Willoughby Public School Newsletter

Term 3, Week 8 - Friday 3 September 2021

Please keep up to date with the latest advice for families. 

The NSW Department of Education is working closely with the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), NSW Health and other agencies to ensure our schools continue to operate in the safest ways possible in the COVID-19 environment.

OUR SCHOOL VISION

At Willoughby Public School we aim to cultivate socially-aware learners who are critical and creative thinkers, within a safe, respectful and responsible learning community.

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

Dear Parents and Carers

Admin and Support Staff Recognition Week 6th – 10 September

Willoughby Public School teachers and students are overwhelmingly grateful to these fabulous members of our staff:

Office and Administration:

Mrs Snez Thomson, Mrs Ruth Rosebery, Mrs Denise Voysey, Mrs Sue Uzelac, Mrs Cheryle Millynn, Mrs Pauline Godfrey and Mrs Diane Cole

Learning and Support Officers:

Mrs Kate Andrews, Mrs Tina Kitromilides, Ms Alina Galoustian, Mrs Simone Mattison, Mrs Roxana Pop, Mrs Ros Sutton, Ms Emily Wong, Mrs Lis Robertson, Miss Maddie Andrews and Mr Lochie Simunovic

General Assistant:

Mr Graeme Hancock

Each and every day at school year this group of caring, dedicated and hardworking team support our students and teachers in so many ways. The list is too long to mention but we think they are the backbone of Willoughby PS and we couldn’t do our job without them.


Wellbeing Wednesday

As Term 3 draws to a close, I would like to thank and congratulate our students, parents/ carers and teachers for the outstanding job of collaborating and working together throughout Term 3 delivering online learning. I think the learning students have achieved has been truly amazing and rewarding to see how independent and capable they are in managing their own learning.

Wednesday 15 September K-6 we are dedicating to wellbeing, apart from the morning zoom roll call/ check in the children will have a range of creative, fun filled wellbeing activities to complete.  Students will have the option of uploading photos of their day if they would like. More information will be supplied in our Week 10 online learning packs.


COVID-safe school operations

To ensure the safe return to school all staff onsite are required to be fully vaccinated by 8 November. NSW Health has mandated this safety measure and includes anyone who works in schools – Admin, SLSO’s, SRE, SEE, teachers will need to comply.

It has been suggested for Primary School students that they wear a face mask while at school. We already have students wearing face masks along with our teachers and staff on site. I would like to encourage families to have face masks that can be reused for sustainability. I have several face masks which I soak in disinfectant, wash and dry in the sunshine. There are lots to choose from online as well as patterns to sew your own. A great way to help look after our environment and reduce landfill by not using disposable face masks.


Roadmap for students returning to school

Schools will return to face-to-face learning either through a ‘staged return’ or ‘full return’, depending on NSW Health conditions in their area.

Students will return to face-to-face learning with NSW Health-approved COVID-safe settings on school sites in the following order:

  • from 25 October – Kindergarten and Year 1
  • from 1 November – Years 2, 6 and 11
  • from 8 November – Years 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10.


Best wishes to WPS Dads and Special Others this Sunday

Like many things, Father's Day will be celebrated a little differently this year and we hope that all our WPS Dads and Special Others have a great day on Sunday.  I know that Mr Michaeil is looking forward to his children laughing at all of his dad-jokes that day. Our P&C and the school have joined The Fathering Project and the P&C Dad's Club uses these helpful resources throughout the year. We've included The Fathering Project's Father's Day message later on in the Newsletter. 


2022 Student Leader nominees:

Thank you to the 40 Year 5 students who submitted their application for a student leader position for 2022. Please keep an eye out for a special surprise in the post.

Giselle L

Harry M

Annabelle B

Nalinee L

Olivia L

Isabelle M

Milly L

Jack C

Madeleine B

Claudia Mc

Kalen S

Holly B

Lucinda F

Chaehee S

Mimi M

Sasha P

Oscar Mc

Lotta V

Anandini S

Daniel C

Joseph T

Dia S

Tilly N

Bianca L

Gabby T

Sylvie La

Inky B

Adrijan M

Katarina D

Sierra F

Zachary Mc

Alice Mc

Kyan S

Troy C

Isabelle S

Sophia F

Archer U

Nandita N

Ethan I

Aryan W

 

I am looking forward to working with our 2022 potential leaders as we return to school in Term 4.

Kind regards

Jennifer Simmonds

Learn at Home - Week 9 ready for download

Week 9 remote learning packs are now ready for download from the hub on the library website: 

If you are unable to print at home, printed copies of the workbooks will again be available on Monday morning from the usual tables at the following gates around the school:

Kindergarten:  Gate 6 – gate at laneway near high school oval

Year 1: Gate 1 – Rose Garden gate

Year 2: Gate 2 – Rose Garden gate

Year 3: Gate 5 – Keary Street gate

Year 4: Gate 5 – Keary Street gate

Year 5: Gate 3 – Oakville Road main gate

Year 6: Gate 3 – Oakville Road main gate

A map is attached below showing gate numbers and locations.

The school has a limited number of iPads and Chromebooks available to loan to families who do not have access to a tech device. Requests for a loan device can be made via this link: https://bit.ly/3wIdlR4

Additional activities created by the Department of Education can be found here: https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/learning-from-home/learning-at-home

School map with gate numbers

Download

A little message from Mr Michaeil

Some snippets of learning from across the school

Below we have showcased some more of the learning that has been taking place at home and at school this term. There are too many examples to fit in this newsletter, so we will again include more in the next edition. 

We are very proud of the hard work our students have been putting in and are delighted to showcase some of their work samples to our community. 

2-6R students created some marvellous puppets

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Scroll through some fabulous Kindy work and book characters!

Scroll through some amazing maps 2B created using Aboriginal symbols

Scroll through a wonderful collage of learning from 1D

Scroll through some incredible work from Year 4

Scroll through a selection of superb campervans designed by 2U

Scroll through some excellent work from Stage 3

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.

Scroll through some wonderful work from 2W

Migration Synopsis Xavier Z 5JS

Click the link to download some amazing work.
Download

Amazing art from Monty in 2KG

LIBRARY NEWS

Book Week 2021 

Thanks to all – students, families and staff - for making our Book Week the best fun! Such a diverse range of books were represented – and in each, a favourite character brought to life! Many of these wonderful efforts - in such challenging times - are now up on the WPS Library website . These characters have introduced your children to so many other worlds – worlds that have intrigued surprised and carried them to places they want to revisit often. Choice is so important, and in fact it can be the catalyst that empowers and encourages students to grow as readers. This is because choice engages, motivates and excites. It’s harder to read something we are told to read, but once we have choices, we start to take ownership over our reading, carve out our own reading journey and discover our likes and dislikes as readers. Research by Stephen Krashen tells us that motivation and interest in reading is also higher when students can read during the day at school. Part of the reading culture we have in the Library at Willoughby, is time to read and get right into a book they have just borrowed. It’s part of every lesson that I run, along with making sure our students encounter great books, receive heartfelt recommendations and feel part of a community of readers in their time at our school.  

Access to Books during Learning at Home 

It has been so exciting to see that many, many students have now taken up the opportunity to browse for book series, books by favourite authors or have discovered entirely new choices by using our E Book Platform over the past few weeks. I have received quite a few recommendations of E- books to buy too, to help tailor the collection for our students. Go to the Browse tab and click on the sort options to see new releases and recently added titles. Please see the flyer in this Newsletter for step-by step instructions for access and tips for using successfully. Any issues? I’m only an email away at deborah.desilva@det.nsw.edu.au .  

There are also E-Books available on World Book at World Book (worldbookonline.com) . To access use login ID and password as willpub. Then click on the E Books icon to access and browse. There are some wonderful non-fiction books in that collection, that I find the students always enjoy looking at.  

There are some other great places to go to for stories and other reading related activities on the Library website at https://www.librarywps.com/library-at-home  

Book Club 

This is continuing throughout the lockdown, by viewing the online catalogue and having items sent directly to your home address! Another great way to keep fresh and exciting reading material in the hands of your children. Issue 6 closes today. All information on this is being sent to you via your class teacher. Keep an eye out soon for your class email re Issue 7! 

Premier’s Reading Challenge 

The Challenge closes for students today. Ask your student in Yr 3-6 to login and check that all books read have been entered so they qualify for their Certificate this year. A SkoolBag was sent out on this earlier this week. K-2 students – there is nothing to do. We have read the books together, and I will be entering them online for your child. All our K, 1 and 2 students have qualified for a certificate this year. Thanks to all students for your efforts in this – what an enjoyable way to achieve a reward!  

Mrs Debbie de Silva 

Teacher Librarian 

Accessing the new WPS Digital Library

WPS Dad's Club

The Willoughby Public School Dad’s Club has been formed in partnership with WPS P & C and supported by WPS school to organise popular activities that provide dads of children attending WPS with the opportunity for connection and having fun in a friendly atmosphere!

Email  dadsclub@wpspandc.com.au 

Register @ WPS Fathering Project Portal 

The Fathering Project

Some links below from The Fathering Project. All WPS Dads and Special Others are encouraged to join the WPS P&C Dad's Club. 

https://thefatheringproject.org/fathers-day-afl/

https://thefatheringproject.org/at-home/playing-at-home/

Parent information - useful links

Are you juggling life in lockdown with being a parent, home schooling, or working from home? If yes, you may find some helpful links in this where to guide*, when you can’t go anywhere. We have compiled a helpful list of resources, groups, and activities that you can participate in both online and offline from home or in your neighbourhood. We hope they bring inspiration and fun to the day for you and your family.
Download
On this link, you'll find a series of short videos focused on enhancing the wellbeing of primary and secondary children.

Wellbeing booklet

This portfolio has been created to collate, collaborate and share helpful links and most importantly tips and tricks to having an OK wellbeing within this weird time of isolation and lock-down in a global pandemic.

Enjoy the activities and resources within this portfolio, it is not designed to fix all your problems (if only) but rather to be a handy go-to document of different ideas, tips and tricks for both families and individuals. 

Download

Learning From Home Resources for Parents

Download

Parent Guide to NSW Syllabuses

Download

School Community Charter - Collaborative. Respectful. Communication.

The attached School Community Charter outlines the responsibilities of parents, carers, educators and school staff in NSW public schools to ensure our learning environments are collaborative, supportive and cohesive.
Download

WPS Zoom Expectations

NUT & PEANUT ALLERGY (ANAPHYLAXIS)

At Willoughby Public School we have a number of students with a

LIFE THREATENING NUT / PEANUT ALLERGY.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

Even a small trace of nut, peanut or nut/peanut product may trigger a severe allergic reaction called Anaphylaxis, which attacks the immune system leading potentially to death within minutes.

This reaction can happen by taste, touch and sometimes can be airborne. All of these students have access to an adrenaline injection in the form of an Epipen, which can save lives. Photo posters are displayed in the classrooms, canteen, staffroom, playground bags and sick bay for easy identification of these children.

Willoughby PS works with parents/carers to support students in developing an awareness of their allergies and what foods to avoid. Students are encouraged not to share food and to always check with a parent/adult/teacher if unsure at any time. 

HOW CAN YOU HELP TO KEEP WPS STUDENTS SAFE? 

Please help us by not including peanut or any nut products in your child’s lunchbox. This includes peanut butter and Nutella. 

Please avoid products with any nuts/peanuts listed as an ingredient. 

Explain about nut/peanut allergy to your child and encourage the ‘no food sharing’ rule. 

Please consider what you are sending for birthday treats to share with the class, checking there are no nut products included. 

The school canteen does not serve products containing nuts. 

It is only with the continued support of all parents and staff that we can effectively maintain a safe school environment for these children.  

Thank you for your understanding. We know you will want to support the school and these children.

Put safety ahead of convenience. Always.

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Northern Sydney Youth & Family Health and Wellbeing events

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How to install the SkoolBag App

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HOW TO APPLY FOR SCHOOL OPAL CARD

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FOLLOW WPS SCHOOL INSTAGRAM