Narrabri West Public School

We hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable break and we look forward to sharing a busy and productive term with you and your children. It has begun with a rush already.

All classes are continuing their program of learning and teachers are developing lessons to meet the educational needs of our students, who have settled back into their routines very quickly - it is like we were never away.

This term promises to be not only very busy, but also very exciting. Some of the upcoming events include the Narrabri Eisteddfod, Athletics Carnival and Crazy Hair Day and too many more to mention. As always, Narrabri West is an extremely busy place. Of course we have already had our Cross Country Championships, which were held Friday 28th April.

Thank you for your continued support of our school and we hope to see you at all of our school events.

This year ANZAC Day fell on Tuesday 25th April. It was wonderful to see Narrabri West students marching on ANZAC Day  this year. Well done to all children who marched and everyone who cheered them on as we made our way to the RSL Club. It is always exciting to see all schools marching and honouring this occasion.

Thank you everyone for your help and assistance with having the Narrabri West students attend. Thank you also to all of our teachers who were there to help with the organisation and to march with our students. It is noticed and appreciated how you are prepared to give up your own time to assist the school and local community.

On the last day of we held our ANZAC Assembly. Thank you to Mr Mason, from the Narrabri RSL Sub-Branch, for speaking at our assembly and to Mrs Carolan for singing both the New Zealand and Australian National Anthems. Everyone showed exceptional behaviour and listened very well to our speakers. Well done everyone.

Well done to all the children who marched and everyone who cheered them on as we made our way to the RSL Club. It is always exciting to see all schools marching and honouring this occasion. Well done to Lexie and Fletcher who spoke beautifully on behalf of the school.

Lunchtime Clubs have started again for Term 2. 

Welcome back to Term 2. We trust  your holidays were fun and relaxing. The children have settled back in quickly and are excited to be back and engaging in play based learning in our Preschool.

We have been learning about different vegetables, numbers and identifying and writing our names. We have also started our morning sign in routine, where the children being to learn to write their name each morning.

Red Group have been finding frogs in the sandpit when digging and exploring, they are so excited to take care of them before relocating them in the garden.

Blue Group have enjoyed making different creation using zoob construction. We have had robots, snakes and helicopters.

We have created a class project for the local Narrabri Show. The children enjoyed creating an artwork around the show theme “Plant today, harvest tomorrow”. We were proud to have it displayed at the show and couldn't wait for everyone to see it. It was a lovely surprise to see when we went to the show that our artwork had not only won first prize but Champion as well.

Children have worked with Mrs Watson last term to get our veggie patch ready for planting. The children have weeded, watered and mixed up the soil in preparation for the seedlings. We have planted broccoli, carrots, spinach, lettuce, cauliflower, beetroot, cabbage and brussel sprouts. The children are eagerly waiting for them to grow!

We are looking forward to a great term ahead!

Miss Abbey O’Brien & Mrs Linda Watson

 Term Two is off to a busy start. The children are engaging in some fabulous learning in all subjects. They are continuing with daily phonics, reading, writing, counting and number work. Music lessons are noisy, but lots of fun as we practise for the eisteddfod. KG and KW will be performing an item in the Musical Entertainment section later in the term.

The children are enjoying buddy activities with 5/6T and 5/6G. They are reading to their buddies and listening to their buddy read to them. The walk to the show last week was made even more exciting by walking with our buddies, topped by seeing the mural created by KG and KW with a ‘Grand Champion’ ribbon!

In the upcoming weeks, we will begin our preparation for the athletics carnival which will be next term. This will see lots of throwing, catching, running, baton changing, jumping and teamwork.

Looking forward to another great team of learning.

Angela Gett and Rebecca Wade

The University of New South Wales is offering your child an opportunity to participate in the International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS). ICAS is designed to target students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling Bee and Digital Technologies. These competitions will be delivered online.

Each assessment celebrates students’ accomplishments by providing opportunities for recognition and development. Every student will receive a printed certificate and an online results report. The assessments are suitable for students wishing to extend themselves academically and take up the personal challenge of competing in an international assessment, that has been running for 40 years.

The dates and cost for each test are outlined below. Please note that the tests will be administered on set days and times and students who are absent will not be able to sit the test at another time or receive a refund. All payments for tests will be made online and a note will go home early in Term 2 with further details.

As we move towards the cooler weather, I ask students and parents to be aware of the uniform requirements at Narrabri West. Our uniform room has school jumpers, jackets and rugby tops available in school colours with our emblem on them, as well as track pants. Navy blue or red scarves are also permitted. Please assist us to uphold the wonderful uniform standard that we have set.

We also notice at this time every year students wearing jumpers to school that are not part of the school uniform. Jumpers that are different colours to our school jumper and hoodies are not part of our uniform and SHOULD NOT be worn.

Orders can be made via the My School Connect App or by calling the office.

Last Friday the Narrabri West Public School students went on an excursion to the local show. They walked to the show with their class and enjoyed the many items on display throughout the pavilions. The students checked out their school work entries and found many Westies had received awards for their creativity. Congratulations to all who participated and won awards. The students enjoyed visiting the poultry shed where they saw a fabulous display of different breeds of chickens, game fowl and ducks. Students also strolled through the produce pavilion and loved seeing the locally grown fruit and vegetables on display, they especially enjoyed the animals made from produce by the children from the local district. The animal nursery and Lego pavilion were also popular with the students. The highlight of the show visit was a visit to the live reptile display. We would like to thank the Narrabri Show Society for inviting our school to the show and for allowing us to watch the entertainment during our visit. It is hard to believe there are so many clever people in our community growing wonderful produce, baking lovely cakes and biscuits, painting and drawing artworks as well as sewing and building Lego and scarecrows. We are proud to be a part of such a wonderful community.

Congratulations to all who participated and won awards. Kindergarten was very excited to see their entry received the Grand Champion prize.  Preschool were so proud to see when they went to the show that their artwork had not only won first prize but Champion as well.

On Tuesday the 3rd of May Year 6 had the opportunity to participate in the North West Science and Engineering Challenge at the Crossing Theatre. Students were able to engage in a wide range of science and engineering activities from building and testing bridges using a set range of materials to send coded messages using lights. Every student represented Narrabri West in the best possible way with exemplary behaviour and attitude on display. Our Westies managed to place 3rd out of the 8 schools present and left the challenge with a variety of new ideas. Special thank you to parents for organising pick up and drop off from the theatre.

KG and 5/6T enjoyed an afternoon of Buddy Reading.

NSW PSSA Swimming Championships were held at the end of Term 1 at Sydney Olympic Park. Congratulations to all our swimmers who participated.

Max Booby, Sonny French, Dustin Hilderson, Tyran Lawler, Lawson Oakley, Michael Harris-Clayton, Cooper Kelly, Dustin Hilderson, Jedd Stanford, Mason Rushby, Cameron Parker, Linkin Korach and Fletcher Whan attended North West PSSA Rugby League Trials on 26th of April in Tamworth.

Fletcher Whan was selected in the North West representative team. The NSW PSSA Rugby League Championship will be held in Wagga Wagga in June. Good luck Fletch!

Narrabri West Public School Cross Country Champions. Congratulations to the first 6 places who will now compete at the Zone PSSA Cross Country  Friday 12th May, hosted by Narrabri West Public School.

Winning House: Cunningham 

Boys 8 / 9 years: 1.Lawson Whan 2.Rory Orman 3.Laurence Alcorn 4.Arthur Currall 5.Weston Burgmann 6. Aiden Eather/Braxton Templeman 

Girls 8 / 9 years: 1.Koa Mackenzie 2.Zara Warnock 3.Emmason Wallace 4.Naiya Cochrane 5.Caitlyn Irwin 6.Ivy Davis 

Boys 10 years: 1.Connor Wallace 2.Thomas Eather 3.Callum Quinn 4.Logan Gilmore 5.Phoenix Fox 6.Max Saunders 

Girls 10 years: 1.Mia McConnell 2.Meg Seccombe 3.Savannah Lawler 4.Hailee Orman  5.Charlotte Murphy  6.Zara Dalton 

Boys 11 years: 1.Ryan Warnock 2.Eli O'Connell  3.Bronson Davis  4.Bentley Miller 5.Levi Calleia  6.Andrew Weightman

Girls 11 years: 1.Victoria Irwin 2.Maicee Astill 3.Saige Rood-England 4.Mikaela Whan 5.Shiloh Dalton 6.Oliviah Tonkin 

Boys 12 / 13 years: 1.Fletcher Whan 2.Tyran Lawler 3.Charlie Cunningham 4.Sonny French 5.Jesse-James Quinn 6.Ryan McConnell 

Girls 12 / 13 years: 1.Jedda Cochrane 2.Nardia Henderson3.Lexie Fernance 4.Bridie Seymour 5.Alexa Gordon 6.Ellie Wilkins 

On Tuesday the 2nd of May the students selected to participate in the PSSA North West Trials travelled to Gunnedah and played 3 rounds against other zone teams. All students showed tremendous tenacity, teamwork and sportsmanship and put in their absolute best efforts. Unfortunately, no students from Narrabri West made it through to the next round but each student can be highly commended for their attitude and participation in the event. Well done Westies!

Well done to all Narrabri West Students who attended the Zone softball trials last week at Leitch Oval. The following students have been selected to represent the Narrabri Zone at the North West regional trials in Tamworth. Boys: Michael Harris-Clayton, Max Booby, Tyran Lawler, Judah Stuart, Fletcher Whan and Lachlan Baker. Girls: Lucy Booby, Bridie Seymour, Ruby Mitchell, Olivia Tonkin, and Lexi Fernance. 

Thank you to everyone who attended our P & C movie night on Friday. Thank you to all the parents and teachers who helped out on the night and to Video Ezy for their kind donation of the DVD 'Peter Rabbit'.

A new term always presents an opportunity for students to reset their learning goals and start afresh in what should be a quest for achieving personal bests in everything they do, from their personal choices to their relationships with others.

Parents can best support the wellbeing and safety of students and the quality of their learning by engaging in a strong partnership between home and school. This could include:

• Good communication – reading and where necessary responding to newsletters and notes is an important part of an effective communication process;
• Supporting the work of teachers by reinforcing appropriate expectations of behaviour and engagement in learning;
• Learner Led Conferences shouldn't be the only time you connect with your child’s teacher. Ensure you have regular contact, even if it’s just to say hello. Remember after their parents, your child’s teacher is the person who spends the most time with your child; and

• Learning doesn't stop at 3:25. You can help our teachers to do a better job by encouraging your children to talk about or show you something they are learning at school. Every time they get a chance to show off what they know, it builds confidence … and it will make you proud of them. Reading and commenting on their Friday journals or Seesaw entries is a great way of supporting this.

The Student Code of Conduct exists to ensure you travel safely and show respect for others.

Students must follow regulations when travelling between home and school using public transport. All students must behave in a manner that ensures both their comfort and safety and that of other passengers.

Disobeying these rules may lead to:

• the withdrawal of school travel passes.
• banning students from travelling on public transport.
• police prosecution and court action.

Vandalism is a serious criminal offence. Students caught tagging, etching or vandalising Transport for NSW property will be arrested and may face criminal charges.

Download Guidelines for Managing School Student Behaviour on Buses PDF

Thank you to everyone who came to the P&C AGM and especially those parents who committed themselves to accepting committee positions. 

The 2023 P&C executive is as follows:

President            Jenny Kirk

Vice President   Hayley Bailey

Treasurer           Shaye Maxwell

Secretary           Erin Lennox 

CANTEEN help urgently required! 

We are reaching out to parents to see whether you can help in our canteen?

Any amount of time that parents can offer... 15 minutes, 30 minutes or even an hour would be greatly appreciated. Honestly, we would be extremely grateful for any amount of time!

Please call Helen our Canteen Supervisor on 6792 1452 if you can help in any way.

With some cold weather already here, and winter fast approaching, lots of children will experience asthma related illnesses.

If your child has been diagnosed with asthma, your doctor or health care provider should have provided you with an Asthma Action Plan to help you and your child with their asthma.

It is recommended that you provide your childs’ school with a copy of their Asthma Action Plan and their own Ventolin puffer (and spacer if needed) so we too can help your child with their asthma if they happen to have asthma whilst at school.  The school does have Ventolin for emergency use only.

If you have already provided us with an action plan, please ensure that it is current and up to date.

These plans must be signed by your doctor or health care provider.

Our school has been recognised as an Asthma Friendly School by meeting the set criteria to become an Asthma Friendly School.

The criteria are as follows:

• Asthma records kept for each student with asthma
• Asthma first aid posters are on display
• Asthma medications are readily available to students with asthma
• Spacer devices are available
• A plan is in place for managing asthma during sporting activities, excursions or camps
• Asthma education offered to parents/caregivers within the school
• Asthma education provided for all school staff
• Asthma education program in the health curriculum
• Potential asthma triggers minimised with in the school environment

1 IN 4 PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN &

1 IN 7 HIGH SCHOOL CHILDREN HAVE ASTHMA!