Orchid Way, Wadalba 2259 P O Box 294, Wyong NSW 2259 T: 0243925000 F: 0243925046 Email: wadalba-c.school@det.nsw.edu.au Website: http://www.wadalba-c.schools.nsw.edu.au/

Principal: Mr Jason McGrath Deputy Principals: Mr Cameron Dusting Mr Colin Harris (Rel.) Ms Jane Harris Ms Roxanne Sanday (Rel.)

PRIMARY NEWS TERM 4, WEEK 1

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to all our students, families and teachers! This year is going by fast as we enter our final term for 2014.

Farewell and good luck to our Interns

Sadly we bid farewell to our interns Mr Smith, Miss Frost, Mr Starkey and Miss Kennedy and wish them all the best in their teaching careers. Hopefully they can visit us from time to time.

Kinder 2015 Information Night

Our Kinder information night will be held on Wednesday 15th October at 6pm for any families enrolling a student in Kindergarten next year. Our ‘Getting Ready for School Program’ will be held on the following dates: October 22 and 29 and November 5 and 12. Children will attend school each week from approximately 8.45 – 10.15 am. If you know of anyone who is planning on

starting Kinder with us next year and has not enrolled please encourage them to do so now so they can be sent all the relevant information. Class Term Reports

You can now access each class’ Term Three Report on our school website. Please take a look at all of the exciting things that each class has been experiencing.

Stage Two Cockatoo Island Excursion

In Term 3, Stage 2 went on an exciting excursion to Cockatoo Island. We had to be at school earlier than usual to take the long bus trip. When we arrived in Sydney we had to catch a ferry over to the island. For some us it was our first time in the big city. When we arrived at Cockatoo Island we were put into 3 different groups to explore the island. We travelled through the Dog Leg Tunnel and learnt about the Aboriginal people who used the island. We also saw where the convicts lived, which were very small spaces. It was interesting to hear all the stories of the convicts’

lives especially the ones that tried to escape.

Miss Jamala Stirton

Spelling Bee Final

Congratulations to Daniel Withers, Hayley Van Der Meulen, Jaidyn Haddow and Abbie Dunn who represented Wadalba Community School in the Regional Finals of the Premier's Spelling Bee on Thursday 18th September. The students competed against the other successful students in the region. Unfortunately none of our students were successful in progressing to the next round but each student participated and competed to their highest ability. Congratulations to all of them.

Mrs Jo Allan

Wadalba Community School

Progress with Pride

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Creating a quality learning community through opportunity, innovation and participation

Orchid Way, Wadalba 2259 P O Box 294, Wyong NSW 2259 T: 0243925000 F: 0243925046 Email: wadalba-c.school@det.nsw.edu.au Website: http://www.wadalba-c.schools.nsw.edu.au/

Principal: Mr Jason McGrath Deputy Principals: Mr Cameron Dusting Mr Colin Harris (Rel.) Ms Jane Harris Ms Roxanne Sanday (Rel.)

Dates to Remember

Swim School 7th Oct to

17th Oct

After School Sport Begins

15th Oct/ 16th Oct

Kinder 2015 parent information night

15th Oct 6pm

Kinder ‘Getting Ready for School’ 8:40-10:15

22nd Oct 29th Oct 5th Nov 12th Nov

Life Education Visits

27th Oct to 30th Oct

Cake Day K & 4A to provide cakes

12th Nov

Presentation Morning

15th Dec

Last Day of School for students

17th Dec

TERM 4 Assembly Roster

Week 1 10

th Oct SRC

Week 2 17th Oct 3/4A

Week 3 24th Oct 6M

Week 4 31st Oct 2G

Week 5 7th Nov 4/5S

Week 6 14th Nov 3G

Week 7 21st Nov 1/2C

Week 8 28th Nov K/1S

Week 9 5th

Dec K Week 10 12

th Dec 2/3S

Staff Changes

Ms Furey will be on leave for the rest of the year. Ms Sanday will be relieving Deputy Principal in her absence. We would

like to welcome Mrs Lauren Ryder to our teaching team as she continues to teach K/1S for the remainder of the year. K/1S already knows Mrs Ryder quite well. We are lucky to have such a friendly and dedicated addition to our school. Ms Roxanne Sanday Relieving Deputy Principal

Some of the smiling faces at

Wadalba

Parents and carers are children’s fi rst and most important teachers when it comes to relationshipsThe ways you relate to your children and the guidance you provide helps develop children’s social skills. You can help children develop and maintain friendships by modelling effective social skills, providing opportunities for children to practise interacting with others, and offering support when they go through diffi culties. Taking the role of a coach helps children learn the skills they need for themselves.

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Friendship skills: Suggestions for families

Make time to play too Parents and carers can improve their children’s social skills by playing with them regularly. Letting children choose and lead the play allows you to be playful with them and encourages them to practise skills for cooperation and negotiation. Making time for play helps strengthen your relationship with them as well as their skills. Avoid criticising and make it fun!

Allow your child to try all sorts of different activities Children who have a wide range of interests are more likely to have something in common with others and so fi nd it easier to make friends and get along.

Invite children for play dates Having friends over to visit helps children to establish friendships and practise their social skills. It also provides an opportunity for you to provide on-the-spot coaching for children as they develop their friendship skills. Providing positive guidance and helping to structure activities (without taking over!) can be very important when establishing new friendships.

Talk with children about what is happening for them with their friends Find a relaxed time, like the drive home from school or after dinner, to talk about what is happening in your children’s friendship group. By doing this, you let them know that you are interested in their wellbeing, and this can also be an opportunity to share some of your experiences and to help them solve any problems they might have.

Encourage positive, relevant strategies Parents and carers can talk about, and encourage, friendly and cooperative strategies that can help their child to develop friendships. For example, encouraging children to negotiate or compromise when trying to solve confl icts with peers is a strategy that is more positively received than aggression or verbal threats.

Take a problem-solving approach Parents and carers don’t need to have the answers to all of their children’s problems. You can support your children to think through a problem for themselves by talking with them and asking some useful questions. For example:

Child says… Parent/carer asks…

“There’s this girl in my class who is really mean to everyone in class, and so we are all mean right back to her.”

“Why do you think she is being so mean?”

“Maybe she thinks we don’t like her, and so she’s being mean to us?”

“That could be one reason. Do you like her?”

“Well, I like her when she’s not being mean.” “So how could you show her that you do like her, and that there’s no need for her to be mean?”

“Maybe I could invite her over to play after school?” Affi rms: “That sounds like a great idea to me.”

Copyright: © Commonwealth of Australia 2012-13. This work is copyright. You may use this work in accordance with the terms of licence available at www.kidsmatter.edu.au

This resource is part of a range of KidsMatter Primary information sheets for families and school staff. View them all online at www.kidsmatter.edu.au

Children who have a wide range of interests are more likely to have something in

common with others and so fi nd it easier to make friends

and get along.

The following suggestions may be helpful