15 December 2022

Farewell Mr Donnelly

As we come to the end of the year, we only have a few more days with Mr Nick Donnelly as our principal.

Nick has been the principal at Illawarra Primary School since  2012 and we have both had the privilege of working with him over the last seven years.

The principal role is an extremely demanding job that comes with stresses, complex problems, and the responsibility of ensuring children are safe, learning and provided with the opportunities they need to thrive.

Nick has carried out this work in an exemplary manner and left our school a better place for his time here.  He has ensured that all of our children are provided with the support that they need and that our school is an inclusive community where every child is cared for.  He has ensured that as a school we have been able to evolve and improve our practices in areas such as literacy and numeracy.  He has given staff the opportunity to grow professionally and develop new skills. And he has been able to respectfully support students and families at times in their lives where they need extra support or understanding.

Nick has also been a leader who listens to his staff and is willing to accept and embrace different opinions and ideas (although when he says no, no means no!). Nick has great oversight and insight into how different areas of the school work together and as such he is able to coach, advise, balance and steer us in a direction that provides the best outcomes for all. He understands that leadership is not always about telling people what to do, but is about creating an environment that brings out the best in people and allows them to best use their skills and knowledge.   

Finally, because in the end the most important thing we ever remember about a colleague and friend is who they are as a person and not what their job title is,  Nick has been a kind, supportive and genuine person.  He has taken the time to get to know and understand people, tried to look out for everyone along the way, and been compassionate when someone has been at a difficult point in their life. 

We will both very much miss having Nick as our principal, and we know that the school staff, students and parent community join us in thanking him for his leadership and wish him all the very best for whatever comes next in life.

Michael Hayen and Cathryn Kelly-Bounds

Assistant Principals

Principal Report

Dear Families

The past fortnight has been filled with many significant events creating so much for us to celebrate, especially our grade 6 student leavers who continue to create great memories to reflect on in future years. This grade 6 cohort has been an outstanding group of students who have contributed a great deal to the school, and I look forward to the school community acknowledging their contributions as well as their successes at the end of year assembly on Wednesday 21 December.

An event that needs special mention is the School Association run Christmas Stall.  This event generates a great sense of goodwill in the school and at times the opportunity to provide lessons and advice to students on the importance of giving and showing appreciation for loved ones at this time of year. On behalf of the school community, I would like to thank all the members of the School Association who so generously gave their time to create this happy and festive event.  I would also like to thank the School Association for their support, guidance and contributions to the school community during the 2022 school year.  This support has had even greater significance for me this year.

In the last newsletter I made many farewells to staff but in doing so I also forgot to include Ms Kristen Anstice in these acknowledgements.  Unfortunately, due to early childhood teaching staff transferring in there will not be a teaching position for Kirsten. Kirsten took on the responsibility of teaching Wendy Anderson’s grade 1/2 at the end of last year and we were fortunate that she could continue in the same role throughout the 2022 school year.  Kristen has been a great support for the students and families of her class as well as being a much-appreciated colleague by her ECE team. 

During the past fortnight, the teaching and support staff have continued to focus on completing the school year whilst also planning for the next.  The teaching staff have now completed all their assessments, and in doing so have made informed decisions regarding individual student achievement.  Whereas the support staff continue the transitioning process for students requiring significant adjustments, providing these students the best opportunity for success next year.  All the while in the background staffing decisions for 2023 continue to be made and organisation for next year, especially with regard to the school’s class make-up, have been finalised. 

Recently the decision was made that the school would run two straight grade 5 and two straight grade 6 classes in 2023 rather than the previously planned four composite 5/6 classes.  This decision was made after further reflection of what would provide the best learning and well-being support for the school’s most senior students.  As a result of this and other decisions made this term to prepare for next year, the following is a list of classes and the teachers assigned.

2 x Kinder classes              Georgie McRae, Kellie Pickett

2 x Prep classes                 Renee Jordan, Catherine Oldmeadow

2 x Grade 1 class               Tracey Williams, Tenille Ashlin

2 x Grade 2 classes          Hannah Barker, Bernadette Brinkhoff

4 x Grade 3/4 classes      Charlotte Genford, Jo Bilson/ Michael Hayen (Fri), Vanessa Shaw, Anne Oettle

1 x Grade 4/5 class          Amy Whenman

2 x Grade 5 classes          Chris Cooke/Philippa Lohrey (Fri), Chris Pullen

2 x Grade 6 classes          Graham Bloor, Julia Catterall/Chris Waugh (Fri)

P.E. and Health                Warren Iles - Prep - Grade 6 (includes teaching Health for upper primary classes)

Music                                 Amanda Brown - P - 3/4, choir, marimba, recorder, etc

Grade 5 & 6 Band            Alex Brown

ART                                    Terri-Ann Petersen - Grades 3-6

Library/Literacy               Sietske Hunn - Grade 1/2 classes

Japanese                           Stephen Clowry - P – Grade 6

Support Teacher              Kerry Baker 1.0 FTE, Philippa Lohrey 0.4 FTE

ESS/Literacy Support      Nanna Jansen-Munday

I’m pleased to highlight that the list above includes the teachers transferring into Illawarra Primary School for 2023 - Tenille Ashlin, Bernadette Brinkhoff and Amanda Brown.  Tenille and Bernadette are transferring from Snug Primary School and will be teaching ECE classes, whereas Amanda will be transferring from Lindisfarne Primary School and will be teaching music.  Anne Oettle has worked part-time at Illawarra on a contract for this year and has been assigned to Jess Dwyer’s vacant Grade 3/4 class.  Anne secured permanency with DECYP through the recent recruitment drive to employ more teachers.  All these teachers come to the school as experienced and highly regarded educators and on behalf of the school community I welcome Tenille, Bernadette, Amanda and Anne, and wish them every success as they continue their careers at Illawarra Primary School.

Wishing you all a happy and not too busy end of the year.

Nick Donnelly - Principal

Calendar of Events

Medication Collection

Just a reminder that medication that is kept at the school ie Ritalin, Epi Pens or medication that was dropped off for Grade 6 camp needs to be collected by parents from the office. 

Uniform Sales 2023

Illawarra U10's Basketball Spring Roster

During Term 4 (Sep-Dec), two teams came together to represent Illawarra in the U10’s WBC Spring Basketball roster. The teams were coached by parents Jason Sawford and Drew Kirby, and learnt so much during the season. The boys had great fun participating and did a fantastic job representing their school. Well done Illawarra Red & Illawarra Black! 

Illawarra Primary School Association

2022 has been an interesting year as we all learn to live with COVID and the changing rules and regulations.  Despite the challenges, IPSA has managed to run some new and traditional events. 

IPSA fundraising this year has all been earmarked for the sandpit upgrade.  Our sandpit has seen better days, but is still popular with young students.  The plan includes keeping and updating the roof, whilst dismantling the current sandpit structure and replacing it with more natural boulders and plants.  We have a quote for this job, but unfortunately the installation has been postponed to the Easter holidays 2023.

Early in 2022 the traditional Walkathon Barbeque for students went ahead, but unfortunately the Welcome Barbeque had to be cancelled due to covid.  More time passed without any planned events because covid restrictions limited the number of people allowed in a space, and prevented mixing of students between classes.  Eventually restrictions were lifted and plans could be made!

The Family Dinner and Dance Fest was a new format for an Illawarra social event, with the aim of keeping it quite simple and fun. There was not much planning time for this event but the result was fantastic.  A huge thanks to Georgia Pearsall, Lisa Nisbett and Cathryn Kelly-Bounds for organising, and to all the volunteers.  Next year we are hoping to run the same event again, but with some additional stalls and entertainment.

The annual Christmas Stall was also a fun event and went off without a hitch.  Pete McKenna was an entertaining and very helpful Santa, and we had more volunteers than the previous year.  It’s a fun day with lots of chatting, wrapping, Christmas cookies and excited students.  We would welcome even more volunteers at this event next year.  In the spirit of Christmas, the proceeds from the Christmas Stall will be donated to a charity. 

The final IPSA initiatives for the year are the icy pole sale on Friday 16 December (Zooper Doopers will be on sale at lunch time for $1), and the Thank You Morning Tea for staff on Thursday 22 December. Our teachers do a wonderful job, and on this student-free day it’s a great opportunity to provide a “Thank you”.

Next year the Welcome Barbeque will be on March 1^st.  We look forward to seeing Illawarra families returning to this event and celebrating the new school year ahead. 

Community Notices