Principal’s Report

Anglesea Camp Reflection

Last week our Years 3 and Year 4 embarked on their respective camps to Anglesea. Whilst Mrs. Emin attended the Year 3 camp, I was lucky enough to attend the Year 4 camp from Wednesday until Friday. When we arrived at Anglesea, I was allocated my 14 students (Group 1) and was lucky to have a star parent helper, Justine, working alongside me for the duration of the camp. 14 was the number we had to remember for our regular head counts but thankfully our little group were harmonious and gravitated towards each other naturally. Once we had all settled into out cabins it was time for our orienteering challenge. After a somewhat shaky start working together, Group 1 devised a strategy, allocated roles, and went about completing the challenge. Justine led the group through this activity and after a nail-biting finish the final scores were revealed, it was announced that Group 1 had WON the challenge – we were elated!

As dinner time approached, we found out that Group 1 were on dinner duty – whilst I had to duck out for an online School Council meeting, rest assured the group did a fabulous job of setting up for dinner. Food at the camp was outstanding – night one a very tasty bolognaise with penne, garden salad and garlic bread followed by ice-cream and topping. After dinner we had two options available to us. Option 1: a movie or option 2: the Matilda's live. Needless to say, the movie was a very quiet affair. A great night was had by all Word Cup spectators even though the final score didn’t go in the Aussie’s favour (although our parent helper Simon was pretty chuffed by the final score).

I had a fantastic sleep on night one – thankfully Mr Pearce, Belinda, Tracy, Max, Jimmy, Declan and our parent helpers Simon, Cameron and Prue were superstars during the evenings (sorry Justine I think you might have had as good a nights sleep as I did haha). Breakfast was an impressive range of cereals, toasts, spreads etc. as well as yoghurt and fruit. Then we were back into the activities. Group 1 commenced with mountain bike riding. It was fantastic to see our kids showing off their prior knowledge and developing new cycling skills along the way. It was truly special when some children experienced their first cycling success in front of us. After morning tea, we were all about the hut building. Now I must confess, I didn’t have high expectations of the hut building (you see I have done this before on a school camp and it was not a smashing success), however, I could not have been more wrong! Our teams were mind-blowing – some budding engineers, architects and builders amongst this group with some huts even passing the waterproof test. After lunch (build your own chicken tender wraps) it was our turn to tackle the giant swing (well the kids and Justine did – not so much me). The bravery, resilience and can-do attitude demonstrated by our students was inspiring. Luckily the weather held out too – until the late afternoon at least.

We were all starving hungry by dinner time and yet another delicious dinner – this time tasty marinaded chicken, roast potatoes and gravy followed by apple crumble and custard. After dinner the kids got ready for the main event – THE DISCO!!! And our DJ Declan did not disappoint. It was fantastic to see the students all dressed up in their snappiest clothes, glow sticks shining and dancing the evening away. After a bit of time in the disco I went and met Belinda and Tracy in the recreation room where students could have some quiet time watching a movie. Night two was another great sleep, not just for me but for pretty much everyone – a lot of tired poppets compared to night one.

On the last day of camp, we woke up to some serious rain. Everyone hastily tidied their cabins, packed their personal belongings and put them undercover for when the buses would arrive. Another yummy breakfast (this time with some delicious PANCAKES). Group 1 were a little disappointed not to be able to take on the skateboarding challenge due to the heavy rain, however, the ropes challenge we did instead was awesome – some might say even better than the skateboarding would have been. After morning tea, the weather had subsided somewhat, and it was time for GAGA! Wow that was an awesome activity and we could have played that game all day. It was also really good was when some other groups came to join us. The kids and I made the executive decision that we need our own GAGA pit at WNPS in the very near future (maybe 2). We then constructed our own salad rolls and sat outside to enjoy the sun, however, this was short lived as the dark clouds encroached and the rain began to pour so we sought shelter in the gymnasium with our lunches. Then of course it was time for all good things to come to an end as the students boarded the buses back for school.

I sincerely would like to thank Dean Pearce for attending and organising the Year 4 camp with great precision, as well as Tracy, Belinda, Max, Jimmy and Declan for attending and doing amazing work with our students. I would also like to thank Prue, Justine, Cameron and Simon our fantastic parent helpers and most importantly I would like to thank our beautiful Year 4 students for their exemplary behaviour, welcoming me to their camp and representing our school so well. It was a blast.

Thank you also to all of the staff and students who attended the Year 3 camp.

Reading Writing Together is Magic Evening

Last night we held our 34^th Annual Reading and Writing Together is Magic evening. What a fantastic night that was. Students busily undertook poetry writing workshops throughout the term, drafted, edited, published poems and rehearsed presenting these to their peers in anticipation for the big night. The night went off without a hitch and was a great celebration of students’ literacy skills, as they presented their short piece of original writing to their peers and families. I managed to get around to most classes last night and I was so impressed by the literacy skills on display. I was also in awe of our year 6 leaders who hosted the event in each classroom, as part of their leadership development program. I would also like to thank all of our staff who contributed to the evening, especially those from our Literacy PLC who work tirelessly to ensure this Willy North tradition continues.

Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey

Earlier in the week you would have received a COMPASS notification in relation to our school conducting a survey to find out what parents/caregivers/guardians think of our school. The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement. The survey is optional but we encourage all families to participate. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies. All families are invited to participate in the survey.

The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey will be open from Monday 21st August to Friday 8th September 2023. The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the survey period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. The online survey will be available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

Please feel free to contact me if you would like more information. Since all families are invited to complete the survey this year, the same login details below apply for all participants.

Instructions:

Copy the following link into your web browser: https://www.orima.com.au/parent

Type the following into the school selection tab: Williamstown North Primary School

Copy the following numerical password into the password tab: 64944

Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow at Book Parade!

Richard Buckingham - Principal

Father's/Special Person’s Day Stall

In helping to celebrate the upcoming Father’s/Special Person Day, we will be hosting a stall on Thursday 31st August from 9:00am—1:00pm, whereby students will be able to purchase a small gift for dad or someone special in their lives.
We recommend that students bring along $5.00 to spend at the stall (for junior students, money placed in a clearly marked envelope with their name and class is suggested).
A huge thank you to Jasmyn Keane, & Maria Lewis (parents), who have once again volunteered to coordinate the stall. They would be grateful to any parents who may be available to assist during the morning of the stall. If you could spend an hour or two assisting, please email Jasmyn at: markandjas@me.com

Father’s/Special Person’s Day Breakfast

Inviting all dad’s and special people of Williamstown North Primary School for breakfast with your children before we begin the school day on Friday 1st September from 8.15am. Egg and bacon rolls cooked by staff and parents. Gold coin contribution. Coffee vans on site to purchase your morning brew.
This is a new initiative as we return to a regular program of engagement activities and we will look forward to hosting a special Mother's Day event in 2024.

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Are you involved in a community sporting club?

Would you like the ideal chance to advertise your club and work with us at Williamstown North Primary School?

If yes, we have an opportunity for you…

We are looking for community Sporting Clubs to support our Year 5/6 Community Sports program and become actively involved.

The program will run for six Fridays, with sessions running for approximately an hour.

Should your sporting club be interested contact Mr. Rhodes

Email: Jack.Rhodes@education.vic.gov.au

STUDENT OF THE WEEK AWARDS

YEAR 4 CAMP REFLECTIONS

Anglesea camp

Zoom we all raced to get the best spots in the line as the first person went up the ginormous swing that touched the clouds. “1, 2” I heard the instructor say as she tapped our heads to say who was going next. “3” she said as my head got tapped. I was third my lungs filled with joy. As I was harnessed in, my stomach started to wobble like a boat, bound to make the best sailor horribly sea sick. As I was lifted up, I closed my eyes and clamped them as tight and small as they would go. Then I felt my heart pounding and soaring out of my chest! After I did the two worst things to do in that situation, I opened my eyes, and I looked down I felt dizzy and I felt like I was going to faint! I weakly murmured “Stop” I could hardly hear myself. No way were they going to hear me. So, I gathered all of my courage and shouted (I don’t even think it was a shout) “STOP!” and I stopped going up to the skies. I heard the count down 3, 2, 1, I yanked the rope in front of me and I came plummeting down, then back up again. As I slowed down to a stop, I felt a great flush of relief and disappointment I was relieved that it was over but disappointed that it I didn’t get to the top! Maybe I can try again next year. By Winifred 4L.

Mountain biking

I loved mountain biking, this is how it worked you had to go around a practice track 3 times. Then you listened to the instructor so you learn the downhill position.

Then go throw 10 cones and then you had to speed up a lot and go into downhill position to go over bumps. Then 1 lap of the practice track and in downhill position over more bumps 5 times.

Finally, my group and I get to go on the tracks those tracks were so fun. The bike I was used had 9 gears and I was mainly in 6^th gear you can go over bumps and weave your way throw yellow tires. Thank you to all the teachers and parents that gave up their time to go on camp and thank you DJ ^*Declan for being our DJ. Jack 4L.

Woo-Hoo! We’re at Camp! I’m so pumped to do all the activities. As soon as we arrived, we all were so thrilled to be here. My ear drums bursted from all the kids yelping after hearing that we are going on a scavenger hunt around the camp. I had such clever kids in my group and also such phenomenal teacher & parent helper. We got granted a scavenger map so we can find all the treasure. Our first activity for the scavenger was rugged rocks and we had to try getting to the other side using blocks and not plummeting down and getting attacked by the fierce sharks. In the end we ended up tying 3^rd & 4^th place. By Ivy 4L

At camp we watched the Matilda’s vs England. Right before half-time England had scored and it was 1-0. Everyone was quiet and devastated except Simon who was barracking for England. However, in the 63^rd Minute the one and only Sam Kerr was not going to let The Matilda’s go down that easily and she scored an Unbelievable goal from outside the box into the top corner. It was 1-1 but it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows as 10 minutes later England scored it was 2-1. England and with 5 Minutes left England scored and sealed the game. Everyone was screaming (Including me) at the TV They thought the goal should not have counted. Everyone was disappointed but could only be proud because it was the furthest, they have ever been in a world cup!

On the last day, we played GaGa which everyone loved. We played about 10 games and I won 1 of them. GaGa is where you bounce the ball in the middle three times and you have to hit someone with an open hand under their knees. It was finally time to go home I really enjoyed Camp and now I can’t wait until next year. By Monnie 4L.

The next day our activity group had GaGa first I thought it would be boring but it's almost my favourite sport now. Next, we had skateboarding and learned how to get on and off the board without falling over and hitting our heads. For our third activity, we had hut building our group had amazing teamwork and the teachers had unlimited ideas to help our hut. After three hard activities, it was the last for the day, Mountain Biking! It was cold and my hands were ice. But despite the agony of the cold, it was probably the most fun activity because we got so muddy and we got to ride through the bike track and do a lap around the camp. That night was the disco and everybody was dancing and partying all night long. The next morning, we were meant to do the clifftop walk but it was pouring rain so we played a game of basketball in the gym. For the last activity for the camp, we did the giant swing all of us went to the top and it was so much fun!

We were all so sad that the camp was over but we were grateful for the amazing parents and staff who volunteered to put their time for us. Thank You! Luca N 4L