Winters Flat Primary School eNewsletter

Thursday 11th September

1/2A Bike Ed - During PE

Tuesday 16th September

Castlemaine Chess Tournament

Thursday 18th September

Whole school excursion - Ballarat Wildlife Park

Friday 19th September

Last day of Term 3 - 2.30pm Finish.

TERM 4

Monday 6th October

First Day Back - Term 4

Friday 17th October

Goldfields Tennis Carnival - Grade 5/6

Monday 3rd November

School Curriculum Day

Tuesday 4th November

Melbourne Cup Day

STAFFING

Rachel Ellis-Hall has joined the Winters Flat staff as our new Performing Arts teacher. Many of you will know her as Izzy and Vanessa’s mum. We welcome Rachel to her new teaching role.

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC – SCOTT SANDERS

Scott Sanders is joining Winters Flat offering instrumental music lessons. More information in flyer attached to this newsletter.

To book lessons or for more information, contact Scott directly on 0401 411 881 or thehouseofandersen@gmail.com

info_for_parents.pdf

info_for_parents _pdf 217.46 KB

PERFORMANCES LAST WEEK

Time Warp Tunes is a journey we’re not going to forget in a hurry! We are so proud of our students who took part and their amazing performances last week.

Every one of them brought the decades to life with energy, joy, and heart. From the rock ’n’ roll of the 50s, to the disco ball of the 70s, to contemporary pop power hits. They danced through time and celebrated the power of music, to bring us all together. What was particularly impressive was their enthusiasm and engagement throughout the rehearsal process.

Once again, we thank:

The brilliant staff who made this show possible including learning the routines with their class, as well as their own chance to shine in fluoro Lycra. Sets were constructed by Bron (who was also taking photos), set back-drops by Brodie and costumes sewn by Emma.
The parent volunteers who helped with costumes, sets, front of house and backstage magic.
The tech team and crew for the sound, lighting, and all the behind-the-scenes wizardry
Our supportive families, friends, and school community for cheering us on every step of the way.

Special thanks to AnneMaree Jones who was the artistic director, stage manager, choreographer, set and costume designer and writer of the show. The amount of time, effort and even cash that AnneMaree contributed to making the show a success is immeasurable, and we owe her such a debt of gratitude.

AnneMaree engaged students from the outset and observing rehearsal I saw the same energy and joy as we all enjoyed in the final performances.

It feels like many of us are still smiling :-)

VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers are welcome in every classroom as well as the Kitchen/Garden and specialist areas.

If you have the time and inclination, please let us know. Volunteers at school must have a Working with Children Check.

BIRTHDAYS

Happy Birthday to you…

Win turned 8 this week
Ida turned 6 this week
Amos turns 7 this week
Angus turns 12 at the weekend
Midas turns 11 next week
Raphaela turns 6 next week
Angus C turns 8 next week
Terry, Kate and Karen M have birthdays coming up in the next few weeks

Hip Hip Hooray

Hooray Hip Hip

COVID SCHOOL PROCEDURES

COVID is active again in Castlemaine at the moment and there have been cases in school families.

Schools will make sure your child is as safe as possible and will focus on:

washing hands
physical distancing
rapid antigen testing
Outdoors when practical
Air purifiers indoors
mask wearing – recommended but not mandatory

Free rapid antigen tests

Free rapid antigen tests are still available from the office.

Testing is strongly recommended for students and staff who are symptomatic.

After doing the tests at home, if it is positive, you are advised to:

let the school know
keep your child at home for 7 days
contact the Department of Health via the COVID-19 Positive Rapid Antigen Test Self-Reporting Form or call centre on 1800 675 398.

Suzanne Kinnersly
Principal.

Parent Opinion Survey

Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey and is seeking your feedback. The survey, offered by the Department of Education, is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement.

We sent you an invitation to complete the survey via email. If you cannot find the invite, please reach out and we can resend this invitation to you.

The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey will remain open online until Friday 19 September 2025.

Your opinions are important to us and will contribute to identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies. The department will use the results from the survey for research purposes and to improve outcomes for students.

The survey is being conducted online and only takes 20 minutes to complete.

If you require assistance in completing the survey, please reach out to your child’s teacher, or the school if you require assistance in another language.

New parent/school platform

The school is switching user platforms from Xuno to Compass. This will take effect on day one of Term 4. There are a number of reasons why we have chosen to do this, but the main reason is that it will be more user friendly for the school and families. More information will be sent out how to use the platform in the next newsletter.

We have changed the date of the whole school excursion from the Tuesday 16^th September to the Thursday 18^th September. This was changed because there was a clash with the chess tournament at Castlemaine Secondary College. Please make sure that you log onto Xuno to give permission for your child to attend.

You may use SSB or CSEF to pay for this excursion which is $40.

We have had some queries about whether SSB or CSEF monies can be used from other siblings if one sibling has used all of their funds. It is absolutely fine to use this money between families.

From the 1^st September all students must wear their hats while outside at recess and lunch time plays. We regularly consult the UV index and when it is above 3 all students must wear their hats.

Karen & AnneMaree

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What a Show!

Last week, Winters Flat Primary School students transported us through the decades in their spectacular production of Time Warp Tunes: A Jukebox Journey.

The story began in the school music room, where a group of curious students stumbled upon a magical jukebox. With the help of the whimsical Time Keeper, the jukebox carried them through the 1950s right up to today — with each decade brought to life through music, dance, and vibrant costumes.

Our audience was treated to rock ‘n’ roll classics, surf rock, disco fever, movie dance hits, boy band anthems, and modern pop favourites. Each performance was packed with energy, laughter and pure enjoyment. The finale, Let’s Do the Time Warp, brought the whole school together in one joyful celebration of music and community.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank a few people who went above and beyond to help me and make this show what it was.

Thank-you to…..

Athene for her extensively researched and beautifully drawn concert flyer.
Nova and family for creating and mixing our music for the whole performance.
Bron for doing an amazing job making all our props and photography.
Brodie for program and set design.
Emma and Kitty for sewing costumes and doing alterations.
Matt Weston for creating our very own sound effect.
Raph for his amazing job with the curtains for both shows and our Dress Rehearsal.
Dave, Neil, Jacob, Taylah and Alex for all our tech support.
And all the volunteers who turned up on the night, who helped dress kids and pack up and clean up theatre.

To our brilliant teachers and staff — thank you for being so supportive, flexible, and for encouraging the creative chaos that sometimes came with rehearsals! Your patience and enthusiasm made it all possible.

To our parents and families — thank you for the costume hunting, and cheering from the sidelines. Your support behind the scenes meant a lot.

Thank you to the entire Winters Flat community for showing up and celebrating the creativity and talent of our young performers, The thanks and feedback we have received has warmed our hearts.

And Lastly, A huge congratulations to all our students for their hard work and enthusiasm. It is each and every one of you who have made our show such a success. Congratulations!

It’s been an absolute joy to choreograph and create Time Warp Tunes. Watching the students grow in confidence, support one another, and bring the show to life with such joy and energy has made me so very proud of each and every one of the kids.

It was truly a night to remember, and one that will have us humming and dancing through the school corridors for weeks to come!

Thanks again, it’s been an absolute blast and my pleasure!

AnneMaree

On the 19th of August the Winters Flat/Taradale PS boys soccer team went to Swan Hill to compete in the north west Mallee regionals soccer tournament. We finished second in our pool and third overall. We drew our first game nil all, we were mostly dominating the game, but we just couldn’t get a shot in the back of the net.

In our second game we lost two-nil but we still did quite well, in our last we won two-one and that was the team that went in the final and they lost the final one-nil to Kennington PS. There was two pools of four teams, and you needed to finish first in your pool to make the final. Some of us stayed to watch the final to see who won. The first team we versed was St Marys, the second was Mildura PS and the third was St Francis Bendigo.

Angus N

On the 19th of August the Winters Flat Soccer team went to the Swan Hill soccer tournament. In the second half of the last game, we were winning 1:0, but they scored and then the scores where 1:1. There was 5 minutes on the clock they had a corner they kicked, it went off Lenny and they thought went off Midas but I quickly slapped it away and we won 2:1.

Tanmay B

What we're cooking in the kitchen this fortnight...

Potato Tortilla
Vegetable Paella
Patatas Bravas
Spanish Chickpea Balls
White Bean, Celery and Olive Salad
Basque Cheesecake

Yum!!!

Chefs of the week:

2/3H - Sid, Artie, Heart and Rory

3/4C - Beau, Maeve, Odessa and Dash

5/6B - Frankie, Soren, Lenny, Odetta and Rex

.

Cath & Terry
Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden

Did you know Winters Flat is a ResourceSmart School?

We’ve been sustainability leaders since 2006. And will soon be the 4^th school in Victoria to complete our 5 Star rating for the 3^rd time – stars need to be renewed every 4-5 years.

Right now, we’re renewing our energy module, which includes an audit of our energy use to understand consumption patterns and identify areas for improvement.

3/4C students have come up with some signs to help with energy consumption. These will be placed around the school above light switches and heaters.

One of the things you can do at home is stop your heaters at 20c. Every degree above that will cost you an extra 10% on our heating bill.

Terry