Primary School News

From the Head of Primary, Wayne Revitt

Positivity Plus at John Wollaston: Class Representatives’ Positive Psychology Interventions

What a wonderful week we have had, organised by the Class Representatives and Library Teacher Haylee Godfrey! The first initiative involved the sale of wrist bands to raise money for Anglicare. Alison Gangwar in Year 5 developed an amazing message to go on the wristbands: JWACS - Care Forever – Bully Never.  The wristbands come in three sizes and are available from the ELC and Primary Reception. These have been popular, with many bought for parents and siblings at home.

The second wonderful initiative we enjoyed, was the ‘Positive Post’, delivered by the Class Reps each day this week. A Positive Post Mailbox was provided at both the ELC and Primary Reception.  Students used a template provided by the Class Reps to write a caring message. We know that an act of kindness is as beneficial for the person being kind, as for the person receiving a warm-hearted message. We want our students to ‘feel good and do good’.

A third initiative occurred on Tuesday 26 June in the Library Resource Centre at lunchtime, when primary students gathered to enjoy fun activities that promoted caring, no bullying, fun and joy in each other. A huge thank you to Mrs Godfrey, all the Class Reps and our wonderful John Wollaston students for such innovative and caring initiatives in the School.

Anglican Schools Commission (ASC) Piano Competition

Congratulations to Year 3 student, Hiruni Herath. Hiruni performed brilliantly and was awarded 3rd Place for the Finals in her division at the recent ASC Piano Competition. Hiruni is the second John Wollaston student to make the Finals, and the first student in six years to gain a place. According to Instrumental Coordinator Rory Marchant, this is ‘an outstanding achievement for such a young student.’ We are all very proud of Hiruni and her encore performance at our Primary Merit Assembly was excellent. Well done, Hiruni!

The John Wollaston Language Immersion Program

Success of our Language Immersion Program is spreading! The sharing of positive experiences from past immersion students with their families in China has led to a strong demand for a four week language immersion placement at John Wollaston. The Principal has capped this intake to make sure our John Wollaston Immersion Program is sustainable and equitable for all concerned.  We have six students joining us from Years 1 to 6, early in Term 3. This program aligns with the attributes of the International Baccalaureate Learner Profile, to develop open-minded, balanced and caring students as part of an international community. We want our students to regard themselves as Global Citizens and this immersion program enables our children to learn more about the similarities and differences of world cultures.

Year 5 Camp in September

Our Year 5 students will be participating in a two night, three day camp from Wednesday 5 to Friday 7 September at the Swan Valley Adventure Centre. This camp is one of the many Encounter experiences at John Wollaston Anglican Community School and is an integral part of the school curriculum. Our School mission, ‘We help our students to discover their passion and direction in life and make a positive contribution in the world’ is at the heart of this experience. The activities on camp are designed with an outdoor education and resilience building focus. The aim is to build on character strengths such as bravery, curiosity, zest, perseverance and social intelligence. These character strengths align with the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP) Learner Profile attributes, particularly being a risk-taker, communicator, caring and principled. We look forward to an exciting Year 5 Encounter experience.

Speakers’ Challenge

On Wednesday 27 June, our three best Year 5 and 6 speakers represented the School at the Independent Primary Schools Heads Association’s (IPSHA) Speakers' Challenge public speaking competition, held at Scotch College. Jonah Lee received a Bronze Medal for his brave, funny and informative speech as the ‘Aussie Doctor’. Aarnav Negi was confident, knowledgeable and most impressive in being awarded a Silver Medal as second in his group. We had one student make it to the final, winning his group and then performing again in front of a packed audience. Jasper Palmer’s speech on stereotypes, 'Boys Dance Too', was passionate, heartfelt and had the whole auditorium completely entranced and earned him a Bronze Medal . His message echoes the positive changes occurring in our society around acceptance and belonging. I thank Year 6 teacher Katherine Stevens for her excellent work in coordinating this event. 

A positive message from Mr and Mrs Palmer:

We would just like to express our appreciation for the opportunities that John Wollaston provides our children with. We are exceptionally grateful for the caring and supportive environment that exists at the School. In the last few weeks our youngest child participated in the Year 5 and 6 Speakers' Challenge. We are very proud of the way he was able to speak in front of so many people and achieve such success both at school and inter-school level. However, the stand out for us is that he was able to open up in front of his peers and be true to himself. We have so much admiration for the bravery and risk-taking skills that he displayed in being honest about who he is. It speaks volumes for the support he receives from the John Wollaston staff and community and for that we are truly thankful.

This year, IPSHA has expanded the Speakers’ Challenge to include a Year 3 and 4 competition, to be held at Wesley College on 7 August. We held our school competition this week and all eight students were excellent; so courageous and entertaining! The top three were Tuppence Cornelius, Lila De Senna and Nadia Tin. Thank you to Year 3 teacher Louise Bristow for organising the Year 3 and 4 Speakers' Challenge.

Primary Reports

We aim to provide you with continuous and comprehensive information about your child’s academic and social development at John Wollaston. You receive detailed feedback on each International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme unit of inquiry, to update you on your child’s progress throughout the year. Specialist teacher comments are included at least once per year. 

To complement this reporting regime, you will receive two comprehensive reports; one at the end of Semester 1 and another at the end of the academic year. These reports provide a summative assessment of your child’s progress in each subject area. The format for these reports provides a clear indicator of grades for each subject. Grades are informed by the West Australian Curriculum Standards. The report will begin with a ‘Profile of the Learner’ general comment providing a personalised account of your child’s learning for the semester. These comments include observations on character development, progress in English and Mathematics and the attributes of the International Baccalaureate Learner Profile. 

Students who have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) will not receive grades on their report but will receive detailed information about their performance in Mathematics and English. An updated version of the IEP will also be uploaded onto SEQTA Engage and will provide information on your child’s achievements.

All parents and guardians are reminded that the Semester 1 Academic Reports will only be available via SEQTA Engage. Reports will not be posted to families. If you have not activated the link to access SEQTA Engage, please contact Karen Ayres on policyandprograms@jwacs.wa.edu.au. 

Final Assembly

At our Assembly today we held the Commissioning of the Semester 2 Captains and awarded the Semester 1 Merit Certificates. Congratulations to all students who received a Merit Certificate. Congratulations also to our Captains for Semester 2, 2018:

Head Boy: Rusty Wisewould

Head Girl: Mia Wall

Sport Captains: Sebastian Guest and Owen Barnes

Chapel Captain: Meaghan Eng

Arts Captain: Chelsea Bydder 

Environment Captain: Indie Smyth 

Service Captain: Arthlay Matibhiri

Charter Captains: Chanula Premaratne and Hiwan Aemro

Hale Captains: Emily Cooper and Nikhil Hemanathan

Ramsden Captains: Zach Walker and Mollie Stewart

Scott Captains: Dylan Guest and Charli French

I thank our Semester 1 Captains for their excellent work and strong leadership. I’m sure our Semester 2 Captains will also make us proud and I look forward to their collective contribution next semester.

Have a safe and happy holiday and I look forward to seeing you next Term. 

Kind regards

Wayne Revitt

Head of Primary