26 Jun 2023
Term 2 at Westport Campus has been a fantastic demonstration of student achievement and staff expertise as we end our term celebrating success on every level.
A recent highlight included seeing the sculptural tree our talented students produced for ArtWalk, on June 9th. Students across the Hastings Valley Public Schools (HVPS) worked with our expert staff to portray bush and beach scenes on plastic bottles that formed the branches of several illuminated trees that were on display. The artwork formed a striking talking piece about recycling and reducing our waste that continues to impact our natural environment. The trees were displayed in the Glasshouse forecourt and featured in many promotional photos and videos of the very popular local event. Thank you to our amazing students and dedicated staff members Jessica Wilkinson, Leon Ruhl, Leanne Jeffery and Kate Naylor for supporting our students with your time, knowledge, skills and inspiration.
It was a sold-out evening at DanceFest again this year, and an absolute delight to see our campus take the stage for three performances! Westport Campus head teacher, Benita Seymour, supported our dance students in performances, Beauty From Within and Read All About It, while Aboriginal dance expert Stevie D led the choreography with our Deadly Dancers. All our students who performed shone on stage and reported back that, while they may have been a little bit nervous, the experience was one that they will remember forever. Thank you to Ms Seymour, Amy Schwarze, Shelby and Leilan Granger, Stevie D and our new campus Aboriginal Education Officer, Kristy Daley for all of their support and guidance for our students.
There have been multiple students selected to represent our Campus at regional and state levels in various sports this term, and we are very excited to celebrate the success and achievements of our U13, U15 and U19 Futsal teams who have recently attended the Northern NSW Futsal Champion of Champions event. Our table tennis representatives, Jayden McBain and Beckham Williams have also made it through to the State CHS Table Tennis finals in Sydney for the 8th time in a row! The finals will be taking place as this newsletter is published, and we thank our P&C for supporting these students to represent our Campus at this level. Thank you to Westport Campus staff member and Futsal coach, Andrew Crutcher, and Port Macquarie Campus PDHPE teacher and table tennis coach Lyndsay Neilson, for supporting our students to achieve such success.
I’d like to recognise and congratulate staff member Clare Leach for making it through to the Top 50 in Australia for the Commonwealth Bank Teaching Awards. Clare is an exceptional teacher and was nominated for her tireless dedication to the success of our Food Technology and Hospitality students. We are extremely lucky to have her on our teaching team and wish her the very best for the next round of shortlisting.
Our Campus has been involved in a School Climate Survey this week. This is conducted by School Infrastructure NSW to better understand how students, parents/carers and school staff experience their school. Thank you to all the students, parents and teachers who have already completed this survey. This will provide us, and the NSW Department of Education, with valuable information and data that will drive future change to the way we deliver education at Westport Campus. Our students deserve excellence, and we are committed to working with Schools Infrastructure NSW to review and act on the feedback we are provided.
Please note that our school canteen will be undergoing a complete refurbishment in Term 4. Our P&C has been dedicated and committed to running our canteen, and we thank Ngaire Sandry who has been at the helm of canteen operations. Ngaire is a well-loved Westport Campus supporter, who is taking a break from canteen operations as we move towards the refurbishment and business tender process. In the meantime, we will continue to provide our students with recess and lunch options, but these may change slightly over the coming months. We will advertise these changes to both students and parents when they come into effect. Please reach out to our P&C, or email our Campus if you may be available to support our canteen operations in Term 3.
It was great to see our students embrace our fundraiser, Pyjama Day, which could have easily been retitled “Oodie Day”, and perfect timing as the cooler weather sets in. I donned my best flannelette PJs, and supported the fundraiser for our Year 12 graduating class. Thank you for sending your child with their gold coin donation to support our students.
The last day of Term 2 is this Friday, June 30th when students will be provided with their Mid Year Reports to bring home. Those that aren’t collected will be sent home in early Term 3. The first day back in Term 3 for students is Tuesday, July 18th. Early next term we celebrate NAIDOC week with many exciting events scheduled.
We look forward to seeing our students refreshed and ready for Term 3, particularly our HSC students who will be using their time these holidays studying and working on practical aspects of their HSC courses. I wish all our students, staff and families a safe, happy and relaxing break.
Karen Noble,
Relieving Principal
Westport Campus