Willoughby Public School Newsletter

Dear Parents and Carers

We are almost at the end of the school year for 2021! What a year it has been - certainly one we will remember as we move forward. Thank you to our amazing students who have managed all the challenges of 2021 with grit and determination. Learning has been the focus and everyone should be very proud of what they have achieved despite the difficulties and challenges of moving between face to face learning and online learning.

Thank you to our teachers for your hard work and dedication in keeping everyone in your care focused and supported, your resilience is valued and appreciated as we navigated the midfield of COVID. Our school is very lucky to have its excellent admin team, school learning and support officers as well as our outstanding general assistant.

A heartfelt thank you to our parents and carers for the huge contribution you have made to your child/ children’s learning throughout the year, especially throughout Term 3.

Thank you to our P&C led by Daniel and supported by his executive team, while we were unable to hold community events throughout the year we appreciated the ongoing support of the P&C, especially with the contributions helping to employ our Learning and Support Officers and top up of technology resources. We look forward to working with the 2022 P&C leadership team and the participation in community events.

Success throughout 2021:

• Launch of our Waste Warrior sustainability team – utilising the funds from the Sustainable Schools grant to analyse WPS rubbish.

• The upgrade of our school canteen facilities to enable healthy cooking on site as well as the installation of the oven and cook top in the joint P&C/ OOSHC kitchen.

• Metro Renewal – joint school and P&C application to develop a long-term plan for the upgrade of Block C, keeping the history and heritage of the building in mind.

• LED Lighting Upgrade Program (LED LUP), which commits to replace inefficient lights with new LED lights. This is expected to reduce operating costs for schools. The benefits of LED lighting include: Energy saving – reduced electricity usage and lower bills over the long term by replacing inefficient fluorescent lights with efficient LEDs. Lower maintenance and repair costs when compared with fluorescent lights. Improved learning outcomes in the classroom as a result of improved lighting. We are expecting the implementation to begin early 2022.

• Significant gains in student growth in their learning, especially in reading with good results in numeracy. We have analysed the data and have clear focus for 2022 to work towards.

Retirement - Thank you and farewell

Ms Alison Douglas was appointed to Willoughby PS in October 2008 and has made the decision to retire from the Department of Education after a long and rewarding career, she has had great impact on many students over her years as a teacher not only here at WPS but throughout her career. We wish her the very best in her retirement.

Mrs Jennifer Kirk was appointed to Willoughby PS in January 2001 and will be retiring from her well-loved job as a teacher. Mrs Kirk has had a huge impact on the students at WPS, I know she holds wonderful memories of Willoughby dear to her heart. We wish her the very best as she moves into the next phase of her life, I know she will be spending time with her grandchildren and developing her interest in gardening.

Mrs Klair Trojkovic, Assistant Principal has been on leave for the past 2 years and has resigned from the Department of Education and relocated to Queensland. I know Mrs Trojkovic had great impact on the students she taught at WPS.

Other staff changes:

Ms Leigh Denton has accepted an exciting Rural experience challenge and is relocating in 2022 to teach at Wentworth PS located in the south western corner of NSW. We hope we can connect with Ms Denton during the year to see what life is like teaching and living in a country community.

Miss Michelle Upston is also relocating to the country. She is moving to the North coast to be closer to her family and will also be working in schools in her local community on the north coast.

Mrs Mhairi Overall has relocated to the far north coast and was successful in gaining a transfer to South West Rocks Public School.

Ms Jill Langford is taking 12 months leave pursue her interest in creative art and travel.

Miss Limbert, Mrs Stericker and Mrs Firth have secured teaching positions at schools in the inner western suburbs of Sydney to reduce the travel time to work.

Mr Orchard has a teaching position at a local Public school and Miss Madeleine Killingback has accepted a classroom teacher position at an Independent school.

We wish the teachers every success at their new schools and are very grateful for their dedication, commitment and support given to our WPS students and staff over the years.

Welcome to Willoughby PS

It is with great excitement we welcome; Mr Richard Goodwin, Mr Lawrence Yu and Miss Tessa Anderson to the Willoughby PS leadership team as Assistant Principals. Our three new AP’s bring a wealth of experience and knowledge from a range of schools that they have worked in during their careers.

We welcome Miss Charlotte Beckley, Miss Brittany Champion, Mrs Liz Davies, Ms Meriaam Mikhail, Mr Craig Atkinson as classroom teachers to our Willoughby team. We look forward to working with them throughout 2022.

I’m looking forward to working with our teachers and students in 2022 as we continue our focus on Learning Intentions and success criteria and embedding our Willoughby PS Learning dispositions into our safe, respectful and responsible learning environment.

Congratulations to our incoming student leaders, they will very capably lead our student body through whatever challenges 2022 may bring. I will publish their names and positions after our Presentation Day induction, along with the sport house leaders. All Year 5 students should be very proud of themselves and will certainly be great role models for all students at Willoughby PS.

On behalf of our staff at Willoughby PS I wish everyone a safe relaxing summer holiday and we look forward to continuing our learning journey in 2022.

Best wishes

Jennifer Simmonds

Principal 

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.