Tamworth West Public School

Principal's Report

Relieving Director

It is with mixed emotions that I let you know that I have been asked to relieve in an alternate position for the remainder of this term, with the possibility of extension. I will be relieving as the Director of Educational Leadership for the Mooki network. 

While I love working with the students, staff and community of Tamworth West Public School, I have been asked to work with principals in an alternate network and I have agreed to do this. This position commences on Monday, but I will be working across both settings for the next couple of weeks while I complete some tasks.

I know that your children and my colleagues will continue to flourish at Tamworth West Public School under the leadership of Mrs Sara Spinks. Sara has agreed to relieve as principal in my absence and she will be joined by Mrs Jo Sheedy in the relieving deputy principal role. Mrs Jordana Cooper will assume some of the responsibilities of the assistant principal – learning and support as part of her role.

While I will spend time visiting schools in the Mooki network, my office is here in Tamworth. It is my intention to stay in close contact with our school and I will, of course, always be available to support Sara if she needs me.

I thank you in anticipation of your support of this decision and am really looking forward to being back, working with our school community again soon.

2023 Annual Report

Please be advised that the 2023 Annual Report for Tamworth West Public School is available to read on our school website. It can be found here: https://tamworthw-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/about-our-school/school-planning-and-reporting.html

Nationally Consistent Collection Of Data On School Students With Disability (NCCD)

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019).

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

• Year of schooling

• Category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional

• Level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.

This information assists schools to:

• Formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools

• Consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools

• Develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.

The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy (https://www.education.gov.au/privacy-policy).

Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).

Thank you for your ongoing support of our wonderful school.

Terrie Kay

Principal

“Kindness is the greatest wealth of all. Small acts of kindness last longer than a lifetime” - Eddie Jaku (Author of ‘The Happiest Man on Earth’).

This presentation from The Resilience Project is all about Empathy and Kindness.

Empathy is our ability to put ourselves in the shoes of others to feel and see what they do. We practice this through being kind and compassionate towards other people.

Brain imaging data shows that being kind to others registers in the brain as more like eating chocolate than like fulfilling an obligation to do what’s right (e.g. eating brussel sprouts)!

Research shows that practising empathy, such as performing acts of kindness, taps into our brain’s ‘mirror neurons’, builds compassion and our behaviour becomes more social and community-based.

Empathy: https://theresilienceproject.com.au/2023-parent-carer-hub-inspire-martin/

Here’s an activity to practise empathy and kindness:

1. Reflect on someone in your life who could benefit from an act of kindness today. It could be a friend who would love some affirmation about their     

            work, your pet who deserves an extra treat, or a family member who would love a phone call or text message.

2. Make a plan for who you are going to gift an act of kindness to, and what you are going to do.

3. If you want to add accountability to your plan, share it with someone else and encourage them to do the same thing.

4. Follow up with each other in a few days' time, to ask how it went!

Sources: Psychology Today, UC Berkeley, Greater Good Science

For mental health resources and support information, visit The Resilience Project’s Support Page.

Ruth France

Wellbeing Officer

Clothing Pool

The clothing pool is still full of jumpers and a variety of winter clothing. It is run by Jenni who advertises regularly on the Parents & Carers Facebook page. If you’re after any uniform items please comment on one of her posts or send her a message.

Next Meeting

Our next meeting will be Monday 17 June at 5.30pm in the staff room. It would be great to see some more faces. We are currently struggling to hold an official meeting due to a lack of numbers.

Catherine Te Au

P&C Vice President

Dance and Art

Mrs Spicer has been running an Indigenous Dance group every Monday lunchtime in her room. This dance will be performed at the NAIDOC assembly.

Miss Courtney has been continuing with her Year 6 art group on Fridays at lunchtime. There are some beautiful artworks being created and we can not wait to see the finished products.

NAIDOC WEEK

At the end of this term, we will celebrate NAIDOC week through several celebrations including a whole school assembly on the 3 July. More information will be sent home in the coming weeks so keep an eye out on School Bytes.

-Aboriginal Education Team

Tamworth West Public School is a Positive Behaviour 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

We are excited to share with you all the wonderful things happening in our kindergarten classrooms so far this term. As we reach the midpoint of Term 2, our little learners have been busy exploring new concepts, engaging in hands on activities, and developing their skills across various key learning areas. 

Mother's Day

Happy Mother’s Day to all the women who support and care for our Kinder students. Students enjoyed making artworks and purchasing gifts at the P&C Mother’s Day Stall.

English

In English, students have been learning about narratives and characters. Students have studied books including The Hungry Caterpillar, Grandpa’s Shoes, Feathers for Phoebe and the Big Book of Bugs. Students are comparing similarities and differences in books and exploring the author’s purpose. 

Students have been learning how to write their ideas into a sentence using their heart words and sounds. Students are also learning how to use their sound knowledge to write unfamiliar words.

Maths 

Students have been learning about the different ways we can represent numbers. Students are using numerals, dot combinations, tally marks and addition to represent numbers.

Students have been looking at sequencing events in their school day and looking at events that take a short time and a long time. Students have learnt how to sequence numbers to twelve and how to place them on a clock face. We have loved learning about o’clock and enjoy watching the clock for it to show an o’clock during the school day!

Coming up!

Weeks 9 and 10 - Parent teacher interviews (more information to come)

Week 8 - Wednesday 3 July - Reports Sent Home

Week 10 - Thursday 4 July - Athletics Carnival

Week 10 - NAIDOC Celebrations

Drop Off and Pick Up

In the morning, if students arrive between 8:30 am – 8:55 am, they are to wait under the COLA. When the bell rings at 8:55 am, students are to play on hard surfaces and are supervised by staff. If students are dropped off prior to 8:55am, we are encouraging them to wait under the COLA and return to the Kinder area when the bell has gone at 8:55 am. Students may be dropped off until 9:25 am, at which point our school day officially begins. 

Gates are locked at 9:25 am. Any students arriving after this time must enter via the main Bridge St gates. Parents exiting the school after 9:25 am must also exit via the front office.

Staying Connected

We encourage families to stay connected through School Bytes. Parent-teacher interview times and availability will be released via School Bytes. We highly recommend that you take advantage of this opportunity to meet with your child's teacher. 

School Bytes

It is difficult to comprehend that we are halfway through the school year. Stage 1 staff have been busy assessing students in all key learning areas to complete Semester 1 Reports.

Welcome Miss Dwyer!

As you read this newsletter, Mrs Milton will be touring Switzerland with her family. Stage 1 welcome Miss Nadine Dwyer to 1M for four weeks. Miss Dwyer has previously taught Year 1 at TWPS, so we are fortunate to have her return. Mrs Milton will be returning in Weeks 9 and 10 and will be available for parent-teacher interviews. In her absence, Mr Chris Lyon will be the Relieving Assistant Principal Stage 1.

In The Classroom

Year 1 and 2 continue to work tirelessly to improve their reading fluency and spelling skills. There are many photos included that demonstrate the strategies used to enhance student spelling, reading, writing, and confidence in these areas. 

We are also fortunate to have additional staff in Stage 1 this term. Years 1 and 2 have been working with Miss Firth-Panetta, Mrs Spicer, Mrs Cooper, Miss Cunneen, Miss Pollock and Miss Chudleigh along with their regular classroom teachers in a learning and support role. It is hoped that this targeted small group tuition will improve student outcomes in both literacy and numeracy.

Stage 1 students have been fortunate to be immersing themselves in the language of maths to build their competency and confidence working on number problems. It is exciting to hear the metalanguage students are demonstrating and sharing with staff.

-Kirrily Milton, Sam Deaves, Kathleen Harris, Jordan Pollock and Alex Hammond

Stage 1 Teachers

Welcome to the June newsletter

We are more than halfway through the term and things are still very busy across the school and Stage 2.

Students are enjoying the units of work that we have been doing in English. It is great to discuss the ways that authors use different literary devices such as humour, alliteration or a great story starter to persuade the reader. We look forward to being able to put this knowledge into action while we complete our own writing. 

Sport Representitives

We have had a number of students represent our school at different sporting events in the last few weeks. We had around 24 Stage 2 boys and girls head off to a Netball school’s Cup on the 15th of May. Students came back exhausted after a big day, but full of news! Well done to those students. 

School Sport

In sport this term we have been focusing on learning and improving our athletics carnival events. These include high jump, discus, shotput, ball games and running. All the students are doing an excellent job and learning new skills to put into practice. 

Dubbo Excursion

A reminder that the final payment for Dubbo is Friday the 21st of June (end of week 8). Medical forms are also due ASAP to assist with planning. If your child is no longer attending the excursion please let the school know as soon as possible. Please also ensure you have completed the medical form online ASAP. It is due by today, Monday the 3rd of June. 

Warm Clothing

The weather has changed in the last week or so. As the weather turns cold, it is important that students have appropriate clothing with them. Long pants and stockings will keep legs warm and jumpers are important for our top half. Please check with your child that they have adequate clothes for the day to avoid them getting sick! We appreciate your help with this!

Crunch and Sip

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

Pen Licences

Well done to students in Year 4 who have received their pen licences in recent weeks.

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

In the Classroom

Year 5 has been exploring informative and persuasive writing features through the text, One Small Island by Alison Lester and Corol Tulloch. However, they are about to move into the world of poetry through the text, Spotlight by Solli Raphael. 

Meanwhile, Year 6 will continue to be captivated by the text Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief by Katrina Nannestad for the remainder of Term 2. Students have embraced the text through its engaging character and plot descriptions, its excellent metaphors, and vivid imagery. The students are hooked and can’t wait to find out what happens next in this story. 

Mathematics has seen the further consolidation of place value, addition and subtraction strategies, and multiplicative thinking so far this term. Stage 3 has started using the assessment platform of Essential Assessment within our mathematics units, as it allows students to demonstrate their prior knowledge before learning, and their developed knowledge after learning. If you haven’t already completed the third-party permission note sent out via SchoolBytes, we kindly ask that you check your parent portal to complete it.  Essential Assessment is a program currently seeking third-party approval for your child to use. 

Athletics

Athletics training is now in full swing this term, with students rotating each week around the athletics skills of high jump, shot put, discus, relays, and ball games. Athletic skills will be the focus for the rest of Term 2 in the lead-up to the carnival in Week 10. 

Friendly Reminders

With the weather becoming cooler, students are encouraged to wear school jumpers and jackets, especially in the mornings. Students can wear their winter uniform now; however, all students are expected to be in winter uniform after the June Long Weekend. Please ensure names are clearly labelled on all items of clothing. 

All Stage 3 students are encouraged to continue personal hygiene practices, by regularly applying roll-on deodorant throughout the day. We ask that students do not use aerosol spray deodorant, as it can trigger asthma. 

Upcoming Events

Week 7 - Monday 10 June - Public Holiday – June Long Weekend

Week 9/10 - Parent/Teacher interviews

Week 10 - NAIDOC Week Celebrations

Week 10 - Wednesday 3 July - Reports sent home 

Week 10 - Thursday 4 July - School Athletics Carnival

-Kahla May, Cody Edstein-Boyes, Emily Roworth, Dee Burns

Stage 3 Teachers

Welcome to the mid-point of term 2

Once again there are lots of exciting things happening for the rest of the term including the athletics carnival and NAIDOC week celebrations. 

At the start of the term, all our support classes moved to eating with their respective year groups! This has been a successful adjustment for our students and staff are loving how welcoming everyone is. This change gives our students opportunities to build new relationships with their peers and other teachers. We have seen some new friendships being created!!

K3N have been working hard through our new units for the term. Our focus in math is measurement and we have been investigating challenges that the pirates have along their journey. In English we have been learning about all different Australian animals and using nouns, adjectives, and verbs to describe the animals. For sport we have been focusing on our catching and throwing skills, with some of our students integrating into their year groups during this time. In the coming weeks, we will start to prepare for the athletics carnival! Healthy Harold came to Tamworth West and we loved learning about how to clean our teeth and how to eat healthy! 

-Ms Neilson

3-6R have had a super busy start to term 2. We have started our new English study of the text ‘Deadly Science – Wild Weather’ by Australian Geographic, learning all things about weather and natural disasters. This topic also allows us to complete artworks and science experiments which we will be excited to show off when completed. 

During our new science topic ‘Exploring Forces,’ we have been excitedly learning about rocket ships, space and gravity which has led us to launching our own tube rockets. This experiment allowed us to learn about how force can launch a rocket. We even got the chance to watch a livestream from SpaceX, which showed us the launching of the Starlink Mission. 

As term 2 is moving quickly, we are approaching report time. I will offer parent meetings, but if you would like to see me, you are always welcome to contact me and arrange a time to come and chat. 

-Miss Roworth

Alexis Neilson   Chris Lyon Tracey Rankmore/Hannah Roworth

K-3N                                       3-6L                                 3-6R

State Swimming Trials

Congratulations to Savannah Mills on her amazing results at the PSSA State Swimming Trials in Homebush. Savannah qualified to swim against the best swimmers in New South Wales in her age group in no less than 4 events. 

Junior Girls Butterfly - 38th – 48.00

Junior Girls Backstroke - 39th - 47.56

Junior Girls 200m Individual Medley - 36th - 3.44.42 (PB)

10 Year Girls 50m Freestyle - 40th – 41.12 

These are exceptional results, and she should be very proud. We wish Savannah well in her future Swimming endeavours.  

Zone Cross Country

Our very best long distance runners travelled to Barraba on Friday 17 May to compete at the Zone Cross Country trials. All of our students did very well and pushed themselves to the end. Congratulations to Evie Glyde who came 5th in the 11 Year Girls and to Patrick Miskle who finished 3rd in the 11 Year Boys division. Both of these students will head to Coolah for the North West Regional Cross Country Trials in June. Congratulations!

North West Rugby League

Well done to Jace Dawson and Ashar Shepherd who were both selected in the North West Open Rugby League team. The boys competed against players from all over the North West to be one of 17 players named. They will travel to Wollongong in late June to compete at the State Rugby League Carnival. 

Best of luck Jace and Ashar. 

Netball Knockout

Last Friday ten students attended the PSSA netball knockout in Tamworth. Unfortunately, it was a tough first game against Oxley Vale, but all players gave it their best effort and did not give up despite the score line. The kids played two more non-competitive games to round out the day. Congratulations to the 2024 knockout team on giving it their all and displaying fantastic teamwork and sportsmanship!