Heights Happenings Winston Heights Newsletter

W E E K 2 T E R M 1

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome to 2019!

Welcome back to our students and families who are returning for another year. I also extend a very warm welcome to our

new students and families joining our school. I hope you have already been able to establish some friendships within our

community. It has been a great start for our 59 new Kindergarten students this week. While there were a few tears on

Monday, I think most of them were from our parents.

We have formed 18 classes and our students in Years 1-6 were placed in classes after recess on their first day of

attendance. It is always difficult to know exactly if our plans for classes will be right after returning from the long holiday

break. It is a numbers game at the beginning of each year and depends on new enrolments arriving at our school and

finding out if families have moved during the vacation period.

Winston Heights welcomes Mr Connor Brood, Mrs Ruth Attard and Miss Melissa Bolluk to the teaching staff this year. Mr

Greg Leeson has left us this year to take a teaching position much closer to home. We wish him all the very best in his new

position. Unfortunately we were not able to farewell him at the end of 2018 as this did not happen until the holidays had

commenced. A full staff listing is attached to the newsletter.

Meet the Teacher/Parent Information Chats

We are holding our Meet the Teacher/Parent Chats next week. These are 10 minute sessions where parents have a chance

to meet their child’s class teacher and give them information about their child. Bookings for interviews are online and

opened yesterday (Wednesday 6th Feb) at 11am. Please see the information sheet in this newsletter for more details.

Parents of Years 1-6 have the opportunity to let the teacher know about their child and anything that might impact on his/

her learning. The teacher will also provide parents with an overview of what will be happening in class in regards to the

curriculum. This chat/session is not about the teacher giving a progress report on your child as we have only just started

the school year. If at any time during the year you wish to meet with your child’s teacher please contact the school office or

send a request through the School App. At the end of Term 2 when reports are distributed for Semester One, interviews

will again be offered to parents and carers.

Kindergarten parents are invited to meet class teachers next Wednesday evening in classrooms from 6:15-7pm.

Office Hours

A reminder that our school office opens from 8:30am – 3:15pm. If the office shutter is down then you can email the school

with any issues or concerns, send a message on the School App or call the school the following day.

Swimming Carnival

Our annual swimming carnival will be held next Tuesday 12th February at Granville Pool. All students in Years 3-6 should

attend. Year 2 students who are turning 8 and can confidently swim 50 metres and are prepared to participate in the

swimming races are also invited. Parents may attend as spectators and will need to pay a fee upon entry at the pool. All

students attending must travel by bus with their classes. Children may be signed out at the end of the carnival and go home

with parents. Students who are signed out must then be supervised by their parents if remaining at the pool and must not

re-enter the pool to swim until the rest of the school has left Granville Pool.

Welcome Kinder Students

Welcome to our 59 new Kinder students to Winston Heights Public School: Zach, Beau, Hallie, Leo, Liam, Lucas, Tabitha,

Lauren, Edmund, Ebony, Aayush, Aiden, Nolan, Jack, Victoria, Lachlan, Tyler, Eddie, Abby, Aria, Lora, Liam, Vrinda, Yohan,

Emily, Evie, Justin, Olivia, Jake, Chester, Toby, Anamitra, Ronan, Emmeth, Vihaan, Estelle, Felix, Caleb, Stella, Benjamin,

Jayden, Dimitri, Callum, Hayley, Avangeline, Cormac, Lucas, Ethan, Emma, Jack, Bodhi, Aaliyah, Mackenzie, Sofia, Kenan,

Layla, Alexander, Liam and Jai.

I was very impressed with the way our new students walked with their new class teacher on day one to their new classroom.

They had a great day. Parents you should be very proud of the way they handled transition to “big school”.

Zone PSSA Trials

On Friday we have 18 of our students’ trialling for various representative sports to be part of the Castle Hill Zone PSSA

teams. We wish these students luck as they trial against 18 other schools in The Hills area. Students are to meet Miss Peksis

and Mrs Creagh at Bernie Mullane Sporting Complex 30 minutes before each of the sports events they have been selected to

trial for. Schools will receive notification next week as to who has been selected in the Zone teams.

Extra Curricula Activities for Students

There are a great many extra curricula activities offered at our school to our students. Some of which include: bands

(Performance Band, Concert Band, Beginner Band), Keyboard lessons, PSSA Sport, Choir, Dance, WHET group (Winston

Heights Environmental Team) and TOM (Tournament of Minds). The teachers announce these groups at morning

assemblies. Students need to be listening to find out when auditions and rehearsals will be. These groups are mainly for

students in Years 3-6, however there are a few activities for Years 1 and 2. Kinder students spend their first year getting

acquainted with routines and making new friends. These activities are extra opportunities. Children can choose to be part of

these groups but must be committed to the weekly lunchtime meetings or before school music and training sessions.

Not all the extra curricula activities will start in Term 1. Students need to be listening to daily messages and looking at

noticeboards around the school for new announcements. This term we have:

Monday: Senior Choir, Concert Band Rehearsal, Various music tutorials

Tuesday: Senior Dance, Junior Choir, Beginner Band Rehearsal, Various music tutorials

Wednesday: WHET group (Winston Heights Environmental Team), Performance Band Rehearsal, Various music tutorials

Thursday: Debating, Hip Hop Dance Group (Boys), SRC (Student Representative Council – twice a term), various music

tutorials

Friday: Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2) Dance Group, PSSA Training (before school), various music tutorials

Canteen

Our canteen is up and running. Thank you to our volunteers. If you have been looking for something to keep yourself

occupied (especially if you’ve just sent a little one to Kindy) please let us know and we will put you in touch with our Canteen

Roster Organiser. New parents will always have someone to assist them and there are many options available for short

shifts. They are great hours too – all during school time.

Staff Car Park

At the start of each school year we remind parents and carers about setting the example for your children. Please show your

children that you park correctly and in the approved places on the streets around the school. This does not include the staff

car park. We also ask that you do not walk through the staff car park at any time. Always access the school via the

pedestrian gates at Buckleys Rd, Langdon Rd and the back gate off the park near the tennis courts.

Yearly Calendar

Please find attached a calendar for 2019. Additional dates will be added as planning continues and each fortnight in our

newsletter we will publish diary dates as reminders. Each term an updated calendar will be published. Please understand

that some dates may change, particularly some event dates in December.

Annual School Fees

We are sending out our Annual School Fees early this year. Please look over the schedule carefully and try to get these paid

as soon as possible. These funds help us to ensure we have all the available resources in each classroom for your child. Some

of these funds go towards the cost of Mathletics, Reading Eggs, ClickView, School Magazines, Diaries, books, art and craft

supplies, technology updates, maintenance and our school environment. The list goes on and on. The fees can be paid in

part payments if your family is experiencing any financial difficulties. Please make an appointment with Mrs Creagh if you

would like to discuss this further.

The school adopted a new Financial System last year to make it easier to invoice families for various events. We will

continue to use this in 2019. Permission notes and information will still go out as normal but towards the due date if a

student has not returned the permission note and money involved then an invoice and another note will be emailed to the

family as a reminder.

School Attendance

It is a legal requirement for students to attend school every day. If a child is sick and unable to come to school then parents/

carers are required to send a note to the class teacher on the day of their return to school. Parents are able to send notice if

their child is sick through the School App or via email to the school.

Punctuality is also extremely important. Children need to arrive at school on time to ensure they are ready to listen to

morning messages at lines and move into classrooms to hear the teacher instructions for the day. Children arriving after the

9am bell should go to the school office, with their parents, to collect a late note before going to their classroom.

Trees

During the school holidays we had a few trees removed from the hill area of our playground. Some of these trees were very

old and were taken down due to disease and occlusions. A couple of these trees were not mulched and have been

transported to Bungarribee Park to be used in the elephant and primate enclosures at the new Western Sydney Zoo to be

opened later in the year.

Is it Bullying or Meanness?

This article is an interesting read. Often the term “bullying” is used to describe all playground behaviours. This is from a

parenting website that I thought you might like to read.

https://www.parentshop.com.au/meannessvsbullying/?inf_contact_key=57889ba2527e1011472d8b877b46437b4dfbc39d7283b2cb89d5189540b69330

This term all classes will be working through the Bounce Back program which covers resilience and teaches children

strategies for dealing with many different behaviours. We will also be acknowledging “Bullying! No Way!” National Day in

March.

Not For Publication (NFP)

At times, you will find the acronym “NFP” appearing in our newsletter when we list merit award winners, student names in

sports reports or other events. This is because some families do not wish to have their child’s name or photo published.

Whenever we print names we only print first names. If you wish to change your decision regarding “Not For Publication”

please speak with the school office for a new document to be sent home to change this in writing. This document is usually

completed at the time of enrolment.

Kind regards,

Margaret Creagh

Principal

2019 Staff List

Chaplain Chat

Well, the 2019 school year has started, and everyone is here, even the kindergarten children. It’s been lovely to spend some

of the mornings with them, see how grown up they are, how well they are settling into this new season of their lives,

already taking responsibility for their own belongings, and, with the help of their teachers and stage 3 buddies, finding their

way around the school. If you are new to Winston Heights, welcome to you too. I know you will love it here as much as I do.

The question of what a chaplain does is often asked. My role is to help look after the well-being of all the students, as well as

care for the staff and the parents. I often help children with their fears, behaviour, friendship difficulties, grief and loss,

family worries, confidence or by having a listening ear when they need someone to talk to. These roles may involve working

with groups of children, or meeting one-to-one, depending on the particular need.

In most cases, children who participate in chaplaincy activity groups or meetings require parents’ permission. If you feel that

your child might benefit from some extra help in one of the areas above, please talk to their teacher about a chaplaincy

referral. Alternatively, pop in for a chat or drop me an email at robyn.bowman2@det.nsw.edu.au. I am happy to give you

more information, and listen to any of your concerns. I am available at the school all day Mondays as well as Wednesday and

Friday afternoons. You can also arrange a meeting with me by calling the office on 96247485. You can also find out more

about the chaplaincy program by downloading this brochure https://mychaplain.org.au/fundraising-pdf.php?id=11495 .

This term these articles will focus on electronic resources which children us. As an intro, let me recommend to you the

Common Sense Media website, which provides a wealth of information to empower parents to help them harness the

power of media and technology as a positive force in their kids’ lives. Much more about this next

time.

I am looking forward to another wonderful year at Winston Heights, and I hope to see you sometime

too.

Robyn Bowman.

School Chaplain

Kindergarten Teachers Stage 2 Teachers Support Teachers

Mrs Bryant – KB Miss Allen – S2A Ms Andersson - LaS

Mrs Hall – KH Miss Neilson – S2N Ms Adams – LaS (M – W)

Miss Bolluk – KM Mrs O’Hara – S2O Mrs A. Wright – EALD (M & W)

Mr Picot – S2P Mrs Attard – RFF, EALD

Stage 1 Teachers Mrs Hinton - Library

Mrs Fear – 1F

Miss Oryzak – 1H Stage 3 Teachers Office Staff & SASS

Mrs Linas – 1L Mr Brood – S3B Mrs Wood - SAM

Mr Gorrie – 2G Miss Favell – S3F Mrs Calvar - SAO

Mrs Lee – 2L Miss Stormon – S3G Mrs Leverton - SAO

Miss Peksis – 2P Mr Nicolussi – S3N Mr Batten – GA

Mrs Sim – S3S Mrs Pringle – SLSO (M-Th)

Executive Staff

Mrs Creagh - Principal School Chaplain School Counsellor

Mrs Bryant – Assistant Principal K Mrs Bowman (M, W, F) Mr Cull (Wed)

Mr Gorrie – Assistant Principal S1

Mrs O’Hara – Assistant Principal S2

Miss Goodall – Assistant Principal S3

Diary Dates

TERM DATES 2019 Term 1: Wednesday 30th January — Friday 12th April

Term 2: Tuesday 30th April — Friday 5th July

Term 3: Tuesday 23rd July — Friday 27th September

Term 4: Monday 14th October — Wednesday 18th December

Please note the following diary dates may be subject to change.

Further information will be sent home closer to the event being held.

February 2019

Mon 11th School Banking commences

Music tutorials begin

Tues 12th Swimming Carnival (Yr 3 to Yr 6)

@ Granville Pool

Wed 13th Meet the Teacher Chats

Kindergarten Parent Info Evening

Thurs 14th Meet the Teacher Chat

Student Leader Induction @11.20

Mon 18th Kinder Parents Morning Tea

with Chaplain

Fri 22nd PSSA Commences

Mon 25th P&C Meeting 7pm

Thurs 28th SRC Induction Assembly

April 2019

Thurs 4th S3F Assembly Item

Tues 9th Cross Country Carnival

Thurs 11th Easter Hats and Pedlar’s Parade

March 2019

Thurs 7th S3S Assembly Item

Zone Swimming Carnival

Mon 11th Young Leaders Day

Tues 12th Cupcake Day

Thurs 14th Selective HS Test

2L Assembly Item

Mon 18th School Photo Day

Tues19th Stage 3 Fundraiser

Wed 20th Music Committee Meeting

Thurs 21st S2N Assembly Item

Sat 23rd Family Photos Fundraiser

Thurs 28th 1F Assembly Item

Mon 25th P&C Meeting 7pm

Welcome back to all our students and families and a special welcome to all our new families that have joined us. This first newsletter for the year will be sent home as a hard copy and also emailed to you. All future newsletters will only be emailed. The front office always has a few spare copies printed if you would like one. If you do not receive the newsletter today via your email please contact us in the office on 9624 7485 so we can update your email address.

Students have been trialling for Term 1 Summer PSSA teams. Successful students will be bringing home permission notes soon with costs of all PSSA and bus fees. Permission notes, code of conduct forms and payments must be received before your child can play in the PSSA competition. Students will also receive their new PSSA shirt for use during the season, once payment and note are received, before the start of the season.

If your child requires antibiotics or Doctor prescribed medication to be administered by the

office staff during the day, we now ask that you measure the dose out into a medical syringe.

Place it into a labelled sandwich bag along with the completed Administering of Prescribed

Medication form which is found on our website under ‘Permission Notes’ or available at the

office. This saves having to leave the bottle of medicine at school during the day. All

medication must be brought to the office by a parent or carer and please note we can only

administer Doctor prescribed medication.

With our new finance system up and running we are sending home via email, permission

notes and payment links for excursions, PSSA, CAPA groups and school fees. A reminder email

will be sent closer to the payment due date. We ask that all payments be made promptly and

by the due date. Should you need an extension of time please contact the office and we can

arrange a payment plan. Alternatively, if you get an email about an excursion that your child

will not be attending please reply to the email to let us know. We can then update your

child's account.

Have you downloaded the latest version of our school APP? They have made changes to the absent note section and it is much more user friendly. Search for updates via your playstore or delete the APP and reinstall. Don’t forget to select notifications so you don’t miss any important notices.

Notes and Money due:

* Yrs 3-6 Swimming Carnival : OVERDUE - contact the office

Cheers,

Mrs Lee Wood, Mrs Rachael Calvar & Mrs Carolyn Leverton

Office Hours

8.30am - 3.15pm

Messages from The Office

Merit Certificates Congratulations!

Well done to these PBL Award winners who have been Safe,

Respectful and Responsible Learners.

Sam 2L, Jacob S3S, Adon S3F, Hailey 1L

AWARDED TO

WEEK 2

KB : NFP & Abby

KH : Chester & Evie

KM : Xander & Mackenzie

1F : Sophia & Edward

1H : Irene & Mitchell

1L : Evie & Joey

2G : Sophie & Eli

2L : Lily & Leyton

2P : Rubie & Lucas

S2A : Ava & Jacob

S2N NFP & Ben

S2O : Levi & Charlotte

S2P Matilda & Lucas

S3B : Hayden & NFP

S3F : Ryan & NFP

S3G : Georgia & Ysabella

S3N : Sophie & Cailen

S3S : Maddison & Adam

Library: 1F & S2A

ELAD:

Last