Henley Beach Primary School Newsletter

Pupil Free Day

On Monday staff spent the day focusing on curriculum planning and reviewing student achievement information. Effective curriculum planning and implementation is an integral component of student learning and also connects with our school improvement goals in reading and mathematics. Staff at Henley Beach engage in various layers of curriculum planning, including: whole school, year level and teacher level. Strengthening our capacity to effectively sequence student learning across the school is a key action within our school improvement plan and on the pupil free day, staff worked with curriculum consultant Jo Meredith to reflect on our current practice in this area along with identifying opportunities for growth.

Tournament of the Minds and Festival of Music

This term 3 teams of students in the upper primary entered the SA Tournament of Minds (TOM) challenge. TOM is a program requiring teams of students to solve an open-ended challenge. During this term each of the teams worked on a presentation related to their problem-solving challenge, and on the weekend, at Adelaide High School, presented to a panel of judges. Each of our teams did very well and are to be commended on their efforts. One of the teams won their section and subsequently, have been invited to participate in the TOM international competition that will be held in Canberra during the upcoming school holidays. Thank you to Neil Wuttke for his work in supporting and preparing our students.

Next week the year 5 and 6 members of the school choir will be performing at the Festival Theatre. They will join with choir students from other schools to perform a variety of different songs that they have been learning since the beginning of the year. We wish these students all the best for next week.

All of our staff are committed to providing a variety of extra-curricular opportunities for our students and it is great to see them representing our school in such a positive manner.

National Day of Mourning - Public Holiday 

Thursday 22 September will be a one-off national public holiday to mark the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. This means schools, preschools and OSHC services will be closed, and any events, including excursions, will be rescheduled. We acknowledge this may cause some inconvenience and thank you for your flexibility. The National Day of Mourning coincides with the National Memorial Service in Australia where one minute’s silence will be observed at 11.00am. Further information about South Australian observances for the death of Her Majesty the Queen can be found at https://www.dpc.sa.gov.au/observances. 

PAT Assessments and NAPLAN

Over the coming weeks students in years 2-6  will be participating in two PAT assessments. The Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT) are an online reading comprehension and maths assessment aligned to the Australian Curriculum. The tests are administered each year and provide teachers with information about the learning strengths and needs of their students. Teachers spend time analysing student achievement at both the grade level, class and student level to help inform their planning.

2023 NAPLAN student achievement reports (for year 3 and 5) will be sent home to families next week.

Math Hub

Supporting your child with maths learning at home can be easier than you think. In the Measurement and Geometry strand of the Australian Curriculum, younger students start exploring length by comparing objects – which is bigger, smaller, longer, shorter and so on. They begin to measure using informal units such as hand spans, books, pencils etc and then move on to more formal units as they develop their understanding. Below are some tips for how you can support your child’s maths development in the area of length and area, courtesy of the NSW Education Dept.

· Use modelling dough to roll out two ‘snakes' of different lengths. Talk about one snake being ‘shorter' and the other ‘longer'.

· Roll two snakes that are the same length from modelling dough. Turn one into a zigzag or curved snake. Ask your child, ‘Which snake is longer?'

· Trace around your child's hand or foot onto a piece of card and cut it out. Use this to measure the length of things such as a table or their bed. Before you measure, encourage your child to guess how many ‘hands' long the bed is.

· Roll a toy car down a ramp and measure how many car lengths it travelled.

· Walk around objects and talk about how many steps it takes.

· Record your child's growth on a height chart.

· Compare the height of family members and talk about who is ‘taller' and ‘shorter'.

· Measure the area of a patio or tabletop using sheets of newspaper. Count how many sheets of paper were needed to completely cover the area.

· Spread out a sheet of newspaper on the floor. Count how many books will fit on top of it.

· When wrapping presents, talk about the size of the paper and if the paper will be wide and long enough.

· Talk about the size of a tablecloth needed to cover a table or covering for a car.

· Look at the area coverage shown on paint tins before painting. Talk about how many tins of paint you will need.

The Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC) is almost over for 2022. We have extended the deadline to Friday 16 September to allow for a few extra students to submit their forms. Please ensure that your child’s Reading Record is signed and submitted to their class teacher by this date so they can be included in the 2022 round.

We had three teams compete in the State Final of Tournament of Minds last Sunday at Adelaide High School.

Each team has been working together for the past five weeks to solve a complex challenge and present it to a panel of Judges. All three groups chose the Arts challenge where they needed to identify an unknown person by their body paint, jewelry and their clothing. They needed to show how they researched the information and discovered the hidden message.

Team 1. Alessia, Darshini, Bentley, James, Hayden, Keeley and Annika

Team 3. Jasmine, Aeowyn, Bella, Juliet, Marley and Connor

These two teams performed really well and finished in the top ten teams in a field of sixteen teams.

Team 2. Grace, Lulu, Ethan, Athan, Sophie, Luciana and Amelia

This team performed even better and won the section. They will now represent South Australia at the Tom International Final in Canberra during the second week of the Holidays.

We will have a BBQ on Tuesday 20 September and Tuesday 27 September to raise funds to support the students going to Canberra.

To support our TOM team participation in the upcoming competition in Canberra we are having a number of fundraisers over the next couple of weeks to contribute to the cost of their trip.

1. Tuesday 20 September Sausage Sizzle at lunch via Qkr under fundraising.

2. Tuesday 27 September Sausage Sizzle at lunch via Qkr under fundraising and Cake Bake (cash only) at recess.

If you would like to donate baked goods for this event please ring Nicole on  0422 903 557 by Friday 23 September.

3. If you would like to sponsor our team for as little or as much as you can afford, please contact the front office. The school will be happy to acknowledge supporting businesses in our newsletter. 

National Science Week

How exciting it was to have Nitro Nat visit Henley Beach Primary School on Wednesday 31st August. The moment Nat stepped into the gym with her sparkly boots we knew we were in for a dazzling show!

As the day went on Nat didn’t disappoint, with children smiling and moments of mouths open in awe of Nat’s Chemistry manoeuvres, some of which included chemical reactions, flames and smoky demonstrations that thankfully didn’t set off the fire alarm!!

Just as much as our eyes gleamed with excitement and our mouths giggled as we conversed with our friends, our scientific learning was at the forefront. “How did she do that?” “Why did that liquid change colour?” “Is a base and an alkaline the same?”

Students were fully engaged, minds had cogs turning as changing states of matter had us all captivated. Investigating the energy levels in lolly gummy bears by melting down potassium chlorate from solid to liquid resulted in igniting the potential energy level in the gummy bear. Children were able to make connections to the real world with their learning translating into understanding high energy bursts with the consumption of sugary foods.

Of course, it wouldn’t have been a spectacular science show without mess and broken glass. Many a good test tube was broken in the name of science and responsibly recycled after the burning of metal salts including strontium carbonate and copper chloride which we learned are used to colour fireworks. I think we can say the show went off with a bang amongst our vibrant students!

We discussed redox reactions and oxidation, again with the Year 6 students making links between rusting and oxidation. There was the favourite elephant’s toothpaste exceeding an amazing 270 degrees Celsius and super frozen carbon dioxide at minus 99 degrees Celsius. Perhaps parents, you might like to engage in a conversation about our Crazy, Colourful, Chemistry Show with your child to check in on “the seed” that has been planted, as science brings an inquisitive nature to us all.

At our school we were lucky enough to be able to have a super cool science show! Nitro Nat is a palaeontologist who studies rocks and fossils. Some of the things we learned are how to change the colour of fire with strong an weak chemicals that include alkaline and acid. One of the epic experiments was when she lit a gummy bear on fire, the fire was purple and pink, but the gummy was green! One other experiment was a cool water one where we learnt the real scientific way of saying H2O (water) which is dihydrogen monoxide. Nitro Nat made Elephant's toothpaste which is a weaker version of devils toothpaste. It exploded very high and was so cool to see! It has 35% poison and the devils toothpaste has 50% or above meaning Elephant's toothpaste is a great child friendly option. Nitro Nat performed various other experiments that were very colourful and exciting! Thank you Nitro Nat!

The letter formation group with SSO Robyn have been experimenting with different mediums to assist in their writing skills.

We have a number of items in lost property including prescription glasses, fitbits, watches, jewellery etc. If your child has lost an item at school please come to the front office to identify and collect.  

There are also unnamed school jumpers, lunch boxes, drink bottles etc. in the blue cupboard in the gym. Please check this space if you are missing any of these items.

Dear parents and carers

We are looking for volunteers who might be able to spare some time to support students in the primary years. Any amount of time that you can afford will be appreciated. If you are already volunteering in the JP area of the school and would like to volunteer with the primary years as well, that is also fine.

We are looking particularly at supporting students with reading, but if you have specific skills such as art and design or technology, that would be welcomed too.

All volunteers must have the following:

· A Department of Human Services Working with Children Check (WWCC).  Individuals can apply for their own WWCC at www.screening.sa.gov.au Go to – Applications Go to – Applications information for individuals Click on – Apply for a check Click on – Submit your own application for a check Once you begin your application you will receive an email to activate your application. When you have done this, you will receive a second email to set your password for your account. This password combined with your username, will allow you to begin your application. To complete your application you will need

•  Information about your full legal name and any names you may have, including previous names, maiden name, names you have legally changed, aliases and informal names (like nicknames)
• Your current address and 10 years of address history
•  If you are verifying your identity online (100-point check), you will need an Australian Drivers Licence or permit plus one of these:
•  Australian birth certificate or extract
• Australian citizenship certificate
• Australian passport

· Completion of the Responding to Risks of Harm, Abuse and Neglect – Education and Care (RRHAN-EC) on-line training www.plink.sa.edu.au/pages/signup.jsf

· A Department general volunteering induction training on-line www.plink.sa.edu.au/pages/signup.jsf

· Completion of a site induction.

Please contact Aileen Clancy on the following email dl.0177.info@schools.sa.edu.au with the words Primary Volunteers in the subject box. This is our first step in the process but if you are interested in supporting us, starting the WWCC, RRHAN, plink course and registering for an onsite induction early means that we will be able to make progress quickly.

Friday 16 September

Session 1: 8.00am - 8.30am

Session 2: 2.30pm - 3.00pm

Please signup to a session to complete your Volunteer Paperwork.

EcoWarriors – Recycling broken toys

The EcoWarriors have started another new recycling initiative. They are collecting old and broken toys. Terracycle have launched a FREE recycling program in partnership with Paw Patrol. The program accepts all brands of pre-loved toys that are not fit for rehoming such as plastic, metal, plush and electronic toys (with batteries removed).

Please encourage your children to have a sort through their toys at home and bring in any that are old and broken. The collection box will be located in the STEM area by the green library door. When the box is full we will send the toys to Terracycle for processing. If you have large quantities of old/broken toys you can take them to any BigW store who also host collection points. The plastics are shredded, melted and turned into pellets, then remolded into products like benches, picnic tables and even playgrounds.

To find out more please head to the Terracycle website where you can find details of this and many other excellent recycling programs https://www.terracycle.com/en-AU

Thank you for supporting our new initiative

‍Support our fundraising and enjoy 100s of everyday savings!

Entertainment is the easy-to-use App packed with incredible savings of up to 50% off and 2-for-1 offers, so you can save on takeaway, dining, shopping, groceries, gift cards, activities and more!

And what’s even better, 20% of every membership purchased goes to support Henley Beach Primary School!

Thanks for your support!

Excursions

Festival of Music Performance - 21 September

Yr3/4, Yr4 Maritime Excursion - moved to Monday 7 November

Reception Excursion - 29 September

Last day of term

Friday 30 September (2pm early dismissal)

Pupil Free Days 

Friday 25 November

Vacation Care Program is out. Some days are close to booking out. Contact  Andrew ASAP to secure your booking.