PRINCIPAL’S COMMENT

Monday 5th May 2014 Welcome to term 2 at Westport. We kicked off the term with an energetic one hour presentation from the ‘IRONKIDS’ foundation. This is run in conjunction with the Australian ‘IRONMAN’ that took place over the weekend. The simple message from the organiser was about ‘getting children active’ in a fun way. The school hall was alive with students taking part in a mini triathlon complete with swim caps, goggles and stationary bikes. I know a few of our Westport students took part in the IRONKIDS

challenge over the weekend. Well done!

Congratulations also to the students who represented our school at the ANZAC March during the holidays. During the recent holidays the canteen received a part make-over with cupboards, shelves and a new sink installed. The canteen really does look the part with the new goodies and together with the fairly recent stainless steel bench-top that has been constructed we boast a very modern and hygienic canteen.

If you haven’t checked out the new menu why not take a look on the school website or just download the free app (skoolbag) and receive up to date school announcements, reminders, alerts and photos This Friday all students will be attending a professional presentation from a theatre group based in Sydney. The show is titled, ‘Stamp Out Bullying’ and will be held in the school hall. This is one of a number of strategies that the school undertakes in its efforts to minimise and teach students that it is not okay to bully and that it has no place in our school. The show comes highly recommended. Dean Sneddon Principal ****** COMING EVENTS TERM 2 ******

Thurs 22nd May –School Photos, Full School Uniform Wed 7th – P&C Meeting Staff Room 6pm Thurs 8th May – PSSA Soccer Fri 9th May – P&C Mother’s Day Stall Tues-Thurs 13th-15th May – NAPLAN Thurs 15th May – School Cross Country Fri 16th May – Jamie Oliver “Cook Off” Tues 20th May – ICAS Computer Skills STUDENT/FAMILY DETAILS We are currently in the process of updating all our student/family details. All parents/Carers received a printout of the current details that are held for your child late last term. Thank you to all who returned the forms it is vital we update our records for your child’s safety. Any outstanding forms please return to office at your earliest convenience. Thank you.

CANTEEN NEWS Roster: Tues 6th - Help needed Wed 7th - Thurs 8th - Leah & Jennifer Fri 9th - Lisa & Jan Mon 12th - Julie & Richelle If you are interested in volunteering in the canteen please come over and visit or ring Imogen on 65838506.

STEWART HOUSE Stewart House donation drive envelopes are being sent home today. All donations are greatly appreciated. Please place your donations in the envelope and return to the office. All donations $2.00 or more are eligible to enter the draw for a family holiday valued at $4,000 to a destination of your choice. You will need to write your name, address, phone number and school on the envelope. The envelopes need to be returned to the school by this Friday 9th May 2014 which is “Stewart House Day”. This is the main fundraiser for Stewart House this year at Westport Public School. Thank you for your support of this worthwhile charity which helps children in our public schools including Westport Public. Children from our school attend Stewart House each year. Toni Lawes

EMERGENCY UNIFORMS If your child has been given emergency uniforms from the office could you please send them back as we no longer have any spare uniforms available for students who may be in need. The Office

ANZAC DAY MARCH 32 students proudly marched with the school this year and three of our school leaders, Travis, Hailey and Harrison laid a wreath on the War Memorial during the Anzac Ceremony. Thank you to all the families who came along and to Mr Tedd, Mrs Cassidy and Mrs Bendall for marching with us. It was a proud moment for Westport PS and a wonderful way to show our respect and appreciation to those Australians who have gone to war on our behalf.

Well done to Maddison, Jasmine, Dylan, Chloe, Ben, Jorja, Laura, John, Zac, Chloe, Haley, Kirra, Ella, Zach, Hamish, Misheela, Amelia, Samuel, William, Emily, Lily, Sean-Renae, Douglas, Georgia, Montanna, Shakiah, Lani, Taryn, Hayley, Harrison, Hailey and Travis for representing Westport! Congratulations to William, Trystan, Shakira, Cody, Laci and Courtney who all marched with their scouts' or guides' troop. We will have a sausage sizzle in week 4 for all of the above students. I will send home a note prior to the barbecue. Mrs Osborne

EASTER HAT PARADE Last term, students and family members were asked to show their crafty side to create a marvellous Easter Hat to parade at our annual Easter Hat Parade. Students paraded around the school, and every student had lots of fun! The Easter Bunny came early for some students, who were lucky enough to win a prize at the Easter Egg Raffle! Those students were Hamish McWhirter, Ella Kemsley, Tiana Mackenzie, Noah Beard and Maddison Barrett. The day was a great success and all students looked fabulous with the hard work they put into making their hat. Praise should be given to each student, as they followed Westport Primary School’s Core Values magnificently.

Jasmine McKinnon, Ruby Colyer-Marr & Jett Scott.A sample of the many & varied Easter Hats on parade.

SENIOR CHOIR SAUSAGE SIZZLE & CUPCAKE DAY Thank you to all those who assisted on the day of the Easter Hat Parade. We actually sold out of all the sausages available. The cupcakes, biscuits and slices all sold also which meant we raised some of the much needed funds to help get our fantastic choir to Sydney this year. Watch out for the next day of fundraising!!!

HOMEWORK CENTRE Any students needing help with their homework or home reading are welcome to come to the Mingaletta room every Tuesday first half of lunch and we will be happy to help them. Michelle Meehan

UNIFORM SHOP An order for Microfibre jackets and track pants will be placed on Thursday 8th May. Samples from sizes 4-16 are available to try on in the uniform shop. The jackets are $31 and track pants $25 and must be paid for when ordered. Please note that this will be the only order placed for these items this year. Uniform Shop

MOTHERS DAY STALL Our annual P & C Mother’s day Stall will be held here at school this Friday 9th May. A wide range of gifts will be available from 2.00 to 10.00.

RUGBY UNION Rugby Union will commence again for 2014 on Friday 9th May. Mr Tedd is looking for extra players in year 5&6 to form a team. All students interested need to see Mr Tedd for registration details. The games are held at Stuarts Park on a Friday evenings commencing at 5.30pm. Parents will be responsible for driving students to and from venue each week. Mr Tedd, Coach.

COSTA VISIT How lucky were we at Westport Public School to have Costa Georgiadis, from the ABC’s ‘Gardening Australia’ program, visit our school at the end of last term. Costa, along with Jacqui from ‘The Lost Plot Community Garden’ spent 3 hours talking with our students and helping us in our vegetable garden.

Costa entertained all of our school at a special assembly where he talked about his career and how important it is to develop contacts with people and to keep in touch with them. He also spoke about the opportunities that can come up in life and to take advantage of these. Throughout his talk, Costa, continually emphasised the importance of eating good, healthy food and how especially beneficial this is when you eat your own organically grown fruit and vegetables.

Thank you to Lake Innes Lettuce & Herbs

Some very lucky children were then invited to join Costa in our own organic vegetable patch and together made a ‘No Dig’ (Lasagne) garden. All the children helped to layer the straw, garden clippings, chicken and cow manures, molasses and other materials to build this garden. We were also overwhelmed by the support of ‘Lake Innes Lettuce and Herbs’ who came along as well and brought with them a trolley load of their lettuce and herb seedlings which they helped some of our children to plant throughout our garden. It is looking absolutely fantastic at the moment! Many of our Stage 3 children also were able to take home some of these seedlings. What a generous offer! We wish to sincerely thank ‘Lake Innes Lettuce and Herbs’ for their wonderful support of our school. Costa’s visit was very inspiring and he was able to give us some great advice about our garden. He also posted some comments and a photo on his ‘Facebook’ page. Our sincere thanks also go to Jacqui and ‘The Lost Plot Community Garden’ for organising this visit. Deb Bradtke

SCARECROW COMPETITION During Term 1 some Stage 3 children were involved in building two scarecrows for the ‘Scarecrow Competition’ run to coordinate with the opening of ‘The Lost Plot Community Garden’. Our scarecrows looked fantastic and so did many of the other scarecrows entered in the competition. One of our scarecrows, “Old Man Potty’ was awarded 2nd place. We were lucky to receive a wall garden, some gardening books and also some seeds for our garden. We look forward to using all of these as part of our ‘Kitchen / Garden Program’ during this term. Thank you to Jennifer Tomlinson for all her hard work with design and coordination of this project and to all those children who brought in items to use on the scarecrows. Not everything was used but we will keep the left over bits and pieces for future scarecrows. Check out the scarecrows, now doing a great job in our garden, next time you visit our school. (See scarecrow in photo opposite with Costa) Deb Bradtke

COOKING WITH JAMIE OLIVER Another great initiative that some of our students will be participating in is the ‘Jamie Oliver Food Revolution Day’. Jamie is hoping to have a record number of schools join him online to cook a special dish together. 5/6A will participate in this activity on Friday, 16th May. We will be preparing a yummy Rainbow Salad Wrap with Jamie guiding us along every step of the way. We will be one school out of a number of schools around the world who will be attempting a Guinness World Record on this day. It is terrific to be involved in such programs where children are encouraged to prepare and eat healthy food.

JUNIOR CHOIR EXCURSION Last term, the Junior Choir walked to Garden Village Retirement home to lend some Easter cheer to the residents living there. Junior Choir sang their Easter songs magnificently to the residents, which they had been learning in Term 1. The residents marvelled at how clever the Choir was, not just on their beautiful singing, but their crafty Easter hats as well! Afterwards, students were invited to share an ice-cream and drink. Every student displayed our core values- Be Safe, Be Polite, Be Co-operative and Be Fair. They should be congratulated on their amazing effort in learning the songs and their wonderful behaviour.

BOOK CLUB Issue 3 order forms were handed out last week. If you wish to order please return the form with payment in a sealed envelope to the office by THURSDAY 15TH MAY. Payment can be:

o in cash (correct amount please) o by cheque payable to “Scholastic Australia o by credit card over the phone or internet and

completing the credit card payment form.

GUITAR LESSONS Our budding musicians started term 2 with their first guitar lesson on Friday. Please could parents of these students send $25.00 to the office as payment for this term. Thank you

COMMUNITY NOTICES TAKE HOME A BIG BROTHER OR BIG SISTER Give your children the wonderful opportunity to have an international big brother or big sister by volunteering to host one of our exceptional international students arriving in Australia in July 2014 for their 3, 5, or 10 month programs. Our international students from France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Spain and Colombia will live as a local, attend a local secondary school, arrive with their own spending money, and comprehensive insurance cover, all arranged by Southern Cross Cultural Exchange.

You choose the nationality, the gender, the duration and the interests of the student that you feel is the best match for your family. Visit us at www.scce.com.au, email scceaust@scce.com.au or call us toll free on 1800 500 501, request our international student profiles, and capture the spirit of family and friendship! Genevieve Eyre Program Coordinator Southern Cross Cultural Exchange Tel: (03) 9775 4711 Toll-free: 1-800-500-501 Email: liaison@scce.com.au