walchacentralschool A JOURNEY OF LEARNING FROM K TO 12

HAPPY AND SAFE STUDENTS 3 July 2018 NEWS AND VIEWS OF YOUR LOCAL CENTRAL SCHOOL

WALCHA CENTRAL SCHOOL

154E North Street Ph: 02 67772777 WALCHA NSW 2354 Fax: 02 67771009 PRINCIPAL: Mr Mark Hall P&C School Pesident: Mr Cameron Hayton Email: walcha-c.school@det.nsw.edu.au Website: http://www.walcha-c.school.nsw.edu.au

CANTEEN ROSTER - Week 1 Term 3, 2018

23/07/18

Pupil free

day

24/07/18

25/07/18

26/07/18

27/07/18

Larissa Wall

K-12 NEWSLETTER

K-12 Athletics Carnival On 7 June 2018, Walcha Central School held the K-12 athletics carnival. In spite of the previous night’s wet weather and the brisk weather of the day, the carnival program was able to be completed.

It is a credit to all students who competed enthusiastically all day, with all competitors displaying outstanding athletic skill and determination.

It was fantastic to see all the students competing with smiles on their faces and displaying excellent sportsmanship towards one another.

The annual Kinder Cup highlighted the spirit of the day with students of all ages lining the running track to cheer on our littlest athletes in their first ever race at school! The athletes were kept energised by the P&C’s warm and nourishing food, and many community members pitched in as time keepers and event managers, ensuring the success of the day.

Thankyou to all staff and community members who pitched in and made the day a success. Special thanks to Rose Baumer who produced all recording sheets for all ages competing, Dave Baumer who had the grounds looking fantastic (in very trying circumstances) and Kristy Lawrence and Bonnie Brown for all their preparation behind the scenes!

Congratulations to all staff and students for ensuring the carnival was a success through their committed endeavour.

Congratulations also to Apsley House who at the end of

the day came out on top, once again, as winners of the

carnival.

Ben Ussher

A bustling end of term

As we approach the final week of this term our students are engaged in a smorgasbord of extended learning opportunities beyond the classroom. These include:

Primary Debating teams: under the guidance of Mr

Williams, the team took on the highly rated Nemingha team.

Oorala Senior Girls Leadership camp: senior students

Lizzy Pendlebury, Linda Roach and Harmony Coulter attended the event at UNE from 27 to 29 June. The camp focused on the values of communication, leadership, mindfulness and respect.

Senior Marine Science & Photography Excursion:

students hit the road for Port Macquarie to undertake some intensive snorkelling and water landscape opportunities.

Youth Frontier Mentor Leadership program for 2018:

launched under the direction of 2017 student graduates.

‘Six Decades of Bullying’ anti-bullying performance:

provided an important message, free for all students in Years 5 -12 thanks to our online safety grant.

2018 Let’s Hang It! Exhibition: Lacie Slater joins the

finalists with her work ‘Blue’, displayed at NERAM from 27 July to 12 August.

BeREAL Rewards afternoon: held on Friday 29 June for all

students successfully achieving an average of 5 for the term. Fantastic to see the increase in student numbers now hitting this high benchmark.

NAIDOC week: celebrations kicked off on Monday 2 July

with our assembly which commenced at 12:40pm. This was followed by a whole school BBQ lunch at 1:30pm and at 2:10pm students were treated to a performance by acclaimed artist Lucas Proudfoot. The theme for NAIDOC 2018 is Because of her, we can!

eGATS gifted and talented program is once again

underway with successful primary students having been selected from a tough regional audition. More about the work of this group a little later.

Dorrigo exchange: The tradition continues with our

students busy training and preparing throughout the term for their visit this week. Thank you to the team of staff working behind the scenes at both schools. Congratulations to our students who achieved a BeREAL score of 5 to enable them to participate. We wish the students all the best. Go Walcha!

Special-Interest Clubs Did you know that our school operates many different clubs throughout the year during our lunch and recess breaks? Currently operating are our Drama club and Cattle Club and next term Mr Taylor will be establishing the Coding Club. Students with a passion in these areas are encouraged to sign up.

Please note these clubs are subject to numbers and may be limited to certain age groups.

K-12 NEWSLETTER 3 July 2018

For photos, notes, information and more, visit our school website http://www.walcha-c.schools.nsw.edu.au

Last Wednesday, school captains Elisabeth Bourke and Chloe Mackaway attended a student leadership day in Sydney. Beginning with a tour of Parliament House, the girls met with other student leaders from schools across NSW and were addressed by members of parliament who shared their experiences as community leaders.

This was followed by a visit to Government House where they met the Governor. This was a valuable experience for our school leaders.

Staff Professional Learning

This term, staff have dedicated their professional learning focus to supporting the improvement of feedback for students. This aligns with our School Plan and strategic direction. Led by Mrs Rogers, staff selected guiding questions and worked in teams to research, trial and present to the staff their findings on how timely and effective feedback can help improve student learning. A collective ‘what works best’ document will be collated for implementation, with further opportunities for our staff to gather data to measure the impact of these changes.

Next term our staff learning focus moves on to improving student writing. Our aim is to upskill all staff on the progressions – an entry measurement point for where students are at in literacy and numeracy. Working in smaller focus groups, staff will unpack the writing initiative and develop whole school strategies to support student learning through writing. Our plan is to use staff ‘learning walks’ to see how feedback is being used in classrooms across the school to support an increase in sophistication of writing at all levels. Once again a collective ‘what works best’ document will be developed, with time then for embedding and measuring our impact.

P&C thank you I would like to extend my special thanks to the P&C for their support to students and the school community once again this term. Whether it be cake stalls, canteens at our sporting events, catering at special events including Mothers Day, working bees, or financial support for the employment of a new school youth worker, our P&C is a dedicated team committed to supporting the school.

Finally I would like to congratulate the students and staff for

their hard work in learning this term. I wish everyone a safe and

enjoyable school holiday. School resumes Monday 23 July with

our Staff Development Day.

Students return to school Tuesday 24 July.

Mark Hall

Principal

STOP THE PRESS!

Walcha Central School is proud to announce that our school has secured the rights to SEUSSICAL the Musical by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, directed by our own Ms MacDiarmid. Based on the children's stories of Dr Seuss this is a wonderful family friendly show where all primary students will be involved. Performance dates are 13 and 14 December 2018. Watch this space for more information.

K-12 NEWSLETTER 3 July 2018

For photos, notes, information and more, visit our school website http://www.walcha-c.schools.nsw.edu.au

On Thursday 21 June, students from Years 2-10 competed in the Walcha

Central School Spelling Bee. This is the first time that students from 7-10 have had the opportunity to compete.

The top 2 students from the primary junior and senior sections will have the opportunity to compete in the NSW Premier's Spelling Bee Challenge later in the year. More information will be sent to students when available.

Top spellers for 2018 were:

Primary section: Junior: Noah Chenoweth Senior: Alexandra Nivison

Secondary section: Junior: William Imberger Senior: Coby Hooker

K-12 Awards Assembly The K-12 awards assembly for term 2 was held on Friday 22 June. This was a great afternoon where we were able to induct the school parliament and present the athletics champions and runners-up with their medallions.

Acknowledgment was made of our North West swimming representatives and over 100 students received a silver award in recognition of their effort in upholding the Be REAL values of Walcha Central School.

Chloe Swanton, Tayla Carter and Phoebe Imberger performed Adele's hit ‘Hello’. Phoebe led the National Anthem and, along with Chloe Swanton, the school song.

All the students are to be congratulated on their success! Champions and runners-up from the athletics carnival are as follows:

Champion Runner Up

Kindy Cup Kobie Brown

Junior Boys Hamish Warden Corbin Latham

Junior Girls Emily Blake Stephanie Blake

11yr Boys Jackson Wilson Shaun McKenna

11yr Girls Jemma Warden Harriet Crawford

Senior Boys Thomas Bullen Gary Bloomfield

Senior Girls Isabella Hayton Isabella Crawford

12yr Boys Jayden Galvin

12yr Girls Phoebe Imberger Marlee Wall

13yr Boys William Imberger Troy Hawkins

13yr Girls Anika McKenna Chloe Cox

14yr Boys Maylen Teraia Marsters Schmutter-Morris

14yr Girls Joscisca Matapakia Timika Thornbury

15yr Boys Jackson Imberger Tommy LeStrande

15yr Girls Olivia Bruce Sophie Worth

16yr Boys Beau Abraham Sam Feltham

16yr Girls Anastasia Haling Hannah Dunn

Open Boys Brayden Bloomfield Nic Buckland

Open Girls Shae Partridge Nicola Hoy

On Friday 8 June we visited the Dutton Trout Hatchery in Ebor. We learned a lot about trout and about breeding trout.

The hatchery breeds Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout and releases them into selected cold water public rivers and lakes in NSW.

We saw how the breeding process of trout works. Ova (eggs) are obtained from female fish and mitt (semen) is taken from male fish - this process is known as ‘stripping’. The eggs and semen are mixed together and fertilisation of the eggs occurs. The eggs hatch within six weeks.

We didn’t only see, but also had a go ourselves at ‘stripping‘ the fish.

It was a really interesting day and we learned a lot.

For photos, notes, information and more, visit our school website http://www.walcha-c.schools.nsw.edu.au

K-12 NEWSLETTER 3 July 2018

Danielle Northey from the Department of Education office in Tamworth offered Walcha Central School the opportunity to host a mini expo of agencies that support community members living with a disability.

On Tuesday 12 June, the school library was jam packed with service providers with a wealth of knowledge on hand including: accessing the NDIS; early intervention services; carer support; advocacy; accommodation; training and education; accessing pantry essentials; employment and post-school options for students with a disability.

Thank you to the families who attended this event. We

do hope to hold the expo again, so if anyone who

attended has any ideas for improvement or additional

agencies that could be invited – please contact the

school and let us know. Kate Mackaway

Learning and Support Teacher

Elizabeth Pendlebury & Lina Van De Loo

Marine Studies

For all the latest

updates and

information follow

us on Facebook. Coming up at

Walcha Central this week

K-12 NEWSLETTER 3 July 2018

For photos, notes, information and more, visit our school website http://www.walcha-c.schools.nsw.edu.au

Over 60 students from Years 5 and 6 attended the second Taster Day for 2018 held at Walcha Central School.

Students were given a taste of what a day at high school is like, complete with their own timetables and a mix of practical and theory lessons.

During the day students attended classes in agriculture, food technology, positive behaviour for learning and music.

In agriculture, Mrs Reeves showed them how to identify various breeds of chickens as well as how to handle them correctly.

Miss Saffy introduced the students to the delights of cooking a quiche using a microwave oven while in Miss Adair's music class, students were taught to play a short song on a keyboard.

The positive behaviour for learning lessons were conducted by Mrs Armstrong and provided students with valuable strategies to assist their learning.

All students enjoyed the day, with everyone having a favourite lesson. We look forward to the next Taster Day which will be held on Wednesday 29 August.

Simon Warden

Each year, thousands of school students enter the NSW Multicultural Public Speaking competition. On 28 May, Walcha students in Years 3-6 presented speeches in their classrooms. From these speeches, Anna Benson, Claudia Kirton, Jemma Warden and Ali Nivison, were then selected to represent Walcha Central School at the next stage of competition which was held at Nemingha on Tuesday 12 June. The girls presented their prepared speeches first. Anna's topic was ‘What Australia Day Means to Me’ and Claudia's was ‘Refugees’. Jemma presented a speech on ‘Dreaming for the Future’ and Ali's topic was ‘Welcome to our Place’.

They then had to present an improptu speech after being given only 5 minutes to prepare. Year 3/4 were given the topic ‘Safety’ and the 5/6 topic was ‘The Right Direction’.

The girls all spoke very well and had a lovely day.

Multicultural Public Speaking

Mel Benson

CALENDAR See website for more details http://www.walcha-c.schools.nsw.edu.au

3/07/2018 - 5/07/2018

7-12 Dorrigo Excursion

4/07/2018 North West Primary Hockey Gala day @ Tamworth

4/07/2018 School banking @ 8:30am

6/07/2018 Last day of Term 2

24/07/2018 First day of Term 3 for all students

27/07/2018 PSSA & CHS State Cross Country Championships @ Eastern Creek

31/07/2018 PSSA Boys Soccer Knockout Gala Day

01/08/2018 ICAS English test

01/08/2018 RSA course for senior students

15/08/2018 RCG course for senior students

17/08/2018 PSSA Athletics Carnival @ Armidale High School

6/08/2018 - 10/08/2018

Education Week

K-12 NEWSLETTER 3 July 2018

Food

Technology This term, 1/2GN have joined with the Year 9/10 Food Technology class to learn about cooking. They learned how to cook butter chicken and pizza. They all had a great

time and enjoyed sampling the food.

Jennifer Grayling

The Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place (ACCKP) is once again running a Holiday Program for primary school children from Monday 9th July to Friday 13th July. The program will run from 9.00am to 12 noon. This program is open to all children of primary school age.

The theme for the July Holiday Program is ‘NAIDOC Week’. Children will have the opportunity to learn and carry out activities surrounding this theme.

The cost for the morning tea, supervision, materials and activities will be covered by the ACCKP. This holiday program is being funded by the Department of Education.

Please pick up and complete a registration form from the ACCKP by the 2nd July 2018 to ensure your child/children’s place is confirmed.

For photos, notes, information and more, visit our school website http://www.walcha-c.schools.nsw.edu.au

How much do you know about UV? Did you know that UV isn’t linked to

temperature or weather?

This means that the UV can still be high even on cold or cloudy days. In NSW, the UV reaches 3 or above most months of the year so it is important to teach children to be sun safe all year round.

The easiest way to know when to be sun safe is by downloading the SunSmart app and checking what times of day sun protection is required in your area.

Sometimes it might feel strange to be outside with sunscreen or a hat while it is cloudy or cold. Because UV cannot be seen or felt, the SunSmart app is a good way to know when to be sun safe.

Social Media - Top Tips for Parents

Talk to children about online privacy issues, making sure they know never to identify personal information such as their full name, address, age, school and don't ever post photos in school uniform.

Teach your children to respect people’s privacy and don’t share anyone else’s personal information online without permission.

Don’t tag photos of your children at their school if your accounts are not set to completely private. This is a child safety issue as anyone driving past can search the school on Instagram and see all of the photos that have been tagged at the school, often by parents who have not set their account to private on Instagram. If your account is not completely private, anyone can see your photos of your child, their name, the name of the cat, where you go on holiday, what your family does on weekends, when birthdays were and other information about your family and your life. Therefore, a complete stranger could make up a story that could be very convincing to your child by using the information you have shared in a public forum of more than 500million users.

If you are going to post anything with a significant fact, check it first.

Teach your children to understand the importance of passwords, keeping them private and changing regularly.

Learn how to recognise a scam. If it is too good to be true, it probably is.

Make sure the apps you allow your kids to use are age appropriate.

Don’t be patronising or insulting to anyone. This kind of behaviour may validate bad behaviour in children as they often see it if you are connected to young people on social media.

Ban devices from the bedroom from as young as possible. Set boundaries around use.

Share pictures and videos only with consent. And respect the privacy of others. Keep your love-life and arguments off social media.

Stay positive. If you see something you disagree with – don’t engage.

Consider the fact that children in the background of photos or videos you take at your child’s school may be on “no publish” lists. Some children are in protective custody or witness protection and an innocent photo posted on social media could be disastrous.

Teach young people not to say, or repeat anything that they wouldn’t say if the person were standing right in front of them.

Recognise that other people’s opinions may be different to their own and that does not give them permission to attack those opinions online.

Remember that even an emoji can be taken out of context by someone reading it.

Use your head and your heart. Don’t let emotion be the only thing driving you to post.

Make sure you respect classification on games, they are there for a reason.

Make sure the young people in your care know that under no circumstances they should go and meet up with anyone they meet online. Stranger Danger rules apply because they are now literally on digital steroids 24x7.

If you have any questions please get in touch: wecanhelp@safeonsocial.com

Kind regards,

Kirra Pendergast - Director, Safe on Social Media Pty Ltd www.safeonsocial.com