Anti bullying day at West Spreydon School.

I have decided that I love the pink and navy so much we can have it as our new uniform colour. The boys can wear Aqua and navy.
We have talked to the children about what bullying can look like, and more importantly how friends can do bullies out of a job. Good friends look after their mates so that bullies don't get a chance to bully. Our children heard again how important it is to tell an adult or get help if someone is being bullied. The worst thing we can do is stand by and let a bully get away with being a bully.
Our staff, some parents and children wore pink to show that we mean business when it comes to stopping bullying.

School Cross Country

Our youngest member of the school community; Baby Autumn.

It was party time at school on Monday morning. The organisation was superb; thanks Rochelle.
You can't teach teachers how to have a good time and how to make the event a celebration for everyone. The WSS teachers just do it. If only I could take credit for it.
The children tried so hard to compete and to win. We were looking for winners and not just happy participants. Our goal is to identify the talents and strengths of every child in this school and to ensure that we nurture and challenge those abilities.
Thank you to all of the staff who planned, assisted, supported and made this such a wonderful school event.

A helping hand

Not everyone loves cross country. Aaaaah.

The big kids encourage and help

Natalie The EveryReady Bunny gets the children warmed up.

ABCD Term 2 Character and Collaboration

How do you develop grit, tenacity, perseverance  and resilience in children? It's not a spray on application or a one shot does the lot. We  have thought very hard about how children learn. We know that if they are just left to play that they will do the same old same old and rarely tackle a new challenge. Sometimes children don't know that there are other ways to do things either. At our school, the teachers think ahead and imagine and plan for opportunities for children to learn things that they never knew before. They are collaborative and open to their own challenges.
Our children face problem solving challenges in each area of the choices they are given.
ABCD is not free play. It is an opportunity for children to choose their activities and to meet the challenges that have been designed for them and then set better ones for themselves. It's about adventure, creativity and striving for higher achievement.
Our teachers sweat a little over ABCD time as they have to provide extension at every turn. It used to be so easy in the good old days.
I'm so thrilled with the ways in which our teachers plan for adventure and discovery so our children get to experience a sense of excitement and wonder. Some children need help from the grown ups, to be able to take risks and possibly fail. So be it. No one said learning was easy.
It's great to see excitement on our children's faces when they do something a bit risky and new.
Our teachers collaborate to ensure that the children get the very best education. 

ICT Extension Challenge

The challenge was to create a vehicle and to programme it, using coding, to get it to make a sound. The boys had one hour to meet the challenge and I was a doubter. What would I know?
I was very pleased with the ways in which they collaborated by sharing ideas, taking turns to lead and making decisions.
Well done Tony and Jared for providing the challenges and for coaching the boys through the task.