A warm welcome to our community

Welcome back for Term Four! It is most definitely hard to believe that the year has gone so quickly. I trust that you all had a lovely break with your family and took the opportunity to enjoy some time together. We finally have had a chance to enjoy some nice weather back at school as well.

Term Four is always an extremely busy term so please stay tuned to the Flexibuzz app, the newsletter, FaceBook/Instagram and the school calendar. I hope you all take a moment to check our social media as we try to capture what is happening at school especially for our working families. You are welcome to leave comments or ‘like’ our posts! The See-Saw app is also a wonderful way to keep up with your children’s learning.

We are currently planning for 2020 so it is a busy time. At the end of last term, due to family reasons, Danielle Heatley has moved onto a fulltime position at another school. We wish her all the very best with her career. Mrs Anne Peddington who has been on leave for all of 2019, has announced that she will not be returning to teaching and Weeden Heights PS. We also wish her all the very best for her future endeavours and thank her for all the years that she has worked for the Department of Education and at Weeden Heights PS.

School Production – Brand New Me

WOW! What a fabulous event last night. I know I felt (and you probably saw when I was on stage at the end of the night!) overwhelmed with how proud I feel about our amazing students. From rehearsals to the night, even with a few glitches, the children were excited, had fun and they most certainly continued to grow, improve and put on an impressive performance.

I would like to thank our whole school community for their ongoing support with these fabulous learning opportunities for all of our students. Partnering with you to create whole school events allows for our students, and your children, to be creative, take risks, work as a team, apply their public speaking skills……the list goes on! It is a rich learning experience so THANK-YOU!

An event like this can not happen without the backstage crew, lighting and sound specialists, costume designers and makers, prop builders, IT support, dressers, make-up artists, runners and a brilliant staff. Thank you to the staff for transporting all of the props, the backdrop and costumes in your vehicles. Our program last night highlighted many wonderful people to give credit to and I would especially like to acknowledge the creative work of the students. Melinda Michalski, who is our Performing Arts teacher, did an absolutely amazing job bringing this whole event together. I know she is most grateful to the staff and parents who worked right by her side for the last term. A massive thank you Mel from all of us!

We hope you all had a fabulous night, enjoyed the performance and celebrated the wonderful efforts and work of your children. We are all on a ‘high’ here back at school!

UV (Sun Smart Policy)

Just a reminder that all students are required to wear their Weeden Heights PS broad brim hats as per school policy. The students have been reminded that they need to pack their hats and bring them to school. Students not wearing a hat are required to stay under the sails during recess and lunch times.

We do not have a specific time for students to move from their Winter uniform to their Summer uniform

It is also a great idea to apply sunscreen at home before school. Your child is responsible for applying and supplying their own sunscreen if you require them to wear it at school.

We are fortunate to have lovely school grounds with shady trees but we still need to maintain excellent practices to ensure that we stay safe at all times.

Arriving Late to School

We all run late occasionally but unfortunately we have noticed many students arriving late to school each day. This has an effect on all students and their learning. Teaching in each room begins at 9am and that is why the classroom doors at Weeden Heights PS open at 8.50am. Students need time to settle and be ready for learning. If you arrive after 9am, the instructions for the literacy block will have already been given to the class. Your child will feel lost and then disrupt all the other learners in the classroom while trying to catch up with instructions, work and administrative tasks such as take-home books, Subway orders, notices etc. It is also difficult for the classroom teacher to continue on with teaching.

If a child is 10 minutes late each day they lose 50 minutes a week of instructional time. Over a term that correlates to 9 hours and over a year 36 hours (6 whole school days). The effects on student lateness is evident in research.

Teaching our students productive work habits and routines is critical. Please try and get to school on time because it does make a difference in your child’s learning.

Classes for 2020

Planning for next year has started and the grade structure will be based around student enrolments. Thank you to the few parents who have let me know about changing situations. All this has been accommodated for in our planning and teachers will be allocated to 2020 classes soon. You will be notified the school structure and classroom allocations for 2020 and teachers in December this year.

The formation of classes for 2020 is progressing. Many factors are taken into account when placing students in class groups. We devote an enormous number of hours considering the educational, social, emotional and physical wellbeing of each child at Weeden Heights before final placement.

Please remember that all communication from parents regarding their child’s placement in 2020 (educational, social, emotional or physical considerations only) should be forwarded in writing addressed ‘To the Principal’ by Friday 1 November 2019.

Until next time,

Ms Kylie Campbell

Principal

Futures are Bright at Weeden Heights!

PFA

Parents & Friends Association Updates