Dernancourt School R-7 Newsletter

4th April 2019

From Kellie

Term 1 almost over...

It is hard to believe that it is already the end of a very busy term. Some of the things that have kept us busy besides our regular classroom programs include Upper Primary Leadership Day, SRC Grip Leadership Day, Messy Mud Days, R-7 Street Smart, R-5 Swimming, R-2 Skeleton Crew Performance, Parent –Teacher Discussions, and we still have KESAB Visit, Zoo Snooze and SRC Casual Day to finish off the term!  It has been delightful to see our students grow and shine as confident learners in many areas throughout the term.

On behalf of our staff I would like to wish all members of our community a happy, safe and restful 2 weeks break. We look forward to working in partnership with you again next term.

TERM 2

 Next term our Year 3, 5 and 7 students will be participating in NAPLAN assessments of Language Conventions, Writing, Reading and Numeracy. These will take place from Tuesday 14th May to Thursday 16th May with Friday 17th May being the catch up day for students who are absent for any tests.  Any parents wishing to withdraw their child from the tests can do so by completing a form prior to NAPLAN in week 3. Please contact me for the forms.

Sports Day planning is also underway, our Sports Day Committee have been meeting and are working with students to ensure there are a range of events to keep our students actively involved.

Students have been assigned teams, so we suggest you to use the holiday break to find your team coloured tops (with collars) and bottoms. We have new reversible hats for purchase from the uniform shop and encourage you to purchase one if you haven’t already as a way to show your team spirit. Please remember that hats will need to be worn on Sports Day - we do not encourage coloured hair as will be under the hat.

EXTERNAL REVIEW

  

The preliminary findings from our External School Review were positive. The highlights were the quality of teaching and the teachers collaborative work, particularly when planning student learning.

The students involved in the forums were able to articulate clearly their learning and how they are supported to be the best they can be.

The review team also noted the strong community support at Dernancourt.

I would like to thank all staff, students and parents for the role that they played in reviewing our school. The review process plays an important part in setting future directions for our site.

Our review report will be available on the website next term.        

Internal Painting

Toilets

This term our toilets underwent a minor face lift with the interior walls all having a fresh coat of paint. Your child may have also told you that all doors are now painted black..this is all part of our master plan to ensure that our students have toilets that are clean and hygienic. 

As part of keeping the toilets clean and a space that students feel safe to use we would like to have quotes painted onto the doors. We would like student to suggest quotes inspiring thoughts etc to have on the doors. If your child has a quote they would like to see on a toilet door we ask that they email it to dl.0982.info@schools.sa.edu.au (hyperlink at bottom of newsletter).

PLAYGROUND WORKS

PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT

You may have noticed that our swings disappeared over the last holidays!

As part of our regular playground audits, our WHS committee deemed the swings a hazard due to the rust appearing in the bolts and across the top bars of the swing sets in both the Early Years and Primary Playgrounds, as a result we had them removed to ensure student safety.

We know how much our students love using the swings at recess and lunch and already have had some ideas from the SRC Playground Committee and the OSHC students about how they imagined the play space would look after redevelopment.  We were able to order some new swings that we are sure will impress everyone.

The new swings are currently being installed and we hope to have them being used as soon as we can. In the meantime we ask that  ensure that you / your children do not enter the fenced off worksite areas before or after school hours, the holes are quite deep and the fencing is in place to ensure safety.

JAPANESE GARDEN and CROW'S NEST

Watch this space!

Earlier this term I wrote about the process we underwent with students to design our Japanese Garden and Crow's Nest play space.

The design work and specifications went to tender and last week we accepted the offer from LCS Landscapes. I will be meeting with them next Tuesday to plan the start and finish dates.

We hope to have this project completed by the end of term 2! We will need the weather to be our friend to ensure the timeline all goes to plan, fingers crossed for completion photos at the end of term 2!

ASSEMBLY AWARDS

J2-Dya, J3-Hugh, J4-Devarsh, J5-Hope, J6-Drishti, J7-Elise, P2-Kiyara, P3-Vanessa, P4-Mikael, P5-Zenia, P6-Angas, P8-Lucas, P10-Shahanna, P12 -Nguyet, P14-Isaac 

MESSY PLAY

As part of our regular Early Years play program today we held our second outdoor special activity afternoon.   This experience enabled the children to participate in the fun and tumble of messy, outside activities.  They played with water sponges, different types of paint, bubbles, mud kitchen, water balloons, watering cans, chalk drawing and using water to build with sand.  We think the photos show what a great time everyone had!         

NEWS FROM OUR PCW - Jane Adamson

Breakfast Club

Did you know we have a Breakfast Club here at school three mornings a week?  Tuesday and Wednesday morning breakfast is served from the canteen, and Thursday morning breakfast is served from the gym.  A combination of toast, yoghurt, cereal, milk and eggs is served (for free) from 8:20am.

Thanks must go to our supporters who volunteer or supply food for the children to eat.  I especially want to acknowledge Kickstart for Kids, the local church community and Rustico Bakery, who recently donated about 20 loaves of bread and bread rolls, not only for breakfast club but for school families too.

Crafting for Charity

               

Last week I dropped off our latest collection of items to Adelaide Knit and Natter.  Thanks to the parents and caregivers who have been involved this (and last) year.  A special mention must go to Gill Shache, past school parent and friend of the school community, who donated some beautiful handmade quilts and a bag full of beanies.

Parents and caregivers are most welcome to attend- if you don't know how to knit or crochet, we can help you!  Come Friday mornings to the PCW office (opposite the Japanese room in the Primary building) from 9am.

WOOLWORTHS EARN & LEARN

You can start collecting stickers from the first Wednesday next term. If you shop online, your stickers will be delivered with your groceries. You will be able to get bonus stickers by purchasing products from certain brands. Look in the Woolworths catalogue or on their website for details. Please ask family, friends and neighbours to collect stickers for our school. Remember, the more stickers we collect, the more resources we can get for our students

CROSSING MONITORS

WEEK 11

Dion - P10, Jay & Jack - P12 (Reserves:  Sarah - P5 & Beth - P12)

Can you help?

J7 are using the Disney Woolworths' letter tiles for spelling activities and would appreciate any donations.  If you have any extra Disney Woolworths letter tiles that you would like to donate, J7 we would be grateful.

ICAS

ICAS testing has moved to Term 3

ICAS sitting dates have moved to Term 3.  Please watch out for more information in newsletters next term.           

Adelaide North East SAPSASA Netball Trials

Trial Dates and Times

Thursday 2nd May 3.45 - 5.00pm

Thursday 9th May 3.45 - 5.00pm

   Thursday 16th May 3.45 - 5.00pm

 All trials held at Northfield Primary School (North Avenue, Northfield) 

For those selected, trainings will be held on the following dates

in preparation for the carnival.

Thursdays 23rd & 30th May, 6th & 13th June 

Trials are for year 6/7 students only. The team will play in the SAPSASA statewide Netball carnival from 17 June – 20 June 2019. Coach: Sarah Carver (Teacher)

Please note that all students selected will need to arrange their own transport to and from both the trials and the carnival if selected in the district team. There is also a charge of $100 to the families of students who are selected to play in the team.

Please only express interest to nominate if you are able to arrange transport and are willing to pay the $100.

Our school can nominate up to 5 players.  If more than 5 players are nominated an internal school trial will be conducted.

Nominations can be returned via the school bag app (this will go live Friday morning) and close Monday 8th of April.

Dernancourt School R-7