Willoughby Public School Newsletter

Dear Parents and carers

We are very excited to be a weekend away from having our Kindergarten and Year 1 students returning to full time face to face learning. It is time to try on the school uniform, school shoes and perhaps setting the alarm clock to revise the morning routines ready for Monday 18 and Monday 25 October. The uniform shop is open for online orders. We hope you enjoy the welcome back video from the staff. Our student leaders have also produced a welcome back to Willoughby video – highlighting some of the changes. This will be shared over the weekend. 

Our return to school plan was posted in our Skoolbag App and emailed to families this morning. We have implemented a number of changes across our school day to provide a safe environment for our students and teachers. The school day has been split to separate K-2 and 3-6 timetables to provide greater space in our playground. We are hopeful that we won’t have any COVID cases at WPS so we can have a productive remainder of the term of learning.

A single School Visitor Check-in system for every school across the state is coming from 18 October!

The Department of Education has partnered with Service NSW to provide a streamlined, digital school sign-in system for visitors and contractors at every NSW government school. 

Benefits of the new system include:

• Accelerating your check-ins to as fast as 20 seconds!  

• Linked to NSW Health’s COVID-19 contact tracing ensuring every school is compliant with the NSW COVID-19 mandate. External link
• Giving every school greater access to streamlined NSW Government services. 

Watch our short parent video External link to see how it works for parents or our contractor video External link.

Who can use School Visitor check-in

• Visitors such as parents and carers, contractors, service providers and volunteers.

Students or visitors under the age of 18 are not required to use School Visitor Check-in.

School Visitor Check-in will be ready from 18 October at all NSW Government schools.

For more information visit School Visitor Check-in on the department website.

We are accepting Kindergarten enrolments for 2022. If you have a school age child at home, or neighbours with school age children please enrol for Willoughby PS on line. Please contact the office if you require additional information.

We have started our planning process for 2022. If you know that you will be leaving WPS at the then of 2021other than Year 6 please complete the form attached. This information will help us plan our class organisation.

Have a lovely weekend.

Jennifer Simmonds

We can’t wait to welcome all our classes back to the Library over the next few weeks! So exciting after so long working and learning from home! We have lots of new books to share with your children and much catching up to do with each other! One of the most interesting conversations to have will be how students see themselves as learners after this time. What ownership they see themselves having over their learning, the way they have liked to organise their day, their learning and study skills – what was their areas of most growth, most challenge. What are they glad to leave behind, but too, what do they wish to keep because it transformed themselves in some way. Did they like our e-Platform for reading? Will they intersperse that with book borrowing from now on, or did that not work well for them? So many different experiences to discuss. Sometimes we discover such interesting and valuable skills and parts of ourselves in ways we didn’t expect. Looking forward to reconnecting and carving our way forward together. 

Can my child borrow? 

Borrowing will restart in your child’s first Library lesson back at school. Please make sure all books from Term 2 are promptly returned so that they can take part. Now is the time to do your last big hunt for any Willoughby Public School books they have at home, and place these in your child’s school bag ready to return. Our books have a Willoughby Public School barcode on them, and are usually stamped inside with our school name. If you are unsure what books they have out on loan, your child can log into their student portal and go into Oliver Library. You will see a dropdown for current loans.  

Lost Library Books 

What if you can’t find a Library book? Firstly – it is highly likely to be in your house somewhere in these times when we have been in lockdown. Look under and next to the far wall behind beds, under and on bookshelves, kitchen bench and lounge room piles of paperwork/reading material, the back seat pockets of the car… and the myriad of places that reading can occur in your house. If it has not turned up by the first lesson, then you may wish to pay for the lost books so that your child can clear their borrowing record, and we can buy replacements so that others can borrow them. Alternatively, you can buy replacements of the books yourself. If the books do turn up, we will happily refund your money to you. You only pay for them if they truly are lost. This makes it a win-win situation for you and for us. 

E-Book Platform 

We are thrilled to announce that during the remote learning period, well over 1000 e-books have been borrowed and enjoyed by our students. Our most frequent borrowers have been our Yr 3 and 4 students! Some students have really taken to the online format, finding it a great way to vary their reading in both content and style. You can access it here Willoughby Public School - Willoughby Public School (eplatform.co) . See flyer in this newsletter for more info. Please contact me at if I can be of any assistance on Contact Us | wpslibrary (librarywps.com) . 

Mrs Debbie de Silva  

Teacher Librarian 

Mrs Debbie de Silva 

Teacher Librarian 

Please contact our uniform shop manager Lynda Morris with any questions - Email uniform@wpspandc.com.au or mobile 0416 046 181

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.

Hi mums, dads and carers – Gordon Juniors is the local cricket club for girls and boys in the Willoughby LGA area. We are about to get the green light from Health NSW and the State Government to commence games hopefully on 30.10.2021. 

We have teams for all age groups from six to seventeen and we are a family club giving each player equal opportunity no matter what their ability is. We have strict policies in place regarding the safety of children as well as a strict Covid -19 safety policy. 

Our website is www.gordonjuniorcricket.com.au  and all information including how to register can be found when you visit our website. If you have any questions, please email me -  gordonjuniors@hotmail.com   - regards to all Dave Bezer - President