23 March 2023

Principals Report

Dear Families,

This week is Harmony Week! We hope you've noticed the messages of Harmony lining the path as you enter the school from the main entrance. The messages were written by each class to capture their shared understanding of what Harmony Week is about. Messages such as ‘The outside doesn’t matter but the inside does’ and ‘You are beautiful no matter what you look like and where you’re from’ show how insightful, wise, inclusive and compassionate our students are and we are very proud of them. We are also lucky to have the creative talents of Mrs Nanna, Mrs Petersen and Mrs Hunn, who organise Harmony Week each year. 

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POETRY WORKSHOP – Last week several of our Grade 4-6 teachers attended an after school workshop on poetry writing hosted by the Australian Literacy Educators Association (ALEA) and delivered by Louise Dempsey and Sheena Cameron from New Zealand. Poetry is an engaging way to be playful and creative with language. It develops vocabulary, teaches students to use literary devices such as similes or metaphors and enables students to express emotions and experiences.

5 Cooke/Lohrey had fun creating poems called 'This is not a piece of rope’. We hope you enjoy reading them. 

By Heidi W

By Sarah B

By Natalie P

by Jaxon G

By Dan W

By Ollie B 

EVERY DAY COUNTS  - As a school we understand that children get sick, family emergencies happen and that there are times when a child may be away for other reasons.  In a small number of cases we know that children have significant medical needs that affect their attendance. 

In general, while the occasional absence from school is unlikely to affect your child’s learning, most years between 30% and 50% of our students have an attendance rate of 90% or below.    

A child with an attendance rate of 90% misses the equivalent of one day of school every two weeks, or 19 days over the year.   If a child has an attendance rate of 90% each year from Prep to Grade 6, they miss about three terms of learning over their primary schooling time.  A child with an attendance rate of 85% misses a whole year of school between the beginning of Prep and end of Grade 6. 

Missing school regularly means that it is harder for your child to learn and keep up with the curriculum requirements for their grade.  It can also affect your child’s social confidence and interactions with peers. 

If there are any barriers that are affecting your child’s attendance, please let us know so we can provide support, as well as recommend services that may be able to assist. Our social worker, Sam Dobson, can also help on a confidential basis and can be contacted through either myself or Mr Hayen. 

Kind Regards,

Cathryn

Calendar of Events

School Association (IPSA)

WHAT DOES THE SCHOOL ASSOCIATION (IPSA) DO? 

As well as being kept up-to-date on school matters and being involved with behind-the-scenes decision making, IPSA fundraises. 

Not everyone is aware that most school events are planned and executed by a small group of parent volunteers for the purpose of building school community and raising money for infrastructure and equipment that directly benefits the students. 

These events have included:

* Welcome Barbeque

* Walkathon barbeque

* Movie nights

* Quiz nights

* Discos

* School Fair

* Winterfest/Springfest

* Plant sale

* Dinner and Disco Fest 

* Christmas Stall

IPSA fundraising has been used for some significant school improvements. In recent years these have included:

* AV system for the GP room

* Flying Fox

* Shirts for interschool sports carnivals

* New banners for the school sporting houses

* The upcoming sandpit upgrade

We need help! What you can do to help:

* Come along to IPSA meetings. These will be advertised on Facebook and in the calendar of events.  You can attend meetings without officially joining the committee. You can also attend from home using a Teams link that is provided beforehand. The next meeting is the AGM and planning meeting on Wednesday 5 April.

* Let us know you are interested in joining the planning group for a particular upcoming event.

* Let us know if you and your friends would like to initiate and run a fundraising event.  This doesn't have to be a brand new idea for an event. You may feel that you are able to take a turn at running a movie night or disco.

* Volunteer to help at an event. Please show up for your shift. Even if it looks like we have lots of volunteers and everything is under control, there will be volunteers waiting for their chance to take a break and socialise as well. 

Our current executive roles are:

Chair – Lisa Nisbett

Vice chair – position available 

Secretary – Rachael Lewis

Treasurer – Chloe Bibari

Please email your interest to ipschoolassociation@gmail.com or come to our AGM and planning meeting on Wednesday 5/4/23 at 7pm in the staffroom.  We’d love to see new faces there!

Ride2School

ONYAS

Congratulations to all students who have already recieved ONYAS

The following ONYAS will be given out at assembly this Monday 27 March 

Lincoln W,

Cooper S - For listening carefully and following instructions and for having a go during writing time.  Well done Cooper!

Neve S - For her positive, enthusiastic and mature approach to all set tasks. Neve puts 100% into all her work. 

Ruby A - Ruby arrives at school with a sunny smile and approaches all learning activities with a positive attitude. Well done, Ruby!

Gabe C - Gabe has started the year in a positive manner and always makes thoughtful contributions to or class novel discussions.

Eliza W - Eliza demonstrates care for her learning by being organised and has a positive attitude toward all learning opportunities. She is caring and mature, and an excellent role model in our classroom.

Parker W - Parker demonstrates care for his learning by working hard to master a more difficult level of our daily Mental Maths routine.    

Willow B - For Settling back into school so well and quickly becoming a part of our class.

Jade L -  For trying hard in everything she does. Well done Jade!

Elliot J -  For being a keen learner sharing his excellent ideas with the class.

Gus O - For excellent participation in class discussions, demonstrating curiosity and a willingness to share his ideas.

Nicholas P - For displaying a ‘have-a-go’ attitude towards new learning routines.

Ruby R - For choosing a positive attitude towards all learning tasks.

Jacob S - For his effort in reading groups particularly readers theatre.

Frankie S -  For her effort in all areas and her focus when working towards learning goals.

Zuhaa B - For the effort she put in to creating detailed and informative scientific diagrams that demonstrated her understanding of how plants make their own food.

Felix C - For the positive and cheerful way that he begins every day and learning opportunity.

Blair G - For confidently and respectfully sharing her ideas and knowledge with others during class discussions.

Daniel W - For demonstrating kindness and consideration when going out of his way to assist others with their learning.

Layla F - For actively seeking and receiving feedback about how she can improve in all aspects of her learning.

Flynn M - For increased focus and application during learning tasks and using more initiative when needing help

Campbell L – For his fantastic work in writing this term.  He has consistently tried his best and produced some fantastic pieces of writing.  Great work Campbell.

Maddy S – For her attitude in maths.  Maddy challenges herself to do her best all of the times, practising tasks she finds tricky and using a growth mindset.  Keep up the great work Maddy!

Chloe W – Chloe is an excellent role model for others in the class.  She listens carefully to feedback for how to improve her work and shows great attention to detail.  Awesome work Chloe!

Noah W – For working incredibly hard on his writing task to select objects that explorers would need.  He presented his work beautifully and explained his reasons clearly.  Great work Noah!

Nick K - Nick has been working exceptionally hard at all of his tasks, and always gives his absolute best with good cheer and a wonderfully respectful attitude. Great job Nick!

Sophie K - Sophie has been achieving so much in class; from spelling, writing, to maths she's really giving everything a go with a bright smile on her face and a positive attitude. Excellent job Sophie!

Sarala L - Sarala's cheerful, can-do nature has been matched by her renewed focus on her tasks in class this term. Well done Sarala!

Tom P - It feels like Tom rolls his sleeves up every day when in class so he can make sure he does a great day's work. He's firing on all cylinders at the moment! Amazing effort Tom!

Valentina C - For crafting a highly persuasive piece of writing and sharing this confidently with the class.

Kadey C -  For being creative by writing an entertaining piece of poetry to add to our class book.

Mason J - For striving to do his best in maths and confidently sharing his maths reasoning with the class.

Leandra - For settling into her new class at Illawarra. Welcome Leandra!

Cooper W - For showing that he cares about his learning by always putting effort into each task he is given and using feedback to improve his understanding.

Walkathon Wednesday 5 April

The Illawarra Primary School Walkathon is being held on Wednesday, 5 April. Our Walkathon will be held at Blackmans Bay Beach where all participants will walk/run loops along the beach, returning to a starting point at the middle of the beach.  Each loop will be approximately 2kms. This year students will be representing their house teams, earning points for every lap they complete of the beach. The program for the day is as follows;

Depart School 9.15am (Grades 3-6) - Ready for a 9:45am start at the beach

Depart School 9.30am (Prep-2) – Ready for a 10.00am start at the beach

All Students Finish Walking - 11.45am for return to school by 12.30pm

ALTHOUGH THE WALKATHON IS A HOUSE COLOURS DAY

STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO WEAR THEIR RED SCHOOL HAT

 The School Association will be also running a BBQ upon the return of students to school, with all ordering on the Spriggy app (cut off is midnight on Sunday, 2 April).  Items available are:

-       $3 Sausages (gluten free) on white bread or gluten free white bread

-      $1 Berri Quelch 99% fruit juice icy tubes (tropical and apple/berry flavours).  Flavours selected at random.

The School Association is also after some volunteers that may be able to assit on the day

Its very easy to sign up just follow the steps below:  

1) Click this link to see our SignUp on SignUp: https://signup.com/go/LBZaCrd

2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.

3) Sign up! It's Easy - you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on SignUp.

We look forward to celebrating the last day of term with an enjoyable day at the beach followed by a BBQ.

Canteen Thursday 30 March

Easter Raffle Books

Free Dress

City to Casino Fun Run

World Sleep Day

Community Notices