Holbrook Public School

Over the past few weeks, Holbrook Public School has been involved in numerous extracurricular activities including debating, chess competitions, recorder rehearsals, netball matches, cross country, and rugby gala days. These activities do not happen without the support of teachers and parents, so, a big thank you to all who have helped to provide these learning experiences for our students.

I have also been pleased to hear lovely comments from teachers, parents, and other school staff about our students' excellent behaviour, manners, and sportsmanship. We have very high expectations of our students and staff at Holbrook Public School. It is great that others are noticing this outside of our school community. Well done!

Student reports

Student reports will be going home to families on Wednesday, 29 June (Week 10), and we will be conducting parent/teacher interviews in Term 3. Please stay tuned for more information regarding these interviews early next term.

School visitors

This week we have the pleasure of hosting Miles and Stanley, the cousins of Will and Fergus Glass. They are visiting Australia from Switzerland and have been travelling around Australia. We will be showing them around Holbrook Public School and sharing what it is like to attend school in Australia or, as the students told them, ‘The best school in Australia’. This experience will also allow our students to learn about school and life in another country.

New students

We have two new students starting at Holbrook Public School this week, Ada in Year 4 and Archer in Year 2. Our students have been very welcoming, and we hope Ada, Archer, and their families have a great start and enjoy their time at Holbrook Public School.

Staff Professional Learning

Mrs Mullavey and Ms Mullins have completed online training sessions to support using SENTRAL, a program to help our school administration and make things more effective for our staff.

Miss Hemphill attended the Learning and Support Conference in Albury. She built connections between other schools and support services in the student wellbeing and learning support area to support staff and students at Holbrook Public School.

Sport

Good luck to the Knockout netball team, who will be playing Lavington Public School in the next round of the competition. In talking to Mr Fisher, he has been doing his homework and planning an all-out attack to try and make up for his loss in the knockout cricket earlier this year. I am sure Mrs Biar and the girls will give it 100% effort this week.

Riverina Cross Country

Well done to all the students who braved the cold and muddy conditions to compete at the Riverina Cross Country Carnival last week in Gundagai. Congratulations to Ollie Cardile for winning his race and being selected in the Riverina Cross Country team to compete in Sydney next term. Congratulations to Sophie Burey and Henry Beavis, who are reserves for the team.

End of Term

Term 2 will finish on Friday, 1 July. To complete the term, we will be running Footy Colours Day and rugby clinics on Monday, 27 July, and NAIDOC activities on Friday, 1 July.

I hope you have an enjoyable break and get to spend some time reconnecting with family and friends during the holiday.  Stay safe and warm!

 Louise Purss-Semple

Principal

On Wednesday, 15 June, 16 students represented Holbrook at the Primary Schools Chess Competition at Thurgoona Public School in Albury. We had four teams of four students, and each student played seven games throughout the day. The focus of our chess players was exceptional, and their positive attitude towards their opponents and the feedback delivered to them by the organisers was commendable. We had three students who were undefeated, including Geordie Geddes, Jonty Ingle and Jye Livermore. In the 1st Division, our Holbrook A team came 3rd. In the 2nd Division, Holbrook D came equal 2nd, and Holbrook C came 3rd. It was wonderful to have so many parent and grandparent spectators in attendance. A special thank you goes to Tony Geddes for coaching our students leading up to the event and for his enthusiastic support on the day. All had a fantastic day! Well done to the Holbrook Chess Team!

The Premier’s Reading Challenge is well underway! And now, in this cold wintry weather, it’s a perfect time to encourage our students to sit down and read a book. Has your child started reading? There are plenty of books in the library that our students can read. Come and have a look in the tubs that have books that are listed for the Premier’s Reading Challenge. Let’s see who can read enough books to complete the Reading Challenge!

Christine Biar

On Friday, 1 July, students will create and participate in Indigenous activities in class. These will include art, stories and symbols from the Wiradjuri area. An opportunity will be provided for students to share all their fantastic work across our school community.  

In the afternoon, students will be participating in traditional Aboriginal games during our sports session. 

Students are welcome to wear the colours of the Aboriginal flag on the day – red, yellow and black. 

Mrs McEwan and Mrs Henderson

Please have a look through the lost property boxes outside the office door. We will donate unclaimed items to either the Op Shop or our second-hand uniform shop on the last day of term.

Help your kids stay safe by learning about the benefits and risks of online gaming.

This webinar is designed for parents and carers of young people aged 8 to 13.

It will cover:

• the games young people are using and how they are engaging with them
• the benefits of gaming and how to mitigate the risks
• practical strategies to use at home and where to find help and support if things go wrong.

Term 2 dates (Australian Eastern Daylight Time)

Thursday, 9 June, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.

Friday, 17 June, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.

Tuesday, 21 June, 7:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Register now

Our COVID-smart settings in Term 2 have been developed in consultation with NSW Health and are aligned with the NSW Government's general community settings.

Many of our existing COVID-smart measures continue into Term 2, including:

• rapid antigen testing for symptomatic students and staff
• vaccinations – including booster shots (from 3 months after your child's primary COVID-19 dose), are encouraged for all eligible students and their families.
• ventilation
• good hygiene practices
• enhanced cleaning.

What’s new in Term 2?:

• Change to close contact isolation requirements – The NSW Premier has announced changes to requirements for close contacts, which means that from Week 1 of Term 2, students and staff who are identified as close contacts will be able to attend school with certain risk mitigations in place. 
• Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) – the department will continue to supply to students and staff in Term 2 to support symptomatic testing and testing of close contacts returning to school. 
• Masks – particularly a new recommendation from NSW Health for people who have recently recovered from COVID-19 to wear a mas for an additional  three days following their 7-day isolation period (from days 8-10).
• Responding to local COVID-19 conditions – outlining the temporary reintroduction of some additional COVID-smart settings if local conditions require it. 
• Ventilation – how we maximise natural ventilation in classrooms and learning spaces while balancing thermal comfort during the cooler months. 
• Reducing the risk of illness this winter – general advice from NSW Health to protect our school community as we head into winter. 

Thank you again for your ongoing support.

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