Welcome to Week 9, Term 2 - I hope everyone had a chance to rest, recover and reset over the long weekend.
It is wonderful to see our students bouncing back to full health after a significant bout of sickness struck the community. Today, we have just 15 students away, which is a lot better than last week’s 45 absences!
Year 6 Shirts - Many of our Year 6 students, even though it is freezing, are parading their new Year 6 shirts around the school this week. Thanks to Miss Lavis, our Year 6 parents, and Robyn from Rah Creative, for making this happen. As always, they look awesome!
Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition - After their success at the Holbrook Public School final, William Glass, Ollie Cardile, Isaac Bennetts and Georgie Cardile travelled to Sturt Public School for the local public speaking final. I am told all of our speakers were terrific in both the planned and impromptu speeches. Congratulations to Ollie Cardile, who won the Stage 2 section and has advanced to the regional level of competition. William Glass also received a Highly Commended award in the Stage 2 competition. Well done to all of our school representatives!
Semester 1 Reports - Semester 1 reports will be sent home on Monday, 21 June (Week 10). They provide a summation of each student’s achievement, effort, strengths and areas for improvement in English, mathematics, science and technology, creative and performing arts, history/geography, and personal development, health and physical education. We encourage parents and carers to use a strengths-based approach (start with the positives) and discuss how these positives can be built upon to improve any identified areas for growth. This year, due to the NSW Department of Education’s focus on improving attendance, a traffic light system has been added to each student’s report as a guide to attendance expectations. The Department expects that all students aim for an attendance rate of 95% or above, which allows for ten days of sickness or leave throughout the year. Attendance rates that are 95% or above will be coloured green, 90 – 94% will be orange, and below 90% will be red. Teachers will be available for a follow-up interview from Tuesday to Thursday in Week 10, on request.
GRIP Leadership - Our School Leaders, Cooper, Isaac, Eli and Jasmine, and Mrs Wedgwood, recently attended the GRIP student leadership conference in Albury. This year, our students attended with the leaders from Culcairn Public School and many other surrounding Public, Catholic and Independent schools. Jasmine reported that the highlight of her day was when she got on stage for the ‘Loud Noises’ activity. GRIP stands for Generosity, Responsibility, Integrity, People. The day included main presentations, interactive activities, discussions, leadership games, and entertainment.
Year 6 Taster Day - On Friday, 4 June, thirteen of our Year 6 students attended a Year 6 Taster Day at Billabong High School with students from other feeder primary schools from our area. All students were split into three groups at the beginning of the day and taken on a teacher-led tour. After this, all groups participated in a rotation of activities, which saw them take part in physical education, science, mathematics and music lessons. The whole group had the opportunity to eat lunch together and play in a giant dodgeball game at the end of the day. They also watched the school’s dance group and met with a range of teachers, and the principal.
Transition to School (Kindergarten 2022) - Yesterday, our Year 5 students (and future Kindergarten buddies) visited the Greater Hume Children Services, Holbrook, to meet students who will begin their schooling journey at Holbrook Public School in 2022. The Year 5s attended with Miss Lavis and Mr Earl, and it was great to see them re-enter our school with such big smiles and positivity. They all said, “It was so much fun!” This was the beginning of our Transition to School program, with pre-Kinder students beginning their visits to our school next term. (See details in today’s newsletter). An exciting new addition to our transition program will involve all future students having the opportunity to attend for the first two hours each Wednesday morning (9:30 – 11:30 a.m.) during Term 4 (Weeks 3 – 8). This will be in addition to the regular transition program that we run. We believe this fun, literature and play-based approach will help students develop routines, relationships and learning behaviours in readiness for success in a more formalised schooling environment.
Chess - On Wednesday, three teams of four students travelled to Thurgoona Public School for the Regional Chess Competition. They were organised into three teams across two divisions, and all teams had successful days. Byron, Jonty, Xander and Liam competed in Division 2, with the team finishing equal third and Byron winning his first-ever competitive chess game. What an achievement! Our Division 1 team: Ryder, Cooper, Tom and Justin, finished 2nd overall, with the eventual winners being the Border Christian College. Our Division 2 team: Geordie, Chace, Jackson and Eli, won their division. Geordie Geddes was undefeated for the day! A big thank you to all of the parents for their support with transport, to Miss Barraclough for her organisation, and Mrs Jones for supporting with supervision on the day.
PSSA Knockout: Netball - After a big win over Henty in Round 2 of the PSSA Netball Knockout, our school netball team travelled to Lavington on Thursday to play against Lavington Public School. Holbrook won 15-4 after a close first half.
Premier’s Debating Challenge - Our debating team will have a big final week of term, with debates against Table Top Public School (23 June at 10:00 a.m.) and Albury Public School (24 June at noon) being held via Zoom.
Skate Park Design Competition - Congratulations to Anabella Lindsay for her Skate Park Design entry, which came second! Anabella is a wonderful artist who has been consistently producing aesthetically pleasing art pieces at Holbrook Public School. Keep up your creative ways, Anabella!
P&C Barbecue - We look forward to seeing many families for an end of term P&C barbecue on the final day of school at 1:15 p.m. Don't forget to sign in at the office or the hall.
Nathan Fisher
Principal
Holbrook Public School student, Anabella Lindsay was a runner up in the Holbrook Skate Park Design Competition held late in 2020. Greater Hume Shire, Youth Officer, Angela Moriarty, visited the school this week to present Anabella with her prizes. Congratulations Anabella and well done!
A big congratulations to the students who participated in the Southern Riverina Cross Country Carnival on Thursday, 10 June 2021 in Gundagai. While the students were prepared for a cold, wet day, the sun came out and made for a great day. Well done to all of the students on their sportsmanship, conduct and participation on the day.
Congratulations to Ollie Cardile who came first in the 10 Year Boys age group. Ollie will go on to compete in the NSW PSSA State Cross Country on Friday, 16 July 2021 in Sydney. Well done, Ollie, we will all be cheering for you!
Miss Hemphill
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 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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