As part of our History discovery Reception classes investigated toys that our parents and Grandparents played with.
We discovered some familiar toys that continue to be popular throughout the generations … and some fun old discoveries.
Each year as part of Woodend’s Transition program, we conduct school-to-kindy and kindy-to-school play visits. Reception children visit the Woodend Children’s Centre to reacquaint or meet the teachers, children and the learning space and in Term 3, our Reception classes are hosts to the kindy children. It is often a very engaging experience for ex-Woodend Children Centre children as they love to meet up with their teachers again, their kindy friends and return to play spaces that provided fond memories.
In Term 3, the kindy children have the opportunity to visit our Reception classrooms. They meet the teachers and children and experience our learning spaces both inside and out. We also enjoy having Trott Park Kindy children visit us this term or in Term 4.
During Term 4, the kindy children also have formal Orientation visits where they spend time in their 2019 classroom and meet children from other prior-to-school settings. We believe this aspect of the Transition program assists the kindy children to gradually transition to school and to develop familiarity with our school environment.
Recently, Room 5 visited Woodend Children’s Centre and in the coming weeks will be Rooms 5, 27 and 18.
In between showers on the morning of Thursday 7 September, we celebrated the official opening of the Outdoor Shop Fronts. The students had the opportunity to meet members of the Grounds Committee who were instrumental in making the shops. These members worked tirelessly to design, build and erect this structure, one being Roger Beasley, who built the structure, drew up a plan (based on the student’s suggestions) and painted the designs. Ably assisted by Simon Cheney, Brett Simes, Ken McTaggart and welding expert, Bob Middleton-Frew the metal frames were attached to the shop fronts and surrounds were paved. To complete the area, volunteer, Ashley Farrell and SSO, Sharyn Paris finished the tables and tidied the area to prepare it for the opening. A big thank you to these important people at Woodend as without their collective efforts, the students would not have the opportunity of this new and fun play space. The students came up with many ideas for using the nature play items creatively and safely. If parents/carers have access to any safe and free nature play items that students can use in the shops, we would be grateful of these donations.
Construction of the outdoor play shop frontages is underway outside Room 10 adjacent to the garden. Metal framework has been made ready for the fronts to be attached and paving put down. We were fortunate to have several hours of clear skies before the weather set in. Big thank you to Ken McTaggert (grounds person), Roger Beazley, Brett and Mitchell Simes, Simon Cheney, and Bob Middleton-Frew for working for majority of Sunday on this area. Soon there will be photos of the completed project. This will be very exciting outdoor play space for our students.
We are going to offer over-the-counter items as a trial on a fortnightly basis. We are hopeful the students and staff trial and enjoy them.
Starting next week (Week 9) we will be selling:
Why don’t you give these a try and let us know what you think! We welcome your feedback
Please pack come money to try these items next week!
[embeddoc url=”https://wpsnewstarters.edublogs.org/files/2017/02/Volunteer-Induction-workshops-2017-12nf27v.pdf” viewer=”google”]
Meet our Teachers and other Parents and Caregivers (and students)
Monday 13 February
While teachers have already met quite a number of parents and caregivers, we do look forward to having the opportunity on Acquaintance Night to meet with all families together to communicate our vision for our learners and information about curriculum, routines, expectations and organisational matters. Some teachers will also have their students actively presenting information during Acquaintance Night. We also see Acquaintance Night as an opportunity for adults to meet each other and develop a sense of belonging to a new network of families. We hope new people are able to meet families and feel a little more welcomed into our community.
Acquaintance Night Meeting Times:
R-2 : 6.30 pm – 7:00 pm
Yrs 3-5 : 7.05 pm – 7.35 pm
Yrs 6/7 : 7.40 pm – 8.10 pm
We know there will be some doubling up for some families; making it difficult to attend one or more of the scheduled meetings. If this is the case for you, please be assured that teachers are happy to catch up with you at other times to clarify vision for their learners, routines and expectations.
Please Note:
This is not a time to discuss individual student’s needs. As always if you need to discuss any matter with your child’s teacher you are most welcome to make an appointment.
Specialist teachers and leadership team
The specialist teachers and leadership team will be available in the gym during the evening, where tea and coffee will be on offer. If you would like to speak with one of the specialist teachers and are unable to touch base on the night, please phone the school to arrange a mutually convenient time. Specialist teachers will post information on the blog in the coming weeks about their programs this year.
Please move promptly to the next class if you are attending more than one session.
Our teachers are looking forward to meeting you!
It is hard to believe that the first week has gone! The new Reception children have successfully managed their first week of school life. The parents/carers and Reception teachers have benefitted from some quality time to talk about their child and about the year ahead.
We enjoyed meeting you at Monday’s “Cheers or Tears” parent/carer get together. We didn’t have to get many tissues ready but instead had a beverage and enjoyed the company of others experiencing the kindy/school transition for 2017. We had the opportunity to meet Mr Steve Freeman, our new Principal, Pamela Hansen, our new School Chaplain, members of the Leadership team, Governing Council and Parent Network. We had a very positive turn-out and trust that this will set the tone for many school community events throughout the year ahead.
We thank parents/carers for preparing your child to:
and for parents/carers themselves to:
We are most appreciative of your involvement in your child’s start to school and we hope that you build a sense of connectedness within our school community.
Can you be a “bowerbird” during the holidays? To build up supplies in the sandpit, outdoor and indoor play areas could you collect:
The items can be left in Mrs Luke’s office. Thank you for your support of the play program.