Alyangula Area School Newsletter

Creative, resilient and self-driven learners, who collaborate, communicate and solve problems.

Our whole school goals:

ENGAGE- Increase the number of students attending more than 80% (Applies to Preschool to Year 12)

GROW- Improve students two year gain in NAPLAN Writing in Years 5, 7 and 9 (Applies to Transition to Year 9)

2020 School Goal:

By the end of 2020, all teachers will plan (in their programs) and practice (in classrooms) a differentiated teaching and learning model for all English literacy lessons, through the practice of setting individual student goals, so that teachers are able to deliver targeted intervention and students are able to select learning activities and be assessed against their individual goals.

Welcome back to school!

Our first 2 weeks of school have started on a positive note! I have enjoyed welcoming our new students and families to our school and community. As always, our first weeks back at school are very busy as we settle into new routines and re-establish familiar ones. A special shout-out to our 35 Transition students who are learning how to be at school for a full school day. It has been a pleasure working and playing alongside them in their double classrooms led by Miss Megan and Miss Louise.

Our Preschool Playground is finished!

I am very excited to announce that our Preschool playground is ready! I have completed the final inspection this week and it was so exciting to see the new water feature in action and be reassured that our students will be playing in a compliant and safe playground. Our Transition students will also have many opportunities to play in the Preschool playground as we love to share our spaces! Stay tuned for the official opening date of our playground!

Meeting times with teachers

We will have a ‘Meet and Greet’ afternoon on 11 February from 3 pm -4 pm at our school. This is an informal and relaxed way to get to know your child’s teachers and visit their classroom. I encourage you to make a formal meeting time with your child’s teacher early in the term so that we can all start the term with common goals and intentions. You can make a meeting time with your child’s teacher by emailing them or by ringing the front office on 8987 6366.

Alyangula Area school goal and actions

As part of our strategic plan, Alyangula Area School has set the following goal for 2020. This goal was collaboratively set, with the Department of Education’s priorities in mind as well as the actions set in place from 2019. During Term 1, our teachers will be involved in continued professional learning during staff meetings to enable their teaching to address this goal. This professional learning will also be accompanied by practical classroom teaching support so that students’ individual goals are relevant and achievable.

By the end of 2020, all teachers will plan (in their programs) and practice (in classrooms) a differentiated teaching and learning model for all English literacy lessons, through the practice of setting individual student goals, so that teachers are able to deliver targeted intervention and students are able to select learning activities and be assessed against their individual goals.

Where is Noella?

I am very pleased to lead our school as the Principal for Semester 1. I am privileged to be supported by a committed team of teaching and non-teaching staff, parents and community members.

In late 2019 (during my time as the Assistant Principal), I applied to a highly competitive Leadership for School Improvement Program run by Queensland Education Leadership institute (QELI). I was selected from a pool of 25 applicants, along with 4 other leaders from Top End Remote Schools. This is an 18 month course that supports leaders in the school improvement process through practical mentor support and networking, professional readings and targeted leadership coaching. Face to face workshops are also part of this course, and as a result, will take me to Darwin for the following dates:

17 & 18 March 2020 (Week 8, Term 1)

26 & 27 May 2020 (week 6, Term 2)

25 & 26 August 2020 (week 6, Term 3)

3 and 4 November 2020 (week 4, Term 4)

16 and 17 March 2021

10 June 2021

While my engagement in this course will result in some time away from our school, the course will directly benefit our school through its investment in my leadership and the distributive leadership amongst our staff. Please let me know if you have any questions about the program or my involvement in this course.

As always, please get in touch with our school office on 8987 6366, if you would like to arrange a meeting with me to discuss our school’s goals and priorities or your child’s progress.

‘TOGETHER we RESPECT ourselves, each other, school and community, strive for EXCELLENCE, show COURAGE in all situations and demonstrate SAFETY in all that we do.’

Noella Goveas

Principal

The AGM celebrates the success of 2018 and sets the scene for 2019. You don’t need to stand for a position, but come along and find out more about our school and how the School Council operates. You can also play an important role in electing your parent members for 2020. Dates for our AGM will be confirmed in our next newsletter and on our school Facebook page.

2020 Committee

Councils have a responsibility to determine the educational needs, expectations and priorities of the school community and work closely with the Principal, teachers, staff, parents and students in the development of action plans. School Council is responsible for overseeing the development, implementation and review of the plan and keeping the community informed.

Nominations

Please send in a nomination, moved and seconded by parents of the school community. If you are interested, please fill out the “AGM Nomination Form” form and send it in to the front office.

Looking forward to seeing many of you there!

In 2020 there are:

v  4 parent council positions available (including parents of preschool students) – 2 year positions

v  Must have or be eligible to hold an OCHRE Card.

The Council officers (Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer) will be elected by the parent members of the 2019 Council at the following council meeting.

Position Description Brief Overview:

v  School Council: Is a team whose purpose above all else is to serve and promote the interests of the students. Each member is encouraged to share and contribute.

v  Treasurer: Prepare a monthly financial statement, which includes receipts, expenditure and variations to the budget, as well as the balance of all accounts and to assist in the preparation of the school's draft budget for Council approval.

v  Secretary: Organise, prepare and distribute meeting papers and have all necessary documentation available to Council members at meetings. Take minutes, prepare correspondence or documents required by Council.

v  Chairperson:  Act as the spokesman for the Council, in accordance with the Constitution. Know the Council's Constitution, policies and legal responsibilities.

Name of Nominee: ­­­­_____________________________      

Signature: ___________________________

Contact Number: ­­­­_____________________________

Contact Email: ___________________________

Proposer: ­­­­_____________________________     

Signature: ___________________________

Seconder: ­­­­_____________________________     

Signature: ___________________________

(Proposer & Seconder can be any current parent of the school)

On Friday the 7th of February, the Preschool will be hosting a Grand Opening for the new and improved Preschool Playground with a light morning tea from 10am – 11am. All preschool families are welcome to attend.

All children aged from 5 years to 14 years can have a Healthy School Aged Kid’s (HSAK) check at Alyangula Health Centre annually. 

The HSAK’s checks are done at the health centre with a parent or carer in attendance. 

To ensure we capture all school aged children who live in Alyangula they need to be enrolled at Alyangula Health Centre.  Enrolled children will have care plans added to their records with us. Recalls around the time of the child’s birthday will alert us that the child is due to have the HSAK’s check attended. If they have not already presented for a health check in the year we will remind the parent/carer by phone offering the HSAK’s screening. If children are not already enrolled at Alyangula Health Centre could parents/carers please enrol their children with the Alyangula Health Centre. 

For parents who have already enrolled their children at Alyangula Health Centre and would like to make an appointment please call on: 08 8987 6255

As a parent there is a great deal you can do to help your child adjust socially at the start of the school year. Here are some tips to help.

Encourage your child to be open to new friendships

An open, friendly attitude is a child or young person’s best social asset. Students who open to forming new friendships are more likely to succeed than those who seek solitude, who are critical and who limit themselves to just one or two familiar faces. Encourage your child or young person to seek out new friendships, even though they may feel uncomfortable or strange at first.

Encourage healthy relationships

Do all you can to encourage healthy relationships based on respect and common courtesy. Generally, when a relationship is healthy a child feels safe, valued and able to speak up. Unhealthy relationships, such as cliques, are restrictive, one-sided and are full of gossip and criticism.

Encourage inclusiveness

Studies have shown inclusiveness to be one of the prime social skills shared by socially successful students. Encourage your child or young person to include others in games, conversations, team activities and other group activities. Inclusiveness is not just a wonderful friendship skill, its strong leadership attribute as well.

Encourage friendships with both genders

If you are in a co-education environment encourage your child to form friendships with both boys and girls. This is particularly valid if your child has siblings of their own gender, or don’t have siblings. It’s through these early relationships that we gain the confidence to mix with different genders in the later years. Forming friends across genders helps to break down the mystique that sometimes forms, when a child has little contact with the ‘other’ gender.

Stay in touch with former classmates and school friends

Encourage your child to maintain friendships with former classmates and groups outside of school as this helps to insulate against unfriendly behaviour that they may experience with their close social circle.

Provide social scripts

Your child may benefit from being provided with some social scripts that they can use in common social situations such as meeting a new friend, joining in a game or asking someone else for help. Boys, in particular, can benefit when given the words to use in a variety of different social situations.

Forming new friendships can take time

Meeting new students and forming new friendships can be anxiety-inducing. If this is the case for your child, then it helps to acknowledge their feelings of discomfort, but also remind them that these feelings will pass. As well discuss the fact that feeling comfortable with new friends often takes time, particularly if your child by nature is reserved or slow to warm up in social situations.

Helping kid’s work through friendships can be tricky for a parent as you don’t have a great deal of control over what happens at school. However, with empathy, patience, encouragement and a supportive attitude you can do a great deal to help your child make a smooth social transition.

Kon nichi wa! This means “Hello.” In Japanese. My name is Shinobu. I was born and raised in Japan and have been living in Darwin since 2013 with my family. I hope my students will enjoy learning not only the Japanese language, but also about the cultures and life styles of Japan. I am really happy to support people who are curious to learn more about Japan.

Arigatou! (Thank you)

Uniforms:

With the start of the new school year, a few uniform sizes have already been sold out, especially in the Polyester Primary Shirts. We are hoping to do another order in the next few weeks to replenish our stock. We also have not yet received our order of Cotton Primary Shirts and Middle School Shirts, but they are due to arrive any day now. Families that have already ordered them, will be contacted as soon as they arrive. If you are still yet to do a Uniform Order, the office opening hours are from 7:45am – 4:00pm, but please be aware that some sizes may be limited. In 2020 we are trialling new long sleeve polyester shirts which can be seen in the photo below. The come in the Redback, Scorpion and Primary shirt designs. Sizes are limited due to the trial, but more can ordered if needed.

Back to School Vouchers:

All NT Students are entitled to a $150 BTS Voucher annually, to be used in Term 1, however Preschools can use them in the term they enrol (if starting later in the year). They can be used towards uniforms and school fees, but not voluntary contributions.

School Fees:

The school fees for students are listed below. If you have not paid for them yet and wish to put them on your BTS Vouchers, please let the front office know. Please know that if your child is in year 7, 8 or 9, they will need to pay both the Book Pack Fee and Middle School Elective Fee.

Preschool Resource Fee: $50

Book Pack Fee (transition and above): $75

Middle School Elective Fee (Year 7, 8 and 9): $55

Voluntary Parent Contribution: $100 per year, or $25 per term

Our staff had a productive professional learning day on Tuesday 28 January. One of the focus areas for the day was what Targeted and Strategic Differentiation for student learning looks like in the classroom.

Swimming Lessons will begin in week 4 on the 17th of February. This is part of the Remote Swim Vouchers, and therefore will be free of charge, so we encourage all students to attend. Consent forms have been sent home, but please contact the office if you haven’t received one. The year 6 students in class 6/7 will be joining the Year 5/6 class, and the Year 7’s will be joining the Year 8/9 class as they will be doing their Bronze Star. The Year 7’s, 8’, and 9’s will finish their swimming lessons at 3pm, so they will need to head home from the pool.

Looking for some casual work on Eylandt? The Community Library is currently looking for a community library officer to work in a casual environment in the Alyangula Community Library on Tuesday afternoons. The hours will be 3:30pm to 6:30pm every Tuesday. If you are interested in library work and picking up a few extra hours per week please call 8987 6366 or email alyangula.admin@ntschools.net

Just a friendly reminder to all Families:

If your child will be attending Preschool this year, please contact the school to arrange enrolment forms, even if they are not due to start till later in the year.

Please contact Alyangula Area School for all enquiries or enrolment forms

Email: alyangula.admin@ntschools.net                          

Phone: (08) 8987 6366