Port Augusta West Primary School Term 2 week 6
Principal's Report
It is hard to believe that we are already at the end of week 6. We have been busy creating an up-to-date Bullying and Harassment Policy here at Port Augusta West Primary School. We aim to continue to promote a safe and supportive environment for students and staff, ensuring that everyone feels secure and respected. The policy clearly defines unacceptable behaviours and consequences, and helps prevent incidents of bullying and harassment, reducing emotional and physical harm. Governing Council have now approved the updated policy. Teachers will be allocating time over the next few weeks to share and break down the new policy, to ensure that all students are aware of the procedures to follow when reporting these incidents and also aware of the steps and consequences. I have included the template below which shows the steps that students can follow if they feel that they are being bullied or harassed. This template will be displayed in all classrooms and will always be visible. You can view the up-to-date Bullying and Harassment policy on our website, and we encourage you to chat with your child/ren at home to encourage conversation around the new policy. We feel that the updated policy is essential for maintaining a positive, respectful, and productive educational environment.
Academic reports will be distributed in week 10 of this term. You will notice that the lay out of the reports will look different this semester, however they will contain the same information, and will include an accurate and objective assessment of a student’s achievement and progress. Reports will align with the Australian Curriculum achievement standards, using A to E grades or word equivalents.
It is exciting to announce the upcoming ‘Wheels Day’ which is scheduled for Wednesday the 11th of June. Students are invited to bring along a bike, scooter, skateboard, roller skates/blades for a timetabled lesson of fun in the yard. This reward is in relation to our Positive Behaviour for Learning focus for 2025. Please see the information regarding the logistics for Wheels Day further down in this newsletter.
Staff will spend time updating their knowledge and skills with the Child Protection Curriculum today for our student free day.
We have also been busy practising our evacuation and invacuation procedures over the past few weeks to ensure that everyone is aware of what to do in an emergency situation.
Enjoy the long weekend!
Sarah Bury
Every Child - Every Classroom - Every Day
Assembly Awards
At our week 6 Assembly Awards the following students were recognised by their teachers for demonstrating our school values. Congratulations to the students pictured below, Harleigh, Evelyn, Logan, Baylie, Hannah, Marypatris, Zac, Lorenz.
Children's University
On Wednesday, Richard Parker from Children’s University visited PAWPS bringing 9 Sphero robotic cars for students to experiment with. Groups of children took over the gym floor at both breaks programming tracks for the cars, which turned, sped up, stopped and even did a 360 on command! Students had so much fun they asked Richard to come back again, and we will arrange another date later in the year. CU students earned 30 minutes per session for their passports.
It was great to have a different experience to offer the students and we are grateful to the Children’s University to be able to share these resources with the school.
Miss Mount
Classroom Chatter from 1A
Enterprise Day 2025 – Year 4/5 and Year 5/6
We’re excited to announce that Enterprise Day for our Year 4/5 and Year 5/6 classes will be held on Thursday of Week 8 this term in the school gym. As part of their Business and Economics unit, students have been working hard on creating their own businesses. They will be selling a variety of items and promoting fun, student-designed games to the rest of the school community. This hands-on experience is a fantastic way for students to learn the fundamentals of running a business, including setting prices, making a profit, understanding supply and demand, and using persuasive marketing techniques. Stalls are beginning to take shape, and it's clear that our budding entrepreneurs are putting a great deal of thought and creativity into their ideas. We’re really looking forward to seeing their hard work come to life!
We are making a Disc v Brawlers game, where you have to launch discs to the other side before the other player. We are also selling pizza and fairy bread. - Ayble and Jax We are selling strawberries dipped in chocolate lemonade and the best one yet is a rocky road. our game is mini golf and the amazing prize are lollipops. – Jasper and Logan We are doing a frozen-themed stand with snow cones, cupcakes and a mystery box with toys and slime. Lacey, Monique and Ruby We are doing balloon pop with darts and selling jelly in a cup with optional frog. – Bailey, Koben and Owen We are doing knock-a -duck game and we are also selling popcorn and lollipops. – Charli, Indy and Sophie We are doing ‘Catch the duck! We are also selling slushies, sweets and prizes. – Amarlie, Harleigh and Emma We are doing a three-hole toss. We are also selling chocolate strawberries, playdough and meringue. Shakita, Izabella, Lexy and Mackenzie We are doing a stall called “The Cup Carnival: Mystery ‘N’ Snack”. We are selling trifle cups, smores and also doing a mystery box. – Aadi, Samuel and Steve We are selling Nerd lollies and some drinks. Our game is mini basketball. – Jacob, Aaron and Manny
Classroom Chatter from 2A
Week 5 was Reconciliation Week. We had people from different cultures to share different foods and desserts with our school. We ate lots of delicious food, such as Pizza, Crumbed Chops, Chicken Pulao and a crumbly sweet biscuit dessert. Muhammad Hassan’s sister bought in the sweet biscuit dessert, Zac crumbed and cooked the chops, Ahmad’s Mum made the Chicken Pulao and the whole of Class 2A made pizzas. We were lucky enough to have a students’ grandparents, Anna and Vince, come into the school to play music for our class. We listened to them as they shared their culture and their lives. They told us about what they do when they are out bush and how to cook the food that they catch. At the end of their talk, they taught us one of their cultural songs called ‘Oh My Walla’ and they taught us the dance moves to it. Vince played the song on the guitar while Anna showed us the moves to the dance. We would like to say a big thank you to the families who bought in food and came into the classroom to share it with us for Reconciliation Week – we had such a jolly week.
Mrs. Keeler/ Ms. Rigden
Reconciliation Week
This year for reconciliation week the Aboriginal Education team organsied a variety of activities across the week. The reconciliation theme this year “Bridging now to next” which reflects the continuing connection between the past, present and future. An introductory assembly and interactive classroom activities were carried out with help from the school community. Each class had the opportunity to participate in cooking activities with SSO’s. As well as members of the school community generously making cultural dishes to bring in. Here’s what the students had to say:
Mr. Nicholls 5/6’s joined in making Placki Ziemniaczane with Simone and creating Calico Prints. Lexy “I liked making the calico prints because they resemble how no matter what religion you are you can come together in harmony”. Aadi “The Placki Ziemniaczane had the perfect crunch and they were perfect temperature”. Sophie “I liked peeling the potatoes, working as a team with my friends and helping out Sam”.
Mr. I’s 4/5’s learnt where scones originate from and taste tested a homemade batch. Amara “My favourite part was eating the scones, because they were so yummy”. Leena “My favourite part was tasting the scones and the other food the teachers let me taste during the day”.
Ms. Mounts class collaborated together to make a tray of Chocolate Crackles with Kiesha in the OSHC room. Murray “My favourite part was making the Chocolate Crackles and eating them when they were finished”.
Miss Tomney’s Receptions participated in making Aboriginal flags using tissue paper. Isobel “I liked putting the red, black and yellow colours on it and that Olive helped me”. Jye “I liked cutting and sticking the tissue paper on with the glue”.
Ms. Maloney and Mr. Kalfus’s 1/2’s had the chance to taste test Pavlova’s that they had decorated themselves, using their chosen toppings with Narelle. Lachie “My favourite part was cutting up the kiwi fruit and putting all the toppings on top of mine”. Toby “We got to mix the ingredients in the big bowl and the cake mixer, I added kiwi, cream and chocolate and they tasted so good”.
Thank you to Mrs. Keeler for all your efforts in making it a fun week for us.
Parent Club
SAPSASA
PAWPS students represented our school proudly at the recent SAPSASA sports event. The boys’ football team played strong and competitive matches, narrowly missing out in the semi-finals after a close game against SNPS. They showed excellent teamwork and sportsmanship throughout the day. The girls’ netball team also performed well, winning several games and reaching the Division 3 grand final, where they were narrowly defeated by FVPS. All players had the opportunity to try different positions and approached the day with a positive and enthusiastic attitude. Well done to all involved! Thanks to Lil for scoring all of the netball games, we really appreciated your volunteering.
Congratulations to Aaron Reid and Koben Corbell who were selected to represent Northern Districts SAPSASA in football. The team was in Division 3; they won 5 games and games overall finished in 5th position. The boys both played well, had a great time and enjoyed the experience.
Simultaneous Storytime
This years National Simultaneous Storytime was held on Wednesday, May 21st at 12pm, the featured book was "The Truck Cat" by Deborah Frenkel and Danny Snell. This is an annual celebration of reading and literacy where libraries, schools, childcare centres, bookshops and families across Australia read the same book at the same time, over 3.2 million children participate. This year NSS in Australia is celebrating its 25th year.
Miscellaneous
