Tomorrow is school photo day. Please ensure that your child comes to school dressed in a clean, full summer uniform and brings their school photo envelope with them to give directly to the photographers.
Welcome to Week 3! Last week was our first full week back at school in 2021 for students in Years 1 to 6. Our new Kindergarten students began full time on Wednesday, after they had completed their one-on-one Best Start testing with the Kindergarten teacher, Miss Hemphill. All students, including Kindergarten, have settled quickly in readiness for the great year of learning and fun that we have ahead.
Intensive Learning Support Program
I am very excited about this year, as we will be able to provide an increase in learning support interventions to our students. As you know, we already introduced an extra teacher for Years 3-6 English and mathematics classes, and we have also employed Mrs Young in the role of Literacy Leader, which has allowed her to be off class during the morning session, working with teachers to improve their practice and delivering small group, explicit learning programs for students. Furthermore, Mrs Ross, and our School Learning Support Officers have been working with individual students to progress their learning. In addition to all of this, it has now been confirmed that our school will receive an extra $70,000 to employ additional teachers to support students after the disruption to learning that COVID-19 caused in 2020.
Elise Cheadle and Karen Plunkett, under the guidance of Mrs Wedgwood and Mrs Young, will withdraw small groups of students to support their literacy and numeracy development as part of the Intensive Learning Support Program.
Aurora College Virtual Opportunity Class
Congratulations once again to Abby Pincott and Justin Nisbet for their successful entry in to the Aurora College virtual Opportunity Class in 2021. For years, our nearest Opportunity Class, for gifted and high potential students, has been in Wagga Wagga, which hasn’t been accessible to many of our students. From this year onwards, students in Year 5 will be able to access the class from within our school, virtually. Later this year, Year 4 students will be able to sit a placement test to gain entry in 2022. A co-enrolment between Holbrook Public School and Aurora College will exist, whereby the students complete all of their mathematics, science and technology with Aurora College.
Welcome New Staff
A big welcome and thank you for a great start to the year to our newest members of staff, Tanya-Lee Slater (Relieving School Administration Manager), Felicity Morgan (3/4 home class teacher), Elise Cheadle and Karen Plunkett (Intensive Learning Support Program). Unfortunately, Danielle Liddell isn’t able to continue with us in her School Learning Support Officer role at this time. We thank her for her dedication and service in 2020.
Parent Information Sessions
We will be holding our Parent Information Sessions next week (Week 4) in the school library from 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Monday, 15 February: Years 3-6
Tuesday, 16 February: K- Year 2
It will be a great opportunity to meet new teachers and learn about the teaching and learning, wellbeing, communication, opportunities and excursions throughout the year. Parents are reminded to practice physical distancing, hygiene measures and follow the school’s COVID-19 Safety Plan whilst at this event.
Swimming Carnival
Once again, I apologise for the late notice that was provided to parents/carers allowing one spectator from each family to attend last week’s swimming carnival. I hope everyone received this message via SkoolBag. The Term 1 Guidelines for Schools is a lengthy, complex document that changes on a daily basis. Prior to any event being held either on or off site, it needs to be read and understood with compliance measures being put in place prior. Whilst I was disappointed I couldn’t attend, I was glad many parents had the opportunity and that the day was so successful.
New School Leaders
Congratulations to our School and House Leaders on a great start to 2021. This year, the School Leaders are Cooper Glass (Captain), Isaac Bennetts (Vice Captain), Jasmyn Lieschke (Prefect) and Eli Toll (Prefect). The House Leaders are:
Lawson – Nate Kenney (Captain) and Tom Black (Vice-Captain)
Mackellar – Georgie Cardile (Captain) and Laycii Freund (Vice-Captain)
Paterson – Ryder McKillop (Captain) and Aiden Walmsley (Vice-Captain)
Sporting Trials
Well done to Isaac, Ryder, Cooper and Liam for being selected to represent Holbrook Public School at the Southern Riverina cricket trials last week, and congratulations to Cooper Glass and Isaac Bennetts on being selected to represent the Southern Riverina. In breaking news, both Cooper and Isaac were also successful at the next level of the trials and will now travel to Deniliquin. Outstanding effort, boys!
P&C Meeting
It is now okay for P&C meetings to be held face-to-face at the school, although there will be a limit of 100 attendees. Our first meeting for the year will be on Wednesday, 10 February at 7:30 p.m. in the school library. All parents and carers are welcome. Parents are reminded to practice physical distancing, hygiene measures and follow the school’s COVID-19 Safety Plan whilst at this event.
School Sport
There are a plethora of sporting opportunities that are offered to students throughout the year. Many of these opportunities occur in Terms 1 and 2 due to the progressive nature of the events. Below is a brief description of these events.
Carnivals: There are three main school carnivals throughout the year: swimming, cross country and athletics. Students turning 8 and above are able to participate. Unless sickness, injury, a recognised religious holiday or exceptional/urgent family circumstance exists, all students should be in attendance. We encourage all of our students to have a go and barrack for their teammates. At the school carnival, students can qualify to attend the Zone (Southern Riverina) carnival. From there, students can qualify to compete at the Regional (Riverina) and State (NSW) carnivals.
Representative Trials: At Holbrook Public School, representative trials are open to students in Years 4, 5 and 6. These trials involve a progressive representative selection of the most outstanding players in each sport and area. This begins at the school level, where students can be chosen to attend the Southern Riverina trials. From there, students are selected to represent the Riverina and then the state. Some sports progress from the school level straight to Riverina, and some sports have an additional level where students need to qualify for Eastern Riverina or Western Riverina before going on to the Riverina level. Specific criteria from representative coaches is provided to guide selection at each level. Students competing or receiving coaching outside of school often have an advantage due to their experience, skills and confidence in the sport, although all students have the opportunity to trial at the school level.
PSSA Knockouts: Schools can choose to enter a team into state wide PSSA knockouts. These decisions are made on a yearly basis depending on: student interest/talent, student numbers, and the availability of staff willing and able to coach and manage the team. Selection in these teams at Holbrook Public School is open to students in Years 4, 5 and 6. This year, we have entered teams in netball and cricket. Trials are held at the school for these teams, based on the skills and attributes required to participate. These competitions are open, therefore larger schools tend to have mainly Year 5 and 6 students in their teams. In this competition, each school team stays together and progresses through the rounds until they are beaten, or are crowned as State Champions.
Gala Days: Many knockouts, gala days and round robins are offered throughout the year from various sporting organisations. These are chosen at the school’s discretion when staff are willing and able to coach and manage the team and when timing permits. It is not possible to participate in all of these events, as there are many other areas of the curriculum that need to be taught, as well as other scheduled school events. At times, there are specific Year 3 and 4 or Year 5 and 6 competitions. If they are ‘open’ tournaments, students from Years 4, 5 and 6 will have the opportunity to trial.
Assemblies
This term, we will be having whole school assemblies each fortnight again. However, at this stage, unfortunately, parents and carers will not be able to attend, as the Term 1 Guidelines for Schools state that no non-essential adults are allowed at the school or at school events, except for certain circumstances. For example, P&C Meetings, pre-organised parent/teacher meetings, to pick up a sick child, parent information sessions and some offsite events (such as a swimming carnival) at another venue.
Newsletters
Newsletters will again be available on SkoolBag and the school’s website on the Monday of each odd week throughout the term. If you have any great photos from school events that you’d be willing to share to promote our students and our school we’d appreciate you sending them to our school email address holbrook-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au
A hard copy parent friendly calendar will be sent home at the beginning of each term, and dates will be continually updated, on SkoolBag and the school website, as they are made available to us.
Grants
Our school will greatly benefit from two grants that have been successful over the holiday break.
The NSW Government has provided a one-off $5,000 grant for a Sustainable Garden Project, and our application for funding to deliver a Sports Court Upgrade project has been successful through the NSW Government’s co-contribution Regional Renewal Program, which will see a $40,000 development at the school.
If you have any concerns or issues regarding your child, at any time, please contact the home class teacher in the first instance. If a resolution cannot be found, then please contact the executive staff; K-2 Assistant Principal - Mrs Christel Pargeter, Years 3-6 Assistant Principal – Miss Chissy Lavis, or Assistant Principal, Wellbeing – Mrs Kate Wedgwood. Should your concerns not be resolved, my door is always open as well, and I’ll be happy to help.
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS): External Providers
As part of the NDIS, some parents/carers request that externally funded service providers attend our school setting to deliver specialist services, such as speech therapy and occupational therapy. If your child has an NDIS plan and you would like this to occur, there is a process that needs to be followed. This process needs to begin, or be renewed, at the start of each school year. Step 1 involves the parents/carers providing a written request to the school. Step 2 involves the parents/carers having a meeting with the principal to discuss the need, intended impact, alignment with the child’s Personalised Learning and Support Plan, requested delivery times and frequency, and why the child needs to access the service during school time. Decisions to allow external providers to deliver support at the school are made on a case-by-case basis and are at the principal’s discretion. Agreements are reviewed each year or as the school sees fit. A school’s core business is curriculum delivery and looking after the learning and wellbeing of each child. Therefore, the impact of such provisions need to be considered in order to serve the best interests of the child and ensure the school is meeting its curriculum delivery responsibilities. Making sure there are no gaps in the child’s learning is a priority. Step 3 if approved, the timing and frequency of external service delivery is to be negotiated with the principal. Less intrusive times, such as before school, during lunch, recess or Special Religious Education (SRE) times are preferable. At Holbrook Public School, we want to remove the obstacles preventing any child from receiving the support they need, but in doing so, we need to consider our own responsibilities as a school as well. Please note: requests from external providers (e.g. speech pathologists) will not be considered unless parents/carers have initiated contact and made a request.
Nathan Fisher
Principal
