26 Jan 2021
Welcome to the 2021 school year. It is with great excitement that we return to school this week. I hope that all families enjoyed a fun-filled, restful and safe break. I look forward to catching up with all children and families in the coming week.
Classes and staffing 2021
At the end of 2020, we farewelled a few staff members. Mrs Kylie Beckett was successful in acquiring a full-time position as Aboriginal School Learning Support Officer at Corrimal High School. I thank Mrs Beckett for her ongoing contributions to supporting our children and promoting Aboriginal education at our school. Thank you and best wishes Mrs Beckett.
We also farewelled Mrs Kim Liplyn who was appointed to a permanent classroom teacher position at Tullimbar PS. I thank Mrs Liplyn for her contributions to our school over many years and her flexibility, skillset and expertise.
This year, we warmly welcome some new staff members as well. Welcome to Mrs Suzy Duncan who will be teaching one of our Kindergarten classes in 2021. Mrs Duncan brings a wealth of experience in literacy teaching in the early years of school and also the integration of IT into classroom practice. We also welcome Ms Annemarie Bowditch to our school as a Stage 2 teacher. Mrs Annemarie Bowditch has much expertise in supporting children with additional learning needs and in leading wellbeing practices. We also welcome back Miss Kristy Horner and Mrs Kristy Bennis from maternity leave.
Our class structures and their teachers for 2021 are:
KD Suzy Duncan
K/1C Elena Carling
K/6C Sally Clough
K/6L Salim Layoun
K/6M Janet McKnight
1B Kurtis Bailey
2D Martina Davies
3/4B Annemarie Bowditch
3/4H Jenine Hickey
3/4M Matthew Bell
5T Ben Taylor
6H Stephanie Hopper / Mrs Debbie Banfield
Literacy and numeracy co-teacher / Creative Arts teacher – Olivia Bormann
Literacy and numeracy co-teacher / PE teacher – Kristy Horner
Literacy and numeracy co-teacher / PE teacher – Kristy Bennis
Interventionist - Janet Pezzutto
Intensive Learning Support Teacher - Natasha Kandilas Feld
Literacy and numeracy co-teacher/Various teaching roles - Jo Morrissey
Librarian/RFF teacher – Debbie Banfield
Primary Mathematics Specialist Teacher - Stephanie Hopper
EAL/D Education Leader – Caitlin Park
Instructional Leader – Elizabeth Heritage
School psychologist – Olivia Blackmore
Support and administrative staff working at our school in 2021 are:
School Administrative Manager - Teresa Trigg
School Administrative Officer - Alison Kirk
Community hub leaders - Maree Szalla, Samantha Rudd
School Learning Support officers – Nour Al Ahmad, Naheda Baghdadi, Rachael Ebans, Michelle Greer, Caroline Kettlewell, Dawn Berki, Treigh Stewart, Blake Dowel, Connor Mulheisen
General Assistants - Andrew Beattie, John Lochhead
Primary Mathematics Specialist Teacher Initiative
At the end of last year, our school was successful in our application to participate in the Primary Mathematics Specialist Teacher Initiative in 2021-2022. We feel very honoured as only 30 schools were selected across the state. Miss Hopper will be taking up the position of Primary Mathematics Specialist Teacher. This will involve Miss Hopper participating in valuable professional learning in Mathematics to facilitate best pedagogical practice in mathematics teaching and learning in our school.
COVID Intensive Learning Support Program
The Department of Education announced at the end of 2020 that all public schools would receive additional funding to employ an Intensive Learning Support Teacher in 2021 to close any gaps in achievements for students caused by disrupted learning due to COVID-19. Mrs Natasha Kandilas Feld will take up this position, providing small group targeted support for our children in literacy and numeracy.
Instructional leadership program
Mrs Elizabeth Heritage will continue to lead our Instructional Leadership program in 2021. This program is focused on providing quality professional learning experiences for teachers to support strengthened teaching practice in literacy and numeracy. Spirals of Inquiry, data talks and instructional rounds will be key initiatives implemented at our school in 2021 to support a relentless focus on achieving improved learning outcomes for our children.
EAL/D Education Leader
Our school has been selected to be the host school for our region’s EAL/D Education leader in 2021. Ms Caitlin Park will be working in this role, supporting our school and other Illawarra schools in implementing quality teaching and learning programs to support students learning English as an additional language/dialect.
Wellbeing Framework
This year, our school is launching our revised Wellbeing Framework to support all children to connect, succeed and thrive at our school. This framework promotes the use of trauma informed practices to support our kids in a positive, non-punitive and therapeutic environment. In the coming weeks, our localised Wellbeing Framework will be uploaded to our website to be shared with our community.
4C Initiative
In 2021, our school will work with Keiraville Public Sschool and Mount Keira Demonstration School to implement the 4C initiative. This year-long ongoing professional learning experience will transform learning in our classrooms to support student skill development in collaboration, creativity, critical inquiry and communication.
Wollongong Literacy Leadership Network
In 2021, our school will continue to be active members of the Wollongong Literacy Leadership (WLL) network. Literacy expert, Jann Farmer-Hayley will mentor our school leaders and teachers in implementing quality literacy teaching practices school-wide. We will also work collaboratively with schools across the Illawarra to share best practice.
Assets work
It was very exciting to see the completion of our natural outdoor play space during the school holidays. Our children will be overjoyed to see the new play area when they return to school. Thank you very much to our P&C for acquiring the funds and overseeing this initiative.
In the holidays, two of the classrooms on our upper level were painted. In the coming month, a new bi-fold door will be installed.
At the end of 2020, our school had two new classrooms installed on our lower level. These new classrooms, that include a kitchen, wet area and toilet facilities, are modern quality learning environments that our children will love learning in.
Community hub
Our community hub will continue to operate in 2021. Our hub leaders, Mrs Samantha Rudd and Mrs Maree Szalla have been busy planning for some new initiatives in 2021, that will see strengthened connections between our hub families and the learning taking place in our classrooms. A timetable of hub activities in 2021 will be shared with our community in the coming weeks.
P&C
Our P&C will continue to meet at 7pm on the first Thursday of each month. Our first meeting for 2021 will be held on Thursday 4 February in our community hub. We warmly welcome all existing and new families to our P&C meetings.
COVID-19 guidelines
Due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak during the Christmas and new year break, the anticipated easing of COVID restrictions to commence 2021 has not occurred. The revised school guidelines for 2021 are:
· Parents/carers are welcome to be on school grounds for scheduled appointments with teachers or to visit our uniform shop or to be parent/carer helper in classrooms if prearranged with your child’s class teacher.
· Parents/carers may attend scheduled school events by invitation. Gatherings are limited to 30 people.
· Parents/carers are requested not to enter school grounds at school drop-off and pick-up times. Procedures for drop-offs and pick-ups will be the same as those procedures in place to conclude the 2020 school year. However, parents/carers of our children in Years 1 and 2 will be able to drop-off and pick-up their child from our lower playground on Friday 29 January and Monday 1 February to reduce back-to-school anxiety in our younger students. Our parents/carers of our students starting Kindergarten are welcome to accompany your child to the Kindergarten classroom for your child’s Best Start appointment and will be permitted to drop-off and pick-up your child from our lower playground up until Friday 5 February.
· All adults, including parents/carers and staff, must maintain a distance of 1.5m distance from each other. Masks do not need to be worn on school grounds.
· Students, parents/carers and staff must not be on school grounds if unwell. Symptoms must be resolved and a negative COVID-19 test must be shared with the school before your child returns to school following sickness. Negative test results can be sent to our school mobile phone on 0421 050 606.
· Excursions can be attended by children. It is anticipated that events such as the Choral Festival and Southern Stars will proceed in 2021.
· Additional cleaning will continue to occur to commence the school year. Children will be supported to use hand sanitiser, soap and paper hand towels regularly throughout the school day.
Communication
Our school will communicate with our parent/carer body through
· Our school website - https://wollongwst-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/
· The Skoolbag app – download the app free of charge. Whole school messages are communicated this way.
· The Seesaw app – Children will receive a QR code in the new year for you to use to get connected. Class messages are communicated through the Seesaw app.
· Facebook – Student learning and school events are showcased in this way.
· Phone, face-to-face or Zoom meetings – Parents/carers are encouraged to meet with your child’s teacher to discuss your child’s learning and wellbeing at any time throughout the school year.
Uniform shop
Due to COVID restrictions, our uniform shop will be open by appointment only. Please phone our office on 4229 2096 to make an appointment when the school year commences.
Important dates
Below are some important dates to add to diaries to start the 2021 school year.
Friday 29 January – Students in Years 1-6 commence school.
Tuesday 2 February – Students in Kindergarten commence school.
Thursday 4 February – P&C meeting at 7pm in our community hub.
Tuesday 9 February 12-3pm – Swimming carnival at Western Suburbs Pool
Monday 15 February– Induction of our school captains, sporting captains and SRC representatives
Thursday 1 April – Last day of school for Term 1
Our staff are very much looking forward to an exciting year full of wonderful learning for our children. Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher with any queries throughout the 2021 school year.
Kind regards,
Michelle Barnes
Principal