10 June 2026

It’s hard to believe that it is Week 8 already!

I hope you all enjoyed a long weekend, always a lovely bonus in the middle of a school term. The weather was spectacular and really highlighted how lovely a winter escape for a few days can be or a winter staycation in our beautiful area can be.

We almost made it through our Athletics carnival Wednesday 13 May without getting wet! Whilst the day started out pleasant, the weather certainly changed by early afternoon. All students are to be commended for how well they dealt with this challenge and continued to try their absolute best, regardless of the weather conditions. Ribbons and age champion medallions were handed out yesterday. Details for the District Athletics Carnival will be shared, as soon as they are available.

We recently acknowledged Reconciliation Week, with the theme ‘All In’ truly on display at Woonona Public School. All students engaged in a range of meaningful activities throughout the week, learning about shared histories, cultures and achievements and exploring how each and every one of us can attribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. This all culminated in some of our Aboriginal students attending the Reconciliation Walk at Bellambi Public School on Thursday 28 May and all classes sharing their research into significant aboriginal people at an assembly on Friday.

On Wednesday 3 June we held our 2nd P&C Meeting for the term and it was wonderful to see more new faces. The P&C is a great opportunity to connect with our wider community and get a real insight into what is happening in our wonderful school. The P&C have created a truly warm and welcoming atmosphere where the students are the motivators behind all their decisions. Please join us for our next meeting, held Week 3 and Week 7 every term.

There has been a great deal happening in sport, with numerous state knock out teams playing recently, including touch, soccer, netball and rugby league. Whilst these teams include selected students, all Stage 2 and Stage 3 students got a chance to participate in a Gala Day last Friday, including rugby league, rugby union, soccer and touch football. There certainly is an abundance of opportunities for our students in the sporting arena!

Whilst there is always plenty happening on the sporting field for our students, there is so much more happening.

We currently have our school choir busily practising for the upcoming Choral Festival at the Wollongong Town Hall on Tuesday 23 June. I look forward to seeing all of the hard work, by not only our students, but also Mrs Ney, Mrs Smith and Ms Heidi in preparing for this highly regarded event.

Ms Phillips and Mrs McLerie are also busy preparing our students for their Southern Stars item, an event that isn’t until next term but takes many hours of organisation and preparation. By all accounts this is the biggest group of performers we have ever taken to Southern Stars, a testament to how much our students embrace these extra curricula opportunities we offer!

NAIDOC week is recognised 5-12 July this year, which falls in our school holidays. This year’s theme is ‘50 years Deadly’, looking back at the stories, the marches, the languages, the art, the leadership. It is also about the here and now, grounded in culture, strong in identity and leading change across every field. For us at Woonona Public School this will be celebrated by all students attending fully immersive workshops run by Gaghungal Marring on Thursday 25 and Friday 26 June. 50 years of deadly is a marker, not just of time passed, but of the momentum still building.

A reminder that teachers are very busy working on reports at the moment, and they will be shared via School Bytes on Wednesday 1 July. Reports offer a valuable insight into the ongoing development and growth of every student, with a great amount of time, consideration and knowledge going into each and every report. Please ensure that you have access to School Bytes to be able to access these reports.

Woonona sure is a busy place and has something happening for everyone!

Ms Alison Strinic

Relieving Principal

These amazing students were awarded the 'Citizenship of the Month Award' for May, in recognition of their exemplary standards of conduct and service to others.

Congratulations to:

Lydia KH

Leila 1-2V

Greyson 4-5B

Thomas 5-6B

At Woonona Public School we use School Bytes app to make communication and admin easier for families. These tools help you:

• make payments quickly and securely
• view academic reports
• stay up to date with school events
• record absences.

Click here to download the app.

• Music Lessons $35 - Payment due now
• Moving into the Teen Years $30 - Payment overdue
• Choral Festival Participants $18 - Payment overdue
• Southern Stars Rehearsals $40 - Payment due Tuesday 16 June
• Stage 2 Kamay Botany Bay National Park Excursion $40 Payment due Friday 19 June
• Stage 3 Canberra Excursion $330 - Payment due Friday 31 July

Congratulations to all our place getters from the 2026 Athletics Carnival which was held at a rainy Beaton Park and finalised back at school in the past couple of weeks.

District Qualification

The top three 100m runners in each age group and the top two junior, 11 and 12 year old places from all other events will now progress to the North Wollongong District Athletics Carnival to be held in early Term 3. Further information about this event will be sent to competitor's families in the coming weeks.

Age Champions

A huge congratulations to our 2026 Athletics Age Champions. These students accrued the highest total of points across all events in their respective age groups in what is a huge achievement.

House Champion

This year's champion house was Mitchell, with Sturt only a handful of points being in second. Well done Mitchell and I feel like Sturt's time is just around the corner!

Well done to Rheon who represented South Coast in the NSW Girls Rugby League Carnival in Cronulla last week. Rheon played brilliantly at dummy half and in the backline through the carnival, helping her team finish third in their pool and ultimately come 6th in the state! She was also a hero of 5-6H, who tuned in to watch her second game, which was being live streamed, at the end of recess just in time to see her lay on a silky try assist.

We are very proud of this great achievement, Rheon!

It may have been a disappointing end result, but the Girls State Knockout Football team played with excellent determination and spirit in a very tight game against Bulli PS.
Lots of great memories and some good lessons to take into the next stage of their footballing journey. And we can’t forget an absolute cracker of a goal from Amaya!

We are very proud of their effort and team spirit.

The Woonona Public School Girls Rugby 7s team proudly represented the school in their State Knockout match, with many of the players experiencing rugby and tackling for the very first time.

Throughout the day, they were fortunate to learn from NSW Rugby Union development officers, with Wallaroo Caitlyn Halse also on hand to take photos and share her expertise.

The girls displayed outstanding sportsmanship, listened carefully to their coaches and mentors, and gave their best effort from start to finish. There were some brilliant individual tries scored by Kyah and Olivia, while Lainey crossed for an impressive double. In a thrilling contest, Woonona were unlucky to go down 24–22 against Tahmoor Public School after conceding a try on the final play of the game.

The team should be incredibly proud of their performance and determination.

Uniform orders are filled weekly by P&C volunteers.

School hats/caps are available to purchase from the front Office, cash payments only.

Further information on ordering uniforms can be found on the school website.