Willoughby Public School Newsletter

According to the latest NSW DoE and Health advice, non-essential adults are still not permitted on school grounds or at school events.

This includes parents and carers.

Students attending band tutorials, netball training and chess club should be dropped off and/or collected at the school gates. At this stage, Parents/Carers are not permitted to accompany students on site. 

Thank you for your cooperation in helping us maintain a safe environment for students, staff and the wider community. 

Positive Behaviour Engaging Learners (PBEL) is a system we have had in place at Willoughby for many years. The philosophy of this program aims to improve outcomes for all students by creating sustainable school-wide, classroom and individual systems of support that acknowledge the link between positive behaviour and enhanced learning environments.

PBEL is a preventative measure to help students make responsible choices and uphold our Willoughby values of being Responsible, showing Respect and doing your Personal Best.

One component of the PBEL system are white slips, both 'Reminder' and 'Counted' . White slips are a learning opportunity for students; if a student displays behaviour that is at odds with our school expectations they will receive either a reminder or counted white slip.

A Reminder White Slip is just that - a reminder of our school expectation and an opportunity for the student to reflect on and change their behaviour. A Counted White Slip is recorded and where a student accumulates three Counted White Slips in a term they will spend a lunchtime in the Reflection Room with an executive. They will be guided through some restorative justice questions as they reflect on what they did, who it impacted, how to fix things and what they will do next time. A copy of the reflection sheet and a summary of White Slip incidents is communicated to parents. White slips are a teaching moment, and students can be further supported by parents having an open conversation with their child about the actions that led to the white slips. 

A White Slip is not a form of punishment. It signifies that school expectations have been breached and a student will have the opportunity to learn from their behaviour - and teachers will assist them in reflecting on their actions to ensure they are able to uphold the Willoughby PS core values.

Ongoing collection of White Slip data enables identification of areas of concern and informs focus areas for reinforcement or re-teaching of our behaviour expectations.

This will assist students in continuing to be Respectful, Responsible learners who do their Personal Best. ​

If you have a 2021 school-ready child at home who will be starting Kindergarten next year, please commence the registration process by visiting our front office and filling out a registration form, or preferably completing the new Online Enrolment.

The Online Enrolment System is designed to provide flexibility for our parents to submit an enrolment application online and at the time that best suits you. The application can be accessed on all browsers and mobile devices including iOS and Android.

The online application process is currently restricted to:

• Enrolments into local schools only
• Children who are Australian citizens, New Zealand citizens or permanent residents
• Children who live in NSW.

We offer our support and encourage you to complete your application to enrol online. If, however, you do not feel comfortable completing an application online, a paper copy will be available for collection from the front office or can be downloaded from the Department’s going to a public school site

Further information about online enrolment can be found on the NSW Department of Education's website here.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

A reminder that the PRC has now finished and we have validated all entries and sent them to the Department of Education for Certificates. These usually arrive back to us late in Term 4 for distribution. Incidentally the booklists used for the Challenge can be accessed without a Login at https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/booklist/home.html and can be a great reference for ideas for extra quality books to read/borrow/buy for your children.

Also, students are technically allowed to start reading for their 2021 challenge right now!

Borrowing Times

A reminder to parents that students K-6 are able to borrow every day of the week, not just during their weekly Library lesson. All they need to do is bring along their books to return when the Library opens at 8.35am, or at lunchtime then they can browse and borrow additional titles. This is an easy way for students to increase the amount they are borrowing and reading each week.

During our Library lessons and at other opening times we remind, support and encourage students to borrow books they like and/or that are at the right level of challenge for them. We continually work with class teachers and parents to keep students happily reading throughout the year – and we find the more ownership they have over the books they choose to borrow, the more they read! Please contact us at https://www.librarywps.com/contact-the-library  if we can be of further assistance to your child in this regard.

Children’s Book Council of Australia

Every year this organisation organises Book of the Year Awards. Awards are usually given in Book Week in August, however in 2020 this announcement and the official Book Week has been moved to October 17-23, and the Awards also pushed back to this week too. Both Short-Listed and Long-Listed/Notables are also great reference points for parents looking for newly released quality, award winning Australian titles for their children.  2020 Short-list can be found at https://www.cbca.org.au/shortlist-2020 and the Notables at https://www.cbca.org.au/notables-2020 for the different age levels.

Book Week Dress-up

To celebrate the (new) Book Week this year, we’re having our annual Book Character dress-up day on Wednesday, October 21st. Students and staff will show their love of reading by dressing up as their favourite book character for the day. We’re also asking students to bring a gold-coin donation for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. Please check out our Library Events page for more information: https://www.librarywps.com/events

Letters to a Young Reader

Something to ponder on from a book called A Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader edited by Maria Popova and Claudia Bedrick:

Dear Person Reading This,

  A writer can fit a whole world inside a book. Really. You can go there. You can learn things while you are away. You can bring them back to the world you normally live in.

  You can look out of another person’s eyes, think their thoughts, care about what they care about.

  You can fly. You can travel to the stars. You can be a monster or a wizard or a god. You can be a girl. You can be a boy. Books give you worlds of infinite possibility. All you have to do is be interested enough to read that first page…

  Somewhere, there is a book written just for you. It will fit your mind like a glove fits your hand. And it’s waiting.

Go and look for it.

Neil Gaiman

James Thorn & Debbie de Silva - Teacher Librarians 

Kiss & Go

If you have half an hour to spare in the morning or afternoon, please sign up here for Kiss & Go duty.  Our Kiss & Go helpers have made a real difference to the flow of traffic and safety of our school community. 

 https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040a4fabaa2daafa7-welcome  

Father’s Day

Unfortunately our beloved Father’s Day stall has had to be cancelled this year due to Covid-19.   The P&C wishes all Dad’s and Grandad’s a great fathers day and hope your kids find a special way to celebrate with you.

‘Your Community’ WPS P&C Advertising

The link to the new edition of ‘Your Community’ is below. 

https://www.emag.vigour.media/vigour-media/willoughby-your-community-june-20?pid=OTI92857&v=2.11

If you have a business you’d like to promote, please get in touch with our Advertising Coordinator, Simrita Virk at advertising@wpspandc.com.au.  

If parents/carers need to make late and/or changes to canteen orders or follow up any instances of items not received, please contact the canteen head office on the number above.   

The canteen head office then contacts the canteen outside of their busiest periods and ensure all necessary changes are made. It  also allows also them insight into any pattern or recurring issues so they can modify procedures as needed. 

The canteen is encouraging parents/carers to use the online ordering system via Flexischools to limit cash handling (in line with COVID safety protocols) and also streamline ordering processes. More importantly, it also ensures that parents/carers have control over what their child is ordering and eating. 

A flyer explaining Flexischools is attached below. 

At Willoughby Public School we have a number of students with a

LIFE THREATENING NUT / PEANUT ALLERGY.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

Even a small trace of nut, peanut or nut/peanut product may trigger a severe allergic reaction called Anaphylaxis, which attacks the immune system leading potentially to death within minutes.

This reaction can happen by taste, touch and sometimes can be airborne. All of these students have access to an adrenaline injection in the form of an Epipen, which can save lives. Photo posters are displayed in the classrooms, canteen, staffroom, playground bags and sick bay for easy identification of these children.

Willoughby PS works with parents/carers to support students in developing an awareness of their allergies and what foods to avoid. Students are encouraged not to share food and to always check with a parent/adult/teacher if unsure at any time.

HOW CAN YOU HELP TO KEEP WPS STUDENTS SAFE?

Please help us by not including peanut or any nut products in your child’s lunchbox. This includes peanut butter and Nutella.

Please avoid products with any nuts/peanuts listed as an ingredient.

Explain about nut/peanut allergy to your child and encourage the ‘no food sharing’ rule.

Please consider what you are sending for birthday treats to share with the class, checking there are no nut products included.

The school canteen does not serve products containing nuts.

It is only with the continued support of all parents and staff that we can effectively maintain a safe school environment for these children.

Thank you for your understanding. We know you will want to support the school and these children.