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Celebrating Education Week at Woolsthorpe Primary School

All week- meet the Principal- for new families and parents thinking about enrolling students, 10.00am each day there will be an opportunity for a personalised tour of the school and chance to meet the principal:

• find out what our school has to offer
• see the new school
• meet staff and our wonderful students

Tour bookings can be made by calling the office on (03) 55692241

Monday

• Responsible Pet Workshops for all classrooms

Tuesday May 21

• Open Morning- see how we teach Literacy and Numeracy to support personalised learning for all students
• check out our Kitchen Garden Program- grade 4/5 students will be cooking
• See our iPads for learning program in action- all students at Woolsthorpe have iPads. Students will be making Movies and running iPad APP workshops for parents, grandparents and new families’ thinking about enrolling at our school.
• Join us for morning tea in the Multipurpose Centre at 11.00am
• Prep/1/2/3 students are attending- “Possum Magic” the Musical at the Warrnambool Lighthouse Theatre 12.30pm – 3.15pm

Thursday May 23

• Science in Action- year 4/5/6 students are visiting Warrnambool College for Science workshops

Friday May 24

• Our Annual Walk to School & Healthy Breakfast sponsored by Moyne Shire

Click here- School Information FLYER

Welcome back to another big term of fun and learning for our students. I hope everyone had a great Easter holiday with family and friends. Over the holidays the new school has really started to take shape. We are in count down mode now and if all things go to plan we hope to be in the new school sometime in term 3, with the opening celebrations to happen in October leading up to our Fete on October 20^th. This will be an exciting time for our whole school community as we also launch the new book about the history of the school. In the meantime there is lots of planning and preparation to take place. I will keep everyone informed in our newsletter of what’s happening.

Term 2 is always busy with lots of programs and projects planned. The BIG IDEA for the term is – Healthy Living? Students will be doing many projects and programs around the importance of staying health and keeping active. Our calves from Giselle and Jock O’Keefe will be arriving in the comings weeks and will be an exciting addition to our garden area and environment programs. We hope to make links with the local dairy industry and access curriculum resources to support our BIG IDEA of healthy living. By rearing the calves we aim to educate students about the Australian dairy industry and the health and nutrition benefits of dairy foods as part of a healthy, balanced diet. Stay tuned for more on this project. I’m sure the students will let you know when the calves arrive at school. Our kitchen garden program will be happening again this term. The program goes from strength to strength thanks to our amazing parent volunteers. Student’s knowledge and skills have improved and teachers ability to link literacy and numeracy skills to cooking and gardening has been great to see evolve. Check out the videos on our blog. If you want to be involved please contact Linda Robinson.

Our school House Sports last Friday was a fantastic day, along with our welcome BBQ this day gets bigger and better every year. Many thanks to all the staff, students and parents for their work and help on the day (our Teamwork value was on full display). Thank you to our wonderful PFA and parents who cooked, served food, assisted with events, cleaned up. It is what makes our school so successful, the way parents and staff work together in order to run programs for all students like our sports. Gary Bell from Brauerander Park commented on the way the venue was left spotless and congratulated our school for this. Well done everyone. Our school student leaders showed by example just what you can achieve if you give your all. During the day all students applied themselves in all events and tried their very best. As I mentioned on Friday, our House Sports is a unique tradition and part of our school culture. The day is run partly by our student captains who do a great job of training students during term 1. Special mention to Mr Miller for all his efforts, well done!

Staying Safe Online- The internet and digital technologies are now very much a part of life and learning. As an increasingly interactive medium, digital technologies bring with them exciting new opportunities to engage children and young people in their learning.  At the same time these technologies also bring some risks. As a school we teach students how to stay safe online and what appropriate behaviours are.

Parents and/or carers also have an important role in helping their children use these technologies safely and responsibly. We ask that you talk with your children about online safety and what cyber bullying can mean. There is a link below with information. More Information for Parents can be found at- http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/Parents.aspx.

Cybersmart’s key messages for the day are:

• Don’t be      a bystander—report for your friends.
• Support      your friends online and offline.
• Protect,      take a stand, support!

Leading up to The National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence on 15 March 2013 students at school will be involved in activities focusing on staying safe online and supporting their friends.

Welcome back for another exciting year of learning at Woolsthorpe Primary School. I hope everyone had a great holiday with family and friends and enjoyed the fantastic weather. We welcome all new families to our school and look forward to your involvement. Over the holidays we had some storage and more benches for our Kitchen Garden program installed in the Multipurpose Centre and the chook house was given a makeover by Bruce Keen. Our PFA were busy cooking up a storm at the Markets and Port Fairy, and as always had a great time doing so. Thanks to all the parents who did shifts and helped out. This year we have a number of exciting programs happening, the new school is taking shape and will be up and going in term 3 if all goes to plan. It’s a Fete year and our students have many exciting programs and projects to look forward to.

SCHOOL TIMES 2013

Changes to school times are announced in the Newsletter or in a special notice.

Well, as another school year draws to a close and I sit down to reflect on the year, I am reminded of the many fantastic programs and new initiatives that have happened here at Woolsthorpe Primary School in 2012. Like all school years there are so many highlights to cover and I’m sure I will miss things that have happened throughout this very busy and productive year.

The beginning of the year saw our school review take place. This was a useful process in which staff, students and parents had a chance to review our last four years and plan the next level of work for our school. The overwhelming message from the school review was, as a community we must continue to learn and challenge each other when it comes to providing the best possible education for our students. The review clearly identified our unique community culture and mentioned the dedicated staff and parents who work together to make our school the best possible learning environment for our students. Overwhelmingly the evidence shows students feel safe and engaged in their learning at school. This reiterates many of the key messages we try to install in our students about Respect, Excellence, Care and Teamwork. In 2013 we will continue to look at ways of improving and with the excitement of the new school buildings upon us, things look very positive.

Every year there are different highlights and sometimes challenges, which as a school community we have embraced. I am proud to say this year has been no different. Our trip to Annie, sports days and student leadership projects, kitchen garden, camps and excursions, swimming,  the Garden Awards, our move into the portables and the beginning of the new school are just a few of the highlights this year.

I am always so proud of the community spirit and culture we have at our school. Parents and Staff work hard together in partnerships to ensure students have the best possible learning experiences. As a learning community we strive to provide a dynamic learning environment that engages students who work to achieve their personal best in an atmosphere of mutual respect and cooperation. It is our intention to promote the values of Respect, Excellence, Care and Teamwork. In 2012 we have consolidated these values through our House System in which students take responsibility for their actions and are active in promoting excellence in all areas…… READ ON SEE OUR NEWSLETTER WEEK 10 http://woolsthorpeps.global2.vic.edu.au/newsletters/

THE weather did not oblige but the community support was obvious when judges arrived yesterday to decide whether Woolsthorpe Primary School has the best school garden in the state. Principal Simon Perry said about 50 members of the school’s community joined pupils to welcome the judges when they arrived by helicopter. Mr Perry said it rained throughout the judges’ 40-minute visit but they still got to see the garden’s many facets.

They were particularly impressed with the school’s kitchen garden that grows produce to be cooked by pupils, and the extent of community involvement in the garden, he said. The school hoped the judges’ taste buds would work in its favour when pupils served them mini-quiches they made with leeks grown in the kitchen garden. Pupils escorted the judges around the garden, and spoke about its various areas that include native plants, a war memorial section and a pen for chickens and ducks.

The school was presented with its award for winning the Barwon South West section of the award during the judges’ visit and will send a delegation of pupils and teachers to Melbourne on November 29 to find out if it has won the overall state title. Woolsthorpe is in the running with 12 other schools from throughout Victoria for the award.

Thanks to the Standard for this article- ehimmelreich@standard.fairfax.com.au

Here is an article written in the Moyne Gazette recently- IT may be school holidays but Woolsthorpe Primary School is a hive of activity with work started on building a new school at the site.

In May this year the state government announced it would fund the new school bringing to an end four years of lobbying from the Woolsthorpe school and community for the much-needed upgrade .

The new school project is set to cost $2.5 million with the school’s original bluestone building and the recently-constructed multi-purpose building the only parts of the school to remain.

The rest of the school is now being demolished by Searl Brothers builders, from Ballarat, who have been awarded the contract for the project.

Woolsthorpe Primary School principal Simon Perry said when the children arrived back at school for term four the demolition of the old school would be complete.

“There will be four portable buildings in place which will be able to house all the classes and provide an administration area as well,” Mr Perry said. “The building company are very experienced working on school projects so we are confident it will all go safely and smoothly.”

It is expected the building of the new school will be a 12 month project with the completion date scheduled for September 2013.

Article and Picture Reference- http://www.moynegazette.com.au/story/359498/work-starts-at-woolsthorpe-school/?cs=1484

On Monday and Tuesday Miss Daly and I attended the Country Education Conference in Melbourne and presented a workshop on the work we are doing with iPads For Learning (iPreps).  The project is a joint partnership with Deakin University Warrnambool and is research based.  An article will be published shortly which I will share with the community.  The conference was also a great chance to hear from other schools that are doing creative and innovative work in country schools. The theme of the conference was very much about the provision of education in small schools and country communities like ours.  Over the next 12-18 months there will be many opportunities for us to strengthen our community links and build connections with local industry and other agencies.  The Department of Education are very keen for schools to work in partnerships with community groups and strengthen the education provision of our young people from birth to adulthood.  A paper was recently released by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development called Victoria as a Learning Community – http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/directions/learningcomm.htm   The paper is a way of starting discussions and presenting ideas about how schools and communities can work in partnerships to ensure all young people have the best possible education and pathway into the workforce.

On reflection, the conference was a great opportunity to share the work that is happening in our school and talk about some of the future plans we have in place.  It was also a chance to recognise the great community support we have from parents and local community groups.  As I always say – we have the best school community in the “world” and this was shown in our presentation.  3 takeaways from the conference were -

• “Success”      for young people can and should be measured in many different ways
• We need to think differently      about how we work with communities and make connections
• We need to be creative      in how we provide learning pathways for young people