Head of Preparatory School - Edition 2 - 2021

Chinese New Year

Recently Ms Le, Ms Lampard and Ms Zhou organised a celebratory activity at lunch time in the Prep School. Senior School Chinese students came across and conducted some fun craft activities for the students. Drumming helped set the mood and dancing dragons were also present. As an added bonus the children were able to purchase fortune cookies, sweets, spring rolls and dumplings. This was all in the name of celebrating Chinese New Year as we head into the Year of the Ox.

Camp Schedule

Students from Years 3 to 6 will have the opportunity to attend a year level camp at some stage this year. In 2020 COVID intervened to call a halt to most of these. The schedule for this year sees our Year 6 students heading to the National Capital on the week of Monday 15 March. Our other three year level camps are all scheduled for Term 3. Year 4 go to Mylor from Wednesday 8 to Friday 10 September, Year 5 travel to the Fleurieu Peninsula from Tuesday 14 to Friday 17 September and the Year 3 classes go to Aldinga from Wednesday 22 to Friday 24 September. The camps have an educational base and relate directly to areas of the curriculum that are covered in the year level. There are many other benefits too. These camps are a wonderful opportunity to develop long lasting social connections, as well as enhancing the independence of students who need to develop skills such as getting that sleeping bag back into the cover and even doing dishes.

Welcome to our youngest students

We are delighted to welcome the following students who have joined our Early Learning Centre this term:

Alison Yan, Amelia (Milly) Wang, Armaan Bangarh, August Trinh, Caesar Zhang, Charlie Schreuder, Charlotte Ruan, Chelsea Woo, Chengyi Zhu, Elden Lavan, Eleanor Chan, Elijana Jovanovic, Evie Paget, Freya Williams-Johnk, George Xu, Georgia Reilly, Harper Yan, Heidi Woolcock, Jadon Tai, Jaimee KC-Laverick, Jiyaan Desai, Jonas Huang, Josiah Tai, Lachie Hobbs, Lewis Coffey, Lucas Perez, Marlow Lange, Mollie Brook, Nivaan Singh, Owen Patritti, Parker Gane, Peter Raven, Rayson Kalra, Rielly Le Cornu, Riley Towers, Sebastian Warren, Sho Muto, Sienna Ferri Freitas, Stefan Nguyen, Stijn Naisbitt, Zara Papacharissiou.

School Musical ‘School of Rock’

The cast and crew are working hard to put on a fabulous show at the end of March. You may have seen their preview song (If Only You Would Listen) in last week’s 60th Anniversary Assembly (you can still see it through the facebook link if you didn’t).

Tickets for ‘School of Rock’ will shortly go on sale, leading to the first big theatre community audience in some time. Consequently, we’re sharing additional information before bookings open to ensure we can enjoy the performances within current COVID-19 guidelines:

• There are three performances scheduled - Monday 29, Tuesday 30 and Wednesday 31 March (there will also be an in-school morning matinee in the week prior for students in Junior and Middle Primary – more on this to follow).

• One of these evening performances (to be confirmed) will be reserved for students with staff also in attendance. This allows us to maximise the seating as it will be consistent with what is allowed for a School Assembly. We anticipate that this would suit students not requiring parental supervision from Years 5 to 12 but it is up to each family to make their own decision/booking around this and arrangements for drop-off and pick-up.
• The other two nights will be reserved for families to attend and for each of these nights, the numbered seating will be sold in chequerboard style (ie alternate seats in each available row). This allows us a maximum of just over 300 set-seating tickets for each performance.
• We ask that families select one night only to attend in the first instance so that everyone gets a chance to see the show. From 9.00 am on the day of the two nominated community performances, any unsold seats can then be purchased by families who would like to see it more than once.
• You may decide you want to see the show as a family so parents can book for their children as well, even if your child attended the ‘students only’ night.
• When you book, you will be assigned set alternate seats. On the night, families living under the same roof can close up the gap/s, as long as at least one seat is left either side between your family and the next group.
• Where you are sitting will determine which Murray Centre entry door you should access.. The doors to be used will include the foyer doors and side doors of the Murray Centre – this is to avoid overcrowding in the foyer. On the night, there will be signs and people on hand to assist.
• We ask that in the theatre you move promptly to your seat rather than stand in the side aisles to chat (as much as we know how much we all like to do this!).
• The Friends of Music team is drawing up a COVID-compliant plan to safely serve refreshments during interval.
• Pricing (adult, student and family group) and performance times will be advised when the bookings open.
• At this time, wearing of masks in the theatre is not essential as we are not exceeding 50% capacity but it is your choice – if health directives change around this, we will let you know.

Of course, if any ticket-holding member of your group is not well, we ask respectfully that they do not attend.

Thank you for your understanding and we expect the Trybooking link to open before the end of February – you will be advised in due course.

SchoolStar Sports Communication

Communicating game details before and after competition will again start taking place through our SchoolStar app. Many parents should already be familiar with this app from previous years, however if you are new to Westminster, you can find information on how to download and use the app in the document below.Team Managers and Sports Staff will push out notifications of game details and results via the app, and parents have the option to opt-in to notifications about their child's teams.If you’re ever unclear about what’s happening in your child’s sporting team, you can contact the Sports Department via T: 08 8276 0276.

Swimming Squad

We have assembled our first swimming squad for the year who will be representing us at the SAPSASA District Championships on Thursday 18 February. This is an opportunity to see how our School fares against all others in the district and for those that do well it also serves as a selection trial for the District team that will contest the State Championships. Our squad is as follows.

Caleb Dyer (Year 4 Crown) - 10 years boys - 50m Freestyle
Leo Mather (Year 4 Wyvern) - 10 years boys - 50m Backstroke and Butterfly
Margaret Gough (Year 4 Crown) - 10 years girls - 50m Freestyle and Butterfly
Georgia Davison (Year 4 Wesley) - 10 years girls – 50m Freestyle
Liam Evans (Year 4 Charter) - 10 years boys - 50m Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly
Riley Harris (Year 5 Abbey) - 10 years girls – 50m Backstroke
Lakshay Madankumar (Year 5 Wyvern) - 11 years boys – 50m Breaststroke and Butterfly
Eden Moriarty (Year 5 Charter) - 10 years girls - 50m Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly
Curtis Broadbridge (Year 5 Crown) - 10 years boys – 50m Freestyle and Breaststroke
Sophia Hallam (Year 5 Wesley) - 11 years girls - 50m Freestyle, Backstroke and Butterfly
Aiden Williams (Year 5 Abbey) - 11 years boys - 50m Freestyle, Backstroke and Butterfly
Jessica Jongejan (Year 5 Crown) - 11 years girls – 50m Freestyle, Breaststroke and Butterfly
Jed Papst (Year 6 Wesley) - Open 100m Freestyle, 12 years boys – 50m Breaststroke
Ella Lunn (Year 6 Wesley) - 11 years girls – 50m Freestyle, Backstroke and Breaststroke
Oliver Maynard (Year 6 Charter) - 12 years boys – 50m Freestyle, Backstroke and Butterfly
Jordan Tucker (Year 6 Wyvern) - 11 years boys – 50m Freestyle, Backstroke and Breaststroke
Kate Cao (Year 6 Abbey) - Open 100m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke
Sophie Gordon (Year 6 Mace) - 12 years girls – 50m Backstroke
Thomas Evans (Year 6 Charter) - 12 year boys – 50m Breaststroke
Quinn Hammersley (Year 7 Dunstan) - 13 years boys – 50m Freestyle, Backstroke and Butterfly
Maggie Taplin (Year 7 Jeffries) - 13 years girls – 50m Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly
Charlie Burns (Year 7 Carter) - 13 years girls – 50m Freestyle, Breaststroke and Butterfly
Tilda Lamprell (Year 7 Dunstan) - Open 100m Freestyle, 13 years girls – 50m Backstroke
Gerard McGinley (Year 7 Heaslip) - 12 years boys – 50m Freestyle, Backstroke and Butterfly
Astin Rouvray (Year 7 Kelly) - 13 years boys – 50m Breaststroke
Hudson Hersey (Year 7 Heaslip) - Open 100m Freestyle, 13 years boys – 50m Breaststroke and Butterfly
Poppy Doyle (Year 7 Jeffries) - 12 years girls – 50m Freestyle, Breaststroke and Butterfly
Talulah Kovacic (Year 7 Forder) - 12 years girls – 50m Freestyle, Breaststroke and Butterfly

Tennis Success

One of our Year 6 students has been quietly going about making a name for himself on the metropolitan and country tennis circuit, entering a number of tournaments and doing very well. Aryan Kohli (Year 6 Wesley) has participated in several tournaments and since September 2020 has won singles or doubles events on many occasions. He has won junior tournaments at Glenelg, Reade Park, Woodville, Millswood, Clare and Berri. He is playing in Division 2 for his club and so far is undefeated in singles for the season, so will move to Division 1 for the Winter season. Aryan has started playing Under 12 tournaments while still 10 years of age, which will stand him in good stead in the long run.

His persistence and hours on the court is paying dividends and I imagine the shelf in his bedroom is becoming heavily decorated with trophies!

COVID Precautions

COVID-19 restrictions are still in place within schools and as of Monday 1 February, we have had a COVID SAFE Check-in QR code at Westminster, beginning with the most accessed areas. All adults (parents, visitors and staff) must check into the School by using the QR code or the manual sign-in template if leaving their cars or entering school buildings.

It is vital to note that the COVID SAFE Check-in is being used by SA Health to keep records of where people have been and all data is being treated in accordance with the Data Protection Act. The QR code does not replace the normal sign-in process for visitors - this has to be completed, as well as checking in.

Diary Dates

• Adelaide Cup Day Public Holiday - Monday 8 March
  
• Resilience Project: Parent Webinar - Wednesday 10 March
• JP Sports Day - Friday 12 March
• Parent/Teacher Interviews - Week 8, commencing Monday 15 March
• Year 6 Camp (Canberra) - Monday 15 to Friday 19 March
• WestFest Community Event - Sunday 21 March, commencing at 4.00 pm
• Year 3-6 Field Events - Tuesday 23 March
• Year 3-6 Sports Day - Wednesday 24 March
• Tenebrae Service - Sunday 28 March
• End of Term 1 - Thursday 1 April, finishing at 1.00 pm

Grant Bock
Head of Preparatory School