Heights Happenings Winston Heights Newsletter

W E E K 6 T E R M 3

Dear Parents and Carers,

This week is our SASS appreciation week. SASS stands for School Administrative and Support Staff and I’m sure you’ll agree our SASS are simply amazing. Last

Friday, teaching staff stayed back and decorated the office to show them how grateful we are for what they do. Mr Nicolussi, Mr Gorrie and Miss Goodall were able to cover the phones, first aid and the office on Wednesday so they could enjoy lunch together – a rarity as they are supporting students through lunchtime as well as school time!

Led by Mrs Wood and ably assisted by Mrs Calvar, Mrs Leverton & Mrs Francia, our office runs smoothly and calmly every day. Our School Learning and Support Officers, Mrs Alca & Mrs Pringle, support our students in the classroom and also on the playground and we are very lucky to have them. Mr Batten is our General Assistant and I can confidently say, the WHPS grounds are incredible. It is so important that our school facilities and grounds are well kept, and in conjunction with our wonderful cleaners, Norm and Sonya, this group of people are imperative to the wellbeing our students, staff and community at WHPS. A hearty thank you from myself, the staff and I’m sure our parents, to our SASS!

Last Monday evening I was privileged to be able to attend the first ever Zoom P&C AGM and would like to extend my thanks to the outgoing P&C Executive for their wonderful contributions throughout the last year. Thanks to:

President - Jenna Campbell

Vice president - Gwen Govender-Hondros

Secretary - Katie McGuire

Treasurer - Amir Hussein Khoshoee

Congratulations to our new P&C Executive, voted on at the AGM and thank you for being willing to take on these roles:

President – Katie McGuire

Vice president - Gwen Govender-Hondros

Secretary – Dean Le Page

Treasurer - Amir Hussein Khoshoee

I know they are already busy thinking ‘outside the box’ of ways to support our students. Like everything else this year, we will need to be imaginative about how we contribute and continue to build upon our community spirit. Many thanks to the P&C for their support for our Chaplaincy program, air conditioner repairs and replacements and also our Active Panels (smartboards) in classrooms. These valuable resources make our school an even better place to be.

I thank you for your continued support of our most recent updates to the COVID-19 restrictions. A special mention to our wonderful band presidents Amber and Therese for their flexibility. We met on Zoom this week to talk about how we can make band work under the new guidelines and this information will be distributed very soon. At the moment, groups of students playing blown instruments (woodwind and brass) cannot meet together. 1-1 tuition can go ahead and as long as students are in the same stage, other instruments can still join

together for rehearsals. It is taking some careful thinking, but we will get there. Our Creative Arts groups are also not able to be run at the moment.

Band camp has had to be postponed to 2021 and we are fortunate to have been able to roll over our booking and keep deposits already made. A reminder of the Music Committee’s special meeting on Zoom next Wednesday 2 September.

Another disappointing cancellation is our Stage 3 trip to Canberra. Unfortunately with so many restrictions, changes to venues, the length of travel time in buses and the complexities of accommodation arrangements, it is not possible to go ahead this year. All local Hills schools have also made this difficult decision. Our Stage 3 teachers are very mindful of the loss this will be to our students and are working on some replacement opportunities to ‘sweeten’ 2020, especially for our Year 6 students who will be heading off to high school in the near future.

At this point, I would like to make special mention of our fabulous teachers. As you know, this has been a very difficult year and they have been so flexible and agile in managing teaching and learning for students. Every week since February, things have changed, adaptations have needed to be made and each and every teacher is working hard to keep things as normal for students as possible. At the moment for example, Mrs Hinton is quarantining books in the library, wiping them all down after 24-48 hours and then returning them to shelves. Mrs Lee is coming up with some great ideas on how to assist our new Kindergarten students for 2021, to make the move to WHPS just as exciting and interesting as it has been for every other new Kindergarten group. Miss Goodall and Mr Leeson are working out ways to support Year 6 to have a great end-of-year celebration and every single teacher in our school is managing what is a very challenging time. Please remember to give them an encouraging smile and a wave if you see them at the gates – 2021 has been a challenge but we are certainly up to it!

With this in mind, I know that you have not been able to access teacher feedback as easily as in the past, but I do encourage you to call and make an appointment for a phone chat if you have concerns or questions. We are not able to hold Parent-Teacher interviews as we would normally have, but please remember that we are a partnership and are happy to talk to you if you have concerns or questions.

Please support us by not sending your child to school when they are unwell. If students become unwell during the day, we will call you to come and pick them up. If their illness includes any flu-like symptoms, you are required to take them for a COVID-19 test and they will be able to return to school when a negative test result is provided.

I hope you have been taking the time to watch our assembly posts – our school leaders have been running them the last few weeks and doing a great job! It is a wonderful opportunity to share in successes and talk about your child’s learning across the week. It may be of interest to you that student achievement improves when parents share interest in their learning. If students understand that you are keen to know what they are learning and experiencing at school, their educational outcomes are enhanced. They are learning something new every day – don’t let them tell you otherwise!

Special congratulations to Miss Stormon and the debaters – they have had two challenging debates via Zoom and whilst a win is still elusive, I am incredibly proud of their commitment, effort and skills. Debating is not easy in person, but harder online as the non-verbal communication is not so clear and can change the outcome! Mrs Sim has also been working hard with our TOM (Tournament of Minds) team to produce their entry for this year. Again, this is different to normal, but I had the privilege of spending an afternoon with them a couple of weeks ago and they were certainly critically thinking and collaborating!

The updates to the PBL system have been working well, with many students receiving tokens for being safe, respectful and responsible. Mr Leeson and Mrs England are deciding on a way to celebrate when we fill the special container full of tokens. Please ask your child if they have received tokens lately and if so, what they were for. They should be as proud of their achievements as I am!

Sincerely,

Mrs Diana Angeloudis

Relieving Principal

Merit Certificates Congratulations!

Well done to these PBL Award winners who have been Safe,

Respectful & Responsible Learners

Chloe, Harpah, Kieren, Leighton, Chloe, Vedanth, Felix & Jessica

AWARDED TO

WEEK 5

KB : Jazz & Nicholas

KH : Ethan & Isha

KL : Isobella & Elias

1C : Jayden & Emmeth

1H : Caleb & Yohan

1LW : Victoria & Jake

2E : Hailey & Benjamin

2P : Chloe & Sparsh

2V : Scarlett & Sophia

S2F : Youssef & Jonah

S2G : Lucas & Eva

S2J : Sunny & Aaron

S2N : Victoria & Rayaan

S3A : NFP & Leighton

S3B : Eliza & Noah

S3G : Michaela & Kira

S3L : Will & Bryanna

S3P : Sky & Cohen

Library: 1C & S2J

Super Award: Nilay, Karam, Bareen, Jacob,

Shams

RFF/The Studio: KH & S2N

AWARDED TO

WEEK 6

KB : Ava & Emily

KH : Ruby & Jacob

KL : Bryant & Addison

1C : Bodhi & Sofia

1H : Cormac & Eddie

1LW : Justin & Stella

2E : Cooper & Joshua

2P : Victoria & Aaricia

2V : Hailey & Dean

S2F : Thomas & Sophia

S2G : Ben & Elise

S2J : Isabella & Sophie

S2N : Paige & Te Teho

S3A : Angus & Ava

S3B : Alice & Jackson

S3G : Paige & Phillip

S3L : Nicholas & Emily

S3P : Thomas & Cheryl

Library: 2E & S3L

Super Award: Dena, Leroy, Addison, Bareen,

Aaron

RFF/The Studio: S2G & 2E

TERM DATES 2020

Term 3 2020 Tuesday 21 July—Friday 25 September 2020

Term 4 2020 Monday 12 October—Wed 16 December 2020

TERM DATES 2021

Term 1 2021 Wednesday 27th January 2021—Pupil Free Day

Years 1-6 Students start Thurs 28th Jan to Thurs 1st April Kindergarten start Tuesday 2nd February 2021

Please note the following diary dates may be subject to change.

Further information will be sent home closer to the event being held.

August 2020

Mon 31st Backflips Against Bullying K-6

September 2020

Fri 4th Jersey Day

Wed 16th Kinder Excursion to Field of Mars

Reserve

Fri 25th Last day of Term

October 2020

Mon 12th First day Term 4

Wed 28th Interest Groups & Year 6 photo

Diary Dates

Music Committee Special Meeting

Wednesday 2nd Sept at 7pm,

followed by normal meeting.

Please email to register:

winstonheightsmusic@gmail.com

Chaplain Chat Term 2 Week 6

Hi everyone. One of the main topics of conversation amongst parents these days is how we can help our chil-

dren to cope with the constant unpredictable change that is happening because of the COVID virus. The

“Seasons for Growth” people have some great programs and strategies to help us all manage change better.

The strategies below come from a helpful flyer- Adapting after Lockdown. I hope you also find them helpful. If you want to go

deeper with your children to help them deal with the current situation, please download the flyer and do the Seasons Activities

on the back http://www.seasonsforgrowth.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Adapting-After-Lockdown-Supporting-

Children.pdf

Best wishes, from

Robyn Bowman, School Chaplain

http://www.seasonsforgrowth.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Adapting-After-Lockdown-Supporting-Children.pdfhttp://www.seasonsforgrowth.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Adapting-After-Lockdown-Supporting-Children.pdf

Messages from The Office Lee on Leave: I will be taking leave from today until Monday 7th September. Mrs Rachael

Calvar will be relieving as Administration Manager in my absence. SICK CHILDREN: A reminder if your child is sick with flu-like symptoms they are to stay at home

until they are better, even if they have had a negative Covid test. If your child becomes unwell at school the Department of Education has requested any child sent home must have a COVID test before returning to school and be symptom free. A copy of the results is to be emailed to the office before your child returns to school.

Notes and Money due: Annual Fees (whole School) - OVERDUE

Action Against Bullying Program (Whole School) $6 - OVERDUE

Field of Mars Reserve (Kindy) $35 - Due by 4th September

Office Hours 8.30am - 3.15pm

Mrs Lee Wood, Mrs Rachael Calvar & Mrs Carolyn Leverton

Canteen Operation in Term 3

Unfortunately the Canteen cannot guarantee that it will open with regular days this Term.

To help parents and the community plan for these closures the Canteen will aim to do the following:

• Notify the school community the opening days of the Canteen in two weekly intervals (fortnightly)

Communicate this via the school app, school email and the parents facebook page

• Close Flexischools ordering on the days that the Canteen will close (any existing orders will be reimbursed)

We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes.