Newsletter Term 2 Wk 10
- Important Dates
- Welcome staff
- Updating Family Information
- Staff Professional Learning Focus – Deepening Understanding of First Nations Perspectives
- Cumberland Park Gardening Project
- Mark Wahlqvist Awards for Creativity and Innovation 2025
- PJ Day Fundraiser Success!
- The Brain Forest
- EALD
- Choir
- OSHC News
- Community News
Important Dates
4 July - Last day of term 2 - 2:10pm dismissal
Term 3 - 2025
21 July – First day of term 3
12 August - Catch up Photo Day
12 August – Governing Council
1 September - Pupil Free Day for staff curriculum professional development
25 September – Sports Day – 2.10 dismissal
26 September – Last day of term 3 - 2:10 dismissal
Term 4 - 2025
13 October – First day of term 4
|28 October – Governing Council
7 November – Remembrance Day Ceremony
10 November – School Closure Day (for significance of Remembrance Day to our history)
11 November – Pupil Free Day for yearly review, classes and 2026 planning
12 November – Kindy Transition
19 November – Kindy Transition
26 November – Kindy Transition
2 December – Governing Council
12 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.
Welcome staff
Kimberley Doyle – new reception class in M1
Bianca Turner – new reception class in M2
Peter Akakios – PE on Monday and Tuesday
Karla Ebert – Year 5 in UC4 on Monday and Wednesday
Kayla Mitchell – Year 5 in UC4 on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; and visual arts in J02 on Monday
Welcome back Assistant Principal Sam Kavanagh from maternity leave.
Updating Family Information
Please ensure you provide information of any changes to your child's primary place of residence at any time it changes.
Parents/caregivers who own their residence must provide a copy of the contract of sale for the property (or a recent council or water rates notice) and a recent gas or electricity bill for that property.
Parents/caregivers who rent their residence must provide a rental agreement and a recent gas or electricity bill for that property.
To notify of any changes ie phone numbers or email addresses, please either email the school or fill out the online Update contact and Emergency form through Schoolzine (SZapp) or School website.
Advise the school immediately in writing and with documentation if there are any changes in family circumstances, visa documentation, a change in custody or family arrangements that may potentially impact your child at school.
Staff Professional Learning Focus – Deepening Understanding of First Nations Perspectives
In 2024, staff at Westbourne Park Primary School identified a shared goal of deepening our understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures, and perspectives, and embedding this knowledge meaningfully into our teaching practice. To support this journey, we welcomed the expertise of Lily and Elisa, Department for Education staff with strong cultural knowledge and experience in Aboriginal education. Staff participated in two professional learning sessions led by Lily, a proud Aboriginal woman, who shared her personal story and offered valuable insights into culturally appropriate ways to incorporate First Nations perspectives into the classroom. We also explored our school’s library resources and discussed how to use them meaningfully to enrich student learning. As part of this journey, staff also engaged in an inspiring art workshop with Harley, a proud Ngarrindjeri, Kokatha/Wirangu artist with strong Kaurna/Narungga roots. Harley shared traditional knowledge through storytelling and visual art, which we experienced hands-on. To further extend this learning to students, we partnered with Walking Together with Kaurna program to deliver a whole-school incursion featuring a Welcome to Country, smoking ceremony, and cultural workshops where students explored artefacts and traditional games. This work has inspired many classes to write their own Acknowledgement of Country, a selection of which has been professionally filmed to form our school-wide Acknowledgement. When finished this will be shared at assemblies, tours, and community events. This journey represents a powerful step forward in our collective commitment to reconciliation and respectful cultural inclusion.
Olivia McGowan
Westbourne Park Primary School
Cumberland Park Gardening Project
Our buddy classes, M10 and J03, have teamed up for an exciting gardening project at the Cumberland Park Community Centre! Every second Wednesday, our little learners roll up their sleeves to care for the garden by weeding, assembling garden beds, composting, and planting seeds and seedlings. They’re also designing ornaments and signage to help identify different plants. It is a wonderful opportunity for hands-on learning, teamwork, and growing something special together!
Mark Wahlqvist Awards for Creativity and Innovation 2025
If you wonder what to do during the winter holiday, why don’t you enter the Mark Wahlqvist Awards!
In honour of Professor Wahlqvist (an old pupil) and his achievements, Westbourne Park recognises our students’ achievements in creativity and innovation by running the annual Mark Wahlqvist awards.
“Book us on a fantastical journey that will inspire us to travel through the worlds that books open up for you. Set sail on an adventure through time, lands and imagination - whether through a drawing, painting, writing, a sculpture, diorama or digital art. Let the magic of storytelling sweep you away into uncharted territories, where every page turned opens up new places and mysteries to explore.”
Creations are welcome to be dropped to the library after week 5 but by Friday 29th August Term 3
PJ Day Fundraiser Success!
Once again, we would like to give a huge thank you to our school community for getting behind our recent PJ Day fundraiser! Organised by our amazing Student Representative Council (SRC), the day saw students and staff come to school dressed in their cosiest pyjamas, all in support of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. With gold coin donations and delicious hot chocolates from the canteen, we are thrilled to share that we raised $611! The SRC chose this cause as many students reflected on the positive impact the hospital has had on their own lives and those of their families. We are so proud of our students for showing kindness, leadership, and community spirit!
Olivia McGowan Westbourne Park Primary School
The Brain Forest
On Wednesdays, Floss has visited some classes to build on our understanding of neurodiversity. Together we have read The Brain Forest by Sandhya Menon and either brainstormed our brains’ unique strengths or created a list of self-regulation strategies depending on the state of our brain. We acknowledged that we all have different brains and this makes our world special, but that people who are neurodivergent are especially different in their thinking and that is perfectly okay and something we can appreciate.
Floss Davis | Year 2 Teacher
EALD
We thank our students and their families for generously sharing their favourite recipes.
In this issue, please click to enlarge the photos below, to read the recipes from Mishal and Ryan in Year 2, Minu, Harshana and Sara in Year 3, and Zinnia in Year 4.
Our students will continue to share their favourite cultural recipes throughout the year, and next term, we will also share some of the language learning that occurs in our EALD lessons.
Choir
Hi families,
We are well on our way to the Festival of music, Stars in the Arena!
After a break in the last couple of years, we are once again participating in the Public Primary Schools Festival of Music.
This year 15 students in years 5 and 6 have chosen to be part of our choir. For those who don’t know, the Festival of Music started in 1891 as the Thousand Voice Choir. It has been an integral part of South Australian life and stands as an official State Icon. Now the program reaches thousands of primary and secondary children annually and allows children opportunities to perform at prestigious venues, such as the Adelaide Festival Theatre and the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.
There are Festival Choirs in over 300 schools across South Australia, as well as three Orchestras and Performance Troupes in metropolitan Adelaide.
Our choir is learning a repertoire of 15 songs including Let me entertain you (Robbie Williams), Rubber Duckie, You’re the Voice (John Farnham), and 5 commissioned songs. They will perform as part of a mass choir on the 17th of September.
Earlier in the term the choir was assessed by one of the Festival’s lead conductors and as a group they achieved a B grade. This is a fantastic result that the kids should be really proud of. Comments included: "fantastic memorisation of songs, lovely focus and presentation, remember to sing out, share your gorgeous voices, some lovely sparkly faces - well done!"
Whilst I am here every week for rehearsal, I am also on maternity leave this year. We also have Sarah (one of the FoM HPIs) and Kaci (one of our wonderful SSOs) supporting us. Baby Katherine and I are loving watching the choir learn and grow their music skills each week.
We are looking forward to another fantastic year of choir – Our students are headed for the Entertainment Centre stage!
Anj Habel-Orrell
Performing Arts Specialist Teacher
Well done!
OSHC News
Community News
