Port Augusta West Term 2 week 6
Principal's Report
We are thrilled to announce that Port Augusta West Primary School has been offered an extremely exciting opportunity!
In partnership with Zoos SA and Bunnings, Children’s University Adelaide is inviting 30 students from our school to take part in a free two-night visit to Adelaide later this term. The visit will include overnight stays at both Adelaide Zoo and Monarto Safari Park, as well as a two-hour workshop at Bunnings and a tour of the University of Adelaide campus. Accommodation, transport and food will be completely covered by Children’s University – students and staff will only be asked to bring clothing and bedding for their visit. We have offered our Children’s University members first option to attend the camp, followed by some members of the SRC and House Captains. Thank you to the staff and parents who have nominated to attend the camp and support our students. We can’t wait to hear all about it.
We welcomed our reception transition students last week for the first time. We extend a warm welcome to the following students and their families who join us at Port Augusta West Primary School to begin their schooling journey; Oaklee Foulis, Scarlett Haynes, Jackson Horner, Hannah-Mae Jermoin, Jye Khan and Isobel Smyth. Transition visits will continue for the next two weeks, with students joining us full time next term.
Our Yr 4-6 classes attended the Port Augusta Secondary School Drama performance ‘Treasure Island’ which was held at the Lea Memorial Theatre on Tuesday this week. We would like to congratulate the school on such a wonderful display of theatrical skills and share our appreciation of being given the opportunity to attend. Well done to Nartarsha Ikiua for her amazing director skills and to the performing arts students.
The R-3 classes will also be attending a live performance based on the iconic picture book ‘Grug’ next Tuesday which is being held at the Middleback Theatre in Whyalla. Attending live performances provides students with a range of benefits including cultural enrichment, emotional impact, social interactions and personal connections. Connecting the curriculum with live performances can help students visualise the text and understand character development, themes and settings. Students will participate in post-performance discussions and engage with the Big Write program to reflect on their experiences.
A friendly reminder that when attending school events and activities; please be mindful when filming and photographing your child. When other students are in the background and are identifiable, there can be concerns if their parents/caregivers have not given permission and the images become public. There can be real legal or safety concerns for the child or family concerned in some cases. Please keep this in mind when photographing students and posting on social media.
We would like to thank Jasmine and Kerry from COFFI @ J & K's Cafe for their fanatstic service to our school, supplying our students lunch orders. We wish them all the best for their future endeavours.
We are currently exploring ‘lunch order’ options and we are confident that we will have a new system in place for our families by the end of this term. We apologise for the inconvenience that this may be causing to your family.
Sarah Bury
‘Every Child – Every Classroom – Every Day’
Communication
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We also have a school Facebook page which you can access up-to-date information. You can search for Port Augusta West Primary School.
Please contact your child’s teacher if you have not registered for See Saw. This platform provides individual class context information which is relevant for your child/ren. Teachers are actively communicating through See Saw.
Assistant Principal
Hello All, Throughout the year, the school has been implementing our Positive Behaviour for Learning approach in the classrooms. Every week, classes deliver a 10-15 minute lesson focusing on a proactive approach teaching students how to positively engage with one another and engage with the curriculum at our school. These lessons delivered every week focuses on one of our three school values being Respect, Resilience and Relationships.
These lessons also will have a focus on where the behaviour would be seen, either specifically through learning time, throughout break times or behaviours that we encourage students to show at all times. Staff are also taking notice of providing encouraging feedback for positive behaviour of students in the classroom. We are focusing on making sure that the positive feedback is specific so the students understand what the feedback was for. For example we could say “I can see you are showing respect by listening to your peers share and not talking over the top of them”.
A small team at the school is learning strategies throughout the year to help students who may need extra support in positively engaging with others and the curriculum which we are planning to implement in 2025.
Paul Kalfas
Assembly Awards
Our assembly times allow us to acknowledge our students based on the three values of our Positive Behaviour for Learning Program. These values include Respect, Resilience and Relationships.
Congratulations to the students who were awarded for their efforts during the week 6 assembly.
Children's University Spotlight
Lylah Martin
What made you want to join Children’s University?
“I wanted to do it because I thought it would be a fun way to get out and do things outside the house. Ellen helped me find the sheets on the portal, and then she took me out to see things. Dad took me to the Foreshore. When I went to the Wadlata Tunnel of Time I took my cousins Ella and Hamish.”
What have you enjoyed?
“I enjoyed the Kimba ones the most. I learnt about the explorer Edward John Eyre.”
Can you tell me more about Edward John Eyre?
“He was born in England and was the first European man to cross the continent from Sydney to the Swan River. The Eyre Peninsula is named in his honour. The statues are at Kimba because he found a good supply of water at Iron Knob. They were created by Roland Weight and Marcus Possingham and look like huge robots. They are made of steel.”
Has Children’s University been a good experience for you?
“Yes, I’ve been enjoying it because I get out and learn more- things that I never knew.”
Thanks, Lylah, that sounds interesting! I think I might need to go and have a look at those statues!
Classroom Chatter 3C
Mrs Maloney/Mr Kalfas' Year 1/2 Class
Room 3C were lucky enough to have Richard from Children’s University visit their class to talk about the Earth, Moon and Space! He had a lot of interesting artefacts some were hundreds years old.
He had a piece of rock from the moon. When it smashed on the moon it exploded into little pieces and the astronauts found it! Mason, Year 1.
The meteorite crashed, it was black and hard. Hazel, Year 1.
This piece of meteorite was over 222 years old! It was so much fun. Braxton, Year 1
Classroom Chatter from 2B
Mr Ikiua's Year 4/5 Class
In Unit 2B and Year 5's from Unit 1 have been fundraising for an Excursion to the Adelaide Show in Term 3. We have had 2 fundraisers so far, our first selling hotdogs with a fruit box and our second was selling Mac n Cheese and fruitbox. The students have had fun organising orders, counting money and helping prepare the food. Our next fundraiser will be Toasties and fruitbox in week 9. Thank you to Simone, Sarah and Andrea our SSO's for organising these two events. Thank you to Sarah Laube for organising with Pete Baldock from EP Cleaning Supplies for their donations towards our class fundraising.
Koben and Bailey
Classroom Chatter Unit 1
Mr Nicholls' Year 5/6 Class
Throughout this term, our Year 5/6 students have been building positive relationships with the reception students as part of their 'buddy' program. This occurs on Friday afternoons and so far has been a blast with many smiles. We look forward to many more interactions shared within our school community.
Our Class along with Mr Ikiua's went to the Lea Memorial Theatre on Tuesday to watch a play, performed by the Port Augusta Secondary Students "Treasure Island".
National Simultaneous Storytime
On Wednesday, 22nd May, over 2 million children, teachers, parents, caregivers and members of the Community came together to read 'Bower Bird Blues', written and illustrated by Aura Parker. Now in its 24th successful year, NSS is a celebratory, colourful, and interactive event that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy using Australian books.
Tracey Zacher
SAPSASA Football
Boys Football SAPSASA Adelaide
Joe, Flynn and Aaron went down to Adelaide to represent the Northern Football team. They were there on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, playing a total of nine games. On Tuesday night we went down to the all-you-can-eat buffet for dinner as a team. Unfortunately the boys could not come out on top, but they had lots of fun.
Flynn and Joe
Smith Family Financial Scholarship
Miscellaneous
