Willunga Primary School Newsletter

Term 2 Week 3

Have some math fun playing Salute

Board games and card games are great ways to entertain the kids and help them learn at the same time. As we all have a little extra family time together, we thought it was a good idea to provide you with an activity that your whole family can have some fun with.

Salute is a game that develops both speed and fluency with numbers and is a favourite amongst our Quicksmart kids. Below are the instructions for the game and some extension examples.

All you need is a deck of cards

To start with remove the picture cards and work with numbers 1(Ace) -9

How to play:

·         Place the cards in a pile, face down

·         Two players pick up a card

·         Players do not look at their card but hold the card, facing out, on their foreheads in a “salute

·         Player three adds the numbers on the two cards they can see and calls the answer

·         The player that guesses the number on their own forehead first wins

It does look a little like celebrity heads and you may like to ensure that an older child or adult calls out the total to avoid accuracy issues!

To extend the game you could choose a different operation to focus on (subtraction, multiplication or division) or you might like to include picture cards and assign different numbers (Jack=11, Queen=12, King=13, Joker=14 or Jack=25, Q=50, King=75, Joker=100). You could even have three players take a card and have a fourth player provide the total.

From the Principal

I am wanting to send a huge thank you to our community for their support over the past few months.  Your feedback tells us that we managed the pandemic effectively and that is the best news for me because that shows that we do our jobs well.  Our high level of communication over the period really highlighted for us how well we know our community, and now how well you know us.  It also ensured that you felt supported to make the right decision for your child and I saw that time and time again.

As the Government continues to find a way through Covid-19 to assist the economy to get back on track, we too will look at our implementation and change what we can as we can.  I, much like them though, remain cautious and perhaps not particularly optimistic that the worst is behind us.  I think we need to prepare for this to remain with us for quite some time and ensure that we keep safety protocols in place that protect us all.

Many of our processes are in place to ensure that children are safe on site, but of course we are also a large employer, so must make sure that staff are safe too.  With over 30 staff on site every day, we have had to introduce many protocols to manage our shared spaces.  I look forward to the day when we can once again hold a staff meeting in real life, but feel that will be quite some time away as will shared training days and celebrations.

One of the most pro-active ways I can keep my staff safe is to limit other adults coming on site.   Kiss and Drop has assisted this greatly, but I urge you to continue to spread out from the other adults in your waiting spaces.  Choosing a consistent space to meet your child is best, and you could stretch that to the other side of the oval or Rose Garden depending on the age of your child.  We are lucky to live in a community such as Willunga and it has been exciting to see so many children arriving on site on their bikes.  We do not in any way want to stop communicating with families, so Seesaw remains as your best option to contact the teacher in the first case, otherwise email or phone through.  

We need to maintain our strict handwashing protocols, but are aware that this is a lot of soap and water for everybody!  If your child's hands are getting a bit dry, you may need to introduce some moisturiser into your bed time routine. 

We are creeping closer to normal on site.  Most programs are up and running with protocols in place.  Teachers have started reports and we aim to have them out in the usual time frame.  We have had to think flexibly about these as you may imagine in response to the interruptions caused by Covid.

The most important messages we follow at school are:

  • Maintain social distancing between adults at all times
  • Keep washing your hands
  • Stay home if at all unwell and get tested for Covid if you have any signs or symptoms


I look forward to the day I discuss anything OTHER than Covid.  Bizarrely, this should have been NAPLAN week.  NAPLAN feels a whole lifetime ago now...

Keep washing your hands,

Alison Colbeck 

Student Free Day 5th of June - OSHC available

Uniform Shop

Uniforms are still available and you can purchase through the QkR app.  We are more than happy to take children in to check sizing for you.  Just ring the office if you need support.

Year 7-8 High School Forms

The updated process for year 7 to 8 2021 transition has started.  An email link has been sent to Parent / Guardian 1 (as shown on enrolment forms) to complete an online registration form.   

Please contact Lynda G in Student Services if you have not received a form, or require a paper copy.

  • 19th May: Governing Council Online edition...
  • 27th May - 3rd June: Reconciliation week 
  • 27th May: Special Person's Day.  With a twist as we wont be able to have visitors on site...
  • 3rd June (then next 3 Wednesdays): Year 6/7 Kidz Biz (Growth & Development)
  • 5th June: Student Free Day - still going ahead but with an altered meeting schedule...  OSHC will be open if you need it.
  • 8th June: Queen's Birthday Public Holiday
  • 16th June: Governing Council Online edition..
  • 26th June: Casual Clothes Day 

The SMS absence line: Text only 0429 632 559. Must include name, date, reason and class. Please check you are sending SMS to this number for absences

Library News

PRC

PRC has relaxed their rules for the 2020 challenge given these unprecedented times. Students still need to read 12 books, but they do not have to be from the PRC booklist. They still must be age/level appropriate books.

The last day for the challenge is Friday 4 September - please note this on your family calendar/diary.

Some teachers are choosing to manage the PRC in the classroom through their literacy programme, whilst others are sending the record sheets home and leaving the decision to participate up to parents and their child. Please check with your child's teacher if you are unsure.

BOOK WEEK CHANGE OF DATE

The date for Australia's celebration of Book Week has been changed for this year, from August to October 19 - 23, 2020 (Term 4 Week 2).

The theme remains 'Curious creatures, wild minds'.

Fingers crossed we will be 'all clear' to celebrate this event.

 

LIBRARY RETURNS

Thank you to everyone who has returned the bulk loans which went out towards the end of last term. If your child still has any of those books at home, can you please help them to find them so they are able to resume borrowing this term.


 Judy James

Teacher Librarian

Willunga Primary School

Stop the Spread

Foodbank Food Relief

Foodbank provides food relief with dignity for families.

There is a Food Hub at Christies Beach for families down south and now a mobile food hub in Aldinga every second Thursday.

Please see the flier for more information.

Sue Camac's Pastoral Care

Same Same but Different

These last holidays I had been on-call a few times through Housing SA as Chaplain with the Disaster & Recovery Ministries if people needed someone to talk to in relation to COVID-19.  During the summer holidays I spent a couple of shifts at the Lobethal Recovery Centre through the same role with people recovering from the bushfires.  Very different situations, but still with some similar cross over concerns.  Worries over jobs, families, homes, physical health, mental health.

 Whatever we’re facing it may be different circumstances, but our worries can sometimes be similar. Likewise, people around you can face the same situation, but feel and face things differently.  Our own health or family situation & structure, financial issues and how we’ve faced or not faced situations before can all impact our worries.  Things really can be same same, but different.

There is a great animated Youtube clip from Dr. Russ Harris called F.A.C.E.C.O.V.I.D.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmvNCdpHUYM 

Whilst this is directed towards facing COVID-19 the first main principles in the acrostic F.A.C.E part could be useful though for any situation you may face.

Focus on what’s in your control - not on what’s out of your control.

Acknowledge your thoughts & feelings (they are valid no matter how silly you feel they are)

Connect back into your body (you could get your child to teach you some interoception activities)

Engage in what you’re doing – in the here and now.

 

Lastly, don’t forget to talk to someone if you need to.  We are available at the school plus at the moment many organisations are also offering free phone counselling.

 Red Cross offer free daily phone call check-ins and through Centacare you can

 book in for a phone counselling appointment. 

Give me a call at the school if you would like more details.

Can you help?

Very soon we will be starting a mosaic project for the 23 Garden bed.

Students will make mosaic stepping stones and other colourful creations to beautify this garden bed.

Please help if you can by donating materials to get this project started.

 Materials needed:

·         Various Tiles

·         Glass beads

·         Stones

·         Pebbles

·         Shells

·         Plastic items/figurines (e.g. animals)

Please deliver to the Front Office if you can help, or call the Front Office for more information.

Nature Play SA resources

What a place we find ourselves in.

Right now, we need each other. Our families, our friends, and the strength within ourselves. We know our community is navigating difficult and uncertain times, as we also are as a local not-for-profit organisation heavily impacted by COVID-19.   

Despite the challenges, Nature Play SA remains committed to making a difference. Whatever ensues, we will do everything in our power to support families to find hope, joy and build positive memories over the coming months.   As such, we are delighted to launch Family, Nature & COVID-19 a free online guide to support families during the pandemic.

https://natureplaysa.org.au/families/family-nature-covid-19/ 

No dogs on school grounds

Dogs are not permitted on school grounds at any time.

Dogs are only permitted on the oval before 8:30am and after 3:30pm on school days.

Please adhere to these times for the safety of our school community.

Reminder - The schoolyard is NOT supervised before 8.30am or after 3.20pm. OSHC has exclusive use of the grounds outside of these times.

Do you have our apps? Skoolbag, Seesaw and Qkr

OSHC News

Due to the colder mornings and evenings, we now have the parent and carers sign in/out table just inside the door from the Front verandah, so we can close the door and keep the warmth in. To keep within the social distancing regulations, we ask parents and carers to please stay by the sign in table when dropping off.

 

Autumn Artwork - Getting back into Term 2, the OSHC children helped collect Autumn leaves before the rain arrived. Large wall size pictures of native animals were drawn up for the children to create wall murals using Autumn leaves. This group activity seemed quite popular as all children were able to participate over the week. These are now displayed on the walls in the OSHC room.

OSHC Artwork