Head of Preparatory School - Edition 5 - 2022

Sporting Prowess and Camaraderie were the Highlights

Recently the students from Years 3 to 6 had the opportunity to demonstrate their athletic prowess during the Prep School Sports Days. It was a wonderful occasion with many parents able to come along and enjoy the sunshine while watching the children compete in friendly interhouse rivalry

The weather was absolutely perfect, and the ground staff had once again, excelled by preparing an oval that was immaculate.

Staff, students and parents alike thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to get out and compete to the best of their ability.

One parent commented

The children of Westminster were so supportive regardless of what team they were in. The atmosphere was truly amazing.

Another said

The Prep School Staff are to be congratulated for organising such an outstanding day.

For me, the standout was the camaraderie amongst the kids and the good humour and warmth of the teachers, which never exists in a vacuum. It is surely the manifestation of the culture in the Prep School.

One highlight of the day for me is seeing the cross-age support that occurs quite naturally.

Obviously, while all present enjoyed the day, some children really excelled in their athletic pursuits. Georgia Davison (Year 5 Wesley) was simply outstanding setting four new records set as far back as 2014. We had nine new records set which was an outstanding result and bodes well for District Athletics Day which will be held in Term 3.

New Sports Day Records

Results from all individual events were collated and this enabled us to determine the athletic champions from each age group. Gold, silver and bronze medals were presented at the end of the day.

2022 Sports Day Age Group Champions

At the end of the day, all points from team events and individual pursuits are collated and an overall House Champion was announced. Following Wesley’s success in 2021, this year it was Wyvern's turn to experience Athletic success.

Wow!

Thank you everyone for all the donated shoes! There are now a lot of shoes being recycled instead of heading to landfill.

Thank you to those School Leaders that collected shoes from classrooms, your help was much appreciated.

Also, a big thank you to Oscar (Charter), Sophie (Charter) and Curtis (Crown), our Prep School Service Leaders and Environmental Leader. They collected many shoes from classrooms and helped Miss Sears and I to count and box up all of the shoes which was a mammoth task.

We started with this ...

And finished with this ...

And, how many shoes did we collect?

Well, our closest guess from a student was from Harry Judd (Year 6 Wesley) who guessed 1,359 shoes. However, our very best guess was from a staff member, Mrs Barr, who guessed 1,264 shoes.

Our grand total was 1282 shoes!

We have also received confirmation that our wonderful families donated more shoes than any other school in SA.

Again, thank you so much for all of your support, a great Westminster team effort.

Change to Final Day of Term

As communicated by Principal Simon Shepherd by email yesterday, Term 1 will now finish on Wednesday 13 April, rather than at lunchtime on Thursday. The Wednesday will run as normal to the end of the day and will include any scheduled co-curricular activities unless specifically advised differently. The ELC and OSHC will also operate as a normal day on Wednesday and will now begin their holiday programs on Thursday, resuming these after Easter on Tuesday 19 April.

New Forder Centre – a Cashless Venue for Dining, Canteen and Café

As from Term 2, the new Forder Centre will be home to the School Dining Hall, Senior School canteen and community café.

These new facilities will operate as cashless in line with the School’s response to COVID, and that of other educational settings and many retail outlets, to avoid unnecessary handling of cash.

Currently, nearly 90% of transactions through the Senior School canteen are cashless.

All Senior School students will need to have at least a debit card to pay for their purchases in these new facilities (a separate system will apply to Boarding student meals).

The WestShop will also follow suit to become fully cashless, but the Preparatory School canteen will continue to operate with cash as an option.

Amendment to Policy - Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy

The School has recently made changes to our Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy. You can view the policy in full on our Governance & Policies page on our website.

Swimmers Do Well

At the recent district trials, we sent several children to seek qualification for the SAPSASA South West Swimming Team. Students were provided with this opportunity based on their swimming times over 50m in their preferred strokes submitted to Mr Weatherald.

Congratulations to the following students who were selected to represent the District at the State Metropolitan Championships on Monday 9 May.

Niels Koeper (Year 5 Mace)
Alexandra Heneker (Year 5 Charter)
Charlie Kittel (Year 6 Abbey)
Sophia Hallam (Year 6 Wesley)
Stefaniia Levchenko (Year 5 Mace)

Figure Skating Prowess

I am constantly amazed and delighted by the achievements of Westminster students in all sorts of spheres.

Penny He (Year 6 Wesley) was recognised as the most improved figure skater for 2021 by her skating club. Over the past four years, Penny has made considerable sacrifices for this challenging sport and the reward is very much deserved.

Addison He (Reception Wesley) won first place in the Club Artistic Competition in her division. Addison has learnt skating from four years of age and shows no fear when on the ice.

Both girls are showing admirable resilience in their efforts but most importantly are enjoying their Figure Skating.

Code Camp

As school holidays approach, students wanting to attend Code Camp at Westminster should look to book a place as places are limited and booking up fast. More information can be found in the flyer below or at www.codecamp.com.au/westminster.

Diary Dates

• End of Term 1 – Wednesday 13 April finishing at 3.30 pm
  
• Code Camp – Tuesday 26 to Thursday 28 April
• New Forder Centre Opening for Students - Tuesday 3 May
• Kidz Biz Education Parents Evening - Wednesday 4 May
  
• Year 4 Excursion - Thursday 5 May
• Cross Country (Years 4 to 6) - Friday 6 May

Grant Bock
Head of Preparatory School