Westlawn Public School - Strive to Achieve - Westlawn Public ...

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Westlawn Public School - Strive to Achieve - Westlawn Public ...
Westlawn Public School
               Strive to Achieve

                                                                                      Tel: 02 6642 7466
                                                              Email: westlawn-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

                                     Newsletter: Term 1 Week 4 2021
Principal’s Message:
On Wednesday 3rd February the P&C committee held their first meeting. As a newcomer, it was terrific to see
the benefits that a small team of committed parents can have on the school. They are very keen to make some
plans for 2021 that would improve the childrens’ time at WPS. If you would like to contribute in some way to the
school and enjoy sharing experiences with like-minded people, please don’t hesitate to come along to a P&C
meeting. The committee are very keen to see new people involved and listen to new ideas to support Westlawn
PS. Also, this would be an opportunity for you to listen to special talks by teachers or guests at the meetings
throughout the year. Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month at 6pm. If you require any
further information please call the school office.

The first two weeks have been busy with many special events. I would like to acknowledge the extra time
dedicated to the organisation of these events by the staff. This includes the Parent Information Meetings by
Stage 3 staff, the Leaders Induction Ceremony by Mrs Ellis and the Swimming carnival by Mr Ogilvy. All these
events provide a positive experience for students or parents and continue to build upon the ‘Westlawn Way’.
Importantly, I do wish to thank all parents for their patience and support with the current COVID guidelines.

Our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) program is highly successful across the school. Keep an eye out for our
PBL focus areas each week in each newsletter. Our Learning and Support Team will post these focus areas and
we encourage you to talk about them at home with your children.

At the beginning of each school year our Administration staff are busy ensuring all student information is
accurate and up to date. For the safety of your children, please check that you have shared with us the correct
mobile contact numbers and address in case of an emergency.

An important reminder that before school student supervision commences at 8.25am. This is when our Duty of
Care commences. Before this time, we are unable to take full responsibility for their safety as no direct
supervision is occurring.

As we all know, 2020 was a tough year. This was particularly so for our students and teachers who rose to the
challenges in a disrupted year that included seven weeks of remote learning due to COVID-19, and in some
areas, that came on top of bushfires and floods.

For our students, this has been an unsettling time. The government and department have recognised this with
the announcement of a $337 million program aimed at ensuring that schools can identify students who would
Westlawn Public School - Strive to Achieve - Westlawn Public ...
benefit the most from intensive support. This will be tailored to their requirements to ensure that students’
educational outcomes continue to improve in 2021.

The 2021 COVID Intensive Learning Support Program will provide small group tuition for students who need it
most across NSW primary, secondary and specialist schools. All public schools across the state will benefit with
an allocation to employ additional teachers and educators to support student learning.

At Westlawn PS we are currently planning for the implementation of a small group tuition program. The groups
will be conducted during school hours. We will be focusing on literacy and numeracy throughout the year, with a
focus on literacy this term. We will keep you updated. In the meantime the NSW Department of Education
website has more information on this program.

Mrs Gough and Mrs Acevedo White, two of our Assistant Principals, will coordinate the program in 2021.
Westlawn has employed three teachers, Mrs Stratford, Mrs Weiley and Mrs Roberts, who will work with selected
students on a daily basis.

Please, also be mindful of the ongoing COVID restrictions that schools have in relation to food coming onto the
school site. If you are considering sending in food to share with your child’s class for a birthday celebration, the
food needs to be individually packaged. Store purchased items are also encouraged as they show the contained
ingredients which should ensure the safety of all students.
Finally, thank you to all our students and parents for using the new road crossings correctly. Road safety is an
ongoing key priority for our whole school community.

Kind Regards,
David King

(Acting Principal)

WPS 2021 Leaders
Congratulations to our school leaders for
2021 who received their badges at our
Induction Assembly last Thursday. We are
so proud of our new leaders and know they
will do a brilliant job throughout the year.
Our school leaders for 2021 are:
School Captains - Thomas and Mollie
Vice Captains – Hamish and Romy
Prefects – Oscar, Bodhi, Aliya and Ruby.

Dates to Remember:
Week 4
Tues 16.2 – Kinder Parent Session
Wed 17.2 - Stage 2 Parent Sessions (Year 3: 5 – 5:30 & Year 4: 5:30 – 6PM)
Thurs 18.2 – District Swimming Carnival
Week 5
Mon 22.2 – Induction Assembly 12 PM
Week 6
Mon 1.3 – Backflips on Bullying
Week 7
Wed 10.3 – School Photo Day
Week 9
Mon 22.3 – WPS X Country
Westlawn Public School - Strive to Achieve - Westlawn Public ...
Swimming Carnival Results
Good weather greeted us last Monday morning for our swimming
carnival - not too hot, not too cold. Our main aim for the day was
to get everyone to have-a-go! We had a range of swimming
abilities on show and plenty of children willing to try something
they felt was challenging – swimming 50m.

It is important to build the confidence needed to be in the water
while having fun with friends instead of perhaps sitting in the
stands and possibly feeling worried about not being able to finish
a race or perform a stroke correctly. Congratulations to all
students on your participation and outstanding behaviour on the
day.

Students were not disqualified for using poor technique at the carnival as the focus was on participation. A referee
will attend at the Clarence carnival and disqualifications will occur for competitors using incorrect technique. The
referee’s opinion is not to be taken as a personal attack but as advice competitors can use to improve their
stroke/technique in the future and should be treated as such.
                                                                     Age Champions
                                                                      Jnr Boy – Caleb
                                                                      Jnr Girl – Klancee
                                                                      11yrs Boy – Chad
                                                                      11yrs Girl – Ruby
                                                                      Snr Boy – Marcus and Ethan (tie)
                                                                      Snr Girl – Riley
                                                                      House Points
                                                                      Winning House – Neptune

Records
Riley continued on her ‘record breaking’ way by setting three new records this year.

Snr girls breaststroke 45.31s – previous record was 46.18 by S Collie 2006
Snr girls butterfly 41.69s – previous record was 44.25s by S Collie 2006
Snr girls Individual Medley 3:18.50 – previous record was 3:18.62 by S Collie 2006

The fastest three swimmers in each race from the Westlawn carnival
have qualified for the Clarence carnival. Please note that there are
qualifying times for the 100m freestyle and medley races. Students
have been informed as to whether they have qualified for these races.

Clarence Swimming Carnival
The Clarence Swimming Carnival will be held this Thursday 18 th
February at the Grafton Olympic Pool. Permission notes went home last
week and should have been returned to the office. Mr Pereira, Mrs
Hadley and Mrs Palmer will attend the carnival.

Good luck to our competitors: Neave, Ivy W, Niah, Klancee, Maia, Bonnie, Isabella-Rose, Sophie, Sally, Ruby, Lili,
Lahnee, Riley, Mollie, Cloie, Grace, Saideeann, Mia, Lucy, Romy, Skylae-Mae, Ivy D, Eliza, Braith, Leo, Logan, Cooper
P, Nate, Hayden, Cooper M, Hunter, Caleb, Chad, Taj, Oliver, Marcus, Ethan, Jarrad, Alec, Billy, Oscar, Jacob, Jake,
Rylann, Jimmy.
Westlawn Public School - Strive to Achieve - Westlawn Public ...
House Meetings and Election of House Captains and Vice Captains
Students gathered into their sport houses prior to our swimming carnival to elect house captains and vice-
captains.
Congratulations to the following students:
Jupiter (Red):    (C) Barney & Lillian (VC) Alex & Clair
Mercury (Yellow): (C) Billy & Eliza    (VC) Luna (No boy VC atm)
Neptune (Blue): (C) Taj & Emily (VC) Keegan /Rylann & Riley
Saturn (Green): (C) Nathan & Mia (VC) Jimmy & Saideeann

Mid North Coast Boys and Girls Cricket Trials
Sam, Oscar, Thomas, Ethan, Bohdi, Ruby and Eliza travelled to Coffs Harbour last Tuesday to trial for selection in
the MNC teams. Congratulations to Sam, Oscar, Thomas, Ethan, Ruby and Eliza on your selection.

The boys will play at the North Coast trials on March 7 and 8, the girls on March 1. Best of luck to you.

Sporting dates to remember – plan ahead!
Clarence Swimming Carnival (Grafton) – Thursday 18 February

Mid North Coast Swimming Carnival (Coffs Harbour) – Thursday 25 February

North Coast Swimming Carnival (Coffs Harbour) – Wednesday 3 March

Westlawn PS Cross Country Carnival at Junction Hill – Monday 22 March

Community Sport for Term 1
Community Sport will begin this Friday 19 February. Today, students will have brought home a small slip with their
sport allocation and weekly price. Please ensure students have a full drink bottle of water and any equipment
needed for their sport each Friday.

Sport money collection will occur every Thursday after morning assembly so we can start sport immediately on
Friday. Please send your child’s sport money on a Thursday each week.

Costs and equipment needed each week:
Hockey - Cost $6 (inc. bus fare). All equipment is provided however, participants must have their own mouth
guard, hat and water.
Tennis - Cost $7 (inc. bus fare). All equipment is provided. Please take a hat and water.
Ten Pin Bowling - Cost $6. Bottle of water is optional.
Basketball – No cost. Take a bottle of water.
KidsFit - Cost $4. Take a bottle of water.
Futsal - Cost $5. Take a bottle of water.
Gymnastic/Parkour - $7 Take a bottle of water.

It is important that all students remember their sport money each week as we are using community venues, which
depend on income to remain open. Students who fail to pay for their sport two weeks in a row will still go to their
venue but will not be able to participate. Please contact the school if there are difficulties covering the cost of
weekly sport.
Westlawn Public School - Strive to Achieve - Westlawn Public ...
Year One Sport – Fundamental Movement Skills
Westlawn Public School - Strive to Achieve - Westlawn Public ...
Library Matters
Love your Library 2021!
Sunday 14th is Library Lover’s Day and at Westlawn we are celebrating Loving out Library.
Students have been falling in love with new books and discovering new books by
choosing surprise books based on a genre.
Classes are settling in and it is wonderful to see students prepared for learning for
library each week. You can help your child be prepared by reminding them to bring
books back with their library bags on their allocated day.
Monday: 1AW, 6H, 2C & 2T
Tuesday: 5A, 5O, 3M & 2S
Wednesday: 5/6W, 6G, 1R & KB
Thursday: 4E, 4P, 1M & 3A
Friday: KR, KG & KS
When borrowing, all students are required to have a library bag to minimise damage to
books. Westlawn Library bags are available from the office for $10.
All students are welcome to exchange books during lunchtime playtimes if they have
already completed their books.
Library Leaders
Congratulations to our wonderful Year 6 library leaders for 2021! The library leaders are valuable members of
our library that are developing their knowledge and skills in the library whilst assisting and supporting students
and staff in a variety of roles. It is with great excitement to announce this year’s library leaders: Elijah, Connor,
Lilli, Ilianna, Paetyn, Destiny, Lily, Savannah, Layla, Clair and Tora.
Safe internet day last Tuesday was a wonderful introduction to our units for library this term where we will be
discussing using the internet safely and having a positive digital footprint.
Stay tuned for next newsletter to find out more about library happenings and what adventures are taking place in
the library.

Happy Reading!
Mrs Palmer

Cyber safety for Families
The internet, social media and all the many other related technologies now accessible have created many
positive advances in the way we communicate. But with any advance, there will be challenges and adjustments.
Technology changes very quickly. It can be a new app, a new device or a new youtube video. How we monitor
the activities and access that children have is a challenge for schools and for homes.
Parents can access free webinars provided from the eSafety department of the federal government.
It will cover:

   •   starting conversations with your child about their online friendships and positive ways to deal with
       changing relationships
   •   understanding the rights, laws and community expectations that
       govern social media use
   •   where to seek help if your child is involved in a cyberbullying
       incident. Each webinar will include case studies, research and
       targeted advice so you can support the young people in your life
       to have safe, enjoyable online experiences.

You can scan this QR code to register for 1 of 5 different webinars or
use the web address and follow the webinar links:
https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/
Westlawn Public School - Strive to Achieve - Westlawn Public ...
A PBL Message
Please reinforce our Positive Behaviours for Learning
expectations with your children. When everyone Strives
to Achieve PBL expectations we are all making a
positive difference everyday, everywhere and every time.

         Week 4 Focus setting: Lining up after breaks

                 Week 5 focus setting: Bag Area
Westlawn Public School - Strive to Achieve - Westlawn Public ...
90 years of teaching
children about money.
School Banking Parent Guide.

Dear Parent/Guardian,

For 90 years we have been supporting schools and teaching children about money. Thanks to
your participation and support, we’ve reached this incredible milestone.
Here’s how our School Banking program works:

Weekly saving                                                 Fun and rewarding
        Children can save any amount of money                         Each time your child makes a deposit
        each week and bring it to school on their                     at school, they’ll receive a silver
        designated School Banking day.                                Dollarmites token.

        The money is deposited into their                             Once they collect 10 Dollarmites tokens
        Youthsaver account and they can track their                   they can redeem them for a small reward.
        progress in their School Banking Dollarmites
        deposit wallet.

Depositing outside of School Banking?

There are a number of ways your child can make deposits into their Youthsaver account;

        Deposit in branch, make sure you bring their                  You can also make deposits into your child’s
        deposit book with their account information                   account using internet banking, NetBank
        filled out so they can track their savings.                   or the CommBank app for CommBank
                                                                      customers.
        Use our intelligent deposit machines
        and ATMs

Remember, if you use these services to make deposits into your child’s account they will not receive tokens
towards redeeming a School Banking reward.

  Helping your school fundraise
  As your child banks through School Banking, your school will receive fundraising support to recognise the
  administration required. To find out more on how we help schools fundraise and how this is calculated,
  visit commbank.com.au/sbinfo
Westlawn Public School - Strive to Achieve - Westlawn Public ...
Getting started
 If you’d like your child to take part in School Banking, they’ll need a Youthsaver account. Designed for anyone
 under 18 years of age, this account has no monthly fees or withdrawal fees. They’ll also earn bonus interest
 when they grow their balance each month* on balances up to and including $50,000.

 There are three easy ways to get an account:

          Apply online at                                                 Log on to your CommBank app (if you bank with
          commbank.com.au/schoolbanking                                   CommBank). From the menu in the bottom left
                                                                          corner, select ‘Products and offers’, then ‘Bank
                                                                          accounts’ and ‘Student and youth accounts’,
          Visit any CommBank branch.                                      scroll down to Kids and tap ‘Open account’.

 What you’ll need
 Personal identification for you and your child. You can use a birth certificate, passport, driver’s licence or
 citizenship certificate#. If applying in branch, please bring your child’s birth certificate and/or an applicable
 Court Order to help us identify you as the parent or legal guardian.
 When you open a Youthsaver account, your child will receive a Dollarmites deposit wallet in branch,
 or we’ll mail it to you if you opened the account online.

 Saving is rewarding.
 This year we’re celebrating the most popular rewards from         Simple rules:
 past years. This will include the popular tomato seed kit,
 water skimming ball, and much more!                               1. To reward individual saving, Dollarmites tokens can’t be
 Our most up to date reward wallet insert can be found at             combined with other students’ or siblings’ tokens.
 commbank.com.au/sbc                                               2. All rewards can be redeemed from Term 1, and are
 How to redeem rewards:                                               available whilst stocks last.
                                                                   3. Our School Banking program is suitable for children in
 1. Make 10 School Banking deposits – receive one silver
                                                                      primary school.
    Dollarmites token each time your child makes a deposit
    (maximum one Dollarmites token per week).                      School Banking rewards are not suitable for children 3
 2. Choose a reward from the wallet insert and fill in the         years and under. For safety reasons, remove any tags,
    coupon that goes with it.                                      labels and packaging before use and refer to the usage
                                                                   instruction
 3. Place the completed reward wallet insert and your child’s
    10 Dollarmites tokens in their Dollarmites deposit wallet
    and take it to school on the next School Banking day.
Westlawn Public School - Strive to Achieve - Westlawn Public ...
Community Events:

                             SP Netty Clinic – Highly Recommended!!

                              Men and Women of any ability
                               Boys and Girls ages 5 to 16
                      City Bears is a family friendly club focused on good
                     sportsmanship and fair play in all players, coaches &
                     managers, parents & spectators on and off the field.
                      We are also committed to the development of our
                                              juniors.
                            Together Everyone Achieves More
                    For more information:
                    Call Renee: 0400 095 816
                    Email: citybearshockey@gmail.com

                                 To Register go to
                     www.revolutionise.com.au/citybearshockey
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