Wanniassa School
PRESCHOOL - STERNBERG CRESCENT WANNIASSA
JUNIOR CAMPUS - STERNBERG CRESCENT WANNIASSA
SENIOR CAMPUS - WHEELER CRESCENT WANNIASSA
Website: www.wans.act.edu.au
Email: info@wans.act.edu.au
‘Success and excellence in education’
PHONE: 6205 8055
PHONE: 6205 7566
PHONE: 6205 6200
Wanniassa P-10 School
February Newsletter 2016
Upcoming Events
Preschool
24th Feb
Preschool Committee
AGM – 7pm
Junior Campus
1st March
Parent/Teacher
Interviews
2nd March
School Photos
4th March
Blue Unit Assembly
11.30am
8th March
AFL Gala Day–Yrs 3/4
9th March
Rugby League-Yrs 3-6
Senior Campus
Every Wednesday
Ganbra Homework Club
3.15pm -4pm
Every Thursday
Junction Group
1st March
School Photos
23rd March
Year 7 Immunisations
Whole School
14th March
Canberra Day
25th March
Good Friday
28th March
Easter Monday
8th April
End Term 1
26th April
Start Term 2
Principal’s Report
Welcome to the 2016 school year. All students have settled into their
year of learning very well. We are impressed with the success of the
structural modifications to the teaching and learning on the Senior
Campus. We are seeing students very focused and engaged in their
learning. Students are enjoying the ownership over their learning spaces and the
personalised learning that they are able to guide as they take the next step in being selfmotivated learners. In this new structure you will also notice that on the Secondary
campus there is one teacher you can contact who will know all about your child’s social
and learning progress. This is their MAPs teacher.
We are already seeing great outcomes from the students’ learning across the school.
It is important to note that students are engaging in at least the same amount of time in
their core subjects but in ways that they are more connected and in more practical time
allocations.
Please contact your child’s classroom/MAPs teacher if you wish to discuss their progress
or factors that may impact on their learning.
We are looking forward to a productive year working in a team with all of our parents
and carers to ensure successful learning for everyone.
Thank you
Shane Gorman
Elizabeth Courtois
Cherie Connors
Principal
Junior Campus Principal
Senior Campus Principal
P & C News
Wanniassa School Parent & Citizen Association - Annual General Meeting (AGM) &
HELP NEEDED
The Wanniassa School P&C committee is to hold its Annual General Meeting at 7.30pm
on Tuesday 15 March 2016 in the staff room on the Senior Campus.
All executive positions will be vacated and the following positions are available:
President - Chairs all meetings, provides leadership and acts as a spokesperson;
Vice President Junior Campus - Assists President and Secretary as well as representative for
Junior Campus;
Vice President Senior Campus - Assists President and Secretary as well as representative for
Senior Campus;
Secretary - Records minutes of meetings, sets meeting agendas and attends to correspondence;
P&C Treasurer - Responsible for all funds received and expended on behalf of the P&C
Committee, reports regularly to P&C meetings. Software package and training is available. This is a
vital role which the P&C can’t function without.
Canteen Treasurer & Convenor - Responsible for canteen operations, canteen accounts and
payment of salaries to canteen staff as well as report regularly to P&C meetings. Software package
and training is available. This is a vital role which the P&C can’t function without.
Fundraising Coordinator - As little or as much as you can or have time. The whole of the P&C
committee has been taking responsibility over the last few years to assist with all fundraising as a
team effort eg BBQ fundraisers, cake stall.
If you would like to know more about any of these positions or other roles, please
contact Rachelle Davis on 0409 840 641 or rachelledavis@hotmail.com
Finance News
At Wanniassa School, we deeply appreciate the valuable support of our school community. Your voluntary contributions made
each year enable us to provide an enriched learning environment for all of our children.
Your Family Transaction Statements were posted to you in Week 3. Attached will be information on various ways of paying your
Voluntary Contributions. Eg: QuickWeb (is an online payment service which will enable families/communities to make payment
via a secure portal on you school’s website www.wans.act.edu.au) OR Visa/MasterCard credit or debit card (Bank: Westpac, A/C
Name: Wanniassa School Management Account, BSB: 032777, Account Number: 001869).
Please remember we also accept cash, cheque, credit card and EFTPOS payments through the Front Offices of both campuses!
Finance Officer
Sick Bay
If students are unwell they are sent to sick bay with a note from their teacher. The Front Office Staff will contact parents/carers
if necessary. As we have Duty of Care whilst the students are at school we request that Students DO NOT contact parents
themselves, but wait for us to call on their behalf. If your child contacts you asking if they can go home sick, ask them to get a
note from their teacher to go to sick bay and the Office Staff will then contact you. Thank you in advance for your support.
Student Absences
If your student is absent, due to illness or leave, or needs to attend an appointment during the day, please phone the Front
Office on 6205 6200 for the Senior Campus, 6205 7566 for the Junior Campus and 6205 8055 for the Preschool and leave a
message or email: info@wans.act.edu.au
Please remember to include the student’s full name, roll group and reason for absence (ie. sick, late or on leave) as well as your
contact details.
Junior Campus News
Rainbow Unit News
Wanniassa School would like to welcome Marion Brown and Karen Watson to our preschool for Term 1. Both
teachers have taught preschool for many years and have an excellent understanding of the Early Years Learning
Framework and provide a safe and exciting quality learning environment for all students. Virginia Fanning is currently
on leave and will be returning Term 2. Karen Cooper is currently on leave for the year.
We have been really pleased to see all of the children settling in so well at this early stage of the year. Learning the
routines and expectations of being part of a group have been our focus for the first three weeks. Children have been
encouraged to help develop a Classroom plan that will help us all have a happy and safe time at Preschool. Term 1
also involves a strong focus on developing social skills: making friends, taking turns and sharing equipment, helping
our friends, caring for each other and the environment are topics for group time discussions, role playing and
modelling.
We are also moving towards using scissors, we are providing the children with lots of opportunities to develop finger
strength and dexterity. Practice makes perfect, so if your children have a safe pair of scissors at home please
encourage them to cut up old magazines and catalogues. Cutting is a necessary skill for Kindergarten, so the more
practice they have, the better.
Jenny Tatham
Executive Teacher Early childhood
Red Unit News
It has been a very busy start to the year in Red Unit! We have all been so excited to start Kindergarten and are
working very hard. We have begun to learn our single sounds and are starting to blend these together to read small
words. For each sound we have learnt we have created a beautiful piece of craft to help us remember the sound. We
are also starting to learn our numbers and are becoming great counters. Our integrated unit has been all about our
school values and routines. We have met some funny puppets that help to teach us how to do the right thing at
school. We are enjoying making new friends and have had a fantastic first few weeks of Kindergarten.
Vicki Gough and Sally Gore-Johnson
Green Unit News
The teachers in Green Unit this year are Ashley Coutts and Hayley Eaton and we have had an exciting start to the
year with our new Green Unit team. It has been an enjoyable experience getting to know our new students and
begin our unit of work on values and inclusion.
Students in 1C and 1E have started the year looking at the numbers to 100 and are working hard at writing numbers
the correct way around. We have also been learning about place value to 100, skip counting in 10’s and 2’s and 2D
shapes and 3D objects.
It has been a wonderful start to the year and we look forward to sharing many engaging and fun learning
experiences together.
Ashley Coutts and Hayley Eaton
Blue Unit News
Welcome back to school! Blue Unit has hit the ground the running in these first few weeks. Students have been
learning about the importance of valuing each other. We understand that not one person is the same (just like our
thumbprints) but everyone is unique and has a place in Blue Unit. We have created some colourful portraits
highlighting our different emotions/characters and developed a vibrant wall filled with our personal term goals. Our
main focuses this term are improving mental computation and number knowledge in Maths and we will be looking
closely at the text types, Exposition and Narrative writing. This week Blue Unit will be starting Science Units and
through some exciting experiments they will be learning about Earth and Space. We are looking forward to an
exciting and busy year with a fabulous bunch of kids!
Christina Bowman, Leah Frezza and Helen Wilson
Orange Unit News
What a wonderful start to the year!!! We are delighted with the new “faces of Orange” and are already feeling that
we have an exciting and dynamic team. We have set up our unit with the creation of our “Values” posters, looking at
what qualities we bring to Orange Unit and what qualities we see in others. If you did not get a chance to pop your
head into Orange Unit for the parent information night, you would be amazed by the quality of the work produced,
in particular their “Personal Profiles”. This activity outlined information about each and every one of the Orange Unit
students and highlights just how unique they each are. Students spent time discussing their expectations for this
year, of us, themselves and each other and we were pleased to see such a responsible group of students working so
cooperatively together. Their responses have been collated and displayed in our unit for reference. It is going to be a
fantastic year!
Yippee!
Jessica Booth and Greg Pickering
Yellow Unit News
Yellow Unit have had a great start to the year, and are proving to be a highly motivated, cooperative and
enthusiastic team of students. We have been exploring school and personal values in order to set expectations and
foster positive relationships for the rest of the year.
The students are very excited about being part of our PED (Personal Electronic Device) program and are using their
devices to complete many aspects of their work digitally, not only during literacy sessions but also in classes such as
Japanese. Students are reminded to bring in their fully charged device to school each day in a protective case.
Yellow Unit students are proving to be flexible learners as they move between unit based, class based and year level
based groupings, and it is exciting to see them meet the many challenges they are being set.
Tracey Hanson, Cindy Somenek & Justan Fuller
Japanese News
Konnichiwa (Hello/Good Afternoon),
Students across Junior Campus have being exploring Oshougatsu/New Year’s celebrations in Japan.
2016 is the year of the Monkey (saru doshi). People born under the sign of the Monkey are usually
intelligent, confident, charismatic, cheerful and loyal.
Yellow and Orange units have also been investigating Setsubun, a festival to chase away evil
spirits/bad luck and bring good fortune into your home. Student created representations of Oni
masks. In Japan beans are thrown at people wearing these masks and the phrase “oni wa soto, fuku
wa uchi” is yelled to scare away the Oni and bring good fortune instead. New Year’s is a very exciting and colourful
time in Japan and there are many traditional ways to celebrate.
Kindergarten students have had an amazing start to their Japanese journey with the introduction to basic greetings
and learning the correct way to bow (with hand by their sides). I hope all students are enjoying their Japanese
classes as much as I am.
Arigatou Gozaimasu
(Thankyou very much)
Poulakis Sensei
Library News
Welcome to the start of another exciting year in the Library! There are
lots of special events on the calendar this year including the Chief
Minister’s Reading Challenge, exciting author studies, visiting
performances, Book Week and Book Fair.
Borrowing has begun with lots of students starting some exciting new
books series or enjoying some old favourites. Students have set library
days for borrowing and returning, and can also come in the mornings or
at lunchtimes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Library Monitors
Congratulations to the ten year six students who have begun training as
library monitors this year.
They are: Angus Manton, Sammy Crowther, Barakat Mahmoud, Taylah Perrett, Isabella Morelos, Jay Harmon, Rylee
Cousins-Foster, Storm Chisholm, Cailin Muir and Tara Griffith.
They will be working in the library at lunchtimes, helping students with loans and returns, assisting in the computer
lab, looking after specific fiction or nonfiction shelves, helping with displays and running special lunchtime activities
and competitions for students. The monitors have already shown themselves to be keen, capable, friendly and
reliable. We commend these students for their commitment and enthusiasm.
Keep up the good work team!
Red Unit in the Library
When Kindergarten students first visited the library this term it was wonderful
to see so many familiar faces from preschool, and a few new faces too!
It is even more exciting for our Red Unit students that they can now borrow
books for home! We have been looking at and borrowing books that start with
one of the sounds Kindergarten have been learning the last few weeks.
eBooks
At our parent information evening a number of parents came to the library to
learn all about accessing eBooks from home. There are thousands of eBooks
available to our school community so if you are interested in learning more
please let me know. You are also more than welcome set up a family
membership at the library if you would like to borrow some of our physical
resources.
Book club
This year Wanniassa School is joining the LOOP system for Book Club ordering when you pay with a credit card. You
will be able to select your order and pay using credit card through scholastic.com.au/LOOP or by downloading the
app. If you do it this way you do not need to send in an order form. If paying by cash or cheque these will still need
to be sent into school in a marked envelope with your order form. The first Book Club will be later in the term.
Happy reading!
Amy Byrne
Teacher Librarian
Chaplaincy News
Welcome to all new students and their families on the junior campus. Welcome back to everyone else too!
Hopefully, you have found out about Breakfast Club and The Link at lunchtimes. Breakfast Club is held every Friday
and is open to all students. It is free for everyone. This year we have many Year 6 students who have volunteered to
take it in turns to help to make milos, cook toast and wash up. Parents are welcome to bring their younger children
in, and assist them with getting breakfast until they are confident to do it for themselves. Parents are also welcome
to drop in for a chat after lines on either Thursdays or Fridays. If it is a Friday, you are very welcome to come in and
help wash up!
I am only at the school on Thursdays and Fridays. On these days, the Link is open at lunchtimes. Fourteen children
can come in at any one time. Kinder and Year 1 students can only come in for half of a lunch time. Everyone can play
games, play with Lego or playdough and sometimes do some craft activities. It can be a good place to visit if you
have forgotten your hat for the day too!
As the school chaplain, I am also available for a chat with anyone in the school community who would like to discuss
something with me confidentially. Although, I am located on the junior campus, I am available to the whole school
community. I have found in the past that parents often appreciate their child having a chat with me if they are
dealing with grief issues. It may be the loss of a close family member, or a pet. Parents themselves also need
someone to chat to sometimes. Other parents have appreciated finding out about services available in our
community. I am a mother of a large family and offer free parenting coaching to any parent in the school
community. It is best to contact me via the school office, one of the teachers, or to catch me after morning lines or at
a school assembly.
Christine Hosking
Chaplain
Senior Campus News
Senior Campus Wellbeing
Connect
Keep Active
TakeNotice
Keep Learning
Give
The year is off to a great start with students settled and engaged – having their individual work spaces helps connect
in with learning, as it means there is always a place you can call your own and settle down to work.
Years 7 and 8 have begun the year building their wellbeing toolkit for high school – the Five Ways to Wellbeing,
building understanding of and responsibility for their wellness and thereby building their resilience. This is important
for adults too – just Google The Five Ways to Wellbeing for more information.
Senior students (Years 9 and 10) will head to the Lake Tuggeranong College Expo to investigate a huge range of
careers an occupations to help inform their personal projects and pathways work.
Our student leaders are attending the national GRIP Student Leadership conference to share ideas and skills. They
will be working with the SRC to make sure student voice is strongly heard and leading students to build community
and civic responsibility through their actions and through the Curriculum of Giving that extends throughout the
school.
The Wellbeing Team is available to contact any time:
Ann Hill, Executive Teacher Pastoral Care ann.hill@ed.act.edu.au 6205 6200
Trevor Preston, Youth Support Worker trevor.preston@ed.act.edu.au 6205 6200
Fellon Gaida, School Youth Health Nurse fellon.gaida@ed.act.edu.au 6205 6200
Anita Sutherland Indigenous Education Officer anita.sutherland@ed.act.edu.au 6205 6200
Year 7 News
Welcome to 2016 and what a wonderful start we have had. The year 7 students have hit the ground running and
have settled into the school incredibly well. It is great to see them making new friends so quickly. The students are
now set up with their Google classroom accounts and use them daily to enhance the learning within the classroom.
This is a great opportunity for parents to stay in touch with what is happening with the year seven classes. In English
the children are working through the Scaffolding Literacy process. This sequence focuses on an author’s writing style
and incorporates reading, spelling and writing strategies. The children are also looking at the components of
debating that will lead into essay writing skills.
The year 7 teachers wish to work collaboratively with our families and if you have any questions please contact us.
Nick Bond
Year 7 Coordinator
Year 8 News
Welcome to 2016!
Firstly, I’d like to introduce the Year 8 team:
Cara Shipp, Executive teacher, 6205 6164, cara-jane.shipp@ed.act.edu.au
Cara oversees the Year 8 curriculum as well as the wellbeing and learning needs of students.
Reece Cheater, Year Coordinator, 6205 6164, reece.cheater@ed.act.edu.au
Reece looks after the wellbeing of students and works with teachers to monitor student attendance and
engagement. He will be the main contact for Year 8 events such as camp.
Sally Hegh, Class Teacher, 6205 6164, sally-anne.hegh@ed.act.edu.au
Sally is a classroom teacher and oversees the History program within the year group.
Yvonne Masters, Learning Centre, 6205 6164, yvonne.masters@ed.act.edu.au
Yvonne is the learning centre teacher and oversees the Maths program within the year group.
Maree Church, Team Teacher, 6205 6164
Maree works across many areas of the school to support classrooms and deliver the Maths program.
Ruth Williams, Team Teacher, 6205 6164
Ruth works with the main classroom teachers across Year 8. Ruth runs Music and Drama electives and
extracurricular activities within the Arts.
Year 8 has had a settled start to the year, working really well in their MAP groups. These are their ‘home’ classes
where they start every morning and in these classes they will be working on personal interest projects, English,
Maths, History/geography and wellbeing. After recess and lunch most days, students then move out of the Year 8
Hub to their PE, electives and science classes.
MAP stands for ‘Mastery, Autonomy and Purpose’, which is what we aim for in our personal projects:
– that the students drive their own learning (autonomy)
-that they choose projects that really matter, that have a clear purpose (contributing to their own development, to
the school, or to the wider community)
- that they achieve a level of mastery in their chosen field of study
Students are encouraged to keep bringing in items to keep in their personal learning spaces that will inspire them,
encourage them, help them stay organised and connect them to school and learning. Some students bring in family
photos, some bring in desk stationery and diaries, others are choosing inspirational pictures and quotes that have
special meaning to them.
We congratulate the students on how quickly they have taken ownership over their learning, with many of them
already coming up with amazing project ideas that will shape their learning journey in term 1. We do remind
students that they are not locked in to their topics and their projects can evolve and change and grow over the term.
Parents and friends will be invited to come in and see the student’s work in exhibitions at the end of term.
We’ve been talking to students about the importance of sleep. It
is hard to concentrate and learn on little sleep, and your
resilience in dealing with challenges lowers when you are tired.
Many students sleep with their phones near them and/or stay up
too late playing computer games. Encourage your student to
think about their sleep patterns and have a break from
technology during the week; for example, by leaving devices out
on the kitchen bench before going to bed. Teenagers should aim
to get 8.5 hours of quality uninterrupted sleep each night.
Wellbeing tip
Please do not hesitate to contact the Year 8 team with any questions,
comments or feedback.
I wish Year 8 a happy and productive term!
Cara Shipp
Executive Teacher, Year 8
Year 9 News
Year 9 students have hit the ground running this year, jumping straight in to work around the concept of who they
are as learners. Students have been exploring this concept through a range of tasks, and have identified how they
learn best, what strengths they have and how to work independently and at their own pace, with the support of the
year 9 teaching team.
We have a very strong teaching team in 2016, focused on getting the very best from each student. Hakan Cosan
continues in his role as year coordinator. He has followed these students through their high school journey so far
and continues to support these students. Nick Keech, Lisa Hammond and Sonia Lynch continue their strong roles
within this year group and across the school, and we welcome Adam Carter to our teaching staff this year.
The year 9 executive position is shared between Stacey Griffiths and Kellie Keeffe as they return to work after both
being on maternity leave.
Year 9 has an exciting year ahead as we combine many of the philosophy of personalize learning with that of more
structured explicit teaching. Students are timetabled to participate in Maths, Science, English and History classes.
PE&H is also still explicitly taught throughout the week. The exciting addition to the timetable is our MAPs sessions.
These are used as specific times where students plan, execute and deliver a comprehensive personal learning project.
Engagement is strengthened due to students having ownership over their own learning, basing their projects around
areas of interest.
Stacey Griffiths
Executive Teacher, Year 9
Japanese News
Years 7 & 8 have practised how to ask and answer the following question: お げんき です か (o genki desu ka) as
well as basic greetings and are on their way to being able to initiate a basic conversation in Japanese. Over the next
few weeks they will review and in some cases master the hiragana alphabet. To help with this they will be asked to
complete activities online and to participate in conversations via Google Classroom.
They also learned about a Japanese festival called せつぶん (setsubun) held on the 3rd or 4th of February, where
families celebrate the change of season with a bean throwing ceremony. Families with children look forward to this
day and enjoy throwing soy beans around the room and at the person (usually the father) dressed as an おに
(demon) while chanting おにはそと! ふくはうち! (meaning out with the demons and in with good fortune!) We
had our own ceremony in class where we substituted peanuts for soy beans and threw them in the direction of our
‘volunteer おに’.
Gastineau Sensei
Whole School News