I’d like to officially welcome you to the 2025 school year, and the first WASSUP Woonona of the year. A special welcome to all the new students and families, and welcome back to all our returning families. The beginning of the school year is always an exciting time, with students reconnecting with friends, sharing holiday experiences, and looking forward to fresh experiences in a new grade. 2025 will certainly be a busy and enjoyable year at Woonona Public School.

Beginning school is an exciting time. This year we have had 54 new faces in our school who are in their first days of their school career. These special students have settled well into their new school, and we look forward to working with them in the coming years. Congratulations Kindergarten on taking the huge step into “Big School” and welcome to the beginning of an exciting time of fun, friendship and learning at Woonona Public School.

On the first morning of class for Kindergarten, our wonderful P&C and school community hosted a morning tea for our Kindy parents. It was a lovely way to welcome parents to our family and show the fantastic Woonona school spirit. A huge thank you to our P&C for coordinating and for all those supportive families who made this morning a reality. I know your welcome was genuinely appreciated by the many families who were able to attend.

Our annual swimming carnival was held last Tuesday, and I thank Mr Arrighi, Mr Heffernan and staff for your organisation. I hope that all students who attended, no matter your involvement, had a thoroughly enjoyable day challenging yourself, cheering for your friends and enjoying one of the very special annual events on our school calendar. I would also like to thank all parent helpers for your support – without such support, this event genuinely would not be possible.

Today, our School Swimming team have competed at the District Swimming Carnival. I am sure they have represented our school with pride, against the best swimmers across the North Wollongong area. I look forward to hearing more about the individual and collective achievements of these students, in the coming days.

Congratulations and all the best to Pippa and Lucy who this week are competing against the best cricketers in NSW up in Tuggerah, on the Central Coast. Both players are part of the South Coast girls cricket team. We look forward to hearing how they bat, bowl and field throughout the four-day carnival. Mr McMullen is the coach of the South Coast team, so we also wish him well as he mentors these young cricketers throughout the tournament.

School photo day will be here before we know it. Photos will take place on Tuesday 4 March. Notes from MSP Photography were emailed home. Please make sure you complete the order forms to ensure you don’t miss out!

As we settle back into the school year, it is important to reinforce with children the correct action to take if they are placed in a situation where they feel unsafe. Below are some key messages for children to be aware of in ensuring their safety. I would encourage parents to reinforce the ‘Safe People, Safe Places’ messages with their children, including:

• Make sure your parents or another adult you know, knows where you are at all times.
• Always walk straight home or to the place you are walking to. Walk near busier roads and streets or use paths where there are lots of other people.
• Know where safe places are – a shop, service station, police station, library or school. If you are ever frightened, you should go to one of these places and ask them to call the police.
• Learn about safe adults you can look for and talk to if you need help – police officers, teachers at school, adults you know and trust.
• Don’t talk to people you don’t know and never get into a car with someone you don’t know. If a car stops on the side of the road and you don’t know the person inside, do not stop.
• If you are scared and can use a phone, call 000 and tell them you are scared.
• If someone tries to grab you, yell out, ‘Go away, I don’t know you’. This lets other people know you have been approached by someone you don’t know.

Meet the teacher sessions were tweaked this year, with a less formal opportunity for students and their parents to visit our school, their child’s class, see where they sit and get a feel for their classroom environment. On top of this, parents had an opportunity to chat to their child’s teacher and to ask questions and share relevant information. Feedback from both staff and parents has been extremely positive. We thank our community for turning up in such great numbers to support your children, and our school.

Our school is a complex place at drop off and departure times. We ask that our parents show patience and lead by example by following road rules whilst in your car and crossing at safe and appropriate places, whilst walking or riding.

I would also ask parents to speak with their children about road safety in and around the school. We have already had concerns raised by our community, where they have seen students, individually or as a group, crossing at inappropriate areas where line of sight for the student and drivers is minimised. The safety of our students and community is our priority and it takes a collective effort to ensure everyone gets to and from school happy and healthy.

Last Wednesday saw our first P&C Meeting of 2025. It was wonderful to see lots of parents attend the meeting, including a few new faces keen to be involved. For those parents who didn’t attend the last meeting, I would encourage you to join us for the next meeting. Our next meeting falls on Wednesday, 12 March at 6:30pm and just happens to be our P&C AGM where all positions on the P&C executive will be declared vacant. I encourage those parents thinking about taking on a leadership role on the P&C for 2025-2026 to do so with excitement.

I firmly believe that a productive, positive working relationship between a school and its P&C enhances a school in so many ways. The 2024-2025 P&C executive has done a wonderful job, and I look forward to working with a new executive in 2025 and beyond.

At the end of 2024, our School Captains for 2025 were announced. These students were democratically elected and will have a huge responsibility in leading the student population of Woonona Public School. Congratulations to the following students who were elected:

Captains: Bianca and Flynn

Vice Captains: Matthew and Lucy

Our School Prefects, who consist of students who were not successful in attaining a captaincy position, but will have several leadership opportunities throughout the 2025 school year are:

Prefects: Poppie, Madeline, Judah and Zachary

Each year students elect two House Captains and two-House Vice Captains. These students take a leadership role within their House as the students participate in the School Swimming, Cross Country, and Athletics Carnivals. Congratulations to the following students who were elected:

Hume

Captains: Logan and Oscar

Vice Captains: Hendrix and Piper

Oxley

Captains: Alyra and Ranajay

Vice Captains: Brodhi and Adelaide

Sturt

Captains: Sophie and Carter

Vice Captains: Harvey and Chloe

Mitchell

Captains: Remi and Hudson

Vice Captains: Kai and Jessie

Each year students elect SRC representatives for their class. These students have an important role, as they represent “the voice” of their class and fellow students, by enhancing their school life through promoting engaging opportunities within the school setting. Congratulations to the following students who were elected:

1G – Jaxon

1B – Darcy and August

1L – Campbell and Lou

1F – Florence and Jefferson

2B – Henry and Ellie

2C – Hugo and Zephyr

2L – Zayne and Ruby

3-4A – Olive and Monty

3-4N – Harry and Elsie

3-4S – Ashton and Reeva

3-4C – Poppy and Arlo

3-4B – Poppy and Freddie

5-6A – Lillian and Samuel

5-6P – Charlie and Mila

5-6H – Dallas and Hazel

5-6L – Avalon and Alfie

5-6T – Maia and Parker

5-6B – Noah and April

Thursday 6 March will mark our official Leaders Induction Ceremony, with information going home to parents this week.

Ms Tim Fisher

Principal

• Year 6 Shirts - Order form and payment due now
• Year 6 CoS Transition Day - Online consent due now
• School Photo Day - Online orders via MSP email

We are excited to announce that the NSW Talent Enrichment Weekend, MindQuest, will take place on Saturday and Sunday, 5 and 6 April 2025, at St George Girls High School. This enriching program is designed for primary students in Years 1-6 who are gifted, high-potential, or possess above-average abilities in their areas of interest.

Over the course of this two-day event, students will have the opportunity to engage in more than 33 exciting and fast-paced courses. Offerings will include a diverse range of subjects such as chemistry, earth sciences, Lego robotics, art, and much more!

Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity for your child to explore their interests and develop new skills in a supportive environment. If you are interested, please contact Mrs McLerie via the school email for an information booklet.

Registrations close Friday 14 March.

Last week we welcomed back all students from K-6 to the Library and it was fantastic to see all the new kindergarten students excited about their first visit to the Library. This term K-6 will visit the Library on Monday – Wednesday with Mrs Carroll in the role of Librarian.

The Term 1 library timetable and class library days are:

Monday

5-6B, 5-6H, 5-6T, 2B, 2C, 2L & 3-4C

Tuesday

5-6L, 5-6P, 5-6A, KB, KS, 3-4A & 3/4N

Wednesday

1B, 1F, 1L, K-1G, 3-4B & 3-4S

Students in K-2 are to bring a library bag for borrowing each week and will continue to have a one-book borrowing limit this year. Students in 3-6 may bring a library bag if they wish however, this is not compulsory. Stage 2 and 3 will have a two-book borrowing limit this year, one class book for silent reading and one home book. All children are encouraged to get into the habit of returning their library book every week to either re-borrow or return.

Issue 1 of the Scholastic Book Club catalogue was handed out last week and is also available to view online below. Final orders are due by Friday 21 February 2025. Order now.

Look inside issue 1

This week all K-6 students began the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge as part of their library lessons and reading at home and in the classroom. K-2 students will be completing it in class with their teachers and 3-6 students will be completing it independently at home and in the classroom. The aim of the PRC is to encourage students to read, to read more, and to read more widely and develop a love of reading for the joy of it.

The reading requirements are:

Years K-2: 20 PRC books and 10 Personal Choice books.

Years 3-6: 10 PRC books and 10 Personal Choice books.

Our goal is to have all students completing the challenge this year and to continue to foster a love of reading and positive reading culture in the school.

Happy reading,

Mrs Carroll

Librarian

Illawarra Sports High School is the only Sports High on the South Coast that runs a dedicated Talented Sports and Development Program that is fully integrated into the school timetable. As an Olympic Pathway School, a NSW Institute of Sport, NRL and Sydney FC Partnership school, we provide a balance of academic support and a focus on individual athlete development.

If you are a talented young athlete, our school may just be for you. Come and find out more.

Open Night

Years 5 to 10

Wednesday February 26th

4.30pm to 7.00pm

Register online…

https://illawaspor-h.schools.nsw.gov.au/news/2024/12/open-night-.html

Talented Sports and Development Program Year 6 Trials

Year 6

Wednesday April 9th

9.30am to 12.00pm

Register online…

https://illawaspor-h.schools.nsw.gov.au/news/2024/12/tsdp-trials.html

Onsite uniform shop closed until further notice.

Place an Online Order.

Please be aware that there are students in our school with allergies to nuts. We ask that you give consideration to voluntarily agreeing not to send nut products, in particular peanuts and peanut butter to school.