ENewsletter

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Caregivers

Supporting The Koala Hospital

It has been a dreadful few weeks for many of our friends in towns around New South Wales and in other states in Australia. Many people have lost their homes and their livelihoods. Such sad news also extends to our native fauna, especially the local koala colonies. You may have seen some film or video stories on the news about the numerous injuries and deaths of koalas in the bushfires. So sad!!

On Monday 9th December (Week 9) the school will be having a special day to raise funds to support the koalas who have been decimated by the recent bushfires. These funds will go to the Koala Hospital. On the 9th December, we will have:

A koala will be drawn under the COLA and so students are requested to place a gold coin donation on the koala
The Stage 2 gardening group will visit K-2 classes to read a story about a koala
The Stage 2 classes will do a short presentation at the daily assembly time.

Thank you to Miss Body and Stage 2 students for their thoughts and actions on this very serious and confronting matter.

Attendance Project

This year the school has been involved in a project to address Attendance issues. This project work will continue in 2020, with a special focus on LATE ARRIVALS, as we continually have a number of students arriving late for school.

The Department of Education has a policy on Attendance and a set of procedures to address Attendance and these documents directly relate to the legislation on student attendance at school.

Attendance at school is a parents' responsibility, and as with other issues under Attendance, schools can report non-attendance to Child Well-Being services, especially if there is a suspected case of educational neglect. This then becomes a very serious matter.

In relation to Late Arrivals, under the legislation, parents must accompany their child to the Office to explain the late arrival. Alternatively, a written note can be provided as explanation for the late arrival. If this happens, then the late arrival will be recorded as "Explained".

PLEASE HELP YOUR CHILD ARRIVE AT SCHOOL ON TIME EVERY DAY!!

In 2020, the school will be implementing the following actions to help reduce the number of late arrivals to school each day:

Developing a Letter of Concern that will be sent to parents/carers before the attendance issue (late arrival) gets to be a serious matter
Developing a Power Point display on Attendance to be shown at the Meet and Greet in Term 1 of 2020.
Provide a reward for students each term who achieve 95 to 100 percent attendance at school
Include Attendance as part of the Term 1 2020 PBL focus and revise as required
Include newsletter excerpts on attendance matters to support parents and carers
Contact parents and carers directly on attendance issues that are of concern.

Yarning Circle Opening

Building Respect and Understanding - Yarning Together for a Better Future

Our official opening of the Yarning Circle took place onTuesday 19th November, we would like to thank all those who attended.

Thank you to our visiting students and our SPS students who took part in the ceremony - their speeches and entertainment were very enjoyable.

Thank you to Narelle and OOSH for their donated painting of the map of Swansea Area.

Annual Presentation Day

Postive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) - What's the buzz this week?

Focus: Be Safe and Responsible

During the next fortnight we will revisit ‘Being Safe & Responsible’.

‘Being Safe & Responsible’ encourages students to be safe and responsible in all areas, including the playground, assemblies and the classroom.

Key focus is on transitioning from the assemblies to the playground and the dismissals at the end of the school day.

Buzzy Bee and the PBL Committee have been working hard on the PBL relaunch at the end of the term!

It is fantastic to see so many students receiving class awards at the Friday morning whole school assembly for ‘being safe and responsible’.

Stage 2 Cooking

try our yummy salad

Rice Paper Rolls

Free meditation app

Smiling Mind is a mindfulness & mediation FREE app available for everyone to use

We successfully use this resource at school, helping students regulate strong emotions and concentrate on learning by calming the mind and body.

Many Parents/Carers in our school community are using this app to help restless kids fall asleep at night.

Just recently Smiling Minds has acknowledged the use of Mindfulness for families by creating a new section, just for families. It is called Family Programs. New content and activities designed for the whole family to enjoy, will be added over the coming months.