Wentworth Falls Public School Newsletter

Wentworth Falls Public School 21 November 2019

Falls Road, Wentworth Falls NSW 2782 * Tel: 0247571604 * Fax: 0247573927 * Gaynor Haynes, Relieving Principal Email: wentwthfal-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Principal’s Report 1

Principal’s Report cont’d, Awards 2

Library Happenings 3

Blue Mountains Artfest, P&C News 4-5

Public Notices 6-8

Inside this issue:

IMPORTANT DATES

TERM 4

November

25-29 Swim school 26 Kindergarten Orientation December

2-6 Swim School 11 Celebration of Students 12 Thank You Morning Tea 16 Year 6 Farewell 18 Last Day of Term January 28 Staff resume 29 Students resume February 4 Swimming Carnival 26 School photos

Proudly celebrating 132 years of continued excellence in Public Education

From the Principal.. Dear Family and Friends,

Our Stage 3 teachers and students returned safely from their camp with lots of exciting stories. I would like to extend our thanks to the teachers who gave up their valuable time to ensure the students had the opportunity to experience this unique setting and stretch themselves in many challenging tasks.

On Thursday in Week 4, we saw two Stage 2 students participating in the Blue Mountains Oral Reading Competition. Lucinda and Harry travelled to Winmalee Public School to represent our school competing with other Year 3 and 4 students from across the mountains. Both students performed exceptionally well and should be proud of their achievement. Lucinda won the Year 3 competition. Congratulations, Lucinda.

What can we say about ArtFest? Wow! The ArtFest committee have been working tirelessly over many months to ensure that this event was a success. A special thank you to Elise and Sandie for their dedication to Artfest. A huge thank you to this dedicated group of parents. Over the weekend we saw many people from our school community devote some of their time as volunteers. We extend our thanks to you as well. I would also like to mention the students and staff that gave up part of their Sunday afternoon to perform for our visitors. We very much appreciate the time and effort that goes into this enormous weekend, the proceeds of which benefit our school through the purchase of resources and support to finance activities and events such as author visits and Interrelate. Many thanks!

Stage 3 students have been involved in a series of lessons focusing on positive relationships, personal safety and body changes associated with puberty. These valuable lessons have been presented by Interrelate. Student responses were very positive indicating that they learnt much about what to expect as they get older, dispelling many misconceptions and providing valuable information in a non-threatening and matter-of-fact manner. They indicated that they would be very happy to be involved again next year. Once again, we extend our thanks to the P&C who provided financial support to ensure all students were able to attend at 50% of the overall cost.

We had the opportunity to host the Southern Schools Performing Ensemble last week. Many students enjoyed an afternoon of music, singing and dancing for a small gold coin donation. Both students and staff were

spell-bound throughout this performance. It was an amazing experience for all.

During November, we have been hosting our

2020 Kindergarten students. These young students have made an excellent start,

demonstrating their readiness for school. On Tuesday evening, we had our Kindergarten

Parent Information evening which saw both new and returning families in attendance. We

had representatives from the P&C, canteen and uniform shop who, along with our wonderful teachers provided an array of important

information to ensure a successful transition to school. A huge thank you to the canteen

volunteers for providing a fabulous supper.

Members of local family support services were also there to provide information on the

support available in our community for parents with young children. Thank you to all those

who made themselves available for this evening to help the new Kindergarten students and their families feel welcome and prepared.

A special thank you as always goes to our wonderful Kindergarten teachers, Mrs

Masters, Mrs Bond and Mrs Franklin.

Also on Tuesday our Library Monitors took a trip to Sydney with our librarians Mrs Halse and Mrs Partington. As a treat for their many hours of dedicated work in the library this year, these students were invited to visit the State Library. Thank you to all the students who have worked as Library Monitors this year and thank you to Mrs Halse and Mrs Partingtion for organising this special event.

Next week, our Stage 3 debaters will participate in a gala day at Katoomba North Public School. This is an opportunity to strengthen and test their skills and witness the performance of other school teams. Mrs Dickens will accompany these students.

Swim school begins next week and will run for two weeks. Mr McGrath and Ms Murphy will accompany these students. An information

note should have come home with details about the process and what to bring. If this

note has not made it home, please contact the school office or pop in and pick one up.

Students are expected to attend everyday even if for some reason they are unable to get into

the water. We are all hoping the weather continues to be as conducive for swimming as students will be in the water everyday despite

the temperature unless there is an electrical storm. (Continued next page)

If you are leaving Wentworth Falls Public School at the end of the year please let the office know for 2020 planning.

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Principal’s Awards

WEEK 5, Term 4

KB Andre

KF Arlo

KM Johnny

1C Sophia

1P Anneli

1/2PS Molly

2M Ethen

2/3H Tully

3/4H Astrid

3/4K Lillian

3/4M None awarded

34MU Blake

5/6B Matilda

5/6E Alex

5/6M Lachlan

5/6Z Jacob

Core Values Award

WEEK 5 Term 4

KB Madelyn

KF Leni

KM Jarvis

1C Not available

1P Harry

1/2PS Maggie

2M Lachlan

2/3H Layla

3/4H Bronte

3/4K Ollie

3/4M Clem

34MU Leila

5/6B Eve

5/6E Kirrily

5/6M Ethan

5/6Z Not available

Core Values Award

WEEK 6 Term 4

KB Thomas

KF Oakley

KM Jarvis

1C Henry

1P Ola

1/2PS Tex

2M Kayla

2/3H Dahlia

3/4H Jayden

3/4K Rosie

3/4M Angel

34Mu Tyler

5/6B Jemma

5/6E Audrey

5/6M Madison

5/6Z Majenta

Principal’s message continued Nominations for our prospective school leaders for 2020 are beginning to come in. These students will then present a speech to the students from Y2 to Y5 who will then cast their vote to elect next year’s leaders. This all important event will occur on the Tuesday of Week 8. A reminder that we have begun planning for 2020 and it is very helpful if we know of families that are moving on. Please contact the school to let us know if you have plans to move and will not be returning to Wentworth Falls Public School in 2020. The final day for students this year will be Wednesday 18 December.

I would like to extend an invitation to our school community to join us for our Celebration of Student Achievement as we present awards and enjoy performances to

highlight and celebrate the wonderful things that have happened at our school this year. This assembly will be conducted on the pebblecrete area beginning at 9 am on

Wednesday 11 December.

Yours in learning

Gaynor Haynes Relieving Principal

Regional Schools Performing Ensemble The Ensemble is made up of about 50 highly talented students of High Schools form the South Coast, Highlands, Snowy Mountains and Queanbeyan areas, and includes a full stage band, vocal ensemble and a dance troupe. The ensemble specialises in presenting entertaining and informative programs for students K–12.

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Blue Mountains Artfest 2019 A big thank you to the many students, parents, teachers and community members who supported Artfest this year. Thanks to the efforts of all who contributed, we can report that our major P&C fund-raiser has this year raised over $32,000 for our school. That is over $2000 more than last year! We put on a really enjoyable and creative weekend for our children and the local community. We should all be very proud of what we have achieved together for our kids at WFPS.

The generosity of our local businesses and the level of support we received this year was amazing. Please return their contribution by supporting their businesses whenever you can and let them know they are appreciated. A full list of sponsors follows at the back of the newsletter.

A special thank you goes to the dedicated team of volunteers who coordinate and oversee the many areas of Artfest over the weekend. This year these wonderful parents and grandparents were; Neige Manwaring & Lisa McCarthy (Art), Anne Boyle & Deb Presland (BBQ & Opening Night), Simona Hall & Belinda Wardlaw (Craft), Lauren Halse (Kids Art & Kids Craft), Leonie Packer (Kids Silent Art Auction), Jo Stewart (Banners & Gazette Article), Sandie Naumann (Raffle, Publicity & Co-convener), Chris Oliver and Karen Noon (Sponsors), Elise Okunew (Volunteers, Entertainment & Co-convener), Nykke Coleman (Website) and Cathy Grinsberg & Sarah Buckland (Workshops)

A particular thanks to our extended Artfest committee family who went above and beyond in the lead up and into the weekend: Jo Griffith, Fi Gibson, Beck Keep, Nina Tuason, Nat O’Connor, Helen Pitcher, Michelle Hynes, David Hynes, Helen Thompson, David Roberts, Vera Wong, Simon Manwaring, Scott Noon, Andrew Presland and Dale Ryan. You are all awesome.

Opening Night

Featured Artist – Lesley Tarlinton

Choir Performing

Recorder Group Performing

Artfest Cake Stall

Mrs Packer’s Printmaking workshop

Beck Keep from Keep& Gather’s Wreathing Workshop

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Blue Mountains Artfest 2019 Feedback Survey We would genuinely love any feedback (both positive and negative) and/or suggestions you have about Blue Mountains Artfest 2019 so we can make Blue Mountains Artfest 2020 even better. We have created a quick 1 minute anonymous survey. If you would like participate go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GMJ6NG8

Kids Art examples of some of the craft available for sale in the library

P&C News P&C End of Year Party We will be holding our end of year P&C function with parents and teachers at the Fairmont Resort and Spa, Blue Mountains in Leura this year. It will be held on Thursday 5th Dec from 7pm and will cost $20 per person to cover food. Drinks will be available for purchase on the evening. Teachers will be hosted by the P&C to say thank you for their efforts throughout the year. RSVP essential please - We will be confirming numbers for catering purposes the week before so please RSVP to Julie Guyer by next Thursday 28th Nov on wentworthfallspandc@gmail.com. Thank you to departing P&C members Thank you to our departing P&C families who will be moving on with their year 6 children this year. A spe-cial note of thanks to Helen Pitcher and Winton Evers who have both spent a number of years as part of the executive committee. P&C Executive Positions to fill next March Early next year we will be looking to fill a couple of positions on the executive team of the P&C as Vera Wong and David Roberts of our current executive will be standing down from their positions as their youngest children move into their final year at school. Please feel free to contact Julie Guyer (P&C Secretary) in person or via email wentworthfallspandc@gmail.com if you would like more details about what is involved. The elections will be at the AGM in March. First P&C Meeting in 2020 Our first P&C meeting for next year will be at 1pm on Tuesday, 18th of February in the School Hall. As you know, we will have a new principal starting next year so this will be a good opportunity to come along and introduce yourself and meet the new Principal. Tea & tissues The P&C will be hosting tea & tissues in the library on Friday 31st January for new and existing Kindergarten parents and relatives. Please head over to the school library for a cuppa and a sweet treat after seeing your new kindergarten student off to their first day of school! Join the P&C mailing list If you would like to be kept in the loop about what the P&C does at the school, where and how P&C funds are being spent or to access the principal's report at P&C meetings. Please email wentworthfallspandc@gmail.com and ask to join the mailing list.

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Generously supported by Katoomba Camera House and Bennetts Katoomba

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