Heights Happenings

We acknowledge the First Nations people of Australia, The Darug people, as the ongoing owners of the land on which we play and learn.

Winston Heights Public School is dedicated to fostering a culture of excellence and providing high-quality educational opportunities tailored to the unique needs of every student. Through collaborative and collegial practice, we aim to cultivate a vibrant learning environment that inspires, challenges, and supports students to "Learn, Communicate, and Grow." Our goal is to empower every student to become a confident, creative individual and a respectful, responsible citizen.

In our inclusive school community, every student is known, valued, and cared for. We are committed to engaging actively with all stakeholders to drive continuous improvement and uphold our standards of excellence, ensuring that we prepare our students for a dynamic and ever-changing world.

Stay connected with Winston Heights Public School by visiting our Facebook page! It’s the perfect way to keep up to date with upcoming events, student learning and extra-curricular activities, and to see all the wonderful things happening in our school community. Join us online to share in the achievements of our students and stay engaged with the fantastic learning experiences we offer. Don't miss out—like and follow our page!

Our Education Week Open Day, themed Inspiring Excellence, held in Week 3 was truly a wonderful celebration of community and learning. The morning was filled with joyful moments as families explored open classrooms alongside their children, discovering all the amazing learning happening every day. Visitors enjoyed wandering through the school, visiting the Book Fair in the library, marveling at the stunning art show in the hall, and hunting for the 25 Winston & Heidi bears hidden around the grounds. The sound of our bands performing, adding a special ambiance to the event. A huge thank you to our P&C for organising a delicious morning tea that was warmly shared with families. It was a fantastic event, bursting with community spirit, connection, and celebration. Thank you to everyone who joined us and made the day so memorable - we look forward to many more gatherings that bring us together to inspire excellence in all we do!

Our school is now accepting Kindergarten enrolments for 2027.

If you have a child - or know any families with a child - turning 5 on or before 31 July 2027, they are eligible to enrol. We have enrolment availability for 2027, which means enrolments are open to families living both within the Winston Heights PS catchment area and those living outside the catchment zone.

To enrol, please visit the enrolments section of our school website at https://winstonhts-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/about-us/enrol. Enrolments can be completed online. If you need assistance, our office staff are available to help with the process or answer any questions. Please contact them on 9624 7485.

We will be holding our next school tour on Thursday 17 September. If you would like to join the tour, please contact the school office on 9624 7485 to book your spot.

Kindergarten Orientation will be held in October, and we encourage all 2027 Kindergarten students and their families to participate. Children must be enrolled to attend the Orientation sessions. Participating in the Orientation sessions will greatly assist in ensuring a smooth transition to primary school.

1H - Miss Maguire, who teaches 1H on Thursdays and Fridays, is on leave for this term and will return early in Term 4. During her absence, Miss Nicola Di Bernardo (Miss D) will be teaching 1H on Thursdays and Fridays. Miss D is loving teaching with our Year 1 students and supporting their learning. We wish Miss Maguire all the best during her travel and can’t wait to welcome her back in Term 4.

2G - Mrs Gardner has begun her maternity leave and we are thrilled to share the happy news that she welcomed a healthy baby boy, Matthias, on Thursday 13 August. Mum, dad and bub are all doing well, and we wish them so much joy as they share newborn cuddles and this special family time together. During Mrs Gardner’s leave, Mr Ethan Gaffney will teach 2G from Monday to Thursday this term and full-time in Term 4. Mrs Kayla Lahoud will be teaching 2G every Friday during Term 3. Both Mr Gaffney and Mrs Lahoud are excited to be working with students in 2G.

6B - Mrs Bello is on leave, so Mrs Dyan Sim will now be teaching students in 6B every Tuesday to Friday for the rest of the year. On Mondays, Miss Nicola Di Bernardo (Miss D) will teach 6B. Both Mrs Sim and Miss D are enjoying teaching students in 6B and looking forward to the exciting end of year events planned for our Year 6 students.

Studio - This term’s studio lessons will be taught by Miss D, Mrs Yang and Mrs Oryzak, all familiar faces who are excited to inspire creativity and learning. Our students are in caring hands, and we thank families for their support during these transitions.

We’re excited to share some fantastic AI-generated images of our new school uniform! A big thank you to our dedicated Uniform Shop coordinator, Lindal, and the P&C executive for their hard work liaising with the uniform supplier to place orders for the new stock, which we hope will arrive early in 2027. As we phase in the new uniform over the next three years, please remember that students can wear either the current uniform or the new one - giving everyone plenty of time to transition comfortably.

We have noticed an increasing number of students arriving at school before the 8:30am bell, with some arriving well before 8:00am. We understand that many families have work commitments and busy morning schedules, and we appreciate your efforts in balancing these responsibilities. However, teachers are rostered on playground duty from 8:30am, which is 30 minutes before the official 9:00am start of classes. This schedule follows the Department of Education guidelines and the NSW teaching award, which specify that teachers are not required to be on duty before this time.

Students who arrive before 8:30am are not supervised by school staff. Families are still responsible for the care and supervision of their children prior to 8:30am, and students should not arrive before this time. For the safety, care, wellbeing, and supervision of all students, we respectfully request that children arrive between 8:30am and 8:55am. Arriving within this window ensures students are supervised, able to play, participate in morning announcements, and begin their day in a calm and structured way.

If you need to drop your child off earlier than 8:30am, please contact CubbyOOSH, our onsite before-school care provider, who offers supervision and engaging activities for early arrivals.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we work together to keep our school a safe, happy, and supportive environment for every student.

Hello again, everyone!

It’s Waleed and Bryant, and we’re excited to share all the great things that have happened so far in Term 3.

This year, the drama group had an awesome time at the LIGHTS UP DRAMA FESTIVAL. It’s a special event where schools from all over NSW come to Chatswood to show off their drama skills. WHPS did an amazing job! They also performed at our school assembly, and it was incredible. Big thanks to Mrs Bryant for guiding them so well!

During week 3, on a Wednesday, we had our school Open Day. Students, parents, carers and visitors came together to explore the school. We showed them our learning spaces, and there were lots of fun things to see and do. These included performances by the junior and senior bands, the de-coding challenge, and cool maths activities in the classrooms. My personal favourite was the art exhibition, where we got to display everything from Year 6 vision boards to Kindy paintings. Another highlight was the video the Winston Heights staff made with the help of some awesome Stage 3 students. We also enjoyed having morning tea on the lawn with our parents and carers, which was a big hit. At recess, students played their favourite games with their parents or carers, making the day even more special. This all really shows how much we love and care about our school!

Book Week was another exciting time! WHPS held its annual Book Parade, and students from Kindergarten to Year 6 dressed up as their favourite book characters. There were costumes of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Batman, Willy Wonka, Grug, Turtwig, Buzz Lightyear, Hei Hei, and many more! We even brought books to match our costumes. Everyone had a lot of fun marching around the 3-6 COLA with parents and friends. There were also fun activities like a letter hunt and a book cover competition with both digital and hand-drawn entries. All the designs were fantastic and really stood out. This year’s Book Week theme was ‘Symphony of Stories,’ and it was celebrated beautifully.

During Bullying No Way Week, from August 17 to 21, we learned a lot about bullying. Every day, we watched a video that explained the three types of bullying: when someone has more power than another, repeated unkind actions, and intentional harm or negativity. Students in Years 3-6 also took part in webinars to better understand bullying and how to respond. We learned the importance of being an upstander—not just a bystander—and standing up for what is right.

That’s all for now! Thanks for reading, and we’re looking forward to the rest of Term 3!

—Bryant and Waleed on behalf of your school leaders

After a full day of learning, concentrating, managing friendships and navigating lots of social moments, children can be really tired when they get home.

So if “How was your day?” gets you “Fine” or “I don’t know”, don’t take it personally! They may simply need some time to switch off, have a snack, play or relax before they’re ready to talk.

Give them some time, then get curious!

Rather than asking for a full report, try something specific:

• “What was something you were really good at today?”

• “If you could do one part of today every day, what would you choose?”

Try to avoid leading questions such as “Did you find the maths work difficult?” or “Was X unkind to you again today?” These can unintentionally draw attention towards problems or suggest that you expect something negative to have happened. Instead, keep it open:

• “What did you think of maths today?”

• “How did things go with your friends today?”

This gives your child space to share the good, the tricky and the ordinary. If they share something difficult, try listening before judging or jumping in to solve it. Try:

• “Thanks for telling me”

• “That sounds tough”

• “Do you want me to listen or help you work it out?”

Give your child a little “mission” in the morning before school. The idea is to give them something to notice during the day, then use it as an easy conversation starter when they get home. Each morning, ask the same question:

“Today’s mission is to notice something ________. Can you remember it and tell me about it when you get home?”

Just change the topic each day - here are a few examples to get you started:

• “Something funny.”

• “Something kind.”

• “Something silly.”

• “Something you felt proud of.”

Then, when they get home:

“So, did you notice anything funny today?”

After a few goes, let your child choose the morning mission themselves. It gives them something positive to look out for and a natural starting point for connecting after school.

The goal isn’t to get a full report of their day. It’s to show your child:

“I’m interested in your world, I’m here when you’re ready to talk, and you can tell me about the good stuff and the tricky stuff.”

Parents and carers can (and should!) join in too. Sharing something about your own day makes it a conversation, not an interrogation.

Enrolments are now open for Kindergarten 2027.

To enrol, please go to our website and click the enrol link:

https://winstonhts-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/about-us/enrol

• K-2 Fun Day -NEW DATE permission due 1/9/26
• Year 4 Zoo Snooz:

1. instalment (food component) due 4/9/26 ($42.50)

Mrs Leverton, Mrs Calvar, Miss Griffin

*** Dates advertised below for school events and activities are subject to change ***

August 2026

Mon 24 - CHPSSA Zone Athletics Carnival

Wed 26 - Hills Performing Arts Festival

Thu 27 - P&C Fathers Day Stall

Thu 27 - Years 3-6 Assembly

Fri 28 - PSSA

Mon 31 - Stage 3 Canberra Camp

Mon 31 - P&C meeting

September 2026

Tues 1 - Wed 2 - Stage 3 Canberra Camp

Thu 3 - Donuts with Dad

Thu 3 - K-2 Assembly

Fri 4 - PSSA

Tue 8 - K-2 Fun Day - New Date

Tue 8 - Muirfield Band Day

Thu 10 - 3-6 Assembly

Fri 11 - Sport & group photos

Mon 14 - Bands Evening Concert

Thu 17 - School Tour (3.30pm-4.15pm)

Thu 17 - K-2 Assembly

Tue 22 - PBL Assembly at 2pm

Wed 23 - Thu 24 - Year 4 Zoo Snooz Camp

Thu 24 - Syd West Athletics Carnival

Fri 25 - P&C mufti day

Fri 25 - Term 3 end

October 2026

Mon 12 - Staff Development Day

Tue 13 - Students return for Term 4

Fri 16 - PSSA

Thu 22 - Year 3-6 assembly

Fri 23 - Kindy 2027 Orientation

Fri 23 - P&C Mango Box Fundraiser Orders Close

Fri 23 - PSSA

Mon 26 - P&C meeting

Thu 29 - K-2 Assembly

Fri 30 - Kindy 2027 Orientation

November 2026

Mon 2 - Band Concert for Year 3-6 students

Thu 5 - Years 3-6 assembly

Fri 6 - Kindy 2027 Orientation

Fri 6 - PSSA

Tue 10 - Kindy 2027 Story Time

Thu 12 - K-2 Assembly

Thu 19 - 3-6 Assembly

Thu 26 - K-2 Assembly

Fri 27 - Year 6 Mini Fete

December 2026

Tue 1 - Year 6 High School Orientation Day (Public Schools)

Thu 3 - PBL Assembly

Mon 7 - Presentation Assemblies

Fri 11 - Class Party and Mufti Day

Tue 15 - Christmas Concert

Thu 17 - Term 4 end

Term 3 - Tuesday 21 July 2026 to Friday 25 September 2026

Monday 20 July 2026 - Staff Development Date

Term 4 - Tuesday 13 October 2026 to Thursday 17 December 2026

Monday 12 October 2026 - Staff Development Date

***Please note: The dates are determined by the department. Parents and carers should not send their children to school on school development days.

• Term 1 – Thursday 28 January to Friday 9 April
• Thu 28 January 2027 - Tue 2 February 2027 - Staff Development Days Term 1
• Autumn school holidays –Monday 12 April to Friday 23 April
• Term 2 – Tuesday 27 April to Friday 2 July
• Tues 27 & Wed 28 April - Staff Development Days Term 2
• Winter school holidays – Monday 5 July to Friday 16 July
• Term 3 – Monday 19 July to Friday 24 September
• Mon 19 July - Staff Development Day
• Spring school holidays – Monday 27 September to Friday 8 October
• Term 4 – Monday 11 October to Monday 20 December
• Monday 11 October - Staff Development Day
• Summer school holidays – Tuesday 21 December to Friday 28 January 2028

***Please note: The dates are determined by the department. Parents and carers should not send their children to school on school development days.

Winston Heights Public School P&C Association is on Facebook. Our aim is to provide WHPS parents and carers with information about P&C news, events, meetings etc.

Follow us here

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