the chalkboard - warners bay public school · the chalkboard term 1 week 8 2016 . 2 advertisers...

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The Newsletter from Warners Bay Public School Email: [email protected] Phone: 49488129

Twitter: @WarnersBayPS

K-6 Whole School Newsletter Event Class Activity Date Cost Note Note Home Due Date

UNSW Assessment Tests 2-6 Varied Various Y 7th March 24th March

Book Club K-6 March Varied Y 11th March 21st March

Life Education Yr 3-6 14th – 16th March $10 Y 29th February 4th March

Chess Challenge Yr 3-6 Friday 18th March $13 Y 29th February 9th March

Please Note: No Payment will be accepted after the due date unless prior arrangements are made with the office.

**If you have not received a note for any activity, these are available from the office or the school website.

All notes and money must be returned to the office chute in an envelope with your child’s name, class and activity.

Thought of the Week: 10 ways to improve your reading… Read, read, read, read, read, read,

read, read, read, read.

Principal’s Report

School Communication

In any large organisation, frequently communication is raised as an issue for improvement. As always, our school is

always striving to improve our communication flow between the school and parents/ carers / community.

For the Warners Bay Public School community, there are many ways this occurs, including:

Newsletters – these are every fortnight, via email or in hard copy, depending on family preference and are

our major source of information and communication. Please take the time to read these carefully.

School notes which come home – again, via email or in hard copy, depending on family preference.

The school website – has news items on the front page. This is a great site to check regularly. The

newsletter and school notes are also uploaded on to the website.

The School App – This is one of our most effective ways of communicating with our school community

immediately. Please enable push notifications on your phone to allow us to alert you via instant messaging.

School Facebook account – This is a new initiative we are trialling to send out information, good news and

reminders. If you are a regular user of Facebook, please like our

page so that we know we are reaching our target audience. This is

our Official School page.

Email – All parents are welcome to email the school directly with

their concerns – This account is regularly monitored and all emails

are forwarded to the appropriate person. If you would like to

communicate directly with your child’s teacher, please add their

name in the subject line. Please understand that teachers will respond, either by return email or phone, but

it may not be that day. They will, however, endeavour to reply as soon as possible.

Planned parent meetings, including parent teacher information sessions, parent teacher interviews and

meetings, Student led conferences, and Learning Support Meetings. These meetings are an essential way to

maintain a genuine partnership with our school community.

Lastly, but certainly not least, telephone calls or in person visits – At any time that you have a concern,

question or feedback, please do not hesitate to contact the school to make an appointment with the

teacher.

The Chalkboard

Term 1 Week 8 2016

mailto:[email protected]

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Update on our Student Wellbeing Procedures

Behaviour Code:

NSW public schools are committed to providing safe, supportive and responsive learning environments for everyone.

We teach and model the behaviours we value in our students.

In NSW public schools students are expected to:

Respect other students, their teachers and school staff and community members

Follow school and class rules and follow the directions of their teachers

Strive for the highest standards in learning

Respect all members of the school community and show courtesy to all students, teachers and community

members

Resolve conflict respectfully, calmly and fairly

Comply with the school's uniform policy or dress code

Attend school every day (unless legally excused)

Respect all property

Not be violent or bring weapons, illegal drugs, alcohol or tobacco into our schools

Not bully, harass, intimidate or discriminate against anyone in our schools

Promoting the learning, wellbeing and safety of all students in NSW Public Schools is a high priority for the

Department of Education. We implement teaching and learning approaches to support the development of skills

needed by students to meet our high standards for respectful, safe and engaged behaviour.

Our school has three rules which incorporate all classrooms, playground and excursions. These are: Learning, Safety

and Respect. All classes have had discussions about what these three rules look like in our school and in life.

Learning:

We want our students to be ready to learn when they walk inside the classroom space, and not engage in behaviour

which will prevent others from learning. We encourage them to seize every opportunity to learn something new and

ask interesting questions. Our expectations are:

• Attend school every day (unless legally excused)

• Arrive at school and class on time

• Be prepared for every lesson

• Actively participate in learning

• Aspire and strive to achieve the highest standards of learning

Respect:

Our students are regularly reminded of the universal value of giving respect, and getting respect. Our expectations

are:

Treat one another with dignity

Speak and behave courteously

Cooperate with others

Develop positive and respectful relationships and think about the effect on relationships before acting

Value the interests, ability and culture of others

Dress appropriately by complying with the school uniform or dress code

Take care with property

Safety:

Our students are constantly reminded of the need to keep their hands and feet away from others. We do not

accept students hitting, pushing or engaging in “rough play”. Through many years of experience, we have seen playful

situations quickly “get out of hand” and the Department of Education is very clear about the consequences of

Aggressive or Violent behaviour. Our expectations are:

Model and follow departmental, school and/or class codes of behaviour and conduct

Negotiate and resolve conflict in a “hands off manner” and with empathy

Take personal responsibility for behaviour and actions

Care for self and others

Avoid dangerous behaviour and encourage others to avoid dangerous behaviour

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Earn & Learn:

We would like to extend a huge thank you to all the students and families who supported the Woolworths Earn and

Learn program in 2015.

This week we have received our new resources which will be put to good use supporting our hands-on learning in the

classroom. Thank you for your great support for our school.

Parking and pick–up in Mills Street:

Once again this week, I have had complaints from community and parents about drivers who are engaging in

dangerous U-turns in front of the school during pick-up time. In addition, we had complaints from bus drivers who

were not able to move through to the bus stop due to a vehicle stopped illegally, waiting for a spot in the kiss and

drop zone.

I understand how frustrating pick-up time can be, and the incredible congestion that all schools experience around

this time of the day. However, if the Kiss and Drop zone is full, please take the time to drive around the block and

come back again. Stopping in the middle of the road, (or u-turns in neighbour’s driveways) causes significant

congestion to many vehicles, and is creating a very dangerous situation for our students.

Uniform Update:

I would like to congratulate our many wonderful students on the number of hats I am seeing in the playground. The

sea of green is a great sight, and absolutely essential to protect our future generation, especially when Australia

has the highest incidence of melanoma in the world, and Newcastle one of the highest in the country.

I am excited to say that I believe the P&C are working towards finalisation of uniform choices, ready to be

presented to the community.

In response to community questions, I hope the following clarifies the situation:

- Why is this process taking so long? The school and principal does not make final decisions on the school

uniform. This is made by the P&C as representative of the school community, in consultation with the wider

school community, including principal, staff, students and parents. As this is not a process which should be

repeated for many years, consultation, and effective research is a major part of this process and I would

like to acknowledge the work of our P&C, especially Meredith Mulhall, Janelle Lawrence and Kim Arlitsch in

collecting samples, visiting schools, talking with uniform suppliers, etc.

- Is this a complete change of uniform? No. Boys grey shorts are NOT changing. Girls dresses for K-2 are

NOT changing. Our Current green and blue school shirt is NOT changing. This will remain as our everyday

school shirt for both boys and girls. The only point of discussion is what the girls wear –

skirt/skort/shorts/dress - and whether we have a sports uniform and what this will be. This includes the

important consideration of cost for all families. Please note, that the current green and blue shirt is the

only school shirt that is now uniform. Our phase-in period, implemented when the shirts were first

introduced, and clarified last year in our uniform survey, endorsed all students to be wearing this shirt by

the start of 2016.

- What day do my children have sport and what should they wear? Due to the size of our school, it is not

possible to have sport across the school, all on one day. As a result, all parents were informed of the day

their child has sport during the “Meet the Teacher” information sessions. In addition, all schools are

required to provide 150 minutes of moderate physical activity across the week. In our school, we include

daily fitness, Sport and PE lessons in this, and it is likely for all children that this will stretch across

several days of the week. Until, this process is finalised, students should wear their school shirt, shorts

and either black or white joggers. Please note, multi-coloured, fluoro or brightly coloured joggers are not

school uniform and should not be worn at school.

Finance Training:

On Wednesday the first of our school training for the new finance package is happening. Miss Julie Gentle and I will

be out for this day. All schools across East and West Lake Macquarie are involved in this training, and I know we are

all looking forward to a more stream-lined system to assist us managing our school budgeting and finance

requirements.

Warmest Regards,

Sharon McFarlane

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Assistant Principal’s Report

My goodness where has the term gone!

It is wonderful to see how well the Kindergarten students have settled into school routines. All of the classes are

working on the You Can Do It Program. You may have seen our wonderful signs about the school. The aspects of

getting along, confidence, organisation, persistence and resilience are the skill to make a successful all round

individual. At the moment we are learning how to get along with all our classmates and children from other classes.

We are all trying to be more organised and recognise our own belongings by looking for our name. All of our hats and

communication bags tend to look the same.

If you need to collect your child early from school or are dropping them off late in the morning you need to visit the

office first. The lovely ladies will fill in the details and print off a slip of paper to hand to the teacher, when you

drop your child to their classroom.

This week we are travelling to the Life Education Centre to see Harold. Often the most memorable aspect of the

day is the ride on the bus to and from the centre.

Up coming events… we are having interviews next week, please book in a time to speak to your child's teacher.

There is a separate note coming home today.

We are also having a Hat Parade on Thursday, 24th March and the children will be making their hat at school. The

last day of term will be our Year 6 run Mini Fete for the students. First week back in Term 2 we will be holding a

special morning for Grandparents to come and visit our school Please keep an eye out for more details on our special

events.

Trish Blyth

School News…

Sports Report On Thursday 3rd March we had three boys representing our school at the Regional Swimming

Carnival in Maitland. Coby Hall, Joshua Gibson and Luca Hochguertel were all representatives

from our school and they all performed exceptionally well with personal best or close to

personal best times. Coby was exceptionally impressive in winning his Backstroke event, and

coming 3rd in both the Freestyle and Butterfly events. As a result he will represent Hunter

Region at the NSW Championships at Homebush early next month. A fantastic effort, Coby!

Congratulations to all three boys, and good luck to Coby at the State Carnival.

Zone Trials

Zone trials in various sports have been conducted over the last couple of weeks to choose Eastlakes teams to

attend Regional Carnivals. Apart from our swimming boys, last week we had the following students selected to

attend these trials:

Rugby League: Nathan Mitchell, Reece Butler, Noah Hewitt, Baylon Lowe and Bowen Manning

Soccer – Boys: William Kennedy, Brody Page and Ollie Roberts

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Soccer – Girls: Mayra Kelly, Hollie Finley, Rebecca Mullin and Logan Powell

Cricket: William Kennedy

Netball: Zoe Andrews, Elke Badior and Jade Hunter.

From those trials, Noah Hewitt and Nathan Mitchell were selected in the Eastlakes Zone Rugby League team to

compete at the Regional Carnival at Raymond Terrace this Friday, while Hollie Finley has been chosen in the Zone

Soccer team. Congratulations to all the students who attended trials, and good luck to those 3 students at the

Regional carnivals.

Athletics Carnival

Our annual school Athletics Carnival will take place on Wednesday 4th May at Federal Park, Wallsend. This is in

Week 2 of Term 2 and will involve all students K-6. Permission notes will be organised shortly.

School Cross Country

We will look at running our school cross country in Week 11 this Term, which then gives those who make the school

team plenty of time in the holidays to train – if they wish. The Zone Carnival will take place in Week 4 next Term.

School Finance System Warners Bay Public School will transition to the new NSW public schools’ finance system and a new bank account on

14 June 2016.

To ensure a smooth transition, there will be changes to the way we accept parent or carer payments.

Cash, cheque, EFTPOS and online payments: Between 8 June 2016 and 15 June 2016, we will also not be able to

accept payments by cash, cheque, EFTPOS or online as we prepare to close our current bank account and transition

to the new one. Please ensure that you have made any outstanding payments before 8 June 2016. From 14 June

2016, online payments will be accepted as before and from 15 June 2016 cash, cheque and EFTPOS payments will

be accepted as before.

We thank you for your patience and understanding as we transition to our new finance system. If you have any

further questions, please contact the office on 49488129.

Parents/Carers of students with Asthma Just a reminder to all parents/carers of students with Asthma to return your Asthma Action Plans to the office as

soon as possible. Having up-to-date information regarding your child’s health is important to ensure that the best

possible treatment is given when required. If you have not received an Action Plan or have any questions regarding

this matter, please contact the office as soon as possible.

P&C Update Don’t forget!!!!

The P&C AGM is on TONIGHT 14th March!!

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There will be drinks and nibbles in the school library from 6.30pm, with the AGM to start at 6.45pm, followed by a

normal monthly meeting at 7pm.

Everyone is welcome. Those that are interested can become a financial member for $1, which allows you to vote on

anything being passed through the P&C

Hot Cross Bun Drive

All orders and money are due back to the front office by 9.30am this FRIDAY 18th MARCH

Orders will be ready for collection from the school on WEDNESDAY 23rd MARCH. Please indicate on your envelope

if you will be picking your order up from the canteen between 1-3pm or if you would like your order to be sent home

with your child.

Easter Raffle

Raffle tickets are being sent home with every child today. Tickets are 50c each. All tickets sold and unsold (and

money) is due back to school by Wednesday 23rd March. Prizes will be drawn and sent home on Thursday 24th

March.

There are quite a few extra books to be sold, and they can be collected from the front office if you would like one!

All Easter Egg and associated products are being collected at the office ready for our Easter Raffle. Many thanks

to the people who have already kindly donated some amazing items!!!

Canteen News Our canteen is now opening on a Tuesday as well as our usual days of Monday, Thursday & Friday which is great.

Thank you to our volunteers for helping us keep the Canteen open. There are still a couple of vacancies on the

roster if you are able to spare a few hours

Sushi is available on Thursdays and Fridays at a cost of $4 per Munch Box. Students have a choice of Tuna or

Chicken Schnitzel.

The canteen is now also selling Fruizia Frozen Fruit Juice (Slushys) in Tropical or Strawberry flavours at a cost of

$2.00 each.

Canteen Roster

Entertainment Books Warners Bay Public School is selling Entertainment Books again this year and is always a successful fundraiser for

our school. You can order online at www.entbook.com.au/342z76 or you can purchase via the office. Further

information will be going home with students today.

http://www.entbook.com.au/342z76

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Head Lice Please be vigilant and check your child’s hair for head lice. We have had a number of reported cases recently

across the school and it is important that all parents/carers take the time to check for lice and treat accordingly to

prevent the cycle from continuing.

School Banking Don’t forget that Monday is School Banking day and students should bring in their weekly deposit.

For every deposit made at school, no matter how big or small, students will receive a cool Dollarmites token. Once

students have individually collected 10 tokens they can redeem them for an exclusive School Banking reward item in

recognition of their continued savings behaviour.

Remember our school earns $5 commission on every deposit made and 5% on every deposit made through the school

(to a maximum of $10 per individual deposit).

The current reward items available are:

· Flying Snake Tail

· Wildlife Writer Set

· Dollarmites Money Box

· ET DVD

· Galaxy Glider

· Intergalactic Rocket

· Outer Space Savers Money Box

Kinder News Wow can you believe we are in Week 8! This term is flying.

Hunter Life Education

KH enjoyed this excursion today with KB and KW going on Wednesday. Thank you for supporting this valuable

program. We will be completing follow up lessons at school over the coming weeks.

Money

At the moment Kindergarten are having a wonderful time spending money at the canteen. They all feel very grown

up when they make their purchases. A few children are giving their money or sharing it with their friends which is

sweet but not possible at school. We ask for your co-operation in explaining to your child why their money cannot be

shared or given away as we have children with allergies and restricted diets. It is best if their money is kept in a

purse or wallet in their own zipped up bags.

Toilet Time

We are encouraging the children to go to the toilet first thing in the morning, at the end of lunch and recess.

Hopefully this will mininise disruptions to their and other students learning.

We need your Help!

Of a morning, as soon as your child has found a friend and is ready to play, please give them a quick hug and a kiss

and say goodbye. The children are torn between being with you and playing with their friends. A small number of

children have become distressed because some parents stay when their parent is unable to. Thank you for your

cooperation in this matter.

Funky Hat Parade

Next week we will be making our hats at school with our Year Six Buddies. We are asking for donations of craft bits

and pieces for the children to use when decorating our hats.

Please let your child's teacher know if they are any children unable to eat chocolate.

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Handy Hint

A frozen water bottle or ice brick in your child's lunch box can have a dual purpose both keeping lunches fresh and

helping remove the itch and pain of bites and stings.

Teddy Bear's Picnic

Kindergarten had a wonderful time sharing their day at school with their toys.

Stage One News

Visits to Life Education began today. Payment for this excursion was included in the Term 1 invoice. If you have not

made this payment, please do so by tomorrow morning or contact the office.

Assembly will be run by 1/2H this week. All parents and care givers are most welcome to attend - 2pm on Thursday

in the hall.

Last week the students enjoyed listening to Juliana Bahr-Thomson speak about her upcoming board paddle from

Newcastle to Noosa, to raise funds for several charities. One of these charities is the Surfrider Foundation, who

are trying to raise our awareness of the harm plastics cause to our beaches, oceans and wildlife. The students were

amazed to hear that the paddle is expected to take 40 days. We wish Juliana all the best and will follow her

progress when she begins her journey in May.

What’s happening in 2M? 2M are enjoying using the connected classroom as our learning

space whilst our permanent classroom is being renovated. Over

the past few weeks we have enjoyed reading the picture book

‘Feathers for Phoebe.’ The story taught the valuable lesson of

how important it is to just be yourself. This is our fabulous

display!

Have a terrific week!

Maxine Morton

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Stage Two News

Well folks the term continues to steam ahead at full throttle and shows no sign of slowing as we reach the business

end of term 1!

What have 4H been up to lately?

We in 4H are busy learning about Earth and Space, completing an amazing “space-themed” room complete with

hanging planets and soaring asteroids! Furthermore, 4H have been conducting investigations in our local environment

to find both natural and human examples of erosion. It is scary how many examples Mr Hull has found around his

own home!

Life Education

On Tuesday, March 15th, 4H and 4J will be venturing off into the wild in search of a well-known giraffe that is

famous for imparting his extensive wisdom on how to live a healthy life to children. We are all looking forward to

what Harold has to teach us this year!

Reading Group Helpers

I would personally like to thank all those helpers who have been so generous to supply us with some of their time in

order to help 4H reading groups. Your support is much appreciated by myself and the students and we are

extremely grateful for all your help.

See you soon, Mrs Wark

On Friday of week 7, 4H’s time with the wonderful Mrs Wark came to a close. For those who may not know, Mrs

Wark has been an invaluable member of the 4H team to start off this year and has helped with 4H in every way

imaginable. From her spelling strategies to her wonderful class-reading times, Mrs Wark has provided 4H with some

indispensable learning experiences. So we say thank you Mrs Wark and remember that this will not be goodbye, but

see you soon.

Liam Hull

Stage Three News

Life Education lessons are this week, please discuss the excursion with your child.

Have you covered your books? If not, please do so this weekend at the latest.

Remember - Year 6 must look after their laptops when taking them home for homework. You must have a container

or cover to carry them safely between home and school. This is a special Year 6 privilege. If any damage occurs, you

will have to pay for repairs...so PLEASE be careful. Remember, they go home for homework use not for game playing!

Have you organised all of the important items that you require in class? e.g. Pens (blue & red), erasers, USB,

earphones... see the note that was sent home in week 2.

Year 6 students will be trying on sample shirts, to order their correct sizes, in the coming days.

Year 7 Expression of Interest for high school forms are due back by this FRIDAY - 18th March - late forms will not

be entered into the OASIS system and you could miss out on a spot at your school of choice - so please bring them

in on time! Thank you to those who already have done so.

Have you started getting ready for your mini-fete stall? Are you collecting prizes/ equipment etc? Do you need a

letter to request items for donation? If so, please see Ms P.

Easter scripture - Wednesday 23rd March.

Homework and reading logs are due at school in week 9 by the Thursday as Friday is Good Friday of the Easter

Break.

Andrew Batchelor

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“I Achieve” Awards Achievement Awards Student of the Week

6P

Noah Wilson Elke Badior Jayson Mills

Amy Tibbs Braedan Archer

Hollie Finley Jordan Price Sienna O’Kane

Oskar Ferguson Mataya Marshall

6B

Cole Ambjerg-Pedersen Tobin Woodhouse Jade Hunter

Georgia Hann Erika Harmer-Peake

Noah Powell Kam McClelland Kaiden Wettig-Wallace

John Roberts Sam Kimberley

5-6S

Mayra Kelly Ryan Fairhall Layla Johnson

Rebecca Mullin Tyla Murphy

Amber Dibley Jamie Thorpe Adam Blackie

April Robson Lusiana Stitt

5M

Banjo Carter Blain Simpson Chloe Cullen

Lily McHarg Amelia Tuimaualuga

Sienna Glynn Daniel Wilson Matthew McKinnon

Beau Slade Charlotte Couch

4H

Lilly Watling Abbie Gilbert Jack Dennis

Lauchlan Nicholson-Hall Lucy Sartori

Bailey Wettig-Wallace Matthew Donaldson Rani Elliot

Austen Hiskens Gypsy-Lea Powell

4J

Montana Spruce Olivia Murphy Michael Tibbs

Tayla Coulter Zahara Fritz

Ella Sames Jackson Marr Jaz O’Brien

Oscar Fergusson Jordan Wade

3P

Cooper Varley Kirsten Fitzgerald Saunders Harrison Mason

Harrison Mason Zane Dunlevie

Madison Hodgetts Ewan Powell Crystal Storey

Chelsea Brown Tallis Jones

2S

Ethan Carter Tomas Diaz Yarwood Harmony Yates

Benjamin Staheyeff Brody Frame

Judah Lott Jorja Bramble Riley Pope

Abbey Masterson Erin Amberg-Pederson

2M

Cleo Rockman Sienna Barrow Megan Brown

Nicholas Adams Kiah Kelly

Bodie Carolan Izaac Hackney Jacob Dugac

Zane Emmerson Cameron Waite

1LJ

Maddy Cameron Nixon McLeod Jack Mewett

Keira Beckers Chanique Brown

Ava Murphy Cooper New Rani East-Jeffs

Jaxon Cruickshank Natalia Smith

1M

Elyse Cannon Jessica Balchin Molly Gollop

Lara Wheeler Emma Whipp

Henry Batchelor Samuel Godfrey Jett Aldridge

Jack Smith Sophie Whipp

1-2H

Tyren Williams Joshua Andre Isla Cornford

Sofia Sartori Hugh Johnson

Isaac Potter Ryan Austin Isaac Potter

Liu Liu Fang Jasmine Packer

KB

Alexis Dykes Elsie Smith George Penhall

Katie Frewin Ruby Taggart

Dante Conway Niall Abercrombie Smith Aleisha Williamson

Bryceson Spruce George Penhall

KH

Archie Rathbone Alexis judd Charlotte elston

Bodhi westbrook Ivy Wilson

Charlotte elston Lachlan holl Nathan pearson

Isla barrow Tyler holl

KW

Bruce Nixon Rubi Gilbert Billie Drew Liam Cathcart Lenny Thurston

Laura Staniland Brodie Fritz Micah Bullen Savannah Smith Shelby Hodder

1-3B

Matilda Roberts Seth Brown

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the chalkboard - warners bay public school · the chalkboard term 1 week 8 2016 . 2 advertisers...

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