Parent-Teacher Interviews

The teachers are in the process now of finalising our students’ Semester 1 academic progress reports. I anticipate that we will be able to send these home for parents and carers to review in Week 9. Coupled with this, we are also preparing for Parent-Teacher Interviews to occur on Tuesday 28 June between 1:30-7:00pm. Parent-teacher interviews are a great opportunity to touch base with your child’s teacher about how they are progressing and to discuss any elements of their reports that you would like further information about. This year, we will be offering parents and carers the opportunity to select either a face-to-face interview or a phone interview whereby the teacher will phone parents at the scheduled time. We have elected not to use Zoom, simply because technology is not always as reliable as we would like it to be and if one interview is delayed for technical reasons, it may impact the starting time of every interview after that. Following feedback from both teachers and parents last year, we will be scheduling the interviews in 15-minute intervals (rather than 10) to allow a little more time for discussion with teachers. Where possible, the teachers will aim to wrap up around the 12–13-minute mark to ensure that we run to time. All interviews can be booked online using the School Interviews website. The event code that you will need is 2q28b. The online booking system will open on Tuesday 14 June at 7:00pm. Regardless of whether you select a face-to-face or phone interview, we really hope that you find this opportunity to connect with your child’s teacher/s beneficial.

Behaviour Outside of School

Mr Semmens the Stage 3 Assistant Principal and I have recently needed to address three separate student-related matters that have occurred outside of school hours, affecting members of the community and which have impacted upon the reputation of our school. We tell the students all the time, when they are out in the community and they are wearing our school uniform, they are representatives of our school. Members of the general public will form opinions about our school, and all of the members of our school, based on how we all act and behave in public. Disappointingly, in each of the three matters addressed recently, the students’ behaviour was not consistent with our expectations or school values.

When we teach our students about Respect, Responsibility, Courtesy, Truth and Personal Best – it is not just for school. We want these values to impact their lives both in and out of school. Our students by and large are wonderful ambassadors when they are at school and out in the community and I think our school has a good reputation in the community. Unfortunately, these three separate incidents have tarnished that reputation a little in the eyes of those impacted by them this week. For now, we would simply appreciate any support or assistance you can offer through reminding our students to live out our values in public and represent our school with pride. 

Have a great week.

David Holland

Congratulations to the following students who were selected as the Junior and Senior students of the week for their work in Week 7.

Parents and carers of students in Years 3-6 should have received a note last week with information about the Interrelate program. Interrelate is a program designed to support students and their families learn about their bodies, changes such as puberty and physical development in a supportive and respectful environment. Within the program there are 2 components:

·         After hours sessions for students to attend with parents or carers - Thursday 28 July

·         Student only sessions for Years 5 and 6 delivered at school - over 3 weeks in September

Although there is a cost to participate, we would strongly encourage and urge families to opt-in to both components of the program to give your child a solid grounding in matters of personal growth and development. If the cost is an obstacle for your child to participate, please contact Mr Holland to discuss options for financial assistance from the school. 

Star Struck 2022

Star Struck ‘Iconic’, a celebration of 30 years of Star Struck, is fast approaching. Our school is participating with a group of 32 students set to perform. There are 4 performances, a matinee and evening performance on both Friday 17 June and Saturday 18 June. Our students will be performing in the Friday evening and Saturday matinee performances. Tickets are on sale now through Ticketek. If you would like to purchase tickets, please visit: https://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=STARICON22 We wish all the students all the very best as they undertake the final rehearsals this week. 

Just a friendly reminder that tomorrow (Monday 13 June) is the Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday and therefore there is no school tomorrow. Enjoy your 3-day weekend!

Last Friday, the students in classes from Years 2-5 were invited to the hall for our band open day. It was an opportunity for all our students to hear and try a range of concert band instruments under the guidance of our band conductor Jeremy Borthwick.

Children that expressed an interest or showed some aptitude for a particular instrument, may have brought home a note outlining how families could explore their interest further. We are very keen to grow our band and welcome new members. If your child did not bring a note home, or you would simply like more information, please contact Mrs Saunders at school who coordinates our school band. 

5/6N has some very talented artists. These are some samples of their creative work.

3/4M have been learning about relationships and to be confident with who we are. We have discussed that everyone is different, everyone is unique and that that is fantastic. The class watched a short video on confidence and then had to design a poster to promote being confident, accepting who they are or being unique.

The world is a wonderful place because we are all different.

Last week we had our boys and girls play in a gala day. It was essentially a day to complete rounds 2 and 3 of the NSW PSSA Touch Football Knockout.

Both teams had a practice game to start, which both teams won. It was a good opportunity to get moving. Both teams had several players who knew how to play quite well, mixed with players who were not so experienced.

The second game for the girls was a little more difficult, against Wallsend. The girls tried their very best, however were defeated and knocked out of the draw. Lilly Stuart-Jurd was very encouraging of her players and constantly yelled support from the sideline.

The boys also had a tough match. At full time, it was 3 all. That required the boys to play a ‘drop off’ format, with the first to score taking the win. The boys played down to 3 players on each team, and we were eventually able to snatch a try. This pushed the boys into another match. This match was against Fern Bay. The boys took control of this game early and were eventually very convincing winners. Tyler, Jonathan and Nate combined very well to out step and out pace their opponents on many occasions.

The boys will now play the 4th round of the knockout. At this stage we do not know against who, or when that will be.

I would like to congratulate the teams as they were great ambassadors for our school. They worked well together, helped each other and were great ‘sports’ on the day. Also, a big thanks to all the parents who assisted with transport. A special thanks to Tyler’s dad who helped with running the boys team. This was greatly appreciated.

Great job Lambton touch footy players!

It all started when the 8 girls in the P.S.S.A Senior girls netball team met up at National Park netball court on Wednesday 1st June at 8.45 a.m. It was an extremely windy and bitterly cold day and all the girls were shivering, but luckily a good warm up made them nice and warm. Our first game was delayed until 10 a.m, and then it was time to play against Newcastle East Public School. We were all shakingly nervous and ready in our positions. Then the whistle blew, piercing our ears. Everyone played hard and strong for all four quarters, Unfortunately the final victory went to Newcastle East by only a few goals. After a well deserved break it was time to play Merewether Heights. The miserable wind was back, causing our poor shooters to miss a few goals. Devastatingly, we also lost to Merewether Heights….but that only made us more determined and ready to win against Carrington Public School. Fortunately we won and we were ecstatic. The score was 20 goals to 1. Overall the day was so much fun and very, very cold. The team was made up of Lilliah W, Kayla J, Ava P, Lucinda S, Sienna R, Grace R, Paige W and Layla R. and the coach was Mrs Buckingham.

By Lilliah W & Kayla J

Voluntary Contributions for 2022 were set at the beginning of the year at $25.00 per child with a maximum of $50.00 per family. Voluntary Contributions are put towards the purchase of additional class resources and arts and craft supplies to support student learning. Contributions are voluntary but are warmly received if your family can pay them.

Payment can be made via the Parent Online Portal (POP) System, by EFTPOS at the school office or by sending cash in an envelope with your child’s name, class and Voluntary Contribution written on the front of the envelope. Our sincere thanks to more than half of our families that have kindly made this contribution already, it is appreciated.

As the weather gets colder, please ensure you child is wearing the correct winter school uniform. Our Uniform Shop has limited supplies of green polar fleece jackets in smaller sizes which can be purchased via MySchoolConnect.  The recent cold snap has seen our 2nd hand Clothing Pool stocks depleted. If your child requires a jumper, jacket or long pants we encourage families to purchase a plain, unbranded garment that aligns with the current uniform from local retailers such as Big W, Best and Less, K-Mart, Target etc. Please note it is not acceptable for students to wear jumpers, jackets or long pants in other colours or styles to school. Please also ensure that all items of clothing are labelled with your child’s name, this will ensure your child’s uniform does not end up in lost property. 

Meal Deal - NAIDOC Week

LPS Eats are offering various lunch options to celebrate NAIDOC Week on Wednesday 29th June

Order forms will be sent home with all students on Tuesday with orders due back to the Canteen by 9:00 am Friday 24 June.

Please remember that if a member of your household tests positive to Covid-19, household contacts are not required to self-isolate for 7 days as they were previously. If your child has no symptoms and tests negative using a RAT in the morning (each day for 5 days) they may attend school. You must still notify us in this instance (a call to the office is sufficient). Additional RAT testing kits are available should families need more, please contact the office and we will send kits home with your child. 

This week's articles discusses how today's fast-paced digital environment is enabling cruelty in easier and anonymous ways. Technology is also making it hard for our kids to develop skills to delay gratification. exercising impulse control and self regulation is trickier because waiting is no longer required.  

Encouraging kids to be kind is essential in helping them avoid seeking instant gratification, ego-centric solutions, or being cruel. When people are empathic and kind they are more likely to experience better overall wellbeing, this is in part due to the helperʼs high, but also because they feel fulfilled and tend to have better quality relationships. Kindness is cool!  We hope you enjoy this week's article.