The Widemere Whisper!

Dear parents and carers, 

We want to do all we can to be sure your child achieves their potential and enjoys being in school.

We know that school is the best place to learn. By attending school every day your child will get the most out of their learning and improve their career and life options.

When your child is absent it is important you let the school know, including the reason why, on the day or the day before. This helps make sure we know where our students are and offer support for you and your family if needed.

If you are having trouble getting your child to school every day or on time, please talk to our school staff so we can work together, because every day counts. 

Missing a day here or there may not seem like much, but absences add up and can negatively impact your child’s learning and wellbeing. When your child misses one day a week that’s 40 days of school and 8 weeks of learning in one year. Over an entire school journey this adds up to 2.5 years of lost learning.

Hello Everyone,

As you may be aware all schools in NSW have been introducing and implementing the new state-wide K-2 English and Mathematics Syllabuses during 2023.

Years 3-6 English and Mathematics curriculum are released for implementation in 2024.

So far this year in my role as Assistant Principal Curriculum Instruction (APCI) I have the pleasure of working alongside executive and K-2 staff to develop a wholistic knowledge of our new K-2 curriculum.

This Semester, we have been working hard to ensure a deep understanding of the new syllabuses and a  smooth and productive implementation of the new teaching strategies and programs which have been developed by Department of Education Curriculum experts and based on current evidence-based strategies. This ensures students are engaging in optimum learning opportunities. 

As APCI, I have been joining classrooms across K-2, working alongside our dedicated teachers to unpack and adapt the new lessons and understand the new language and research behind them.

I have also been working alongside teachers K-6 to develop a deep understanding of the new methodologies which are the basis for the new teaching strategies and curriculum we are currently implementing.

It has been wonderful coming into classrooms and working with teachers to deliver lessons of such a high standard where all students are valued, included and their learning needs are met.

It has been so exciting to see student growth in their use of Vocabulary, Reading and Number Sense and we look forward to enhancing student outcomes by working alongside our fabulous community. 

Mrs Chahine, Assistant Principal Curriculum & Instruction (APCI) 

I hope all our lovely Widemere Mums  had a wonderful Mothers' Day. Thank you to our brilliant P&C fundraising committee led by Richelle Mahon (Chloe and Ryans' mum) for our Mothers' Day stall, raffle and yummy breakfast. Thank you to all our wonderful  volunteers.

We are so lucky to have such a wonderful P&C led this year by Antony Roseman. As you can see from the photo we had quite a turnout.

Term 2 is progressing well. Our wonderful teachers are currently preparing assessment data and compiling supportive evidence in preparation for Semester 1 student reports. 

The reports will look a little different this year for Early and Stage 1 students as we are assessing against the new English and Maths curriculum.

All reports will be emailed through our new School Bytes parent portal in the last week of school. Please see information below.

Have you signed up to our new School Bytes Parent Portal? This new application is linked to our school operating system and saves a lot of double handling of information and notes. 

Permission notes can be signed online and paid for through the site. The office then sees that you have completed notes and paid for events without your child bringing home notes, losing notes and  forgetting notes.

The site has a parent calendar of upcoming school events, which will be updated as events are scheduled.

Notifications of student absences can be made on the School Bytes site and once approved by the school will instantly adjust the students attendance records. 

Widemere Public School is trying to reduce our carbon footprint and protect our environment by reducing paper waste.

If you have not already joined the Parent Portal, please email the school and we will send you a unique parent portal access code. 

Our annual Cross Country Carnivals were wonderful. We had perfect weather, talented and determined cross country runners and lots of enthusiastic spectators for both the senior and junior carnivals.

A big thank you to our organisers 3-6 Ms Farrugia and Mrs Fausset and K-2 Ms Yang and Mrs Moloney.

32 students will be attending the Zone PSSA Cross Country Carnival on the 31st May.

Please keep a look out for the permission and payment note on our School Portal for our Athletic Carnival to be held on Thursday the 15th June at Janice Crosio Oval at Rosford St Reserve Smithfield. 

Our students have been developing their athletics skills through our weekly Zing Activ (Dance Fever) program this term.

This is a compulsory day of school and all staff will be at the oval. Students should wear their Sports uniform or house coloured t-shirts/jackets. They should bring water, a hat and their lunch. 

Our wonderful P&C will be providing a pre-ordered lunch and a cake stall. More information to come.

We are a terrific school and we have many, many students with high potential and  wonderful skills. As a small school we really do punch above our weight. We have had lots of wins and draws this term.

Our Spectacular Opera House

Our Dance group led by Ms Morrison and Ms Yang successfully auditioned for the Our Spectacular Opera House performance to be held next term.

Debating

Our debating team led by Mrs Italiano won against Greystanes  Public School last week.

Festival of Instrumental Music

Eight of our students led by Mrs Fausset will be performing at the Opera House at the Festival of Instrumental Music later this term.

PSSA Teams

Our Senior PSSA Netball  Team led by Mrs Oliveri drew against Greystanes PS 13-13 last week and won against Hilltop 15-6 the week before.

Our Junior PSSA Netball team won against  Hilltop Public School 5-1  2 weeks ago.

Our Junior Soccer led by Ms Farrugia have drawn against both Hilltop PS 0-0 and 1-1 Greystanes Public School.

Senior Soccer won against Hilltop 8-0 and drew 0-0 against Greystanes Public School.

Tennis

Scarlett Hannan who did so well in the PSSA Tennis team has now been selected to train with Tennis Australia. Look out for her on the upcoming tennis circuit. We might be watching her at the Australian Open in a few years.

Multicultural Speech School Finalists

Our Multicultural Speech Finalists led by Mrs Italiano who will be competing at the District Finals are:

Stage 2 Mia Bridges and Cameron Lowndes;

Stage 3 Madeline Kott and Alexander Rangi;

who go on to the District Final soon. 

Congratulations to all our winners!

If you need to collect your child before the end of the day, you must buzz the gates and present to the office. The lovely ladies in the office will then send for your child while you complete the roll requirements. 

We ask that you check you have firmly closed the gates when entering and leaving the school. It is important for the safety of your children that we know who is onsite at all times. We have had instances of parents coming early for various reasons and leaving the electronic gates ajar. 

The gates will be opened at the end of the school day at 3:10 pm. We ask parents to wait at the gates for their children. As you would all appreciate our students are learning until 3:15 and the distractions outside some of the classrooms are preventing the delivery of quality lessons. 

Widemere Public School strives to keep our school COVID free. As you know we follow directives from the Department of Education and NSW Health to enable our students and staff to remain safe and happy at school.

We will continue to update you of changes as they affect our school.

Our school remains committed to physical distancing and good hygiene practices.

We would really like to thank our wonderful P&C Association for everything they do to support our school and to remind you of our new executive committee.

Anthony Roseman - President
Lisa Johnston - VP
Simone Lowndes - VP
Belinda Carr - Treasure
Cassandra Perkovic - Secretary
Richelle Mahon - Fundraising Coordinator

Our next P&C meeting will be Tuesday 13 June 2023. Please see Facebook for the online link.