17 October 2018

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

Note: Incursions, Excursions, Assembly days will be updated each term. This is an outline of the events that will be coming up in 2018. Please note dates are subject to change.

Principal’s Introduction

Welcome Back

Welcome back everyone and a special welcome to our new students and their families. It’s great to be back at school for another exciting term. During the next three weeks we will be conducting a variety of tests to see how much students have progressed. We also have all of our usual end of year events such as Kindy Expo, Year 6 Graduation, Volunteer Morning Tea, Interm Swimming, Portrait and Biography Art Exhibition and much more.

We have one staff change to announce. Ms Callen Toner joins us as the Year five teacher in Room 15. Ms Toner replaces Mrs Blackwell who remains on staff and will be assisting with relief for teachers who are working on a variety of planning, testing and projects.

Student Placements for 2019

If your child(ren) will not be attending Newborough PS next year could you please let us know in the office. This will assist us with planning for 2019.

As is always the case during Term 4, Newborough PS’s class organisation for the following year takes place. A number of considerations are taken into account based on improving student performance. These include: staffing numbers, resourcing, recommended class sizes, a balance of academic abilities within each class, the need to evenly distribute students with special needs (academically, socially and behaviourally), an equitable distribution of gender, the ability to work independently if placed in a multi-age class. In 2018 we were able to make straight classes throughout the school. This is quite unusual and was the result of some luck with student numbers and agreements with teachers. Whilst we will try to have straight classes it simply may not be possible in some areas each year.

If you wish to communicate to us your child’s special needs, please present your correspondence to the Principal via the office marked “Private and Confidential” by Friday 9th November (Week 5). You may wish to email your correspondence to John.Worthy@education.wa.edu.au Please note, this information will be considered when placing your child however, all parent preferences may not be facilitated. Requesting a particular teacher will not be considered. Only sound educational reasons will be considered. This information will be added to the data we already have.

The placement of children and the make-up of classes is made in consultation with teachers. It is not a parent decision. Every child is equally important. The final decision for placements rests with the Principal. If you have any queries or would like to discuss this please contact me to make an appointment.

It is unlikely that the structure of classes, their location and teacher will be presented at the end of this year. With our numbers constantly fluctuating it would be unfair to announce classes this year and then restructure when students return. Classes will be posted on classroom doors when you pick up your booklist items.

Native Tree Planting

We have been most fortunate to have over six hundred native plants donated to the school by a parent who manages projects. A landscaping project was cancelled after the purchase of the trees, shrubs and plants so were kindly offered to the school. We really appreciate this kind donation and want to get as many as possible planted before the heat sets in. The optimum time for planting is mid winter when the ground is wet so we need to act fast. During the first week of school this term all the year two and three classes buddied up and assisted with the planting of about eighty banksias around the Nature Playground. This is very exciting as many of the banksia trees are Banksia Menziessii, the banksia that features on our school logo. Some year five students, Torren, Ashani, Manu and Jane helped Mr Worthy prepare the holes and get all the gloves, plants and watering equipment ready for the planting sessions. Mr Worthy taught the students how to properly plant and care for the new plants in their new and hopefully long term home. We will need to water and care these new plants as they establish for the remainder of term and summer break. Students will be rostered to help with this. If there are any parents or friends of the school who can assist with future planting or care that would be greatly appreciated. Please let Mr Worthy know if you can help.

Over the next couple of weeks we hope to plant many more of our water efficient native plants around the school. Both the Kindy and year four classes are planting this week.

There will be a range of native plants available for sale at assemblies for gold coin donations. Any monies raised will go straight back to the Newbie Nature Knights sustainability programs. If you wish to see the plants please ask. You can purchase at any time one of us is available to assist.

Wanted: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Clean 2 litre or larger plastic milk cartons that can be cut down to make seedling protectors. These help protect the plants, shield from too much sunlight, create a humid environment around the leaves, reduce evaporation and help keep animals and people from damaging them.

Newbie Nature Knights

I was thrilled to receive a telephone call whilst attending an Educational Leadership conference in Melbourne during the holidays advising that the Newbie Nature Knights have been successful with an application for a $14,500 grant from SUEZ, the waste and water management company, to construct a double carport size shed and accompanying outdoor classroom patio area next to the school’s vegetable gardens. This will provide the school with a home for all the sustainability equipment currently stashed in a variety of locations around the school and a work space for our environmental team to work. SUEZ were very impressed with the application that featured letters and drawings from our year three students who make up the majority of the Newbie Knights.

This energetic team have already helped clean up the vegie patch and plant some vegetables as well as starting to collect food for our worm farm.

The Newbie Knights have also conducted a whole school logo competition so they will have their own logo to use around the school. There were sixty-two entrants from pre-primary to year six. The Newbie Knights committee have voted on the winning entry and an announcement will be made at the next assembly on Friday 28th October. The winner will receive a sustainability prize and will work with Mrs Koerber, a graphic artist, to refine the design suitable for use on promotional material. Mrs Koerber kindly donated her time to polish up the Positive Behaviour Support logo that has been so inspirational for our new behavioural program.

School Board Nominations

Are you interested in contributing to the governance of Newborough Primary School as a parent/legal guardian representative on the School Board? For next year we have three vacancies. Current members of the Board who have completed their term are welcome to re-apply. Should there be more nominations than the vacant positions all parents/guardians will be offered the opportunity to vote. Candidates will then be asked to provide a 250-word brief to include on the voting slip. Members of the Board may hold office for a term not exceeding three years. New members of the Board will be offered training and will have a mentor allocated to assist with induction onto the Board. You can find detailed information about the School Board on our school website under the ‘Our School’ tag.

If you are interested email or supply in writing your expression of interest (Not your 250 word brief at this stage) to John.Worthy@education.wa.edu.au by 3:00pm, Monday 5th November 2018.

The Board meets twice per term as determined by members. Extra meetings may be agreed upon by members of the Board. Members are expected to attend all meetings and abide by the Board ‘Code of Conduct’.

Board members take part in:

• Establishing and reviewing the school’s objectives, priorities and general policy directions
• Planning of financial arrangements to fund those objectives, priorities and directions
• Evaluate the performance in achieving them; and
• Formulate codes of conducts for students.
• Sign off on the Delivery and Performance Agreement with the Director General.
• Determine dress code for students when attending or representing the school.
• Promote the school in the community.

Approve:

• Charges and contributions
• Extra cost optional components of educational programs
• Items to be supplied by a student for personal use in an educational program; and
• Agreements or arrangements for advertising or sponsorship in relation to the school
• Provide advice to the Principal on the implementation of religious education and religious activities
• Take part in the selection of the Principal and may be involved in the selection of teaching staff.

The School Board does not take part in the day to day management of the school or its staff including:

• Operational management of the school
• Educational instruction of students
• Exercising authority over teaching staff or employees at the school, or
• Intervene in the management or operation of a school fund.

For further information please contact John Worthy in person at school, or email John.Worthy@education.wa.edu.au or phone 94461025 (School number during office hours) or 0409558820 (Mobile)

Thanks,
John Worthy
Principal

Term Dates

DoE Security

Keep an eagle eye on our school!

School Watch encourages the school community to report any suspicious activity in and around school grounds, after hours and on weekends, as well as during school holidays.

Telephone 1800 177 777 (freecall) or 13 14 44 (WA Police).

Please do not approach any individuals, just contact security and they will investigate the situation or contact the Police. Working together will help protect our school.

School Directory

Absentees

Just a friendly reminder that if your child will be absent, please contact the School directly either by:

Please include only the student’s name and room number, reason for absence and the date in any messages – the use of apostrophes, a colon or emoji results in the school receiving a blank message, and we are unable to accurately update your child’s record.

For Example: “John Doe Room 13 absent 1/2/2017 sick with flu”.

Thank You
Administration Staff

NO Dogs on School Grounds

This is a reminder that dogs are excluded from the Early Childhood, (Fenced area of the Kindergarten and Pre-primary), verandahs, sandpits, and quadrangle areas at all times. This includes school drop-off and pick-up times.

Administration News

Medication

If your child requires any medication, short-term or long-term (tablets, creams, liquid medication, etc), please discuss with Administration as a form needs to be completed.

Direct Deposit Payments only

All payments made to our school for excursions or incursions are requested to be made via direct deposit through internet banking.

Cash payments can no longer be accepted and will be returned to parents (unless prior arrangements have been made with our Manager Corporate Services).

This process ensures that there is a clear paper trail for all payments, parents will have lodgement receipts from their banks and payments can be processed in a timely manner.

If you do not have access to internet banking, please see our Manager Corporate Services, Sharon Singleton, to make alternative arrangements.

Visitors to our school and Volunteering

If you are visiting the school to deliver your child’s lunch, hat etc or volunteering in a classroom, please ensure that you sign in at the front desk. This is a risk management procedure to ensure that all people on school grounds are accounted for in case of emergency and for the safety of our children.

All volunteers are also required to complete a confidential declaration. These forms need to be completed each year and are available from your child’s teacher and our administration office.

This will allow you to volunteer your time as a parent helper in the classroom, on excursions, in the canteen etc.

Deputy News

In-Term Swimming Term 4

Please be aware that this year’s In-Term Swimming lessons for Pre-Primary to Year 6 students are the last two weeks of Term 4.

The dates for this are Monday 3rd December to Wednesday 12th December.

The cost for the lessons will be $38 per child. We encourage all parents who wish to start a payment plan now to see either Sharon Singleton or Kate Tyndall in the front office to organise this.

An excursion form for Swimming will go home soon.

Please do not hesitate to see me if you have any queries in regards to this.

PBS School Values: Assembly Protocols for Parents

Students have been working very hard on the displaying Respect, Teamwork, Kindness and Challenge Yourself at our school assemblies by:

• Entering and exiting quietly as a class (still needs a bit of practice!)
• Demonstrating smart ignoring of the behaviour of others
• Acknowledging others performances
• Being respectful and quiet when others are talking/performing
• Showing appreciation appropriately
• Singing the National Anthem respectfully

We would now like to ask parents to also help model our school values at our assemblies and public gathering by showing the same behaviours and ask that from now on can you please ensure:

• All mobile phones are turned onto silent
• All phone calls are taken outside of earshot of the undercover area (please not during the assembly in the undercover)
• Respect is shown by listening quietly at all times and parent conversations are left until before or after the assembly
• Small children are fully supervised and sitting quietly with you at all times to minimise the noise and disruption to the assembly please

We thank parents and visitors to our school for helping us uphold our PBS School values as well.

Change to the Newborough Primary School Handwriting Font in 2019

After much research, discussion and deliberation, Newborough Primary School has decided to change the handwriting font we have been teaching from Modern Victorian Cursive to the New South Wales Foundation font. This font will start in Kindergarten, Pre-Primary and Year 1 in 2019. All other year levels will remain being taught the Modern Victorian Cursive font.

Newborough Primary School has developed a Handwriting Policy over the past two years. Below is the rationale behind the change of font.

RATIONALE:

As students become increasingly reliant on communication via digital devices, there has been a shift in focus from handwriting instruction to teaching keyboarding. In the 21st century classroom, keyboarding is undoubtedly necessary, but teaching this skill in lieu of handwriting can leave students at a disadvantage. If handwriting isn’t learned and practiced (especially in the earlier grades), students are not given the opportunity to experience the related benefits of this skill that has been shown to:

• Increase brain activation.
• Have positive impact on performance across all academic subjects.
• Provide a foundation for higher-order skills.

When handwriting is taught explicitly, students’ writing quality, quantity, and speed have been shown to improve. An evolving body of research demonstrates a link between handwriting and brain functioning, experts suggest that handwriting lightens a student’s cognitive load. With consistent handwriting practice, the processes involved become less demanding and more automatic, enabling students to devote a higher amount of neurological resources to critical thinking and thought organisation, organisation that is required for effective composition.

A gradual release of responsibility model of explicit teaching provides students with the necessary support through teacher modelling and guided practice. The WA Curriculum requires teachers to formally teach and assess aspects of students’ handwriting. The content descriptions describe support for students from beginning with unjoined letters in early years to forming joined letters with increasing fluency and automaticity from Year 3 onwards (DET Guidelines 2017).

The overall aim is for all students to develop a personalised, fluent and legible handwriting style that enables them to communicate effectively when writing for different purposes.

NPS HANDWRITING TRAJECTORY:

The Foundation Approach

An emphasis on handwriting movements to assist with correct letter formations. Movements include: anti-clockwise ellipse, clockwise ellipse, downward stroke, horizontal, diagonal top to bottom and diagonal bottom to top and the overall directionality of left to right across the page. These movements combined and repeated form the basis of fluent, legible and automatic handwriting. Correct pencil hold is established.

Manuscript Handwriting

Repeated guided practice of unjoined lower and upper case letters of the New South Wales Foundation Font (NSW Font) to continuously improve fluency, legibility and automaticity of handwriting. Correct pencil hold and body positioning is reinforced.

Cursive Handwriting

Repeated guided practice of joining letters of the NSW Font. Not all letters require joining, cursive is about moving fluently from one letter to another. Letters should sit within a parallelogram from the baseline to the lower case line and upper case line. Capital letters remain unjoined. Correct pencil hold and body positioning is reinforced.

Fluency

Development of a smooth rhythmic movement when writing and being able to sustain that movement for lengthy texts. Fluency involves touch and non touch maximised by joining when convenient. Continuous guided practice to improve fluency, legibility and automaticity. Fluency can be assisted by reducing the size of letters and making slight alterations to letter shapes. Joins and loops can be developed to support fluency and natural style.

Legibility

The ease with which the reader can read the handwritten text. Letters need to maintain the same size, shape, proportion, spacing and slope so that letters are distinctive and familiar to others. Emphasis is on consistency.

THE NEW SOUTH WALES FONT:

The NSW Font is based on a natural progression of developmentally appropriate movements. Letter formations are familiar to students and are consistent with the formation of letters they are reading. The progression between foundation movements to manuscript and cursive is natural and easy to assist with transitions. One basic set of letter formations is the same for manuscript and moving onto cursive. The cursive style incorporates loops to assist with speed and fluency and provides scope for personal style.

You will find that on the Pre-Primary and Year 1 Booklists we have asked parents to purchase the Oxford New South Wales Handwriting book 2019. All other year levels will be asked to purchase the Oxford Western Australian Handwriting book. This is not a mistake!

Booklists 2019

The Booklists for 2019 will go home in the next few weeks. Thanks goes to the teaching staff, Sharon Singleton, Karen Winton and Lucy Thistleton for working on the booklists.

Art Exhibition

Please pencil in the dates Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st November for Newborough Primary School’s self-portrait art exhibition.

The art exhibition will be launched by an assembly on Tuesday 20th November at 8.50am with Liza Harvey MLA officially opening the exhibition. Parents and families are welcome to view the exhibition on Tuesday and Wednesday throughout the day in the undercover area, with the exhibition being open until 7pm on Tuesday night and 5pm on the Wednesday afternoon.

Our students are very excited to share their work with you.

Art Exhibition Portrait Fundraiser

Please also find a flyer in regards to our Art Exhibition Portrait Fundraiser.

Newborough Primary School students (K-6) will be painting a self-portrait for an art exhibition we will be holding in Week 7, Term 4. (Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st November.)

The P and C have purchased the canvases for the school to use and will be selling these to parents as a fundraiser for the school.

Each portrait will cost $12.50 through the P and C.

The P and C will be supplying further information on purchasing or pre-purchasing the portraits in the coming weeks.

Reporting to Parents

Reporting to Parents – Electronic Report Delivery Semester 2, 2018

As per last semester, Newborough Primary School will again be delivering your child’s Semester 2 school report via email on Monday 10th June 2018. (Week 10, Term 4)

The benefits of an electronic report provide advantages for schools and the parent community including:

• Timely delivery of reports to parents and guardians;
• Administrative savings in the printing and collation of reports;
• An ability to easily provide copies of reports to each parent or guardian where dictated by family circumstances; and * Pparents being able to retain a digital record of student achievement. However, as the link to the reports only lasts for four weeks, it is vitally important that parents SAVE their child’s report ASAP.

To ensure you again receive your child’s report, it is imperative that your email address is correct with the school. If there have been any changes to your email/email addresses, please contact the school immediately.

We have also asked that for the purpose of different family circumstances, anyone requesting a copy of the report be sent to a second family member inform the school in writing via newborough.ps@education.wa.edu.au immediately please.

Please do not hesitate to contact Deputy Principal Karen Tucknott with any queries about the delivery of the reports electronically.

Science News

I would sincerely like to thank Mrs Leanne, Ben and Zac Prance for very kindly allowing myself and the Pre-Primary students to babysit their gorgeous guinea pigs, Mopsie and Lizzie, each Thursday for the last four weeks of Term 3. The students have been learning about the needs of living things and the guinea pigs were an exciting and engaging addition to our science program. The students got to observe and help meet the needs of the guinea pigs, live, in the science room, which was why their presence was so valuable. Many, many thanks again to the Prance family.

Sam Metcalf
Science Specialist

Sport News

Free Cricket Activities

Just a reminder that the FREE cricket clinic that was advertised via a flyer last week, will be held at Newborough Primary School on Thursday 18th October from 3.00 to 4.00pm on the top oval for all interested students from Pre-Primary to Year 6. The program will be run by cricket players and the Scorchers mascots may also pop in for a visit. Parents are very welcome to watch the clinic activities (and maybe assist if required). ALL parents are asked to collect their children promptly from the oval at 4pm, or ensure that their child(ren) know how they are to go home or where they are to meet their parent/guardian, when the clinic concludes. Ms Williams will be in attendance during this program.

After three very busy and successful sporting terms, the Physical Education focus for term 4 will include Gymnastics and In-Term Swimming lessons for all children in Pre-Primary to Year 6.

Gymnastics

We have been very lucky to secure funding from the “Sporting Schools” initiative to enable us to have a Gymnastics coach from Northern Districts Gymnastics Club come to our school for three days a week, for four weeks. Unfortunately, the funding available did not stretch far enough to enable four classes on a Monday to have a coach. These students will not miss out though, as I will be replicating the same program to these students so that they can also develop their gymnastics skills. The gymnastics coach (Gabe) has been very impressed with the number of students who have participated or are currently participating in Gymnastics and the good level of their skills developed.

In-Term Swimming

Once again, our students have the opportunity to develop their swimming skills in Weeks 9 and 10 of this term. I consider learning to swim as a life skill, as the children will be developing their water confidence and stroke technique which they can apply to all types of water environments to enjoy water-based sports or purely for recreational purposes throughout their lifetime. Our school has a faction swimming carnival and swimming trials in Term 1 for students in Years 4 – 6. We are also involved in an Interschool Swimming Carnival program in Term 1. Swimming lessons for the students currently in Years 3 – 5, will greatly enhance their confidence and their stroke technique for the swimming carnivals in Term 1 next year.

Kris Williams
Physical Education Specialist

Music News

Over the past few months, students from Years 1-6 have been hard at work preparing for their Mini Classroom Musicals. Performances will be during their music period in Week 6 this term in the Undercover Area and parents/carers are invited to attend the Musicals. We are looking forward to entertain our community with our amazing talent at Newborough Primary School.

Yours in Music
Andria Snelson, Music Specialist

P&C News

Uniform Shop News

Hello!

Did you know we sell skorts just like the tartan skorts but in green? They are a limited edition in limited sizes so get yours while supplies last.

Uniform shop is open Tuesday 2.15-3 pm. For out of hours, please email through your order and it will be delivered to class after payment is received to the P& C account. newboroughuniforms@gmail.com.

Got any pre-loved uniforms? We'll take them off your hands.

Rhonda Yates
Uniform Shop Co-ordinator
newboroughuniforms@gmail.com

Book Club News

Hi!

After two years as the Scholastic Book Club Coordinator, I'm stepping down at the end of this year so we're looking for someone to take over. I will still be at school next year so I can help you every step of the way. If you'd like to hear more about the role, please feel free to email me at simplyrhonda@yahoo.com or ring me at 0415665256.

Rhonda Yates
Scholastic Book Club Coordinator

Canteen News

Volunteers

Thank you to all the volunteers who have helped make my transition into canteen manager run so smoothly over the last couple of terms. I hope that those of you that use the canteen have been happy with the progress so far, your children have been a pleasure to meet and feed.

Going forward it would be lovely to meet some more parents and family members who wish to come and help. This term there have been a few changes to the menu and I’m very excited to introduce a picnic box for the students as we begin the last term of the year. As the weather warms up (hopefully soon!) the students and staff can order half a sandwich of your choice accompanied with cheese and crackers, a rice ball and seasonal chopped veggies.

I am always happy for feedback and suggestions so please feel free to pop in and see me.

Canteen Days

Our Canteen will be open Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Online Ordering

Our online canteen ordering system QuickCliq -

QuickCliq is offering up to 15% of this service charge back to the P&C

If you have any questions or feedback about this change, you can contact the P&C Secretary at newboroughpcsec@gmail.com

Canteen Menu

Check out our new Spring Menu.

You can view the latest Canteen Menu from the link below. A hard copy is available out the front of the school office.

Volunteering

We are always looking for help in our school canteen. If you could spare an hour once a week that would be appreciated. Please click on the link below to register.

Regards
Penny Fraser
Canteen Manager

Cookie Dough Fundraiser

Thank you to all who placed orders for Cookie Dough last term. An extra big thanks goes to those families who spread the word to extended family members, friends and work colleagues to really boost our cookie sales. We raised approximately $600 through this fundraiser and hope that there were some sweet treats enjoyed by all over the holidays. We have a few tubs of Choc Chunk cookie dough still available, so anyone who missed out or would like to re-stock please let Carly Fowkes (newboroughpcsec@gmail.com) know. The tubs are $14 each.

We are still in the process of obtaining quotes for a new serving counter and will keep you updated as progress is made.

Entertainment Book

Newborough Primary School is raising funds. Here’s how you can help…

Help us raise funds for our fundraising by buying an Entertainment Membership, and you can enjoy value the whole family will love these school holidays. You'll receive hundreds of valuable offers to keep the kids 'entertained' and help our fundraising at the same time.

PLUS order now and received FREE delivery to any address in Australia.

Using just a few of these offers will cover the cost of your Membership!

Jerelyn Tierney
0403167135
jeryt@hotmail.com

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Community News

Target Sports

Basketball School Program

Safety House

Newborough Primary School has been a proud supporter of the Safety House Program in our community for many years. We currently have 9 safety houses in our neighbourhood. The Safety House Program is always looking for new volunteers from the local community to become a ‘Safety House’, if this interests you, please email halijah.hyder@gmail.com for more details. FEELING UNSURE? KNOCK ON A SAFETY HOUSE DOOR!

Halijah Hyder - Safety House Coordinator

Are you interested in safety for kids in your local community? It’s easy to help and you could make a difference.

Safety House is a community based “Good Neighbour” program of volunteer householders organised by a local Safety House Coordinator. It’s easy to be a Safety House, it will cost you very little for a 3 year Working with Children Card and you could be doing something important to help protect vulnerable young children. The program is supported by the school and the local Parents Association. You can make a difference for kids in your local community.

WHO CAN BE A SAFETY HOUSE?

A Safety Householder must be a caring adult who is usually in or around their home during school travel times and be ready and willing to assist any child who might seek help at their door. This is to make sure that a child in need will find someone at home if they knock on the Safety House door for help. Your house must have easy street access to the front door, no screening walls or trees and a Safety House sign easily visible from the street. If you have a dog it should be secured behind a fence at the rear of the building or be kept under control in the house.

This is to make sure that a young child will be able to find the Safety House door easily and will not be frightened away.

Before you can be a Safety House, any eligible adult who is likely to help a child at the door must have a valid Working with Children Card. Also everyone living in the house aged fourteen and over must consent to having a continuously monitored police check which is fully paid for by Safety House. Your local Safety House Committee will help you fill out a simple Safety House WA application form. We need to make sure that anyone who might answer the door at a Safety House has been carefully checked out.

For further information please fill in the coupon below and leave it at your local School Office or you can contact the Safety House Head Office direct by email at safety@safetyhousewa.org.au and our website is:

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