Somersby Snippets

The past two weeks have seen some huge whole school and inter-school events for our students: Wakakirri filming, the small schools’ athletics carnival and the Musica Viva excursion. It continues this week with Book Week and the zone athletics carnival, and science fair for Eucalypt students next week. These events can enhance the schooling experience for our students by providing memorable learning highlights. By coming together for these big days, our children often develop much more than skills and understandings and come away with a deeper appreciation of sports and creative arts.

After over a term of lessons and rehearsals, our Wakakirri story dance was filmed last week. So much work has gone into the production – from the ongoing efforts of our students, the talent and energy of Lara, the impressive set made by Nicki, the costumes and accessories from parents and teachers and of course the support from our teachers.

Filming day was hectic! We had four separate dances to capture as well as transition pieces which will tie the story together when edited. Thank you for ensuring your child had all the necessary items to make our story-dance look great. Due to the pace of the day, it was necessary to make a last-minute change to costumes which meant that most students only wore either their black or white T-shirt and not both. We apologise for the unnecessary expense this may have caused and hope that both T-shirts are now useful as regular clothing.

The next step is to edit all of the shots together to tell the story. We can’t wait to show our families the final production.

We are looking forward to celebrating books and illustrators at the book character parade on Thursday morning. Parents are most welcome to come along to the hall at 9:15 am to be part of the fun.

Afterwards, the Book Fair will be open to visitors. We would like to apologise for not being able to have the Book Fair open before school this week. Last minute staff shortages have meant we haven’t been able to open the fair. We hope the wish lists helped to some degree. Any students who still wish to purchase can do so on Thursday. If any items are running low, we will be able to place orders. 

It is important that any students arriving after the morning bell are brought to the office to sign in. For everyone’s safety, students must never go straight to class if arriving late. Similarly, if students must be collected from school early, parents need to visit the office so children can be signed out and leave safely. Thank you for helping us keep all students safe. 

Teachers are continuing their professional learning this term in the area of effective formative assessment. This sustained program is being led by curriculum advisors and is being conducted in collaboration with our small school network. This term’s focus is on effective questioning – an essential component to quality teaching that stimulates deep thinking and supports students to grapple with new concepts. Teachers will continue to conduct ‘learning walks’ in each other’s classrooms, observing and providing feedback on teaching practices.

Please be reminded that all visitors to our school must sign in at the office using the QR code. It is vital to student safety that we know who is on site at any time, including contractors, staff, volunteers and visitors. This not only helps in the event of an emergency or evacuation but also when students are moving around the school. Just as we would expect visitors to our homes to come to the door, whether they be friends, family or tradespeople, every visitor to our school is expected to come directly to the office.

The tenuous Somersby mobile phone reception can make it difficult for everyone to sign in. In Term 4, an iPad will be installed in the office of every public school for those who are unable to sign in with a phone. The option to use the book will no longer be available after this time. Mrs Comensoli will no doubt quickly become an expert at helping people use the ‘simple’ department software.  

Eucalypt students (Years 4, 5 and 6) have had a great time preparing for the science expo at Kariong Mountains High School next week. This is the first time Year 4 have taken part and they are very excited. They will join with students from Central Mangrove, Kulnura, Peats Ridge, Kariong and the high school to conduct experiments and view each other’s projects to celebrate National Science Week.

Thank you to Holly, Marguerite, Jess, Hannah and Tess for helping on the bbq and making sure everything ran smoothly on the day.

Next Thursday we will hold our Father's Day stall.  All gifts will be $5.00.

With spring on its way and the warmer weather getting closer, don't forget to order your uniforms.  We are asking you to please pre-order uniforms now until further notice.  However, if you need to try sizes a suitable time can be arranged to do this.  We appreciate your cooperation.