Willoughby Public School Newsletter

Dear Parents/Carers

It was lovely to meet with our 2020 student leaders during the week and share ideas about Willoughby PS and share a fruit platter. I’m looking forward to working with our student leaders. I would like to acknowledge that all Stage 3 students are leaders in our school and set a high standard of behaviour and communication for all students. Please see the attached PDF of our student leaders for 2020.

Building Update

We are currently coordinating with the builders, school infrastructure and the removalist our move into the new building over Weeks 9, 10 and 11. We are very excited to finally see we are getting closer to this long anticipated event. Once the move details are final we can share the move sequence with the school community.

Parent Teacher Interviews

We usually hold our annual Parent/ Teacher interviews at the end of Term 1, we have moved the interview timeline to Term 2 to follow the school reporting to parents. We will provide further information about booking in Term 2. If parents would like to meet their child’s teacher about any issues please contact the school office to make an appointment.

Opal Cards

If your child/ children catch the school bus they are required to use their Opal Card. The Opal card use provides data for the bus company indicating the number of students using the bus – the click rate. If children do not use their Opal card we may end up with a limited bus service for our school.

Advice Related To The Temporary Closure of Willoughby Girls High School. 

You may be aware that Willoughby Girls High School will not be operational for the remainder of today, Monday 9 March and tomorrow, Tuesday 10 March 2020. A student at the high school returned a positive test for COVID-19.

At this time there are no concerns for students or staff at Willoughby Public School, which will continue to operate as normal.

The school is working closely with the Department of Education and NSW Health. The school will be vigilant in implementing the department’s infection control procedures including daily cleaning in accordance with normal protocols, the promotion of healthy hygiene habits and will make hand sanitiser available for staff and students to use while at school.

The school will promote the need for staff and students to remain at home if they are unwell.  Those who become unwell will be sent home and asked to remain away until they are well.

Further information on COVID 19 can be obtained from the NSW health website https://www.health.nsw.gov.au

We will continue to communicate information to you as appropriate. We look forward to seeing your child at school tomorrow.

Jennifer Simmonds

Principal

This term, our school, like many other public schools in the state, will participate in a Department of Education initiative: the Tell Them From Me student feedback survey. Willoughby has taken part in the survey over a number of years and results assist us in our school planning. 

The TTFM survey measures factors that are known to affect academic achievement and other student outcomes. The focus of the NSW-wide survey is on student wellbeing, engagement and effective teaching practices.

More information about the survey is available at: http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au

The survey is a great opportunity for our students to provide us with valuable and quick feedback on what they think about school life, how engaged they are with school and the different ways that teachers interact with them. More than 6,300 schools in Australia and around the world have used Tell Them From Me to survey 5.4 million students. Capturing the voices of our students will help improve how we do things at our school.

The survey is confidential. It is conducted online and will typically take less than 30 minutes to complete. It will be administered during school hours between 16 March and 8 May. Participating in the survey is entirely voluntary.

A link to the consent form and FAQs for parents/carers about the survey is below and these will also being sent home via Skoolbag. If you do not want your child or children to participate, please return the form to school by Monday 16 March. Copies of the form and FAQs, available in 23 languages, are available from: http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au/information-for-parents or by contacting the front office.

Mr Michaeil will be coordinating Willoughby's 2020 TTFM and is happy to answer any questions you may have.

Congratulations and thank you to all the Willoughby students who attended the recent trials.

Special mention goes to:

Ruby Lindsell (5S) and Isabelle Marquis (4L) - Girls Soccer.

Spencer Flavel (6/5H) and Angus Lyle (5L) - Cricket.

Ben Sage-Pickin (5S) and Jed Holgate (6DS) - Basketball.

Harper Cunningham (6/5H) and Rafferty White (5S) - Tennis.

Great news for Harper Cunningham who qualified for the next round. Below is a picture of him in action. I’m sure we’ll all cheer you on, from the side line. Go Harper!

Are you ready for the 2020 Season?

'Nets" refresher Clinics - another great success. 

All our 162 players are now formed into 18 teams and all are in the process of matching coaches to teams and finalising the training schedule. Thanks to all those parents who have offered to manager and coach teams. We expect that training can commence for most teams w/c Mon March 9.

All four of our UlO teams are required to attend the NSNA UlO team grading on Friday March 13,

4.30 till 6.30pm free for NSNA at WLC courts. You will play 2 - 4 games against other Clubs to determine your grading for the season. A draw will beprovided a couple of days prior.

All UlO teams should attempt to have at least one training session before these games. Umpires will be provided by the Club and your umpires will meet you at your court.

Please remember your team number - WPS 7, 8, 9 or 10.

The playing uniform consists of a WPSNC white & maroon top with Velcro tabs, a maroon shirt, maroon or black sports 'scungies' and white socks.

The netball top and skirt can be purchased new or second hand at the Uniform Shop or online. The total cost is approx. $70, however please note our registration fees are kept low to partly subsidise the uniform cost. You can buy an alternative maroon skirt/short, 'scungies' and socks at any local variety store, in the school section, eg, Lowes, Target, Kmart, Best & Less etc.

Kits will be distributed w/c Monday 9 March, once coaches and training slots are assigned. Training is expected to commence next week. Instructions on safe usage of the school court will be issued prior to this.

Please note, the school court will beclosed for  a number of  weeks during Term 2. You will be advised of the alternative arrangements ASAP, however, NSG is likely to move to Club Willoughby in Crabbes Ave, and Netball to either WGHS or WLC. Please be patient as we try to manage this major inconvenience.

NSNA is offering a range of free courses over the next few weeks to assist in the development of our coaches and umpires, both Netball and NSG. Please have a look on the website at the Red Robin umpiring classes and a variety of coaching demonstration and sessions.

http://nsna.nsw .netball.com.au/ default .aspx

Even if you have attended before, it is certainly worth a refresher.

It is a minimum requirement for all WPSNC umpires, including NSG umpires, to have a current pass in the Netball theory exam and we strongly recommend all umpires and interested parents to attend a Red Robin session on Sat 21 March.

NSG Umpires

A parent in all NSG teams is required to umpire every 2nd week. Lots of Dads and Mums umpire NSG and do a great job.

NSG umpires must be 15 years or older and hold a current pass of the Netball Theory exam. Attending the NSG Red Robin rules session at 9am Sat 21 March will alleviate any concerns you may have and demonstrate just how fun it is being the on-field netball coach for both teams.

Unfortunately, the club will not assist a team to find a NSG umpire, but we will help and support our parent umpires.

Kev Dates

Yours in netball, Zoi, Bee & Mel (wpsnetballclub@gma.icl om)

For all information,

WPS staff attended some professional learning last week on the Worldbook Online resource.

All Willoughby PS students have access to this amazing resource.

To access World Book Online go to http://www.worldbookonline.com​ and enter "willpub" into both the Username and Password boxes. 

The Worldbook Online resource also has an eBook section which we encourage you to check out! 

:-) WPS Librarians 

The best way to buy your children’s uniform is online shopping @ https://wps-uniform-shop.myshopify.com/

You can then visit the uniform shop and collect your order OR we can deliver it to his/her classroom on a Wednesday or Friday.

***New Location***

We are now located in ‘Demountable City’ – follow the signs!

• Last row, far left corner, Demountable - D9

From the steps into Demountable City, follow the path straight to the end
Turn left & follow the path almost to end
Not accessible through WPS demountable ‘lanes’ or ‘paths’
 

We had a great turn out to our P&C meeting last week.  Meeting minutes are now available on the P&C website – www.wpspandc.com.au.  Our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 19 May at 7pm in the new library, however if you have any issues you’d like us to consider, the P&C executive meets with the school executive fortnightly, and we’re more than happy to advocate on your behalf.  Please feel free to email Jenni/Tanya at president@wpspandc.com.au.

We hope everyone has now settled into classes and school life at WPS.  Thanks to those parents/carers who’ve volunteered to be Class Reps for 2020.  The class lists are currently being compiled, so you’ll no doubt be hearing from your nominated Class Reps soon.  Please note – class communication is not to be used for self/business-promotion, it is merely a way for the P&C and teachers to provide regular updates to WPS families on activities specific to the class as well as general information about school and P&C activities and events.