Thank you for the great attendance at our PLP (Personalised Learning Plans) Meetings and Meet the Teacher conferences on Wednesday. The school set Strategic Directions for the next three years, in 2015, and part of those directions were for students to set goals for themselves, to achieve over a twelve month period. I really hope you have talked with your child, and their teacher, about their goals, to gain some insight in to what your child wants to achieve. Research is telling us that student self-regulation and self-direction are 21st Century Learning Skills that our students will benefit from in the future.

National Young Leaders Day On Monday, I had the pleasure of taking our 4 school leaders, Paul Jimenez, Erika Whalan, Ky Haggarty and Lydia McNaughton, to the National Young Leaders Day. It was held at Allphones Arena at Sydney Olympic Park, with over 6 000 Year 5 & 6 students and teachers attending from across NSW. Our school leaders heard from a range of engaging and inspiring leaders, who all had very clear messages and insights about what good leaders do. Speakers included the NSW Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione and Ben Austin, a Paralympian Swimmer, whom our leaders found particularly inspiring! It was a fabulous experience for our school leaders and one I hope they reflect on for many years to come! Mrs Burton

Easter Hat Parade

I would like to remind you that our annual Easter Hat Parade is only three weeks away, as the Easter long weekend quickly creeps up on us. The Easter Hat Parade will be held in our school hall, from 10am, on Thursday, 24th March. Students will be able to design a hat, mask or poster to bring along to the parade, to celebrate Easter. Look out for the note coming home with your child, explaining the designing and making process. The P&C will also be drawing the Easter Raffle on this day. The P&C are now asking for donations of Easter Eggs, to be used for the raffle. A note went home this week, asking for donations.

Music Bus Program

Our Music Bus program will begin operating next Wednesday. Hopefully, parents who expressed interest have been contacted about their child participating in the program. Lessons will run from approximately 1pm to 5:30pm every Wednesday, down near the hall. If your child has a lesson outside of school hours, the Music Bus will be able to be accessed from the Hall gate.

4th March 2016

D A T E S F O R T H E D I A R Y

Mon 7th March Swimming Program

Tues 8th March P&C AGM

Fri 11th March School Photo Day

Mon 14th March Swimming Program

Fri 18th March Assembly

Mon 21st March Harmony Day Swimming Program

Thurs 24th March Easter Hat Parade

Partners In Learning 7th Mar 4/5B 14th Mar 5/6L 21st Mar 5/6P 4th Apr Stage 1 Numeracy workshop

Canteen Roster Mon 7th March Pam Webb Kelly James Deanne McTegg

Wed 9th March Kelly James Sheryle Farley Kellie Harris Fri 11th March Pam Webb Donna Dryden Volunteers needed

T E R M 1 W E E K 6

N E W S L E T T E R - T E R M 1 W E E K 6

Opal Cards

If your child has an Opal card for bus travel, please ensure their card is working and activated, as some students who are using the bus, have inactive or faulty cards. You are required to phone Transport NSW on 131500 to request a new card. Please ask your children if their card is not working, as from 14th March, students who do not have an active card, will not be allowed to travel.

Harmony Day Information

I would like to apologise for publishing the wrong information in last week’s newsletter, in relation to Harmony Day. A keen eye would’ve noticed that the information published was from 2015. Harmony Day is on Monday, 21st March. The school will not be holding a special assembly, due to the Easter Hat Parade being organised on the Thursday of the same week, 24th March. Children will not be asked to dress in orange, as this is a Sports Day and full school uniform will be worn. During Harmony Day, teachers will be teaching lessons and creating works of art, related to the theme of Harmony Day 2016, which is “Our diversity is our strength”.

Permanent Teacher Position

The school is in the process of filling a classroom teacher position permanently, to replace the teaching position that Miss Perry vacated to take up the role of Assistant Principal. The Selection Panel consists of Mrs Kerri Ross (P&C Representative), Mrs Sharon Wendt (Teacher Representative), Miss Kayla Perry (AECG nominated representative) and I. Applications will be shortlisted on Monday, 7th March. An announcement about class re-structures will be made to the community as soon as this position is filled.

P&C News The P&C Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday, 8th March, from 6pm, in the school staff room. All executive positions and sub-committee positions will be declared vacant at the meeting and elections will be held during the meeting. Proxy nominations will be accepted; however, proxy votes will not be accepted. The monthly P&C Meeting will be held immediately following the AGM.

The P&C are asking for volunteers to come forward to express their interest in opening the canteen, and volunteering for work, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Currently, our canteen is operating with enough volunteers for Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and we would again like to gauge how much volunteer time we have available in the community, to support opening on five days. Please register your interest on Skoolbag, through the e-forms section, or register your interest at either the canteen or front office. The canteen no longer sell cola or orange jucies.

PBL Awards for This Week

Be Safe Eve O

Be Respectful Bailey S

Be an Active Learner Rosaleigh S

Best Class Attendance K1W– 2/3M

N E W S L E T T E R - T E R M 1 W E E K 6

NRL League Tag Gala Day

Mr Burley will be taking a group of students to the Basin Sportsground next Tuesday, to participate in an NRL League Tag Gala Day, for boys and girls. Students will play in mixed teams, in a round robin of games throughout the day. Permission notes have been handed out to those students who expressed an interested in going.

High School Forms - Year 6 Expression of interest forms for enrolment in high school will be sent home with year 6 students next week. Could parents please complete the forms and return them to the office before the 18th of March.

Great Aussie Bush Camp An expression of interest form was sent home last week for children in grades 3-6. If your child is interested in attending the camp please complete form and return to the office.

Fruit & Veg Workshop 16th March 2016 Due to parent interest at the Kindergarten Orientation last year, a workshop has been organised for all parents to attend. A flyer was sent home last week. Please read the information below. If you would like to attend, please return the slip at the bottom of the flyer to the office by Friday, 11th March.

Photo Day School Photos will be held on Friday 11th March. All students need to be in full school uniform. Photo envelopes were sent home earlier this week and will need to be returned on the day of the photos, not before. If you would like a family photo envelope, they are available from the office.

Premiers Reading Challenge

This year, once again, we have enrolled in the Premier’s Reading Challenge, that begins on the 7th March. This is a statewide program to encourage quality reading. Children choose from a list of books and are encouraged to read these books by the 26th August 2016. Students in Years 3-6, need to read a minimum of 20 books of which at least 15 must be chosen from specially selected Premier’s Reading Challenge booklists. Students in Year K-2 must experience 30 books. If your child is successful he/she will receive a certificate from the Premier acknowledging their achievement. This is a great way to encourage reading and we are hopeful of your support in encouraging your child to take part and read these books. This year forms will be sent home with Primary students and children are responsible for keeping a record of the books they have read. Children can also log onto the Premier’s Reading Challenge website and record their reading log online. Infants’ children will experience most of the 30 books in the classroom as part of their class reading program, but, they may also borrow books to read or have read to them at home. Children who complete the Challenge will have their names published on a PRC certificate and appear in the PRC Honour Roll in the newspaper in November so if you don’t want your child’s name published in the newspaper please let me know. Children will be able to borrow books from the list during Library lessons at school. Kurri Kurri Library may also be of assistance. You can find more information about the Challenge and the reading lists at: www.schools.nsw.edu.au/premiersreadingchallenge

Eco Explorers Week 6 Braydon T 4/5B, Patrick B 4/5B, Ben R 2G, Ethan R 2/3M.

Last day of Term 4

N E W S L E T T E R - T E R M 1 W E E K 6

Assembly Awards Congratulations to the following students who received an award at this week’s assembly.

Principal’s Awards: Zane C K1W, Georgia R 4/5B.

Library Awards: Nathan R 4/5B, Peata H KH.

Citizenship Awards: Blake M 5/6L, Annabelle H 2/3M.

Class Achievement Awards: Charlie T KH, Harry E KH, Marli H K/1W, Deegan M K/1W, Phoenix C 1K, Lila C 1K, Jasper N 2G, Jade L 2G, Jacob A 2/3M, Cooper M 2/3M, Rhys Z 3/4A, Ronnie C 3/4A, Tahlea F 3/4K, Cody S 3/4K, Georgia R 4/5B, Conner A 4/5B, Max S 5/6L, Lilly H 5/6L, Aidan S 5/6P, Hannah H 5/6P.

Certificate of Merit:: Zane W 5/6P, Tyler V 3/4K, Kyra W 3/4A, Mia W 2/3M, Braydon Q 2G, Lacey S 2G, Emmy C 2G, Nataya G K1W.

Harmony Day

Shaun Graham - Principal

Easter Hat Parade

Last day of term