Swim Scheme
We have had some very positive feed back from our teachers, students and parents about the swim scheme which concludes this week. I was delighted to hear from the teachers at Caringbah pool who said that Woolooware behaviour and manners were exemplary. Well done Year 2 and Year 3, and thank you to our teachers for enabling this program to happen.
Schools Spectacular
We are very excited to see our dancers and choristers perform next week at the 2022 Schools Spectacular in Homebush. Thank you to our families for supporting this even and to all of our performers, ‘break a leg’!
Presentation Days
At our P&C meeting in term 2 we had a lengthy discussion about the 2022 Presentation day and weighed up the pros and cons for an off-site , live presentation and the live-stream. After a lot of discussion the P&C voted to continue with the live-stream for 2022 and review this for 2023 and beyond. This was subsequently communicated in the newsletter. Here are the times for each presentation and there will be more information sent out shortly with log-in information etc.
Thursday 8 December
9.40am - Stage 3 Years 5 & 6
10.45am - Stage 2 Years 3 & 4
12.30pm - ES1 and Stage 1 Kindy & Year 1
2023 Organisation (Repeat)
We have already started planning for next year and our Kindergarten Orientation program will be commencing soon. As always, accurate enrolment figures help us to plan and we kindly request that you let us know if there is a possibility that your child will not be returning to WPS in 2022. Also, if you know of any families new to the area that are considering enrolling – please advise them to get in touch.
Now is also the time for you to let us know of any particular needs that we should consider in the formation of classes for 2023. When forming classes we make decisions based on the academic, social and physical needs of the students using assessment data and teacher knowledge. If you have any additional needs that you would like us to take into consideration, please put these in writing (addressed to the principal) and hand them to the office. Emails will also be accepted, addressed to Woolooware-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au. Please do not assume that requests from previous years will be carried forward. We look at each new year through a clean lens, so if you have made a particular request before and the needs are still current, your will need to let us know again this year.
Please note that while we will make every effort to consider these requests, it is not always possible to fulfil every wish. We will however ensure that each student is placed in a learning environment where he/she has the opportunity to reach his/her full potential. I would also like to point out that requests for particular teachers will not be taken into consideration. We pride ourselves on the fact that all teachers at Woolooware PS deliver the curriculum with skill and expertise and cannot accommodate requests of this nature.
2023 Class Structure
Given our current and projected enrolments, we look like being able to form 19 classes K-6 in 2023 once again. This is always a tricky process as we need to ensure the class sizes are all kept within the correct guidelines.
While it would seem that the ideal class formation would be a ‘straight’ class of the one grade, this is not always possible due to the overall number of students enrolled and it is inevitable that multi-age classes (or ‘composites’) may need to be formed. To some who are not familiar with the way we deliver the curriculum, being in a multi-age class could be seen as a disadvantage and I know that some families have reservations about their children being in “composite” classes, however most of the reasons for this concern generally come from a misunderstanding of how these classes operate. A few points to consider include:
- Every class is a composite in terms of student ability and even chronological age of students (there can be up to an 18 month age difference between the youngest and eldest child in any particular grade). Because of this, every teacher differentiates the learning program so that students are working in groups or on tasks that are appropriate to their ability level.
- Our syllabus outcomes are stage based. That means that the outcomes for each learning area are the same for students across a two-year span. However, there are always occasions where teachers need to program for outcomes from the stage above and below in order to meet the needs of every student and our teachers are adept at doing this.
- Socialisation. Students have numerous opportunities to interact with their grade peers, regularly throughout the week. Obviously this happens in the playground during breaks, but also it is programmed into our learning times.
As I mentioned earlier, final decisions are yet to be made and we are still very much in the planning phase for the formation and structure of our 2023 classes, but please be assured that we make these decisions based on all available data and sound professional judgement with the ultimate aim of creating the best learning environment possible for all students in the cohort.
Jason Ezzy
Principal
PLEASE NOTE: The contents of this message are intended for families of students at Woolooware Public School. Unauthorised sharing of this message is not permitted
