ENewsletter

From the Leadership

Term 4 has been a whirlwind of exciting learning experiences for us and looking back over the year we have had many successes that continue to make St Leonards the fabulous school that it is.

The Celebration Night was an outstanding success and how good was that last item? Our learners were absolutely brilliant on the night. A big thank you to Nikki and Ian, once again you were fabulous.

Staffing in 2020

This is an exciting, yet sad, time of year as we welcome and farewell staff, we know that they are our greatest assets. We farewell the following teachers: Tara Metzger, Ellie Bevan, Mandy George and Nikol Vidov and thank them for all they have done for us and our learners in 2019 and wish you all success in 2020.

We also farewell our fabulous casual SSO staff: Maria Beatty, Carole Roberts, Tair Vaidenfeld, Sue Smith, Heather Pronk, Courtney Schultz, Shannon Baker and Julieanne Whitehead. SSO contracts are finalised in the new year and we are hoping to get as many of them back as possible.

Our known appointments are:

Kathy Baker has been appointed as our Inclusive Education Coordinator for 2020

Natalie Baggio will be a Year 6 Teacher in 2020

Mei Lin has been appointed as our LOTE teacher, Chinese for 2020

Amanda Drinkwater has been appointed as a Year 4/5 Teacher for 2020

Jess Ogilvie has been appointed as a Year 1/2 Teacher for 2020

Tayla Kemp has been appointed as a Year 6 teacher for 2020

Liz Condous has been appointed as our Performing Arts Teacher for 2020

Kathleen Rollings has been appointed as our Year 3 Teacher for 2020

Hayley Phillips has been appointed as our Year 2/3 Teacher for 2020

Pastoral Care Worker

We regret to announce that St Leonards, along with a number of other schools, has missed out on funding through the school chaplaincy program. Karen Thorogood has been in this role for a number of years funded by the State Government in conjunction with the local churches. Karen has been a wonderful contributor to our school and we will miss her presence around in our community. We have our fingers crossed that something works out.

Finally, we would like to acknowledge those families who are leaving us for various reasons. We hope you leave with fond memories of the St Leonards community and the part it has played in your lives and wish you the best of luck for the future

Wishing you all a safe break and a happy new year. We’ll end with a quote that is quite profound...

"Parents, Tag, its your turn, kind regards the teachers".

Dave Henty-Smith, Principal

Jo Meredith, Deputy Principal

Kathy Baker, Inclusive Education Coordinator

Diary Dates

Week 1, 2020

Australia Day Public Holiday - Monday 27 January

School resumes - Tuesday 28 January

9:00 Welcome Assembly - Tuesday 28 January

School Banking - Tuesday 28 January

2:30pm Volunteer Workshop - Wednesday 29 January

A Term Planner is available as a link on the Skoolbag app. Please check it regularly as it is a live document that updates as items are added.

Save the Date

Term 1 2020 starts Tuesday 28 January

Hats on for Term 1

Notices

Finance

The Governing Council approved the 2020 Materials and Services charges of $360 (an increase of $10.00 from 2019) at the meeting held on Tuesday 29 October 2019. An early bird discount of 5% will be given for fees paid by the end of the third week of Term 1 2020, Friday 14 February.

The Governing Council also reviewed the $50 Excursion/Incursion Levy and agreed to continue the levy in 2020. Where classes have unused 2019 levy monies, a credit will be placed on the system for parents to apply against next year’s levy.

Materials and Services Charge 2020 Parent Poll

Thank you to all parents who responded to the polling letter and returned their voting slips by Thursday 28 November 2019. Fifty nine families responded and the results are as follows:

54 agreed

5 disagreed

Therefore, as per Department for Education requirements, due to the majority of families who responded voting in favour of the higher amount, the Materials and Services charge of $360 will become the legally recoverable amount in the event of non-payment.

School Card

School card application forms will be sent home early next year to families who were eligible this year. If you believe that you are eligible for school card, please request a form from the Office or complete the process online.

Victoria Sierros, Finance Manager

Headspace

We understand the holidays can be a difficult and lonely time for some, and as such, we want to encourage you to look after yourself and your families over the break. I have included the following link https://headspace.org.au/friends-and-family/keeping-healthy-over-the-holidays/?stage=Live to provide information for looking after your young person during the school holidays.

Casual Day Tomorrow

Friday 13 December

Gold Coin Donation

Raising funds to buy consumable materials for recess and lunch time clubs.

Please wear appropriate sun smart clothing and appropriate footwear ( no tank tops, spaghetti straps or thongs/flipfops)

End of Year Assembly

If you can make it, please come along to our end of year assembly in the hall at 9:00am.

As a special treat we have organised a coffee van to be here as well.

Lost Property

The lost property cabinet is currently overflowing with lost jackets, hats, lunch boxes and drink bottles. If you have lost any items during the term please pop by and see if any are your missing items.

The lost property cabinet is located in the hallway near the Cash Office and Uniform Shop.

2020 After School Sport

This term in PE we have been learning about diamond games - Teeball, Softball and Baseball. Many of the students have had a blast playing Teeball and have asked about the school teams.

Teeball is one of our summer sports, with the season running as a split season in Term 1 and Term 4. It is for Reception to Year 5 and is played Saturday mornings at 9:00am-10:00am (Rec-2) or 10:00am-11:00am (Yr 3-5).

Our Summer Sport forms will be coming home in the first week back of school and will have a quick turn around to enable us to nominate teams on time. Please start chatting to your child about St Leonards School Sport options for 2020 - another summer school sport option is Volleyball, which is played on Friday evenings and is for Year 4 to 7 students.

Heidi Bevan, PE

Bottle Top Art

St Leonards Bottle Top Art Competition 2019 Remember the Igloo our Children’s University Students made in 2018? Well we saved all the lids and with the help of the community we have busily been collecting all year. ... We now think we finally have enough to launch stage 2 Bottle Top Art! We would like the community to be involved with the design and creation of the masterpiece created solely out of upcycled bottle tops and to be permanently displayed in the Quad. Some things you may like to consider…• Look at the colours available to use, these are boxed up in the Art room and consider the quantities we have available of each colour as you plan your design• Think about size, and the size of the bottle tops, it won’t be possible to have lots of little details on the finished piece. • The finished piece will be approximately 3 meters by 2 meters, landscape orientation• If you need inspiration there are heaps of designs online but please make sure your design is original• You may wish to team up with friends and create a design together Finished designs need to be submitted in colour on an A4 or A3 size. Received no later than the end of week 2 term 1 2020. Designs can be emailed to the address below or placed in class boxes labelled on the back, your name, room number and a brief description. Competition is open to all the St Leonards community, and entries must be submitted by Friday 31 January 2020. Any questions please email heather.pronk858@schools.sa.edu.au. Happy Planning!

What's Been Happening at St Leonards

Christmas Card Competition

Matt Cowdrey MP held a Christmas card competition this year that was open to Year 3 students in the local area. He received over 100 entries and Miller S from Room 3 was lucky enough to have his design chosen.

Matt said he chose the design because of the Australian feel Miller drew. Well done Miller!

Kathleen Rollings, Room 3

RSL Visit

On Wednesday 11 December two representatives from the Glenelg/Plympton RSL (Tich Tyson and Bill Hignett) visited our school. Rooms 5, 6, 11A and 11B who had previously attended the ceremony at Mosely Square were invited to the school hall. The RSL members wanted to donate some of the books that had been laid instead of wreaths at the Memorial on Remembrance Day. They also told the students a little of their war experiences in Vietnam and our learners asked some thoughtful questions.

The books donated to our library are King Matt, Diary of Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball, The Tiny Star and Excuse Me, Can I Tell You Something?

Lesley Blyth, Room 6

Volunteers Afternoon Tea

Last Tuesday we celebrated our wonderful volunteers by inviting them to share an afternoon tea with our Ambassadors. They left with some homemade thank you gifts, beautiful soap wrapped with lavender from the school garden and some fingerprint cards made by our Children’s University students.

A small token of our thanks and appreciation.

Celebration Night

Karen's Corner

Hi Everyone,

Well hasn’t it come around quickly? The final newsletter for 2019 … it’s hard to believe we’re here already!

By now, if your child/children are still going to be attending St. Leonards Primary School next year, you will no doubt have found out their teachers for 2020! I just want to talk briefly about the possible emotions you might be feeling. Having said that, some for some of you and your family, this might be a final goodbye as your children move onto High school or a new chapter and adventure at a new Primary school. There are so many feelings and emotions as 2019 draws to a close … there might be excitement, trepidation, uncertainty, anxiety, celebration, happiness, sadness to mention just a few. Whatever the future looks like for you and your family, I would just like to say, everything will ultimately be ok. Any new adventure might not be completely smooth, but that’s actually part of the adventure itself. How we react will, to a large extent, have a great impact on our children and therefore they will take your lead and quite possibly, follow accordingly.

Taking a positive view on things generally but particularly now (whilst keeping it authentic and ‘real’) is really important. Often and particularly during times of great change … our children look to us for our reactions and how we ‘cope’ with changes in circumstances and situations.

If you are struggling with this or any process, please reach out to someone who may be able to help with strategies and way to cope with change … perhaps a trusted friend or confidante or if necessary, your GP (to get a referral to seek guidance from a counsellor or psychologist) any of whom will be in a great professional capacity to assist you to find the best coping skills for your individual situation.

Whatever 2020 brings for you and your family, may it be a time filled with hope, understanding, compassion and above all, love. Wishing you all a very Happy and safe Christmas and New Year, please take care if you’re travelling over the holiday period.

On a personal note, I would just like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of you … students, families and staff members, for your care, support and love during my time here at St. Leonards in my role as Pastoral Care worker. It has been the most amazing 3 years, getting to know you all and where possible, walking alongside you all, it has truly been an absolute privilege and an honour.

Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control due to lack of funding, my role at school will no longer be continuing. I am sad beyond words, but I look to the future with hope and faith, that things will work out as God has intended. Thank you to everyone for the amazing time spent here at St. Leonards … particularly I want to thank Dave Henty Smith our fearless and wonderful leader for believing in the role and supporting me during my time here!

It has been an absolute pleasure and privilege … thank you everyone! As a parent here at St. Leonards, I’ll hopefully see you around school in the future … it’s never really goodbye, is it?!

With a grateful and full heart,

Karen xx

Community Notices

School Holidays

YMCA

Marion Tennis Club

Grasshopper Soccer

St Leonards Primary School

Newsletter 22, 12 December 2019