intervention
  • SS2                Helen Katsiokalis / Saras Vithiananthan (alternate Fridays) - reception
  • SS3                Ayumi Suzuki - Reception
  • SS4                Tracie Gurney - Reception
  • DO1               Kayly Karutz - Reception / Year 1
  • DO2                Vicky Kemp - Year 1
  • DO3                Sammy Homan - Year 1
  • DO4                Tanya Pojer - Year 1
  • ST1                 Vlass Vlassopoulos / Gail Hall - Year 2
  • ST2                 Sarah Cumming - Year 2
  • ST3                 Saras Vithiananthan / Curriculum SSO's - Intervention
  • OC1                Anna Papas / Zoe Tsoubarakis - Year 3
  • OC2                Stav Papanicolaou - Year 3
  • OC3                Esther Edwards - Year 3
  • OC4                Michelle McDowall - Year 2/3
  • Octopus Withdrawal Room     Katherine Guttridge - Intervention
  • P2                    Rozika Pratap / Michelle Gray - Year 4
  • P3                    Georgina Markos / Tania Schwenke - Year 4
  • P4                    Chanel Polese - Year 4
  • SD1                  Olivia Sheridan - Year 5
  • SD2                   Kieran Davidson - Year 5
  • SD3                   Megan Otte - Year 7
  • SD4                   Jarad Tessari - Year 7
  • SD5                   Sophie Tye - Year 5
  • SD6                   Kaz Martin - Year 5/6/7
  • SD7                    Jacqui Thomas - Year 6
  • SD8                    Stafford Storrie - Year 6
  • T1                       April Watt - Japanese
  • T2                       Lisa Zappia - Visual Arts
  • T3                       Georgia Casbarra - Performing Arts / Choir
  • T4                       Catherine Pathon - Performing Arts
  • GYM                    Paul Dixon - Physical Education
  • RESOURCE CENTRE    Joanna Cook - Teacher Librarian
  • P1                        Rozika Pratap / Tracey Bevan (PCW/SSO) - Wellbeing Hub
  • Pelican Prep        Jane Litchfield (AET) & Sara Bingapore (ACEO) - ATSI Support

LEADERSHIP, ADMINISTRATION & CURRICULUM STAFF

  • Carol Press                Principal - Administration Building
  • Helen Grant               Deputy Principal - Administration Building
  • Fay Anderson            Assistant Principal Student Support - Administration Building
  • Rozika Pratap            Wellbeing Leader - Classroom / Wellbeing Hub & Administration based
  • Cheryl Jaeschke        Business Manager - Administration Building
  • Lee Burgess              IT SSO
  • Janet Massey             Admin /Enrolments SSO - Front Office
  • Catherine Buck         Admin / Finance SSO - Front Office
  • Niamh Melady           Admin SSO - Front Office
  • Rachel Roe                 Admin SSO - Administration Building
  • Michelle Fearne        Admin SSO - Administration Building
  • Lyn Grant                   Library SSO - Resource Centre
  • Beata Preston            Curriculum SSO 
  • Penny Gniadek          Curriculum SSO
  • Sarah Neville              Curriculum SSO
  • Kay Curnow                Curriculum SSO
  • Janine Plummer         Curriculum SSO
  • Shanell Bird                Curriculum SSO
  • Shaeden Galpin         Curriculum SSO
  • Sara Bingapore           ACEO
  • John McKay                Grounds Person

MEET YOUR TEACHERS NIGHT

There will be an opportunity to meet classroom teachers in their units and specialist Japanese, Performing Arts, Visual Arts and Physical Education teachers at the 'Meet Your Teachers' evening to be held on Monday 10th February at 6.00pm - 6.50pm.

Your child can take you on a tour of their classroom, introduce their teacher and show you their specialist learning areas and teachers in our Turtle Unit.

 *We value the informal nature of this event to allow for staff to have the time to chat with all families. If you wish to discuss your child's learning or any issues please book an individual meeting with your child's teacher on an alternate day and time.

WHOLE SCHOOL MAP

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

At 7.00pm, following the 'Meet Your Teachers',  you are invited to join us in the staffroom for the school’s Annual General Meeting. For new families this is where we present our 2019  annual report and establish our 2020 Governing Council. The first council meeting with our 2020 councillors will follow the AGM. We have a number of continuing members and a number of members renominating. Other nominations from parents or carers wanting to be considered for a place on our Governing Council need to be sent to carol.press854@schools.sa.edu.au by the end of the school day on Friday 7th February. 

YEAR 4-7 CAMPS

In 2019 each of our Year 4 - 7 Year levels ran camps of varying costs that were strongly connected to the curriculum and provided great opportunities for students to build relationships and develop their social and emotional skills. Whilst not a mandated part of any teachers role, our staff gave up considerable personal time to provide these opportunities and enable your child to have some long lasting memories of their time at school (I still have fond memories of my Year 5 canal adventure and Year 6 trip to Edale in the Derbyshire Dales) As we look to plan opportunities this year we are seeking family feedback, particularly around the impact of the financial implication that camps in Year4, 5, 6 and 7 may have.  Last years camps cost between $90 and $230 and families were able to set up payment plans. Please add any feedback to the camp feedback station in your child's classroom at this coming Meet Your Teacher evening. Governing Council and staff will use this feedback to guide our decisions around school camps.

RESOURCE CENTRE NEWS

PREMIER'S READING CHALLENGE 2020

The Premier’s Reading Challenge is underway for 2020.  Each year the Premier challenges students from Reception to Year 13 to read 12 books.  Eight of the books read must come from the Premier’s Reading Challenge booklist and four books are the student’s own choice. The purpose of the “Challenge” is to encourage children to read and to increase literacy skills.  For younger students who are still learning to read, it is about sharing books with their families at home.  At West Lakes Shore School R-7, many students participate in the Challenge and have received awards for their efforts. 

In the Resource Centre, we will be displaying the names of students who have handed in their completed Student Reading Record.

 A certificate signed by the Premier is awarded to students completing the Challenge for the first time.  After that, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Champion, Legend and Hall of Fame medals are awarded.  A Hall Of Fame Reader for Life, gold embossed certificate reflecting the number of years students have participated in the Challenge is awarded in following years.

 To find out all you need to know about the Challenge visit:  www.prc.sa.edu.au

 On the website you are able to find out information about the books, authors, ambassadors, guidelines and lots more.  The booklists are available on the website and are fully searchable by author, title, category and series in each of the three levels.  The eligible books are easily recognisable in our library as they have a PRC sticker at the top of the front cover and are divided into 3 categories:

Red stickers -        Reception to Year 2

Green stickers       -        Year 3-5

Yellow stickers       -        Year 6-9

 On the website there is a ‘like’ feature, where people can indicate whether they like the books they are reading –find this feature through the Booklists.  The likes create a Top Ten live tally, which is very helpful in finding out what other students are reading.

 Kidspace is where primary students can:

  • Win a prize by adding a Rate-a-Read,
  • View the Hall of Fame Honour Roll,
  • Participate in various Blog entries, and
  • Vote for next year’s poster for the Premier’s Reading Challenge.


The closing date for this year’s “Challenge” is Friday, 4th September so there is plenty of time to read the 12 books required.

WOOLWORTHS 'EARN AND LEARN'

Thank you to all the families who participated in last year’s Woolies Earn & Learn promotion.  As shown in the photo below, the STEM resources we selected have arrived and there is something exciting for every year level!

SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUBS

Shortly we will be sending home the first Scholastic Book Club catalogue for the year.  We would like to encourage all parents and caregivers ordering items from the catalogue to use the online ordering system, LOOP.  LOOP allows parents to pay and order online!

It is as simple as downloading the app from the Apple App Store (just search for the word LOOP) or visiting: scholastic.com.au/LOOP and follow the prompts.

When using LOOP, there is no need to send the order form back to school.  LOOP will notify the school of all online orders.

Students can still order using cash or cheque.  Simply complete the order form at the back of the catalogue and return it with the payment to the Resource Centre BY THE DUE DATE.  The school will process the order for you.  Please ensure these orders are clearly labelled with the student’s full name and class.

All orders will earn rewards for the school Resource Centre and will be delivered to school for distribution.

Help wanted

If you are able to help out with bundling of Book Club orders, please call into the Resource Centre and see Lyn or Joanna.

WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED NUMERACY?

Numeracy is the application of mathematical knowledge and skills in a wide range of situations.

“It involves students recognising and understanding the role of mathematics in the world.” Australian Curriculum 8.1

Students need to develop positive attitudes in order to confidently choose and use their mathematical knowledge and skills outside the maths classroom; in particular, in real world contexts.

The Australian Curriculum Learning Area, Mathematics, groups mathematical skills and knowledge into the areas of number and algebra, measurement and geometry and statistics and probability. However, mathematics content, or understanding, is just one aspect of the curriculum. Equally important is the development of fluency, reasoning and problem solving.

Fluency: Recalling knowledge and concepts easily - using skills flexibly, accurately and efficiently.

Reasoning: Analysing, explaining, proving and generalizing.

Problem Solving: Making choices, using logical processes and planning approaches to seek solutions and verify answers.

Maths is much more than sums and times tables. Students begin exploring concepts through “hands on” activities. They consolidate their conceptual understandings as their experiences broaden. They constantly make sense of new learning by linking it to what they already know and understand.

How do we measure progress in Mathematics?

  • We collect anecdotal data from observations.
  • We use ACER PAT testing data.
  • We use NAPLAN.
  • We use the Australian Curriculum Achievement Standards (A-E grades).

What do we do when students experience difficulty?

  • Classroom teachers support students through differentiated programs.
  • Students access targeted intervention programs.
  • We use a range of diagnostic tests to identify “gaps” or misconceptions.

What can parents do to support Numeracy development?

  • Be positive – please encourage a love of mathematics even if your memories of maths at school are not all wonderful. A positive attitude is an essential element in success.
  • Value your child’s efforts.
  • Talk about the maths you are using in everyday situations:
    •  Cooking
    •  Shopping
    •  Distance travelled
    •  Time
    •  Timetables and calendars
  •  Encourage your child to practise number facts and times tables at the appropriate time. Your child’s teacher will suggest when they should learn these.
  •  Look for number patterns and shapes in books, at home and in the environment.
  •  Compare lengths and heights and discuss how much containers hold.
  •  Ask, “Does that make sense?” Is there another way to work that out?” “Can you prove that answer?”
  •  If they can’t do something remind them that they can’t do it YET.

We want our students to become powerful and engaged learners, confident and self-motivated, with a love of learning and a love of mathematics. 

FAMILY INFORMATION

YEAR 7 to 8 TRANSITION PROCESS

Information will be coming home shortly with all Year 7 students about the transition into Year 8 for 2021. 

It is your responsibility to provide us with any information regarding change of address before the end of Week 3 - Friday 14 February 2020.  If you are unsure of what address you have listed please contact us ASAP. Please provide the following documents or scan and email to Rachel Roe via the email address listed below:

  • Contract of Sale if you own your home and a current utilities bill (power or gas) in your name
  • Rental/lease Agreement and signed bond receipt lodged with Consumer and Business Services showing the current place of residence. The rental agreement should cover at least the first 12 months at the school and a current utilities bill - power or gas

Any questions please email rachel.roe536@schools.sa.edu.au or call 8449 7255 (8:30am - 4pm)

HAVE YOU GOT YOUR HAT???

Don't forget that Term 1 and Term 4 are HATS ON terms. 

Our school policy is "No Hat, Play in the Shade'. 

Children without a hat will be required to stay in shaded areas.

With the hot weather we require all children to have sunblock applied before they come to school.  Classrooms have supplies of sunblock for your child to reapply during the day if required. 

We also remind you to pack a full water bottle in your child's school bag.  We have drinking fountains around the school for your child to refill their bottles if needed.

Please remember to name ALL of your child's uniform so we are able to find lost property owners.  Please refrain from using initials on uniform items. Iron on labels are the best options for uniform or a white paint marker for hats.

We do have a limited supply of bucket hats available to purchase from the front office for $15 if you require a new one.

Important 2020 Term One Dates

  • MONDAY, 10th FEBRUARY 2020 - Meet Your Teachers Night - 6-6:50pm
  • MONDAY, 10th FEBRUARY 2020 - AGM and Governing Council Meeting - 7pm
  • THURSDAY, 13TH FEBRUARY 2020 - Year 6 & 7 Aquatics
  • FRIDAY, 14TH FEBRUARY 2020 - Year 6 & 7 Aquatics
  • FRIDAY, 6th MARCH 2020 - Partnership Pupil Free Day - GC approval required
  • MONDAY, 9th MARCH 2020 - Adelaide Cup Holiday
  • FRIDAY, 13TH MARCH 2020 - MSP School Photos
  • MONDAY, 16th MARCH 2020 - MSP School Photo Catch Up Day
  • FRIDAY, 20th MARCH 2020 - Harmony Day - Whole-school Connected Curriculum 'Adventure Seekers' Day of action
  • THURSDAY, 9th APRIL 2020 - Last day of Term 1 - early dismissal at 2:15pm
  • FRIDAY, 10th APRIL 2020 - Good Friday - Public Holiday
Information about West Lakes Shore School R-7

WEST LAKES SHORE SCHOOL

To report a student absence phone: 8449 7274

To contact West Lakes School OSHC phone: 8242 3141