4 November 2025

As I am sure many of you are aware Mr Fisher will be continuing in a relieving Director’s role until the end of the year, which means I have the privilege of fulfilling the relieving principal role at Woonona Public School until the end of the year. I look forward to a busy but exciting end to the school year! Mrs McLerie will be relieving in my substantive Deputy Principal role, a role she has fulfilled successfully many times.

I can assure you that a smooth handover has occurred between Mr Fisher, Mrs McLerie and myself to ensure a consistent and successful end to the year.

Term 4 has started off extremely busy, it’s hard to believe that we are only beginning Week 4, with all that we have already achieved!

We had our very first Kindergarten Orientation Session on Tuesday 21 October, followed by a Playgroup Session on Thursday 30 October. Both of these sessions were a great success, and it was exciting to meet our new cohort of little learners. Our second Kindergarten Orientation session was held today, with many students already looking the part in their school uniforms. There will be another Kindy Playgroup session next Thursday 13 November.

Stage 3 students and staff set off to Narrabeen Sport and Recreational Camp last Wednesday 22 October, returning on Friday 24 October. What a wonderful experience it was for all and special thanks to Ms Phillips and her trusty team of teachers who made the camp such a success and memorable experience for all. Please see report further on.

Stage 1 students enjoyed all things ‘old school’ during their History Day on Friday 24 Oct. Ironically a lot of those ‘old school’ activities they got to enjoy, like playing marbles, were activities many of us enjoyed during our own school years, making us all feel a little older than we would like! Thanks to Mr Loosemoore and his team for providing such a fun filled day for our students.

Mr Heffernan and Mrs Bleeker took several groups of Stage 2 and Stage 3 students away to represent our school in the NSW Primary school Oz Tag Gala Day. All teams enjoyed great success, with many very close results. Special mention to the Senior Girls who came away as South Coast champions. Please see a more detailed report later in the newsletter.

Our Year 5 students got to experience a wonderful ‘Discovery Day’ over at Woonona High School last Wednesday 29 October. These days provide an invaluable experience for our students and also showcase what great things our local high school is doing.

Last Wednesday 29 October was our first P&C meeting for the term, and what a productive meeting it was. The P&C have some great things on the horizon and are already enthusiastically planning exciting events for 2026!

Last Monday 27 October saw our eager little swimmers head off to Corrimal pool. It is amazing to see the progress and successful acquisition of swimming skills gained within a 2 week period. Thanks to Mr Loosemore for organising this extremely valuable experience for our students. Swim Scheme will conclude this Friday.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of the dedicated teachers that we are so fortunate to have here at Woonona Public School. It was World Teachers’ Day on Friday 31 October, providing a wonderful opportunity to recognise and celebrate the important role all of our teachers play in the lives of not only our students but their families as well.

Week 4 is already in full swing and the Book Fair has begun! This week provides an opportunity for all students to view the Book Fair and next week is when students will be provided with the opportunity to purchase from the fair. Special thanks to Mrs Carroll for organising this wonderful event for our school community, a highlight for many of our avid readers!

At Woonona Public School we not only value and foster current teachers and leaders in the profession but also those aspiring and developing. As a result of this, there will be several University of Wollongong practicum students onsite up until 21 November. We are proud to play an integral role in the development of our future educators.

This Wednesday 12 November will see Aunty May work with our Aboriginal students again on a wonderful piece of shell artwork. It is looking absolutely fantastic and I can’t wait to share some photos of it in the coming weeks.

This Thursday 6 November will see all Stage 2 students engage in a Hawks Basketball clinic, something I know many of our students have been eagerly anticipating.

Year 6 have another exciting fundraiser on the radar, which will benefit all students K-6! They will be holding a disco this Thursday 6 November. Information about this event has already been sent out.

Once again all Stage 2 & 3 students will be heading off to Hollymount Park this Friday 7 November to participate in an all Dragon Tag Gala Day. This will be the last Gala Day for the year. Please remember that all students need to wear a hat, drink plenty of water and to reapply their sunscreen during the day.

And lastly, the most anticipated event of the year; Grandparents Day! We are celebrating this day next Friday 14 November. Last year it was easily the busiest day on our school grounds and really highlighted what a wonderful school community we have. Communication and further details about this event has already been sent out last week.

As you can see, at Woonona Public School we offer and provide a diverse range of experiences for our students and families that extends far beyond the day to day learning inside the classrooms. We are so fortunate to have such dedicated staff who are always willing to plan, organise and attend such a wide range of activities.

Woonona sure is a great place to belong!

Ms Alison Strinic

Relieving Principal

The Scholastic Book Fair has arrived. This is a great fund-raising opportunity for the library as Scholastic will give us 30% of all sales made to purchase books. We are holding the Book Fair over a 2-week time period, and all viewing and purchases will occur in your child’s usual library lesson. This week library lessons have been allocated for viewing the books available for purchase and writing wish lists and next week library lessons will be for book purchases.

Instructions on Book Fair procedures went out on Sentral Parent Portal and included a digital copy of the book and price lists for parents to use to help with purchasing. Please see book list below.

Next week in class library lessons students will need to bring in their money for book purchases. Both cash and online payments will be available. Parents can decide what they would like to purchase, pay by credit card online and note receipt number on the wish list or return wish list with cash payment in an envelope. Students will need to bring these completed wish lists to school in next week on their library day to pay for purchases and then will bring new books home. Reorders will be placed on out-of-stock books and will be delivered to school within 1-2 weeks. If a child forgets their order form and money they can purchase the next day in the morning before school, at recess or lunchtime.

Thank you for supporting our Book Fair.

Happy reading,

Mrs Carroll

Librarian

Week 5 Purchasing Days:

Monday 10 November - 5-6B, 5-6H, 5-6T, 2B, 2C, 2L, 3-4C

Tuesday 11 November - 5-6A, 5-6P, 5-6L, KB, KS, 3-4N, 3-4A

Wednesday 12 November - 1B, 1F, 1L, K-1G, 3-4B, 3-4S

This year's Narrabean School Camp was an absolute blast! We did water and land activities. On water we did raft building, stand up paddle boarding and my personal favourite kayaking; these were all challenging in their own way. For example, raft building was hard because it was difficult listening to others' ideas and not taking over. Kayaking was challenging due to the fact you had to use your arms a lot and you were sitting for ages but it was enjoyable. Stand up paddle boarding, it was difficult to stand up for me. My favourite land activity was archery. We did two types of archery. One was where we shot at each other playing archery tag and the other was real archery. We did that in the team challenge. We also had a trivia night and a games night, completed fire building, human foosball, had amazing cabins and ate yummy, delicious food. It was a wonderful last primary school camp.

By Aurora

Narrabean Camp 2025 was one of the funnest times of my life. I liked everyone in my cabin and loved stand up paddle boarding. Kayaking was really hard and gave my arms a workout. Raft building was also really challenging. Archery tag was really hard at the start but then it got easier and more fun. Archery tag was all about getting people out. The food on camp was good and breakfast was definitely my favourite. Initiatives was fun and you really had to speak and use teamwork. The team challenge at the end was great because my team WON! Narrabean Camp 2025 was AWESOME!

By Vann

My highlights at Narrabean Camp were stand up paddle boarding with our classes, the food and the Narrabean Olympics. For the Olympics we had challenges to earn points. Some games we did for that were boiling water in a self made fire, making sand sculptures and archery skills. Being my first camp, I really enjoyed it and it will probably be one of my best memories of my primary school career.

By Mila

Camp was sooo fun! At camp we did heaps of things such as SUPs, stand up paddle boarding, archery tag, ate yummy food and slept in cabins. They were all individually amazing but SUPs was my favourite because I could go by myself and I could go fast and be in control on my own. It was so much fun.

By Charlie

Last Tuesday, two Stage 2 teams and two Stage 3 teams represented Woonona Public School at the NSW South Coast Oz Tag Gala Day. Every player demonstrated outstanding teamwork, competitive spirit, and sportsmanship, showcasing the highest level of skill.

Impressively, all four teams made it through to the semifinals -an exceptional achievement that reflects the depth of talent in our school’s Oz Tag players. Both the senior girls' and junior girls’ teams progressed to the finals. In a thrilling match, the junior girls finished with a 1–1 draw but were awarded the silver medal due to the opposition scoring first.
After placing second for the past two years, the senior girls were thrilled to claim the gold medal this year.

A huge congratulations

to all players for an outstanding day of competition. Each student should feel incredibly proud of their efforts and achievements.

Junior Boys - Riley, Lachlan, Monty, Parker P, Archie, Noah, Logan, Harry, Parker, Jimi, Jett and Maverick

Junior Girls - Lotti, Ivy, Jessie, Frankie, Layla, Milla, Poppy, Zara, Immy, Koa, Chloe and Isobel.

Senior Boys - Jed, Hudson P, Thomas, Kai, Hudson H, Reg, Hendrix, Tiago, Patrick, James, Lennox and Cohen

Senior Girls - Rheon, Harper, Annabelle, Sophie, Kaida, Heidi, Remi, Isla, Poppie, Logan, Alyra and Tayla

Mrs Bleeker and Mr Heffernan

For news the students made some instruments and this is the result.

For Year 5 2025 students

Woonona High School is proud to be a local school catering to the needs of all students. We

are particularly proud of the outstanding academic success that our students achieve through

targeted and ongoing High Potential and Gifted Education programs and their transition into a

range of tertiary pathways.

Woonona High School is a vibrant and innovative, proudly comprehensive and inclusive high

school that offers values based education with strong community partnerships. Student

success is driven by excellence in teaching and learning delivered by world class educators in

a safe and supportive learning environment. Our students are confident, creative individuals

who enrich our local and global community.

Academic excellence is framed around explicit teaching ‘value add’, improving each student’s

achievement. In the 2024 HSC, Woonona High School was ranked the #1 comprehensive

school in the Illawarra for average HSC marks, demonstrating that all students achieved

highly.

The Woonona High School HPGE experience will suit students who are seeking to access

HPGE specialist programs in their local high school. The social and emotional benefits of

attending one’s local school have been evidenced in rigorous research as have the peer effect

benefit of participating in learning with students with similar interests and abilities. Further,

students attending their local school are also able to experience independence earlier due to

being in the same locale as their peers.

HPGE students who are planning to attend Woonona High School are invited to

strengthen their transition by participating in a HPGE experience at the school. Whilst

your child may have high potential in one particular domain, this program will cover all

four domains: intellectual, creative, socio-emotional and physical. The program runs

fortnightly on Wednesdays.

Applications for Year 6 2026 students close:

Outcome announced:

Fri 14 Nov 2025

Fri 5 Dec 2025

Students in the Year 6 program will be automatically offered a place in the Year 7

Enrichment class. Places in this class in Years 8-10 will be by annual application.

2. RISE scholarship

Year 7 2027 students are invited to apply for a RISE scholarship, awarded to students

who demonstrate our school values of Respect, Integrity, Success and Excellence.

The scholarship is worth $1000 and will cover

two sets of school uniform

one set of PE uniform

Year 7 excursions

Year 8 camp

The criteria for selection are centred around how each student has demonstrated our

values to date, and how they aspire to continue to do so through high school.

Students who are interested in applying for this scholarship are invited to submit their

hand written application in person or by email to woonona-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Year 7 2027 scholarships applications due: Fri 14 Nov 2025

Notification of invitation to interview: Mon 17 Nov 2025

Interviews held: Tues 25 Nov 2025 9-11am

Outcome announced: Fri 5 Dec 2025

3. Personalised Tour and Conversation with the Principal

Ms David has experience teaching in selective, independent, catholic, girls and boys

schools and, as a current PhD candidate in School Choice, is well placed to have an

informed conversation with you about options for your child at a time convenient to you.

4. Open Night Monday 16 March 2026 4.00-5.30pm

See our school in action and talk to our students as you make your way around our

learning spaces. Talk to past students currently studying at university about their

experiences of high academic success at Woonona High School.

Looking forward to conversations with you as we support your

children through the transition to high school.

Ms Caroline David

Principal

SLHD are running free Transition to High School webinars for parents and carers of children in year 5 and 6. This is in partnership with The Wayahead – Mental Health Association of NSW and Northern Sydney LHD.

3 Options are available:

Wednesday 22nd October, 7:15-8:30pm

Thursday 6th November 12-1:15pm

Thursday 6th November 7:15-8:30pm

This session aims to support families in preparing for a smooth and confident start to high school. The webinar will cover topics including how anxiety develops, the cycle of anxiety, adolescence-specific challenges, and practical strategies to support your child. The session also includes helpful resources and a Q&A to address your questions directly.

The session will not be recorded.

Join UOW for this exciting webinar opportunity to learn from parent & education experts about enhancing and supporting your child's transition to high school ahead. Whether you're a parent or carer of a child in Year 6, or generally just interested in children's transition to high school and UOW opportunities on the horizon, this is not to be missed!

• How? Online via Zoom
• When? Monday, 10 November, 2025, 7pm -8 pm
• Register: UOW Year 6 Parent & Carer Webinar Registration Link

Topics explored will include;

• Adapting to change and new routines & environments
• Making new friends and maintaining old friendships
• Coping with peer pressure, risk taking
• Managing time and demands of new study and increase in expectations of high school
• Taking ‘good risks’ in learning
• UOW high school programs on the horizon
• Understanding university opportunities into the future

Register via the link provided here: UOW Year 6 Parent & Carer Webinar Registration Link

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.

Please be aware that there are students in our school with allergies to nuts. We ask that you give consideration to voluntarily agreeing not to send nut products, in particular peanuts and peanut butter to school.