Port Augusta West Primary School Term 4 week 3
Principal's Report
It is hard to believe that we are already at the end of week 3 of the last term. Term 4 sees the calendar full of activities and excitement. The final term of the year is traditionally packed with a mix of academic challenges, extra curricula activities as well as preparations for the following year.
Classes are busy focusing on completing learning tasks and showcasing what they’ve achieved throughout the year. Reports will be distributed at the end of the term and students are encouraged by their teachers to set learning goals which contribute to their overall academic grades.
NEW SCHOOL UNIFORM
We're excited to announce an update to our school uniform for 2025 featuring our new school logo! The introduction of the new design polo and hoodie was supported by the Governing Council. The refreshed design reflects our school’s identity, and we are looking forward to seeing our students wear it proudly from 2025. To make the change seamless, there will be a two-year transition period where students can wear the old uniform or the new uniform, with transition until the end of the 2026 school year, allowing ample time for families to make the switch gradually. Our new uniform will be available through an online portal making the ordering and payment process easy. There will also be other optional uniform items available to purchase. Please see details in the newsletter tomorrow for these options. We are in our final stages of choosing the polo and hoodie design and would like to include the entire community on a voting system. Please see the schoolzine message to cast your vote. The students have also been included in the voting process throughout the week.
Voting will close on November 7th.
Once we have the system finalised, you will be informed of the link to access the portal and can begin to make orders for the 2025 school year. Cut off dates and delivery dates will be distributed in due course.
Parent Club would like to announce that they will be selling the current uniforms for $20 per polo and $30 per hoodie if you would like to purchase at the discounted rate. See a member of the Parent Club or Narelle in the front office if you are interested.
2025 SCHOOL FEES
There will be a message sent out to families which will outline the Materials and Services charges for students in 2025. The government has contributed $200 for each child which will significantly reduce the school fees payable in 2025. Further information will be distributed next week.
BIG BREAKFAST
The Parent Club together with PAWPS staff invite you to the very first ‘PAWPS BIG BREAKFAST’ on Tuesday the 12th of November. This is the first transition visit for our newest reception students who formally being their education in 2025, and a lovely way to welcome the new families into our school. It is an opportunity for students, families and staff to make connections outside of the classrooms and meet new families within our school. We would love you to all come along and support the event!
The breakfast will begin at 8am and conclude at 8:45am. Bacon and egg sandwiches with OJ, tea and coffee will be on the menu along with some options for those with specific dietary requirements/needs. To assist us with catering we very much encourage you to complete the RSVP process. It can be extremely hard to know how many to cater for, so please take the time to complete. You will find the information on the poster below to RSVP.
PREPARATIONS FOR 2025
Class and teacher preparations are very much in full swing for the 2025 school year. We have been busy working on our class structures. This process takes several weeks to complete as we consider all classroom combinations. Staff take into account student friendships, academic needs and consider social and emotional requirements. Further information re class structures and teacher allocations will be shared at a later date. Watch this space!
A reminder to please inform the school if your child/ren will not be here next year. This is a very important part of our planning process when allocating students in specific classes. We appreciate your prompt communication on this matter.
I am enjoying seeing all of the preparations for the annual Family Night and cannot wait to see all of the hard work in action on December the 5th and to celebrate a successful year of learning and growth for everyone.
Sarah Bury
‘Every Child – Every Classroom – Every Day’
Deputy Principal
As we get closer to the end of the year, we are encouraging students to stay focused, engaged and take ownership of their education. Term 4 is a very exciting time, as we see the Year 6 and 2025 reception process begin.
We had the opportunity to begin the transition of our year 6 students to high school last week. Our year 6 students have visited Port Augusta Secondary School the past 2 Wednesday's, participating in a Science lesson in which they conducted an experiment using various chemicals, along with watching a high school drama performance. This is a great way to build confidence in their next step in schooling as well as becoming familiar with a high school environment.
We are also looking forward to welcoming our 2025 receptions in weeks 5 to 8, along with their families, to our school community. These transition visits will occur every Tuesday for a 4 week period, gradually building their time spent at school over the 4 visits. We will be delivering an engaging transition program that will ensure the future students are familiar and comfortable in their new schooling environment, ready for day 1 next year. Please join us in welcoming our new families to our school community by attending our 'Big Breakfast' on the first day of Reception Transition on November 12th.
Assembly Awards
Congratulations to all our recipients who received awards at our assembly on Monday 28th October for respect, resilience and relationships.
Read Write Inc...We celebrated some of our students who have successfully completed the Read, Write Inc phonics program. They have now moved on to the Literacy and Language Program which is a follow-on program from RWI. The Literacy and Language program develops children’s comprehension, writing and spoken language.
The students pictured are our Master of Ceremonies for this years at Family Night. Flynn, Bella, Marleigh, Piper, Jackson, Luca, Dekoda, Fiona(absent) Maddison and Joe. We are looking forward to the great performances from all the classes.
Kimochis
Today we had two special visitors to our school who came to talk to us about Kimochis.
Kimochis® are a playful way to help children learn how to identify and express feelings. When children can communicate their feelings effectively, they develop positive social skills that lead to lasting friendships and success in all aspects of life. Kimochis® teach the fourth “R” – reading, writing, arithmetic and RELATIONSHIPS. This “R” is the foundation for success in all areas of life.
Children's University Spotlight
Children’s University Graduation
In a wonderful culmination of the inaugural Children’s University program at our school, the formal Graduation Ceremony on Tuesday, 26th November, will see 17 Port Augusta West Primary students cross the stage to receive their awards.
Students voluntarily participated in at least 30 hours of extra-curricular learning, both formal and informal, over the course of the year, and provided evidence of their learning in the form of photos, created works, or reflections on what they learnt and achieved. Our students demonstrated a wide range of achievements in music, community service, French, art, visits to cultural and historical sites with family, travel and camping, cooking, Premier’s Reading Challenge, sciences, animal studies, dance, martial arts and sports. It was inspiring to see our families encouraging their children to explore in so many different arenas.
The ceremony will be held at the Port Augusta Central Oval Sporting Hub (Flinders Room), arriving at 5:15pm for a 6pm start, and will be conducted by the University of Adelaide.
Congratulations to all students who took part!
Autism Inclusion Teacher
Neuro-affirming Classrooms - A Takeaway from AIT Conference
I had an opportunity to attend the Autism Inclusion Teacher (AIT) Conference in Adelaide amongst many AITs across the state. It was inspiring and meaningful to learn so much from diverse presenters who shared their lived experiences of being; autistic, non-speaking, ADHD, dyslexic and a parent of neurodivergent children etc. I would like to share one takeaway from the day.
One of the presenters Nell Harris (South Australian author/illustrator of children's books about neurodiversity) spoke about Neuro-affirming classrooms and explained some ‘Neuro’ terms. ‘Neurodivergent’ is a person whose brain works differently from what is considered the majority brain type. ‘Neuro-affirming’ is used in the context of believing in a strengths-based approach to developmental differences, and aims to provide support that affirms the child’s neurodivergent identity. This was a new word for me! Neuro-affirming practice embraces the differences in ability and these are not deficits to be fixed, rather strengths to be nurtured. Nell passionately talked about how to work towards a neuro-affirming world and I found it very important; we as a society ‘AVAIL’ ourselves to neurodiversity - Appreciate, Validate, Accommodate, Include and Learn. Some of her support ideas for Neuro-affirming classrooms included:
- Alternative seating options
- Calm area or corner/ A sensory retreat
- Natural, varied lighting
- Visual aids, timetables, instructions, reminders
- Alternative ways to present and communicate
- Say what you WANT done, NOT what you don’t want
- Breaks, stretches, walks, ‘step away’ resets
- Opportunities for educators to continually learn and grow
Our school continues to learn together and work towards a neuro-affirming and inclusive future!
If you have any questions or concerns, please come and have a chat anytime.
Kyoko Miyamoto
Health & PE
MAYOR SHINE VISIT 25th of September 2025.
Throughout HASS there has been a strong emphasis on building the qualities that will project our students, the future leaders into being positive role models in our Port Augusta Community. Our focus and ambition, to be an accepting, culturally sensitive and supportive community has been on show through our student's engagement in sports, leadership either as SRC or House Captains here at PAWPS. I am tremendously proud of the respect, interest, relationship building opportunity our students made with our Mayor Linley Shine on her recent visit, to further reiterate the pride and love for where they live. During the visit we got to know her better and shared what we had been learning. We also informed her of our application for the Department Civic's and Citizenship SA schools award as well as enjoying a great lunch that was provided by our students. Where leaders in our community and world are often deeply criticised for their efforts, such efforts to put themselves to represent others on their behalf is very commendable and deserves the highest respect. I hope that our students feel the support, confidence and self-belief to continue to be leaders as well as contributing to making their community the best it can be. I look forward to seeing the wonderful qualities continue to shine through in our amazing young people here at Port Augusta West Primary School. We are glad that Mayor Shine visited our school, and it was an amazing learning opportunity for our students and teachers.
Setio Shanahan
SUBWAY POSTERS AND COMMUNITY
I have been proud to have established a community focus in healthy eating choices over the past two years here at Port Augusta West Primary School. Subway have kindly sponsored many meal awards, that have been handed out in assembly and for sporting achievements here at our school. Last year we had some amazing recognition of the various posters our students have done and being displayed proudly at both the Subway stores in Port Augusta. In 2023, Lisa the store manager was so impressed with the recognition healthy eating plays in our lives unit 1 was given a subway party to recognise their efforts. This recognition to healthy eating and our poster efforts even made it all the way to head office in Adelaide. This year we continued the tradition but further emphasised on valuing of time management, preparing ourselves for the required nutrition needed to fuel our body. The students learnt that despite Subway providing a wider range of healthier eating choices for those wanting to maintain a balanced diet they are needing to understand some of the traps that could also derail your health focus . They include the sugary drinks, cookies, high calorie sauces and dressing, lean protein choices, cheese, portion size and don't forget the fresh salad. This year two classes and the middle primary explored the food pyramid, healthy eating wheel, traffic light foods and diets that help to support training regimes. I am impressed with the artwork displayed by our upper primary who showcased their amazing posters either by hand or the graphic design skills using CANVA platform to produce the new and amazing 2024 Posters. We have been given the permission to showcase our student's posters in the stores again so if you are passing by you will see our amazing student's work up on display. If we can discover that life balance, be consistent with what we eat, our energy levels and mindset can change dramatically. Today is never too late to start!
Mr Shanahan
World Teacher's Day
Celebrating our amazing teachers.
On Friday 25th October, we acknowledged our teachers for "WORLD TEACHERS DAY".
On Tuesday the SSO's hosted a cocktail lunch for the teachers (due to most staff being at school this day) while the students with some help, had been making lovely cards and gifts. The UNESCO World Teachers Day theme this year is 'Valuing teacher voices: towards a new social contract for education'.
Thank you teachers for all you do, we really appreciate it!
HAPPY WORLD TEACHER'S DAY MISS CLARK
Classroom chatter from 3C
Last term in Science we were learning about chemical reactions. We made balloons blow up using bicarb soda and vinegar, we made elephant toothpaste and mini volcanoes. We had lots of fun making our own volcanoes.
There was a chemical reaction and the red fluid came out of the top – Armaan, year 2.
It made a big explosion! It was lots of fun making the volcanoes – Iylah, year 1.
The volcano exploded with pink lava – Emilia, year 1.
The volcano exploded, it was rising up to explode! I enjoyed making a volcano – Linken, year 1.
The volcano exploded because of the baking soda and vinegar. It made a chemical reaction – Hassan, year 2.
Parents and Friends
SAPSASA
SAPSASA Basketball
On Friday the 25th October, we went to Adelaide to compete in the state basketball finals. Even though our first game was a close finish, sadly we lost and this became a trend for 5 more games. We did pretty well considering each of these games we only lost by 3 or less points. When we clicked and played more as a team we won 3 games, and we ended up 6th out of 9 teams. We considered this to be pretty good because we got the opportunity to play against some of the best teams in the state. Thank you to Mr Nicholls for coaching us and the parents for taking us and cheering us on.
Tazz
SAPSASA Football
Luca and I went to Adelaide to play football for Northern SAPSASA, we won 7 games and lost 2. On Monday 21st October we played 3 games, winning 2 of them. The next day once again, we won 2 out of 3 games. On the last day against some tough competition we won all 3 games. Our coach was Kurt and he was great, very supportive and encouraging even when we lost. We had 16 girls in our team and we all got along very well, helping each other when we did something wrong. Our kicking, marking and handballing skills were great.
I had a great time and we finished 3rd overall.
Indy Knibbs
