Narrabri West Public School

We are up to Week 11 already and have enjoyed a tremendous start to the new school year, with a relaxed and cooperative feeling around the school as everyone works together to achieve the same result – quality learning experiences.

There is always something very special about starting a new year. Students are buzzing and teachers are working very hard to ensure a positive year ahead. Quality education and exceptional learning opportunities are well and truly underway.

Subsequently, there is a lot happening already at Narrabri West, which is as always, a very busy place. We are looking forward to the year ahead and all of the excitement, successes, achievements and challenges it will bring. The teachers are already impressed with the positive attitude, confidence and independence students are showing.

Best Start Kindergarten assessments have been completed and parents have received the parent feedback reports.

If we can offer our parents (especially our new Kindergarten parents) some advice, it would be to encourage you to make the most of your child’s primary school years. Become involved as much as possible (both Mums and Dads), because in a blink of an eye they will be in high school and as most of us know, once at high school, having Mum and Dad around at this time is not very cool! Form strong relationships with your child’s teacher, ask questions.

All in all, it has been a really enjoyable start to the year. There are a lot of smiles and it is really satisfying to see students enjoying their learning and school. 

At Narrabri West, we understand the importance of supporting the wellbeing of every student. We want them to:

·         Connect with their learning, their peers and their school;

·         Feel respected, valued and empowered to succeed; and

·         Thrive in the school environment and beyond.

This means that we take a planned, research based and evidence informed approach to our wellbeing programs and practices. We understand that children do make errors, that no one is perfect and that we are developing growth mindsets, whereby we learn by our mistakes.

We have developed specific school rules and school expectations. These expectations apply in our playground, classroom and on excursions. Our classes have similar classroom consequences, so the care of all of our students is consistent, no matter which teacher and which class they are in.

The key expectation of students, staff and parents is respect - respect for themselves, for others and for property. These expectations are made explicit to all students.

We all want the best for our children and students. The structures and processes we create, the plans we make, the strategies we adopt and the teaching, learning and student wellbeing practices we use are all designed to support our students in achieving their potential. You can assist by:

·         Supporting the teachers and the standards and classroom practices they put into place;

·         Reinforcing the value of learning and school and achieving to the best of one’s ability; and

·         Helping your child to build resilience – sometimes the tasks they are asked to complete will be challenging, but learning to deal with that and striving to do well is very much part of building self-confidence and resilience.

Thursday the 6th April is our Easter tabloids. 

We will start the day with our annual Easter Tabloid which is always a lot of fun with some very interesting and unusual activities for everyone to enjoy. 

If you would like to order student lunches from the canteen, the Meal Deal is available via the My School Connect app (select Easter meal deal).  The offer closes on 2:00 pm Tuesday 4th April.

There will only be limited food available from our canteen, so it is necessary to place an order either before the day to avoid disappointment, as well as to assist the canteen staff.

The full program for the day is:

 9:30 – 10:30           3 - 6 Tabloids

10.00 - 10.30         K - 2 Classroom visits

10:30 – 11:30        K - 2 Tabloids, 3 - 6 Classroom visits 

11.30 12.30          Preschool Blue Group Easter games and family picnic 

11:30 – 12:20       Family Picnic Lunch in the school grounds

12.30pm              ANZAC Assembly in the hall

Our first Award Assembly will be held Term 2 Week 5.

Our school will be joining with all other public schools across NSW on Monday 24 April 2023 to carry out professional learning focused on Aboriginal education. School development days are used by schools to build on the knowledge and skills of our teachers, school leaders and school administrative support staff through a targeted professional learning program.

The professional learning has been planned around the unique needs of our school community and will help to sustain positive change and improve both educational outcomes and wellbeing for all learners.

I want to thank you for your ongoing support as we work to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students and increase knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal histories and cultures. If you have any questions, please contact me on 6792 2377.

They say time flies when you’re having fun and with the first ten weeks of our school year over I think it must be true. Our school calendar is continuing to fill at a rapid pace. Please ensure that you keep an eye on the newsletter calendar, Facebook and Skoolbag to ensure you have all the upcoming events noted.

Thank you to the students of Narrabri West who on a daily basis make the school such a wonderful place to be a part of. We certainly enjoy helping you all to learn!

Term 2 will commence on Wednesday 26th April. Monday 24th will be a School Development Day (and is for staff only) and Tuesday 25th April is ANZAC Day. 

This year ANZAC Day will fall on Tuesday 25th April, the beginning of Week 1, Term 2. Students who would like to march should wear their full formal (blue) uniform and please remember your wide brimmed hat and a water bottle.

Children should assemble in Barwan St (opposite Narrabri P.S) at 10:10am and be ready to move off at 10:30am. The service will commence at the RSL Club at 11:00am. It is anticipated the proceedings will be completed by 11:30am.

The Narrabri RSL Sub- Branch invites teachers and students to celebrate ANZAC by taking part in the ANZAC Day March and Memorial Service. We would like to demonstrate our schools support for our country’s servicemen and women. Our school captains Lexie and Fletcher will lay a wreath on our behalf.

Learner Led Conferences (teacher, parent and student attending, with students leading the learning conversation) started last week. This will allow teachers to meet with parents to discuss each child’s progress and achievements. Our full reporting to parents schedule is as follows:

Term 1: Learner Led Conferences (K-6)

Best Start Assessment (Kinder) 

NAPLAN (Years 3 & 5)

Term 2:

School Report (K-6)

Parent Interviews (Pre School)

Term 4:

School Report (P-6)

All parents are reminded that you can make an appointment with your child’s teacher at any time during the year to discuss their progress, as they are always willing to discuss any concerns you have. Please arrange a mutually convenient time and give the teacher some idea of your concern so they can have the best information available for the interview. 

Classes have elected their representatives for the 2023 Student Council. Our student council plays an important role in our school and we are sure the students elected will once again be terrific representatives. They will represent their class for Semester 1 (Terms 1 and 2) and new representatives will be elected at the end of Term 2 to represent their class for Semester 2 (Terms 3 and 4). Kindergarten will elect their first representatives in Term 3.

Congratulations to:

1H - Albie Rowe, Evie Anderson          

1O - Beth Ridley, Kenwood Burgmann 

2K  - Lawson Whan, Hadleigh Thurston 

2W - Charlie Hagar, Ella Field 

3D - Gus Holbrow, Zara Warnock                        

3F - Weston Burgmann, Allie MacBeth 

4J - Zeb Carolan, Mia McConnell                       

4P - Kevin Foley, Amelia Manton 

5/6G - Addision Woods, Andrew Weightman    

5/6S - Alexa Woods, Jobe Ford 

5/6T - Lawson Oakley, Mason Rushby 

Cunningham

Captains: Alexa Gordon, Lily Tibbet

Vice Captains: Jedda Cochrane, Isabella Anderson

Mitchell

Captains: Shiloh Dalton, Dustin Hilderson

Vice Captains: Sasha Willis, Michael Harris – Clayton

Oxley

Captains: Savannah Hughes, Ryan McConnell 

Vice Captains: Toby Longworth, Jesse-James Quinn

Sturt

Captains: Isabelle Leehy, Tyran Lawler

Vice Captains: Cooper Kelly, Ava Keeffe

Don’t forget we have a fridge to store your child’s lunches in. Each class has their own ‘fridge lunch tub’. Just make sure any items you want stored in the fridge each day are labelled with your child’s name and they will be collected from class, kept cold and returned at lunch and recess times. 

Parents or close relatives who volunteer at their child's school. This includes day to day reading helpers, canteen helpers etc., who are a parent or close relative to a child at the school at which they are volunteering. These workers DO NOT need a WWCC number. These parents should complete a Declaration for volunteers and non child related contractors, which is available at the front office and provide the school with 100 points of ID.

For safety and security reasons, all parents and volunteers who help in classrooms, canteen or other school activities are asked to sign in at the office. There is no longer a physical book all schools now use a QR code for a digital register. Please sign out of the App when you leave the school grounds.

Welcome to Preschool. We are looking forward to a fun-filled and exciting learning journey with your children. Children are settling into Preschool life and becoming more familiar with the routines and expectations. All children have received a blue school hat, which will stay at Preschool for when they are here.

Children have been exploring Preschool over the last few weeks with their new friends. Activities explored inside include; painting, collage, block building, puzzles and dramatic play. Outdoor activities include: bikes, exploring the sandpit, the equipment and the see-saw. 

Children love engaging in creative collage. It encourages and develops an imagination, manipulative skills and their creativity. Each child can create a piece of work, experimenting with different textures, shapes, sizes, colours and weight. During craft time it allows students to engage in conversation discussing what each child is creating.

We have started our amazing artwork for the annual Narrabri Show and look forward to sharing it with you all soon.

We are looking forward to a fantastic year!

Miss Abbey O’Brien & Mrs Linda Watson 

We would like to give a round of applause to all our Kinder students for making a great start to the 2023 school year and their very FIRST year at school!

Mrs Gett and Mrs Wade are so very proud of how quickly the children settled into our classroom routines and learning habits. We have jumped straight into learning in all subjects and the children are working very hard.

The children began the term learning and putting into practice our school’s Behaviour Matrix which is based on respect for ourselves, others and property.

Our integrated English/Science unit focused on ‘Living Things’ as we explored the concepts of print and language. As young scientists experimenting, we observed and recorded our daily observations of two plants in different conditions. We concluded that plants need water and light to survive. We are learning to predict, retell, sequence and respond to texts. In writing lessons, the children have been learning about sentence structure and writing their first (of very many) sentences. They have also enjoyed writing lists and labelling pictures, often surprising themselves with their success.

Daily Maths begins with a brief number sense activity based in numeracy and encouraging the children to use mental strategies and think mathematically. We have been ‘counting the circle’ to enhance our forward counting skills. We don’t always begin with 1, which will help counting on when we begin addition. In Maths the children have been learning about time, including the days of the week,  explored patterns, measured and compared the length of objects, named and described the properties of two-dimensional shapes and explained the position of objects in relation to others.

Congratulations to the students for leading the Learner Led conferences and sharing their learning with their families.

We can’t wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for us and our new little learners. 

Stage one students have enjoyed settling into their classrooms with new teachers for 2023. There are 82 Stage One students this year and they have had a busy start to the school year. Students completed an Integrated English and Science Unit learning all about the local food and fibre industries. The unit culminated in a visit to a farm where they learnt more about lamb production and the shearing process involved in producing wool. The students created flow charts and diagrams, wrote descriptions and used graphic organisers to compare and contrast different animals used for food and fibre. They are now completing a unit based on the picture books, A Bag and a Bird by Pamela Allen, The Great Rabbit Chase by Freya Blackwood and A duck and a Bike by David Shannon. Students are busy planning and writing their own narrative and have some wonderful ideas for their stories. The children are also learning to recite poetry which they will perform at the local Eisteddfod later in the year.

In Mathematics students have completed units in whole number, two-dimensional shapes, patterns and measurement. They have really enjoyed the ‘hands on’ activities while learning to order numbers, describe and sort polygons, measure the length and area of items as well as the capacity and mass of containers and objects. We continue to begin each maths session with daily number sense routines where all students are learning to justify their thinking and use accountable talk to build on or challenge each other’s thinking.

During PE lessons students are learning fundamental movement skills and applying them while participating in games of soccer, tennis, T-ball and netball. In Geography lessons students are learning to identify man-made, managed and natural features in the local community and compare urban, suburban, rural and city landscapes.

We are currently holding Learner Led Conferences for students and their families. This is a great opportunity to hear all about the learning your child/children are proud of so far this year. It is a delight to see them so excited to share their learning with their families.

We strongly believe in working together with families to support students in their learning journey and would like to thank the parents for their support so far of this wonderful group of young people. Please don’t hesitate to contact your teacher if you would like to discuss your child’s learning or wellbeing.

Stage One Team

Cathy Hatton, Hannah Graham, Emily Ward, Beth Kracht, Louise Stewart and Sarah Bennett

Year 3 and year 4 students have had a tremendous beginning to the new school year. All students have settled in well to their new classes and have begun setting personal goals to achieve throughout the year.

Our English and Science sessions have focused on how agricultural processes are used to grow plants and raise animals for food and clothing. Our students are learning about the story of cotton, from the field to the fabric. They will complete this unit by designing and writing a digital flow chart of this process.

The focus of our Maths lessons has been learning about place value, length and addition and subtraction strategies. The students have been engaged in exploring mathematical concepts through problem solving and hands on activities and games. Year 3 and year 4 have both measured and recorded lengths, as well as explored perimeter. We are enjoying using the new resources that have been purchased to assist with our learning. Maths will be part of every student’s educational journey and in each year of their schooling. The NSW Department website has a page that has Information for parents and carers around everyday Mathematics.

https://education.nsw.gov.au/parents-and-carers/everyday-maths

Geography this term has our student’s investigating Australia’s major natural and human features.  Stage Two are learning about the uniqueness of the Australian continent and how the Australian continent is divided into spaces (states and territories).

Visual Arts lessons with Mrs Pursche are one of the highlights of the week. In these lessons our students are experimenting with colour, line, shape and texture.

At Narrabri West, we celebrate all student achievement. We are looking forward to the learner led conferences in weeks 10 and 11 to share what your child has been learning.

Stage Two look forward to even more exciting opportunities and challenges in the year ahead. They are to be commended for their efforts to strive for their personal best in all aspects of their learning.

Mrs Keys, Miss Dunmall, Mrs Phillips, Mr Paull, Miss Farrelly and Mrs Pursche

This Term, 5/6G, 5/6S and 5/6T have been hard are work enjoying our units of work. Year 6 enjoyed the UPP Leadership course earlier in the term, where students spent the day in the hall learning about the different characteristics of leader. CPR training was held for Stage 3 students as well, giving our students important life-saving skills.

Year Maths is underway, where our Stage 3 teachers have been delivering more hands and engaging two-week units to our two Year 5 and two Year 6 classes. We began the year by brushing up on our place value knowledge, then dove into our perimeter and area unit. We are currently enjoying our fractions and decimal unit where M&M’s and fairy bread made their way into our classes, a delicious way to learn how to represent and order fractions!

After completing our English and Science integrated unit, we began our English and Geography integrated unit where students have been researching the icy continent Antarctica. Students have begun revising persuasive texts and will start writing a persuasive text relating to topics surrounding Antarctica.

In Creative Arts we have been doing Still life drawings, wire sculptures and clay models are a few examples of Stage 3 art this term. Students have been getting creative with multiple different mediums of art. All have enjoyed creating and refining their artworks so far this term.

Physical Education, Term 1 has been all about ball sports. Our Stage 3 class are loving their three-week rotations of tennis, basketball and volleyball. Modified games (and even teacher target practice) have been on the sporting menu over the past few weeks.

All class have settled in well and are looking forward to the remainder of the year, we are especially looking forward to our upcoming excursions, Year 6 shirts and PSSA sport.

Mrs Baker, Mr Bennett, Mr Gilliland, Mrs Smith and Mr Tester

What a fantastic opportunity for Stage 1 students. They were lucky enough to participate in an excursion to a local farm. Stage 1 students have been learning about the food and fibre produced in the local area as part of our Integrated Science and English Unit. Students visited Mrs Hatton’s farm where fat lambs and wool are produced. Mr Hatton demonstrated how to muster sheep with his sheep dogs as well as how to shear the sheep. 

University of Sydney - Plant Breeding Institute Narrabri

On Friday 17th February, Stage 3 went on an excursion to the University of Sydney Plant Breeding Institute in Narrabri as a part of their English and Science integrated unit. The unit is focused on the production of wheat and exploring sustainable products and processes. 

On they day, students broke into 4 groups and were led by the incredibly knowledgeable staff at the PBI to learn about what happens at their facility.

Group activities included:

• threshing wheat grains and learning about native grains Indigenous people grew and ate.
• Getting our hands messy with bread products and exploring the composition of bread, dough and other flour products.
• Designing and creating a map of a sustainable farm.
• A tour of the machinery used on the property to grow, harvest and take care of various crops.

The day was an excellent experience for all involved. We ended the excursion with a prepared Q and A with the PBI staff involved on the day who we couldn’t thank enough!

Our Stage 3 students are currently hard at work planning and designing prototypes to tackle a sustainable issue they identified on the excursion, learning how to manage and solve real world issues.”

On the 24th of March we celebrated Harmony Day. The Children wore orange or bright colours to celebrate inclusiveness, respect, and a sense of belonging for everyone. 

Zone Touch trials : Congratulations to all students who attended the Zone Touch Trials at Narrabri High School on the the 21st February. All students were commended on their excellent behaviour and sportsmanship. Congratulations to the students who were selected to play in the Zone Team at the Regional Primary Touch carnival to be held in Tamworth on Tuesday 14th March. (Absent from photo Lawson Oakley and Sasha Willis).

North West PSSA Touch: On the 14th March we had a group of students represent Narrabri West in the Zone Team at the Regional Primary Touch carnival. Although no one was selected to progress to the next round,again everyone showed excellent behaviour and sportsmanship, and really enjoyed the day.

On Monday 13th March Charlotte Murphy and Michael Harris-Clayton travelled to Gunnedah for the North West PSSA trials. Both students played really well and enjoyed the experience of playing against other children from other schools. 

Lachlan Baker, Judah Stuart, Toby Longworth, Ryan McConnell, Hannah Gale, Isabelle Leehy, Maicee Astill, Mia McConnell, Bentley Miller, Oliviah Tonkin, Marley Cunningham, Savannah Lawler, Naiya Cochrane, Saige Rood-England. (Blair Lennox absent form photo). 

Well done to everyone who participated in the North West Swimming Carnival in Armidale. Congratulations to the students who made it through to the NSW PSSA Swimming Championships to be held in Sydney the last week of Term 1. Bridie Seymour, Jedda Cochrane, Max Booby, Lucy Booby,Lexie Fernance, Ryan Warnock, Angus Booby, Zara Warnock, Zara Dalton, Mia McConnell and Maicee Astill. 

On Friday 24th March, Narrabri West Public School Softball teams played their first round of the knockout competition, both games against Narrabri Public School. The boys played first and they had an outstanding game, winning 10-2. The girls had a nail-biting finish to their game after going into a tie breaker and needing 8 runs to win the game. It was an extremely close game and our girls won the game 26/25. Overall it was a fantastic day of sport with brilliant sportsmanship shown by all stundets. We are looking forward to our next games against Wee Waa Public School early next term. We would also like to say a huge thank you to Dale Nixon and Christy Browning who volunteered their time to umpire our games.

The P&C is an extremely vital component of our school. We invite all of our new parents to come along and join a group of dedicated and enthusiastic members. Meetings generally conclude by 7:00pm, so it is not a late night.

The role of the P&C is to:

·         Represent the views of parents in school decision making and policy development;

·         Support the school, the Principal and school staff in the implementation of school policy;

·         Promote the school; and

·         Support school programs through fund raising activities.

All parents and friends are welcome to attend our P & C AGM on Monday 3rd April in the library, starting at 6:00pm.

To find out more, please find P&C Federation Home Page and Constitution links below:

https://www.pandc.org.au/ (P&C Federation Home Page)

https://www.pandc.org.au/forms/Federation/150217%20Constitution%20of%20the%20Federation%20of%20P%20and%20C.pdf  (Constitution)

At Narrabri West our students benefit from the fantastic support of our parents and others within our community. It is always great to have adults around, working together with the staff and students of the school. There are so many people who spend hours and hours, in various ways, for the students of the school.

Every time you help your child with their homework or home reading, every time you complete permission notes and return them on time, every time you support any fundraising opportunities or come to one of our special events – you are supporting our school and your children. Thank you for this. 

Attendance 

Children are required by law to attend school regularly. Regular attendance at school is important to ensure satisfactory progress is being made in all aspects of school development. 

Notes to Cover Absences: 

Parents are required to explain the absences of their children from school promptly and within seven days to the school. An explanation for absence must be provided to the school within 7 days of the first day of any period of absence.  

A text message or email will be sent to parents on the day a student is absent. Parents can reply to this message explaining the reason for the absence. Absences can also be explained using the Skoolbag App. 

School rolls are legal documents and reasons for absences must be recorded by the teacher. Please contact the school Principal if a child is going to be absent for an extended period of time. Teachers will contact parents to monitor and follow up on student absences. 

Late Arrivals / Early Departures: 

Parents should make every effort to ensure that children arrive by 9.25am. Late arrivals should report to the office for a late note. If you need to collect your child from school during the day, a note should be sent to the class teacher. An early leaver’s note must also be obtained from the school office before collecting the child. For safety reasons students are not released to unauthorised persons. Disruptions to the class should be kept to a minimum and where possible dental, doctors’ appointments etc., should be made outside of school hours. 

As you can appreciate, supervision of our students remains crucial to our planning to ensure that all students are safe at all times. Sending your children to school before 9:00am has the potential to place them in an unsafe situation. Teachers do not start duty until 9:00am in the mornings – if your child is here earlier, they will be unsupervised and potentially unsafe. We ask if they are here earlier than 9:00am – hopefully not – that they sit on the seats in the Infants shelter or outside the Kindergarten rooms, no matter what class they are in, until the bell goes. Please ensure your children get to school at 9:00am or afterwards.

Some students are being dropped at school by their parents at 8:30am. This is unsafe and makes it difficult for teachers to plan and prepare for their class before the start of the school day at 9:00am. Please make alternate arrangements for your children.

All parents are reminded that we are NOT permitted to have canteen accounts or to ‘book things up.’ No students will be provided with items from the canteen without money. The canteen by necessity has to operate as a business and in order for it to remain viable in our school we cannot offer credit in any form. 

Lunch order can be made via the My School Connect App or at the canteen.

Throughout the day students may need to be sent to the sick bay for various reasons. Mrs Galvin is a trained First Aid Officer and she assesses their condition and then carries out the appropriate treatment. They might have a band aid applied to a cut or graze, an ice pack to a bruise or they simply lie down and rest. Each child who visits the sick bay receives a note outlining the incident, the treatment administered and the length of time spent in Sick Bay.

If Mrs Galvin is concerned about the child she will ring you or your emergency contact person. In an emergency, the school will ring the ambulance and then you. Please make sure your contact details are up to date for this reason.

It is not appropriate that students have mobile phones at school. If for emergency reasons students need to bring a mobile phone to school, it is to be left with the front office staff who will maintain its security.  Emergency calls for students should be directed through the school office.

If a student is found to have a mobile phone at school, it will be placed in the front office for security. If there is a problem with these arrangements, we will make a decision based on the immediate safety needs of the student.

The school does not accept responsibility for lost, stolen or damaged mobile phones at any time. It is a criminal offence to use a mobile phone to menace, harass or offend another person. We are required to involve the police should such an action occur.

Mobile phones must also not be used to take photos or video rcordings whilst students are travelling on school buses.

Our scripture lessons have commenced for Kindergarten to Year 6 students. Classes will have a half hour scripture lesson each week. Lessons are non-denominational, except for Catholic, with scripture teachers from a number of local churches.

If you do not want your child participating in these lessons, please put your request in writing.

Our school is committed to improving children’s health through education and by supporting the Department of Health’s Crunch&Sip initiative.

Crunch&Sip is a set break for students to eat fruit or salad vegetables and drink water in the classroom. We ask you to support your child to participate in Crunch&Sip by providing a water bottle to sit on the desk and a suitable piece of fruit or vegetable each day for Crunch&Sip.

Research has shown that drinking water and eating fruit and vegetables is essential for good health and can help concentration throughout the day.

Below is the roster for our canteen for Term 2, as you can see we have many spots available. If you are able to assist please contact Mrs Richardson in the canteen for more information. You do not need to be there the whole day, even if you can spare an hour or 2, your help would be greatly appreciated. Fridays are particularly busy so more than one helper is required, please let us know if you can assist.