The Widemere Whisper!

Every Tuesday   - Dance Fever Mindfulness Program

18th May            - Multicultural Perspectives School Finals

19th May           - Cross Country

23rd May           - School Photos

                            - Debating Gala Day

24th May           - Zone Cross Country

1st & 2nd June  - Crust Pizza   

13th June           - Queen's birthday ( no school)

14th June -P&C Meeting (Zoom invite on Facebook and Skoolbag app)

22nd June           - P&C Disco

CAMP coming up -Canberra for Year 5 and 6 students in August

                                

                                                                                 

We are so thankful that we have such caring and kind students like Sophia and Alexandro L at our school. We are so proud of them and their family.

This was a note that I received from a community based organisation called 'Kids Giving Back'.

Dear Ms Saunders,

I am delighted to write to you to acknowledge the wonderful young students from your school who participated in community programs at 'Kids Giving Back' during the 1st Term of this year and the recent April school holidays. It is especially heart-warming to know these young members of your school community chose to spend some of their holiday time volunteering to help others in need. 

The following students gave their time to undertake a range of activities that contributed to meet the needs of vulnerable people in our community:

Sofia L                                                                                                        Alexandro L

 These students is among over 500 young people who produced over 7000 hot meals, salads, fruit kebabs, breakfast boxes, snack packs, care packs and decorated tote bags which were distributed to 13 charities around Sydney. They also were especially helpful in folding and packing new clothes for over 8000 vulnerable people, many of whom were affected by this year’s floods. We deeply appreciate their service to others and the kindness they have extended. 

What a wonderful effort Sophia and Alexandro. We are so proud of you both!

In Science, our Kindy students have been investigating everyday materials. They listened to the story of the Three Little Pigs and attempted to make houses from various materials around the school. Discovering which of their houses would withstand being blown down by Mrs Fausset (me - the Big Bad Wolf) their science teacher. Their most interesting finding was that the Pigs should never build a house of foam, as it was blown right off the table. 

As the great philosopher, Dr Seuss wrote, “Oh, the places you’ll go!” engaging thoughts and dreams of great adventures and this is what we hope to instil in your children. Our Year 1 and 2 students have been investigating Places in Geography. They have discussed places that they enjoy visiting such as holiday destinations, parks and the homes of relatives. They have found places in the local community on paper maps and interactive Google Maps. Now they are investigating various places around the country. We are engaging our children to be curious learners about their environment and the larger world around them.

Don't forget to vote at Widemere Public School and while you are there please visit our great P&C stalls  and purchase a tasty sausage sizzle,  bacon and egg roll, refreshing drink, homemade, delicious cakes and second hand books or games.

All money from the fundraising stalls goes to our school.

Thanks again to our great P&C Fundraising team.

Unfortunately the local council has again closed Nemesia St Park and our playground is still very wet in patches so both Cross Country Carnivals will be cancelled.

As the Zone carnival is next week the School Sport Committee will look at previous results and run races for interested students who feel they would be competitive. Selected students will go on to the Zone carnival.

Years 3- 6 have been quite busy lately!

Students in years 3 and 5 completed their NAPLAN assessments online last week and I know they are relived they are done for another year!

Mr Ali hosted auditions for students to be selected for our WPS Debating Team. Year 6 students Aiyeesha, Daniel, Emily & Evan were selected and will be attending the Granville, Holroyd & Strathfield debating Gala Day on the 23rd May at Guildford Public School. Congratulations to these students and also to our Year 5 Debators in training Mitchell, Nikolas, Marley & Isla Rae.

Mrs Pich had has students in years 3-6 busily preparing and presenting Multicultural Perspective speeches to their classes. This competition aims to heighten the awareness of multicultural issues among primary school students. We appreciate the time and effort students, with support from their parents put into creating these speeches. Congratulations to all of the students who made it to the stage final and to Demi S and Aiyeesha T who were the Stage 3 finalists and Leo A and Kye N the Stage 2 finalists who w who will be representing WPS at the Local Area Final!

Mrs Malvicino and her class have been working hard to improve our school environment and have started a initiative for classes to compost their fruit and veggie scraps from fruit break.

Mrs Oliveri our sports coordinator and Relieving Assistant Principal has been busy coordinating try outs and sorting out our PSSA teams for this season. Congratulations to the students selected for our junior and senior teams. Soccer will be coached by Miss Colbran and our Netball team coached by Mrs Oliveri. We have also had a number of students try out for Zone teams. Congratulations to Scarlett H who achieved in the Zone Tennis.

This term, one of our key focus areas across the school is developing students number sense. One of the ways we are doing this is through the use of Number Talks K-6. Number Talks are a great way for students to develop and refine their mental problem solving skills, allowing them to rely less on concrete materials or written algorithms when working out simple and complex mathematical equations.  

This fortnight our focus has been on addition and subtraction, it’s been great to see how engaged our students are and watch them challenge themselves to find their most efficient strategy when answering questions.  

We are also focusing on developing students' inferential comprehension skills, helping improve their understanding of a text by identifying hidden concepts or clues and combining this with their prior knowledge to drawing individual conclusions. To help support your child's inferential comprehension development, after reading with them you could ask some questions that start with:

• Why is/did....?
• Can you explain why/how....?
• What caused....?
• What do you think is meant by....?
• How is this similar/different to....?
• Why did the illustrator use that image....?

If you do wish to celebrate your child’s birthday with the class please ensure you purchase store bought cupcakes (due to Covid), as teachers do not have the equipment or time to slice whole cakes. We do not encourage lolly bags or balloons etc. Thank you for your cooperation.

 

Skoolbag and Facebook

To keep up to date with school news please access our Facebook page and our Skoolbag app. This newsletter is available on Skoolbag, Facebook and our website.

If you upload our Skoolbag app on your phone you will be updated automatically with school alerts and news. Join our Facebook page for great photos and information about our school and your child’s learning.

How to upload Skoolbag iPhone and Android App:

Search for our school name ‘Widemere Public School’ in either Apple App store or Google Play store and follow the prompts. This App is free and will provide school updates, our newsletter, absence notifications forms, links to our website and our Facebook page.

Parents are reminded to provide medical certificates or written and signed notes justifying absence when their child is away from school. Please provide the notes upon return to school. If students are away from school for 2 days or more expect a phone call from their teacher or Mrs Moloney or Mrs Terry.

It is very important that students regularly attend school

Our school thanks our wonderful P&C for their hard work and dedication to our school.

Keep an eye out for our next Zoom meeting link on our Facebook and Skoolbag on the 14th June.

Don't forget to access the Widemere Parents and Carers Information Group on Facebook for great information about our school.