Goulburn North Public School Newsletter

On behalf of the staff and students of Goulburn North Public School, a huge thank you to all that were involved in the Fireworks Night. It was a huge success and largely thanks to the efforts off all those members of the school community that volunteered their time and efforts on the night. It was a massive team team effort. 

We especially wanted to point out the amazing efforts of Mrs Alana Chinnery for her leadership and coordination of this years event. You have worked wonders.

This will be the highlight of many peoples year. The rides, showbags, artworks, stalls, and especially the fireworks were sensational.

Once again - THANK YOU ALL!!

Mr Finn has been working at Goulburn North Public School since early in Term 1. He has taken on the role of School Learning Support Officer (SLSO) and works with a number of students across the school. Mr Finn will be absent for the next three weeks to complete his teaching prac at Mulwaree High School. On Behalf of the Staff and Students of GNPS, we wish Mr Finn the best of luck for his prac and we look forward to when he returns to continue to support our students at the beginning of week 7 this term.

Our Northern Lights Junior Program commenced on the first day of term 2. A small group of students from Kindergarten and Year 1 have joined this learning experience. This program has been operated by Mrs Nixon and Ms Caffery and will soon be continued by Mrs Ross. They are looking forward to shaping the learning to the needs of each of our students. So far, all students have responded positively to the program and we look forward to seeing the amazing achievements of each of these students throughout their time in the program.

This term our Teams are competing to raising the most money with your spare change!

Our Teams are:
Team 1: KR, 1L and 2C
Team 2: 2/3C, 3/4B and 3/4L
Team 3: 4/5M, 5/6F and 5/6L

Each team has the term to keep bringing in your spare change and any silver coins found. The team that raises the most money by the end of Week 9 this term, will receive a Pizza Lunch Party during the final week of term.Sadly, this competition does not accept gold coins!! Only your spare silver coins - 5c, 10c, 20c and 50c coins only.

So, search the back of the couch, the car console and the bottom of bags for any silver coins and send then in. We will keep you posted with the progress of each Team as the term progresses.

This Year our Year 6 students have been working on completing some amazing things to raise funds for their 2023 Initiatives. The Year 6 Initiatives are as follows:

• Reducing the cost of the Year 6 End of Year Activity - This year Year 6 are going to Jamberoo to celebrate the conclusion of Primary Education.
• Subsiding the costs of the Year 6 Farewell.
• Raising money toward a Year 6 Gift. The Year 6 gift is generally something that benefits all the remaining students in future years.

Our fundraising so far has been going well. Our student run store 'Northern Delights' will open three times a term is a great way for our Year 6 students to share their entrepreneurial spirit.

Year 6 students stock a staff room drinks fridge. Drinks are purchased by staff and adult visitors to the school. Drinks are sold at $2 a can and profits go towards this the Year 6 Fundraising efforts.

Our small fundraisers that are usually suggested by students also provide another great way to bring some fun back to the school. this has created events like the silver coin competition, out of uniform events and even our School Disco that will run in Week 10 this term.

The our senior students appreciates the support provided by the community to help support their initiatives. Whilst you may not have a student in Stage 3 currently, you will one day and the cycle will repeat once again. 

The school applied for a grant to provide additional tiered learning spaces within the school playground, through the School Upgrade Fund. We received word this week that the school was successful in this application. In the not to distant future the school with add a covered grant stand, similar to the image and a grand stand without a cover to the playground. Classes will be able to utilise this for outdoor learning and will also be a great addition for sports days and events. We will share images of these once they arrive and are ready for use.

Goulburn North Public School is so proud to provide different learning experiences based on the needs of the students. Our Northern Lights Junior Program commenced at the beginning of term 2. Next week, our main Northern Lights Program will official commence. Mr Baxter has been working with students across the school, preparing personlised learning plans, he has also been meeting with parents to discuss learning needs. The program will start rolling out for students next week. Mrs Fiona Orford will support Mr Baxter and the students working in this program. We will share their amazing successes as these occur. Stay tuned for more information as the term progresses.

Northern Delights our Year 6 candy shop will be open on Friday 12 May. Various treats will be sold at no more than $2 an item. These delicious treats are a way for our Year 6 students to fund raise towards their initiatives, as mentioned in the previous articles. Bring in some money and purchase a small treat for yourself or for the weekend.

Our Mother's Day Afternoon Tea will be held on Friday immediately after the assembly. We will have a wide variety of slices and sandwiches for mums, aunts, grandmothers and special members of our students families. Come and enjoy a cup of tea, coffee and cake for Mother's Day.

The new Mathematics K-10 syllabus contains the three main content areas of:

    * Number and algebra

    * Measurement and space

    * Statistics and probability

The 'Working Mathematically' outcome is overarching and embedded in all of the content areas. This outcome develops students' communication, reasoning, understanding, fluency and problem solving processes. 

The new Mathematics syllabus supports students to become confident users of mathematics, to make connections within the content taught and connect these concepts to the real world.

Included are some ideas of how to support your child at home with activities from the 'Measurement and space' content area, in particular 'Geometric measure'.

Lose passwords and start Passphrasing.

Some examples I have used in the past are the seasons, Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring. That way the month I'm in gives me more chance of remembering what passphrase to use. Phrases like SummerHeat@23WaterSlide, AutumLeaves23#GroundCover, WinterSnow#22HeavyFall. You can personalize these phrases to be more meaningful to you and therefore easier to remember. Remember to always include a mix of capitals, numbers and symbols and always be safe online.

For more info...Set secure passphrases | Cyber.gov.au

We are excited to have a Goulburn North boys touch team competing in the NSW PSSA Touch Football Knockouts competition. The team will have their first game on the 9th of May against Goulburn East Public School. They have been training hard at school practising their skills. Good luck boys!

KR have had a magnificent start to the school term! We have begun our reading journey and have taken up the motto that ‘We are Readers, not Guessers!’. The children have been using our decodable readers which are based on the sounds we have learnt. Each week we are learning at least 2 new sounds and how to blend them together to make words. It is amazing to see how quickly they pick this skill up and put it to use.

Along with our normal Literacy and Numeracy milestones we are reaching, we have also been having a wonderful time with art and craft! From learning to draw bears and penguins to paper craft and also using clay to build imaginary creatures and flowers. Our Kinders are very artistic!

Next week we will welcome Miss Emily Bell to our class. Emily is completing her final practical experience for her teaching degree. She very excited about join KR and NJL and will be working across both settings. Emily is already a dedicated teacher at Gunning Public School, I know they will be missing her for the next 6 weeks.

As you are aware I will be moving into Northern Lights Junior. This position will allow me to maintain a relationship with the students receiving support and also with KR. It is not goodbye, I am still attached to KR, I am simply stepping sideways. I know I am leaving KR in the best possible situation and hands with Mrs Nixon and Ms Caffery.