Illawarra Primary School eNewsletter

Principal Report

Dear Families,

Yesterday students attended Camp Quality’s cancer education program. Through an interactive puppet performance the program focused on telling the broader cancer story, including how to support someone who is facing their own cancer diagnosis or that of a loved one in an age-appropriate way. This supports children who may have experienced cancer themselves or have direct experience of an immediate or wider family member or friend having cancer. I am always proud of the respectful way our students engage with visiting speakers and performers and ask thoughtful questions at the end.

The Premiers Reading challenge is now underway. If possible, please support your child to read any type of book to fill in their reading log and take pride in practising their reading skills.

Thank you to all those families who continue to work closely in partnership with class teachers to support their child’s learning through attending parent-teacher meetings in the past week. I’d also like to acknowledge the amount of work teachers put into preparing for parent-teacher meetings and conducting these with warmth and focus after a full day of teaching each day. If you haven’t attended a meeting please ensure you touch base with your child or children’s teacher if needed. The more involved families are, the better the outcomes for children.

Lastly, as you know I will be stepping back into the Assistant Principal role next term and would like to thank the school community for their kindness and support whilst I have acted in this role for the past 18 months. As a staff we are very privileged to teach in this school community as I find families supportive, caring and committed to working with teachers and the school to achieve the best well-being and learning outcomes for their children. I am grateful that I am able to continue to working with your children to make a positive difference to their experience of school.

As a staff we are looking forward to learning from and working with Mrs. Kristy Hay, and I know she is excited to get to know families, children and staff and will communicate with families in due course.

Kind regards, Cathryn

Calendar of Events

Wednesday 19 June—Friday 28 June	Parent Teacher Conversations
Monday 1 July	Grade 3—6 Assembly (2:00pm start)
Tuesday 2 July	Pop-Up Shop (After School Today)
Friday 5 July	Last Day of Term 2
Monday 22 July	First Day of Term 3

Grade 6 - Save The Dates

· Wednesday 18 December Leavers Dinner - Venue TBC

· Thursday 19 December Leavers Assembly - Kingston High School (mid morning)

Value Awards

Congratulations to all our Value Award winners for this week. These awards will be handed out at our next Grade 3 - 6 Assembly on Monday 1 July 2:00pm start.

Parents are welcome to attend.

Lochie C - For showing the value of Responsibility. Stepping up and doing what is right while helping Mrs Nanna.

Roxy D – For showing the value of Courage by persevering with difficult tasks to give her best during our class spelling sessions.

Marshall Y – For showing the value of Responsibility by embracing every opportunity to learn and encouraging others to do so as well, always striving to do his best.

Reid S – For showing the value of Courage by persevering with difficult tasks to give his best during our class spelling sessions and math groups.

Sophie M – For showing the values of Respect and Connection by being an inclusive, helpful and enthusiastic member of our classroom community.

Harry R - For showing the value of Growth by persevering with challenging math tasks and applying new strategies to solve addition problems.

Tanner C - For showing the value of Growth by becoming more engaged in our spelling discussions and sharing examples.

Josie H - For showing the values of Respect and Responsibility by always behaving in a way that is positive for her learning and the learning of others.

Cooper W – For demonstrating the value of Responsibility as well as being an upstander in helping to sort out a disagreement between two students and seeking teacher support.

Mason J - For demonstrating the value of Responsibility as well as being an upstander in helping to sort out a disagreement between two students and seeking teacher support.

Logan L – For demonstrating the values of Responsibility and Connection by supporting a younger student to make connections with other children to initiate play and by being a sensible older role model.

Owen K - For showing the value of Courage for seeking and acting upon feedback on his adaptation report.

Archer W - For showing the value of Courage by sharing his ideas with the class and seeking help when he needs it.

Leuca W - For showing the value of Responsibility by pushing herself to her personal best in all areas of school life.

Ivy P - For showing the value of Growth by working to improve her report to a personal best effort.

Audrey M - For showing the value of Respect by always including others and her kind and friendly nature.

Lily L - for showing the value of Responsibility by taking on organising assembly items and always helping her peers and teacher when she can.

Grace G - For showing the value of Courage by sharing her excellent ideas with her peers and teacher.

Henry S - For showing the value of Growth by persisting with Mathletics to mastery even when the tasks are challenging or new.

Sophie B - For showing the value of Connection by preparing a welcoming gesture for a new student at our school.

Ruby D -For showing the value of Connection by preparing a welcoming gesture for a new student at our school.

Annabel R - For showing the value of Growth by using Maths strategies efficiently and seeking to broaden her understanding at all opportunities.

Stella R - For demonstrating the value of Growth by applying her strong comprehension skills to an inference activity in class.

Jake K - For showing the value of Growth by using Maths strategies efficiently and doing his best to broaden his understanding.

Imogen F - For consistently demonstrating the values of Growth and Respect, and for approaching each day in class with maturity and an eagerness to learn.

Ethan L - Growth - For outstanding comprehension in English, showing his ability to make inferences and use evidence from the text.

Bailey S - Growth - For exceptional effort in all learning areas, listening carefully and completing work that is thoughtful and thorough.

Willow C - Growth - For a positive approach to her learning, showing a willingness to have a go and give her best.

Elsie W -Growth - Elsie has made excellent inferences in English comprehension demonstrating understanding and use of evidence from the text.

Haven S - Growth - Attempting challenging work without complaint and persevering through tough questions that required re-learning some concepts in order to complete. Never a complaint, always a "can you help me get started on this" or "I will give it a go".

Ayla A - Responsibility - ALWAYS helping me out in the classroom and guiding me around the school. Ayla is quick to explain rules, expectations and how classroom tasks are usually completed to avoid disrupting routine as much as possible.

Jacob S - Courage - Jacob excels when challenged in the classroom. He takes on any opportunity to extend his learning and embraces any challenge thrown his way.

Mia X - Respect - Mia is constantly the first student to show whole body listening when someone is speaking in front of the class. She is respectful towards her peers and encourages success amongst her table group.

Emily W- For the value of Courage for the determination and resilience that she has displayed this term when dealing with challenges.

Alby P - For the value of Connection through the way that he shows kindness and caring towards his prep buddy.

Chelsea O - For the value of Responsibility by taking ownership of her learning and always looking for ways to receive feedback and seek improvement.

Cooper S – For showing the value of Connection by being a caring and helpful friend during class time.

Gus O – For showing the value of Growth by persevering with his maths work and sharing his ideas during discussions.

Canteen Menu

Grade 3 Bilson News

Last week 3B visited our buddies, Ms Tracey’s Kinder Wombats. Everyone was very excited!

We had been very much looking forward to seeing our buddies again.

It was doubly exciting as the year three’s were able to revisit fond memories of their time in kindergarten.

We had a wonderful afternoon and are keen for our kinder buddies to visit us next time.

Grade 3 Ashlin News

Year 3A have been working on descriptive writing.

Students had a picture prompt of a lighthouse in the ocean and had to write a description using our 5 senses.

Here are a couple of our descriptions.

Marshall Y – The rugged and windswept waves crash down and the ferocious wind howls in the freezing air as the lighthouse sits desolate fighting the relentless waves. The turbulent rain is zooming down and the lighthouse only sent a weak signal with the clouds blocking the bright sun. I could taste the salt water on my tongue along with the rugged rain and you could feel the rain on your back. I saw miles and miles of ocean and I could smell the salty water. I could hear the waves crashing down.

Daisy C – I can smell weathered salt water, seaweed, dead fish. I can hear bang, boom, splish, splash, splosh. I can feel the wind and water. I am tasting the cold air salt water, seaweed and fishy air. I can see a building stormy sky and clouds.

Maisie E – The huge waves were bashing and crashing. I can hear the rain crashing on the windows dangerously. I could taste the sea water and the rain on my tongue. I can see the waves crashing on the island, rocks fall into the water. I can hear the crashes on the tin roof.

Jayden L – I was standing outside the lighthouse. The waves were hitting the walls. It kept on hitting me. It was freezing, I was shivering. I could smell salt water and there wasn’t a sun. I heard a storm. Then I saw the waves splashing everywhere. I could taste the salty air and I could feel water splashing on my face.

Ruby C – The crashing waves are dangerously climbing up the wall with crashing noises. Thunder dangerously thuds. The place is desolate. The smell of seaweed and saltwater fills the air. The coldness of the water is like my hand is in a block of ice.

Sophie M – The water was howling and the dangerous waves were crashing hard. The lighthouse was desolate on a deserted rock in the water. I could feel the wind blowing on my cold face. I could hear seagulls squawking there heads off. I could smell the disgusting smell of sea salt. When I went to go feel the water it felt like an ice block formed on my hand. The wind tastes like really, really cold air.

Lachlan W – I smell the salt water it was a bad day. I could see the waves splashing it is desolated.

Andre F – The waves are crashing I feel it on my face, its painful. I hear the truck-stopping screams from the desolate lighthouse. The taste of wind in my mouth is fierce and hard to bear. I’ve almost been hit by the rockfall it looks astonishing but the smell is not.

3/4 Illawarra Warriors

Students from Grades 3/4 enjoyed a great netball season.

There coaches Dani Reid & Katrina Carmichael have been extremely proud of their efforts!

They’ve made such great progress each & every week & have represented the school proudly, showing respect for all & having fun while doing so.

The team remained undefeated during the whole season!

Well done girls - what an amazing effort

Dani Reid

Visit from Janelle McMillan

Author, Illustrator, Artist and Cerebral Palsy advocate with lived experience, Janelle McMillan OAM, visited Illawarra Primary School on Monday to share her work and talents with the students and staff.

Janelle (Nell) worked with the students in 2 groups to share her message of kindness, inclusion and acceptance. Nell’s first book ‘Rafting – A wheelchair won’t stop us’ was shared with the students and then they saw a sample of her art, which she creates digitally. Nell sells her artwork to raise money for the Variety Children’s Charity.

Illawarra Primary students are no strangers to inclusion, having a number of classmates with diverse needs, who communicate and learn in a variety of different ways. The event was organised to highlight for the student that with determination, kindness and support, everyone can achieve and become their best selves. Nell’s presentation was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Nell will be at Salamanca Market selling her artwork on Saturday September 21^st 2024.