Newsletter Term 3 Wk 10
Important Dates
27 September – Last day of term 3, 2:10 dismissal
Term 4 - 2024
14 October – First day of term 4
8 November – Remembrance Day Ceremony
11 November – School Closure Day (for significance of Remembrance Day to our history)
12 November – Pupil Free Day for yearly review, classes and 2025 planning
13 December – Last day of term 4, 2:10 dismissal
*Dates to be confirmed in November/December for School concert, EOY assemblies
and year 6 graduation.
Sports Day 2024
What a fantastic Sports Day we had on Thursday! The weather was awesome, and the atmosphere was amazing as students, teachers, and parents came together to celebrate athleticism and teamwork. Here’s a recap of the day’s highlights!
Event Highlights:
Incredible Competitions:
The initial house chants and health hustle started the day with great energy. From the thrilling sprint races and relay events to the nail-biting rob-the-nest games, our student’s showcased impressive skills and sportsmanship with the events lined and surrounded with eager spectators.
Team Spirit:
Each house was adorned in vibrant colours, creating a sea of support and enthusiasm on the sidelines. The cheers echoed across the field, fostering a sense of community and camaraderie among everyone present, superbly led by the captains of each house.
Participation Galore:
We saw remarkable participation across all age groups. It was inspiring to see students step out of their comfort zones and give their best, regardless of their experience level. The smiles and laughter on everyone’s faces were truly priceless!
A Big Thank You:
A heartfelt thank you to Joel who organized this wonderful event. Your hard work and dedication ensured everything ran smoothly. A special shout out to the parent volunteers who helped with logistics, set-up, BBQ, uniform stand, packing up events and cheering—your support made a significant difference! Thank you to Rory for serving hot drinks throughout the day and to staff for setting up early, supporting students, running events, scoring and being involved.
Top Performers:
Congratulations to the winners of each event! Here are some standout performances:
- 100m Sprint Champions: Abi Bishop and Max Doughty
- 400m Sprint Champions: Poppy Jaensch, Alana Nehme and Sebastian Anders
- Nell Kenny Team Spirit Award: Azzuro – 464, Giallo 400, Verde 293, Rosso 286
- Achievement Shield: Giallo 819, Azzuro 814, Verde 595, Rosso 541
Final Thoughts:
Sports Day is more than just a competition; it’s a celebration of our school spirit and community. Thank you to everyone who made this event a success. We can’t wait to see you all next year!
100m Sprints – Abi Bishop 1st, Poppy Jaensch 2nd
100m Sprints – Max Doughty 1st, Ethan Man 2nd
Giallo Captains accepting the Achievement Shield
Azzurro Captains Accepting the Nell Kenny Shield
Commitment to Excellence in Education
The Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher (HALT) accreditation is a voluntary program in Australia that honours exceptional teaching expertise, dedication to educational excellence, and strong leadership skills. This accreditation enables highly performing teachers to advance professionally while continuing to teach, rather than pursuing traditional career paths that would remove them from the classroom.
The HALT certification process encourages teachers to reflect on their practices and strive for continuous improvement through professional development. The accreditation process promotes opportunities to step up into leadership roles within the educational community by expecting certified teachers to actively contribute to the growth and instructional strategies of their colleagues.
Currently, only a small percentage of teachers nationwide hold HALT accreditation, with just 360 teachers accredited in South Australia over the past decade. Westbourne Park is proud to congratulate Olivia McGowan and Floss Davis for achieving HALT certification this year. Their success is a testament to their hard work and the positive influence they have on student outcomes in our school community.
Both Olivia and Floss attended an award ceremony held at Adelaide Oval last Friday night where they were officially awarded their certification and they were celebrated by the heads of education from across the state.
YMCA Westbourne Park OSHC
My name is Mary and I am very excited to step into the role as Director with YMCA Westbourne Park OSHC.
I am a former Westbourne Park Primary student and a qualified teacher who has worked with children in a number of different roles including as an NDIS therapist.
I am most passionate about children's wellbeing and education and helping to develop their curiosity.
In my spare time, I love hiking, arts and craft, cooking and spending time with family.
I look forward to working with the Westbourne Park Primary Community!
Yr 6 Market Day
Market Day 2024 was a fantastic success, raising just under $3000. This project taught us the fundamentals of starting and running a business. We spent Term 3 brainstorming ideas, analysing our choices, and creating logos and promotional materials. We’d like to thank the community for their generous donations, our teachers for their invaluable support, and our fellow students for their hard work and collaboration. Together, we’ve not only achieved financial success but also contributed to a brighter future for our school.
Seb A & Ethan M
Pedal Prix Murray Bridge 24 Hour Race
WOW what an amazing weekend of racing by two of our Pedal Prix Bikes at Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge. This year the school was represented by 23 Year 5 & 6 children who participated in 24 hours of racing, commencing at noon on Saturday and riding throughout the night to finished at noon on Sunday.
The riders showed fantastic skill, stamina and teamwork to achieve the following results:
Airbourne 366 laps, 625km, to take out 3rd place overall
Westwin 309 laps, 528km, to take out 5th place.
Massive shout out to the awesome Fran and Brett (and Cam!) for the huge amount of time and commitment to not only this race but the whole program this year, and to our amazing Pam who gave up her time to cater with delicious food for the whole race. The support of parents and smiles on riders faces made this a truly memorable event. Congratulations to all who made this event happen, you have done yourselves and WPPS proud! Well done!
Sean, Yr 5/6 Teacher
AND..a massive thank you to Sean! This program would not be able to run without you. You have dedicated your time to this program for over 27 years and have changed so many kids lives giving them the opportunity to go outside their limits and see what they can achieve. We are in awe of your efforts. Sean you are the backbone of this whole program and have been pivotal to its success. We cannot thankyou enough!
Pam and the Pedal Prix team, families and friends
The Mark Wahlqvist Awards 2024
This year the Mark Wahlqvist Awards gave students a chance to be creative and innovative with the book theme of the year; Reading is Magic.
Nearly 50 Students shared their magic through drawings, poems, paintings, a short story, dioramas and movies.
Well done to everyone who entered this year, all your work has been admired by students and parents of the school.
The judges mentioned that selecting winners was particularly challenging this year due to the high quality of the work.
It was fantastic to see such a diverse range of art as well.
The winner in the Reception to Year 2 category was Abigail Thomas. She made a colourful display of people and animals being thanked for different reasons.
There were joint winners in the Year 3 to Year 4 category, April Telford and Remi Yumita. April made a vibrant big balloon ship and it’s characters from the Land of Stories and the Remi entered a well thought through black pen line artwork with characters of Alice in Wonderland.
Ellie Grzybowski won the Year 5 to Year 6 category. She made a diorama clay model of Clementine Rose and her pig and added a magical touch with a watercolour background and delicate twinkling lights.
The overall winners for 2024 was a group effort, with Olivia Falconer, Remi Yumita, Sichen Lin and Sienna Wigg. They created clay characters from “Wolf Girl” with eye-catching detail in each, set against the Earth, ready for adventure.
I hope you all enjoyed creating your entries!
Assembly visit
We were fortunate to have Paralympian, Meg Lemon, talk to students at last week's assembly. Meg returned from this year's Paris Paralympic games with a silver medal in cycling. She spoke about how she became a Paralympian and the values and commitment needed to become an elite athlete. The message for everyone was do what you love, have fun and work hard!
Return of Sports Uniforms
As our winter sport competitions have now finished we request that all uniforms are returned to the front office. If your child is not playing basketball in term 4 please return basketball singlet.
If your child intends playing sports in 2025, uniforms will be re-issued at that time.
If a provided uniform is not returned, the parent/caregiver will be invoiced for the cost of replacement.
Thanks
Ann Gunter
Administration and Sports
Parking
Please see Public Safety - Australian Road Rules Children Schools & Traffic below. Take note of NO STOPPING ZONES and NO PARKING ZONES, signs clearly on display. Any breaches of the Australian Road Rules observed by compliance officers may result in the issue of an expiation notice at and around schools.
Please also note, the Staff Carpark is for staff only.
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