Tamworth West Public School

Principal Leave

As I reported in our August Newsletter, Mrs Kay will be on leave for the remainder of the term. She is currently enjoying her beautiful new granddaughter and preparing for her own daughter’s wedding. I will be relieving in the Principal role until Mrs Kay returns.

Stage 3 Excursion to Broken Bay

You will enjoy the Stage 3 newsletter insert this month with a full report from the sport and recreation camp at Broken Bay. The week was a huge success and the students had the most wonderful time. I want to publicly acknowledge Mrs Milton, Mr Willis, Mrs Van Ingen, Ms Burn and Mrs Diss for going above a beyond to support our students in being able to enjoy such a wonderful experience. Overnight excursions are an added extra that our staff do out of the kindness of their hearts. They volunteer their time, leave their own families for the week and are on duty 24 hours a day. They do this because they are passionate about providing our students with experiences beyond Tamworth and the classroom. Thank you!

School Photos

School photos were taken on August 24 and 25. Once again, we were blessed with beautiful weather and were able to take our photos outdoors. Online orders are still available through The School Photographer website https://www.theschoolphotographer.com.au/

Kindergarten Transition

Transition sessions for students enrolling in Kindergarten 2023 will commence on Tuesday 6 September. There will be three subsequent sessions on Tuesday 13 September, Tuesday 20 September and Tuesday 11 October. We look forward to welcoming our new students and their families for these special days.

Father’s Day Stall

Thank you to our P&C who ran our Father’s Day stall at school today. There were so many great gifts at very reasonable prices. I would like to wish all of our dads, pops, grandfathers and carers a very happy Father’s Day for Sunday.

With only three weeks left of this term, our next Newsletter will be published in Term 4. I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday and we look forward to seeing all of our students return on Monday October 10.

-Sara Spinks

Relieving Principal

Kindergarten have continued to learn animal names in Gamilaraay. They have learnt about the movements they make and how to incorporate this in to dance.

We look forward to sharing other aspects of our language lessons and further updates on our Yarning Circle in the future.

Yaluu,

-Mrs Spicer

Father's Day Stall

A big shout out to everyone who came and supported the Father's Day stall today. We hope you all have a wonderful day on Sunday and everyone appreciates their gifts. Thank you to the wonderful team of volunteers who help run these events, the P & C couldn't do it without you.

We’ve had a very busy month in Kindergarten with lots of events happening throughout the last four weeks.

Book Week was a huge success and Kindergarten were ecstatic to show off their beautiful costumes. Some students were a bit shy parading their costumes whilst others were excited by all the ‘big kids’ wanting to give them high 5s.

Well done to Addison Chambers for winning the colouring in competition and to Ollie Stacpoole for winning the prize draw on the day of the book parade. A big thank you to Mrs Ward for organising the day and ensuring it ran smoothly. Mrs Wilson, Miss Massey and Kindergarten enjoyed putting together their door displays for Book Week. Can you guess which books KW and KM decided to showcase?

Attendance Afternoon Tea

During Week 6, students whose attendance from Weeks 1 – 5 was 90% or greater received a donut and a popper as part of the school's attendance initiative. This is a wonderful way to acknowledge and celebrate students' attendance and is a reminder that students must arrive at school on time each day to ensure they do not miss out on learning experiences.

We look forward to another busy month ahead!

-Mrs Wilson & Miss Massey

Kindergarten Teachers

What a fabulous month we have had in Stage 2. It was so wonderful to have parents, carers, grandparents and families back into the school for Education and Book week.

Excursions

Please remember that all notes need to be returned as soon as possible for the Calala Cottage excursions.

• Tuesday 6th September: 12:00pm to 1:30pm- 4D

• Tuesday 6th September: 1:30pm to 2:50pm- 4M

• Wednesday 7th September: 12:00pm to 1:30pm- 3B and Stage 2 students from 1-4M

• Wednesday 7th September: 1:30pm to 2:50pm- 3L and Stage 2 students from 3-6W

Thank you to parents for your ongoing payments for the Dubbo excursion. Reminder notes will be sent out shortly regarding monies still owing. If you have any questions or concerns, please see your child’s classroom teacher or Felicity Bagshaw, Stage 2 AP.

STEM & Sport

Students are regularly involved in several activities that allow them to work with different students from across the stage, including students from both 1-4M and 3-6W. Every Thursday students complete two different sporting rotations working with all the teachers and staff within the Stage.

Every second Friday, students participate in a variety of STEM activities. This term students are creating Lego catapults, bucket towers, paper rollercoasters and are coding and working with robots. Over the course of the term students will have the chance to complete all four activities.

Courtney Lyon

Stage 2 Classroom Teacher, Year 3

Fortunately, no child or adult tested positive while we were away, but we certainly had a few cases upon our return! Consequently, most Stage 3 students missed all Education Week activities. Classroom doors do look fabulous however, and we are now able to send in some art, that had been displayed in rooms for parents to observe, to the Tamworth Show.

School Photos

Thank you to the parents and carers that supported their child/children preparing them for school photos. The students looked amazing and wore their uniforms proudly.

In The Classroom

Stage 3 classes have been busily preparing information reports. They have been designing posters, creating newspaper articles, reporting on bushrangers, researching the colonial days and identifying Space facts. Students are demonstrating the ability to use technical language and create interesting and engaging texts in various modes.

Again, we cannot stress enough the importance of students learning their times tables. Please encourage regular practice to assist with greater mathematical understanding.

Congratulations, Jasper!

Congratulations to Jasper Taylor, whose Check-in data saw him being nominated for a unique and exciting educational opportunity. The virtual Aboriginal High Potential and Gifted Students Program offered by Aurora College provides a mix of online and residential school classes. Students connect with their teachers and classmates in timetabled lessons through a virtual learning environment, which comprises video conferencing software, a learning management system, and a range of cutting-edge online communication and collaboration tools. This fantastic opportunity is available for only 40 students, Jasper was 1 of 153 children nominated based upon his Check-in results from 2020 and 2021. We have everything crossed that Jasper will be accepted, the application process is lengthy and the competition for the 40 places is tough.

Well done Stage 3 working respectfully and displaying resilience this term.

It has been a very busy month in the support unit with lots of events happening including Pyjama Day and Jeans for Genes Days, the excursion to Broken Bay for our stage 3 students, Education Week and Book Week as well as the Attendance Afternoon Tea.

Pyjama Day & Jeans for Genes

We would like to say thank you to the SRC for their suggestion and organisation of the Pyjama Day and Jeans for Genes Day activities. Students (and teachers) loved coming to school dressed in their pyjamas, oodies and onesies. It was fabulous to snuggle up and watch a movie dressed in the comfort of their pyjamas. On Friday of Week 3, students were out of uniform again for Jeans for Genes Day. This time, raising money for children living with genetic conditions. Students loved the opportunity to raise money for this important cause.

Broken Bay Excursion

The Broken Bay excursion was a wonderful adventure for the students from the support unit who were able to attend. It provided students with numerous opportunities to challenge themselves by trying new activities and foods. They also worked in groups with new people and made some new friends.

Welcome Ms Chesterfield

5-6D and the support unit welcomes Ms Kath Chesterfield as she completes her 4 week Professional Experience placement in our room. We look forward to spending time getting to know her and learning many new things with her. Welcome Ms Chesterfield, enjoy your time at Tamworth West.

English

We have been extending our understanding of descriptive text. We have been studying the ‘Tale of Jack Frost’ and learning about the different types of grammar. This semester we are studying history. Our stage 2 students will be attending an excursion to Calala Cottage. This will be a wonderful excursion and the students are looking forward to visiting the cottage where they will take a trip back to the past, with their friends from stage 2.

Science

This term our topic is Earth and Space. We have been learning about the changes that occur in the sky and about different landscapes. The students have created some amazing artwork to reflect their learning. We have used Albert Namatjira as an artist study and looked at his paintings of central Australia to observe how the sunlight makes changes to the landscape.

During Week 4 this term, all our year one students completed the mandatory Phonics Screening Check. This short assessment provides teachers with an overview of a student’s progress in Phonics. Students were asked to read 40 words aloud. These words were a combination of real words and nonsense words. The purpose of the nonsense words is to check if the student is able to use their knowledge of blending rather than reading a word they perhaps have already seen. This assessment was carried out by the classroom teacher with each student individually. The year one teachers have analysed the data, and are using it to make decisions that will inform the next steps to meet each student’s individual learning needs.

As a school, we are working through our CARS and STARS comprehension program where they are explicitly taught 12 strategies (kindergarten 6 strategies and year one 8 strategies) across the school year. Ask your child what strategy they have been learning about this week!

North West Representatives

Congratulations to Jaylen Krog- Hazlewood and Travis Mumford who recently represented the North West region. Jaylen participated in the Boys Football Carnival, playing striker for the North West team. Riverina hosted the tournament in Griffith, which made for a very cold week of soccer. Jaylen had an enjoyable and challenging week playing against the best Primary school kids in the state. The North West team finished 13th overall with a 1 – 0 victory over Barrier in the placings on the last day. Being in Year 5, he is hoping to make the team again next year.

Good luck to Travis Mumford who is currently at Mudgee for the Boys State Softball Carnival. We look forward to hearing how Travis and the team went on his return.

Horse Sports

Well done to both Angela Emery and Kelsie Jenner who recently competed at Scone Grammar Horse Sports. The grounds were wet and damp after several days of rain but both girls and their mounts performed well and did our school proud. They competed in hacking, sporting and utility events. Angela was named Reserve Champion Primary Girl. A fabulous result considering the number of riders in the Primary division.

The girls will compete again in Quirindi on September 16 at the Willow Tree School Horse Sports and then again at the AELEC in October for ISHE. If you are a keen equestrian and you would like to join our equestrian team please send Mrs Milton an email at kirrily.milton@det.nsw.edu.au