Wambi's Wavebreaker

Our Year 5 students returned last Friday rather tired, but with many stories of their adventures at Great Aussie Bush Camp. It was great to see many students step outside their comfort zone and challenge themselves on the many and varied activities. Tomorrow we look forward to our Year 6 students returning from their major excursion to Canberra. They have managed a full itinerary and have been able to enjoy many of the major sites and attractions and consolidate their learning about our democratic processes.  

There have been some lovely photos from both these excursions posted onto our social media FACEBOOK page for our school and wider community to enjoy. 

This week we farewell and thank Deb Hodgson for her 28 years of faithful service to our canteen and the many students of Wamberal Public School, both past and present.  To celebrate her legacy and achievements, parents and friends are invited to join with her from 5:30pm tomorrow (October 20) at Breakers Country Club. 

The canteen is a fabulous resource for all and we are fortunate to have this service currently operating 5 days each week.  

Can you help??... The P&C are now seeking parent volunteers to continue the successful operation of the canteen. No experience is necessary and we appreciate that individual availabilities and circumstances may vary. This is a great way to make new friends and support your child’s school. If you are able to assist or would like further information, please email president@wamberalpandc.org or phone Damien on 0400 761 976.  

Have a great week, 

Paul Miller 

Principal 

What a fantastic time our Year 5 and Year 6 students have had and are having on their respective overnight excursions. Lots of planning and preparation goes in to make such fun filled educational experiences for our students. A huge thank you to our staff Mrs Claridge, Mrs Burgess, Mr Mathews, Mrs Dawkins, Mr Stone, Mrs Tadman, Mr Smith, Mrs Tyson, Miss Heenan and Mrs Hayes for giving up time with their own families to provide such great learning opportunities for our students. 

At Wamberal Public School, we are safe, respectful learners. This week, all students have been learning about our classroom expectations. Teachers are rewarding students with SRLs for demonstrating the school’s expectations of safe, respectful learner behaviour. 

Our PBL Rewards Menu is informed by feedback from our students about the types of rewards they would like to work towards each term. The Term 4 PBL Rewards Menu has been developed using the feedback from our students. The menu is now available in all classrooms as well as on our school website. We thank our P&C for their ongoing support of our positive behaviour initiatives and specifically for the sponsorship of the prizes in the lucky draw. 

Consistent attendance improves student outcomes, increases life and career options, and helps students build relationships and confidence.

As we move out of the pandemic, all schools are focusing on improving student attendance and shifting student attendance rates to the expected rate of above 95% school attendance.

Here is a snapshot of our student attendance data, indicating the improvements as we move towards the expectation that every student attends >95% of the time.

Parents can support school attendance by:

• explaining absences when children miss school due to illness or any other reason
• limiting student late arrival or early departure to only genuine emergency needs
• booking holidays during school breaks
• seeking support from the school if having difficulty getting children to school and on time every day.

Students, staff and visitors should only attend school when symptom free.

All students, staff and visitors are encouraged to follow the guidance issued by NSW Health. Schools are to continue to send home students or staff who display symptoms.

Anaphylaxis is a potentially life threatening, severe allergic reaction which occurs after exposure to an allergen (usually to foods, insects or medicines), to which a person is already extremely sensitive. We have a number of students at Wamberal Public School with anaphylaxis and similar allergic conditions and our staff undertake face-to-face and online training in providing an emergency response to this condition. As a supportive community, we work hard to educate their children about the risks of sharing food.

As a school we do everything we can to reduce potentially dangerous allergic reactions for our students, staff and visitors who may have allergies including anaphylaxis. Some of the ways we do that is to consider the following:

Food Allergies

We educate children to avoid exposure to food allergies by teaching students not to share food and to ensure the canteen doesn’t include food known to trigger allergies such as products with peanuts, nuts, milk, eggs, sesame and soy. We do not use nuts or nut products as part of our teaching and encourage all parents to pack lunches that do not contain known allergy foods.

Insect Bite / Sting Allergies

We consider activities that may increase the likelihood of human contact with insects such as bees, wasps and jumper ants. We consider where we do outdoor activities and avoid grassed and garden areas containing plants that may attract bees and other stinging and biting insects. Our plant selection is also considered. We mow the grass as often as possible to reduce clover.

Medication allergies

We consider any substances used and stored at the school including student medication. Medications such as antibiotics and aspirin can trigger allergies. We remind our community that any student medication that needs to be administered at school comes to the office to be administered by a qualified staff member and is not left in student bags.

Latex allergies

We consider materials used in workplace activities including things such as latex gloves, balloons, swimming caps and goggles.

Staff Education and Training

All staff are trained in the use of adrenaline auto injectors in the event of an emergency and are aware of where our injectors are stored. We display signs and posters about anaphylaxis around the school and provide every teacher with information on students at our school who have allergies.

Student Education

Regular reminders are provided to students about the importance of washing their hands thoroughly before and after eating.

Our Year 5 students are now at the stage of the year where they are considering the options regarding formal leadership opportunities for 2023. Our school is proud to offer many formal and informal student participation and leadership opportunities and we encourage and support all students to develop their leadership capacities through these prospects.

Information for Year 5 students will be sent home shortly. Students and families can familiarise themselves with the student leadership processes in the Student Participation and Leadership Guidelines available on our school website.

Our Annual Presentation Days will be held at school on the following days. Visitor details will be provided a little closer to the dates.

During Weeks 1-4 of term 4 students in Years 3-5 will participate in the Check-in Assessment.

The Check-in assessment is a NSW Department of Education online literacy and numeracy assessment available to support schools to assess and monitor student learning. All students complete a reading assessment and a numeracy assessment.

The assessment can supplement existing school practices to identify how students are performing in literacy and numeracy and to help teachers tailor their teaching more specifically to student needs. Students with a disability may receive the same level of support during the assessment they would normally receive in the classroom.

Any enquiries can be made through your classroom teacher.

Have a great week everyone.

Jane Rees and Glenys Jenkin

Deputy Principals