Dear Parents and Caregivers,
As usual the last two weeks have been extremely busy for both students and staff at Lithgow Public School, with all staff working hard to ensure your children receive the best education possible.
Special Award Assembly
Today we held a whole school award assembly to recognise those students who have earned a 25, 50, 75 or 100 award. Congratulations to Hallie, Jacob, Payten and Mason on receiving your awards today. At the assembly, we also formally welcomed our new Kindergarten students and provided them with their award folders. It was great to see their excitement as they received them. Thank you to those parents who were able to attend and celebrate the achievements of the students who received awards today.
On the note of awards, I am pleased to be able to communicate that we have concluded a review of our award system which involved extensive consultation with the school community. At this stage most families will not notice any difference in how the system works, however, the most significant change will be that the school will track all awards given to students and keep a record of them. This will ensure that if awards are lost, they will still count towards the cumulative awards that students receive. The other significant difference is that there is now a weighting system in place that ensures that students who start at Lithgow Public School after kindergarten are still able to achieve a 200 award by the time they leave Year 6. In order for us to update the new tracking system, we will require all students to provide their award folders to their classroom teachers. It would be ideal if students could do this next week. If you have any queries about our award system, please make an appointment to speak with a member of the teaching staff, Mr Peard or myself.
3-Way Interviews
Starting on16 March, teachers will commence 3-way interviews with parents and carers. Interviews will be of 10 minute duration and will be held in your child’s classroom. If you would prefer to have a phone interview, that can also be arranged. During the interviews, students will be sharing their achievements and goals. Teachers will be sending home interview booking slips today. Please note that interview times will be scheduled in order of receipt of these slips.
Queries or Concerns
In the interests of being able to ensure that your queries or concerns are addressed as quickly and efficiently as possible, I would like to highlight the process that should be followed when these arise:
· See your child’s class teacher. This may involve making an appointment for after school, as teachers are often busy preparing lessons in the mornings. If you ring and leave a message with the office, your child’s teacher will respond to you within 24 hours.
· If you need further assistance, make an appointment to speak with the relevant Assistant Principal who will do their best to assist you. Again, the best way to do this is through an appointment scheduled through the school’s office and the Assistant Principal will contact you on the same day or morning after your query.
· If your query or concerns still exist, please make an appointment to see the Deputy Principal or myself. Once again, this needs to occur via an appointment made through the office.
Following this process will ensure that your query or concern is able to be addressed by the most appropriate person, in the most timely fashion.
Medication at school
There has been some confusion with regards to the school administering medication in recent weeks. The following applies when staff administer medication:
· Staff are not permitted to administer creams, lotions, eye/ear drops, or antibiotics to students because of the risk of cross-contamination and/or adverse reaction.
· When a child needs long term, prescribed medication at school the following points should be observed:
o Students who have a diagnosed health condition (e.g. asthma, diabetes, allergy) will need to provide the school with a Health Care Plan. The proforma may be obtained from the office. Please note that this needs to be prepared by the student’s doctor.
o All medication (except Ventolin puffers) is to be deposited at the office. Students who use a Ventolin puffer on a daily basis should keep it in their bag for use when required.
o Children are not to keep medication in their bags or in their pockets. All medication will be stored in a locked area.
· Where staff may administer a medication (e.g. a daily tablet – not an antibiotic), parents will need to fill out a Medication Form in the office in advance, specifying the medication name, dosage, and parent and doctor contact details. This also applies to medication such as Panadol and Nurofen.
· All medication to be administered must be supplied to the school in a blister / webster pack for daily medication. This can be organised through your pharmacist.
Parents are required to come to the school in order to administer medications such as Panadol and Nurofen if students don’t have a prescription from a medical practitioner that outlines times for administration and the required dosage. Parents may make this decision after a phone call from the office to indicate that a child is feeling unwell.
Skoolbag App
It has come to the school’s attention that some members of the school community are not receiving Skoolbag alerts. I assure the community that these alerts are being sent. If you find that you are not receiving alerts, it might be advantageous to delete the Skoolbag app from your device and reinstall it. In most cases, this appears to rectify the issue.
Smith Family - Learning for Life Scholarships
The Smith Family have made contact with the school and have indicated that they are able to offer Learning for Life Scholarships to a further 15 families this year. The Smith Family make two yearly payments to families, one at the beginning of each semester. Scholarship funds can be used for any education expenses, and include school uniforms and shoes, stationary, books, equipment or subject fees, school camps or excursions.
How to Apply / Conditions
The school, through consultation with parents and carers, will make a referral to the Smith Family. Three main conditions apply.
1. The recipient needs to hold a current Health Care Card or Pension Concession Card
2. The child in receipt of the scholarship must have school attendance above 80%
3. Are not currently receiving the Learning for Life Scholarship
If you feel that you and your child would benefit from a school referral to the Smith Family for the Learning for Life Scholarship and you meet the conditions above, could you please make an appointment to meet with Mr Peard or myself. We will then seek to complete the referral form and submit these to the Smith Family on your behalf.
Painting – Front of School
As you may have noticed, the front of the school is currently in the process of being repainted. This will have a really positive impact on the overall look of the school and it is our plan to renew the garden beds once the painting is finished. It is anticipated that the painting will take 2-3 weeks. During this time access to the school will continue as usual.
Have a great fortnight,
Mark Davies | Principal Lithgow Public School
