Holbrook Public School

Welcome to Week 5! - It was terrific to see so many Holbrook students on the weekend playing at the Rand Football and Netball Development Carnival. The U8s Holbrook team are all walking very tall around school today, after beating the Albury Tigers U8s team I was coaching in a thriller. The Holbrook team went on to play in the grand final, eventually finishing 2nd out of 12 teams. Well done, Holbrook! It has been great speaking to students in all of the other teams today as well. They have all been a bit puffed! 

Welcome Stephen Leitch - A big and warm welcome to Stephen Leitch who has today begun his final fourth-year university placement with Miss Lavis and her classes. It is always uplifting for the whole school community when we get the opportunity to support the next wave of teachers. Stephen has been extremely diligent in his preparations, and was here bright and early this morning in readiness for the journey. 

Core Values - As part of our school plan, we have been completing professional learning on positive education in an effort to create a planned and proactive approach to well-being. Surveys at the end of last year, and at the beginning of this year, have indicated that members of our school community only tend to have a shallow and superficial understanding of our school's values. As a staff, and with the wonderful support of Tanya (photography), Judith (design) and our marvelous school leaders (models), we have created a series of posters that include a definition, synonyms, I can statements, and aspects of visual literacy to help students more aptly understand our school values.

During lessons in class and morning assemblies, staff and students have been revisiting our 4Cs: Care, Courtesy, Consideration and Co-operation, which umbrella the school's values. 

There has been support from the P&C and school community for some slight changes to the school values in the future. We will continue to evaluate the relevance of our current 4C's and consult with the community, as required.

Student Well-being - As another proactive and positive initiative to monitor and better support our students, both in the playground and other learning spaces, the staff are implementing a new recording system, which is being trialed over the next few weeks. This system enables staff to record details of positive behaviour, rewarding students with our star cards and value awards. As well, incidences of negative behaviour, outlined on the Positive Behaviour Plan, are also recorded and followed up. This has come about due to staff identifying a lack of data in relation to behaviour at our school. It is important to note that there has been no great change in this space. It is the same system, but staff will be more diligent with their recording and analysis of positive and negative behaviours to support student well-being and learning. 

This new recording system has been clearly communicated to students, and should be seen as a plan to equip our students with a clear understanding of the high expectations at our school. It is our intention to support the students for success, and maintain a positive school culture and climate which is conducive to learning.

Emergency Evacuation Drill - Last week, we completed a successful evacuation drill. We are required to complete evacuation and lockdown drills each semester. We are now using the NSW Department of Education's new alert system which I understand would sound different to the community that surrounds us. Due to COVID last year, we weren't allowed to coordinate emergency drills, however, they are a regular feature of normal school operations. 

Henty High Jumpers - Good luck to our high jumpers who will travel to Henty this afternoon in an attempt to qualify for the Riverina Athletics Carnival. I hope that Nicola McDermott, our Australian high jumper who won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics has inspired you all! 

Riverina School Sports Association: Important Information - Riverina PSSA Athletics – Albury, Friday, 20 August - The Riverina School Sports Association is very pleased to be able to offer the opportunity of one spectator per competitor to attend the Athletics Championship in Albury. This request will allow the event to operate within current COVID protocols designed to ensure the health, well-being and safety of all involved. We ask that spectators wear masks and remain socially distanced after signing in with the QR code or manually when entering the venue. There will be a need to make better use of the Eastern side of the venue for spectating. The canteen will be operating, but please do not rely on this resource, students should bring with them adequate snacks, hydration and lunch. Event organisers will also be assisted if students only attend, where possible, for the events they are participating in. Information regarding where zones are to be seated will be provided prior to Friday, 20 August. Riverina School Sports Association will be covering the entry cost of all competitors.

APPAREL – This year souvenir apparel will be sold out of the Hockey clubrooms adjacent to the track to ensure we can adequately socially distance. The shop will open earlier than usual, approximately 8:00 a.m. The Riverina School Sports Association and the Riverina Executive have gone to great lengths to ensure athletes, staff, spectators and officials will be able to share a positive sporting experience in Albury. We ask that all involved respect this and adhere to any additional requests which may be made on the day.

Bullying - Bullying behaviour can happen in all social contexts within our community. Holbrook Public School has recently updated its anti-bullying plan, which includes further professional learning for staff, communication with parents and students.

What is Bullying?

Bullying is when someone with more power than you deliberately and repeatedly tries to upset or hurt you.

Types of Bullying

Bullying can happen in person or online. It can be obvious (overt) or hidden (covert).

Bullying might involve repeatedly:

• physically hurting someone,
• keeping someone out of a group (online or in person),
• saying mean or humiliating things, or spreading rumours or lies,
• sending nasty messages or inappropriate images online,
• tagging inappropriate images online.

A person can be bullied about many different things such as how they look, sound or speak; their background, religion, race or culture including being Aboriginal; if they have a disability; their sex; their size or body shape; their schoolwork, hobbies or achievements; or other ways they may be different.

What bullying is not

Bullying is not the same as conflict or disliking someone – even though these things may sometimes lead to bullying.

If someone teases or behaves in a mean or aggressive way once, it isn't bullying. It is not okay, but it isn’t bullying. A fight or disagreement between friends isn't bullying.

Why Bullying happens

Bullying can happen for many reasons. People may bully others because they:

• are angry or unhappy and take it out on others,
• may have been bullied themselves,
• think it will make them popular or cool,
• are trying to fit in with a group,
• struggle with school work,
• have problems out of school,
• don't respect people who are different from them,
• think it is funny,
• copy what they have seen others do before.

People who persistently bully others may do it to feel stronger and make other people like them. They may not see anything wrong with bullying.

Bullying is bad for everyone. People who are bullied need help to feel safe. People who bully others need help to change.

Learn more about bullying at Bullying, No Way!

Get help for bullying

If you’re being bullied or you see others being bullied, get help.

• Tell someone – a parent or carer, a relative, an adult friend, a teacher or the school’s counsellor or psychologist. Ask for advice.
• If you want to talk to someone other than the school or your family, contact Kids Helpline. You can call for free on 1800 55 1800.

We are encouraging all students at Holbrook Public School to be 'upstanders', not bystanders. Stand up and say "no". Stand up for what is right. Stand up for those who have difficulty standing up for themselves.

Nathan Fisher

Principal

Congratulations to the Holbrook Debating Team for their outstanding teamwork to deliver succinct arguments in their fourth and final debate. Also, thank you to our timekeepers and chairpersons, Georgie and Abigail who ensured the smooth running of the event. The topic for the debate was ‘That we should never keep score in sports that involve primary kids’ and Holbrook passionately argued the negative. Jess, Tayleah, Charlotte and Isaac offered powerful arguments, however, the Albury team ultimately convinced the adjudicator and won the debate. Our team should be extremely proud of their growth during this competition as they have all keenly applied feedback after each debate and have flourished in their public speaking skills. I wish them all the best in their future endeavours as debaters.

Miss Morgan
Debating Co-ordinator

The focus for our Smiling Mind sessions in Weeks 5 and 6 is Setting Goals, for students from Kindergarten to Year 6. In the 'Learn' session, students will explore a BIG question and how to set goals for themselves. The guided relaxation session uses the notion of making a wish to practise goal setting skills. Finally, students have the opportunity to debrief and reflect in their journals. Smiling Mind can be revisited at home, and is a useful tool to develop social and emotional learning. It is a great idea to utilise the free programs by installing the Smiling Mind app.

Christel Pargeter and Ashleigh Hemphill
Smiling Mind Champions

This year’s theme is ‘Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds’.

Our Book Week Parade and Book Fair will be held on Wednesday, 25 August. Students are invited to dress up as their favourite book character, as well as purchase books from the book fair. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 restrictions, visitors will not be permitted on site.

We are encouraging students to be creative and try to make their own costumes.

We are looking forward to being immersed in books and reading!

Christine Biar
Book Week co-ordinator

The Premier's Reading Challenge is fast approaching its closing date of 3 September. Well done to those students who have already completed the Challenge., but if you haven't, there is still time to get those books read!

Christine BiarPremier’s Reading Challenge Co-ordinator

Our uniform shop is open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. If you are unable to attend at these times, please feel free to email your order to holbrook-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au and we will fill it at our earliest convenience.

Payments can be made by cash, cheque, EFTPOS or online, by clicking the 'Make a Payment' option on our website.

The Friends of the Holbrook Submarine Museum and the Holbrook Submarine Museum are excited to announce the commencement of the first ever ‘Submariners Challenge’.

This is an educational challenge open to all schools and school age students within the Greater Hume Region. 

Entries can be submitted as an individual, team or school. There are cash prizes to be won for the winners of each category and their school.

There are three competition categories to choose from and the student/team must nominate which category they are entering.

The categories are;

Write a story about the history of Australia’s Submarines, you can include diagrams and pictures.

Write a story about a piece of technology or an area of submarine science, you can include diagrams and pictures on the subject.

Write a story about a submariner, you can include diagrams and drawings. It could include an interview with a submariner or a person connected with submariners.

Entries can be submitted at the Holbrook Submarine Museum or emailed to the Museum curator, jepmurph@bigpond.com or online at www.holbrooksubmarinemuseum.com.au.

Submissions close at 4:00 p.m. Monday, 27 September 2021 and the winner of the categories will be announced Friday, 1 October 2021.

For more information please visit www.holbrooksubmarinemuseum.com.au, or phone the Holbrook Submarine Museum on 02 6036 2422.

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