16 December 2020

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

Please refer to the side panel “School Calendar” section for the “live” calendar of events for information

Principal’s Introduction

Goodbyes and Best Wishes

I would like to take this final opportunity for the year to thank parents, students, community members and staff for efforts over this most difficult and unusual year. In spite of all the challenges COVID 19 brought us I believe we have been a very resilient and effective school. The P&C again have been superb with their support of the school with events such as Managing the Booklist packages, Easter raffle, Canteen and Uniform shop plus much more.

Whilst there are so many people to thank I would like to single out several who have been absolutely wonderful. Miss Karen Tucknott, Mr Nick Stenhouse, Mrs Sharon Singleton, Ms Kate Tyndall, Mrs Laura D’Alonzo-Barkley and Mrs Wendy Clouston who are fantastic people to work with and do a great job around the Administration area. Aren’t we fortunate to have such a wonderful team of teachers and great support crew backing them up. I cannot speak more highly of this fantastic staff group; especially given the year we have had.

A big thank you to Mr Wes Gregory and all the P&C team who work so tirelessly for our school running all the many activities that support our children and the school. Sincere thanks to Mr Callan Rose who has lead our School Board admirably in a year we weren’t able to run a proper inductions and had to rearrange meetings. The Board has admirably helped build a new Business Plan that will guide us for the next four years. Special thanks to Miss Tucknott who has lead and driven this important directional project.

We sadly say goodbye to several staff who are leaving us at the end of the year. Mrs Kara Varcoe, our Friday Kindy teacher, Mrs Coleen Dayman who stepped in for Ms Kris Williams as she recovers from a knee injury, Mrs Chantal Currid who has been a fabulous Kindy Assistant, Miss Jess Kelly as a Special Needs Education Assistant and Miss Ali Dee our Chaplain who is moving closer to home and doing some additional study. We will miss them all and wish them all the best in the future.

All the class structures, classroom allocations and student placements have concluded and are under lock and key till we announce these on Booklist Day – Friday 29th January next year. Classes are not announced any earlier given that late changes are possible.

For all those students, staff and families who are not with us next year please take our very best wishes and appreciation for your contributions to the school. You will always be part of the Newborough family. Keep in touch and know you will be warmly welcomed back as a visitor to our school.

I wish everyone a very safe, enjoyable and Merry Christmas, New Year and holiday break.

School Reopens in 2021

Office staff and Administration commence on Monday 25th January 2021 at 9:00am. Tuesday 26th January is the Australia Day Public holiday. Teachers resume on Thursday 28th January. Class lists will be posted on classroom doors on Friday 29th January to coincide with Booklist and Uniform Shop. These will be open from 9:00 – 11:00am.

First day for students is Monday, 1 February, 2021

Liza Harvey’s Christmas Card Competition

This year’s winner of Liza Harvey’s Christmas Card Competition for Newborough is Trina Khoo. Mrs Liza Harvey, our School Patron, came to school and presented Trina with a book voucher.

Trina’s proud parents Sharon and Sam were there to see the presentation in Miss Watson’s year 3 classroom. All entrants had their card especially made into Christmas cards and these were handed out in class.

Shade Shelter

Our new shade shelter is receiving its final touches and will hopefully be ready for our graduating year six students to enjoy, at least for a day or two. All year sixes relished painting the old picnic tables that will be relocated in the shelter. A plaque is being made up dedicating the shelter to our sixes given they have had such a difficult final year this year. They have been a fantastic group so having this legacy will be a great way to honour them. The shelter will be a great new asset for our school.

John Worthy
Principal

TERM DATES

2021

School Directory

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.

2021 Voluntary Contributions

Our School Board have approved the Voluntary Contributions and Charges, in line with Department of Education requirements, which will remain at $60 per child for 2021. These were sent home with family representatives last week

While contributions are voluntary, the quality of our teaching/learning programs will be enhanced by your contribution, which is used to supplement expenditure in the following areas.

• Reading Resources
• Mathematics Resources
• Art/Craft
• Technology

Total Contribution $60

The P&C contribution will remain at $30 per child for 2021

You can elect to pay the 2021 voluntary contributions via your booklist if you are ordering your books through the P&C, or pay the school direct via internet banking to our bank account

Newborough Primary School
BSB 016 350 Account number 3408 71304.

If you are paying the school direct, please ensure you use “your child’ surname and 2021” as the reference so we can credit the correct account.

Thank you to all those parents who pay these contributions early in the year, we really appreciate it.

COVID-19 and Sick Students

We are still amid the pandemic response and the risks are ever present, as witnessed by the recent unexpected outbreaks in South Australia. This means we continue to stick strongly to the health recommendations for social distancing, particularly for adults. Here at school, we actively promote washing hands, cleaning with disinfectant, staying home if unwell and sneezing/coughing into the crux of the elbow. Please do NOT send your child/ren to school if they are exhibiting any cold-like symptoms. The restrictions for social distancing of students has been relaxed by the Education Department on advice from the Health Department for schools. We still apply distancing as much as practical in the classroom and playgrounds.

Birthday Cakes/Gifts for Students

A reminder that we are not allowing the sharing of birthday cakes, presents etc. for birthdays or other celebrations due to the COVID restrictions. It remains too risky.

PICKING UP YOUR CHILD DURING THE DAY

If your child needs to be collected from school during school hours (eg. attending an appointment or leaving early), can you please email the school at newborough.ps.absentee@education.wa.edu.au and your child’s class teacher ahead of time (the day before or in the morning would be great). Please include a reason for early pick up and the approximate time you will be here. This will help with coordinating your child to be waiting at the office when you arrive and lessen your wait time.

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

MUSIC NEWS

IMSS – Christmas Carols – Clarinet

Honour Certificates

Term 4 - Week 8 – Friday, 11 December

PRIMARY EXTENSION AND CHALLENGE YEAR 4 STUDENT ASSESSMENT AND IDENTIFICATION

Statewide testing of Year 4 students for inclusion in the Primary Extension and Challenge (PEAC) program in Years 5 and 6 has been conducted during 2020.

PEAC offers a supplementary program for identified students and provides them with the opportunity to extend, challenge and develop their thinking skills.

Identification of these students has been conducted through testing, marking and ranking of each student’s results from over 23,000 students across WA.

Placements into PEAC, based on testing, are highly competitive. Your child’s results in this test can be used to inform their educational provision. Students who were successful in the identification process have been notified of their placement. If you would like further information about your child’s results, please contact Mr Nick Stenhouse at Nick.Stenhouse@education.wa.edu.au

Books for Bubs

Are you having or have had a new baby in 2021?

Newborough Primary School would love to welcome you and your new baby to our school. We would be delighted to present you both with a “Books for Bubs” bag with some gifts for you both.

Please fill in the slip below and return it to the office.

If you would like any information about the Newborough Primary School “Books for Bubs” program please contact me via email Karen.tucknott2@education.wa.edu.au or call into the school office.

P&C News

Merry Christmas everyone,

The P&C hope that everyone has a happy and restful Christmas especially if you have been separated from your families this year.

Its been an unusual year for us all. The COVID lockdown has prevented many of the normal school activities and there have been less opportunities to get together as the school community.

We are hoping to change all of that next year and have started to plan events for February and March so that families, and especially those new to the school, can meet.

Our AGM will be in week 3 of term 1, Monday the 15th of February, come along if you are available or just join in during the year as you can, all welcome.

Stay safe, looking forward to seeing everyone in the new year

Wes Gregory (President.)

Canteen News

Thank you!!!

Thank you to our wonderful customers, both Students and Staff, who have supported the Canteen and kept us very busy. It’s a privilege to provide the service and we love seeing all the happy faces enjoying our food.

We would like to sincerely thank all of the volunteers who have given up their time to work in the Canteen this year. Many have come a number of times through the year and some even multiple times every week. Volunteers are essential to the running of the Canteen and we couldn’t have done it without your hard work and generosity.

Canteen Re-opening 2021

The Canteen will re-open again on the first day of Term 1, 2021. We will be testing recipes over the holidays and look forward to providing new menu items to enjoy.

Regards
Amanda

Community News

Bricks 4 Kidz

Target Sports

Barnes Karate

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