Tamworth West Public School

Easter Parades

At this stage our Easter Parades are able to proceed on Thursday with some additional measures in place.

The parade for K-2 will be from 10.00-11.00 am. The parade for 3-6 will be between 12:15-1:15 pm. All K-6 classes will be parading.

Students are asked to make a hat at home to wear during the parade. Teachers will do their best to cater for students who arrive without a hat to parade in but we do ask that families do what they can to help with this.

In order for the parades to occur, we must meet the following COVID-safe measures:

· All visitors must sign in using the Service NSW School Check-in app.

· All visitors must wear a mask while on our school site.

· Visitors are asked to maintain physical distancing of 1.5 square metres.

· We are limited to two guests per family at any time.

· Visitors are asked to arrive just prior to parade/s and must depart the school grounds immediately after the parade/s finishes.

Entry to and exit from the school will be via the pedestrian gates on Church Street, William Street and Denne Street. Member of our school Wellbeing Team will be at the gates to assist visitors if required.

The parade is only able to occur outside. In the event of inclement weather, the parade will no longer be moved to the hall, it will be cancelled. We will post an update via School eNews and on our school Facebook page by 9:00 am on 7 April if this is the case.

We thank you in advance for your support with adhering to the updated requirements and we hope we get the opportunity to enjoy this celebration together.

COVID-19 Update

Non-operational classes at Tamworth West PS

As per advice sent home with students on Friday and uploaded to our communication platforms, our Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 mainstream classes have been deemed non-operational for today 4 April and Tuesday 5 April.

This is because our school community has been experiencing increasing levels of COVID-19 exposure and transmission. The positive COVID-19 cases have particularly impacted our Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 mainstream classes, both students and staff, and for this group of students only we must temporarily go back to learning from home.

These temporary measures are designed to act as a “circuit breaker” to reduce transmission of COVID-19 in our school and will hopefully reduce the need for families to enter 7-day isolation periods over the holiday period should anyone test positive.

Our school has been working closely with the Department of Education’s Health & Safety case management team and has decided to temporarily adopt some additional COVID-smart measures for the next week (five school days).

From today, our school will adopt the following enhanced settings:

· Physical distancing of at least 1.5 metres will be encouraged for all school staff.

· Large indoor gatherings will be rescheduled to next term or held in an outdoor setting if possible. This includes indoor assemblies and events.

· Masks will be required for all school staff and visitors.

· Non-essential activities will be postponed until at least next term. This is including, but not limited to, school camps and excursions.

Our continued layered measures include:

· Students, staff and visitors must stay home and test if sick. Refer to Advice for families for more information on testing and reporting a positive RAT.

· Maximising ventilation and distancing when practicable.

· Enhanced daily cleaning.

· Focus on personal hygiene.

· All school staff are required to be double vaccinated against COVID-19.

· All students are encouraged to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

· Masks required for staff working in SSPs and support classes.

We strongly encourage our students and their families to consider vaccination, including boosters when eligible. Find a vaccination clinic link to book an appointment near you.

Reminder for families

• If a student is unwell and has any symptoms they should always test for COVID-19

• If the test comes back negative for COVID-19, the student should still not return to school until either:

  • the student no longer has any symptoms

  • a medical certificate is provided to the school confirming that symptoms are explained by another diagnosis (such as hay fever).

• It is important that students do not attend school if they are unwell, even if they have tested negative for COVID-19. Rapid antigen tests can produce false negative results and symptoms of other illnesses can also be similar to COVID-19, including flu, the common cold and stomach bugs. Health advice is that students who are sick should always stay home to rest and recover and avoid putting other students and staff at risk of getting sick.

For additional information, please refer to Advice for families.

ANZAC Day Commemorations

Our students will be acknowledging ANZAC Day on Friday, 8 April will an outdoor service for students and staff. This will proceed in line with our enhanced COVID-19 safety measures.

The Tamworth RSL Sub Branch has worked closely with the Tamworth Regional Council in relation to this year’s ANZAC Day march. Unfortunately, we are unable to have mass schools marching but our captains and vice captains have been invited to march along with Veterans and other invited guests.

Applying for Year 5 entry to an opportunity class in 2023

The application process for Year 5 opportunity class placement for entry in 2023 is about to begin.

Important dates in the application process are as follows:

· Tuesday 26 April 2022: Online applications opens

· Friday 13 May 2022: Online applications closes (Parents and carers must apply by the due date.)

· Thursday 28 July 2022: Opportunity Class Placement Test

Parents and carers must apply online between Tuesday 26 April and Friday 13 May 2022 at:

https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year-5

Please refer to the information bulletin inserted in this newsletter for further information. A copy of the ‘Intention to apply for Year 5 opportunity class in 2023’ notice will be sent home with all students in Year 4 and will be able to be found on School eNews, our school Facebook page and Sentral.

Workplace Health & Safety – Student safety: Anaphylaxis

In week 8 of each term, we focus on aspects of Workplace Health and Safety. We practise our emergency drills and we look at risk management policies, procedures and tools to ensure that student safety is at the forefront of delivering education across our school.

Student safety is paramount and must be incorporated into every aspect of student life. This term we have looked at anaphylaxis.

Tamworth West Public School is concerned about the safety and wellbeing of all our students. Many of you will know someone who is affected by anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction. Our school does its best to be an allergy aware school. Staff have had training in severe allergy management and we have implemented lots of strategies to help keep students at risk of anaphylaxis as safe as we can. We now have four students who live with the risk of anaphylaxis to foods and insect stings. Whilst these children are being taught to care for themselves at an age appropriate level, we ask that you help us educate your child on the importance of not sharing food with others, washing hands after eating and calling out to an adult if they think their friend with allergies is sick. With increased awareness and understanding of anaphylaxis, you will be able to help protect those around you.

A food allergy is an immune system response to a normally harmless food protein that the body believes is harmful. When the individual eats food containing that protein, the immune system releases massive amounts of chemicals, triggering symptoms that can affect a person’s breathing, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and/or heart. Anaphylaxis is the most severe form of allergic reaction and is potentially life- threatening. It must be treated as a medical emergency, requiring immediate treatment and urgent medical attention.

It is estimated that up to 400,000 (2%) Australians, including 1 in 20 children suffer from food allergies and some of them will experience a life-threatening (anaphylactic) reaction.

Symptoms of food allergy can include:

Mild to moderate allergic reaction

• Tingling of the mouth

• Hives, welts or body redness

• Swelling of the face, lips, eyes

• Vomiting, abdominal pain (note these are signs of a severe allergic reaction if the person has insect allergy)

Severe allergic reaction - ANAPHYLAXIS

• Difficult/noisy breathing

• Swelling of the tongue

• Swelling or tightness in the throat

• Difficulty talking or hoarse voice

• Wheeze or persistent cough

• Persistent dizziness or collapse

• Pale and floppy (young children)

10 foods cause 90% of food allergies. These foods are:

• Egg

• Sesame

• Milk

• Soy

• Peanut

• Fish

• Tree nuts (cashew, almond, pistachio etc)

• Crustacea (prawns, lobster, crabs etc)

• Wheat

• Peanuts

Peanuts are the leading cause of severe allergic reactions, followed by tree nuts, shellfish, fish and milk. Adrenaline (epinephrine) is the first line treatment for severe allergic reactions and can be administered via an injector.

To learn more about anaphylaxis and food allergies, go to www.allergyfacts.org.au and www.allergy.org.au

As the only way to manage a food allergy is avoidance, the school has implemented several strategies to help prevent a severe allergic reaction. We can never totally eliminate the risk of anaphylaxis but we can all do things that will help lessen the risk, including:

· Please consider the children with food allergies when packing your child’s lunch or when sending in food for any occasion, including school excursions.

· Reminding your child not to share food at school.

· Encouraging your child to wash their hands after eating

Students will be learning about allergies, including severe food and insect sting allergies during their PDHPE classes.

Enrolment applications for Tamworth West PS

In line with our current Enrolment Policy, please be advised that we are currently at capacity in most grades of learning. These grades include:

• Kindergarten

• Year 1

• Year 2

• Year 5

• Year 6

This means that, at this time, we are only able to accept local applications for enrolment for these grades.

Again, I wish everyone a fabulous Easter break and I look forward to seeing everyone for start of a busy Term 2.

Terrie Kay

Principal

The Resilience Project Parent Webinar

On Thursday May 5, 2022, parents will have an opportunity to join a Resilience Project Webinar. Your children can watch it as well! The students are familiar with Hugh from The Resilience Project and during this presentation, he will share his experiences and combine them with practical strategies that can be implemented every day to improve our overall wellbeing. The presentation will be 90 minutes long and very entertaining. The personal stories Hugh tells from his own journey are quite amazing and inspirational.

If you would like to be part of this amazing opportunity, please register using the link below.

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_h2A9zar5R5eA9_655AYlUQ

A number of our staff have attended Hugh's seminars in Melbourne, and more will be attending this year. It is brilliant opportunity to learn about resilience for adults as well as students.

Wellness Project Stage 3

Our stage 3 students continue to enjoy the Wellness program with Charlie Abra from The Opportunity Hub each Tuesday. Students are engaged in breathing techniques, yoga and fitness activities as well as practising mindfulness. Unfortunately, Charlie is leaving us at the end of this term, however we will have access to the program online. We are sad to see Charlie go and want to thank her for being an inspirational member of our school community. Charlie is passionate about student wellbeing and has, without a doubt, built resilience and strength of mind among our stage 3 group. We wish Charlie the very best in her new adventures and hope, as a school, we can meet up again very soon……. Watch this space!

Staff Wellbeing Team

The staff wellbeing team play a vital role at Tamworth West Public School in strategically planning initiatives that enhance and improve student wellbeing. Currently we have four main initiatives running.

1. The Resilience Project

2. Attendance Rewards program

3. House Points

4. PBL Raffle Ticket

These initiatives help to lift school spirit and a sense of belonging for students. You will notice from term 2, the house points and PBL raffle tickets will be more visible and it is hoped this will revitalise our students’ pride in their school and their ability to work as a team.

We are also returning to having a Monday morning Meet & Greet under the COLA. This will be an excellent opportunity for us come together as a whole school and celebrate the achievements of our students. At Meet & Greet, the SRC will be presenting the PBL focus for the week, drawing the PBL raffle, highlighting the house points competition on the display board outside of the library and presenting the G.E.M awards. The G.E.M awards, linked directly with The Resilience Project, are presented to two students from each stage and are decided upon by the staff associated with that stage. The awards can be for:

• Displaying gratitude

• Being mindful and in the moment

• Displaying empathy and kindness.

It has been a wonderful start to 2022, our students are enjoying the benefits of being able to mix among the grades and attend whole school events. They have shown incredible resilience over the past two years and we commend them for it. At Tamworth West Public School, we are developing our young people to show gratitude, empathy, kindness and to be mindful. We hope you all enjoy the upcoming holiday period, stay safe and we look forward to seeing you all next term.

Sara Spinks

Deputy Principal

I hope everyone has enjoyed the term so far.

The P & C held their AGM on the 14th March. The new executives are:

President -

Vice Presidents - Renae Mumford and Naomi Welch

Treasurer - Emily Crompton

Secretary - Catherine Te Au

The position of President remains open and nominations will be taken at the next general meeting in May. There is no April meeting due to the school holidays.

The Easter raffle tickets and donations are due back on Friday 1 April. Thank you to all those who have donated already. We appreciate the support. The raffle will be drawn at the Easter Hat Parade on Thursday April 7.

On Monday 21 March, we celebrated Harmony Day! It was so wonderful to see a sea of orange in the playground, along with a spatter of traditional dress. The kids' faces absolutely light up when they saw the lunch order baskets over flowing with exciting lunches and there was great anticipation and fantastic participation with the colouring in competition. The staff also enjoyed, for the first time in a long time, a shared staff luncheon with lots of foods from around the world!

A huge thank you to Amy, our AMAZING canteen manager, who went above and beyond to help make the lunch specials available for our kiddos. An astounding 255 Harmony Day lunch specials were made, sold (as well as 30 regular lunch orders), packed and delivered to the kids. That is over half the school population! Thank you again Amy! A big thank you also goes out to Deb for helping on the day, as well as our Wellbeing Team for running all the extra baskets to the eating areas.

In the classroom, Harmony Day was celebrated by talking about different cultures and what it means, looks like and sounds like to live in harmony. Children from EALD backgrounds were also given the opportunity to speak to their class about their families cultural backgrounds. Along side this, the Harmony Day committee ran a colouring in competition with exciting prizes to be won. One person from each stage was awarded best entry and received a chocolate and certificate for themselves, as well as a game for their class to share (harmoniously of course!) A big congratulations goes out to our winners from each stage:

ES1 – Skylar Murray

Stage 1 – Lincon Mobberley

Stage 2 – Charlotte McLachlan

Stage 3 – Liana Casini

Support Unit – Blayde White

Buddies

Every Friday afternoon the Kindergarten rooms are buzzing with excitement when our Stage 3 buddies arrive. Our buddies have been playing various maths games with us such as Snap, Uno, Old Maid, Go Fish and Memory. As well as working on number recognition, our buddies are also modelling and teaching Kinder students important game skills such as turn-taking, how to play fairly and resilience.

Maths/Science

During Maths lessons Kindergarten has been learning to count backwards from 10. We watched videos of rocket ships counting down until blast off and we made rocket ships using 2D shapes in class. In week seven we linked our maths lesson with our English text for the week. ‘Where is the Green Sheep?’ by Mem Fox. To help us count backwards, we made a ‘rocket sheep’ and we had so much fun zooming around on the top grass with our beautiful rockets and space sheep.

In Science, we have been learning about various materials and their properties. Kindergarten made and decorated binoculars to help us search for materials such as wood, plastic, glass and metal. We went outside in search of these materials and completed a small scavenger hunt to find things in the environment that were specific colours.

English

In English, one of our areas of focus has been to identify and write single sounds and to identify some basic sight words. As we now have a small bank of sounds and sight words, we are learning to construct simple sentences. We are developing our skills at unjumbling simple sentences and putting them back together. We are learning to position our words facing the right direction, identify a capital letter, a full stop and how to make sensible finger spaces throughout our writing. Students are also learning to ensure their illustrations match their sentence.

Literacy

Stage 1 students have been undertaking an author study over the past few weeks. They have studied some background information about the author and what motivated them to write the books they have. Students have been learning to identify an author’s purpose around focus texts used within the classrooms. They have identified a variety of literary techniques in the focus texts and have used some of these in their writing. Students are developing an understanding that when they compose texts, they too are authors and therefore should be writing for a purpose. Students have been enjoying the variety of writing tasks undertaken within the different classes.

Maths

Stage 1 have been exploring how to categorise groups of objects and collect and represent data about different topics. As part of this they are beginning to survey ‘favourite things’ and collect tallies linked to the information collected. Students are developing the skills to represent tallies and are beginning to extend this into graphs.

They are focusing on writing multiplication sums from groups of materials and understanding the link between addition and subtraction. Students enjoyed making 3D shapes from 2D objects as part of their applied learning activities.

Harmony Week

In week 9, Stage 1 students enjoyed engaging in a variety of Harmony Week activities including various artworks, colouring in sheets and find-a-words. Students also explored the meaning of Harmony Day, watching a video from Korean-Australian song writer Dami Im and her experiences with belonging when moving to Australia as a non-English speaker.

WOW! We have nearly made it to the end of the term! It has gone very quickly and although COVID has made some complications to the start of the year, we have managed to come through the other side without too many problems.

The past few weeks we have been focusing on writing persuasive texts. A part of this has been to include some persuasive elements such as alliteration, emotive language, rhetorical questions and exaggeration. Our students are doing SO well and it is great to see how enthusiastic they have been. Hopefully they will try out some persuasive arguments to you over the holidays!

Our Maths groups have been running for the past few weeks and we are enjoying working with different students from the different classes. Some of the topics we have covered have been multiplication and division and fractions.

Students from across all the Stage 2 classes are also working in mixed class and year level groups for both sport and visual art. All of the teachers program and teach new sports every 2 weeks so our students are learning a variety of different games. We are also in training for our cross country which is coming up next term (around week 2!). Students are earning house points for each lap completed and the competition is fierce! Well done Stage 2!

Next term will see our Year 3 students complete NAPLAN. We have already done a practice test and Mrs Lyon and I were so proud of how resilient our students were to complete their tests. Year 4 students have also just finished their online tests which are called ‘Check-in Assessments'. They are done twice a year and the data is used to compare student growth. Well done to all our students in Year 3 and 4!

Next week we have a busy week!

On Thursday 7 April we will be participating in the Easter Hat Parade. Year 3-6 will be from 12:15-1:15 pm. Students are asked to make hats at home with their families. Teachers will try and help students who arrive without a hat to parade in, but we do ask that families do what they can to help us out with this. Please refer to the note sent home last week with details about COVID regulations and the venue.

On Friday 8 April our students will be commemorating ANZAC Day with our annual ANZAC Day assembly.

Friday 8 April is also the last day of the school term. Often teachers like to give small Easter eggs out to our students as a way to celebrate Easter. If your family does not celebrate Easter OR your child cannot eat chocolate OR you would prefer your child was not given chocolate eggs, please let your child’s classroom teacher know so we can organise an alternative!

As always, thanks to our families for the fabulous support they give our staff. Thank you also to our amazing staff for the work they do each day. We wish all our students and their families a happy and safe holiday.

As Term 1 comes to a close, we as a Stage 3 team are reflecting on what a fantastic start to the year we have had with Years 5 and 6. Despite the many changes and challenges that have arisen with COVID, our students have stayed positive, resilient and demonstrated maturity throughout the term with differing restrictions and expectations.

Leadership

Throughout Term 1, we have seen a number of additional students elected into leadership roles. It has been so wonderful to see so many of our students step up into these positions and take such pride in fulfilling their roles within the school. These roles include handing out lunch orders, raising the flag daily, collecting house points, running assemblies and much more. Many staff members from across the school have commented on the students’ commitment and maturity and are so grateful for the time and effort the leaders are putting in to making Tamworth West PS a wonderful school environment.

Year 6 Shirts

We are pleased to say that our Year 6 shirts are in the process of being made and we hope to see them early next term. Students are encouraged to wear these each Friday for sports day.

Broken Bay Excursion

We are so excited to be planning our excursion to Broken Bay in Term 3 and are confident it is going to be such an amazing experience for everyone involved. Just a friendly reminder that deposits were due Friday 1 April. Please ensure deposits are paid to secure your child’s place on the excursion.

A Big Thank You from Mrs Nuske

I would like to take this time to thank the students, parents and staff of Years 5 and 6 for having me as a part of your team for Term 1. I have had a fantastic term working with you all and couldn’t have asked for a better group to work with prior to starting my maternity leave these holidays. I wish you all the best for the remainder of 2022, it is going to be an exciting year for you all!

Best Wishes for a safe and happy Easter and holiday break and we can’t wait to see all of the smiling faces back in Term 2 for another exciting term of learning.

-The Stage 3 Team.

Inclusive School Sport: Come-and-Try Day

The students and staff from Tamworth West PS who attended the annual Athletics Come and Try Day on Thursday 17 March were not disappointed. It was a wonderful action-packed day of well organised activities with expert instruction and non-stop fun.

Conditions were hot, and shade on the track was hard to come by, but this did not deter these enthusiastic athletes. It was great to witness the high-quality levels of behaviour and sportsmanship on display from our students.

Our competitors always demonstrated the absolute Come-and-Try attitude in every activity. Students competed in 50m, 100m 200m and relays on the track. They then progressed to long jump, shot put, javelin and discus in the field after the lunch break.

By the time the bus came to collect us, students (and staff) were ready for a rest. I can’t complete this report without mentioning the fine efforts of Mrs Wilson in the teacher’s race. Well done…the students loved it!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff who helped on the day: Ms Linda McEnerny, Mrs Kim Wilson, Ms Maire Foran, Ms Kelly Paulston, Mr Geoffrey Ward and Miss Abbegale Ryan. Also the staff who supported behind the scenes to make the excursion possible: Mrs Terrie Kay, Mrs Maree Black, the school office team and Mrs Karen Wise.

Excursions are a team effort and the Come-and-Try-Day was an outstanding experience for our students at Tamworth West PS. Thank you to the organisers Peter Cardy and Anthony Moyes for this great event. Thanks also to the amazing volunteers who helped on the day.

Pip Diss

Assistant Principal (Special Ed)

1-4M have continued with our lighthouse theme this term and in English we have been reading ‘The Lighthouse Keeper’s Cat’ to explore narrative writing. We had fun writing a class story about a little dog called ‘Sizzle’ who lived in a lighthouse.

Earlier in the term we were lucky to have a visit from one of the characters in our story book the ‘Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch’. The students were able to interview the character, Mr. Grinling (aka our very own Mr. Sam Bowkett, Assistant Principal Curriculum and Instruction). Each student wrote out three questions they would like to ask Mr Grinling about life in a lighthouse and what it was like to be a lighthouse keeper. It was a great activity and the children had lots of fun and laughs with our visitor, who played the part of Mr Grinling extremely well. We finished the session off by making sea biscuits which was one of Mr Grinling’s favourite lunch items.

This term we enjoyed our Harmony Day celebrations. The students had fun ordering different meals from the canteen and the hot dogs were a huge success. In the classroom, we travelled around the world and looked at different celebrations, music and cities. The celebration we chose was from Japan. We investigated Tanabata, the ‘Star Festival’. The students all made a wish to hang on our wishing tree. We learned ‘Fungi Alafia’ a traditional greeting song from Ghana, the students used tapping stick to keep the rhythm and actions to explain the words. Finally, we finished the day by exploring Mexico. We looked at the different types of buildings found in Mexico City and the people who live there. The beautiful colours of the Mexican national dress inspired some lovely artwork.

Our fun cooking activity during week 6 was making pancakes. The students enjoyed watching the pancakes cook and then eating them.

It has been a busy and interesting term for 1-4M and we are looking forward to a lovely Easter Hat parade to finish it off and a happy and safe holiday.

Linda McEnerny

Class Teacher

It’s been a very busy month for 3/6W with students striving to meet their personal goals.

Spell-checks on a Friday have become a well anticipated event in our classroom. Students work hard all week to practise and perfect their spelling lists which culminates in a check on a Friday to gauge how we are all going. All children have been striving to improve from the previous week’s performance. Along with an improvement in spelling I am noticing a great deal of dedication to learning in all subject areas.

We have been focusing on friendship and belonging this term as part of our literacy unit. Our first study included the text, The Eagle Inside, a beautiful brightly illustrated Aboriginal story written by Bronwyn Bancroft; about belonging and conquering our fears. We are now studying My Two Blankets written by Irena Kobald and Freya Blackwood. Here we are discovering how a little girl arrives in a new country and cannot speak the language. We learn how she finds friendship and learns to belong in an alien world through words.

This month we have been learning about whole number, time, length, patterns and algebra. Mathematics is another popular subject in our room, with students keen to practise and grasp new concepts. The final few weeks of the term will see us expanding our knowledge of addition and subtraction.

Continuing on from last year our students are gaining a greater appreciation for art. Mrs Nuske has organised some amazing art lessons these past few weeks. I love the bright colours and designs which are proudly displayed in our room.

Another highlight this month was our excursion to the Tamworth Athletics precinct for the annual “Come and Try Day”. I watched on in awe as our students put their all into the various events.

Well, that’s about it for March. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our families a very happy and safe Easter holiday.

Kim Wilson/Sally Nuske

Come & Try Day

The students and staff from Tamworth West PS who attended the annual Athletics Come and Try Day on Thursday, 17 March were not disappointed. It was a wonderful action-packed day of well organised activities with expert instruction and non-stop fun.

Harmony Day 2022

The ongoing theme of Harmony Week is ‘everyone belongs’. With splashes of orange and traditional cultural dress, students looked amazing. Celebrations included special lunch order opportunities and a wonderful colouring competition.

Friendship and Belonging

5-6D have continued to explore Friendship and Belonging as a focus this term for English and PDH units of work. This theme has provided a great framework in supporting students as they navigate the start of the year and enjoy building new friendships. In English, students have enjoyed writing narrative texts detailing their adventures and the friends they meet along the way. During PDH, students have recognised resilience as a key focus throughout the term.

Mathematics

All students continue to work diligently during mathematics. Number patterns, solving word problems, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and fractions have been some areas of math focus during the last few weeks for students. STEM challenges during math activities are also becoming a regular activity that students enjoy.

Visual Arts

Students continue to create amazing artworks reflecting the seasons, Harmony Day and Easter. Our classroom looks amazing as a result of the great work of each student.

Personalised Learning and Support Plan Meetings

Meetings with families are well underway. It is lovely to be able to meet with parents/carers to discuss and design the learning and support plan for each student in the class. I would like to take this opportunity to thank parents/carers for taking the time out of their busy schedules to meet with me to complete this important task.

School Holidays

As the term draws to a close it is hard to believe that Easter is almost upon us! It has been another busy term. Thank you to everyone for the contributions they have made toward the successful start to the 2022 school year. Have a wonderful and safe Easter holiday break. I look forward to seeing you back refreshed and rejuvenated for another action-packed term 2

Pip Diss

Assistant Principal (Special Ed)

Next term the students will be exploring the topic of music. Kindergarten will explore a variety of instruments to increase confidence and interest.

Year 1 will be doing bucket drumming and Year 2/3 will be doing recorders (this is to complete their unit from last year). Year 4/5/6 will be doing acoustic guitars with the wonderful Mr Munday and Miss Cunneen.

No equipment is required for music, however, if students have their own guitar and wish to bring it in, it can be kept safely in my room throughout the day. Student's individual recorders from last year are still in the Creative Arts room.

Have a wonderful, creative and safe holiday.

Nikki Cunneen

It is hard to believe that we are nearly the end of Term 1. Although time has flown by it has been wonderful to see students engaging in their learning across all of our classrooms. Students have been displaying creativity, focus and resilience and this has been reflected in the work students are producing.

Last week our Year 3 & 5 students participated in two NAPLAN practice sessions. These practice experiences allowed the school to test technology to ensure smooth implementation of NAPLAN Online in May. They also provided students an opportunity to become familiar with the testing format and the various functions of the testing platform. Students approached these experiences with maturity and a growth mindset. Well done Year 3 & 5. Further information will be shared with our school community as we get closer to NAPLAN.

Our teachers have continued to work together to enhance teaching strategies, student learning and expertise in the areas of literacy and numeracy, with a strong focus on reading. At TWPS we are always aiming to develop each child’s love of reading. Teachers carefully select rich texts to read to students as well as study texts within the classroom. Books ignite imagination, take students on adventures and spark interest in a wide range of topics. Sharing this love of books with others at school and at home is a great way of promoting positive reading habits. We understand that households are extremely busy places and it is often difficult to find the time to read with children. However, if you are able to share a love of books with children, the benefits can be tremendous. These benefits include relationship building, improving the child’s reading ability and improved self-esteem. If you would like further information and ideas on how you can support your child’s development at home, get in touch through the front office. We are more than happy to help.

We are looking forward to see our students continue to learn, grow and laugh in term 2.

Regards,

Sam Bowkett and Jordana Cooper- Durant

Assistant Principals - Curriculum & Instruction.

NSW PSSA Swimming Carnival

Congratulations to Bryson Gross who finished 2^nd in the Senior Boys Backstroke at the recent Regional North West Swimming Carnival. Bryson will now head to the Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre on the 4^th of April, as part of the North West Swim team to compete against the best swimmers in the state. This is an exceptional achievement and we wish him all the best!

North West Swimming Carnival

Well done to Mackenzie Kelly, Mya Kelly, Jessie Sandison-Welch, Sienna Mulligan and Bryson Gross who braved the cold to compete at the Regional Swimming Carnival last month.

The four girls competed in the Senior Girls 4 x 100m Relay and enjoyed the experience. Mackenzie Kelly also qualified for the 100m Open Freestyle, 12 Years Girls 50m Freestyle, the Senior Girls Backstroke, the Senior Girls Breaststroke and the 4 x 50m Individual Medley. Bryson competed in the 12 Year boys 50m Freestyle as well as the Senior Boys backstroke. Well done to these exceptional swimmers on their efforts in the pool.

Zone & Regional Trials

There have been numerous Zone and Regional Trials throughout March and many students have attended these trials. Some of these students were fortunate enough to be selected to represent Tamworth Zone at a Regional level. Congratulations to the following students who have recently attended the regional trials as part of a Tamworth Zone team:

Zone Touch Football – Kelsie Jenner

Zone Tennis - Ruby Endacott

Zone Football (Soccer) - Jaylen Krog-Hazlewood and Southern Region Trials

Zone Hockey - Chelsea Hudson, Angela Emery, Travis Mumford and Cameron Mumford.

Zone Basketball – Mackenzie Kelly, Neo Shepard and Travis Mumford.

Well done also to all the students who represented our school at Zone trials.

North West Basketball

On Friday 18 March, Mackenzie Kelly, Travis Mumford and Neo Shepard recently attended the North West selection trials after making the Tamworth Zone basketball teams. All 3 students trialled very well, with Mackenzie and Travis being selected into the North West team and Neo being named as a reserve. Congratulations to these students.

North West Hockey

Congratulations to Angela Emery, Travis Mumford and Cameron Mumford who were successful in being named in the North West girls and boys Hockey team on Friday 25 March. These students will attend the State Carnival and compete against other regions in NSW. The State PSSA Hockey Carnival will be held in June here in Tamworth.

Tamworth Junior Basketball Competition

We are four rounds into the Tamworth Junior Basketball Competition and all our school teams are competing to the best of their abilities in either A or B grade. Due to the increasing popularity of basketball at Tamworth West, we have 6 junior teams entered in the comp. We have joined forces with Tamworth South Public School to have enough numbers for a 3/4 Girls team and a second 3/4 Boys teams. The players are having fun learning the game and are working hard to improve their skills on Monday afternoons at our after-school training sessions.

A big thank you to Eva Flick, Cooper Holzigal and Kane Butler who have offered their assistance to train and coach some of our teams. We appreciate your help and commitment.

Boys PSSA Cricket Knockout

On Friday 4 March the TWPS Boys Cricket Team played Timbumburi PS in round 1 of the NSW PSSA Cricket Knockout Competition. In the weeks leading up to the match the boys’ excitement and anticipation skyrocketed. Dedicating many lunch breaks to training they built their knowledge, skills and ability, in a game that is totally new to some boys.

When the big day finally arrived, the boys walked down to Riverside Sporting Complex full of energy and eagerness. Timbumburi nominated to bat first, putting on a substantial total of 163, with strong batting performances from their opening pair. Despite the strong start from the opposition, our boys persisted and were able to take wickets at regular intervals. Each of our players displayed strong bowling and fielding skills throughout the innings. A special must be given to Declan for an outstanding bowling performance, taking a number of spectacular wickets.

Although it was a daunting task to chase down such a large total, our boys approached the batting innings with positivity and intent. Each of our players were given the opportunity to bat with some great strokes played. All players put a huge effort into their performance.

In the end it was not enough to come away with the win. Each of the boys should be extremely proud of their efforts. The manner in which our students represented TWPS demonstrates wonderful characteristics of the young people we have at our school. We wish Timbumburi PS all the best in the next round of the competition.

-Sam Bowkett

Netball Gala Day

On Tuesday 29 March, 40 of our students from across Stage 2 and Stage 3 jumped on the bus and made their way out to the Sports Dome for the NSW Netball Schools Cup Gala Day. The weather wasn’t in our favour, but that didn’t seem to worry the kids. They all got out there in the showers of rain and had a go with smiles on their faces. Catching and passing a sopping wet ball, jumping and landing in shallow puddles and wiping rain off their faces made for some interesting game play. Unfortunately, due to inclement weather, the day was called off early. Good news is that the day is being rescheduled for next term! Fingers crossed for a bright sunny day!

-Miss Burns