WALLACIA PUBLIC SCHOOL 1573-1585 Mulgoa Road

WALLACIA NSW 2745 Tel: 4773 8433

Fax: 4773 9050 Email: Wallacia-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Principal: Mr Trev Mason

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‘Today is for Tomorrow’

SAFE RESPECTFUL LEARNERS

NEWS FROM WALLACIA PUBLIC SCHOOL

Term 4 Week 5 Friday November 15, 2019.

Principal Report

Families, what a sensational year so far. I love our school. Thank you to everyone for your support and engagement to ensure we work together to continuously strive for the best we can be. We have just over a month of the school year left, so let’s make it count! My apologies for publishing this newsletter a little late. What a busy few weeks we have had. Last week I made the decision to put our emergency management plan into action in regards to our local fire. I wholeheartedly want to thank our students, staff and community for your amazing response to ensure everyone was safe and out of harm’s way. When we were first notified of the fire nearby, I called for a shelter in place. This meant all the kids were safely enclosed and accounted for, in the rooms. I did a visual inspection from the lower school oval. The smoke had increased and it appeared to be drifting back towards the school direction. It was at this time that I made the decision to evacuate the school. I believed this to be the most prudent safest course of action. We had practised and evaluated this exact situation a few weeks earlier so I knew the team were really on top of their responsibilities. I'd really like to give a big shout out to the team for their professionalism and care for the students during the emergency. Some of our kids were frightened and upset of course. The way our team demonstrated strong compassion and leadership of the situation as a team, absolutely melted my heart with pride. The fireries as ever were sensational and I'd like say a massive thank you for taking care of business and ensuring our school was safe. Year 5/6 Excursion - Well done to our 5/6 students who attended the Canberra Excursion. The feedback from the students was absolutely sensational. This was a brilliant excursion and a fantastic opportunity for our senior students. Thank you to Mr Rush for organising and leading this special event for our kids. Year 3/4 Camp - It was our 3/4 students’ turn at camp at Yarramundi last Thursday and Friday. These extra-curricular experiences are very special opportunities for our kids to gain unique experiences, engage with others and grow in resilience, maturity and confidence. Thank you to Mrs Tritton for setting up and leading this amazing opportunity for our kids. I love all the photos on FB of the kids really engaging and having a great time.

Infants Zoo Excursion – I am so lucky that I got to attend the excursion to Taronga Zoo with our Infants students and Miss Carroll. It was an absolutely brilliant experience! If you don’t know, Miss Carroll works at the zoo, so we were spoilt with a personalised educational experience (which normally can only be accessed for high schools) and a guided tour by our own Miss Carroll that was really special and completely unique. Thank you, Miss Carroll, for organising and leading this wonderful event. 2020 Captains’ Speeches – Mrs Tritton is leading our 2020 School Leader process. We have addressed our Year 5 students and set out the expectations of the School Leadership Policy. The candidates have applied to the leadership team via an application addressing: examples displaying our school values of being a respectful, safe learner: any skills and previous experience of being a leader: involvement in the life of the school; & how they will make a difference to Wallacia Public School. The successful applicants are being invited to present 2020 Captains’ Speeches to the school staff and students next Wednesday 20 November. Good luck to all our potential 2020 school leaders. Presentation Day - Just a reminder that our annual school Presentation Day Assembly will be held on Wednesday December 11 at the Hubertus Club at Luddenham. Our assembly will begin somewhat earlier this year at 9.30am and conclude around 11.00am. All classes will perform an item and it would be great to have as many families attend as possible to enjoy and celebrate this event. We are sending a permission note home today for the bus to and from the venue. It would be great to get these notes signed & returned as soon as possible please. P&C - I would like to share a special thank you to the P&C who are generously leading the end of school Christmas Raffle this year. I know they are really chuffed with the fantastic response for prizes from our families. The raffle tickets have been sent home and will also be available for purchase at the Hubertus Club on Presentation Day. The raffle will be drawn at our community engagement day on the last Tuesday of the year, 17/11. We will be holding a special recess BBQ for the community, more on this soon. On another note, the P&C are asking families to share the kindness and gift of giving this Christmas by donating to the Mama Lana’s Food Drive. Families can donate items and place them under the Mama Lana’s Christmas tree located in the school front office. It looks gorgeous; please get involved with this lovely supportive idea of helping others. School Targets 2020 – We have had a great year of impacting on successful learning. I am very pumped for next year and how we can do even better. We are in the throngs of mapping out targets and planning to ensure we are best placed to continue improving in Reading, Numeracy, Wellbeing and Attendance. I love all these areas but I am not happy with my influence and leadership of our school’s attendance impact. This is the only area we haven’t improved in!!!!! And it is obvious, that if kids are go to school regularly, then they learn and socialise better. This is our absolute core business. Regular attendance at school is essential for students to achieve quality life outcomes. So we will be looking very carefully at how we are going to implement a process to ensure we are very successful, in partnership with families, for being responsible and highly accountable for promoting regular attendance of students. Road safety – I know this is teaching to the converted but please take care when walking your children near the road. Kids are not actually cognitively able to make the same judgements of the variables, as an adult can, when it comes to vision, perception and road safety. The 40km/h school zones are working towards their aim of a reduction in road trauma for school aged children. Please take care when driving around our school and observe the 40km/h limit for the safety of all children. And finally, please do not walk through the car park. This is for cars only. The number one influence on our kids is the modelling from mums and dads. Please model the safest behaviour. Thank you for consideration and support in this matter.

Smoking – I would really appreciate no one smoking near the school.

Kindest regards, Trev.

We acknowledge and greatly thank, the Rotary Club of Wallacia-

Mulgoa Valley Inc, for your very generous donation to support our

Award / Presentation Day.

Your support is greatly appreciated and we look forward to seeing a

representative at our upcoming Award/Presentation morning on

Wednesday December 11.

If you would like to find out more about Rotary and their community

work please see their website. Or contact the President, Kay Rosano on

0416 256 506.

Canberra Excursion Term 4, Week 2 October 30 to November 1, students from our school along with, Mulgoa Valley Combined Small Schools, attended an educational tour of the national capital Canberra. Students had a wonderful opportunity to participate in a range of educational programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy. The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of $20 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

Public Speaking. Well done Diego Zayya, Logan Thirkell and Oscar Zizik

Dear Families of Wallacia Public School,

This year the P and C are asking our families to share the kindness and gift of giving at Christmas by

donating to the Mam Lana’s Food Drive. Mama Lana’s Community Foundation (MLCF) is a wholly not-

for-profit organisation dedicated to helping our often forgotten homeless and underprivileged community

in the greater Penrith region, to advance their wellbeing and prospects for future independence. The

foundation offers hot meals six nights a week, supplies food and toiletry packs, as well as providing

clothing, sleeping bags, swags and blankets to keep the homeless and underprivileged warm during cold

Penrith nights. MLCF also works with and assists other local charities and support services. They respond

to crisis calls from people who need a hand up with food, clothing, furniture, and in some cases, financial

issues. They also liaise on behalf of the patrons with Centrelink, Penrith Council, Department of Housing

and other resource centres and government departments to help the patrons any way we can to make their

lives more comfortable and bearable, as well as seeking to find long term

solutions to better their circumstances.

From Tuesday 12 November until Friday 6 December, families can

donate an item and/or items and place it under the Mam Lana’s

Christmas tree located in the school front office.

What can you donate?

Just to name a few things donations can include, non-perishable (and in date) chicken tonight sauces,

cream or tomato pasta sauces, minced jar garlic, continental pasta & sauce packets, toilet paper,

deodorant, shampoo, flour, body wash, sunscreen, puddings, biscuits, tinned food, pasta, or new socks or

new underwear (ranging in size from kids/ x small to XXXL) etc.

We thank you all for your support and contributing to a local organisation dedicated to helping

others.

Warmest Regards,

Wallacia Public School P and C

Email: Wallacia-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Our Parent/Teacher/Student reporting interviews will be held

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 27. Interviews are strictly 20 minutes and spaces are limited. If you require more time with a particular teacher, please arrange a separate meeting by telephoning the school on 4773 8433. At the time of Interviews, your Child’s Semester 2 Academic Report and Learning Portfolio will distributed.

Please Go to www.schoolinterviews.com.au

Enter the code: 7gary

Enter your details

Select the teachers you wish to see

Select the appointment times that suit your family best

When you click FINISH your selected bookings will be emailed to you immediately. If you not receive your email, please check your junk-mail, or enter the event code again and check your email address spelling. Update your details if email address is incorrect. DO NOT DELETE the email you receive. Keep it somewhere safe. You may need to

refer back to it at a later date.

REMEMBER TO ADD YOUR APPOINTMENTS TO YOUR CALENDAR - reminders will not be sent home. Bookings must be finalised BEFORE 20 November, 2019 closing @ 3.00pm. If you need to view, cancel, change or print your bookings:

● Click on the link in the confirmation email you received after you made your bookings

● OR return to www.schoolinterviews.com.au and enter the code and the email address you used when making your bookings.

KEY DATES

Dance Group to School Spectacular

Friday November 22

PARENT REPORT/PORTFOLIO INTERVIEWS

Wednesday November 27

Make an Online Booking

Transition to School Program

Thursday November 28

Kindergarten 2020 9.15am-10.15am

Kindergarten Orientation Day

Thursday November 28

Kindergarten 2020

Assembly Friday November 29

2.15pm ALL WELCOME!

Presentation Day and Christmas Concert

Wednesday December 11

9.30am -11.00am Hubertus Club Luddenham

ALL WELCOME!

Year 6 Farewell Tuesday December 17

Years 5 & 6

LAST DAY TERM 4 & 2019

Wednesday December 18

Australia Day Public Holiday

Monday January 27

Day 1 TERM 1 2020 WEDNESDAY JANUARY 28

WELCOME BACK YEARS 1 TO 6

Please check all notes for official dates, as some event dates and details may need to be

moved or changed, thank you.

‘Today is for Tomorrow’

SAFE RESPECTFUL LEARNERS