Tamworth West Public School

Our stage 2 students have visited Sydney, our Kindergarten 2024 transition program is well-underway, all stages have been involved in cultural excursions to Trelawney Station, a significant number of students are busy preparing for CAPERS 2023, and we actually got to start our Year 3-6 swimming program. Last week we celebrated our school’s 140th birthday, Grandparents’ Day and World Teachers’ Day.

Moving forward, our Year 3-6 swimming program will continue – albeit reduced in the number of sessions we can run, our students will participate in CAPERS 2023 (with many attending the matinee performance as audience members), our Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 students will continue their gymnastics program, our Year 6 students will attend the Stand Tall session, we will officially open our Yarning Circle, our Year 5 students will be involved in elections for students leadership positions for 2024, all classes will prepare for our annual presentation day items, and our infamous West Factor will make a long-awaited return.

There is never a dull moment at Tamworth West Public School. We will all be ready for the holidays at the end of the school year!

CAPERS 2023

The theme for CAPERS 2023 is 'Looking forward Looking back' and performances will be held on the evenings of Friday 10 November and Saturday 11 November 2023 at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre. Tickets are available in person or online at entertainmentvenues.com.au.

Thank you to the families who have returned permission notes and money for students to attend the matinee performance of CAPERS 2023 on Friday 10 November. I am certain students will be well-entertained and enjoy supporting their peers as they perform.

2023 Presentation Day

Our annual presentation day will commence at 10:30 am on Friday 8 December 2023 at the Tamworth Town Hall. Families and friends are welcome to attend, with further information being sent home closer to the date.

Carols by Candlelight

Please keep the evening of Wednesday 6 December 2023 free so you can attend our Carols by Candlelight in our school playground. This has become one of the nicest family events on our calendar. I hope you are able to make it!

Revised Student Behaviour Policy

The NSW Department of Education is introducing a revised Student Behaviour Policy and new Suspension and Expulsion Procedures , from Term 1, 2024.

The policy and procedures support an inclusive and safe learning environment for your child, staff and every child in NSW public schools.

With the revisions to the policy, we now have clarity and consistency of how we manage disruptive and challenging student behaviour in the classroom, so our teachers can teach, and our students can learn.

The guidelines allow us to work closer together with you to support your child to behave positively and respectfully and when developing individual plans with clear expectations, so they can achieve their best.

We have many practices in place to help our students engage respectfully with each other and their learning. You can find out more about these and advice and support strategies to help you work with their us to achieve positive outcomes for your child through the department’s Behaviour Support Toolkit.

Violence in our schools is never acceptable. Suspension is a critical safeguard for ensuring the safety of our students, teachers and staff.

You can read a preview of the policy and procedures on the department website.

The staff and I are reviewing our current approach in line with the revised policy and procedures and will share any changes we believe need to be made with you from Term 1 2024.

Parents and carers play an important role in the school community. We will continue to engage and communicate with you around our School Behaviour Support and Management Plan that outlines our school processes and practices moving forward.

Our school already takes a strong, positive, student-centred approach, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with you and all our families to maintaining a safe learning environment so our students can thrive.

Selective High School applications for Year 7 2025

Selective high schools are specifically designed to provide optimal learning conditions that will make a difference in supporting the development of academic talent and the wellbeing of high potential and gifted students. 

These schools help students learn by grouping them with students of similar ability and by using specialised evidence-based teaching methods to allow students to move through the curriculum at a faster pace and explore concepts in greater depth and with greater complexity.

Research demonstrates that, in addition to providing academic benefits, grouping high potential and gifted students together is also good for students’ emotional wellbeing. Most students in selective high schools report higher levels of satisfaction from learning with, and being friends with, like-minded students.

Selective high schools are unzoned so parents can apply regardless of where they live.

Please find information for applicants and the application process following…

Information_for_applicants-SHS_Year_7_Entry.pdf

Applying_for_selective_education.pdf

Early departure from school

If you need to collect your child during school hours, we ask that you contact the front office on 67658316 prior to arrival at the school. This will give our friendly office staff time to arrange for your child to come to the front office for collection. We thank you in anticipation of your help with this.

Planned travel and school holidays

As we head into the end of the school year, it remains important that your child attends school every single day. Being at school is the best place for students to learn as well as to keep social connections and build life-long skills. 

We understand that families are eager to see and reconnect with loved ones and take a well-deserved break, but please remember that planned travel should only be taken during scheduled school holidays.  

Students should be at school every day during school terms, including until the end of term, unless they are sick or are absent for a justified reason.

Missing a day here or there may not seem like much, but absences add up and can negatively impact your child's learning and wellbeing. When your child misses one day a week, that’s 40 days of school and 8 weeks of learning in one year. Over an entire school journey this adds up to 2.5 years of lost learning.

We want to do everything we can to help all students be at school every single day, because every day counts. If you have any concerns or questions please talk to me, the front office staff or your class teacher. 

Last day of Term 4 is Friday 15 December 2023

As we near the end of the year, I want to thank you for your ongoing support and confirm that the last day of Term 4 classes will be Friday 15 December 2023. This is due to an additional school development day announced for staff across NSW public schools.

School development days allow our staff to participate in professional learning and plan ahead for 2024 to ensure we meet the needs of our students.

We ask that you arrange alternative care for your child from Monday 18 December.

You can find local vacation care services for your child via the Before and After Care School Finder.

I trust you have an awesome November and that you get a little bit of spare time to prepare for the Jolly Season. After all, it’s only 54 sleeps until Christmas!

Terrie Kay

Principal

From the Deputy

Parent Survey – Closes Friday 3 November

The Tell Them From Me surveys provide schools with student, teacher and parent perspectives about the engagement and wellbeing of their students. This information is valuable to schools and can be used to identify strengths and successes, as well as areas to target for improvement.

At Tamworth West Public School, we value parent feedback and hope that you will take this opportunity to participate in the Tell Them From Me survey. It should only take 5 to 10 minutes and will assist us in planning an exciting and engaging environment school.

The link below will take you straight to the survey so you can complete before Friday 3 November.

We thank you in anticipation for your support.

Tell Them From Me Survey [link]

As the year draws to a close, we still have so much to achieve in student wellbeing. Our staff are busily working behind the scenes to organise the last of our attendance voucher days, the winning house BBQ and the biggest event of the year, Rainbow Day!

Classes are continuing to have a weekly focus on wellbeing through The Resilience Project, which I am pleased to announce we will be continuing in 2024. Our staff are committed to enhancing the wellbeing of all students at Tamworth West, and value the effectiveness of the program. The Wellbeing Team are planning Wellbeing Wednesdays in 2024, where a variety of activities will be run by staff during the breaks for any student who wishes to participate.

-Sara Spinks

Deputy Principal

Aboriginal Education TEAM

Yaama,

Last week saw our students and families venture out to Trelawney Station for our cultural excursions. Activities included, painting with local artist Tess Herden, boomerang throwing, traditional Indigenous games and bush tucker tasting - along with stories and information about culture told by Uncle Lenny Waters. Our Kindergarten and Stage 1 students also participated in Indigenous dance. It was wonderful to have so many families attend and share these experiences with us. I would also like to thank all staff involved in making these excursions a success.

We have a group of dedicated Indigenous dancers that that will be performing at CAPERS on 10 and 11 November at the TRECC. It is fantastic to see these students give up their time to represent their school and culture at this event.

I will be looking for more dancers to perform for Presentation Day. We are hoping to have students from all stages represented in this performance.

At 3:30 pm on Thursday 30 November (week 8), we will be officially opening our Yarning Circle. An invite will go home on Monday 9 November. To assist with catering we ask that you RSVP your attendance at this event, with numbers, by 20 November. We are really hoping you will be able to join us.

Yaluu,

Joanne Spicer

Aboriginal Language (Gamilaraay) Teacher

P&C

Christmas Carols

Our P&C is busy organising our annual Christmas Carols evening. It will be on Wednesday 6 December. There will be a sausage sizzle and drinks for sale, games and other entertainment. Keep an eye out for more information soon.

Next Meeting

Our next meeting will be on Monday 13 November at 5:30pm in the staff room. New members are always welcome.

Canteen

Canteen Menu [Download]

PBL

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

Early Stage 1

The first four weeks of term four have been extremely busy and full of wonderful new experiences for our kindergarten students. This will continue throughout this term with CAPERS, Rainbow Day, Carols by Candlelight, Presentation Day and our end-of-year class party to the movies. Further information about these upcoming events will be sent out as the event approaches.

Buddy Reading

Each fortnight, Stage 3 students have been walking up to our kinder classrooms to support our reading program. The goal is to develop confidence, fluency and comprehension when reading. The stage 3 students will either read to a kinder student or listen to them read a decodable reader.

Science

In Science this term, we are learning about the Weather and Seasons. As part of the unit, students have been given the independent task of building a shelter for a teddy bear. The shelter must be able to withstand the elements of sun, rain and wind. All of kinder have enjoyed being creative and presenting a short talk about their shelter.

Gymnastics

This term kindergarten began gymnastics with Mr McGinnity. The students have been learning a range of new skills. These skills include log rolls, forward rolls, motorbike holds, backward movements, two-foot jumps, balancing on beams and completing tasks to build core strength. Students have also been completing obstacle courses, which have addressed the fundamental skills of balancing, flexibility, coordination and agility.

Grandparents Day

Thank you to all the grandparents and parents who attended the school’s Grandparents' Day assembly and open classrooms. Our kindergarten students loved welcoming their families into the classroom, showing them their school books and artworks, playing games and learning more about the school by participating in the TWPS scavenger hunt.

Trelawney Station

Thank you to the families who supported the day and came out to be part of this cultural experience. It was a huge day, which allowed students to experience a small part of our First Nations culture. Students experienced bush tucker tasting, traditional stories and dancing, painting, and traditional Indigenous games. Thank you to all the staff who helped organise this wonderful event.

Welcome Miss Walker

KV has given a warm welcome to Miss Alexa Walker to our classroom. Miss Walker will be completing her prac placement in kindergarten for the next 4 weeks. She is a third-year student at the University of Newcastle and is currently working at a high school as a member of the SLSO team. We are very excited to have Miss Walker on board in KV.

Coming Up

CAPERS: Friday 10 November
Rainbow Day: Friday 24 November
Carols by Candlelight: Wednesday 6 December
Presentation Day practice: Thursday 7 December
Presentation Day: Friday 8 December
Kindergarten’s class party - movies – Wednesday 13 December

Stage 1

YEAR 1

Grandparents' Day + 140th Celebrations

Thank you so much for all grandparents, parents, friends and carers who were able to join us in our celebrations. Our students were super excited to go on the adventurous Scavenger Hunt. We discussed the exciting historical sites around our local environment within our school.

Throughout our 140th birthday celebrations, our classes have been able to look at a variety of historical resources within our school such as ‘old’ cookbooks written by students who attended TWPS and we got to see how our school uniforms have changed over time. We celebrated with a groovy disco and some yummy cake. 😊

Trelawney Station Excursion

Our cultural excursion to Trelawney Station was a great success. Students were involved in cultural activities that included; Aboriginal painting, eating bush tucker, traditional Indigenous games and Dreamtime stories through traditional dance. Thank you to all parents and carers who were able to join us. There are many photos in our newsletter to show the fun we had.

Writing

In our writing, we have been discussing how emotive language and images are used to evoke feelings and emotions. Year 1 have written stories with emotive language and have added illustrations to help the reader feel what the authors intended.

Reading

Our reading in Year 1 is amazing. Students are using their strong knowledge of decoding to progress their reading skills. Please keep sending in Home Reading diaries, as we still have a few weeks left yet! 😊

We are looking forward to a busy time ahead as we move forward to the end of the term.

YEAR 2

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

English

Students have been writing similes and metaphors to enhance writing. They help bring imagery into our texts. They have also been writing character descriptions using noun and verb groups.

Similes

Ruby Lee is as brave as a bird. - Armani

Ruby Lee is as brave as a lion hunting for food. -Harriet

Ruby Lee’s hair is like a rose. -Evalyn

Zim was shy as a cat. -Eliott

Metaphors

The wind is dancing in space. -Mia

Ruby Lee is a quiet sloth. -Lucy

Character Descriptions

Jarod usually feels bad like soccer players when they lose the soccer match. One of his favourite things to do is…fishing! Jarod is always gentle around little kids. At school Jarod likes to play soccer with his friends and every Saturday night he likes to go spotlighting with his dad. -Benjamin

Jake is smart and likes to look at the moon. He is a lonely kid but his sister makes him happy. When Jake sits on his rock he gets cold. He feels upset sometimes. He loves hugging. -Austin

Tony is a mean and silly boy. He gets in trouble with his Mum and Dad too much that he left home. -Tom

Sam is alone without people and he has no friends to play with and he is alone without anybody. -Preston

The Demon has razor sharp claws and a strong powerful tail. He has big black eyes with long scary arms.

He likes flesh to eat. -Taylor

Year 2 have been learning about procedure writing. They participated in a cooking demonstration that showed how to make Berry Easy Pancakes. Afterwards, they got to taste the pancakes. Afterwards, they planned and wrote a procedure explaining how to make the delicious pancakes.

Mathematics

Year 2 continues to enjoy the variety of activities contained in our new mathematics units of work. Some of our learning has been focused on repeating patterns and increasing and decreasing number patterns. We did some learning around directions and even used walkie talkies to direct our friends around the school. We even invented our own maths game, wrote the instructions and then taught our classmates how to play.

History

Our history units this term involves students looking at artifacts from our school’s past as well as exploring changes in technology over the years. Students will also learn about significant historical sites and people from our local area.

Sport

Year 2 have begun our gymnastics program this term. Some students have taken the opportunity to coaching by qualified visiting coaches each week. The remainder of students are undertaking activities such as static balance, balancing whilst moving and moving in, around, under and through obstacle courses.

Drama

We played several drama games last term, our favourite being the mirror game. It was fun but hard work at the same time.

Birthday celebrations and Trelawney Excursion

Year 2 really enjoyed the activities offered to celebrate our school’s 140th birthday. They danced up a storm at the disco and loved playing the old fashioned school games. The cultural excursion to Trelawney was a fabulous way to end a week of celebrations.

Welcome Miss Harris (prac student)

2H welcomes a student from the University of Newcastle who is undertaking a four week placement. Miss Harris is excited to be joining our class and we hope it will not be too confusing to have two Miss Harris’ in the classroom!

-Stage 1 Teachers

Stage 2

Stage 2 have had a very busy and wonderful start to term 4. So many wonderful things have happened that started our term as well as a lot of fantastic events still to come.

English

This term in English we are focusing on different types of poetry and their structure. Some examples included, acrostic, haiku, diamante, limericks and cinquain. The students have done an AMAZING job of recognising and writing the different types of poetry. What is your child’s favourite type of poetry?

Check In Assessments

Our stage 2 students have been completing Check-in assessments in the last few weeks. Check-in assessments are online assessment for students in years 3 to 9. They are mapped to the NSW Syllabuses and National Literacy and Numeracy Learning Progressions. There are two assessments:

Reading
Numeracy

Each assessment is designed to be quick and easy to administer, consisting of between 40 to 50 multiple choice questions. Schools can access feedback soon after the completion of the assessment which assists the school and teachers on areas to focus on and areas of growth.

Sydney Excursion

In week 2, we saw 84 of our stage 2 students bravely head off to Sydney for three days. For a lot of these students, it was their first major overnight excursion and although there were some nerves, they overcame their worries and had a great time. It was a jam-packed couple of days, full of exciting experiences for the students. The students learnt so much while visiting The Rocks, Hyde Park Barracks, The Australian Museum and The Sydney Museum. Our school was given a glowing compliment on both our behaviour and their impressive ability to participate and share their knowledge when visiting The Sydney Museum. Taronga Zoo, Sydney Tower and the ferry ride were exciting experiences and ones that will be remembered for a long time to come.

Trelawney Station

In week 3, we had a terrific day at Trelawney Station, learning about Aboriginal Culture. Our Aboriginal Education Committee did a great job organising exciting activities for us to do. The students participated in cultural painting, traditional Indigenous games, bush tucker lessons and boomerang throwing. A huge thankyou to our parents who got involved throughout the day, it was great to have you there. Shout out to the flies, for their overwhelming turn out, you won’t be missed.

CAPERS

This term, stage 2 have been dedicating their lunch times to rehearse for our upcoming CAPERS performances commencing on 10 November. CAPERS is such a large event that requires a lot of hard work and organisation and students are commended on their commitment over the last term. We cannot wait to see your amazing talent shine on the big stage. A HUGE thank you to Mrs Lyon, Miss Rivenell and their team of helpers who are helping to make CAPERS happen for our students. Break a leg!

Presentation Day

Presentation Day will soon be upon us! Year 3 and 4 are deep in organisation to entertain you at the end of the year. Watch this space...

Hot Weather

It is beginning to warm up quite a bit, it is important that students move into summer uniform to ensure they are comfortable and don’t overheat. Our school uniform consist of:

Girls – white polo and navy skort or summer dress
Boys – grey shorts and blue polo
White socks (not multi-coloured or coloured socks)
Black school shoes

It is also important that students have hats, so they are protected and safe from the sun. Our school policy is No Hat – Play in the Shade. Our designated shade areas include the COLA, Hall COLA and sandpit area. Students also need their hat for sport which is on Wednesday mornings to comply with the sunsafe policy.

As it is warming up, it is essential that students are coming to school with a water bottle to ensure they are staying hydrated and healthy. Please make sure your child has a water bottle to assist us.

Upcoming events for this term:

- Remembrance Day: 11 November
- CAPERS: Friday 10 November and Saturday 11 November
- Rainbow Day: Friday 24 November (more information to follow)
- Carols by candlelight: Wednesday 6 December (more information to come)
- Presentation Day practice: Thursday 7 December
- Presentation Day: Friday 8 December (more information to come)
- Year 6 graduation assembly: Monday 11 December
- Class party (Movies) – Wednesday 13 December (more information to come)
- Last day of school: Friday 15 December

Thank you to all our families and staff that support our students so well.

-Stage 2 Teachers

Stage 3

Welcome back to Term 4. We have a very exciting and busy term ahead for Stage 3 and have hit the ground running both in the classroom and with extra activities such as 140th Birthday celebrations, Year 6 high school transitions, cultural excursions and school swimming. We are looking forward to a fun term ahead.

Trelawney Excursion

It was great to have so many students from stage 3 attend the cultural excursion to Trelawney Station in week 3. The students were able to participate in a variety of activities including; TIG games – traditional Indigenous games, boomerang throwing, painting, storytelling with Lenny Waters and tasting kangaroo rissoles and damper with honey. It was brilliant to have some families attend and enjoy a well-earned sausage sandwich and drink with their children.

Grandparents' Day

Another exceptionally well supported event! Our stage 3 leaders welcomed visitors, young and old at the various entrance points throughout the school. It was standing room only in the hall and some fabulous poems and items were presented by our stage 3 students. The Scavenger Hunt certainly kept families occupied, thanks to everyone who attended and was able to have a picnic lunch and play some old school yard games at the end of the day.

Didgeridoo Program

Job Link Plus is currently running a program for Indigenous boys to develop cultural awareness, improve school engagement and create positive relationships. The 11 boys chosen from stage 3 are making their own didgeridoo over the next 6 weeks. Every Monday the 11 boys attend the Byrnes St workshop with Mr E, Mr Lyon and Mr Taylor. The boys have all recognised playing the didgeridoo as a Personalised Learning Pathways goal and making their own didgeridoo will support their goal. We look forward to seeing their completed didgeridoo in Week 9.

Swimming & School Sport

Last week we started our term 4 sporting groups which was very exciting. We took roughly 120 students from stages 2 and 3 to the pool and it was such a nice morning. The students were all well behaved, engaged in their swimming activities and from all accounts, the water was beautiful! Students who stayed back at school got to participate in different sporting activities such as yoga, dance, football and ping pong. These sporting groups will run again in week 5 and week 9 so if your child is going swimming, please ensure swimmers, towels, sunscreen etc is packed with them on these days.

High School Transitions

High school transition days are in full swing, and it has been a great opportunity for our year 6 students to experience their future high schools with their peers. There are still several taster days and orientation days coming up this term so please make notes that are returned prior to upcoming taster/ orientation days. We also have an upcoming taster day for our year 5 students to let them experience high school. They do not have to be attending Peel High to attend this taster day, it is just a great opportunity for them to experience high school before starting their year 6 journey.

Upcoming high school taster and orientation day dates

Tamworth High School

28/11/23 (Week 8)- Orientation Day

Peel High School

08/11/23 (Week 5)- Year 6 Taster Day

22/11/23 (Week 7)- Year 5 Taster Day (for all Year 5 students)

28/11/23 (Week 8)- Orientation Day

Oxley High School

16/11/23 (Week 6)- Year 6 Taster Day

28/11/23 (Week 8)- Orientation Day

In the Classroom

We have a busy but exciting term of learning in stage 3 to end the year. In English, we are working on persuasive writing and it is great to see the students giving their strong opinions on topics. We are currently working hard on fractions in Math and are continuing with our experiments for Science. Stage 3 are currently working on music in CAPA and are loving experimenting with different instruments. A number of classes have started researching topics of interest for their ‘passion projects’ and it is great to see the students so engaged in learning more about their chosen topics.

Uniform Reminder

Please remember that sport day for stage 3 has changed to Wednesday this term. Could we please also remind students about correct uniform, including appropriate length of uniforms such as shorts and skirts?

Year 6 Formal

We are very excited that the planning and organisation for our upcoming year 6 formal on December 5 is underway. The students met a few weeks ago and voted on the theme of ‘Red Carpet’. It will be an amazing night and we can’t wait to celebrate the completion of their schooling at Tamworth West with all of our year 6 students. Please ensure students return the note and money for the farewell to the front office by Monday 20 November.

-Mrs Nuske, Mrs Milton and the Stage 3 staff

Special Education

Welcome to term 4 and what a busy time it's going to be for our students! They have all worked hard on their learning in term 3 and we are looking forward to a productive term 4.

This term our stage 2 students enjoyed their excursion to Sydney and should be congratulated for their outstanding behaviour during the entire trip! Well done.

Sydney Excursion

As our students arrived in Sydney, they were amazed by travelling through the North Connects tunnel. The sounds of discussion about what they were seeing echoed up and down the length of the bus. Of course, this was quickly followed by stunned gasps as they drove onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Luckily the windows in buses don’t roll down because the students would have hung out them to see more if they could.

After arriving the weather became a little rainy, but our students bravely took to the streets exploring The Rocks, travelling back in time and getting an up-close look at the Sydney of the past that they have been studying.

Next, we headed up the Sydney Eye/Tower. This was an interesting experience for Mr Lyon as he had to accompany students in the 45 second elevator ride up, then return for the next group, ferrying groups between the teachers at the top and bottom of the tower. Once at the top students were awestruck and quickly pointed out major features of the city around them.

At the end of our day, we travelled to the accommodation, with beach and ocean views, to unpack and settle into our rooms. The accommodation featured some very quiet, wild rabbits, turkeys and magpies that would watch the students as the excitement of sharing with their friends turned to exhaustion from the first day.

Day 2 – The students had breakfast and off we went again. After a quick walk across the Harbour Bridge, Bus 1 and 2 parted company as they had itineraries that were the reverse of each other. Mr Lyon’s and Ms Bagshaw’s bus started at the Sydney Museum, looking at how the land had changed (as we had in class), examining models of the first fleet and learning how the local Aboriginal peoples (The Gadigal peoples) used and managed the land.

After the museum we stopped for a quick lunch at Mrs Macquarie’s chair. Both buses met here, and stories were swapped. This is where “Bob the bin chicken” made himself known. Bob like Mrs Spink’s lunch. Bob decided he liked it more than Mrs Spinks. Bob the bin chicken was not nice! The students however found Bob very amusing.

After lunch we went to Hyde Park Barracks. Students made their own cells out of convict made bricks. We toured the convict made building itself and examined artifacts that had been discovered (including those hoarded by rats in the floorboards, things like buttons, cloth and bones), as well as snored and groaned away in the hammocks used by the convicts for sleeping.

Next stop of the day required a quick walk past Saint Mary’s Cathedral, to the Australian museum. 83 Students split into 3 groups and toured the museum’s multiple floors and displays. Foremost in their minds was the lolly reward offered by Mrs Lyon for information relating to the Muttaburrasaurus. The task was to tell her who had discovered it. Mr Lyon refused to help the students cheat but happily led his group to the feet of the dinosaur. Students expressed wonder at the size of so many of the animals on display as they were so much larger than they had thought.

The second day finished off with a movie and some popcorn after dinner.

The final day kicked off early with breakfast and packing. Once we had eaten, we climbed aboard the bus and headed to the Taronga Park Zoo. On our arrival the zoo was still 20 minutes from its opening time, so we sat outside and the students ate their fruit break.

At this point “Brenda the bush turkey” arrived. Brenda likes apples. Brenda liked Kailen’s apple. Brenda was naughty and ran away with Kailen’s apple.

We spent the morning wandering the zoo in 3 groups and all arrived at the seal enclosure in time to watch the show. What a wonderful show it was. Some students were wet by the seals during the show which caused much excitement. After a not so quick visit to the zoo shop, it was time to board the buses and begin the trek home.

We would like to thank Ms Bagshaw for all the work she put in to planning the excursion and for making it so much fun for our students. We would also like to thank Mr Lyon who travelled with the students for 3-6L and K-4M, and Mrs Spinks, Mrs Lyon, Miss Rivernell and Mrs Luchetti for everything they did to make the excursion the wonderful success that it was. Thank you!

K-4M

We will present the K-2 assembly on Friday, Week 6. The students are practising their item, which we’re sure you will enjoy!

140th Birthday Celebrations & Grandparents' Day

What a great week 3 we’ve had! The students enjoyed the 140th birthday celebrations, Grandparents' Day and our cultural excursions.

It was so much fun playing the old-fashioned school yard games, Jenga and Tic Tac Toe were the favourites for K-4M.

Thank you to all the grandparents who came along to celebrate ‘Grandparents' Day’. It was a fabulous day, and it was great to celebrate it together.

In the Classroom

In English this term, we have been learning about life on a farm and how the seasons play an important part on growing crops.

In STEM, we had lots of fun making a pom pom catapult using a paper cup and a balloon. We were able to use our measuring skills to see who could get their pom pom the furthest once they were done. We are continuing to explore the properties of materials and their uses and investigating the effects of mixing materials together. We are going to be cooking some Christmas treats soon and doing some fun experiments.

3-6L

I would like to thank Ms Burns for spending the 3 days of the excursion working with 3-6L. The students had a wonderful time both away and at school learning about Sydney and its special locations.

Our Trelawney Station excursion in week 3 was fantastic. Our class threw boomerangs, painted, cooked and played traditional games.

Grandparents' Day and the 140th birthday celebrations were also fantastic and we would like to thank everyone who shared the day with us.

We have so many events coming up this term and it will be very busy. CAPERS is almost here and lurking behind it is Presentation Day, the year six formal and then Christmas. We will continue to work hard and practise all our skills we have been learning but we will be having a lot of fun along the way.

5-6T

Whoosh! Hear that? That is the sound of term 4 whizzing past! It may only be week 4 but we have packed in a large amount of learning and fun already this term. We have joined in with the other students in years 5 and 6 to start practising our items for Presentation Day and we are enjoying showing off our musical abilities (except for Mrs Taber who is still trying to master the tambourine!) While we are talking about the end of the year and beyond, our year 6’s have started transitioning to High School with the commencement of Taster Days as part of transition. It has been fabulous to hear our students come back excited to start this new chapter of their lives.

Other exciting events have been our humongous week 3 visit to Trelawney Station, commencement of swimming, 140th school birthday celebrations and spending a fun filled day with our grandparents. Trelawney Station was a very informative and enjoyable day learning, tasting, playing, painting and celebrating Indigenous culture. We loved hearing Dreamtime stories and tasting some kangaroo meatballs and damper with honey. A big thank you must go to our Aboriginal Education Team for their tremendous effort for organising a fantastic day. On the subject of appreciative thank yous, another thank you must go to our grandparents who visited us on Thursday. We had a lovely time meeting you all, hearing your stories, showing you our work and had a very competitive game of Bingo!

We wish everyone a very happy Term 4.

Chris Lyon Kylie Taber Linda McEnerny

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

CREATIVE ARTS

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Students have explored how to draw a one-point perspective skyscraper city. This was challenging, however, the students persisted and created some great illusions. We explored how to make a simple castle and, using a variety of coloured shapes, make a haunted house. All stage 2 students have worked extremely hard, and I am delighted with their achievements.

Sports Report

Baseball

On the October long weekend, three students from our school, Cooper Faulkner, Emily Vesey and Charlotte Vesey, represented Tamworth at the Junior Baseball Country Championships in Coffs Harbour. Despite most of the team never having played baseball before, they went into the weekend super excited and ready to give it their best shot. Over the three days they played in a round robin style carnival against Newcastle and Illawarra teams.

Cooper, being one of the senior members of the team, had a great carnival taking some amazing catches (being awarded MVP for one of the matches with back-to-back outs at first base), a few big hits, some good runs and put in a solid effort in catcher. He exhibited great sportsmanship for the entire weekend and was supportive of all players efforts.

Emily got a few great catches and tagged some opposition players out on their way to base. She was focused and quickly learnt, you don’t need to get a home run, any contact on the bat will help someone get closer to home base and that was her intention every time she got up to bat.

Charlotte batted well and was a helping hand in getting some players out after trapping the ball and sending it to base players. She was one of the biggest cheerleaders for the weekend!

Emily and Charlotte were both awarded, along with two other teammates, MVP for the weekend for their constant cheerleading chants and enthusiasm.

Tamworth Baseball finished second overall and was also awarded Most Supportive Team for the weekend as it was noticed by carnival organisers how encouraging the team was to all players both in and outside their team.

Congratulations to Cooper, Emily and Charlotte on an amazing weekend of baseball!

Following the Coffs carnival, Tamworth Baseball came back ready to reignite junior baseball locally. They are currently running a six-week come-and-try program, successfully drumming up enough interest for six teams! Check them out in their uniforms from the weekend! Hopefully the interest will continue, and they will be able to offer a junior winter competition. Watch this space!!

-Dee Burns

Teaching and Learning

2023-11 Teaching and Learning Newsletter.pdf

2021-2022 PRICELIST - West Tamworth - SCHOOL COPY.pdf

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