Stockton Public School Newsletter

Is anyone else surprised that it is the middle of May?? How is that even possible?

It was so lovely to see so many people at the Mother's Day breakfast. Thank you to everyone who turned up. The students very much appreciated your attendance. Depsite the RSVP numbers coming back at 237 people, I am confident I cooked eggs for about 450 people. Thank you for your patience if you were in the line. We had to make 3 runs to the IGA for more supplies. We just couldn't keep up with the demand. We know for next time to double the quantity of food in preparation for the masses. Thank you to the P&C who supplied tea and coffee. Thank you to the staff who started the day bright and early helping out. We had an amazing Mother's Day stall. Thank you to our P&C for organising the gifts and ensuring that EVERY child in our school took home a gift for one special person in his/her life.

Office hours

Our office hours are 8:30am to 3pm school days. If you need to speak to someone you will need to ring between these hours. Also has been mentioned in every newsletter this year, if you must collect your child early for an unavoidable appointment, please let the office know earlier in the day. That way the office staff can let the teachers know and your child will be in the office area waiting. We do not have an internal phone system so when a parent shows up at the gate to collect a child early without any previous communication, it can be difficult for the office ladies.

It is crucial for you to make arrangements for your child to get home in the morning before school. Without an internal phone system, it is extremely difficult to get messages to students. For that reason, as from 2pm we will not be taking and passing messages to students about changing pick up arrangements at the end of the school day. We run the risk of the message not making it to your child and then perhaps leaving a child stranded or anxious about the change in  plans. It is paramount that your child knows how they are getting home each day before they come to school each morning. This will avoid disappointment and confusion in the afternoons when parents/carers call and we tell you that we are unable to fulfil the request. The last thing we want is a lost child. Thank you for your cooperation  with these matters.

Illness

A timely reminder as we head into Winter -

If your child is sick and/or has flu like symptoms - cough, runny nose, headache, fever, please keep them at home. COVID is still around and we certianly do not want to have lots and lots of children (or staff) away from school with either cold, flu or COVID.

Please remember you must supply the school with a reason for your child's absence. You can reply to the SMS you receive, send an email, ring the school or write a note when your child returns. All absences without a reason are unjustified absences. Unsatisfactory attendance (less than 90%) could result in the Home School Liasion Officer being involved.

Close contacts - under the guidelines from the NSW Premier, if your child (or a staff member) is a close contact to someone who is COVID 19 positive and as long as he/she is symptom free, he/she can attend school.

Close contacts attending school will need to adhere to the following in addition to the NSW Health guidelines -

• Please notify the school if your child is intending to return under this provision. 
• Conduct a daily RAT and return a negative result each morning before attending school for 5 school days (we are yet to receive our school allocation)
• Primary school students are recommended to wear a mask indoors.

Regional North Performance Awards

Last term I had the opportunity and pleasure in recognising the accomplishments of our School Administrative Support staff by nominating one of our wonderful staff members. Mr Tim McCallum, Executive Director School Performance, recognises members of Regional North Operational Directorate’s Principal Networks who have played a significant role in contributing to public schools, reflective of one or more of the Department’s values: ·  Excellence  · Trust  · Integrity  · Equity  ·  Accountability  ·   Service

Whilst I had a difficult time choosing just one, I nominated Mrs Suzanne Golsby for an award to recognise her contribution to our school and to acknowledge how lucky we are to have her. Mrs Golsby won an award which was presented to her at a special ceremony late last term.

I have included the nomination below. Thank you Mrs Golsby for all that you do. The words below only scratch the surface.

Have a fantastic fortnight

Ms Jodie Holt

Principal

On Tuesday in week 2, 23 Stockton Public School Stage 3 boys  represented our school in a rugby league gala day.

On that day 23 kids split into 2 teams representing our school in rugby league. One team was named Blue and the other Black. In total each team played 3 games that went for 10 minute halves and had a 3 minute halftime break. Our top try scorer  was Jack Battye with 10 tries, closely followed by Oscar Ryan with a total of 8 tries.

7 Students who have never played in Rugby league went to that gala day to play and have a crack at it. The games played are listed below.

 Stockton Black vs St Peters at 10:20

 Stockton Blue vs Newcastle Grammar Blue at 10:45

 Stockton Black vs St Bridgets Black at 12:00

 Stockton Blue vs St Bridgets Blue at 12:25

 Stockton Black vs Newcastle Grammar Black at 01:40

 Stockton Blue vs Fern Bay at 02:05

Thank you to all the parents for showing their support and Mr K and Mr Gilshenan for organising our students to go to this fantastic event.

A special thanks to Raymond Terrace Roosters for the support and letting the schools compete in the Gala day.

Written by Toby C, Jack B and Ross A

As the Stockton Public School cricket team walked down to the Ballast cricket ground for round one of PSSA cricket, the weather remained drizzly. The ground was a bit damp so we put up the gazebo and laid our kits on tarps. The captains walked to the middle of the ground and had the coin toss. Unfortunately, Stockton lost the toss and Belair elected to bowl. The first four batsmen padded up and received throw downs. The opening batsman did a phenomenal job of facing the opening bowlers. The first wicket fell when Zade got run out by a direct hit and just slid short of the crease.

We had to go off for an unexpected rain delay/ lunch break. On returning to the field, Tom (who had been looking very confident) stepped back onto his stumps. In came Cooper for a fantastic innings, who went on with Kayden and Toby to form great partnerships. As runs piled on, Kayden got out and Toby came on as his replacement. In the last ten overs runs appeared, but so did wickets. Stockton ended up on a score of six for sixty six runs.

As the opening bowlers ran in with pace we kept their runs down during the first ten overs. While the bowling order progressed, the wickets came flying at us with mighty pace. The overs trotted by and we limited their runs to only 46.

After the game we packed up and walked back to school with pride, knowing we had won our first round game and represented SPS with excellent sportsmanship and skill. Many thanks to Mr K for umpiring and organising the game, as well as our parents and carers for washing our dirty (very!) whites! Stay tuned for our round 2 game report!

Written by Cooper D and Chase M

Please note we are not accepting cash at the front office. Please call the office and arrange to make a payment. Payments can be made via our website using the "Make a Payment" link or tapping your card on our EFTPOS machine from the Clyde Street gate.

You may be unaware that our school does not have an internal phone system. We are also cohorting as a staff and our office ladies cannot enter all classrooms across the school. For that reason, as from 2.00pm we will not be taking and passing messages to students about changing pick up arrangements at the end of the school day. It is a difficult process to get messages to classrooms as they are now on a staggered leaving time plan. We also run the risk of the message not making it to your child and then perhaps leaving a child stranded or anxious about the change in  plans. It is paramount that your child knows how they are getting home each day before they come to school each morning. This will avoid disappointment and confusion in the afternoons when parents/carers call and we tell you that we are unable to fulfil the request.

Should you become aware of a security incident at our school please contact the School Security Unit's hotline 24/7 on 1300 88 00 21.