Week 10, Term 2
Staffing Update
At the beginning of next term, we will welcome Miss Jade Crowther to our school in a new permanent teaching role. On behalf of all of us, welcome to our school!
Reports
Semester 1 Reports will be available to families on Friday 5th July. Previous communication earlier this week has outlined the new online format. If you have any questions regarding your child’s report, please make contact with your child's class teacher in the early stages of Term 3 to arrange a time to discuss.
More Dance Group Success
On Tuesday 3rd July, I had the pleasure of attending the Central Coast Dance Festival to see our Dance Group perform. The students did an amazing job, guided by the Miss Goder and Miss McLoughlin. Congratulations to all involved and thanks to Miss Dwyer, Mrs Gilks, Mrs Asmanas and the parents for their ongoing support.
School Disco
On Wednesday 4th July WWS held a ‘Rock Stars & Pop Stars’ disco. The event was attended by over 450 students, which was a great turnout in the middle of winter! Thanks again to Mr Young for providing his infinite energy to make it a great success for our students. Thank you again to the staff who attended on the night.
Spelling Bee
On Wednesday this week, WWS hosted our annual Spelling Bee event. Finalists were selected from each class to participate in this event. Congratulation to the winners who showed nerves of steel to fight off the pressure and progress to the next round, where they will compete against students from other local schools. Thank you to Mrs Poulson for the organisation of the event.
Bluey’s Reward Day
On Wednesday, we had Bluey’s Reward Day where our students had the opportunity to cash in their ‘Bluey’ awards for prizes. Congratulations to all students who have received these awards throughout the term and special thanks to the staff on the PBL team for the organisation of the rewards day activities.
School Attendance
In reviewing our students’ school reports for Semester 1, I was reminded of the critical importance of regular school attendance. There is no doubt that good attendance correlates with improved academic achievement, increased confidence and of course, the broadening of options for future direction.
While I’m sure this is well understood, students should be at school unless they are legitimately sick, on pre-organised leave or at a medical appointment. Absences without these reasons are considered unjustified. A day here and a day there, quickly accumulates and can have a lasting impact.
Although the notice is appreciated when parents message teachers about student absences, for the purposes of accurate data collection, could I please kindly request the SMS response system be used as the only method of notification for absences. As you will know, if your child is absent and SMS will be sent mid-morning the day you child is away. A simple text response of ‘sick’ is all that is required to meet your and our legal obligation to register non-attendance.
Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD)
Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019).
Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:
· year of schooling
· category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
· level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.
This information assists schools to:
· formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools
· consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools
· develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.
The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.
The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All
information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy (https://www.education.gov.au/privacy-policy). Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).
If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact the school.
Return to School Date
Term 3 commences for all WWS students on Tuesday, July 23rd.
Have a great week and a safe and happy winter holiday.
Matt Barr
Principal
