Newsletter Term 2, 2022
Principals Message
Here we are at the end of Term 2 already! It continued in the same vein as Term 1…with COVID-19 unfortunately being the main focus once again! We have had staff and students absent every week, so everyone has had to be flexible and step up to get through it. The staff and students have all been amazing! It has not been easy, but they have done really well. Staff have gone above and beyond expectations in order to best support the students, moving to different classes at short notice to accommodate need - and implementing class programs when teachers have been off sick. Students have been a bit more anxious at times, but again have coped well, despite all of the uncertainty and having staff who are not usually in their classes.
There have been no camps, assemblies or whole school events so far this year. Camps will now not take place this year, as all of the schools who had to cancel are trying to book up the limited spots available at the designated camp schools. There is also still the risk of COVID-19 and the camps having to be cancelled at the last minute - or for students to get sick while on camp - so we have decided we will organise two, whole-centre day excursions instead – one in Term 3 and one in Term 4 - so that the students can enjoy a day out with their peers. It will not be quite as much fun as a sleepover camp, but I think everyone will enjoy it! Details will be sent out next term.
We have had to postpone whole centre events such as the Biggest Morning Tea this semester, but hopefully we will combine it with Daffodil Day next term - as the money all goes to the same well-deserving cause – the Cancer Council. We will keep it in house again this year and I hope that next year, we can invite families to join us.
Work Place Learning spaces and opportunities have been limited this semester - and the news about ACTIV’s potential closure was really disappointing and put many of our plans on hold. We are delighted to hear that they have been given an 18-month reprieve and hopefully a positive solution will be worked out long term.
We did manage to complete a few selected activities and courses with students this semester though. Selected students completed their Construction – White Card course which is a pre-requisite for many employment opportunities in the construction industry. Some of these students will now pursue a certificate course in Warehousing and hopefully will be able to identify some employment pathways for the future.
Upper school students have been taking part in lawn-bowling lessons for the past few weeks at the Warwick Bowling Club across the road in Lloyd Drive – and have discovered that it is actually a very strategic game and not as easy as it looks! Lower school students were able to participate in their swimming lessons, which they thoroughly enjoyed. All students took part in our annual planting day and we were lucky with the weather! It is an important day in our Bushrangers program and I think everyone enjoyed it.
For the first time, we engaged the virtual babies program and selected upper school students learned about how to look after a baby, took care of it for two days at school and took a “baby” home for the night. What fun! It was amazing to see how different students responded to the challenge and I am sure that parents were glad the babies only came home for one night!
We commenced our First Aid training and upskilling for staff, and five staff members gave up a Saturday to complete their training. It is important to maintain our training across the Centre as you are never sure what may happen.
Staff have been working very hard over the past few weeks to put together the reports for your children and they will be sent out just before the holiday break. Thanks to all staff for their hard work and enthusiasm this semester – in difficult circumstances!
I am sure that most of us are looking forward to the two week break and hoping that things will be a bit more normal when we return in Term 3. I hope that you and your families have weathered the last term without too much ill-health. I wish you all a very safe and relaxing holiday break and look forward to seeing you next term.
Regards
Carol Clarke
Principal
Whole School Planting Day
Tuesday the 21st of June saw our Bush Ranger Cadets participate in a Planting Day for the third year in a row. Our students planted a massive 100 native plants including Tuart trees and Kangaroo Paws that were raised from locally sourced seeds, and so generously donated by the City of Joondalup. With guidance from the Friends of Warwick Bushland, and City of Joondalup our students began planting along the school verge on Lloyd Drive and along the Tuart Trail in the Warwick Bushland. It was fantastic to see all of our students join in, even those who were reluctant at first, and become expert horticulturists and masters of a range of gardening tools. It was a fabulous experience for our students to enjoy the outdoors, especially since the previous days were rain filled and not ideal conditions to be spending time outside. We also had the pleasure of being joined by a handful of six-week-old (robotic) babies being cared for by our upper school students during the morning planting sessions. This was a great experience - enjoyed by students and staff alike!
We are all very much looking forward to continuing to foster our relationship with the Friends of Warwick Bushland and the City of Joondalup, with more events to come.
Zac Redknap, Bush Ranger Co-ordinator
Baby Think It Over!
Week 9 of Term 2 had a busy beginning! Upper School students participated in the Baby Think It Over program across Monday and Tuesday. The aims of the program are to help young people understand the challenges around having a baby, and to develop an understanding that the demands of a baby are unpredictable and must be met promptly. In participating in the program, students develop the awareness that babies require a great deal of time and attention and that babies change a parent’s life profoundly. The program began with a presentation and discussion and then the excitement began. The students took responsibility for their virtual baby during Period 1 on Monday, and many of the students took the baby home for the night and carried on caring for their baby until Tuesday afternoon, when the program concluded with a debrief session. The students did a great job with the babies, they became proficient in managing the baby's needs - responding quickly to crying with a nappy change, feeding, burping or rocking. Students were also measured on how the baby was handled. This was a great learning experience in many ways and meaningful discussion was had regarding the students' thoughts on optimal situations and conditions for becoming a parent.
Suzanne Nileshwar, Teacher
Physical Education
Swimming
Swimming lessons were held at the Balga Leisure park in weeks 7 and 8 of Term 2. All students from years 7, 8 and 9 were invited to participate and we filled the pool, having 45 of our students involved in the swimming programme.
Swimming lessons this year were based on each student's swimming abilities, rather than class or year group. This enabled the student to receive maximum benefits from their lessons and enabled extra socialising to take place outside of their normal school class parameters .
Our staff willingly got in the water to help some of our students who needed extra support.
The swimming lessons were a great success, with students and staff working together to get to the pool and back in a timely fashion. Students made West Coast proud with the way that they conducted themselves during our two weeks at the pool. We can’t wait for the lessons at Balga Leisure park again next year! Thanks to the Balga swimming staff who were outstanding and whose efforts were much appreciated.
Soccer Carnival
Students from West Coast participated in the Kalability Soccer carnival on the 15th June. Due to swimming lessons, we only brought students from our upper school classes; nonetheless, we still managed to create two teams from West Coast to compete in Division 1 and Division 3. Staff and students had a great day, with each team playing three games. Both teams played with all of their heart and we brought home the Division 3 trophy. All our students again represented West Coast in a fine manner, by giving their best and showing excellent sportsmanship throughout the day.
Lawn Bowls
Students in upper school were given the opportunity to head across the road to the Warwick Bowling Club, where they tried their hand at the skilful game of Lawn Bowling. Students and staff were instructed in rules and the technical skills needed by coaches provided by the lawn bowling club. Our students went on a Thursday and/or Friday during their PE lesson for the last 5 weeks of Term 2. Thankyou Warwick Lawn Bowls for having us, and well done to our students who mastered this new, recreational activity!
Ryan Koppl, PE Teacher
Fundraiser - Free Dress Day
During this semester we have been fund raising for Brant Garvey, who is an Australian leg-amputee para-triathlete. Brant visited our school last year as part of our You Can Do It Day celebrations.
He is currently aiming to take part in the 2022 World Triathlon Cup in Bergen, Norway in August.
As part of this fund raising, we held a Free Dress and sausage sizzle day. We raised an amazing $650. Thank you to all staff and students.
Deborah Pember
Art and Enterprise
Students started the term by producing their own placemats. They have been learning and practicing card-making skills, as well as using their own creativity to produce an individual result. We hope some of the placemats made it home for parents to admire!
Following on from the placemats, students have been making some really impressive “String Art” to take home. Patience and persistence have been called on and we think the results speak for themselves…
Gaye Yanev & Sue Kelly
Art and Enterprise
TEACCH and Work Skills
It has been a busy Term 2 in the TEACCH and Work Skills room.
Our lower school students are becoming more confident in their ability to follow the routine in Area E. This has resulted in greater independence and a growing sense of pride in their achievements. They are tackling and mastering new skills that will prove valuable in the classroom, at home and also as they access the community. It is a joy to see their faces when a skill has been mastered.
The middle and upper school students have been focusing on skills needed to assist them in their life after school. Our Work Skills Program helps prepare them for this, also focusing on specific areas when needed for individual students.
We continue to do work for REmida. Students sort and put various items into sets, which are then returned to REmida. We are so proud of the students who regularly come into Area E.
Karen Woods and Kirsten Barton, Area E
Technologies
Woodwork
This semester many students made small wooden cars and tealight holders, which were made from Pine and Jarrah timber and finished with homemade Beeswax. Students did a great job building and personalizing their cars. Brooklyn is using the Pillar drill, and Sam personalized his car with an S.
Information Technology
The I.T. classes have created a student newsletter available to view at https://wcsesc.edublogs.org/ where each class has a page - if you get time please have a look. The password for the class pages is wcsesc.
During computer classes, students from Room D enjoyed time on the interactive website http://weavesilk.com/ which is an interactive generative art program.
In STEM Smart, the students have enjoyed creating digital music and have been programing games using Co-space (VR-software).
Lisa Key, Teacher
