ENewsletter

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Caregivers

I am hoping that you are all safe in this dreadful weather and catastrophic conditions. I understand that many of you have relatives and friends who have been caught up in the bushfires; my heart goes out to you and your nearest and dearest. Please stay safe!!

A number of schools have closed today because they are in bushfire prone areas. Luckily, at Swansea we do not have that same rating; however we are remaining vigilant.

Please ensure you all have the ‘FiresNearMeNSW’ App on your phone as it can give very current information regarding any potential risk.

The school is having the opening of the Yarning Circle next Tuesday 19 November at 11 a.m. The construction of this very special place has been due to the fantastic effort by our Aboriginal Parent Education Committee and in particular Mr and Mrs Cutmore, Mrs Sue Stewart, Mrs Morante and Miss Meiners. The Yarning Circle will be a wonderful addition to our community and the families of our community.

This year we are trialling a new system for the voting for our 2020 school leaders. It is planned that for 2020 the first six students from Year Five with the highest number of votes will be named as school leaders for 2020. From those six students, the two students with the highest vote count will be announced as school co-captains at Presentation Day on Friday 13 December 2019.

In the last few weeks we had a number of serious cases of head lice across the school. With the warmer weather and children getting hot and /or sweaty the itching of the scalp is often unbearable for all concerned. Just reminding you that head lice is very contagious for students and teachers and they (the head lice!!) know no economic or social barriers.

Even though it is a parent’s responsibility to check and treat your child’s hair, I will be doing a Head Lice Check on Wednesday 20 November. If you DO NOT want your child to have their hair checked please write to me personally or email before 20 November. The school will contact you if your child has head lice so you can take them home to commence treatment.

The next P and C meeting has been set down for Wednesday 20 November. There are a lot of issues on the agenda so it would be great if we have a good roll up of parents and carers so all the educational matters on the agenda can be discussed and decided. Just a reminder to all who attend- these meetings are public meetings and as such it is considered inappropriate to discuss teachers or any personal matters you may have with the school.

Included in this newsletter is an information sheet about a service called INTERRELATE. This service is free to all families and Interrelate can offer help and support for parents and carers. Please contact me if you would find this support valuable for you and your children and I will then contact the service.

Reminders in relation to planning for 2020:

· Expressions of Interest for the 4/3 STEM class are due this Friday 15 November; and

· The last day for Students Class Request for 2020 forms to be submitted for consideration is also this Friday 15 November.

There is an enormous pile of lost property that has been accumulated over winter. Please collect any items that belong to you or your family as soon as possible, as any remaining items will be collected by the school and put into our uniform cupboard. Our Lost property area is located outside Mr. Hellier's Classroom.

Remembrance Day

Monday 11th November, SPS held a beautiful Remembrance Day Assembly

The students were extremely well behaved and respectful.

Thank you to Mr Hellier and our student leaders who ran the assembly, you were remarkable and it was a touching ceremony.

A big thank you to Mr Andrew Nicholas-Canning for attending in full military uniform.

Thank you to all teachers and students who made beautiful poppy wreaths and brought along fresh flowers to commemorate Remembrance Day 2019.

SPS Shines at Debating

On Wednesday 23rd October we showcased our beautiful school by hosting the Annual Galgabba Debating Competition. Our school leaders were amazing hosts and our year 5 and 6 debating teams were relentless.

On Thursday 24th October, SPS competed in the Lake Macquarie Debating Competion. Students were given a topic in which they were given only 1 hour to prepare an argument in front of an audience.

Debating is now over for the year, however if your child loves to argue and wants their ideas to be heard, or if they like to prove that they are right and you are wrong, encourage them to join the debating team. We have had a blast .........

Swansea Retirement Village Picnic Day at SPS

friends under the trees.....

Warm smiles from the happy young and old at our Picnic Day

we all love reading together

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

Focus: Be Respectful

During the next fortnight we will revisit ‘Being Respectful’.

‘Being Respectful’ encourages students to be respectful in all areas, including the playground, assemblies and the classroom. Key focus is on using good manners.

Are you able to identify the three key expectations for Swansea Public School in PBL? The relaunch at the end of the term will shine a new light on our expectations!

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

P&C Notice

Kindergarten AFL Sport

Congratulations Felix and SPS children

Stage 2 Cooking

so refreshing and tasty ...... yum, yum, yum ...........

yummy healthy muffins

Halloween School Disco

Spooky Fun at SPS

Swansea Primary School held a Halloween themed disco on the 31st October.

There was frightening fancy dresses, fierce face painting, monster dancing, glow sticks and games. It was lots of spooky fun!

Thanks to Mrs Henry for organising the scary halloween decorations, leaders for hosting and all the parents and caregivers for bringing your children along - they all looked amazing!