Willoughby Public School Newsletter

At Willoughby Public School we empower students to demonstrate creativity, collaboration, curiosity and persistence to become successful life-long learners. Students will be challenged in productive and innovative learning environments promoting inclusivity, resilience, respect and confidence.

Dear Parents and carers

Planning for 2020

We are busy making plans for the 2020 school year. If any students from 2019 Kindergarten to year 5 classes will not be returning, or will be returning late (school resumes Wednesday 29 January) to Willoughby PS please let the office know in writing – addressed to the principal. This information helps with class organisation teacher allocation.

Band Space-tacular

Congratulations to our talented bands! Last Tuesday night saw The Concourse in Chatswood come alive with music. The 2019 Band Space-tacular was nothing short of amazing. Thank you to Willoughby Council for the grant which enabled us to hold the event in such a prestigious venue.

Our band program really highlights the wonderful sense of community that Willoughby PS enjoys and benefits from. The cooperation, communication, dedication and hard work of everyone involved in the band program, and the many ways you support the school in assemblies and celebrations really cements the sense of community we enjoy here.  

Thank you to our conductors, Kirsty, Anthony and David and our many parent volunteers for your time working with our band students. Thank you also to the Band Committee for their hard work all year and, in particular, in putting together such a fantastic performance.

Schools Spectacular

Well done to Jessica L from Year 5 for her performances as the youngest of the featured artists in this year’s Schools Spectacular. Along with Jessica, Kurumi M from Year 5 also took part in the Schools Spectacular as part of the Arts Unit school choir. Congratulations to Jessica and Kurumi ... what an amazing event to be part of!

With 5,500 performers from over 370 schools across NSW, the Schools Spectacular is a world-class production. The performances held over Friday and the weekend were incredible. Our Year 5 students attended the Friday matinee and several staff members attended over the weekend.

The event will be shown on Chanel 7, December 7 at 7pm.

2020 School Leaders

Voting for the 2020 school and sport house leaders took place over the last fortnight. Congratulations to all students who stood for election. I was impressed with the breadth of leadership qualities our 2020 Year 6 cohort display and encourage any students who missed out to persevere with their leadership aspirations and look to join SRC or one of the Year 6 leadership teams next year.

Leadership positions will be announced at Presentation Day.  

Year 6 Fete

Year 6 students are busy planning their fete stalls and activities ahead of this school fete. A request for good quality White Elephant goods has gone out. Any donations can be delivered to the Deputy Demountable.

Kind regards,

Shaun Michaeil

           

Monday 25 November	Badger Swim School for Years 1,3 and 2/6R & 2/1G – 10 days
Friday 29 November	PBEL Assembly Years K, 2, 4, 5, 4O of 4/3O, 5L of 6/5L - 2.00 -.45 pm
Wednesday 4 December	Volunteers Breakfast & Scripture Assemblies Years 3 - 6 - 9.10 am - 9.50 am Kindy - Year 2 10.10 am - 10.50 am
Friday 6 December	K-6 Fete Run by Year 6
Monday 9 December	Year 6 Graduation dinner
Monday 9 December	Year 6 & 2-6R Picnic Day at Academy Sports Narrabeen
Tuesday 10 December	WPS PRESENTATION DAY - WILLOUGHBY GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL HALL  Stage 3 (Year 5 & 6) - 9.00 – 10.15 am  Stage 2 (Year 3 & 4) - 10.45 am – 12..00 pm Stage 1  (Year 1 & 2) CELEBRATION ASSEMBLY 2.00 - 3.00 pm
Wednesday 11 December	Year 6 Surf Ed Cromehurst Christmas Assembly  - 12.00 - 2.00 pm
Thursday 12 December	Kindy Celebration Assembly - 9.15 am in hall
Thursday 12 December	Year 5 Surf Ed
Thursday 12 December	Cromehurst Christmas Concert for Year 5 Buddies 12.00 to 1.30 pm
Friday 13 December	Kindy Picnic Day – Monkey Mania
Friday 13 December	Stage 2 Picnic Day
Friday 13 December	Band Instrument Collection in connected classroom 7.00 – 10.00 am
Friday 13 December	Surf Ed Year 5
Friday 13 December	Stage 1 Picnic Day to Taronga Zoo
Monday 16 December	Year 6 Surf Education
Wednesday 18 December	Year 6 CLAP OUT 2.45 pm

Stage 3 students will be involved in two full day sessions of Swim and Surf Education at Collaroy Beach. 

Year 5 will now attend on Thursday 12 December and Friday 13 December.

Year 6 will attend on Wednesday 11 December and Monday 16 December.

• STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAY TUESDAY 28  JANUARY  2020 - No students at school
  
• STUDENTS YEARS 1-6 RETURN ON WEDNESDAY 29 JANUARY 2020
• BEST START INTERVIEWS FOR KINDERGARTEN   -  29, 30 & 31 January & 3 February
• KINDERGARTEN WILL COMMENCE ON TUESDAY 4 FEBRUARY
  

The school has five school development days per year and we ask parents/carers to make alternative arrangements for their children. These days are invaluable for whole school planning and Professional Learning and they usually occur on the first day of Terms 1, 2 and 3 and on the last two days in Term 4.

           

Could you be an ethics teacher for WPS? We are seeking volunteers so that ethics classes are available for all families who have requested them. Ethics teachers receive full training by Primary Ethics, the not-for-profit organisation approved to design curriculum and training for the ethics program. Training consists of a two day workshop and short online modules. Lesson materials are provided. Suitable volunteers have an interest in children’s education and development of critical thinking skills and must be available Wednesday morning each week to teach a half hour class. A small amount of weekly preparation (such as reading through lesson materials) is also required. In ethics classes, children learn how to think logically, disagree respectfully and support their arguments with evidence, rather than act according to blind habit or peer pressure.  Children discuss topic such as: -imagining how others feel -how do we treat living things? -what is laziness? -how do we disagree in a respectful way? -fairness   If you are looking for an opportunity to make a valuable contribution to our school, please visit www.primaryethics.com.au or  contact Melissa Budic at willoughbypsethics@gmail.com for more information.

The new ‘unisex’ short sleeve polo school shirt is in production and will be available for sale in Week 1 of Term 1, 2020. The new girls’ grey shorts will also be available from this date and can only be worn with the new polo shirt.

 

The sale of new items will be based on the depletion of current stock of the same/similar size and style. Please note there is a transition period of up to 3 years for all new uniform items.

 

Your friendly uniform shop will have a new home in 2020, and in preparation for the move, we have needed to ‘run down’ some of our stock. Please be patient and kind to our shop volunteers during this time.

 

School bags are due back in stock week commencing Monday 18 November. The best way to purchase a school bag is ‘online’ and we will arrange to deliver it to a class or let you know when you can collect it.

 

Please be aware of the shortened opening hours for the last week of term, and extended opening hours/days for Week 1, 2020.

 

We’d like to thank all our wonderful volunteers and committee members, past, present and future.

 

Term 4, 2019 Shop Hours

 

*CLOSED* Week 10, Wednesday 18 December 2019 (last day of school)

 

2019/20 Online Ordering will be available during the summer holidays, HOWEVER orders will not be available for collection until Tuesday 28 January 2020, this includes any orders made after 9am on Friday 13 December 2019 (order deadline).

 

Back to School, 2020 Shop Hours

Tuesday 28 January – Pupil Free Day – 10.30am till 12.30pm (including Dr Shoe from 11.30am)

Wednesday 29 January – Students return – open 8.30 till 9.30am

Thursday 30 January – 8.30 till 9.30am

Friday 31 January – 8.30 till 9.30am

 

Normal Shop hours resume, Week 2, Term 1, 2020 on Wednesdays and Fridays, 8.30 till 9.30am.

           

WEEK	DAY/DATE	OPENING HOURS	SHOP	ONLINE DELIVERIES	DR SHOE
2019 – Term 4
Weeks 6 - 9	Wednesday	8.30 – 9.30am	√	√	X
Weeks 6 - 9	Friday	8.30 – 9.30am	√	√	X
Week 10	Wednesday (18/12, last day)	CLOSED	X	X	X

           

WEEK	DAY/DATE	OPENING HOURS	SHOP	ONLINE DELIVERIES	DR SHOE
2020 – Term 1
Week 1 Pupil-free day	Tuesday 28/1	10.30am – 12.30pm	√	√	√ from 11.30am
Week 1 Students return	Wednesday 29 Thursday 30 Friday 31	8.30 – 9.30am	√	√	X
Week 2*	Wednesday 5/2	8.30 – 9.30am	√	√	X
Week 2*	Friday 7/2	8.30 – 9.30am	√	√	X

On 20th November, WPS sent 6 teams to the JCL lower North Shore region Chess Tournament and achieved a fantastic result:

Team F (Zac I, Jayden W, Ryan C) - 4th place;

Team E (Daniel D, Xavier E, Arjun S) - 9th place;

Team B (Ethan H, Amy L, Lucas T)-10th place

Team D (Emilio R, Adrian Y, Clive T) -11th place.

Team details and official result is shown below:

Willoughby A: Samuel B, Alex C, Alex C

Willoughby B: Ethan H, Amy L, Lucas T

Willoughby C: Benjamin C, Nathan C, Toshaani C

Willoughby D: Emilio R, Adrian Y, Clive T

Willoughby E: Daniel D, Xavier E, Arjun S

Willoughby F: Zac I, Jayden W, Ryan C

Team F qualified for the NSW State Final tournament on 24 November.   

WPS Chess sent Daniel D, Ryan C and Clive T as final team to represent WPS in the NSW State JCL Final tournament.

WPS team achieved an impressive score of 13.5 and came 14th place out of 40 teams in NSW State Final. Official result per link below: 

https://www.nswjcl.org.au/Schools/2019/PrimaryOneDay/pod19fn.htm

Congratulations to all involved.