Sir Eric Woodward School Newsletter

Sir Eric Woodward
School Newsletter
August 10th, 2012
Vol 1, Issue 7

Education & Book Week 2012

Saint Ignatius Riverview
Foundation Volunteer Day

Thank you to Square Knitters

Wheelie Warriors

Dates for your Diary

Birthdays

Principal’s Message

News from the Classrooms

Attachments
Sir Eric Woodward School, celebrated Education Week and Book Week with vigour and of
course a great sense of fun on Friday, 3 rd August. Education week 2012, with the theme
‘Creating the Future’ was a great opportunity to open the school to our families and wider
school community. Together, we experienced the great qualities of our amazing students and
creative, dedicated staff. It was a wonderful time to highlight to the wider school community the
learning and fun that takes place each day and provide an opportunity for the fostering of strong
community connections. It was so good to see many of our families, including some of our
DESU students and families travelling a distance to be a part of the day. Our community
members joined in on our fun as we brought many characters from Children’s Literature alive.
Cnr Ayres and Acron Roads, St Ives NSW 2075
Telephone 9449 6003 Fax 9983 9334
Email: sirericwoo-s.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Website: www.sirericwoodwardschool.com.au
Education & Book Week
Combining the celebration of Education Week
with Book week (which officially occurs later in
August), there was not a page left unturned as
literary characters leapt off the pages and
paraded before our audience transporting the
works of authors from Dickens to J.K Rowling.
Sir Eric Woodward’s students and staff took the
audience on a literary montage. This year’s Book
Week theme is ‘Champions Read’. Reading is
traditionally the turning of pages, but reading and
literacy with a 21st century learner is engaging in
multimedia to ignite our senses and enrich our
imaginations.
During our Education Week assembly all staff
were acknowledged for their passion and
commitment to quality education, with special
mention to Anita Beauchamp, Julie Logan and Jo
Ellis, all being recognised for individual
achievement in 2012. Meredith Ash, School
Education Director, presented our three staff
members with their certificates and congratulated
them on their outstanding work at Sir Eric
Woodward School and for Public Education.
All our students came as their favourite literary
and multimedia characters and it was wonderful
that all our families were so involved in
supporting their child in costume for the parade.
Not to be out done, all staff also came as their
favourite characters and even some of our
audience members dressed up for the fun. Our
students were all presented with an educationweek book mark for their great costumes and
also to recognise their ongoing commitment to
their learning throughout the 2012 year.
Anita, Jo and Julie receive their certificates from
Meredith Ash, SED North Shore
Daniel dressed as Wally from ‘Where’s Wally’, with
Sharon as ‘the Cat in the Hat’, followed by Georgia,
Jacqui and Tom in the Parade
Mikaela receives her bookmark from Deputy Principal
Narelle Turner
Following the parade, Sir Eric Woodward School
invited Daryl Perry to join School Captains,
Sophie, Luke and DESU student Bella to officially
open the new Library / Learning Centre. Sir Eric
Woodward School now has a new library. Its
funding was kindly supported by our P&C. This
new learning environment will further support our
students’ learning and it will connect home and
school through the love of literacy.
Daryl Perry –President of the P&C, Sophie, Luke and
Bella open the new library
Sir Eric Woodward School would like to thank our
wonderful P&C for their support and our friends
and families for their kind donations to purchase
new books to fill our shelves.
Sir Eric Woodward’s ‘Giant iPad’ depicting all students
actively engaged across their curriculum
Families and Friends of Sir Eric Woodward School kindly
donate books to support our new library
Students work on display in the main hall way at Sir Eric
Woodward School
Education and Book Week 2012 was a great
success. It was a time to celebrate together in
acknowledgement of the positive place school and
the wider school community plays in a student’s
life. It was a wonderful opportunity to bring
together the school with its wider community to
acknowledge and celebrate ‘Creating the Future’.
Yasmin showing a definite interest in the new library
learning centre
Guests were offered time to view class work and a
large ‘iPad’ display of all Sir Eric Woodward
Students actively engaged in their curriculum.
Following a lovely lunch, there was time to enjoy
the sun and the company of staff and for
community members to visit our classrooms to
view the evidence of the quality education that
takes place each day with all students and to
further honour their abilities.
Andrew with his sister and brother
Saint Ignatius Foundation Volunteer Day
On Tuesday 31st August Sir Eric Woodward hosted
young men from Saint Ignatius Riverview. Led by
Mr John Newy the young men came with the right
attitude and strong enthusiasm to support our
school and make a difference on their foundation
volunteering day.
Ian our G.A led the young men to complete some
much needed grounds work. The project was to
clear some of the fire trail and to remove one of the
planter boxes in the playground which will
eventually be paved to make a hard court area. It
was a cold day and the young men quickly warmed
up with the level of effort they placed into the
volunteering project.
The young men from Saint Ignatius Riverview
spent some time with Sir Eric Woodward students
over the lunch period, meeting the peers they
were supporting. Then it was back to work. The
boys worked with smiles for most of the day and,
to our surprise and most importantly gratitude,
presented the school with a very kind donation of
$200.00 which will further support all of our
students.
It was wonderful to meet the young men and be a
part of their foundation volunteering day. A very
big “thank you” on behalf of Sir Eric Woodward
School for all their hard work and generous
contribution to the school.
Thank you – Square Knitters
Another very big “thank you” goes to the North
Shore Friendship Club - Square Knitters for their
hard work and kind donation of beautiful rugs for
Sir Eric Woodward School. They are beautiful!
Sophie shows with delight one for the many rugs
carefully knitted and donated
Wheelie Warriors
.
Dates for your Diary
th
On Tuesday 07 August Sir Eric Woodward School
Face to Face students had the opportunity to feel
the exhilaration of riding on the back of a
motorcycle, a ‘nipper’. I am pleased to advise all
our families that this great experience for our
students will now be taking place the first Tuesday
of each month. These wonderful men donate their
time to school that support students with disabilities
to provide them with a ride and a smile. There were
abundant smiles as our students rode around the
school car park and looked quite the part on the
back of a motorbike. Thank you to the ‘Wheelie
Warriors’ for their kind donation of their time
volunteering to support our school.

Taronga Zoo Incursion –Tuesday 11th
September 2012
Birthdays
A very “happy birthday” wish goes to two of our
wonderful teachers, Sharon and Julie. We know
you will celebrate in style.
Principal’s Message
It was a great Education Week and wonderful to
see so many of our families attending our event to
celebrate Sir Eric Woodward School as a proud
Public Education School.
Thank you to all families for supporting your
children and our event by making costumes which
contributed to such a successful day. Thank you to
all of our families who were able to travel and be a
part of this day.
It was wonderful to meet and greet the young men
from Saint Ignatius; we would welcome them back
to our grounds any time. I would like to thank Ian
Gilkes SEWS G.A. for leading the boys on their
project during their foundation volunteering day.
The opening of the new library/learning centre was
very exciting. Thank you to Anna Trayner for all
her hard work and organisation and for making the
opening a possibility for Education Week. Anna is
now busy accessioning all our books and making
the new library a great new learning space for all
our students.
I hope all our families have a lovely weekend.
Jo-Anne Gardiner
Principal
News from the Classrooms
Louise S’ Class
Deborah’s Class
Tristan loves to go to the movies with his family,
as part of his English program. This is Tristan at a
recent screening of the movie Brave in Sydney.
Kaylah has been out and about in her backyard and
in the community making the most of the glorious
winter weather. She loves to spend time with her
family, friends and carers, and soak up the sun.
Kaylah enjoys the mental stimulation provided by her
feely board when she is in her wheelchair or her
standing frame. She loves to feel the various textures
with her hands and mouth, and listens attentively to
new sounds. She is continuing to respond to a range
of sensory cues across all Key Learning Area
activities - she is particularly aware of the ping of the
microwave at dinner time!
Tristan on movie outing
Deborah
Junior Class
The Junior Class knows how to have some fun.
Part of the Human Society and its Environment
curriculum includes getting along with others,
sharing, taking turns with toys and participating in
co-operative play.
Feely board items can be changed regularly to engage
students
Some of the juniors have enjoyed exploring
coloured blocks to build towers. Charlie, Nathan
and Oliver are practising taking turns when
choosing blocks for their towers. They are also
discovering that knocking down the towers and rebuilding is all part of the fun when participating in
their play activities.
‘Kaylah’s Retreat’ will be well used in the warmer months
Louise S
Oliver has his turn to build his tower
Charlie tips the blocks out of the trolley so everyone can
choose
Lorrin attending to her PowerPoint program
Georgia wearing her ‘invisibility cloak’ for the parade
After Nathan knocks down his tower, he builds another
one
Mary-Jo, Christine & David
Senior Class
The students in the Senior Class are working in
English on their listening skills.
Lorrin has been particularly attentive and stops
what she is doing and listens to teacher requests
before commencing her PowerPoint programs.
She has become so adept at switching on the
computer that she has successfully completed
over 24 PowerPoint programs independently in
one day.
As we have been learning about
applauding those who do well in the Olympics, we
have been giving her some rousing cheers for her
great effort.
On Friday we celebrated Book Week and our
students brought characters from books to life with
their imaginative costumes.
Cleopatra –Sophie, our Queen and School Captain
Princess Aurora awake from her long sleep
Sandy, Sandra & Louise
Amanda’s Class
Amina has been learning about plants in Science.
She and her dad are making a garden for
Technology using her new knowledge of how plants
grow.
Music This fortnight in Music with Joanne students
continue improvising using a variety of musical
instruments. Dylan remarked that improvising on
the piano with Joanne made him feel ‘confident’
and he was keen to repeat this experience this
week.
Amina took a trip to Bunnings to buy pots, compost
and gardening gloves. She has planted some
flowers, spring onions and radish seeds. The
strawberry plants she put in already have fruit that
is beginning to ripen.
PD.H.PE We have had a lot of fun discovering how
to make the perfect ‘spiral’ as a warm up activity.
Students link hands and must turn in a clockwise
direction until they are coiled tightly together.
Uncoiling is the BEST bit!
She is going to cook the vegetables she grows. I
am looking forward to seeing the garden on my next
visit.
Science What an exciting fortnight for Science!
Students were captivated in the lead-up to the
Curiosity Rover landing on Mars on Monday.
Students watched the clip provided by NASA which
not only detailed the 8 month space journey to Mars
but also the mission which is to analyse samples
drilled from rocks from the ground as the rover
explores. This lesson demonstrated that some of
our students have a wealth of knowledge related to
Space and are keen to research further topics of
interest. Each student is now working on a research
project and has been allocated a planet to study as
part of this unit.
Buddies Yasmin and Matt have wasted no time in
getting to know the buddies from Sydney Grammar
School. Our students always look forward to visits
and interacting with their buddies.
Amina shopping for gardening equipment and seeds
Amanda
4/6B & 5/6B Classes
This fortnight’s snapshot includes: creating a visual
artwork representing athletes in various positions,
starting work on a class diorama of our solar
system, discussing how we elect representatives to
Parliament, role-playing acting in a passive
aggressive or assertive manner, performing
dramatic techniques including ‘mirroring’ and
‘miming’ which included evaluating their own
performance and playing Snap using 8-digit number
cards.
The focus for this fortnight is Music, PD.H.PE and
Science.
Dylan plays on the piano with confidence
Andrew and David drumming
Yasmin blowing bubbles with Sydney Grammar
Buddies
Donna, Sue, Anita, Paula and Jennie
Sharon’s Class
PDHPE spiral warm-up activity
In Science, Courtney has been focusing on
further developing her skills in cause and effect
activities. It has been wonderful to see Courtney
successfully pressing the big red switch. She was
full of smiles and laughter as she felt the vibration
of the butterfly against her body and enjoyed
listening to the sound of the music.
Luke, Matthew and Tom creating ‘Planet Earth’
Courtney anticipates being tickled
Matt and Yasmin with Sydney Grammar Buddies
Courtney laughing as she feels the vibration of the
butterfly on her body
Sharon
Jo’s Class
In May Ellaine received a new bike for her 18 th
birthday. Every Wednesday her support person,
Lisa, meets Ellaine at her home and takes her to
a nearby path to practise her bike riding skills as a
part of her PDHPE program.
Ellaine has quickly learnt how to use the hand
brakes on her bike and enjoys showing everyone
how clever she is!
.
Katana playing in the park
Lyndsay
Intermediate Class
Ellaine is happy to show how well she can ride her bike
and use the brakes
Jo
Lyndsay’s Class
On my field trip to Wellington I met with my new
student Katana. We spent a lovely day in the park
and Katana was very active. She showed off her
strength whilst playing on the gym equipment as
well as enjoying some toys. Welcome Katana!
From the garden to the table..............over the
past two weeks the Intermediate Class has been
literally reaping what they sowed. Under sunny
skies we have harvested silver beet, leeks and
potatoes. The vegetables smelt so fresh and
earthy as we dug them from the soil.
Back in the classroom, in our Food Technology
lesson, students helped measure, mash, pour and
stir the ingredients to make a spinach and leek
quiche one week and silver-beet and potato bake
the next.
Having harvested the potatoes, there was room in
our raised garden beds for a new crop of leeks,
planted into some rich compost. Everyone had a
turn holding the hose to water them in.
We will care for our plants until they, in their turn,
are ready for the table.
Katana engaging with sensory toys
Brooke picking the silverbeat
Daniel is obviously pleased with the final product
Julie, Christine, Paula & Tish
Rifa picking the vegetables from the garden
Barbara’s Class
This term, Jayden is investigating transport in
HSIE and Science. He is exploring different types
of vehicles, how they move and how we use
them. His own favourite transport is his bike.
Jayden is also producing some beautiful artworks.
He uses a variety of media but particularly enjoys
painting. When Jayden works on these projects
he is not only expressing himself creatively
through the design choices he makes but also
developing his fine-motor skills.
Megan helps to mix
Recently, Jayden sent in a colourful door hanger
he had made and a splatter print created with
leaves collected from his garden.
Stuart concentrates on scooping the mixture
Jayden loves riding his bike around the backyard
Norma’s Class
Jayden sprayed the leaves from his garden to make this
print
James has been completing an excellent standard
of work in all his Year 12 subjects. He is
particularly focussing on developing the
independent skills he will need as an adult. As
part of his Work & Community Life Skills subject
he has recently successfully completed a course
in vocational training in preparation for post
school work. In Food Technology Life Skills he
regularly cooks and shops. In PDHPE he enjoys a
range of outdoor sport and leisure activities. In
addition to his school program James has recently
been involved in a student production at the
Belvoir St theatre. James is a young man of many
talents. A fantastic effort James!
One of James’ many talents is baking!
Norma
Jayden’s door hanger
Barbara
Sir Eric Woodward’s wider school community was taken to another school,
where the principal was called Dumbledore. They got to travel the yellow brick
road and see who took us to the end of the rainbow to find the pot of gold.
Starting at Once Upon a Time and ending with the handsome prince winning
the heart of the fairest in the land, our audience got to encounter a witch. She
appeared in many tales but our audience got to wonder which witch she was
and also meet another villain one that counted to 101 and thought about a new
coat. The audience members saw whether he ‘can fix it’ because apparently
‘Yes he can’. They even saw how hungry that caterpillar really was as the
butterfly was the happy result. Our audience tried to find him and even tested
the skill of being able to catch him as he claimed, “You never will”. A world of
magic and time travel whether it was down the rabbit hole to a mad tea party
or transportation in a red box or on the seven seas in search of hidden treasure
or tricking the boy who never grew up was all part of the experience.
Assistance was needed to find his mother as the butterfly kept leading him
astray or without notice something was taken and something new was left on
an accessory that was sitting on a head! Newer characters from stories that
entertain our younger generation were introduced, including someone who is
not seen as strong and a 15 year old fugitive. A ghost fighter with best friend
Scooby was noted as was a master who left on a journey with Pikachu. Famous
characters in history, a heroine, a genius, princes and princesses were before us
all, but no frogs, and if we all listened carefully we could have heard, ‘”Yee Ha
giddy up partner”, as this character rode off for ‘this town ain’t big enough’
Famous authors’ creations jumped straight off the pages, even one who was
hungry and went from rags to riches. It was a parade that had a WOW factor!