Jamberoo Public School Newsletter

Dear Jamberoo Public School Community,

Jamberoo Preschool Fundraiser

Thank you to the entire Jamberoo school community for supporting last Friday’s Jamberoo Preschool fundraiser. The school’s SRC was able to raise $191 for the preschool. I have spoken to the director of Jamberoo Preschool, Belinda Hibbert, and she has informed me that the raised funds will go towards replacing books that were damaged by the recent flood. Thank you all again for your kindness and generosity.

School Security

Over the past week the school has had numerous incidents where members of the Jamberoo community have unlawfully entered the school grounds. This has resulted in unnecessary damage to school property. If you see anybody on site outside of school hours, please call the Lake Illawarra Police on 4232 5511. The local police are very much aware of the recent trespassing incidents and are very willing to follow up on community reporting of incidents. It is important that as a school community that we ensure trespassers do not enter school grounds, for their own safety and the protection of school property. Thank you everybody for your vigilance and cooperation.

Easter Raffle

Easter Raffle tickets are ready to sell. The raffle will be held on the 6th April at the Easter Hat Parade. Tickets will be sent home today to the eldest child in each family and every Stage 3 student.

Money raised will go towards our Stage 3 Canberra Excursion.

Stage 3 students: please don’t stop at one raffle ticket book. Come and collect more raffle books because the more tickets that are sold, the more the Canberra Excursion cost will be reduced.

Three-Way Conferences

The school will once again be conducting three-way conferences in Weeks 10 & 11 of Term One. The reason for conducting them in Term One is to provide teachers the opportunity to share with parents the strengths and areas for improvement of our students at the early stages of the year, rather than when reports go home at the end of Term Two. Parents will be provided with vital information about their child’s learning during the early stage of Semester One, which will assist in developing learning goals for their child and address the steps to achieving them.

Please keep an eye on Operoo over the next few weeks as teachers allocate days and times for three-way conferences to be conducted.

Minnamurra Lions Club

The amazing crew at the Minnamurra Lions Club for 2023 has donated $1000 to the P&C. These funds have very generously been given to support Jamberoo students access all aspects of the curriculum. This may include, supporting families financially to assist students being able to attend excursions or camps and backing students to access educational resources to support their learning.

The school and the P&C very much appreciate the kind donation of the Minnamurra Lions Club. Please don’t hesitate to contact the school or the P&C this year if you believe your child/children will benefit from the funds.

Mr Chris Speirs

Principal

Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts (WHSPA) is a comprehensive, co-educational high school with a specialist performing arts focus. The school has the twin goals of “academic excellence” and “excellence in the performing arts”.   

WHSPA provides opportunities for gifted and talented Dance, Drama, Music and Visual Arts students to pursue a high quality performing and creative arts programs, whilst studying curriculum developed by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA). All courses lead to the award of the ROSA and Higher School Certificate. 

The school also offers extensive co-curricular company, ensemble, and studio art programs.

Year 7 Audition Applications OPEN now

• Term 1 2023 - Week 7 (Wednesday 8 March):       Expo Evening at WHSPA - all invited
• Term 1 2023 - Week 9 (Friday 24 March):              Year 7 Audition Applications CLOSE
• Term 2 2023 - Weeks 1-3:                                              Year 7 Auditions held

Link to audition information: Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts Audition Information (office.com)  (link to the electronic application is within).

In 2024, Kiama High School will be introducing an Extension class. This class will implement evidence-based procedures, programs and practices to develop skills and knowledge required for high performance in academic education. 

It will offer students the opportunity to work together on challenging learning or skills development that may not be offered in a mainstream school setting.

The KHS Extension class will focus on evidence-based development programs to extend students, including:

• Differentiation to meet the specific learning needs of high potential and gifted students

• Cluster grouping to help concentrate differentiation efforts and provide students with opportunities to interact with others of like-mind, interest and ability

• Enrichment and extra-curricular programs to increase the breadth and challenge of learning, as well as offer excellent opportunities for advanced learning.

• Advanced learning pathways, including acceleration, offering students learning experiences beyond their age-based competency.

• Curriculum compacting, in which some elements of the mainstream curriculum are ‘compacted’ so that they are covered in less time. The time saved can then be used for extension or enrichment activities.

Students’ achievement in the KHS Extension Class will be evaluated at the conclusion of each year to determine the suitability of their placement in this class for the following academic year.

Students can qualify for the Kiama High School Extension Class by completing an application, by sitting the AGAT (a general reasoning test, assessing students’ higher order thinking skills) and by submitting academic certificates. 

Note that the questions in the test do not require any prior knowledge from any particular content area. Students are assessed on their ability to reason, make logical deductions, identify connections and spot patterns. 

This test will be facilitated by Kiama High School in Term 1 for Year 6 students applying for entry to the 2024 Year 7 cohort and in Term 4 for Year 5 students applying for the 2025 Year 7 cohort.

Official registration for this test will open early Term 1, 2023. Information will be provided in your primary school newsletter early next year.

For any enquiries, please contact Catherine Glover, Principal,  kiama-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au