Newport Natter

25 August 2020 Week 6 Term 3

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents,

This week a Podcast episode from “Building Better Humans with Glen Glenn Azar” about a young men’s forum resonated with me regarding the energy each person brings to a situation. I have noticed some of our senior students perhaps feeling the weight of disappointment and uncertainty that we all share at the moment during this time. Many of the experiences they would usually participate in (Year 6 Camp, Graduation, Fundraising Fun, Hosting Visitors, Sporting Events) have been cancelled or are currently on hold until further notice. When we can’t change a situation, sometimes what we can change is the energy that we bring to it. We’ll be working on this with our seniors over the second half of the term and speaking with them also, to increase “student voice” and better understand their view of the world.

Purchase Own Device through the School (PODS)

The link to the PODS EOI form is below as is the QR code.

We plan to have the parent portal ready over the next week, to purchase a device.

You can express an interest in ordering a device through round 1, until 3 September.

Attached to the Natter are some FAQs about the project.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=muagBYpBwUecJZOHJhv5kdbto4ZvB7lIuuaI2-Z5OO5UQjBTSVpIVkpGQVVTOTU0RkNIOEo5QkZRVC4u

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Reports

The technical issues preventing us from emailing correct Semester 1 reports for all students still persists. As we’re unsure when the problem will be rectified, we’ll send a hard copy of your child/ren’s report home with them later this week.

School Photos

School photos are scheduled for Wednesday 9 September. It’s important that students wear full winter school uniform on this day. An envelope for cash purchases will be sent home this week. Although this can be sent to school with students on photo day, it is preferred than photos are purchased online with Advancedlife. Please see the details below. 

Read-a-thon

It’s great to see an increase in students’ enthusiasm for reading at the moment as they improve their book tallies for the read-a-thon. A competitive 3HC has been graphing their results, taking the opportunity to have some fun and learn statistics and probability outcomes from the maths syllabus. 5NE has also been tracking their achievements and discussing their favourite authors.

We’re looking forward to Friday 4 September, where students and teachers alike can come to school dressed as their favourite book character. Like the read-a-thon sponsorship money, a gold coin donation on this day will go to supporting the P&C support the school. Read-a-thon fundraising can be deposited into the read-a-thon pigeon hole in the office in an envelope clearly marked with your child’s name, class and amount. I wonder who the staff will dress as?

Year 3 and Year 5 Check In Assessment

Year 3 and Year 5 students will participate in a new reading and numeracy check-in assessment in Term 3, 2020. The Check-in assessment is a NSW Department of Education online reading and numeracy assessment available to support schools to assess and monitor Year 3 and 5 student learning following the period of learning from home. The Check-in assessments will supplement existing school practices to identify how students are performing in literacy and numeracy and to help teachers tailor their teaching more specifically to student needs. The assessment will be scheduled for our Year 3 students in week 10 of Term 3 and our Year 5 students in week 7 of Term 3. Students with disability may receive the same level of support during the assessment that they would normally receive in the classroom.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Bella B who has been accepted into Newtown School of Performing Arts next year. This is a huge achievement and we wish Bella all the very best.

Student Behaviour Expectations

A focus on the students upholding the CARE Code and managing themselves well by making good choices  for themselves and others will be a focus in the coming weeks. Our high expectations of behaviour is underpinned by the Department of Education’s Behaviour Code.

Every student, every day chooses how they behave and perform. If they choose to follow our CARE Code we acknowledge this through verbal feedback and other strategies (stickers/written feedback/public recognition/chook lottos/Bronze Awards/Dojo points/class acknowledgement systems). If they choose not to behave and perform to the standard set at school, the responsibility lies with them. At Newport, we are very clear about our expectations and give feedback to students so they understand how they are performing against these expectations. Often these mistakes made by students are opportunities to learn and be coached around making better choices in the future. Your support of our school processes and expectations and highlighting the benefits of positive behaviour at school which allows all students to learn, is always appreciated.  For more information on this, follow the DoE link; https://education.nsw.gov.au/student-wellbeing/attendance-behaviour-and-engagement/student-behaviour/behaviour-code

Student Leadership @ Newport

Stage 3 (Years 5 and 6) students are the leaders of our school and their actions have a significant impact on the wellbeing of all the children K-6. At Newport, we are reinforcing the school code of Cooperate, Achieve, Respect and Engage and the importance of keeping this in mind throughout the year. This Term, our Year 5 students will start the conversation about leadership, highlighting the extremely important role all the students will have as school leaders. In this role it is vital that their behaviour is exemplary and that they are demonstrating the care code including their uniform being worn with pride. As the students move through the leadership election processes, some will be a part of the elected leadership team and others will have the opportunity to take a role in leadership through self-nomination based on their interests and skills. In gaining a formal leadership position, positive behaviour and adherence to the school code are key expectations of being a formal school leader. Under certain circumstances, a student’s nomination for school leader may be revoked due to their behaviour.

We acknowledge that this year it has been challenging to find the opportunities for our student leaders to excel and to demonstrate what they are capable of in bringing projects to life but the students have done an excellent job of making the most of the opportunities they have had (organising thank yous, following COVID-19 processes by cleaning sports equipment/books, acquiring the soccer goals and taking responsibility for their use and roster, presenting to the P & C, bringing student voice to the attention of the executive team and coordinating online Zoom assemblies to name a few).      

For your reference, attached is our overview of the Student Leadership Program across Years 5 and 6.

Year 5 Leadership Overview

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Year 5 Leadership - Voting Procedures 2020

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Year 5 2021 Opportunity Class Placement Test

To comply with the latest advice from NSW Health to minimise the risk of COVID-19 transmissions, the annual Opportunity Class Placement Test will now take place at a student’s own school rather than in examination centres which bring students from across settings and sectors together. To allow this change to be made, the test date is now 18 November 2020. Only students whose parents have received a confirmation email from the High Performing Students Team are eligible to sit the test on the new date of 18 November. The application portal will not be re-opened for new applications.

Road Safety

A near miss between a child and a car in the Trafalgar Park Car Park was reported this week, along with other comments from concerned parents, about the chaos that surrounds Stuart Street. We understand the morning rush for families and how easy it is to become distracted during pick up but we are very concerned about safety of our students and children.   

Homework

All Grades are following our Homework Policy after the period of Home Learning and upheaval which saw homework take a back seat. The DoE Homework Policy states, “While there is little conclusive evidence of the learning benefits of homework in infants and primary schools, quality homework in these stages may help students to develop effective study habits and broaden their understandings and skills across the curriculum.” We aim to provide a homework routine that provides some structure to help our students develop self-discipline, study habits and skills practice. The homework policy is attached to the Natter. If you have any questions about homework, please see your child’s teacher. 

Homework Policy

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Student Fun and Learning

Year 3 continued on their path of identifying Bush Tucker on our school grounds as part of their Project Based Learning Unit. Year 1 identified natural and built features of their ideal playground, our Year 6 Event Management Leaders finished their part of a “Thank you” project and much fun was had with imaginative play in the playground and at School Sport on Friday. 

Kind regards,

Natalie Baldi

Library News

NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge

This is a reminder for those students who are still completing the Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC).

Please make sure you have all your books entered into your Reading Record by midnight on Friday 28 August 2020 (this week!).

For those of you who need a few short books to finish the Challenge, please come and see us in the library. We will be able to help you.

Happy reading!

Stephanie Bracey, Gine Svendsen and Rita Ericsson.