Spring Farm Public School

2020 Newsletter Term 2 Week 6

From the Principal

Please download the Skoolbag app for all school information: https://www.skoolbag.com.au/parentinstructions.pdf

Dear Parents and Carers,

Many thanks to all the parents and carers who were able to support the school with learning from home. Students who needed to attend school each day were able to do so and they were supervised by a teacher to engage in their online work. I would like to acknowledge the huge amount of work that teachers have been involved in - creating and assigning work, answering many online questions and providing regular feedback to their students. At the same time, many teachers were required to supervise the students who attended each day. This was a huge task and I thank each and every teacher who has ensured the best possible learning opportunities for each child.

As we move back to regular teaching and learning, it is important for parents and carers to understand that we will have different procedures for dropping off and picking up their children. At this stage in the phased return to school, limited access to school will be made available to parents for pick up and drop off. Please ensure you have notification switched on for skoolbag app and review Caremonkey for regularly updates on procedures. Executives will supervise the movement of parents/carers to enable them to safely pick up their children each afternoon.

Morning Drop offs

Thank you for your child or children at the gates or at the Kiss & Ride. In the future, the morning Kiss & Ride drop off will be down at the afternoon single exit gate. This makes it safer for line up in an orderly manner. The double side gate on Harland Road will be only open for our support unit students. In the event of rainy weather, we will operate from the double side gate.

Dismissal procedures

I would like to thank our community for taking note of the Kiss & Ride procedures especially not lining up in your cars for Kiss & Ride prior to 2:50pm!

From 2:30pm, our support unit students need to get to their transport safely on Harland Road and their taxis need to have free movement to be able to park in this designated area (please view the photo).

Please remind your child or children on a daily basis that if they are going to Kiss & Ride (as we have a number of dismissal procedures) and to know their number, so they can hear it and quickly enter their vehicle. 

To make this process as safe and as quick as possible, please have your designated number clearly displayed on the left-hand side sun visors. This enables the staff to announce your child’s number from a distance which enables them to get ready and enter the car safely and quickly.

Please continue to remind your child/children their number, to listen out for it and display respectful behaviour at all times! 

The school is obtaining quotes for a shelter and a covered pathway for this Kiss & Ride and this will be in the vicinity of $60 000 to $90 000 to construct. The school is applying for various grants and working with the P&C to raise the funds to get this project constructed. When P&C have their fund raisers please support them so that we can get this Kiss & Ride project started. Below is a sample of the Kiss & Ride Shelter.   

Picking up students early from school

If you are picking up your child early, please email the school prior (other than an emergency) so that we can arrange this in a timely matter. If you choose to come within the lunch break times of 11: 30am to 12:15pm for lunch or at recess from 1:30pm to 2pm when all the students are out playing, staff are either on playground duties or having their mandatory breaks, it is difficult to notify the child or children from the playground as they don’t hear their names and all school bags are locked in the classroom. You may have to wait until the end of the breaks so that your child can be notified properly and enable them to oragnise their belongings. If you know in advance that you have to picking up your child or children early please email the school in advance! 

Labelling all school uniforms and items

Please label all uniforms and items (lunch boxes and drink bottles) with your child’s name and if possible, the class that they are in.  The Students Leadership team are assisting students to collect their own belongings from each break and from their classrooms. Please continuously remind your child/ren of being responsible for collecting their own belongings and putting their jumpers into their school bag!

To assist our students and staff, please use this type of label (below) onto your child’s uniforms as it is easier to read names and return it to the individual students in a timely manner.  Using black markers to write the names the on the collar tags is difficult to read and they fade from frequent washing.

Student progress report

Reporting procedures will be different for Semester 1 2020. The NSW Department of Education has directed that schools implement a simplified report.

Semester One reports will be distributed on Friday 31 July (Week 2 of Term 3).

In line with departmental guidelines, our report format will be modified to reflect decreased face to face teaching time this semester. Reports will still provide:

  • a summative account of the learning covered during Semester One;
  • information about student attendance and commitment to learning;
  • and indication of how students are progressing (working towards/at or below stage expectations); and
  • future directions for learning based on the needs of each student.

The grading of students using the five-point A-E scale will not be part of Semester One reports.

Learning conferences (scheduled for mid-Term 3) will also provide an additional opportunity to discuss how your child is progressing, as face to face learning continues into Semester 2.

Canteen

 Please continue to use the online ordering system to purchase lunch orders for your child or children.  The Canteen will be open 5 days a week with a limited menu. Please continue to access the online ordering for lunch.  Canteen Online Ordering; please download the Flexischools App on your phone to utilise this optional service.

For further information visit: https://exischools.com.au/mobile-apps

Sadly, Linda from the canteen will be leaving to pursue another career. We thank her for her for her service to all the students, staff and community!

Library and Home Reading

The library will be back up and running for all classes to begin borrowing again next week. However, there will be strict procedures that will be followed;

-  only 1 class at a time in the library to borrow

-  all returned books will be wiped before going back on the shelves

-  students are able to borrow up 2 library books and up to 2 home readers

 Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL)

Spring Farm Public School is an official member of the Positive Behaviour for Learning. Please visit the PBL site to access more information https://pbl.schools.nsw.gov.au/

Spring Farm Public School’s fortnightly focus: Playing on the Playground

Positive Behaviour for Learning PBL

Spring Farm Public School is an official member of the Positive Behaviour for Learning. Please visit the PBL site to access more information https://pbl.schools.nsw.gov.au/

Spring Farm Public School’s fortnightly focus: Being and Staying Safe during the current situation!


General Information

School Photos

School photos are currently being organised and sent to the school. Once we have the photos, the school will safely distribute them to families.

Any enquiries, please contact The School Photographer:  https://www.theschoolphotographer.com.au/contact-us

School Uniforms

We are very proud of our uniform which stands out and is unique in the Macarthur area. We are establishing pride in Spring Farm Public and has stated that wearing full school uniform can assist in developing ‘self-esteem and a sense of connection to the community,’ more information about wearing the school uniform:https://education.nsw.gov.au/policy-library/policies/school-uniform-policy

The school asks, if you can source a navy blue jacket, navy sloppy joe, navy blue shorts and pants and school shirt as we are trying to instill pride, set a good example for our new enrolments and develop a connection with each other. If you require assistance in purchasing various uniform please contact the school for assistance. If you have any spare uniforms please donate to the school and we can assist other families. 

ICAS

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Spring Farm Public School