Tamworth West Public School

External Validation

Each year, a group of schools are nominated to participate in an external validation process. This provides an opportunity for schools to discuss their judgements about their practice – and the evidence that underpins them – with a panel of peers. In the first week of this term, our school completed the External Validation process. 

Our External Validation panel was made up of Phillip Katen, Principal School Leadership from the South Coast, and Jodie Bishop, Principal Oxley Vale PS. 

Phillip sent me an email at the conclusion of our panel meeting which stated... 

"Could I again thank you, and your team, for the open, honest and professional approach to our meeting? 

It is very clear that Tamworth West PS is in great hands and that the team is very committed to both the school and to on-going reflection and improvement. 

Please thank the team and ensure everyone is able to celebrate the great work that is occurring at Tamworth West PS. 

It was a great pleasure to be part of the process. "

Our submission was a representation of the hard work the staff at Tamworth West are doing, and it is lovely to have others recognise this.  

The panel report that has been produced as a result of this process provides future direction for us as we move toward writing our 2024-2027 School Improvement Plan. During this time we will focus on curriculum, explicit classroom teaching, wellbeing and formative assessment.

Education Week and Book Week Celebrations

This week is Education Week. This year’s theme is 175 years of public education in NSW and focuses on learning from our past, celebrating our achievements and embracing the future with confidence.

Founded in 1848, the Board of National Education was formed and tasked with establishing a public education system in NSW. Prior to 1848, schools operated under a denominational system and were the responsibility of churches.

Tomorrow, the Peel Network will celebrate Education Week with an awards ceremony. We congratulate the following members of the Tamworth West PS community on being recognised as part of this ceremony:

• Student Award: Aussie Rodd

• Community Award: Catherine Te Au

• Staff Award: Georgie Wilson

Please be advised that as a result of our roof restoration work, we are delaying our celebrations for Education Week and Book Week until Week 8 of this term. Further information will be sent home as soon as we confirm the removal of the scaffolding and fencing around the school.

Personal Leave

Please be advised that I am accessing some personal leave this term. I am on leave this week, week 5 and dependent on circumstances, could also be on leave across weeks 8 and 9. During my absence, Mrs Sara Spinks will oversee the school.

Athletics Carnival

Our school athletics carnival was held last Wednesday, and it was an amazing day. Thank you to the large number of parents, carers and family members who joined us at the athletics track to support our students. The day had a great feel and was very successful.

I will take this opportunity to remind you that activities like athletics carnivals, swimming carnivals, cross country carnivals, Easter Hat Parades, Grandparents’ Day celebrations, etc are all regular days at school and should be treated as such. Students should remain in attendance until the end of the school day.

School Photos

Please remember that school photos will happen on Wednesday 30 August and Thursday 31 August. The timetable for school photos is still being drafted as we are working around other scheduled activities. You can help us out at this time by ensuring that your children are at school on these days and are dressed in full school uniform.

Terrie Kay

Principal

Yaama, 

Since our last newsletter we have had some fantastic cultural activities. 

Our NAIDOC assembly was a great success, with many of our students showcasing their talents in dance and playing the didgeridoo. The Peel High School Dance group entertained us with their dances and encouraged our students to join them on stage. Classes also ran cultural activities throughout the week with students expressing their enjoyment.

We are currently in the process of organising an On Country cultural excursion for all students. This will be an amazing experience for our students, giving them the opportunity to learn and appreciate our local Gomeroi culture. Details will be published as they come to hand.

Tippy has taken leave till the end of the year and Mr Cody Taylor will be stepping into the role of AEO for the remainder of the year.

Yaluu

The P&C would like to welcome back everyone from the holidays.

We hope it was a lovely break to recharge the batteries for term 3.

Father's Day Stall

Our Father’s Day stall is September 1. A note will go home closer to the date. Gifts ranging from $1-$8.

School Hats

School hats are available to purchase via the Flexischools app for $15.

Next Meeting

Our next meeting is Monday 14 August in the staff room. Entry via the canteen gates. Everyone is welcome.

Canteen Menu [Download]

Tamworth West Public School is a Positive Bevahiour for Learning (PBL) school. PBL is a whole school program that encourages positive behaviour and allows students to become responsible for their own actions. Students and teachers work together to create a positive learning environment within our school using consistent procedures, language and expectations.

We have three expectations that underpin teaching and learning at Tamworth West Public School.

These are:

RESPECT

RESILIENCE

RESPONSIBILITY

We encourage students to uphold these expectations to a high standard. Our PBL motto is:

EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE, EVERY TIME

Positive Rewards

We have a school wide behaviour system that recognises and encourages positive behaviour. Students receive raffle tickets for displaying the correct behaviour. 

Weekly Lessons

Students participate in weekly school wide lessons that focus on a specific behaviour which is determined by data. There is a fortnightly focus area taught after each PBL assembly, for example, sportsmanship in games.

RESPECT

• We keep our areas tidy

• We use our manners

• We speak nicely to others

• We keep our hands and feet to ourselves

RESILIENCE

• We accept our consequences

• We use also inclusive

• We seek help when needed

• We solve problems peacefully

RESPONSIBILITY

• We look after our things

• We wear our school uniform

• We are honest

• We stay in the right areas

NAIDOC Week

In the last week of term two, Kindergarten joined in the celebrations of NAIDOC Week, participating in the assembly and creative arts activities. It was wonderful to see so many families attending the special assembly, lunch and open classrooms. 

For the first two weeks of this term, we have been reading the story, ‘Wombat Stew’ by Marcia Vaughan. This unit of work introduced the structure of recipes to Kindergarten and gave them an understanding of the importance of sequencing information. As part of the unit, we created our own recipe, Playground Stew! Students searched the playground for natural items to make an organic stew. Once collected, they wrote their own recipe for a Playground Stew. To finish off the fortnight’s writing, we made fairy bread during our rotation groups. 

History

This semester, Kindergarten will be completing the key learning area, History, where we will be learning about families and different celebrations. To begin this term's unit, we discussed what a family is and how they can be different. We drew our family trees and painted pictures of our familes. These wonderful pieces of artwork are displayed in the classroom. 

Maths

Maths continues to be a favourite lesson in Kindergarten. Here are some examples of the hands-on tasks completed over the last few weeks. 

Welcome to Term 3

Maths

Maths has been super exciting as we have been looking at 2D shapes and their properties. In Year 1, we have been flipping and sliding shapes to make patterns. We are able to prove when a shape is in half or not. We are now working on data. We can use tally marks when we collect data and discuss the data we collect.

This term, we have begun developing and extending our knowledge and skills in addition and subtraction. The students can write number sentences and present these as word problems. We are moving into working with larger numbers in the coming weeks. 

Writing

In writing, the students have had lots of fun creating characters. We are able to plan and write a story with a beginning, middle and end. Year 1 students are concentrating on rereading their work to make improvements so that their stories are fabulous. We have been looking closely at punctuation and where we can use full stops, exclamation marks and question marks in our writing. 

This term, Year 1 will participate in the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check. This mandatory assessment gives teachers an insight into students’ phonic knowledge and understanding and how they are transferring this skill when reading. 

NAIDOC Week

At the end of last term, we celebrated NAIDOC week.  This gives us the opportunity to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

We look forward to an exciting term ahead. 

Year 2 have started the new term eager to learn after an enjoyable break. 

English

Students studied a variety of books last term, one being Koala Ark by popular children’s author Stephen Michael King. Based on the devastating bushfires of 2019-2020, this book encouraged students to research ways to help save our koala population.  

We have been busy reading our decodable texts and really enjoy our daily phonics PowerPoints too. It is pleasing to see students so engaged in learning and working hard to improve their reading and spelling results through targeted daily activities. 

Mathematics

Year 2 continues to enjoy the variety of activities contained in our new mathematics units of work. Some of our learning has been around number bonds and how to solve number stories using them, as well as the collection, representation and analysis of data. Learning to use the most efficient strategy to represent and solve problems is a focus during our maths lessons, as well as being able to explain the reasoning around the thinking.

Science

Our science units this Semester involve students pondering, investigating and answering the following questions:

• What changes occur when materials are combined?

• How do the properties of materials determine their use?

Students are excited to begin these units as they will involve hands-on and possibly messy investigations.

PE/Athletics Carnival

Year 2 were excited to prepare for the athletics carnival during sport last term. They practised shot put, long jump, sprinting, and ball games leading up to the big day. All students who attended participated to the very best of their ability and were quite vocal in their support of their peers as well. The rotation activities proved to be popular, with the majority of students joining in with stages 2 and 3 this year. Congratulations to all our year two ribbon winners too.  

Life Education Van 

Last term, we had the opportunity to visit the Life Education van and learn about friendships and healthy and safe choices. All students had a wonderful time and were excited to meet Harold again.

Welcome to the August newsletter. Term 3 has started very quickly and we have much more coming up.

English

We are starting our term with a unit on visual literacy. Students are learning that ‘pictures can tell a thousand words’ and looking for the ways that an author is communicating with us through illustrations, colours, symbols, shapes and camera view. It is great listening to the discussions in the different classrooms around student interpretations of the illustrations within the books and on the front cover. The main book we are focusing on is called “The Rabbits”  by John Marsden. This book also links with our History unit of “First Contacts”. We look forward to sharing our ideas with you. 

Athletics Carnival

Great job to all the students who participated in our school athletics carnival last week. It is important that we, as adults, model and project a positive message about participation in school-based activities such as our carnivals. Participation in our sports carnivals is a valuable way to contribute to overall school and sporting house spirit, and it is important that we encourage our children to have a go. Congratulations to Wentworth and ALL the students who went in track and field events. Stage 2 students did an amazing job across the day by not only participating but also cheering on their friends and house. Good luck to those students heading off to the ZONE carnival later this month. 

Sydney Excursion

We have got close to 90 students who have returned their EOI notes for the Sydney excursion. Thank you to those parents who are continuing to make payments. A reminder that the final payment is Friday, the 8th of September, and ALL money MUST be paid by then. I am in contact with the bus company to book accommodation, and it is important that I have the correct numbers to pass on. There will be an excursion information evening later in the term, so please keep an eye out for information about the session. 

Homework

Homework has begun to be handed out across the stage. Most classes handed theirs out last week. As part of our History unit this semester, students will be completing a project on a significant Australian from the 19th Century (between 1800 and 1900). The information will be given to students in a paper copy and will also be available on Google Classroom. Students will be given time at school in the computer room or library to research facts. It will be up to the student how they wish to display the information. It is expected that all students complete their homework project, and teachers will be checking on student progress across the term. Please contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions. The project will run from weeks 2 to 8. In week 9, we will have an EXPO where students display their work. 

Pen Licenses

Congratulations to Eddie, Airlee, Hope, Stella, Evie, Peyton, Kasch, Hunter, Susie and Jacob for receiving their pen licences last week. I know that we have lots of students who will be receiving them in the next month. 

Warmer Weather & Uniforms

Our weather has been beautiful the past week! I know we are all enjoying the warmer weather, but sometimes our mornings can still be a bit chilly. Please make sure your child’s name is on their jumper, jackets and hats so they can be returned to you quickly. We also ask that parents check their child’s belongings to make sure they are bringing home their own clothing and not that of others.

Crunch & Sip

Thank you also to parents for packing fresh fruit for our morning crunch and sip. Food doesn’t have to be a whole piece; even an apple cut into slices is good, and it makes eating their food while doing our morning routines nice and easy.

The stage 2 teachers look forward to continuing to work with you this term. Thank you to our parents and staff for everything you do to support our students at school. 

Felicity Bagshaw

Stage 2 Assistant Principal

Welcome back to Term 3. It was so lovely to see you all face-to-face last term for the parent-teacher interviews to discuss your child’s progress.

We have an exciting term ahead with lots of upcoming events for our Stage 3 students, along with lots of exciting learning taking place in the classroom.

Learning In The Classroom

Our Stage 3 teachers are continuing to build their capacity in mathematics with the help of the Strategic School Support team, and our students have been engaging in lots of rich learning experiences which have been guided by professional learning from this team. It has been wonderful to watch the students engage in new mathematics activities with determination and motivation.

This term, our Stage 3 students are continuing to learn about imaginative texts and are in the process of writing interesting stories. We can’t wait to read them!

For history this term, we have started our unit on 'Australia As A Nation’. Students are exploring the factors that led to Federation and experiences of democracy and citizenship over time. This unit complements our upcoming excursion to Canberra and has lots of exciting learning opportunities. 

Canberra

In just a few short weeks, we will be heading off on our excursion to Canberra. We are all very excited, and it is going to be an amazing opportunity for our students. 

*CORRECTION 4/8/2023: Final payments for Canberra are due on Friday 4 August as published in the note that was sent home. The previously published date of 11 August was an error and should be disregarded.

An information note regarding what to pack will be coming home next week, giving families enough time to make sure they have all that is required.  We are also holding a parent information night on Thursday 17 August in the hall at 6 p.m. An itinerary and final details will be available at this session. If you are unable to attend, we will ensure you receive the information by sending notes home with your child. As always, all notes and information will be uploaded to Sentral as it is published. Please refer to the invitation that was sent home for further information. We look forward to seeing you all there. 

CPR

Each year our Stage 3 students participate in CPR training as part of our current PDHPE unit on ‘Keeping ourselves and others safe’. We are very lucky that Cameron McFarlane, who has been administering this training to our students each year, has chosen Tamworth West to be his celebration school for delivering this training to 50 000 students. This course for the students will take place during school hours in our school hall on Thursday August 17, and will be a fantastic opportunity for students to learn valuable life skills to keep others safe. 

NAIDOC Week

In Week 10 of last term, we celebrated NAIDOC Week at Tamworth West PS. This was a wonderful week, and we extend a massive thank you to all of the families that came in for the special assembly and open classrooms. Stage 3 also participated in a number of exciting learning experiences throughout the week, including making damper, traditional indigenous sporting games, making leaf wreaths and beaded kangaroos. It was lovely to see the students participate enthusiastically in these activities with students from other classes. 

High School Transition

Towards the end of this term and in term 4, high school transitions are starting across all of the local high schools. We will keep you informed as these dates get closer. Please disregard the Tamworth High School transition dates that were printed in our school calendar, these have now been changed, and we will update you with the new dates as soon as we know. 

Thanks for your ongoing support and we look forward to sharing all of the exciting things that we have coming up with you this term.

Sally Nuske and Kirrily Milton

Stage 3 Assistant Principals

Welcome to semester 2! Term 2 was a busy time. Our students have all worked hard on their learning, and we are looking forward to another productive term.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our parents for coming in for the parent-teacher interviews. This term, we will be conducting our verification meetings in week 6. A letter will be coming home later in the term, so you will be able to schedule a time that suits you on Thursday 24th August 2023. 

Our Stage 3 students will be heading off on their excursion to Canberra in week 6 of this term. In anticipation of this excursion, years 5 and 6 will be studying ‘Australia as a Nation’ in History. This will give some background information on different aspects of Parliament and the Federal Government. 

In term 4, our Stage 2 students will be heading off to Sydney for their own very exciting excursion. We will be looking at significant places that the students will be visiting on the excursion. We will also be studying the “My Place” picture book and unit, which will examine how the land around Sydney has been used over time, from before the arrival of the First Fleet to modern Sydney. During the excursion, students will visit significant sights and go on tours that allow them to see into the past at how others lived before them.

As part of our NAIDOC celebration, the students in K4M explored some Dreamtime stories. We particularly enjoyed Tiddalik the Frog. As part of this unit, we used different musical instruments to create a sound to represent each animal in the story. We created musical patterns using instruments and body percussion and acted the story out as a play. 

This term in English, K4M will be focusing on writing information reports. We will investigate different amazing animals and their habitats. 

We presented our assembly on Friday, Week 2. The students practised their item this term and it was a wonderful experience. Well done to all! 

In sport, kindergarten, year 1 and year 2 joined their friends in Early Stage One and Stage One to develop their athletic skills in preparation for the athletics carnival in week 2. The students always enjoy these sessions, and it's lovely to see them making new friends and enjoying the experience. All students did very well at the carnival and had a wonderful day full of fun and friendship.

As term 2 draws to a close, and we move into Term 3, we continue to strive forward with our learning. We are looking at information reports and how they are constructed. We have started by sorting information into groups, creating sub-headings for them and arranging them in a structured format as a class, in groups and individually.

In math, we are using parallel tasks to try and extend our problem-solving skills. To do this, the children are presented with a problem which is read to them. We identify what it wants to know, what information we know and how we could use it. After brainstorming some strategies on how to solve and working through the solution, we move to the second phase of the task. Next, students are given a choice between two very similar questions and attempt them independently. This has allowed students to take more risks in math with the support to allow them to succeed, generating confidence.

As you are probably aware, we had some excitement with an evacuation of the classrooms in week 9. Our class found the experience exciting and were outstanding in their execution of the process. Both Mr Ward and Mr Lyon were very impressed with their behaviour and patience on such a horrible weather day. Luckily, we got back in prior to the rain. 😊

The athletics carnival was a resounding success for our class. We all tried and competed with our peers. A couple of our students sent the very clear message that 3/6L are ready to steal their glory!

We have also been involved with the mainstream in creating Aboriginal artworks and activities for NAIDOC week. Mr Lyon has hosted groups and created decorative boomerangs.

Mr Ward, Mr Lyon and 3/6L were saddened to farewell one of our students to another school recently. However, we are excited to welcome another student who is arriving soon. 

Wow! Welcome back to Term 3 and 5/6T have hit the ground running both literally and figuratively! This term, we have been running, jumping and throwing our hearts out for the athletics carnival that was held on Wednesday 26th July. We had a fantastic time in the glorious sunny weather, and it was great to see team spirit evident on the day. A big thank you must go to Mr Willis for organising such a fabulous day. 

During Term 2 we had a terrific time jam-packing the ten weeks with lots of learning experiences. In English, we have been reading the novel Brindabella, which tells of our main character Pender, and his artistic father raising an orphan kangaroo. This novel combines two of our classes’ main interests, animals and art. We have been exploring how the author uses similes to entertain the reader with interesting sentences. 

In Maths, we were excited to use our new resources and loved the pattern blocks. As demonstrated in the photographs, we have created intricate patterns using the shapes and colours. We have also enjoyed exploring maths concepts using ‘parallel’ and ‘open-ended’ tasks. These allow us to problem solve and think creatively to implement all the mathematical thinking we have learned. 

In PD/H/PE, we have discussed how we can keep ourselves and others safe using emergency plans. Ask us how DRS ABCD can help save someone's life in an emergency situation! We also practised CPR on K-4M's very sick teddy bears. 

We wish everyone a very happy Term 3.

Chris Lyon                           Kylie Taber                     Linda McEnerny

3-6L                                     3-6T                                     AP Special Education (Relieving), K-4M

Boys State PSSA Hockey Carnival

Congratulations to Cameron Mumford, who was part of the North West Primary Boys Hockey team that went undefeated in the State Hockey Trials back in May. The North West Boys won the carnival defeating South Coast 4 goals to 2. It was a huge result for the North West team and an excellent experience for Cameron, who also made the team last year. 

North West Softball Selections 

Hayley Mason, Jace Dawson and Cameron Mumford have been selected to represent the North West in Softball. Jace and Cameron will travel to Woolooware in August to compete at the State Carnival. Hayley will head to Mayfield, Newcastle, to attend the Girls State Softball Carnival. Well done to these students on their selections. 

North West Football Selections.

At the end of last term Jaylen Krog-Hazlewood and Jett Gleeson attended the Regional Football trials in Armidale. Both boys were successful in being named in the North West team. This will be Jaylen’s second year representing the  North West in Football. The State Carnival is held this month at Nelsons Bay. We wish Jett and Jaylen good luck! 

Tamworth West Athletics Carnival

Last Wednesday, 26th July, students headed out to the Tamworth Regional Athletics Track to participate in our Athletics Carnival. It was great to see so many students arrive early to compete in the 200 and 800 metre events. Throughout the rest of the day, students were busy competing and cheering on their Sporting Houses as they rotated through track and field events as well as novelty events. The day concluded with the Junior and Senior Boys’ and Girls’ relays. Congratulations to Wentworth, who were named the champion house for 2023. 

We would like to pass on our appreciation to Mr Mat Flannagan and his students from Peel High School for assisting at the carnival. Thank you also to all the staff who assisted in various roles throughout the day to help make the carnival a success. 

Our Age Champions for 2023: 

PSSA Football (soccer) Gala Day 

On Wednesday the 19th of July, our PSSA boys’ football (soccer) team competed at the PSSA Football Gala Day. In lead up to this day, 35 students in years 5 and 6 demonstrated great dedication and pride for Tamworth West by giving up their break times to attend trials, training sessions and team talks. Thank you to all students who participated in the trials and for displaying great resilience and sportsmanship throughout the weeks leading up to the day.

On the day, Miss May and Ms Paulston took 15 boys to the gala day, which was held at Gipps St sporting fields. The team consisted of Jett, Jaylen, Naite, Jake, Harris, Lochie, Bailey, Jharal, Rheef, Ryder, Jace, Cameron, Lyric, Roland and Cooper. 

The first game was against Tamworth South Public School and the boys were excited and ready to play. Miss May was so impressed with how well the boys were playing across the whole park, from the goalkeeper to the strikers. The team were looking for passes, getting into open spaces and being first to the ball every time. As a result, our boys were able to get the win in the first game of the day! The end score was nine nil, with the goals being shared amongst the players (Jake x2, Roland x2, Naite x2, Lyric, Jaylen and Harris). A credit to our strong defence in Jett, Jharal, Rheef, Lochie and goalkeeper, Cam, for keeping South goalless for the 50-minute game. 

Leading into game two, we knew it was going to be a tough game against Tamworth Public School. The boys were determined to do their best against a very strong and skilful Tamworth Public. The boys didn’t give up the whole game and displayed excellent sportsmanship when going down to Tamworth Public in the end. 

With the final game of the day against Nemingha Public School being a friendly game, it definitely didn’t lack excitement! Again, the boys played exceptional football, applying all the skills and knowledge from training drills and team talks and implementing it in the game. Jett scored a cracker, with a long distance shot to equalise with Nemingha 1-1 at the end of the game. This meant that after 50 minutes of game time, the boys had to play 10 minutes of extra time to try and win the game. Tamworth West continued to show excellent sportsmanship and in the final moments of extra time, Jace was able to score the winning goal, ending the game with a 2-1 win.

Thank you to Ms Paulston for assistance on the day and all the boys for making the day so enjoyable and successful. Miss May is very proud of the maturity displayed, along with the PBL expectations of respect, resilience and responsibility.

Well done, Tamworth West!

-Kahla May

Jonathan Willis

Sports Coordinator

Our fabulous teachers at Tamworth West Public School recognise the importance of providing opportunities for students to develop their phonological awareness skills. The Department of Education has a great resource for assessing phonological awareness. In K-2 and some primary classrooms, teachers implement the Heggerty Program as a warm-up in their literacy session each day.