At Willoughby Public School we aim to cultivate socially-aware learners who are critical and creative thinkers, within a safe, respectful and responsible learning community.
Dear Parents/Carers
Kindergarten 2023 EnrolmentsThank you to our families within our Willoughby community for submitting your child’s enrolment application for Kindergarten in 2023. We are starting to organise our Kindergarten Transition program ready for Term 4. If you have pre school children who are ready for “big” school please log onto our website and complete your application for enrolment. Please share with your neighbours and friends – so we have them on our list for our transition program. Our Year 5 student leader nominees are looking forward to welcoming our new kindergarten student to Willoughby PS.
Stage 2 DiscoYears 3 and 4 had a great night on Friday 12 August. Thank you to our parent organisers and support on the night and Mr Aitken for his great MC & DJ skills. A fun event for everyone – it was wonderful to see our students with huge smiles as they danced the night away.
Year 6 CampOur Year 6 students had a fabulous time at Broken Bay Sport and Recreation Camp last week. There were lots of excited students waiting for the buses to arrive on Wednesday morning and tired but happy students returning on Friday afternoon. Our playground was very quiet over the 3 days. Congratulations to our students for being wonderful ambassadors representing our school and participating in all activities with enthusiasm. Thank you to Mrs Leslie, Mr Atkinson, Ms Mikhail, Mrs Dixon, Mr Michaeil, Miss Dixon, Mrs Rodgers, Miss Babayigit, Lis and Emily for taking such great care of our Year 6 students while on camp. We acknowledge and appreciate that you had time away from your own families during camp. I’m sure everyone had a very relaxing weekend catching up on your sleep.
Child Protection - Term 3
Our PD/H focus in Term 3 is teaching the NSW Curriculum's Child Protection lessons. In response to an incident that occurred near WPS on Wednesday, yesterday, teachers reminded students to always walk home together, revised keeping themselves safe and the importance of letting an adult know about dangers or safety concerns.
P&C support for Willoughby Public SchoolWe are very grateful for the ongoing support of our WPC P&C Association. The P&C have a great working relationship focusing on improving the outcomes for our students. The support is provided in a variety of ways:
Social events – Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, school welcome events, and Starry Nights to name a few. These social events provide opportunities for the adult to develop and strengthen relationships across the school as well as provide fun times for the children to play together.
Whole School Program support: UR Strong friendship presentation last term was outstanding, WPS has implemented the strategies across K-6. It fits well into our PBEL values and provides ways for children to strengthen their skills around friendships providing a toolbox of strategies when facing challenges with friends.
School Learning and Support Officer’s (SLSO’s) We have a great SLSO team who work across our school supporting students and teachers in class, with additional lessons, at recess and lunch times ensuring ongoing care and support for our students.
Technology – we have through the support of the P&C updated and replaced our iPad, Chromebook and laptops, purchasing mobile charging stations that can be moved around the school as required. This supports the student’s skill acquisition as they seamlessly integrate technology into all key learning areas.
Curriculum implementation support especially English. We have been able to top up our reading resources to support the implementation of the new K-2 English syllabus. Decodable texts and variety of books to support home reading as well as in class resources.
Ballroom Dancing ShowcaseOn Monday 29 August our Year 5 students will be participating in the Met North Gala event at the Quay Centre, Homebush. This is the culmination of their dance lessons. It is a truly spectacular event and I’m looking forward to seeing our students perform along with the other schools across Met North. Thank you to Miss Tonks for coordinating our Year 5 dance team. Thank you to our Year 5 teachers for your support over the weeks. Good luck to our students, I can’t wait to see the performances at the Met North Gala.
Book Week / Grandparents/ Grand friends celebrationWhat a wonderful day we had yesterday celebrating reading and the joy and adventures that books bring – dreaming with our eyes open.
Thank you to Mrs DeSilva and our teachers and office admin for the wonderful team effort. Thank you, grandparents and grand friends, for your generosity in purchasing books for our library. The library is the heart of our school. Please see the gallery of photos attached.
Student Leaders for 2023We have started the leadership selection process with our Year 5 students. The Year 5 group participated in a whole leadership day and have completed the School Captain and Vice-Captain nomination form. The sport house nomination forms will be distributed today, once we have those nominations in the students will receive their student leader nominee badges.
Voting will occur in Term 4. The first round all of Stage 3 and the Stage 3 teachers will vote for the final 10 -12 nominees. These students will then present their speeches to Years 2- 5. The students will then complete their ballot paper for the final selection. The 2 captains and 2 vice captains will receive their badge at our end of year presentation day.
The sport house captains and vice captains will present their speeches to the members of their sport house team. All students in each house will cast their vote after the leader nominees present speeches in the sport house meeting. The house captains / vice captains will be presented their badges at our end of year presentation assembly.
Zone Athletics Carnival
Thank you to Miss Chen and Mr Goodwin for accompanying our WPS team to the carnival on Wednesday and today. Congratulations to our students for the great results. We will publish the information in our next newsletter and highlight the achievement of our students.
Kind regards
Jennifer Simmonds