Dear Families,

It has been a busy and productive time at Charles Weston School as teachers prepare student reports, which will be sent home in Week 10. We are also in the final stages of preparation for our school musical, Porridge. We’re excited to share this special performance with you on Thursday, 3 July at 9:30am in the school hall. Families are warmly invited to attend and celebrate the students' hard work and creativity.

Staffing Update

At the end of this term, our valued Building Services Officer (BSO), Paul Dean, will be retiring. We are incredibly grateful for Paul's contributions to our school and wish him all the very best in his retirement.

Following a successful recruitment process, we are pleased to announce that John Cleary has been appointed as our new BSO. John brings experience in facilities management and construction, and we look forward to welcoming him to our team. John will begin with us on Monday, 24 June, to allow time for a thorough handover with Paul.

We are also delighted to announce that Jemma O’Brien has been appointed as Deputy Principal following our recent recruitment process. Jemma brings over 10 years of leadership experience in the International Baccalaureate (IB), including six years as a PYP Coordinator. She also has a strong background in early childhood education and a deep commitment to cultural integrity.

Jemma will officially join us on the first day of Term 3. I am sure you will join me in warmly welcoming her to the Charles Weston School community.

Student-Led Conferences

We look forward to connecting with families during Week 1 of Term 3 for our Student-Led Conferences. These conferences provide students with an opportunity to reflect on their learning from Semester One, share what they are proud of, and set goals for the term ahead.

We strongly encourage all families to attend. This is a valuable time to understand your child’s learning progress, ask questions about how to support learning at home, and gain insights into their approaches to learning—including research, thinking, communication, self-management, and social skills.

You will receive an email shortly with details about how to book your conference time.

Pupil Free Day – Term 3

A friendly reminder that Monday, 21 July, the first day of Term 3, is a pupil-free day across the ACT. This provides teachers with dedicated time for planning and professional learning.

Wishing you and your family a safe and relaxing school holiday. I look forward to seeing you after the break.

Warm regards,
Laurel

School Calendar - Weeks 9 & 10

Upcoming Events

Week 9

Friday 27 June - Preschool Learning Journey (PTKL & PTRP)

Friday 27 June - P&C Winter Disco

Week 10

Tuesday 1 July to Friday 4 July - NAIDOC Week

Tuesday 2 July - Dance Nation Dress Rehersal

Thursday 3 July - School Musical - "Porridge" the Musical (Years 4-5) 

Thursday 3 July - Dance Nation Performance

Friday 4 July - End of Term 2

Term 3 

July 21 – Pupil-Free Day (ACT-wide)

July 22–25 – Student-Led Conferences

July 24 – ILP Review Meetings

July 29 or July 31 – Preschool Birrigai Excursion

July 30 – PYP Choir Day

July 31 – Year 6 Fair

July 31 – Year 2 Gruffalo Excursion

July 31 – 3:15pm – Year 6 PYP Exhibition Information Session

August 1 – 9:15am – Whole School Assembly, hosted by Year 3

End of semester celebration

As the semester nears its completion, it is time to celebrate the Unit of Inquiry learning that has been happening across our school.

As mentioned in previous IB updates, Learning Walls are an integral part of the PYP and student learning.

The pictures below are examples of Inquiry specific Learning Walls from across the cohorts this semester.

Keep a look out when visiting your children's classrooms for these examples of student learning and the PYP.

YEAR 4

Assembly and Learning Journey

Earlier this term, we hosted our first assembly for the year, followed by our Learning Journey for this semester. Our assembly focussed on our narrative writing and text study focus from our Unit of Inquiry, Where We Are in Place and Time. The text we were focussing our learning on was ‘The Rabbit’s’, which was an historical reflection of the arrival of the First Fleet and the impact on the First Nations people.

Literacy

We have been focussing on writing narratives. We have been learning about the structure and importance of using detailed and specific vocabulary to enhance the level of our writing. Following this, we have been using the Approach to Learning (ATL) skill - research, to research historical events and characters from the arrival of British settlement and writing historical narratives from the perspective of; a First Nations person, a convict, a Naval officer or one of the ship's captains.

We have continued to focus on addition, subtraction and applying strategies to solve word problems. An example of the strategies being used has been the vertical algorithm. This strategy supports the checking of accuracy of answers and can be used in both addition and subtraction.

YEAR 6