Urana Public School 62 William St URANA NSW 2645 Ph 0269 208005 Fax 0269 208103

Email: urana-c.school@det.nsw.edu.au Website: www.urana-c.schools.det.nsw.edu.au November 8th, 2016—Week 5 Term 4

Dear Parents/Grandparents,

It has been a particularly busy few weeks, we have had plenty of extra experiences to excite

and challenge us and make every week an adventure in learning.

Take last week for example:

Cross Cultural Interchange— Intereach organised for two Kenyan couples to spend the day

with us. Eunice and James, Janet and Richard shared their Kenyan culture with the students

who had many interesting questions for them. They taught the students a Kenyan welcome

song and cooked up a delicious lunch. These learning experiences make learning so very real!

On Monday 31st of October we had four Kenyan visitors. They made some of

their traditional food and told us about their home country. Richard was the first person who told us some facts about Kenya and what the

life style is like there. Richard is retired now but when he was still working he

organised where teachers would teach in Kenya.

James was the second visitor who talked. He was a banker in Kenya. He showed

some of their own money and talked about different things that happen in Ken-

ya and some of the different foods that they eat.

Eunice was a teacher in Kenya. She taught at a secondary school. She taught us

a song called Jambo Jambo. After the UPS choir sang their jaw dropping song

which is called Si ya Hamba.

Janet was a nurse in Kenya. She didn’t really say much, so after we had finished

listening to them we went to the cooking room and they cooked some of their

traditional food which was to die for. I think every one who was there would

think the same. We’d love to have them back any time soon. Thank you Martin

for bringing these lovely and caring people to Urana Public School and a big

thanks to Mrs Dore for letting us have this experience!!!

This is written by Cameron

Urana Public School Page 2

October was ‘Nude Food’ Month

We started our awareness by collecting all the wrap-pers, packets, plastic bags , foil etc that come into the school over the period of a week. We were all a little surprised at just how much we put into the bin in the first day! The students analysed the rubbish collected over the week and made a graph to record their find-ings.

They then set about making some changes to the look of their lunch boxes.

We experimented with creating a ‘nude food’ lunchbox . Over the course of the week there were some great lunchboxes packed and the rubbish collected decreased markedly. Hunter, Tannah, Ashleigh, Cameron, Cayden, Jacob and Noah were the prize winners!

We tried a number of new fruits too to expand the palette—Honeydew, Pawpaw, Papaya, Nashi Pears and blueberries.

Our Lunch Days are a big hit! Last week the students enjoyed a big tasty sausage roll, prima and Mrs Cottrell's mystery dessert. These lunches have proved very popular. All profits from this project will go towards the Kids Day Out in Wagga in the last week of term.

The next lunch day will be held next week—I wonder what is on the menu?

Page 3 November 8th, 2016—Week 5 Term 4

Tennis—We have four weeks left of the 10 week program. It has been great to see the level of participation in the program and the improved control the students have over the racquet and ball.

The students quickly realized it is not about hitting the fluff of the ball and making your partner play fetch. The rallies have lengthened and the skill level has improved each week.

Musica Viva—Jacana, Sounds of the Australian Spirit — The students were again wooed by a

great musical experience when the talented Jacana troupe entertained the group at the hall. As

always it was a truly interactive musical experience. The performers remarked afterwards what a

great group of students UPS had, involved and interested music students.

Urana Public School Page 4

Robotics and Coding — Michelle Meracis, who has worked with staff and students over the past couple of years, visited the school last week. She spent some time with the older students and

worked on some simple coding programs and then introduced the students to a variety of robots. The students worked in groups and experimented with ‘programming’ their robot. With

Michelle’s guidance and expertise this will kick-start our own robotics program here at UPS.

STEM Challenge Day at Berrigan PS—Yr 5 and 6 students from Berrigan, Jerilderie and Urana came together to work through a series of challenging activities set by Michelle Meracis designed to test students’ ability to work together and use scientific, mathematical, technological and engi-neering thinking to solve problems. It brought out the best in the UPS boys, they all had a great day!

Mrs Mitchell has been working with students on goal setting and then on how to

achieve those goals. These STAR statements help keep the students on track!

Stick with it and don’t give up.

Think about yourself: what are you good at?

Always make a plan.

Remember to try hard, work hard and have a go.

Page 5 November 8th, 2016—Week 5 Term 4

With only 6 weeks of the 2017 school year to go I encourage you to see that your children attend school on every possible day, that way they can make the most of the learning opportunities that will come their way. Attendance is very much related to the achievement of improved educational opportunities—lets see if we can achieve 100% attendance for the remainder of the year!

Nit Alert!!

Yes the serial pest is on the move again with the warmer weather, please check your child’s hair and treat where necessary. The school has available a new product, please see Karen to get a free sample.

Dorothy Dore, Principal

Coming up: Remembrance Day—Friday 11th November

Transition to Lockhart CS —Tuesday 8th/Tuesday 15th November

Transition to Oaklands CS —Friday 11th November

Aspire Me Art Camp —17th-18th November

Christmas at Colombo —Tuesday 13th December

UPS Presentation Evening —Tuesday 13th December

UPS Kids Day Out — Thursday 15th December