Principal's Report

Welcome back to Term 2! I hope you all had a wonderful break. This term is always quite busy, with our calendar filled with various knockout and gala sporting events. Please stay tuned for updates regarding these activities through School Bytes.

Winter Uniform

Students are encouraged to begin wearing their winter uniform at any time. We kindly ask that all students be in their winter uniform by the end of the June long weekend.

NSW Public Schools Student Survey 

In Term 2, we are offering our students the opportunity to participate in the NSW Public Schools Student Survey. The survey gives students the chance to share their thoughts and feelings about life at school, including questions about their engagement, learning experiences and wellbeing at school.

Hearing directly from our students will help us understand what’s working well and where improvements can be made to our school. The survey is confidential, takes around 10 to 15 minutes to complete, and will be conducted online during school hours.

Participation is voluntary. If you prefer your child not to participate, please complete the opt-out consent form, which will be sent home in the coming weeks, and return it to the school. Further information about the survey is available at 

 https://education.nsw.gov.au/npss

Staffing Term 2

This term, we are pleased to welcome back Mrs Sally Nuske as the Assistant Principal for Stage 3. Mrs Nuske will be working with us from Monday to Thursday, while Miss Kahla May will continue to relieve in this role on Fridays. Miss May will also maintain her teaching position with 6M, and Mrs Nuske will transition into the Learning and Support role as Mrs McInnes begins her maternity leave. We wish Mrs McInnes all the best as she prepares for the arrival of her baby and look forward to her return to Tamworth West when she is ready.

Additionally, Mrs Elissa Lalor and Mrs Georgie Burke will be stepping in for Mrs Clout in her RFF role for the remainder of the year during her maternity leave. Mr Andy Jones will be teaching 2-6P on Wednesdays, and we are excited to welcome Emily Shipton to Tamworth West as she completes her final practicum placement in 1M with Mrs Milton.

You may have noticed a new face in our administration office this term. Mrs Aleshya Gill is relieving for Dara McAuley during her extended leave, and you can expect to see Aleshya more frequently in our school in the coming terms.

Sara Spinks

Relieving Principal

What a busy and enjoyable term 1 was. In our last two weeks School Photos were taken, Olympics Unleashed was presented to the year 3-6 students, the winning house barbecue and attendance disco were held. Also, in these busy two weeks we had our Anzac Day Assembly, Easter Hat Parade and Cross Country Carnival. Once again Tamworth West students are to be congratulated on their efforts and enthusiasm. 

Now it is a welcome to term 2, also full of academic, sporting and cultural activities. Coming up in the first few weeks we have the Mother’s Day Stall and Walk Safely to School Day.

Winning House Barbecue

Parkes students celebrated their term 1 win with a sausage sizzle organised by the wellbeing team.

Walk Safely To School Day

Walk Safely to School Day will be held on Friday 16 May 2025.

This day is a great opportunity for families to walk to school together and have conversations about being a safe road user.

Here are some tips to help make walking to school a regular part of your routine:

Plan your route: Take some time to plan the safest and most convenient route to walk to school. Consider pedestrian crossings, footpaths, and traffic lights.

Set a schedule: Decide on the days and times you'll walk to school each week. Consistency is key to forming a new habit. Try to stick to your schedule as much as possible.

Safety first:

ALWAYS hold your child’s hand until they are at least 8 years old. Closely supervise them until they are at least 10 years old.

ALWAYS hold your child's hand:

• when on the footpath

• when crossing the road or

• when in a car park

Teach your child about being a safe pedestrian: This includes watching out for driveways, walking facing traffic when there are no footpaths and always Stop, Look, Listen, Think, everytime you cross the road.

Avoid distractions: Set a good example by putting your phone away. Focus on your surroundings. If you need to use your phone, stop in a safe place.

Make it fun: Keep the walks enjoyable by talking about what you see and about your day. This can help make the time go quickly and make walking to school something your child looks forward to.

Join forces: Coordinate with other families in your neighbourhood to walk to school together. Not only does this make it more fun for the kids, but it also provides additional safety in numbers.

Celebrate achievements: Celebrate achievements along the way to keep motivation high. Whether it's reaching a certain number of walks or noticing improvements in fitness, acknowledging progress can help reinforce the habit.

Practise, Practise, Practise: The more supervised pedestrian experiences your child can get the better, so they will be ready to safely travel by themselves when they are older.

Walk Safely to School Day can be the start of a new routine.

-Jo Sheedy

Deputy Principal

Here at TWPS we are excited to share updates about our ongoing Real Schools journey! Our commitment to enhancing the learning environment through positive school culture and collaborative practices is making a difference in our school community. We were fortunate to have our Real Schools facilitator, Daniel Vella, visit our school last term. He provided professional development for our staff through modelling elements of Restorative Practice in action in the classroom. It was fantastic!

The feature article this month is titled 'Eyes on the Prize’… grab a cuppa and have a read. 

School Hats

Due to a rise in production costs, the price of hats will be $18.00 as of Term 2. 

Next Meeting

Our next meeting will be held on Monday May 12 at 5:30 pm in the staffroom. New members are always welcome and there is no commitment to come to every meeting. We love seeing new faces at our meetings. 

-Laura Jahnke

P&C Vice President

Welcome to Term 2

Our menu changes now to our Winter Warmer menu. There are 5 new dishes added, all canteen made.

The daily order cut-off is 10am. If you miss this deadline, only a sandwich will be prepared for your child, rather than the intended meal. The 10am cut-off is quite generous, allowing me enough time to fulfil all orders submitted on time. Thank you for your understanding. 

Canteen Menu - WINTER 2025 [Download]

Yaama Maliyaa

Welcome back to all our families. We hope that you have had a great Easter break.

We have a busy term planned for our students with the continuation of the Yr 6 Girls Art group run by Miss Courtney on a Wednesday and the Boys Didgeridoo group run by Mr Lyon on a Thursday, now open to all year groups. If your son would like to join the group, they do not need their own didgeridoo as we have some for them to practice on.

Over the next few weeks, Dykota Hammond will be visiting each classroom to talk to our First Nations students about their PLP goals and how she can assist both them and the classroom teachers.

We are excited to announce our school's annual NAIDOC week celebrations in week 10. This year, we will have various activities both inside and outside the classrooms, culminating in an assembly on the Wednesday of that week. 

We invite any parents, relatives, or friends with special talents to come in and share with our students and staff. This could include activities such as weaving, storytelling, cooking, dancing, didgeridoo playing, or any other culturally linked skills. If you’re interested in sharing your talents, please reach out to either myself or Dykota through the front office. 

This term will also see the students that have put their names forward start to practice their dances of CAPERS. If you have any questions, could you please contact Mrs Jo Spicer through the front office.

-Courtney Lyon

First Nations Team Chairperson

High Flyers

Has your child mentioned the High Flyers rewards?

Students displaying respect, resilience and responsibility in any setting for staff, may be rewarded with a raffle ticket. Raffle tickets are then placed in a house coloured mailbox. At the weekly meet and greet, two lucky winners are announced. The winners then choose a prize from the treasure chest.

The end stub of the raffle ticket can then be saved by students and substituted for prizes, as seen in the poster below.

Dr Em once again brought some brilliant insights to The Imperfects as they discussed harmony in relationships, and how sometimes compromising our needs to keep the peace can lead to more issues. 

This is just as relevant for the parent-child dynamic, and highlights the importance of mindfulness or taking time out to look after yourself first to be able to show up better for the kids.

https://theresilienceproject.com.au/at-home/parents-2023/ (Podcast link)

Welcome to Term 2!

We are thrilled to welcome our Kindergarten students back for Term 2! We have an exciting term ahead filled with new adventures and learning opportunities.

This term, students will explore a variety of engaging topics and activities designed to spark their curiosity and creativity. We can’t wait to see their enthusiasm as they discover new things and develop their skills.

Thank you for your continued support, and here’s to a fantastic term of exploration and fun!

English

This term, we have an exciting two-week unit where our students will explore the idea of perspective using two wonderful books: Chip by Kylie Howarth and Elmer by David McKee. Throughout this unit, students will have the chance to share what they like and dislike about the characters' actions by drawing, talking, and writing. They will also express their thoughts and feelings about their favourite characters.

After that, we are focusing on expressing thoughts and ideas more clearly and creatively. Students will be learning how to organise their writing, use descriptive language, and develop their characters and settings.

We are excited to see their progress and growth in writing this term!

Maths

In the first two weeks of this term, in maths, our students will be learning about two-dimensional (2D) shapes! They will discover how to make shapes by combining them or breaking them apart. We will talk about the important features of different shapes, like triangles, circles, squares, and rectangles, and how these features help us identify each shape. 

We are excited to see how our students enjoy learning about shapes and numbers!

After that, students will learn about the idea of looking at equivalence through weight and mass. They will explore how different objects can weigh the same and what that means for balance.

Students will also discover how numbers are related to each other. They will practice adding and taking away numbers, which will help them improve their maths skills. Ooooh exciting!

Upcoming Events

Week 2 

Friday 9/5/25 – Mother’s Day Stall 

Week 3 

Monday 12/5/25 – P&C Meeting

Friday 16/5/25 - Walk Safely To School Day

Week 5

Monday 26/5/25 - National Sorry Day

Tuesday 27/5/25- Reconciliation Day

Weeks 6/7

Life Education Van

-Melinda Wilson, Jordana Cooper, Alle Wirth

Kindergarten Teachers

English

For the first few weeks, our students are diving into an exciting writing unit centred around the concept of representation. We'll explore how we depict things, people, or ideas through different forms of language, whether written or spoken.

We’ll be discussing various texts that show how ants can be represented as both imaginative characters and real-life creatures. Along the way, students will enhance their skills in using tense, prepositions, and speech.

We’re looking forward to seeing how our students express their creativity through this unit and how they understand the world around them!

After that…we will be learning about the exciting concept of context! Context helps us understand how different background knowledge and viewpoints of readers shape a text meaning.

We'll be using the wonderful mentor text A Year on Our Farm, to examine narratives and discover how various contexts can help our understanding of stories. Along the way, students will also learn important writing skills, including how to use pronouns, conjunctions, and sentence structure effectively.

This unit will also enhance their knowledge of weather, seasons, and time. We are excited to incorporate Aboriginal perspectives, especially in our discussions about seasons.

We can’t wait to see how our students engage with these concepts and share their understanding through their writing!

Maths

In the first few weeks of our mathematics lessons, our students will be exploring some exciting concepts! We'll be using balance to understand and prove when things are equal, learning to use the language of equality and record equivalence in various ways.

Additionally, we will focus on the equals sign, learning its purpose, and using equivalence to solve problems. These activities will help build a solid foundation in mathematics for all our students.

We will also be looking into data, and how to share information using pictures and charts! Students will start by collecting and organising different types of data. This will help them understand how to make sense of information. 

We are eager to see how our students engage with these concepts and grow in their mathematical understanding!

English

Year 2 will be studying a narrative in English that focuses on the concept of representation. They will study a narrative called Nian, the Chinese New Year Dragon that retells an ancient Chinese legend. Students will have the opportunity to create their own characters and write some narrative paragraphs. They will even have the opportunity to examine some Chinese artifacts that relate to the text.

Maths

In mathematics, students will develop knowledge, understanding and skills of equality. Students will have opportunities to place objects on either side of an equal-arm balance to obtain a level balance and check equivalence. They will record equivalence using concrete materials, correct vocabulary, drawings, and diagrams. They will learn how to choose efficient addition and subtraction strategies to determine if a number sentence is equal. As usual, this unit of work will involve lots of engaging, hands on activities.

-Kirrily Milton, Sam Deaves, Kathleen Harris, Chris Lyon

Stage 1 Teachers

Welcome back to Term 2. I hope that all our families have had a relaxing and enjoyable break as I know all the teachers have.

Cross Country

It was fabulous to see all the students running their little hearts out at the school cross country on the last day of term. Congratulations to all our place winners especially when they move of to Zone Cross Country on the 16th May.

Anzac Day

A big thank you to all the students and parents that turned out to march with the school for the towns ANZAC Day march. This is also extended to students that marched with different organisations in and around Tamworth.

This Term

We are looking forward to yet another jam-packed term with lots of learning and extra curricula activities. This term in literacy Year 3 will start looking at the book Wandi and Year 4 will focus on Ned Kelly and the Green Sash. All classes will be learning about sustainability in geography and Survival of Living Things in science. This term we will also start to practice our field event skills ready for the Athletic Carnival next term.

Stage 2 Excursion

For those students attending the excursion later in the year, final prices and the schedule are being finalised and will be sent home shortly. Remember you are able to start paying instalments at any time. If you have any questions, please contact the front office and they will direct you to the correct staff member.

As always, thank you to our families for the fabulous support they give our staff.

Welcome back to Term 2! We hope you had a safe and happy school holiday and are refreshed and ready for a busy and fun Term 2!

A Message from Mrs Nuske

After a year at home with my little ones, I am very excited to be back at Tamworth West and am really looking forward to working with the amazing teachers and children in Years 5 and 6. We have a really exciting term ahead of us. I am working Mondays- Thursdays as the Stage 3 assistant principal and Miss May will continue as Stage 3 Assistant Principal on Fridays. I thank Miss May for all of the amazing work that she has done leading the Stage in Term 1.

ANZAC Day

On the 25th of April, Tamworth West students represented our school with immense pride at the ANZAC Day march and ceremony. Some of our students marched with other organisations such as the Scouts, while other students marched in different places around Tamworth, including Kootingal. Regardless of where they marched, and who they marched with, we are still proud of their amazing efforts! Well done and thank you to Myles Carrigan, Jacob and Zach Luchetti, Lilly Morrison, Kadence Nebauer, Isabel, Brooklyn and Harry Unger, Leon White, Ryder Wise, Saphira-Lee Cooper, Savannah Rekstad, Maddison Tyack, Christopher Williams, Ava Crompton, Rhys Leahy, Hunter Moore, Zac Beecham, Susannah Cantrill, Scott Hawkins, Eddie Penfold, Lilly Potter, Maketana Sayabath and Max Staines. Thank you also to our four captains, Stella Fielding, Keiane Lingat, Emily Vesey and Kasch Lockery who attended the march and then went on to the Commemoration Ceremony with Mrs Spinks to represent our school and lay a wreath on our behalf. 

Cross Country

At the end of Term 1, Stage 3 students had a blast at the school’s Cross Country Carnival. The weather was beautiful, and the students enjoyed running the course, participating in a series of different skilled games, and a sausage sizzle lunch. All students display our PBL values of Respect, Resilience, and Responsibility during the carnival, while also showing a great deal of persistence to complete the long course to the best of their ability.  Congratulations and good luck to those students moving onto the next stage, the Zone Carnival, and well done to all Stage 3 students for a great Cross Country Carnival! 

Sport

Term 2 sports day will continue to be held on Wednesdays this term, with a focus on learning and improving our athletics skills, ready for the upcoming Athletics Carnival. These skills will include high jump, discus, shotput, ball games, and relay running. The Athletics Carnival will be held on Thursday of Week 10. 

Sport

Term 2 sports day will continue to be held on Wednesdays this term, with a focus on learning and improving our Athletics skills, ready for the upcoming Athletics Carnival. These skills will include high jump, discus, shotput, ball games, and relay running. The Athletics Carnival will be held on Thursday of Week 2 in Term 3. 

Canberra Excursion

Thank you to the families who responded to the Expression of Interest for the Canberra excursion, we have had a great response to the excursion and can’t wait for Term 3.

We are currently in the processing the final details of the itinerary and costings and will be communicating it all on SchoolBytes as soon as possible.

Upcoming Events

Week 2 

Friday 9/5/25 – Mother’s Day Stall 

Week 3 

Monday 12/5/25 – P&C Meeting

Friday – 5B assembly 

Week 5

Monday 26/5/25 - National Sorry Day

Tuesday 27/5/25- Reconciliation Day

Friday - 5R assembly 

Weeks 6/7

Life Education Van

-Kahla May, Grace Firth-Panetta, Emily Roworth, Dee Burns

Stage 3 Teachers

Welcome to Term 2! I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing break. 

Maths

For the first five weeks in maths, we are learning about patterns, and our number talks will focus on "trusting the count." This concept helps students understand and believe that when they count a collection of objects, the final number they reach is accurate and remains the same, regardless of how the objects are arranged or the order in which they count. It’s about having a solid grasp of number meaning and being able to apply that understanding to counting tasks.

English

In English, we are focusing on narratives for the first five weeks. We will be using the texts We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, and Alexander’s Outing by Pamela Allen to explore narrative features such as character, setting, and plot. Students will have the opportunity to engage in storytelling activities, where they can create their own narratives inspired by these texts. We will also be practicing our writing skills by crafting our own stories, using descriptive language and illustrations to bring our ideas to life.

Sport

For sport, we will be learning a new sport—boccia—for the first few weeks. Boccia is a precision ball sport that is similar to bocce and is designed for athletes with physical disabilities. The aim of the game is to throw or roll balls as close as possible to a target ball, known as the jack. It helps develop coordination, teamwork, and strategy, and is a fun way for students to engage in physical activity. We will focus on the rules of the game, developing our throwing skills, and working together as a team.

English

This term, 2-6P will embark on an exciting new English unit focused on the concepts of genre, perspective, and context. We will immerse ourselves in a selection of high-quality literature with a captivating space theme, which I am confident the students will thoroughly enjoy.

Maths

In mathematics, we will continue to enhance our additive thinking skills while exploring essential concepts such as place value, multiplication, chance, position, and the characteristics of 2D and 3D space.

We are eager to continue our growth and learning journey this term!

Welcome back to everyone and what an exciting term we have ahead of us. We look forward to learning and working in Space for the next 10 weeks.

English

Yes, SPACE! We are reading an English text all about the Solar System and will be explore the planets. As you can see the classroom has been turned into the solar system and is awaiting all the student astronauts. 

Creative Arts

We will be completing our clay dragons in week one and they will come home when they are dry. The students have done an amazing job and should be congratulated on their efforts.

This terms Creative Arts will be music and we will be playing recorders. As stated in the information note recorders are provided for all children, however, if you wish to send in a recorder for your child please do so.

As always, please feel free to contact me through the front office, on the school mobile 0439 448 376, or pop in to say hi.

Rugby League Zone Trials

Last term, several of our students participated in the Open and 11-Year-Old Zone Rugby League trials. We extend our congratulations to Kasch Lockrey, who has been selected for the Tamworth Zone team! Kasch will represent our school at the Regional Trials on Monday, May 5th. Best of luck, Kasch!

School Cross Country

The last day of Term 1 marked a fantastic occasion as we held our annual Cross Country Carnival. With the sun shining and warm weather, it was a perfect day for our event. A special thank you goes to Amy Reading for organising the sausage sizzle and providing delicious food for our students and community members. We also appreciate the support from Tamworth High School, whose students volunteered to assist on the Cross Country Course.

The carnival was a resounding success, with all our students putting forth their best efforts. In addition to the races, students enjoyed a variety of organised activities during their downtime between the 2km and 3km courses.

We are proud to announce the following students who finished in the top 4 and have qualified for the Zone Cross Country Trials, taking place in Barraba on Friday, May 16th. We look forward to seeing their performance at the next level. Well done to all our participants. 

8/9 Year Boys

1st Oliver Stackpoole

2nd Joey Macguire

3rd Zach Murray

4th Micheal Williams

8/9 Year Girls

1st Charlotte Dawson

2nd Mackenzie Hammond

3rd Paige Brown 

4th Charlotte Vesey

10 Year Boys

1st Phoenix Staines

2nd Archer Fulwood

3rd Theodore Tang

4th Kaiden Corbett

10 Year Girls

1st Lexi Crump

2nd Eva-Rose Furney

3rd Stacy Taylor

4th Ahria Taylor

11 Year Boys

1st Jaxon Murray

2nd Blayze Randall

3rd Zach Luchetti

3rd Christopher Williams

11 Year Girls

1st Brooklyn Unger

2nd Maddison Tyack

3rd Brooklyn-Grace Furney

4th Savannah Rekstad

12 Year Boys

1st Patrick Miskle

2nd Carter Radford

3rd Jordan Fulwood

4th Kasch Lockrey

12 Year Girls

1st Evie Glyde

2nd Emily Vesey

3rd Scarlet Stewart

4th Airlee Syron

Teaching and Learning Focus:  

It’s great to see students return to school, getting back into the swing of things after a well-earned break!

Term 1 was certainly a busy one. Our Year 3 and 5 students participated in NAPLAN in weeks 7-9. This involved sitting assessments for reading, writing, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. 

We are very well resourced to deliver online testing here at Tamworth West Public School. There are plenty of laptops and headphones to call on when needed.  

Well done to all the students for demonstrating a mature approach during the testing period. A big thumbs up to our hardworking Year 3 and 5 teachers who facilitated the sessions under the strict protocols required. 

We look forward to getting our student results as soon as they are available. Parents will receive individual student reports in early Term 3.