News

Coronavirus - Department of Education statement

Tue, 28 Jan 2020 20:22:29 AEDT

The department is working with the Ministry of Health to monitor and respond to the unfolding international novel coronavirus situation.

Get up-to-date information about the department's response to novel coronavirus.

2019 school budget allocations

Mon, 12 Nov 2018 16:27:13 AEDT

Like all NSW public schools, this week we will receive a School Budget Allocation Report with our funding for 2019. The report will help us manage our total budget delivered through the Resource Allocation Model (RAM).

The RAM supports schools through needs-based funding to ensure a fair, efficient and transparent allocation of funds. Our school has the flexibility to make local decisions based on the specific needs of our students.

We will use our 2019 funding to support students and improve educational outcomes. The school executive will continue to work with the school community as we implement the school plan using this needs-based funding.

Learn more about the 2019 RAM funding.

ANZAC Day Service

Wed, 30 May 2018 12:40:05 AEST

On Monday 1st April, Wakefield School held an ANZAC Day service commemorating our fallen soldiers. We were fortunate enough to have Ron Mitcherson from the Toronto RSL sub-branch as our guest speaker.

On Monday 1st April Wakefield School held an ANZAC Day service commemorating our fallen soldiers. We were fortunate to have Mr Ron Mitcherson from the Toronto RSL Sub Branch as our guest speaker and a visit from the Australian Armed Forces Re-enactment Heritage Unit.

Harmony Day

Wed, 10 Oct 2018 11:49:13 AEDT

Privacy Online

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:41:53 AEST

Protecting the privacy of personal information is increasingly important at a time when we are sharing more details about ourselves online than ever before.

While interacting online can be great for kids, it makes them more vulnerable.

To help reduce the risk of cyberbullying, unwanted attention or breaches of their privacy, you can:

encourage them to keep their usernames and passwords safe and not share them with anyone
take them through the privacy settings of sites they join to ensure they are careful about what information they share and with whom
educate them about the risks involved in sharing personal information online
discuss the long-term effects of their online behaviour, such as how potential employers may view their online profile
remind them to think before they post photos or other information online, because once it's out there it's hard to control wehat happens to it

A new privacy guide has been launched by the information and Privacy Commission of NSW, which features tips and resources to help protect privacy online.

New Maths Monkey's Quest Game

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:41:53 AEST

School A to Z has just released an exciting, new maths game app, taking kid-friendly learning to the next level.

Maths Monkey Quest was created by the NSW Department of Education and Communities and designed for kids from Year 3 to Year 8.

This new release engages children (and adults) with addition, subtraction, ratios,and percentages, as new levels and strengthen their mathematical skills.

At each level the Maths Monkey enters a new world of mathematical challenges, starting at the jungle level (aimed at Years 3 & 4 students) and working up through:

Beach (Years 5 to 6)
City (years 7 and 8)
Outback (Years 7 adn 8 - more advanced).

Kids can track their personal best scores on the leader board - and challenge their friends and family player profiles.

The Maths Monkey's Quest is presented by School A to Z, which provide lots of practical help for parents of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and now Pinterest.

Don't forget helpful podcasts for parents are available for download through iTunes.

Managing your Childs Weight

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:41:53 AEST

Your family is the best influence for showing your child how to manage their weight.

That's the advice of the childhood obesity experts for keeping a child's weight down.

Dr Shirley Alexander, specialist in child obesity at The Children's Hospital Westmead, says: "Try and get the whole family to develop healthier lifestyle habits and through that, hopefully get some weight-loss in the children".

The most recent official figures suggest as many as one in four school aged children fits into the category of mildly overweight to obese.

A growing problem

Paying attention to what and how children eat is the first step towards parents and carers being able to manage their children's weight.

Changes in our eating habits over many years have dramatically affected our calorie intake. Up to one-third of children's intake today can be what Shirley calls wasted calories.

These tend to be calories in high-energy foods like chips, sweete and sweet drinks, and should only be eaten as treats.

"They're empty calories. They don't provide anything else. They don't provide any vitamins or minerals or any other useful nutrition," says Shirley.

Read the full article on School A to Z.

Reading with confidence

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:41:53 AEST

You may have already heard of 'Pause, Prompt, Praise' or the 'Three Ps' as the strategy is sometimes called.

These catchy words describe a simple technique that, used well, will help your child practise their reading and develop their reading confidence.

The principle of pausiong, then prompting and then praising in handy to remember any time your child is reading aloud to you.

Teachers and trained tutors often used a more structured version, but following tips can help you to try out Threes P's when reading with your child at home.

It's best used when your child is rading and gets stuck on words that they can't read or are new to them.

When your child comes across words that are difficult for them to read, the Three P's technique lets them have another go, self correct and , if needed, find out (be told) what the problem word is.

Important things to remember about the Three P's

The goal of reading is to understand (make sense) of what is read, so always keep this in mind when you are prompting and praising your child.
Try to ensure that you are relaxed, interested and supportive, which will help your child feel OK when they make mistakes or just can't work out a word and need to be told what it is.
At home this technique will work best when your child is reading something that is well-matched to their reading level, that is, where your child can easily read most of the words in the text and only stumbles on occasional words.
Before reading, make sure both of you are comfortable and can clearly see what is being read.

Read the full article on the School A to Z website.

Taking a Stand against Bullying

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:41:53 AEST

A new website and mobile app have been launched to help paents and students address bullying.The Bullying, No Way!website includes interactive applications, including a choose-your-own-adventure for students to learn how to deal with bullying, and videos for parents and students.

The site also includes information on:

helping your child if they are being bullied
identifying the signs that your child might be bullying others
getting help and support

The Website and the Take a Stand Together mobile app were launched to coincide with the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence.

The focus of the day was on recognising the important role parents, families and school communities play in the drive to stop bullying and violence.

Other resources

New videos about bullying-dealing with what it is, what to look for and how to help your child-are available on the NSW Public Schools website.

You can also visit the School A to Z website to find out what cyberbullying is and get ideas on how to safely guide your child's online experiences.

Homework help newsletter

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:41:53 AEST

You can now easily subscribe to updates from the award-winning website for parents, School A to Z.

Each term you'll receive newsletters with the latese information to help you manage your child's homework and study, health, development and technology use.

Schoo A to Z has been created by parents at the education department to answer the common questions and challenges we all face as we support our kids growing up.

This months newsletter ioncludes:

a series of videos to help you when bullying becomes an issue for your child.
tips for getting the most out of your parent-teacher interviews.

Since being launched in August in 2011, School A to Z has received more than 280,000 unique visitors to the website and more than three million page views.

The frees School A to Z mobile a pp, which features the popular Spelling Bee and Maths Monkey games for kids has been downloaded by more than 125,244 users in Australia and overseas - and was showcased asone of the best apps and games for 2011 in Apple Australias App StoreRewind 2011.

You can also ask questions and suggest ideas for more articles, assignment starters, videos and podcasts through the website, or on Facebook.