25 August

Principals Report

Schools are great when people do what needs to be done to support student learning and well-being, but they are exceptional when staff go above and beyond what should reasonably be expected.  Fortunately, at Illawarra Primary there are a number of staff who continually go above and beyond their normal duties and responsibilities, and as a result we are all the beneficiaries for this high level of dedication to the teaching profession and commitment to the school community.

Although reluctant to highlight specific staff and by no means is the list below exhaustive, I believe the efforts of the following staff deserve special mention.

Firstly, Mr Chris Waugh and Mrs Kerry Baker for all their planning and organisation of Colour Day. Chris continually looks for opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate their leadership, and yesterday’s special day raising money for refurbishing the Piazza and supporting a Make a Wish application for a student, was a great example of this.  Kerry’s involvement in this day was also key in its success.  She also works tirelessly to ensure that our students with greatest need at Illawarra Primary are well supported and that the school’s inclusive culture continues to be an exemplar for other school communities.

Mrs Cathryn Kelly-Bounds and Mr Michael Hayen are also forever on the lookout for opportunities to extend the school’s very able students.  As mentioned in the last newsletter, the inter-school debating competition has been re-introduced this year and due to Cathryn’s expertise in literacy, and preparedness to give of her time, both teams were very well prepared and had a successful first experience as debaters.  Michael has over many years ensured that increasing numbers of students are enrolled in extension programs and participate in maths competitions. He regularly dedicates his time to supporting students, including before and after school, as well as on weekends, such as the annual Maths Relay that will be held next month on Sunday 25^th September.

Mrs Nanna Jansen-Munday takes on the responsibility for coordinating a variety of alternative and extension programs throughout the school year.  At present, she is in the process of re-invigorating the school’s vegetable garden area at the front of the school.  This is being done with the support of her Hands On Learning team.  Nanna, along with Miss Charlotte Genford, are also busily training the Jumping Jacks every Tuesday and Thursday lunchtimes in readiness for school visits and an overnight tour of the east coast later in the year.  Nanna also involves herself in many of the school’s art projects and activities.

Finally, I need to mention how Mrs Seitske Hunn in her Library role, and Mrs Terri Ann Petersen in her specialist art teacher role, always find time for students.  I have mentioned previously that Terri-Ann always has her art room open on Friday lunchtimes.  The room being a haven for those students wanting to engage in their creative pursuits, and sometimes, during winter, also wanting to find a warm and inviting space to while away the time.  Sietske is always prepared to lend a hand with any of the school’s artistic pursuits and is always looking to create opportunities for students to engage in and demonstrate their love of reading.

As mentioned, the above list of staff prepared to go above and beyond is not exhaustive, neither is the list of additional and alternative learning and wellbeing opportunities that the school provides throughout any year.

To conclude, I would like to bring to everyone’s attention that every year the Department of Education conducts School Satisfaction Surveys to find out what your child(ren)'s school does well and where it may improve.

We would be grateful if you completed our online survey about Illawarra Primary School. Your feedback is very important to help us inform our school planning and decision-making.

The survey is open from Monday 29 August 2022 until Friday 23 September 2022 and should take about 5 minutes to complete.

Take the online survey by clicking this link or pasting it in your browser: https://ncv.microsoft.com/PmUy6yuhG6 

The survey is carried out on a secure website and all responses are anonymous and confidential.

All families in this school received the same survey link and no identifying information is collected. A summary of the survey results will be provided to schools. Responses from individuals or small groups will NOT be disclosed to any Department of Education staff.

Please contact me if you require any assistance.

Have a great fortnight everyone.

Nick

Calender of Events

Parent Teacher Interviews

ONYAS Grade 3 - 6

Congratulations to all the recipients of ONYAS. These awards will be handed out at the next Primary assembly on Monday 29 August. 

Savannah L – For staying with a friend when they were injured and showing care and kindness.

Matilda H -  For showing great respect for relief teachers and being extremely diligent in all work presented.

Fenella V - For showing great respect for relief teachers and being extremely diligent in all work presented.

Tyson B - Tyson always gives his best. He is kind, positive and always willing to help.

Noah D -Noah is a friendly, respectful member of the class and an enthusiastic and interested learner.

Flynn M - For excellent and enthusiastic participation in problem solving and discussions.

Ella MC - Ella is meticulous in the presentation of her work and she always gives her best.

Molly S - Molly is a motivated learner, taking responsibility for her learning, asking questions and giving her best.

Campbell L – For showing excellent effort in all subjects and doing some great descriptive writing. Great work!

Holly – For her focus during lessons and willingness to take on board feedback to improve.  Keep up the good work!

Fin – For showing a growth mindset and good resilience to keep challenging himself in maths.

Cariad – For showing a growth mindset and good resilience to keep challenging herself in maths.

Liam F - Liam has shown independence, focus and a genuine "can-do" attitude in class.

It's a pleasure to see such a tremendous increase in the amount and quality of his work over the year.

Fenella V - Fenella is a trusted, cheerful, enthusiastic and thoughtful learner. She consistently demonstrates our school values in and out of the classroom. Fenella gives her absolute best in everything and always shows a high standard of work.

Matilda H - Tilly is showing enthusiastic and thoughtful leadership in her Student Representative Council role. She consistently demonstrates our school values in and out of the classroom and produces work of the highest standard.

Toby A - Toby demonstrates the value of caring during our weekly coding sessions. He gives pointers to younger students to help them with tricky challenges he has done before and shares his coding knowledge.  

Valentina - Valentina is to be congratulated for consistently demonstrating that she cares about her learning. Valentina makes thoughtful contributions to class discussions which share her excellent knowledge of the natural world, and in Science lessons she raises some interesting thoughts for us to explore.

Ethan P - Ethan demonstrates the value of caring by putting his best effort into his Maths learning. Ethan has strived hard this year to achieve his best and develop his understanding of new Maths concepts. Well done, Ethan!  

 Willow B - Willow demonstrated the act of caring by making sure a student going through a difficult time felt cared for and included. Thank you for being so thoughtful Willow.

Natalie O - For always being willing to help others, including doing extra jobs around the classroom without being asked.

Lily L -  For her positive and cheerful manner. Lily always gives her best effort in everything she does.

Liam L -  For demonstrating respect to others by always listening during class discussions.

Jacob S - For diligently working on independent tasks and always trying his best with everything he does.

Christian T -  For showing that he cares about his learning by focussing and completing tasks.

Mia X -  For extending herself with her geography learning by asking questions and drawing conclusions.

Ayla B -For improving her informative writing and extending herself with geography learning.

Leo X -  For improving his informative writing and always focussing on his learning.

Ayla A -  For focussing on her maths learning and persevering with difficult problems.

Priya W – For showing the value of caring by always listening respectfully to others

Pippa H - For showing the value of caring about her learning by always putting an amazing effort into her work

Felix C – For showing an interest in lots of different subject areas and always asking such interesting questions

Lincoln P -  For displaying a positive attitude and his persistence and effort in mathematics.

Ella B -  For effort in spelling and bumping up her writing.

Charlie W -  For consistently displaying our school values at all times.

Emelia W - For actively seeking and implementing feedback about how she can improve her learning.

Henry F -  For increased attitude and application towards his learning

Deva C - For the kindness and consideration that she shows to her peers

Debating

The Interschool Debating Competition is up and running!

On Wednesday last week our debating teams competed in their first interschool debate at Rosetta Primary. The topic was 'All e-scooters should be banned from public streets'. Their well-researched points and convincing delivery resulted in a win for both the negative and affirmative teams. Congratulations to Cariad, Ruby, Baz, Fenella, Tilly and Monty for their hard work and courage in presenting their arguments.

Next week’s debate topic is ‘Primary school was better 100 years ago’ and will be held at Austins Ferry Primary. Both teams will be arguing against this statement. We are looking forward to Flynn joining the team for this debate.

Mrs. Kelly-Bounds

Kindergarton Excursion

On Monday 8 August Kinder Possums & Wombats travelled to the Sustanability Centre at Mount Nelson. We enjoyed loose parts play and bush kinder activities before a visit to Kingston Park. 

Huon Channel Winter Carnival

On Tuesday the Huon & Channel Winter Sports Carnival was held at various venues.  Unfortunately the Soccer was cancelled due to the poor ground conditions at Wentworth Park but we did have some great participation from our boys in AFL and mixed Netball.  The AFL Boys had two wins and finished in 3^rd place. Well done to all those who participated!!

Some of our 5/6 students took part in the STSSSA Netball Winter Carnival at the STNA courts. All the students involved, including our five representatives Isla A,  Ruby F, Imogen J, Cariad L and Hugh R played their hearts out and showed a great attitude and excellent sportsmanship. Our Huon and Channel Hawks came 3^rd in Division 2, losing only to the teams that finished above them. Our division 1 team was challenged by the Blue team, but had a hard-fought, come from behind 1 goal victory to remain undefeated, which meant they finished 1^st in their division!

Kindergarton Enrolments 2023

Pop up Shop

This Friday we will be selling Cos lettuces seedlings, cupcakes, lemons, delicious popcorn, craft packs, garden herbs and more.

Student Wellbeing and Engagement Survey

Attention: Parents and Carers of students in Year 4 - 6

Student Wellbeing and Engagement Survey

The wellbeing of our students is important to us - we want to hear how students feel, and think, about different things going on in their lives.

Those in Years 4–6 will be taking part in the Student Wellbeing and Engagement Survey. The results from this survey will help us get a picture of the current wellbeing of our students, and what we can do to improve future wellbeing for learning. The more students who take part, the clearer our picture will be. 

The Student Wellbeing and Engagement Survey is part of the Department of Education’s Child and Student Wellbeing Strategy .

The details for the survey are:

When:                                          Monday 5^th – Wednesday 7^th September

Who:                                            Year 4-6 students

What do I need to do:                You and your child don’t need to do anything. The survey will be done in class time and will not require your child to prepare in any way.

A letter with more information was sent home earlier in the week with all Year 4-6 students, including Frequently Asked Questions and a form to sign and return to the school if you do not want your child to participate in the survey.   

If you would like further information, please contact Chris Waugh or Cathryn Kelly-Bounds via the school office.

Thank you for supporting us to ensure that all our learners are safe, feel supported and are able to flourish, so they can engage in learning.

Student Assistance Scheme (STAS)

Student Assistance Scheme (STAS) applications for 2022 must be submitted by the 7th September 2022.  Applications will not be accepted after this date.  Application forms can be collected from the office.

Canteen Menu

If students are wishing to purchase from the canteen can you please make sure they are bringing Australian currency. We are having a lot of token coins handed to canteen staff which they can not accept.  Thank you for your understanding.

Book Club

Book Club catalogues for issues #6 are being sent home with students this week.  Orders are due back to school or online by Friday 9^th September. 

Thank you for your continued support of this program. 

Our school library receives $1000 worth of free books each year with the points we accumulate from parent orders.

Wool Rugby Jumpers

Launching into Learning

School Triathlon 2022

The Schools Triathlon Event for Primary Schools  will be held on Friday 2^nd of December.   Whilst not many of us might be thinking about a dip in the water at Bellerive Beach at the moment, and this seems like a long way away, the Schools Triathlon is a massive event which requires weeks of organisation once entries are received. We need to get our School entries completed by the end of this term.  It’s a great event and a great way to be active as an individual and also as part of a team.  To enter, students can either get a form from Mr Iles here at school starting from next week.  You can download and print your own at home.  However, there is also a school permission form which you must get from Mr Iles.  These forms then need to be returned along with payment ($25), which can be done electronically at the office if required.  All students receive a Triathlon drawstring bag, swim cap, number bibs, finishers cap as well as fruit and water at the finish line. Students may enter as an individual competitor, part of a team or they may chose to do both. Teams must be organised prior to entry forms being submitted.

More information will be on the school permission form and there is heaps to look at on the STC website Schools Triathlon Challenge – SWIM, BIKE, RUN – Challenge yourself whilst having fun with your friends.  Including event information, nutrition and fundraising ideas for those interested.

2022 Young Archies Exhibition Schedule

Community Notices