22.8.16 NEWSLETTER (pdf 3 MB) - Wallacia Public School

Newsletter Term 3 Week 6
22 August 2016
Principal’s Message
We are now mid-way through Term 3 with the year flying by. It has been a busy term with many
extracurricular activities occurring alongside quality teaching and learning in our classrooms.
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Penrith Valley Performing Arts Festival. I would like
to commend our school choir who performed at this festival on Monday evening. The performance
was fantastic. I would like to take the opportunity to thank Mr Boyd for all of his work in preparing
the choir for this performance.
In the coming weeks we also have several exciting events occurring.
Last Friday we were advised that the Debating Quarter Finals, scheduled to take place today at Mt
Hunter Public School, were to be postponed. Students and families will be advised of a
replacement date.
This week, our District Athletics Team will attend the Penrith Zone Athletics carnival at the
Werrington Athletics Complex. Congratulations to those students who have been selected to
compete at this carnival.
Next week, our dance group will begin their adventure in the Blue Mountains Nepean Dance
Festival, with both a rehearsal and matinee performance at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts
Centre. They will perform at the same venue on the evening of Tuesday 6 September.
Also next week, four of our Stage 3 students have been selected to attend the Glenmore Park
Writers’ Festival. This festival celebrates talented writers in our school communities and provides
these young authors with an opportunity to listen to a published author, and to read their stories to
the writers’ festival community. I would like to congratulate Jarrod Parsons, Nathan Whibley, Olivia
Maher and Tamia Wakeford on having their writing selected for publication in the 2016 Writers’
Festival booklet.
Beginning on Friday this week, eight Stage 3 students will begin the competition phase of the
2016 Inter School Bowls Challenge at St Johns Park Bowling Club. The students were selected
during our sport sessions during Term 2 at Wallacia Bowling Club due to outstanding bowling
skills. Well done and good luck to Lauren Preston, Jarred Glover, Ethan Merchant, Jack Gerhard,
Lachlan Smith, Katelyn Smith, Liam Ison and Rhiley Gray.
In Week 8, we will hold our combined Education Week and Book Week celebrations. This will
occur on Thursday September 8 beginning at 11.45am and concluding at 3.00pm. The day will
comprise a book parade, performances by our choir and dance group, individual class items and
will be followed by open classrooms. All of the Wallacia community are invited to attend and we
look forward to seeing you there.
Tell Them From Me (see attached flyer attached to newsletter)
Each year, NSW public schools conduct surveys that allow school leaders and school staff to
reflect on current school practices and make adjustments that may lead to improvements in how
we do things. It is vital that we receive feedback from our parent and carer body to allow this to
happen.
This term, Wallacia Public School will once again participate in the Tell Them From Me survey
initiative. From today, parents and carers will be able to access the Partners in Learning parent
survey and provide us with valuable input into how our school performs. The link to access the
survey is https://nsw.tellthemfromme.com/6jz9v This URL can be copied and pasted directly into
any browser on a computer, tablet or smart phone. In addition, we will offer parents and carers the
opportunity to complete the survey at school on our upcoming open day on Thursday September
8. Alternatively, you could drop in and see either myself or your child’s teacher after school on
Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and we will ensure that you have access to a device to
complete the survey.
Mark Davies
Principal
P and C News
Our Father’s Day stall will be held on Wednesday the 31st of August. Gifts will range from $1 to
$10, the children will be able to buy for Dad, Grandad and Pop. If you would like to help out on the
day, please let someone from the Pand C know.
We have our AMF fundraiser coming up on Friday the 9th of September. Tickets are $20 per
person. A flyer will be sent home soon. It is a really fun night for everyone. We will have one round
of bowling and one game of skirmish. Please come along and support us - you may be the
Wallacia Public School AMF Bowling Champion!
Wallacia Public School is working towards the installation of a dedicated computer lab. This
project is estimated to cost $26,200. The P&C are in support of this project, and we are saving and
raising funds to be able to make this wish come true. We are aiming to be able to buy 25 desktop
computers. Please help support us so we can have this for all our children.
Our next P&C meeting will be on Monday 5th of September 2016 at 2.30pm in the library.
Jody Smith
P and C President
Touch Football Gala Day Report
On Tuesday 9th August, twenty seven students in years 3-6 represented our school at the NSW
Touch Football Primary Schools Gala Day. The three teams played five games each, displaying
excellent sportsmanship and teamwork.
Opportunities for the students such as this would not be possible without the support and
assistance of our parent community. A huge thank you to Mr Love, Mrs Merchant, Mrs Smith and
Mrs Quiroz who went above and beyond with their assistance with the teams on the day. It is very
much appreciated.
Miss Carroll
Library News
Mrs Portelli, who has been assisting Mrs Mullen and Ms Stove-Wilson with school
administration, recently accessioned a large number of new books for our library.
If there are any parents/family members who would be able to assist us with covering these
books so that they can be used in-library and borrowed by our students, this would be very
much appreciated.
A number of students have completed the Premier’s Reading Challenge for 2016.
Congratulations to all students who took part in the challenge and expanded their reading
horizons!
Frequently Asked Questions (parents and carers)
1. What is the Partners in Learning parent survey?
The Partners in Learning parent survey is part of the Tell Them From Me suite of surveys on student engagement. The parent
survey helps to clarify and strengthen the important relationship between parent and school.
The survey is designed to measure, assess and report insights from the parent point of view at the school and system levels.
The focus of this NSW survey is on student wellbeing, engagement and effective teaching practices.
2. What kind of questions will the survey ask?
The survey questions aim at understanding parents’ perspectives on their child’s experience at school, including teaching,
communication and the school’s support of learning and behaviour. The survey also aims to understand parents’ perspectives
on activities and practices at home related to their child’s learning.
The survey will ask parents questions about:
Parents feel
welcome
Parents are
informed
Parents
support learning
at home
Parents
participation
at school
School supports
positive behaviour
Safety
Inclusion
School supports
learning
3. How have schools been selected to take part?
The survey is open to all NSW government schools at no cost to them. Your school has decided to participate.
4. How will taking part in this survey benefit my child’s school?
The parent survey provides school principals and school leaders with parents’ perspectives on their school as well as learning at
home. Communication between parents and staff, activities and practices at home, and parent views on the school’s support of
learning and behaviour help build an accurate and
timely picture that schools can use for practical improvements.
Data collected from the survey responses are quickly compiled into reports for school leaders. Principals can then use this
information to help them identify emerging issues and plan for school improvement.
5. How does the parent survey relate to the student survey?
The parent survey is complementary to the Tell Them From Me student survey that your child may have been asked to complete.
These surveys are offered (along with a teacher survey) to ensure schools can capture the views of students, teachers and parents.
For more detail on each of the surveys, see the survey website: http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au/
6. What do I need to do to participate in the survey?
The survey typically takes 15 minutes and is conducted entirely online through a secure website operated by the survey developers,
The Learning Bar. You will be provided with a link to complete the survey at home or your school may make computers available so
that you can complete the survey during school hours.
7. Do I need to participate?
No, participation in the survey is optional. Whilst your responses are very much appreciated, if during the survey, you feel
uncomfortable, you can stop the survey at any time. The majority of questions in the survey can be skipped.
8. Will the school be able to identify me or my child from my responses?
Staff in schools will not be able to identify individual parents or students from parent responses. To protect parent anonymity, schools
will be provided with a single username and password for the school prior to the start of the survey period. This username and
password will then be distributed to parents. Data supression rules are applied to the school reporting tools where there are fewer
than five responses.
9. What sort of analysis will be done of the survey data?
Once the surveys are completed, reports are prepared and in most cases are available to schools within three business days. School
leaders can use the data to better understand the experiences and views of parents at their school.
CESE will undertake state-wide analysis of the survey data in conjunction with existing student data held by the Department,
including performance data. The results will
help all schools better understand the relationship between parents and students’ engagement, students’ wellbeing, effective
teaching and student learning. Results from CESE’s analysis of this data will also help teachers and principals discuss what works
to improve student outcomes. This supports the Department’s continuing focus on quality teaching and leadership. The data will
be retained for future analysis to help us better understand the nature of student engagement and wellbeing over time.
10. When will the Partners in Learning survey happen?
The surveys will be conducted in all participating schools between Monday 22nd August (Week 6, Term 3) and Friday 21st
October 2016 (Week 2, Term 4).
What is CESE?
The Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (CESE) is part of the Department of Education.
CESE has been established to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and accountability of education in New South Wales.
CESE will identify and share what works, creating new opportunities to improve teaching and learning across all of education.
More information about CESE is available at: www.cese.nsw.gov.au
What is The Learning Bar?
The Learning Bar is a Canadian education company that specialises in school surveys for both primary and secondary students.
Its survey, Tell Them From Me, is the largest national school survey in Canada, used in nine of Canada’s ten provinces. More than
2,600 schools and 1.7 million Canadian students have participated in the survey over the last nine years. Australian schools have
been participating in the Tell Them From Me surveys since 2012.
The Learning Bar is led by Dr J Douglas Willms. Dr Willms is a Professor and Director of the Canadian Research Institute for
Social Policy at the University of New Brunswick, and holds the Canada Research Chair in Literacy and Human Development.
Dr Willms led the development of questions on student engagement for the OECD’s Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA).
More information about The Learning Bar is available at: www.thelearningbar.com
If you have any questions about the parent survey, please contact CESE via email: [email protected] or by telephone:
9561 8056 / 9561 8370.
WALLACIA PUBLIC SCHOOL
1573-1585 Mulgoa Road
WALLACIA NSW 2745
Tel: (02) 4773 8433
Fax: (02) 4773 9050
Email: [email protected]
Principal: Mr Mark Davies
August 18 2016
New Schools Finance System - LMBR
Dear Parents and Carers
Wallacia Public School will shortly transition to the new NSW public schools’ finance system
(LMBR) and a new bank account.
Wallacia Public School will have a finance-free period to enable a smooth transition to our
new system. This will occur across all schools transitioning to LMBR.
This finance-free period will be from:
Friday September 16 To Wednesday October 19, (inclusive) 2016.
1. POP (Parent Online Payments via School Website) As of Friday 16 September 2016,
we will not be able to accept online payments as schools prepare to close their current bank
accounts and transition to a new state-wide account. Any payments made using direct
deposit after this date cannot be allocated to a student’s account.
Please ensure you have made any outstanding payments via online payment method,
before Friday 16 September.
THIS INCLUDES CAMP PAYMENTS. All camp payments must be finalised by Friday
16 September 2016. We will advise the community when POP payments are available
again.
2. Cash and cheque payments: between Friday September 16, and Wednesday 19
October 2016, we will also not be able to accept payments by cash or cheque as we
prepare to close our current bank account and transition to the new one. Please ensure
that you have made any outstanding cash or cheque payments before Friday
September 16 2016. We will advise the community when cash and cheque payments
are available again.
We understand that this may cause minor inconveniences in certain circumstances, however, this
is a state-wide initiative and is occurring in all schools transitioning to LMBR.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we transition to our new finance system. If you
have any questions, please contact the school office on 4773 8433.
Mrs Debra Mullen
School Administrative Manager
Mr Mark Davies
Principal
WALLACIA PUBLIC SCHOOL
1573-1585 MULGOA ROAD
WALLACIA NSW 2745
Tel: 4773 8433
Fax: 4773 9050
Email: [email protected]
Principal: Mr Mark Davies
Thursday August 18
Book Parade / Open Day
Dear Parents and Carers,
Wallacia Public School will hold its annual Book Parade and Open Day (in lieu of Education Week)
on Thursday 8 September between 11.40am and 3.00pm. All of the school community are invited
to attend.
The day will consist of a book parade, for which costumes should reflect a favourite character from
a book of the student’s choice, followed by a variety of performances as listed below.
11.45am – Book Parade
12.15pm – School Items






School Choir
5/6B class item
2/3C class item
3/4/5G class item
K/1/T class Item
Dance Group
1.00pm – 1.40pm - Picnic lunch
1.40pm – Open Classrooms
3.00pm – End of the school day
We look forward to seeing you on the day, and having the opportunity to showcase some of the
great things we do at Wallacia Public School.
Mark Davies
Principal
Get in on the action and sign your child up to play MILO in2CRICKET this
summer! The MILO in2CRICKET program is designed for boys and girls from 5
to 8 years old. It is a fast, fun and active 8-12 week program that emphasises
maximum participation, basic motor and cricket skill development in every 60
min session. It is experience based and builds its foundations on the essentials
for lifelong involvement in physical activity and sport. By taking part in the MILO
in2CRICKET program children will learn the basics of cricket and develop lots of other skills. Each
week children will play game based activities that will keep them active, have fun and learn about
cricket.
For all of your local options and more information please visit www.playcricket.com.au