Build a community that continues to learn

Through:-   Building a school wide approach to the teaching and learning and increasing teacher capacity.

 Enhance and maintain the wellbeing of all

Our target for the year:- Attendance rates will increase from 88% to 95% across the school, and we will maintain representation throughout the community

 Build a community that is connected

Our target for the year:- Increase family attendance at interviews and open day and introduce Yarn Time sessions

A Big Welcome Back to school for all our families, students, and staff.   I hope the holidays provided you with the opportunity to spend some time as a family and to relax. It has been a real pleasure to see our students back at school, eager to learn and ready to accept all the challenges that lay head this year.

A very big WELCOME to the 2021 Kindergarten children. It has been wonderful to see Brady, Eliana, Jayden, Lashanti, Noah and Thomas re-join our school and become a special part of our school family.  

We welcome new students Ellis, Tyson and Gus and their families to our school. We are also very excited to be welcoming to our school family our new staff, Miss Sarah O'Brien and Miss Tori Corcoran. 

2021 will be an exceptional year for us all!

Fr. Dominic     Parish Priest – West Wyalong Mission

Jacinta Elwin -           Principal

Rachael Morris - Religious Education Coordinator

Sarah O’Brien -           Kindergarten / Year 1 class teacher

Sarah Whiting -          Year 2/3 class teacher

Marilyn Shaw -           Year 4/5/6 class teacher  

Alison Wheeler -         Literacy and Numeracy Support for K/1/2~ Mon/Tues

Victoria Corcoran -     Library, Year 4/5/6 teacher part-time   

Sue MacRae -              Office Admin - Mon- Wed

Nicole Wood -             Office Admin - Thurs – Friday

Miss Sharon Thorpe, Emma Brown, Miss Georgina Kelly and Nicole Wood will also be working with individual students, small groups and classes supporting learning.

If there are any concerns regarding your child, please do not hesitate to contact the school at any time. We wish to work with families to provide the best possible learning environment for all students.

Due to the implementation of new programs in 2021 there will be a change in the time we have our lunch break next year. The timetable for the day (please note the changes highlighted) will be as follows: -

8.55am - Morning bell

11.00am – Recess bell

11.30am – End of Recess

1.30pm – Lunch bell

2.10pm – End of Lunch

3.10pm – End of the school day

There will be another fruit break introduced between recess and lunchtime at approximately 12.30pm.

FRUIT BREAK—10.00am AND 12.30pm each day:   

Please remember to send fruit/vegetables each day for our Fruit Breaks – two each day. Children need be able to eat their snack within five minutes.

The benefits of a fruit/vegetable in class include:

• Helping to build lifelong healthy eating habits.
• Improvement to students’ behaviour, and ability to concentrate and learn in the classroom.

Our fruit breaks are at 10.00am and 12.30pm each day.  The children can bring their own fruit to have or there will be  a small variety of fruit to buy at school for $1.00 a piece.

Please sign and return the permission notes sent home as soon as possible—THANK YOU to those families that have already returned these notes!

• Walking to and taking part in local excursions
• Use of sunscreen at break times and sporting and other excursions
• Local bus travel to Murrin Bridge Mass and local excursions each term
• Swimming Note (for students in Year 2-6 for Monday next week).

Emma McRae will be continuing with us this year as our school counsellor and we have been given additional days, which we are really happy about. Emma will continue to support the school through both on site visits and via Zoom sessions.

The first session will be next week, Thursday, via Zoom and then Emma will be out on site on Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th February if you would like to come in and have a chat with her. If you would like your child to meet with Emma please contact the school for a copy of the referral form to be completed and return as soon as possible.

To assist in encouraging reading all students will receive a Home Reading Log to complete at home to record any book they read (or others read with them). This will go home with students on Monday, Children will be rewarded for each total of 10 books they read and additional rewards for each 25 books they read.

Please help us to assist our students become better readers.

Please note if you wish to borrow books for your children to read at home our school is extremely well resourced  and we will lend books to any family or student wishing for more books (or different choices of books) at home.

Students learn new things at school every day.

Children who attend school every day have:

• better health
• better job opportunities
• higher income across their lives.

There is no safe number of days for missing school. Each day a student misses puts them behind.

We are aiming to improve the attendance rate of students in 2021. All students who achieve more than 95% attendance for each 5 weeks will be rewarded and acknowledged.  The class with the highest attendance percentage will also be rewarded and acknowledged. Please help our students achieve their full potential by being at school consistently.

Students who come late to School must report to the Front Office and be signed in.  Any student absence needs to be explained, these explanations can be given via email, phone call or written note.

Bus Travel

Bus Travel is available for students.      Applications online

Change of address / phone number

The School Office should be notified of any change of address or phone number immediately. Change of student information form was sent home yesterday – please return these as soon as follows.

School Hours

Teachers are responsible for supervision of students from 8.30am until all children have left the school grounds.  Special permission needs to be sought if children are going to be on School grounds outside these hours, as teachers are not available to supervise.

Ongoing changes in society today have made it difficult to ensure students are secure whilst at school.  Therefore all visitors to the School are expected to first call at the Office for security reasons. 

SFX COMMUNITY COUNCIL— Annual General Meeting

Staffroom on Tuesday 9th March at 6.00pm

The first School Community Council Meeting will also be the Annual General Meeting.    All parents, carers and interested persons are most welcome to come along.   Please show your support for your children and your school.

The meeting will be held in the staffroom at 6.00pm Tuesday 9th March. Items on the agenda include Canteen, Uniforms, Fundraising and 2021 school goals. If you would like to add any items to the agenda or become a committee member please let Jacinta or Andrew McFadyen (Chair Person) know.

Thank you and looking forward to working with you all.

OPENING MASS:    All families and friends are invited to join the school for our Open Mass on Friday 12th February as we celebrate the beginning of the new school year.  The 2021 school leaders will be presented with their leader badges after they have been blessed by Fr Dominic.

SWIMMING - Monday 8th Feb, Tues 9th Feb, Wed 10th Feb and Thurs 11th Feb for students in Year 2-Year 6.

ASH WEDNESDAY Mass - Wednesday 17th February - Mass at 2.00pm

ASSEMBLIES - We will aim to have one assembly for each class each term. The dates for this term are:-

Year 4/5/6 - Friday 26th February

Year 2/3  - Friday 12th March

Kinder/Year 1 - Friday 26th March

Western Region Swimming Carnival - Monday 15th February at West Wyalong

SFX are catering for Rodney & Karen Bartholomew's sale on Saturday the 13th of Feb starting at 9am, We are cooking a BBQ lunch and providing morning tea. If anyone can help by cooking something for morning tea or help on the day please let Sharna Hayward or School staff know. Thank you

Please note the changes to some of the items available at school.

CANTEEN MENU

Super Dooper               $1.00 – any day of the week
Fruit Box                     $1.50 – any day of the week

Toasted Sandwiches   $1.00 – sandwiches can be toasted at school any day of the week. They need to be to Miss Sharon by 1^st Lunch at 11.00am

FRIDAY’S LUNCH ORDERING – from Fisho’s

 Sandwiches

Sandwich of your choice – Grain bread also available.

 Ham, Chicken, Roast Beef $4.00

Silverside, Egg, Cheese Vegemite $4.00

With Salad  $4.50

 Hot Food

Plain Pie $4.00

Large Sausage Roll  $4.00
3 x Yummy Drummie  $4.00

Hot Dog with sauce $4.00

6  x Chicken Nuggets $4.00

6  x Chicken Goujons  $4.00

4  x Chicken Breast Wedges  $4.00

Lasagne  $3.60

Pizza small – Cheese and Bacon $4.50
Pizza small – Cheese, Ham & Pineapple $4.50

Sweet Chilli Wrap (1 tender) with Salad $5.50

 Meals

Mac and Cheese $5.00

Lasagne with Dinner Roll $5.00

Spag. Bolognese with Dinner Roll $5.00

Roast Chicken & Veg with Dinner Roll $5.00

 Sauce  $0.50

Small Juice $2.50

Please send lunch orders with correct change in bag or envelope in possible – thank you.