Over the last few weeks, the students across K to 6 have been building their understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and the environment, history and achievements, through research investigations, art and music, games and literature activities. In addition, students will present a snapshot of their learning to their peers during morning assemblies to share their learning.
Welcome to Week 3, Term 3; Education Week - This year's theme is 'Lifelong Learners'. At this time of year, we would usually be celebrating education and learning with a school assembly, student performances, open classrooms, and a P&C barbecue. Unfortunately, for the second year in a row, due to restrictions on visitors to the school, this won’t be able to happen. Nonetheless, the importance of Education Week and an ongoing conversation in every classroom and household about continual improvement through learning, cannot be understated. Whether we have a dream, aspiration, goal or challenge, learning is an enormous part of achieving our desired result. Coming to school each day is a great opportunity to develop our skills as a learner, so that we can go on to achieve amazing things at school and beyond. Learning really is a lifelong pursuit.
PSSA Netball Knockout - Congratulations to our senior girls’ netball team who played a hard fought quarter final against the Burrumbuttock Small Schools today at Burrumbuttock. It was 3-3 at half time, but our girls worked well as a team to eventually win 7-4. Terrific effort to the team! They are now off to play in a semi-final! Thanks to Mrs Biar and all of the parents for supporting the team with transport and umpiring! Apologies to Jasmine who wasn't there for the photo.
Whole School Performance - The script is complete, class teachers have chosen their songs and are planning their performances, and Year 6 have begun auditioning for their roles, but with Level 2 restrictions still in place and not looking like changing for some time, we have decided to postpone the Term 3 whole school performance until Term 4. This is due to us not being able to have non-essential visitors at the school, and students only being allowed to sing outdoors. Classes will continue working towards being ready to perform, with the strong hope that we’ll have that opportunity later in the year.
Smiling Mind Focus - In Week’s 2 and 3, our Smiling Mind focus is gratitude. Gratitude involves appreciating what is good in our lives, which compels us to pay this ‘goodness’ forward. At some recent professional learning with Headspace, we were encouraged to focus on three key questions at the end of each day:
1. What was the best thing that happened to me today?
2. Who am I most grateful for today, and why?
3. What am I looking forward to most about tomorrow?
Headspace suggested that these questions could become part of a family dinner discussion each day, or even be written on a post-it note on the bathroom mirror to remind us to reflect twice a day (i.e. when brushing our teeth).
Year 4 Opportunity Class Testing - The testing planned for 21 July has been deferred, with further details to be provided directly to the families who nominated their child. Please avail yourself to your email for the new date and location, as the school doesn’t receive the same notifications as families do.
New Playground Equipment Project - It was great to meet with the P&C (on site) and a representative from Adventure Plus Playgrounds (virtually) last week to go through a potential new playground equipment design. We are still awaiting approval for the expenditure from levels above my principal role, but it is great to see a strong plan unfolding. At this stage, the plan is to complete some restoration works on the existing K-2 equipment and add some new equipment for Years 3-6. The design will be discussed at this week’s P&C meeting.
P&C Meeting - Our next P&C meeting will be held in the school library at 7:30 p.m. this Wednesday, 28 July.
Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) - The NCCD is an annual collection of information about Australian school students with disability. The NCCD enables schools, education authorities and governments to better understand the needs of students with disability and how they can best be supported at school. The school’s Learning Support Team, in consultation with class teachers, has recently finalised the collection of data for 2021. Please refer to the link which will take you to a fact sheet for parents, guardians and carers:
2021 Phonics Check - This year it is mandatory for all Year 1 students in NSW department schools to take part in the Phonics Check. Holbrook Public School students will be undertaking the check during Term 3 in Weeks 4-6. The Year 1 Phonics Screening Check is a short assessment that tells teachers how students are progressing in phonics. Phonics is the understanding that there is a predictable relationship between phonemes (the spoken language) and graphemes (the letters that represent them in written language). The Check takes 5-7 minutes and is carried out by classroom teachers with each student individually. Mrs Young will be conducting the check and communicating to the classroom teachers. She will analyse the results and, if necessary, plan for any additional support that students might require through targeted teaching aligned with NSW English syllabus outcomes.
Concerns, Complaints and Compliments - We are committed to working with parents, carers, students and families to ensure all students are happy and thriving at school. If you have a suggestion, question, issue, complaint, feedback or compliment about any aspect of our school services, we’re keen to hear from you. We encourage people to first approach the school. If the issue is about a student attending our school, you can start by contacting the teacher, or assistant principal. Sometimes, the school principal or the Director Educational Leadership may be the best person to contact. If you aren’t sure who can help, school office staff can provide you with the correct contact details. The following Education NSW link provides further details to support you in these instances:
HPS 3-6 Premier’s Spelling Bee - Throughout the 3-6 Intensive Learning Support Program (ILSP) we have been focusing on developing an understanding of texts via sophisticated and unfamiliar vocabulary. We've explored the significant link between oral language, reading, writing and spelling which determine individuals' literacy success.
As a way of motivating collaborative learning, the HPS 3-6 Premier's Spelling Bee will be taking place this term. This is an informal competition which is designed to inspire our students to step outside their comfort zone and practise a growth mindset. A short quiz will be conducted in literacy groups, with the top three students being selected as finalists for the school-based competition to be held in Week 4, Tuesday, 3 August. All students across Years 3-6 will gather as the audience.
Should you wish to practise reading and spelling aloud with your child/ren at home, please feel free to refer to the lists provided in the link below. It’s important to remember that children learn best through authentic experiences, therefore its optimal to make explicit connections between new vocabulary with an experience which they can/have connected with. Engaging with ritualised reading aloud and noticing new spelling patterns within unfamiliar vocabulary is another quality way to develop your child/ren's vocabulary and spelling.
https://www.artsunit.nsw.edu.au/premiers-spelling-bee-2021
The password is: Spell21
The fire of literacy is created by the emotional sparks between a child, a book, and the person reading. It isn’t achieved by the book alone, nor by the child alone, nor by the adult who’s reading aloud – it’s the relationship winding between all three, bringing them together in easy harmony.
Mem Fox.
Nathan Fisher
Principal
