Holbrook Public School

Welcome to Week 7 - Winter has arrived, and it was a frosty start to school this morning. Our outdoor seats were covered with a thick coating of ice and the grassy areas untouched by the morning sun were concealed with frost. Of course, this didn’t stop the students from borrowing equipment and beginning their games. What a great way to warm up their bodies and fill their brains with oxygen in readiness for learning. Thank you to the Holbrook Football and Netball Club who donated some new footballs in recognition of us allowing them to use our school oval for training while their oval was being developed. They have been well used already. Go the Brookers!

Congratulations to Kindergarten and Miss Hemphill on presenting a wonderful assembly to students, staff and the community on Friday in the hall. They are growing up too fast!

Reconciliation Week - Reconciliation Australia’s theme for 2021, ‘More than a word. Reconciliation takes action’, urges the reconciliation movement towards braver and more impactful action. Reconciliation is a journey for all Australians – as individuals, families, communities, organisations and importantly as a nation. At the heart of this journey are relationships between the broader Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We all have a role to play when it comes to reconciliation, and in playing our part, we collectively build relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories, cultures, and futures. https://nrw.reconciliation.org.au/

• Wednesday, 26 May - National Sorry Day
• Thursday, 27 May - National Reconciliation Week begins: 1967 Referendum
• Thursday, 3 June - National Reconciliation Week ends: Mabo Day

At Holbrook Public School, Reconciliation Week has been recognised through learning experiences related to history, culture and language. This has involved sharing books, discussions, websites and other school resources with each class. Our Aboriginal Education committee met during the week, to identify areas of school-wide improvement and plan our reconciliation action plan. It was also great to host the school final of our Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition, which featured many positive messages reinforcing reconciliation, acceptance, diversity, truth telling and multiculturalism.

Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition - Congratulations to all of the students in Years 3-6 who took part in the Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition, and well done to all of the students who took part in today’s school final. The quality of all speeches was high, and the messages and delivery were meaningful and impactful. I know that our teachers, support staff and parents have helped many students in their preparation, so thank you for your support and guidance. Two students from Stage 2 and 3 will represent the school at the regional final to be held at Sturt Public School on Wednesday, 16 June. Keep practising, and good luck to you all!

3/4 Winners

1. William Glass

2. Ollie Cardile

5/6 Winners

1. Isaac Bennetts

2. Georgie Cardile

Kindergarten Enrolments - Our Kindergarten enrolments for 2022 are beginning to flow in. Miss Hemphill has been busy organising the transition sessions for Term 3 and 4 this year, with details to be provided in the next newsletter. It is important for parents to know that their children will need to be enrolled prior to beginning in these transition sessions.  You can enrol your child online by visiting our school website and click on the enrolment tab.  School tours are available on request, and information packs are available in the school office. 

Community Support - We have been extremely lucky to have so much community support this year. Our new sustainable garden saw us receive support from our P & C, the Pincott family, Bill and Joy Wearn (bricks for path), seedlings (donated by Howlong Nursery), and Holbrook Stores (donated garden stakes and trellis). Recently, it was also great to have Martha Satchel from Satch and Co, judge our 3/4 Operation Art competition and co-sponsor one of the entries. Thank you to our community!

Smart Watches, Phones, Photos and Videos - This is a general reminder that students should not be wearing smart watches at school that have the capacity for messaging, phone calls, photos, videos or search engines. Any such devices, including phones, tablets and smart watches, should be taken to the office at the beginning of the day, where they will be safely stored until the end of the day when they can be collected again. As parents, carers and community members, please also be mindful when taking photos and videos within our school or at school events, as not all students have media consent.

Nathan Fisher

Principal

A lot has been happening in Kindergarten this year! We have settled into school, learning the routines and where everything goes. The students have come so far since beginning school all those months ago!

Students have been working very hard in English, learning the sounds of the alphabet. We are now using these sounds to help us with our reading, writing and spelling. It is so exciting to see the proud looks on the faces of the students when they try to read or spell a word and they get it correct! We have also been playing lots of games in maths, as we learn about adding, subtracting and making groups. There are so many uses for counters!

On Friday, we completed our first assembly! The students were all dressed to create a colourful rainbow. Each student did a fantastic job reading their lines too. It was wonderful to see so many families at school to watch the assembly.

We look forward to sharing some more learning with you soon!

Miss Hemphill 

The Holbrook debating team hosted their first debate for the Premier's Debating Challenge on 26 May. They were challenged by Thurgoona Public School and argued a negative position against the topic 'that primary schools should have a three-day weekend'. Isaac Bennetts, Georgie Cardile, Abigail Pincott and Jessica Frana collaborated with one another to develop their arguments and our three speakers delivered them with confidence. Their strong teamwork led them to win the debate. Tayleah Flewin adopted the role of chairperson which entailed opening and closing the debate as well as introducing each speaker from both teams. Congratulations to the Holbrook Debating Team! 

Our Year 3-4 class has been fully engrossed in art this year in support of The Children’s Hospital of Westmead, Operation Art program. Thanks to our supportive P & C and the very generous Martha Satchel from Satch and Co, we have funds to send three artworks away for this forum. The artworks sent away will be part of an art exhibition at the Armory Gallery at Sydney Olympic Park during September. A big thank you to Mrs Martha Satchel who generously donated her time to judge the artwork. Congratulations to Alex Mohr, Henry Lindsay and Geordie Geddes whose artworks will be part of the exhibition. These artworks will then have the opportunity to become permanent artworks on the walls at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

Mrs Kimberly Ross

Coordinator

I hope everyone is continuing to read their books and register their reading online.

With the cold weather setting in, it’s a great time to relax in with a good book!

Reading closes Friday, 20 August.

Christine Biar
Premier’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.

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