Holbrook Public School

The term is certainly flying by, and our school is such a fantastic place to be. All classrooms are busy, productive and are real learning centres. Every morning I am greeted by smiles, and happy chats, as I catch up with so many wonderful kids. It is exciting to be a part of such an enthusiastic school.

Armed with bags and gloves, all students were involved in our Clean Up Australia Day. There was a gold coin donation for dressing in green so that Holbrook Public could help support Clean Up Australia to create a cleaner environment for everyone.

Friday was an exciting day for us all – we were finally able to meet together, in our hall, for an assembly, as cohort mixing is now possible. Congratulations to Year 4/5 for conducting the assembly so capably. It was a real celebration of achievements, and for many of our younger students, it was the first time they had attended an assembly of this nature.

While visitors are now allowed back on school sites regardless of their vaccination status, we ask that all visitors follow our usual sign-in and sign-out process and observe COVID-smart measures such as continued good hand hygiene practices.

With the easing of restrictions, teachers can now offer our students a broader range of experiences. Recorder practise is now up and running, with dance and choir beginning soon. Chess and debating are also something that we are looking forward to reintroducing. Remember to encourage your kids to be a part of the Premier’s Reading Challenge.

Holbrook Public School continues to excel on the sporting field. We have many representatives taking part in a wide range of activities. We have a large squad of swimmers representing our school in Leeton at Riverina level. A huge thank you to Margot Pitzen for coaching our swimmers. Margot has been called our ‘secret weapon’! Teams are also preparing for AFL, rugby, netball and cricket. The cross country is fast approaching, with kids already training and preparing themselves for this event.

You will have noticed the fence being dismantled around the school ground. This construction has not interrupted how we learn and play at all. The fence is a requirement of the Department, and the contractors are aware of trying, as much as possible, to maintain the aesthetic of our school. Safety is a top priority.

Thanks to our very hardworking P&C, who are busy planning an Outdoor Cinema Evening. Much preparation is already underway, and there will be information to follow over the coming weeks. The construction of new playground equipment for Years 3-6 will commence soon. These dedicated parents have spent many hours preparing for this to begin on 21 March.

Finally, Miss Lavis is taking some hard-earned Long Service Leave to travel to, of all places, Antarctica. (No, Miss Hemphill, you cannot have penguins as school pets!). She will return for the last week of Term 1. We will miss Chrissy immensely, as she organises such a vast number of school activities. I will miss her expertise using the computer, but I’m sure she will not miss my demanding that she fix something I have messed up! Enjoy your break, Chrissy.

Kate Wedgwood
Acting Principal

 The Premier and Minister for Education have announced changes to school settings for the remainder of Term 1. These updated settings were developed in close consultation with NSW Health and key stakeholders to ensure we continue to keep our schools open for learning while keeping up with changing community settings.

Parents/carers are asked to continue their current pick up and drop off practices in relation to the location where you meet your child/ren. It is important to keep these routines so that students can confidently navigate their way to and from school at busy times.

The updated settings include:

• On Monday, 28 February, we moved to symptomatic testing. Tests are to be used at your discretion, such as if your child is symptomatic or there are cases in their stage/cohort. Our school provided each student and staff member with 8 tests. Beyond that, students and staff can access PCR tests or buy their own rapid antigen tests as these are now readily available and accessible in the community.

• From Monday, 7 March, masks are no longer mandatory for all staff. However, those who wish to continue to use them will be supported to do so.
• Workers and volunteers must meet double vaccination requirements, including:
• volunteers or staff operating uniform shops and canteen
• visitors supporting school operations and curriculum delivery
• allied health partners for the wellbeing of students
• university and TAFE students coming on school sites to complete their practicum or teacher training.

• From Monday, 28 February, visitors were allowed back on school sites regardless of their vaccination status. All visitors are asked to follow our usual sign-in and sign-out process.
• From Monday, 28 February, student cohorts can mix freely.
• We will continue to use the core layered COVID-smart measures for minimising risk when planning activities and events. We strongly encourage our students and their families to consider vaccination, including boosters when eligible.

Our school will continue to ensure our layered COVID-smart measures are in place, including vaccinations, maximising natural ventilation in learning spaces, continued good hand hygiene practices and enhanced cleaning.

Please support the Holbrook Public School P&C by donating to our annual Easter raffle. This is one of our biggest fundraisers of the year and we would appreciate your support by donating eggs and selling raffle tickets, (more tickets are available at the office).

Eggs, tickets and money can be left at the office.

The raffle will be pre-drawn on Wednesday, 6 April and the winners announced on Thursday, 7 April.

On Monday, 21 February, two of our students, Liam Mathewson and Ollie Cardile, attended the Riverina Zone Cricket trials in Deniliquin. Both boys have outstandingly acquitted themselves, and I am pleased to announce that Liam has gained selection in the Riverina team, which will compete at the NSW PSSA State Championships later this year. Fantastic effort, Liam! 

On Friday, 4 March, Holbrook Public School participated in the Schools Clean Up day as part of Clean Up Australia Day.

Each class was designated an area either inside the school grounds, on the boundary, or across the road at the Submarine Park. For thirty minutes, everyone worked hard to spot any rubbish, no matter how small. Wearing gloves, they carefully removed it, placing it either in a bag for waste or one for recyclables. Students also kept an eye out for disposable masks and tallied any they found. This information will be included in a research project conducted by Clean Up Australia Day to monitor the impact of COVID on the environment.

Furthermore, students embraced the opportunity to dress in green and contribute a gold coin donation to the cause. Thank you to our students for their enthusiasm and generosity. We raised $130, and the school looks beautiful. 

Schools were invited to enter a Schools Clean Up Day competition to go in the running to win a $2500, $1500, and $500 voucher for the school library. Schools had to show how students ‘do good’ for Schools Clean Up Day. Photos were collected of the significant clean-up efforts!

A big thank you to the students for bringing gloves from home, wearing green and donating a gold coin, and enthusiastically and cheerfully picking up as much rubbish as they could find!

Miss Hemphill and Miss Morgan
Clean Up Australia Day Co-ordinators

We really appreciate the outpouring of messages by those wanting to help by providing donations to our school. Unfortunately, unwanted donations often end up warehoused or in landfill, making clean-up operations more difficult and costly for our community.

Established organisations, like GIVIT, are working with local communities and us to manage offers of donated items, services and funds for people impacted by floods across many parts of NSW. Please visit GIVIT at https://www.givit.org.au/storms-and-flooding if you wish to donate.

Thank you for your support.

Each March and August, the P&C caters for Locke's Bull Sale. This is a fantastic opportunity for the P&C to raise funds for our school. 

Four ladies have very generously donated their time to cook the barbecue, but we are still in need of four slices or cakes. If baking is your thing, please leave your cake or slice at the school office on the morning of 9 March.

We very much appreciate any donations of baked goods.

This year, Holbrook Public School will participate in the annual World Down Syndrome Day to support individuals and families living with Down Syndrome. On Monday, 21 March, students and staff will wear their brightest coloured socks to support this cause. They are asked to bring a gold coin donation, which will go directly to Down Syndrome Australia.  

On this day, we are asked to consider ‘What does inclusion mean?’. Home classes will have some time to create their own definition, which they will share with the school. Photos and definitions will be published in the Week 9 newsletter. 

Thanks to everyone for supporting this great cause.  

Miss Hemphill 

It is that time of year again, to dust the cobwebs off your bike and helmet, and start practising for Ride2School Day! This year, Ride to School Day is on Friday, 25 March. Students are invited to ride their bike from Holbrook War Memorial Pool to school in the morning. Students will also enjoy an afternoon of bike riding games and activities.

If you have a spare bike at home that could be used by someone who does not have a bike or is unable to get it to school for Ride to School Day, please contact Miss Hemphill.

More information will be sent home in the coming weeks regarding this event.

Miss Hemphill and Mrs Biar
Ride2School Day Co-ordinators

Come along and enjoy a family evening under the stars. 

On the night there will be:

• A fabulous movie (TBA)
• Popcorn
• Slushies
• Fairy Floss
• Raffle prizes

More details to follow.

Last Thursday, our school played host to a microbat. Like most animals, bats can pass on diseases to humans, so some very calm and sensible students notified Mrs Wedgwood of our little visitor, who in turn, not so calmly asked Ms Mullins to relocate him. Mrs Wedgwood demonstrated some wild gesticulations and threatened that if 'the rodent' got tangled in her 'naturally red' hair, it would be a 'goner'. For his own protection, Ms Mullins quietly moved the bat to a more hospitable location within the school grounds.

Australia has over 60 different types of microbat, with the smallest weighing just 3 grams and the largest 150 grams. Most microbats are insectivorous and can be described as nature's 'pest control', feeding on flying insects like mosquitoes, flying termites, midges, beetles and lawn grub moths etc. These nocturnal flying mammals can eat up to 40% of their body weight in one night during their summer and autumn feeding frenzy. Once winter comes, they will go into a state of mini hibernation called torpor, roosting in tree hollows or our rooves and wall cavities until their food source returns in spring.

Microbats have very poor eyesight (hence their small eyes) but excellent hearing (hence their big ears) that allows them to sense insects flying by. To 'sense' insects, they produce a sound and ‘listen’ for it as it bounces back from surrounding objects. The time the sound takes to travel back to them tells the bat how close the object is. How clever is that?

Did you know that microbats are found worldwide except in Antarctica and the Arctic?

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