Willoughby Public School Newsletter

Dear Parents/Carers

We were privileged to be entertained by the talented Australian Navy Band on Monday 24 October. Our students joined in clapping and foot tapping throughout the performance. Our Performance Band had a great experience during their mentoring tuition session with the Navy Band. Thank you to our P&C Band committee for coordinating the event for our students, especially for our Performance Band students.

Our culture of supporting people and helping out was evident in our assembly on Monday. Our focus on sustainability has extended to recycling cans, plastic bottles and popper containers which have the 10c return label. Charity Little Wings, a transport service for families in regional areas in NSW, is working with a Return and Earn company. Every 20 bottles returned provides a litre of fuel for the Little Wings planes, the pilots volunteer their time. The service supports country families with transport to and from medical appointments in Sydney and Newcastle. 3Y hosted our assembly and welcomed Willoughby Mayor Tanya Taylor,  Little Wings CEO Clare Pearson, Michael Semark and Andrew Bailey of Little Wings for the launch of our joint venture. We have located the Return and Earn bins at the main entrance adjacent to the hall for easy access. Since our launch on Monday we have already filled one and a half bins! Thank you for your ongoing donations to support Little Wings.

On Wednesday the relieving Executive Director School Performance – Julie Kennedy and Relieving Director Education Learning – Judy Goodsell visited our school. Our School Leadership Team along with our PBEL leaders Regina Chen and Michelle Tingle provided a comprehensive overview of our highly successful wellbeing, learning and use of data, feedback, Learning Intentions and Success Criteria to inform and guide learning for all students. Year 3, Year 4 and 26R highlighted aspects of their learning to our visitors. Thank you to all involved, I know our visitors were very impressed with our WPS achievements.

Thank you, P&C, for the lovely Morning Tea to celebrate World Teachers Day. We are very lucky to have such supportive and collaborative teachers here at WPS who have students and learning as a focus in everything we do.

Our student gardening club, supported by several parent volunteers planted our Native plant garden outside 4/3 and 26R last Friday. Thank you to our P&C for funding the purchase of 150 tube stock plants for the garden. All species of plants were recommended to us by Willoughby Council and are known to have been used by Aboriginal people for either food or medicinal purposes. Each plant cluster has a sign detailing its use and most of the plants will eventually bear edible berries and/or leaves. Thank you, Mrs Andrews, for co-ordinating the planting.

 Kind regards

Jennifer Simmonds

This term, Year 5 have had the pleasure of having their Cromehurst Buddies visit Willoughby Public School.

The students have been running small games and activities with their buddies so they can build stronger connections with them.

For the last two weeks, we have been enjoying making fruit faces to show emotions and playing with dress ups!  

KA had a wonderful visit to Cromehurst in Week 3. The students played on the outdoor equipment and participated in creative arts activities.

They joined together to work as a team whilst playing with the parachute.  

Some photos of the Kinder and Year 5 groups are below.

Term 4 Borrowing 

It’s hard to believe that we are approaching the middle of Term 4 already! For the Library this means that our borrowing for the year is almost finished. Students in all classes will finish borrowing in Wk 6, leaving a few weeks to finish off reading and return things before the end of the school year. Please help your child to return their books promptly to the Library as soon as they have finished them, or on their Library day. The Library is open most lunchtimes for borrowing, returning and reading.  

What happens if a book is lost?  

If one of your child’s Library books becomes lost or damaged we usually send a note home that lets you know the cost of replacement. We are happy for you to buy a replacement and send it in to us, or for you to send us the money in an envelope and we will order another one. If the book is found after you have paid for it, we will refund the money to you. 

What if I think we have returned it? 

We also check our shelves to make sure it has not been placed back on the shelves without scanning. If we find it, we let you know, or if the book is found at a later date (in the classroom, at after school care, down behind a book shelf at home etc) we will refund the money back to you. 

Wheelers E-Books  

Did you know that all students have access to e-books through our subscription to E-Platform. We have our own website HERE. Use the ‘Look Inside’ link to decide if the book is for you, then students use their normal school login to borrow. To read offline, download the free ePlatform app, find our Library, then sign in to access your account. See flyer in this newsletter for more information. This is a great option for reading whilst travelling, and reading during the Summer school holidays when our school Library is closed. 

Mrs de Silva 

Teacher Librarian 

Applications for student travel in 2023 opened from Monday 10 October 2022.

Students who need a School Opal card or travel pass for 2023 can apply now. A new application will need to be submitted if they are applying for the first time, or if they are requesting an additional travel entitlement as a result of a new shared parental responsibility situation (e.g. joint custody).

Students who change address, school, campus location, have repeated a year or received an expiry notification from Transport for NSW for their school travel entitlement should renew or update their details before the end of term 4.This will ensure that schools can endorse applications, and entitlements remain valid for the start of the 2023 schoolyear. School Opal card holders will have the changes applied to their existing card.

If a student's distance eligibility has changed based on their grade (i.e. grade two to grade three), the system will automatically update their entitlement if they meet the new criteria. If they do not meet the new eligibility criteria, we will send an expiry notification via email.

Students who have an entitlement approved under a medical condition that is due to expire will receive a notification advising them to re-apply.

Students in the Opal network applying for an Opal card (including a Term Bus Pass) for the first time will receive their Student Opal card at their nominated postal address. Cards will be mailed out from January 2023.

Travel from Term 1 2023

We ask that parents plan ahead and make sure their child knows which service/s to use and has a valid ticket to travel; either a School Opal card or Child/Youth Opal card (within Greater Sydney) or a School Travel Pass (outside Greater Sydney), from the start of the school year.

Applications for 2023 School Student Transport Scheme (SSTS) travel open at the start of Term 4 2022, so parents/students canapply or update details early and be ready for the start of the new school year.

Most students using the Opal network will not need a new Opal card and can continue travelling on their existing card each year.

The start of the year is a busy period for local transport operators, and students travelling without a valid ticket make service planningand operations difficult.

Bus operators are flexible and understanding, particularly at the start of the school year, and will ensure students can travel safelyto and from school. But to best support our operators we encourage all students to have a valid ticket, as earlyas possible, from the start of the school year.

Students using School Opal cards are also reminded that they must tap on and tap off in line with the Student code of conductand Opal terms of use.