Alawa Primary School Newsletter

Hello everyone,

Welcome to Week 9.

Naplan: Our NAPLAN practice tests took place over the last two weeks and things ran very smoothly. The children in Years 3 and 5 had practise using the various tools to complete questions and carry out expected tasks. They now know what to expect and realise that they don’t need to worry and it is just about doing their best. Our teachers have been able to determine some focus areas for technology and learning to support students preparation in the class for the more formalised assessments in May. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch with me.

Attendance: Regular attendance at school is crucial in enabling each child to be successful. It is also really important for students to be on time as children will miss out on key learning. Please ensure you contact the school if your child is going to be away or late.

As we are all aware attendance has been impacted by COVID this term. With the support of our council we have decided that we will not be having a big attendance reward this term. We will still acknowledge great attendance within our classes and will finish our Term with our sausage special which will be available at the canteen on the last Thursday. We will also be having an extra big Harmony day celebration on the last day. Please see flyer for more information.

We have a few new faces lately as we have had to call in some terrific extra helpers to support our classes due to staff who have had COVID. Despite this the students have adjusted quite well to these changes throughout their day. I have certainly been able to spend more time in the classes with the children. Some of the children are very enthusiastic in letting me know the routines of the classroom which is great.

Gen Donohue [Assistant Principal]

Muster is held at Alawa after each recess and lunch break - this gives us an opportunity for everyone to settle from playtime, share any celebrations and work on consistency of messages and expectation.

Each week we allocate class points during Muster time recognizing those students who were ready and waiting to go back to class calmly and quietly after break times. The winning class from each 3 weeks will receive ice-blocks from Ms Cartwright and get to choose 5 songs that will play before our bells for the following 3 weeks.

The class with the most points in Week 8 of Term 1 was....Year 5/6 Henderson with 128 points!!!

Students at Alawa receive raffle tickets [house points] for their attitude and behaviour in the playground and out the front of the school at the end of the day. These are then counted on a Friday along with the points for students in full uniform, wearing house shirts etc.  At the end of each term we also include the points earnt through the recycling project and water bottle checks.

In Week 8 of Term 1 Finnis was ahead of Goyder and Manton with 4057 points!!! 

In the lead for the year...Finnis with 18413 points!!!

So far this term we have been to Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, and China. The last few weeks have seen us travel to Vietnam and Japan on our food tour of the world. 

While in Vietnam we learnt how to make a Bun bowl (noodle bowl) or rice paper rolls with lemongrass chicken, fresh salad and herbs. We tried some different sauces to go with them.

Japan was great, fun learning how to make sushi rolls and we had a try of wasabi! 

In the last 2 weeks of term we will make some Asian desserts followed by a challenge.

The lemongrass chicken was very popular and I have included the recipe below. It can also be frozen in the marinade for an easy meal later on.

Lemongrass chicken - from Recipe Tin Eats

 CHICKEN AND MARINADE

▢600g chicken 

▢1 stalk lemongrass , white part only, bruised them sliced into pieces easy to pick out later 

▢2 garlic cloves , finely chopped or minced

▢2 tbsp lime juice

▢2 tbsp fish sauce 

▢1 tbsp soy 

Being in the Defence community we often hear about services or organisations that are available to us but sometimes we are not certain on what they organisations actually do, what services they provide or if we are eligible. One of those organisations available here in the NT is Soldier On.

The Soldier On Pathways Program enables veterans and their families to secure their future careers, in collaboration with Pledge companies and Education partners. Pathways staff, support veterans and their family members throughout their career transition from the Australian Defence Force. They can provide practical employment and education support, enabling you to secure long-term meaningful employment.

If you are interested in the services that Soldier On provides or would like more information here are the links to their pages.

More information: https://pathways.soldieron.org.au/

Another organisation that the Defence community have access to is Open Arms. Open Arms provides 24 hour free and confidential counselling and support services. Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling (formerly VVCS) is Australia’s leading provider of high quality mental health assessment and clinical counselling services for Australian veterans and their families. The amazing thing about Open Arms is their eligibility criteria. Eligibility incorporates anyone who has served a day in the Australian Defence Force and extends to their families. It includes current serving members, personnel transitioning to civilian life, ex-serving members, partners and children of serving and ex-serving members, ex-partners who are co-parenting and Reservists with one day continuous full time service or hazardous service. If you have queries about your eligibility please come and see me or give Open Arms a call on 1800 011 046.

Katie Wedel [Defence School Mentor]

Our Mission - is to provide the Alawa School community with delicious healthy meals and snacks and to create meaningful links to our kitchen garden program.

Cafe Specials Weeks 6 - 10

LUNCHTIME SPECIALS:

Available every day lunch only:

- mini beef burgers  $3.50

- spaghetti bolognaise small serve $3.50 or large serve $5.50 /Gluten Free Spaghetti $6.50

Wednesday - Homemade Pizza - Large size $5.50

Thursday – Chicken rice paper rolls – Large size $5.50, Small $3.50

 Friday – Curried sausages and rice- Large size $5.50, Small $3.50

A reminder that our school Cafe is open Wednesday to Friday ONLY. Closed on Monday and Tuesdays. 

Order online at www.quickcliq.com.au

“For 45 minutes to an hour after, it's just terrible. They're throwing fits. It's hard to get them off of it. It's crazy,” said Kate, about the aftermath of when her son, a sixth grader, has to stop playing video games. And their family doesn't have a gaming system, nor does her son have a personal smartphone. “We’re not in the trenches yet.”

Many parents, however, identify themselves as deep in the trenches of navigating screen time. With social distancing, stay-at-home orders and remote learning during the pandemic, many caregivers allowed more screen time than usual. Teenagers’ non-school screen time doubled during COVID, and now many caregivers and parents are afraid their kid’s screen time has gone overboard.

In her book “Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence,” Dr. Anna Lembke makes the case for how technology, with its promise of nonstop engagement and flashing lights, can be addictive. And while addiction may make one think of hard drugs or alcohol, activities like video games, social media apps, and sites like YouTube can also become unhealthy addictions. The professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine said tech addiction can have consequences such as low mood, irregular sleep, attention problems, increased anxiety and poor academic performance.

For further reading check out this weblink and listen to the Podcast:

Does my kid have a Tech Addiction?