walchacentralschool - walcha-c.schools.nsw.gov.au

walchacentralschool A JOURNEY OF LEARNING FROM K TO 12 K-12 NEWSLETTER

NEWS AND VIEWS OF YOUR LOCAL CENTRAL SCHOOL HAPPY AND SAFE STUDENTS 21 May 2021

We are really humming along having reached the half way point in the term. It is great to see an increasing number of excursions and events taking place and transition for Kindergarten and Year 6 into Year 7 in the next two weeks.

Our new school improvement plan is published and available on the school website and copies were made available at the P&C meeting last week. This document will continue to evolve as we respond to the needs of our students with a focus on student improvement, quality teaching and partnerships for learning. We want students to achieve and grow in their learning through expert, quality teaching and with connections to culture, community and options for the future.

I invite you to continue to work with the school on this journey of learning K-12 with our students.

From the

Principal’s desk!

Amanda Cooper, Principal

Walcha Central School 154E North Street, Walcha 2354

Principal—Amanda Cooper P&C President - Olivia Nivison Email—[email protected] Website—walcha-c.schools.nsw.gov.au

T—02 6777 2777

The SLR class has been completing a gymnastics module.

To increase confidence and competence in gymnastic activities we have visited the Armidale Gymnastics Centre.

Being able to develop skills in each of the Dominant Movement Patterns and apply these on a range of apparatus has been a fantastic experience for our students. Seeing the enjoyment and them challenging themselves is a very rewarding process.

Well done to the students of Walcha Central for once again displaying our core Be REAL values whilst on excursions!

Bonnie Brown

For photos, notes, information and more, visit our school website http://www.walcha-c.schools.nsw.gov.au

K-12 NEWSLETTER 21 May 2021

Walcha Community Anzac Day Parade

We had tremendous support from the students and staff who attended the traditional 11am Anzac Day

service at the Walcha war memorial. It was fantastic to see so many of our students participate in the

parade and march in honour of our military personnel. Thank you to Jaxon and Karen for delivering a

traditional Welcome to Country, which was followed by prayers read by our school leaders. Wreaths were

laid by Tom, Abbey, Sienna, Olivia, Sarah and Jaxon, on behalf of our veterans. Members of our school

choir, Anna, Georgina, James, Aranni and Rachel gave a memorable tribute to the Anzacs by singing the

song “Lest We Forget” for the congregation. Their contribution was well received and very much

appreciated by our veterans and families. All students represented our school with pride, and their

dedication to keeping the spirit of the Anzacs alive is to be commended.

A huge thank you to all of those who supported our

school Anzac service, which we observed on Friday 23

April. The weather was sensational as we gathered as a

school community to commemorate and give thanks to

those who sacrificed for our great country. Thank you to

Mrs Elizabeth Gill for the Anzac Day address and reciting

a firsthand account from her uncle who witnessed the

Gallipoli landing. Well done to our school leaders, Tom,

Sienna and Anna for an excellent job in leading our

service, and to the school choir, in their first public

performance, for their touching tribute.

Walcha Central School

Anzac Day Ceremony



Autism is a complex, lifelong developmental disability that affects a person’s ability to communicate, interact with others

and cope in everyday situations. The cause of autism is not fully understood, but structured early intervention, therapy and education delivered by professionals with expertise in

autism can make a significant difference. WALCHA CENTRAL SCHOOL STUDENTS RAISED AWARENESS

BY WEARING BLUE ON 30 APRIL 2021


Champion Runner Up 5 & 6 Yrs Girls Charlie Makeham Christina Fontanella 5 & 6 Yrs Boys William Lisle Lucas Eveleigh

7 Yrs Girls Lucie Saxby Reva Liddle 7 Yrs Boys Alex Hobbs Axel Blomfield

8 & 9 Yr Girls Sophie Mulligan Savannah Lute 8 & 9 Yr Girls Hudson France Flynn O’Connell

10 Yr Girls Anna Blake Georgina Blake 10 Yr Boys Hugo Ussher Nate Bloomfield

11yr Girls Azaria Forrester Matisse Pascoe 11yr Boys Fletcher France Jacob Wellings

12 Yr Girls Anna Benson Sienna Cooney 12 Yr Boys Preston Latham Ryan Smolders

Champion Runner Up 12yr Girls Ella Lynch Molly Furneaux

13yr Girls Rain Pritchard Thea Dunn 13yr Boys Jack Bullen Riley Mortimer

14yr Girls Ivy Pritchard Shanae Bloomfield 14yr Boys Shaun McKenna Hunter O’Connell

15yr Girls Charlotte Mooney Kirra-Lee Murphy 15yr Boys Angus Weise Thomas Bullen

16yr Girls Anika McKenna Chloe Cox 16yr Boys Troy Hawkins Arlen Evans

Open Girls Charlize Haling Breeanna West Open Boys Thomas Micallef Dacian Andrews

Cross Country Our annual K-12 Cross Country Carnival was held on Monday 26 April. The participation rates were the highest we have seen for years! Once again, the spread of points across the Blue, Green and Yellow houses proved to be a successful decision and more competitive for our students. The number of students who went all out to parade in their house colours brought smiles to our faces. Our primary students ran in the morning with a mix of students from the surrounding small schools. Students from the Physical Activity and Sports Studies class were there to assist on the day; their help was very much appreciated and leadership was evident. They could be seen either assisting on checkpoints along the course or running with and encouraging students.

Distances ranged from 400m for our 5 & 6 year olds to 4km for 14 years and up. The track took students along our beautiful levee banks. We were unable to use the ag farm due to pastures just being sown and parts being too boggy. High school students took on the course after recess. There was some great competition amongst students who were glad to get in a bit of extra training time from our original date. The Park Run has been a fantastic training opportunity for some of our students. We were lucky to get such a stunning day. You can see the results of PSSA Cross Country on the ‘Primary Sport’ page of this Newsletter. North West Trials are being held for both Primary and Secondary at Coolah on June 10.




This term, Year 4 has been looking at respect. We brainstormed ways to show respect in the classroom, at home and in the community.

Multiplication and division have been a big focus in maths and in

literacy. We have been experimenting with making our creative

writing more exciting with similes, metaphors and describing using our

senses.

ICT has seen us start to code a

game in the program Scratch, and art has had us practising our sculpting skills.

One thing we all look forward to each day is fitness and fruit. We get the opportunity to go for a run or game outside, then we come in for a piece of fruit and listen to a story. We have already read Fantastic Mr. Fox and are half way through The Twits.

We have also been investigating the impact water can have on natural geological features. We sat out on the grass and observed an experiment that looked at water and wind eroding sand.

We are excited to see what the rest of the

term brings us!

Congratulations to all our students, K-12 , on an exciting day of athletics. Our annual athletics carnival was held on Tuesday 18 May. This year we were able to go back to our K-12 format and it was great to have all our students down on the oval together. The program was jam packed, with not many breaks

for the students but they handled it really well.

This year after the completion of the student relays we saw an inaugural parent/teacher/Year 12 relay, an exciting event that we hope to see stay around for many years to come and to also introduce into the swimming carnival next year.

There were many new records set in the high school and one in the primary. We ran out of time to hold the presentations so our champions will be acknowledged and presented at an assembly later this term.

Congratulations to the Kindy Cup winners. We also look forward to an update on the house points; to say it is extremely close is an understatement.

Special thanks to staff, families and the P&C for making the day so great! Thank you to our groundsmen Dave Baumer

and Robert Stewart for preparing the track and field events. I don't know how we managed to get such a good day but it certainly was a stunner, everything went smoothly and I think that is due to the wonderful students we have here at Walcha Central. Well done everybody!



K-12 Athletics Carnival 2021

For photos, notes, information and more,


PRIMARY SPORT PSSA Cross Country On Tuesday May 4 a huge contingent of 39 students from Years 3-6 attended the PSSA Cross Country. The day was full of fun, sportsmanship and personal bests. It was lovely to hear students talk about beating their previous placings and Walcha Central students cheering each other on. Out of the 39 students, we have 5 students who came in the top 6 and will be representing Armidale Zone at the North West Cross Country in Coolah on June 10. Hudson France- 8/9 Boys 3rd place Anna Blake- 10 Girls 5th place Hugo Ussher- 10 Boys 4th place Fletcher France- 11 Boys 1st place Preston Latham- 12 Boys 3rd place Other very notable placings and reserves for Coolah include: Savannah Lute- 8/9 Girls 9th place Georgina Blake- 10 Girls 8th place Jacob Wellings- 11 Boys 8th place Alexander Gunn- 11 Boys 11th place Sienna Cooney- 12 Girls 7th place Anna Benson- 12 Girls 12th place Congratulations to everyone who ran and represented Walcha Central School in such a wonderful manner. Best wishes to our students attending North West. Run hard!

Years 3-6 Sport Throughout Term 1 and the start of Term 2, students in Years 3 to 6 have been rotating through different sports. These included basketball, tennis and athletics skills to prepare for the athletics carnival

Students were able to use the Walcha Tennis Courts thanks to a Sporting School Grant. Mrs Ussher enjoyed watching each student’s skill and confidence grow as they tackled the tricky game of tennis.

It was great to see the athletics skills in action on the track and in the field on Tuesday.

North West Touch Football Cameron Mooney, Jordan Bloomfield and Preston Latham were selected in the Boys Armidale Zone Touch Football team held earlier this term. The boys will join their team mates in Tamworth on May 21 to play other zones and show off their skill and talent in front of North West selectors. We wish the boys all the best.


The Garden Club members have been

super busy in the garden. They have

harvested the last of the zucchinis and

tomatoes and had a big tidy up in the

garden.

They are now harvesting spinach and

parsley. Most of the produce is delivered

to Suzz in the canteen. Suzz very

kindly made a frittata for the Garden

Club members for them to taste the

produce that they had been busy

growing. The Garden Club members

would like to say a huge THANK YOU

to Suzz. They loved the frittata!

With the garden beds tidied up, they

have started planting snow peas,

broccoli, brussels sprouts and

cauliflower.




On Monday 10 May the Year 5/6 Walcha Central School Warriors hosted Round 1 of the Premiers Debating

Challenge via zoom. The topic was ‘That we should ban all homework from Kindergarten to Year 12’. The Warriors lost the coin toss, arguing the negative. Homework has never sounded so good! The team: Sienna Cooney (1st speaker), Olivia McKenna (2nd speaker), Matisse Pascoe (3rd speaker) and Hayley Mortimer (4th speaker), looked very smart in their WCS blazers. I was very impressed with how the girls used their planning time, working brilliantly as a team. Between them they presented five solid arguments, rebutting really well for their first debate against Ben Venue Orators. It was a tight debate, resulting in Walcha CS Warriors winning due to their excellent rebutting and maintaining their strong team line. The next debate is in person at Nemingha PS on the 2 June. Tracey Worth Debating Co-ordinator

Walcha Central's Lego Masters Club started with a giant Lego earthquake during Week 4. Over 50 students came along to the Lego Masters lunchtime club in the library, taking on the challenge to build a giant tower which had to withstand a Lego mega-earthquake. The Lego Masters club will have a new weekly challenge every Tuesday. Students in K-2 will be invited to take part during recess, while students in Years 3 - 12 will complete a lunchtime challenge. A big thank you to high school students who are coming along to help the younger Lego builders.

With interest growing in girls tackle footy it was great to take a top bunch of ladies out to Bingara to play some 7s Rugby League. We had 9 girls eager to play. The day was more about exposure to the sport, participation and fun. It was also in preparation for a more competitive gala day coming up this term. The organiser of the event combined schools to make up numbers and even out the competition for the day. Our 2 under 14s girls played with Narrabri and had a cracking day. We had a girl from Armidale and one from Narrabri join the 7 girls we had playing in the under 16s competition. All of the girls played really well, and they came away with more wins than losses which was a top effort. They were fantastic representatives for Walcha Central.



Pupils should not

arrive at school

before 8:40am as

there are no

teachers on duty

before this time.

Walcha Central School

has recently conducted

a review of its digital

devices policy. The

decision has been

taken to restrict student

use of mobile phones

at WCS.

Students who are seen

with a mobile phone at

school will be asked to

hand their phone to a

teacher who will take

the device to the

administration

building. The student’s parent / guardian will

be required to collect the device on behalf of

the student.

If you wish to contact your child while they

are at school, please contact the school

office on 02 6777 2777.

Edrolo More than 800 Australian secondary schools trust Edrolo as a core resource for everyday teaching and learning. Edrolo provides 24/7 access to experienced teachers on any device. Students can use Edrolo to reinforce their understanding, get ready for exams, come to class more prepared, or even catch up if away from school.

COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE

Parents of Walcha Central School students are reminded that attendance at school is compulsory.

Removing students from class during the day should only be done in unavoidable circumstances as it is disruptive to your child’s learning and the activities planned for the classroom.

On these rare occasions, a note should be sent with your child in the morning so that both the student and staff are aware of the arrangements.

Education for your child is important and regular attendance at school is essential for your child to achieve their educational best and increase their career and life options. When your child attends school every day, learning becomes easier and your child will build and maintain friendships with other children.

If a student misses as little as 8 days in a school term, by the end

of primary school they’ll have missed over a year of school

Walcha Central School P&C meetings are held in the

Library on Wednesday at 6pm of Weeks 4 and 9 every term.

All are welcome!


CALENDAR See website for more details

www.walcha-c.schools.nsw.gov.au

21/5/2021 N/W Touch Trials

25/5/2021 Dunghutti Language Culture Camp

27/5/2021 Safe on Social

31/5/2021 Girls League Gala Day in Tamworth

31/5/2021 SLR Gymnastics in Armidale

31/5/2021 Kindergarten Orientation

1/6/2021 HSC Booster Day - UNE - Chemistry

7/6/2021 Oorala Experience Day—GRASS

10/6/2021 North West Cross Country for qualifying students

17 & 21/6/2021 Life Education Van

24/6/2021 - 25/6/2021

Dorrigo Interschool Visit

25/6/2021 Last day of Term 2


K—1S BAKE ANZAC BISCUITS

K-1S exploring the symbols and traditions associated with ANZAC day.

BIRTH CERTIFICATE

A birth certificate is a very important document.

If you don’t have one, many events throughout life can become times of distress.

If you are having difficulties obtaining a birth certificate, Sophie Thomson may be able to assist

you, free of charge, thanks to the Minimbah Project which aims to provide birth certificates for all

Australians.

Sophie can be contacted on 0427 780 392

FREE OFFER

All visitors to our school are still required to check in before entering our premises. We also have a sign-in book which has to be completed when entering the school. ALL VISITORS TO THE SCHOOL MUST ENTER THROUGH THE FRONT OFFICE TO SIGN IN If your child has cold and flu symptoms, please keep them home from school. We require a negative COVID-19 test result before students return to school.

COVID REGULATIONS

walchacentralschool - walcha-c.schools.nsw.gov.au

Documents