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Never a dull moment

One of the many joys of working in a school setting is that each and every day is different. While I have a mental picture of what the day ahead might bring – rarely does it pan out exactly as I imagined. What I expect to take place during the day rarely does. The unexpected usually intervenes to add an element of surprise to the day. As the saying goes, ‘Variety is the spice of life’ – and the variety that 1100 children aged 3 to 18 years of age provides certainly adds to the vibrancy of Westminster School.

Recently we have had the opening of the Inquiry and Innovation Hub, the Whole School Photograph, an Open Day and some very heavy downpours of rain all adding to the richness of the Westminster Experience.

We have also welcomed two new faces into our midst. Mihana (Minnie) Sakuma-Doering (Year 2 Wesley) has returned to us after relocating to experience life in Japan for 10 months.

Also arriving at Westminster from abroad we welcome Ben Adams (Year 5 Wyvern) who along with his sister and parents have made the move from the United Kingdom to sunny SA. We hope that the Adams family really enjoy the lifestyle that Adelaide and the Westminster community will provide.

Library News

Last week was ‘Library and Information Week’. The Library was an extremely busy place during lunchtimes with some engaging activities. With the theme of ‘Adventures in Space and Time’, the week started with students making some flying rockets. To add to the fun of the week and highlight the work done in all libraries there was also an emphasis on ‘the many hats of the librarian’. Like being a teacher or parent, librarians wear many hats and have many different roles to fulfil. Throughout the week library staff wore a variety of hats to reinforce these roles and add a touch more fun. More lunchtime activities included providing students with the opportunity to make their own party and pirate hat.

A highlight of the week was Wednesday when some classes participated in the National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS). This year was extra special with the chosen book, Philip Bunting’s ‘Give me some Space!’ being read by an actual astronaut in space. Particularly enjoying this story were the Reception students who created their own rocket and Year 2 students who are currently learning about push-and-pull forces including gravity. The NSS is often considered more age-appropriate for Junior Primary aged children, but with its space theme this year the story was a useful text to support the Year 5s current ‘space’ Science unit. Students are learning about the movement of the moon around the Earth and the Earth around the Sun. Listening to the story as a year group also acted as a discussion opportunity prior to their excursion to the “Mission to Mars” program at Hamilton Secondary School and their incursion based on the planetary system and our place in space.

Overall, the week was another way to promote the diversity and importance of libraries. Our school libraries are here for academic purposes and to help patrons to gain more information, but also to allow students to engage with others or simply have some ‘space and time’ to themselves.

Julia Baldwin
Haslam Library

It Brings a Smile

During recent STRETCH lessons, some of our extension literacy students looked at the Guardian’s Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards in class.

Their task was to write a caption for the two photos below. Mrs Madex was looking for creativity and humour.

Here are some of their creative captions:

Getting home after a seven-hour flight! - Hamish Kolb (Year 6 Wyvern)

Bear got stuck while doing yoga. The lion is telling the cub that she shouldn’t have eaten all that sugar because now she has a sugar rush. - Lucija Maogoto (Year 3 Mace)

Bear thinking – I’m not a polar bear! Someone help me! I’m so cold, I’m going to be frozen! - Emma Qiu (Year 3 Wesley)

Whole School Photo

Monday 24 May was a perfect day to take a massive photo of students and staff from ELC to Year 12. For safety reasons, the photo was taken in sections and stitched together to make the impressive, large photo you will receive as a laminated poster or board-mounted picture.

If you haven’t yet ordered your copy, you can still do so through this link: www.trybooking.com/BRGLA.

Normal price is $69.50 for this photo but if you place your order by COB Monday 31 May, you will receive the special 60^th Anniversary Year price of $49.50.

Westminster Shop and Qkr! App

As of Tuesday 1 June, the Qkr! app, currently used for canteen ordering, can be used to order your uniform requirements through the Westminster (Uniform) Shop.

If you are familiar with the Qkr! app, you will see on access that it has been extended to allow you to place a uniform order and pay for it.

When an order is placed:

orders for Preparatory School students will be delivered to their classroom
orders for Senior School students will need to be collected from the West Shop
same-day delivery will be possible if an order is placed by 9.30 am on a school day (this information is also on the app)

Additionally:

all School bus tickets can be purchased on the app
all uniform items can be purchased through the app, including co-curricular sport, supporter merchandise, stationery and hair accessories.

The West Shop staff, led by Sue Weber, will be pleased to assist you should you have any queries in regards to using Qkr! for uniform purchases (see Westminster Shop article for contact details and Shop hours).

If you are unfamiliar with how to install Qkr! on your device, please download the Qkr! easy set-up guide below.

Qkr Guide (PDF / 1.05 MB)

Cross Country Runners off to State Day

In the last edition, we mentioned the fact that Westminster students excelled at the District selection trials and that our School dominated proceedings. As a result of their efforts, a number of our students have now been selected to represent the South West District Team at the State Championships on Thursday 10 June 2021 at Oakbank Racecourse.

Congratulations to Emmerson Warren (Year 4 Wesley), Georgia Davison (Year 4 Wesley), Eric Tie (Year 4 Charter), Chelsea Ireland (Year 5 Charter), Jed Petroff (Year 5 Crown), Charlie Kittel (Year 5 Abbey), Jordan Tucker (Year 6 Wyvern), Isabelle Sincock (Year 6 Wesley), Sophie Hutchins (Year 6 Crown), Adelle Parkinson-Need (Year 7 Fereday), Anna Goad (Year 7 Carter), and Archie Rawson (Year 7 Kelly).

Holiday Opportunity – Code Camp

While the end of term seems a long way off, it is time to again consider activities to keep the children engaged during the break. Code Camp Winter camp will be up and running again at Westminster. These holidays we’ll be running:

Spark: Monday 12 to Wednesday 14 July
YouTube Creators: Monday 12 to Wednesday 14 July

The camps are now available to book via www.codecamp.com.au/westminster with an Early Bird sale running until midnight Wednesday 9 June. See below for booking information and a code for the $25 discount so feel free to take advantage of this discount.

Diary Dates

Year 5 StarLab Incursion - Friday 28 May
Whole School Open Day - Friday 28 May
Dance All Sorts Concert - Thursday 3 June, 7.30 pm
Year 7 2022 Parent session - Tuesday 8 June
Queen's Birthday Public Holiday - Monday 14 June
Sing, Sing, Sing Concert - Wednesday 16 June
Westminster Giving Day - Thursday 17 June
ELC Graduation - Friday 18 June
Battle of the Rock Bands - Wednesday 23 June, 6.00 pm
End of Term 2 - 1.00 pm dismissal, Friday 25 June
Code Camp - Monday 12 to Wednesday 14 June
Term 3 Commences - Tuesday 20 July

Grant Bock
Head of Preparatory School

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