Head of Preparatory School - Edition 17 - 2021

Welcome to Westminster

In the past week or so we have welcomed two new families into the Preparatory School, just in time for them to get acquainted with their peers and the routines of the school prior to the frantic final term really getting into full swing. Sophia Trethowan (Year 4 Abbey), River Trethowan (Year 1 Abbey) and Samuel Bellgrove (Year 1 Wyvern) have made a fine start in their new classes – even joining in the swimming and aquatic lessons that always make the start of Term 4 all that more logistically challenging.

They all did swimmingly

Our daily trips across to the swimming pool culminated with the House Swimming Carnival for all students in Years 3 to 6. Unfortunately, COVID restrictions meant we were unable to have parents in attendance. While that did mean parents were unable to see some very impressive performances in the pool, it also meant that the students were able to spread out a little more in the available space on the pool deck. Another bonus with the new arrangement was that the hearing of our parent community wasn’t impacted as the demonstrations of House spirit from the students was very loud indeed!

As is usually the case, even though they have been having daily lessons for two weeks, some students are challenged by the thought of swimming competitively. Thankfully they engage in the House spirit and do their best.

On the flip side, we have many extremely capable students who are more than comfortable in the pool. There were some outstanding performances as the children were challenged in the strokes of butterfly, breaststroke, freestyle and backstroke. The relay races were a highlight and the individual medley really showed the crowd which students spend a great deal of their time training in the pool.

The outstanding swimmers were recipients of medals as outlined below:

At the end of the carnival when the points were tallied up, Charter was the victorious House for the second year in succession finishing marginally ahead of Wesley, then Abbey, Wyvern, Crown and Mace.

Maths Success

Recently we had students from across the Prep School compete in the Australian Maths Competition (AMC). The aims of the Competition are to highlight the importance of mathematics as a curriculum subject and to provide resources for the classroom and general discussion. The AMC is one of the largest competitions of its kind in the world. Congratulations to the following students on their fantastic results.

Best in School – Katherine Ma (Year 4 Mace)

Year 3

High Distinction

Aarav Seshadri (Charter)

Distinction

Krish Grover (Charter)
William Gordon (Mace)
Jack Smith (Mace)
Sim Xu (Crown)

Year 4

Prize

Katherine Ma (Mace)

High Distinction

Tina Tian (Mace)
Piotrek Kowalczyk (Crown)

Distinction

Scarlett Swalling (Wesley)
Jonny Tsambazis (Abbey)
Margaret Gough (Crown)
Rudra Simpi (Abbey)
William Martin (Wesley)

Year 5

High Distinction

Chelsea Ireland (Crown)

Distinction

Lakshay Madankumar (Wyvern)
Harry Judd (Wesley)
Aiden Williams (Abbey)

Year 6

Distinction

Benjamin Gomez (Wyvern)
Joshua Judd (Abbey)
Annie Wang (Charter)
Jed Papst (Wesley)
Neil Anand (Wyvern)
Harry Panton (Crown)

Traffic

A reminder for all parents and visitors to Westminster to please be mindful of parking and traffic arrangements along Alison Avenue and in the surrounding streets. The City of Marion has recently been patrolling along Alison Avenue at drop-off and pick-up times to ensure vehicles are not being inappropriately parked, according to the signage in force, so please ensure you are familiar with where you are allowed to stop and park.

Prep School Office - Enquiries and Absentees

For any general enquiries, please contact the Prep School Office via email PSO@westminster.sa.edu.au or by phone on T: 08 8276 0219.

To advise the Prep Office of an absentee or a late arrival, please use the Prep School voicemail line which is T: 08 8276 0255. This line is available 24 hours and is checked every morning.

Christmas Closure Dates

While it seems a long way off, some families may be planning for their Christmas vacation (probably somewhere local). To assist with these ponderings, I can confirm that at a recent meeting it was decided that while the school year concludes at 1.00 pm on Wednesday 9 December and returns on Monday 31 January, dates vary a little for our Early Learning Centre and Vacation Care services. ELC and Vacation Care dates are as follows:

• ELC - final day on Friday 10 December – commences again Monday 17 January 2022.
• Vacation Care - final day on Friday 17 December – commences again Monday 10 January 2022.

Diary Dates

• Year 6 Camp – Monday 8 November
• 2022 Reception Orientation visits – Thursday 11 and Thursday 18 November
• Visiting Author, Andrew McDonough – Thursday 18 November
• JP Celebration Lunch – Thursday 2 December
• Westminster Nativity Performance – Thursday 2 December, 6.00 pm, MMC
• Westminster Carols Night – Thursday 2 December, 7.30 pm, Thomas Pavilion
• Preparatory School Orientation Day – Friday 3 December
• ELC Graduation – Friday 3 December
• Certificate Ceremony – Tuesday 7 December, 2.00 pm
• End of Term 4 – Wednesday 8 December, 1.00 pm
• Code Camp (School Holidays) - Monday 13 to Wednesday 15 December

Grant Bock
Head of Preparatory School