Jamberoo Public School Newsletter

Dear Jamberoo Public School Community,

Tongarra District Swimming Carnival

A fantastic day was had by all competitors who participated in the Tongarra District Swimming Carnival held last Friday at Albion Park Pool. Thank you to the parents who attended, provided lifts and supported all the competitors from Jamberoo Public School.

Well done to Elivia Kirk and Maeve Rimmer who will be representing Tongarra at the South Coast Swimming Championships to be held at Dapto Olympic Pool on Friday 10th March.  Both Elivia and Maeve will be participating in the 9 years 50m freestyle. 

Best of luck, girls. The school is very proud of your achievements!

Jamberoo Preschool Fundraiser

The SRC are hosting a sporting colours mufti day tomorrow to raise much needed funds for Jamberoo Preschool after the recent flooding that occurred. Wear your favourite sporting team colours and bring along a gold coin donation to help us support our town’s local preschool. Please ensure that you wear clothing that covers shoulders, appropriate footwear and bring along a hat.

Operoo

Thank you to all the parents/guardians who have completed a profile for their child on Operoo. The school has received a 100% response rate. All school-based permission notes are being sent home via Operoo. The program also provides the school with all of your child’s medical details which can be accessed at the click of a button on a phone or a device.

Student Learning Plans

During the next two weeks, students who have individual education plans, personalised learning plans and students who receive integration funds will be meeting with Jamberoo staff to discuss their goals for 2023. Parents/carers will also be contacted to contribute their thoughts and ideas to the goal setting process. 

Our whole school goal is to ensure that all school stake-holders are active contributors to the learning, achievement and growth of our students. Together we are all partners in the learning process.

Three-Way Conferences

The school will once again be conducting three-way conferences at the end of Term One. The reason for conducting them in Term One is to provide teachers the opportunity to share with parents the strengths and areas for improvement of our students at the early stages of the year, rather than when reports go home at the end of Term Two. Parents will be provided with vital information about their child’s learning during the early stage of Semester One, which will assist in developing learning goals for their child and address the steps to achieving them.

Minnamurra Lions Club

The P&C has been donated $1000 by the amazing crew at Minnamurra Lions Club for 2023. These funds have very generously been given to support Jamberoo students access all aspects of the curriculum. This may include, supporting families financially to assist students being able to attend excursions or camps and backing students to access educational resources to support their learning.

The school and the P&C very much appreciate the kind donation of the Minnamurra Lions Club. Please don’t hesitate to contact the school or the P&C this year if you believe your child/children will benefit from the funds.

Out of School Hours Care (OSHC)

The NSW Department of Education is continuing to finalise the tender process as quickly as possible, however the service will not be commencing in Term 1 2023.

The Department is aware of the importance of access to an OSHC service for our community and is working to complete the tender as soon as possible.  

Please be assured the school will provide the Jamberoo community with an update once more information becomes available.

Should you have any questions about this, you may wish to contact the Department at BASCreform@det.nsw.edu.au 

Uniform Policy

Our school uniform identifies our students as belonging to Jamberoo Public School.  All students are expected to wear the full school uniform during school hours, while travelling to and from school and when engaged in school activities out of school hours.  The wearing of school uniforms by students assists in:

·         defining an identity for the school within the community

·         developing students’ sense of belonging to the school community

·         promoting a sense of inclusiveness, non-discrimination and equal opportunity

·         reinforcing the perception of the school as an ordered and safe environment

·         increasing the personal safety of students and staff by allowing easier recognition of visitors making school clothing more affordable for families.

Students at Jamberoo Public School are expected to be in full school uniform every day.  The school colours are sky blue and royal blue and these colours are reflected in the uniform.  The school hat is also an integral part of the school’s Sun Safety program and all students should wear their school hat every day. 

We do not encourage the wearing of jewellery.  Studs may be worn if your child has pierced ears. Religious/cultural necklaces need to be worn under the collar of the school uniform. To reduce the risk of injury, all jewellery is to be removed prior to competition sport.

School uniforms can be purchased from the School Uniform Shop.  New and second-hand uniforms are available for purchase. The Uniform Shop is open every Wednesday morning from 8:45am – 9:15am.

Mr Chris Speirs

Principal

Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts (WHSPA) is a comprehensive, co-educational high school with a specialist performing arts focus. The school has the twin goals of “academic excellence” and “excellence in the performing arts”.   

WHSPA provides opportunities for gifted and talented Dance, Drama, Music and Visual Arts students to pursue a high quality performing and creative arts programs, whilst studying curriculum developed by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA). All courses lead to the award of the ROSA and Higher School Certificate. 

The school also offers extensive co-curricular company, ensemble, and studio art programs.

Year 7 Audition Applications OPEN now

• Term 1 2023 - Week 7 (Wednesday 8 March):       Expo Evening at WHSPA - all invited
• Term 1 2023 - Week 9 (Friday 24 March):              Year 7 Audition Applications CLOSE
• Term 2 2023 - Weeks 1-3:                                              Year 7 Auditions held

Link to audition information: Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts Audition Information (office.com)  (link to the electronic application is within).

In 2024, Kiama High School will be introducing an Extension class. This class will implement evidence-based procedures, programs and practices to develop skills and knowledge required for high performance in academic education. 

It will offer students the opportunity to work together on challenging learning or skills development that may not be offered in a mainstream school setting.

The KHS Extension class will focus on evidence-based development programs to extend students, including:

• Differentiation to meet the specific learning needs of high potential and gifted students

• Cluster grouping to help concentrate differentiation efforts and provide students with opportunities to interact with others of like-mind, interest and ability

• Enrichment and extra-curricular programs to increase the breadth and challenge of learning, as well as offer excellent opportunities for advanced learning.

• Advanced learning pathways, including acceleration, offering students learning experiences beyond their age-based competency.

• Curriculum compacting, in which some elements of the mainstream curriculum are ‘compacted’ so that they are covered in less time. The time saved can then be used for extension or enrichment activities.

Students’ achievement in the KHS Extension Class will be evaluated at the conclusion of each year to determine the suitability of their placement in this class for the following academic year.

Students can qualify for the Kiama High School Extension Class by completing an application, by sitting the AGAT (a general reasoning test, assessing students’ higher order thinking skills) and by submitting academic certificates. 

Note that the questions in the test do not require any prior knowledge from any particular content area. Students are assessed on their ability to reason, make logical deductions, identify connections and spot patterns. 

This test will be facilitated by Kiama High School in Term 1 for Year 6 students applying for entry to the 2024 Year 7 cohort and in Term 4 for Year 5 students applying for the 2025 Year 7 cohort.

Official registration for this test will open early Term 1, 2023. Information will be provided in your primary school newsletter early next year.

For any enquiries, please contact Catherine Glover, Principal,  kiama-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au