Newport Natter

Speaking of tired, it was wonderful that the Scientists from the University of Queensland who are currently working on developing a vaccine for COVID-19 took time out of their busy schedule to write to 2MG. 2MG had written letters to the team at the University to thank them for their work and inspire them to keep going. Congratulations 2MG for writing for such an important purpose. Here is the reply from the Scientists.

You would have received the letter from Brooke Logan, our P & C President, announcing Tammy’s resignation from the canteen which was closely followed by a letter of resignation from Petrina Nicklin. Tammy’s commitment to keeping our school community well fed and smiling with her delicious baking, never-ending smile, inspirational chalk-board sayings and famous dress ups, have been highly valued and appreciated by us all. Together, Tammy and Petrina have catered for the tastes of our community and made sure we all had a lot of laughs along the way. We want to thank Tammy and Petrina for their time and service to Newport School and look forward to acknowledging this with the students some time in the near future.

The screen shot below is from a Year 5 Google Classroom in which you can see the student’s information report about IPads and the teacher’s feedback; the yellow highlighting links directly to the teacher’s comments in the centre. Further guidance for the student in the form of success criteria can been seen on the far left.  In providing feedback in this way, the teacher reports a marked improvement in students’ writing from the previous week.

Another way teachers have harnessed technology is to capture grade based assessment results to quickly see areas for improvements across a whole grade. Data samples collected through Google Forms have highlighted areas for student improvement and will inform subsequent lessons to be delivered. 

This week we continue our Phase 1 plan in the same way as last week with students attending 1 day per week (see table below).

Please know that some of our staff members fall into the vulnerable category and are still working only from home. In these instances, the class teacher is being replaced with a casual teacher.

This week, just like last week, the teachers will be conducting a Zoom session only on Wednesday. They will also be giving most of their feedback through Google Classroom on Wednesday too, as that is the day when they are not teaching face-to face. On other days during the week they have a few breaks throughout the day and might be able to provide feedback during this time, in addition to planning programs for the weeks ahead.    

If you have paid the P and C Levy through your school fees (Term 1 or Term 2) this makes you a member of the P and C, and therefore makes you eligible to vote on matters at meetings. Legally, the P and C are required to keep a register of members, which they are in the process of collating based on the 2020 P and C levies paid. If you have any questions about this, or concerns about your details being kept on the P and C register, please contact the P and C via info@newportpandc.com.au

To keep us all laughing, last Friday we got into the spirit of the cold weather with Flanno Friday. This Friday we will be going with “Mismatch Friday.” If you would like to join in with us you can, at home and at school. That means the students who attend school on Friday can wear something that is a “mismatch” if they choose as can the students at home. Please send us your fun photos newport-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Kind regards,

Natalie Baldi

The following changes have been made to help students complete the Challenge in 2020 due to libraries being closed:

Remember: Students access the Premier's Reading Challenge through the tile in thier DoE student portal.

Students on all Challenge levels are able to read 10 choice books – an increase from five. There is a link below that will explain how to add the extra five choice books (not done the usual way).

Students on all Challenge levels will be able to include books on their reading records that they read collaboratively as a class, in person or online with their teacher or at home with their parents/carers.

Students who do not participate in the Challenge in 2020 will not be disadvantaged in the receipt of cumulative awards.

To add the extra choice books, you use the PRC ID of: 685957 (2020 Bonus Choice Book 1), 685958 (2020 Bonus Choice Book 2), 685959 (2020 Bonus Choice Book 3), 685960 (2020 Bonus Choice Book 4) and 685961 (2020 Bonus Choice Book 5). The following link will explain how to do this: How do I add bonus choice books for 2020? 

Happy reading from the library team.

Student Wellbeing

Harley and I have, so far this year, been working on getting the friendship tables around the school painted and umbrellas to be installed in a few of them. Whilst we have been home-schooling, the umbrellas have arrived and have been put up. Last term in the Year 6 Parliament meeting, we put forward a suggestion about having more mature readers' books in the library. It was approved and we will be working towards finding suitable books and ordering them for the library once school gets back to normal. Mature readers' books are located in a rack at the front of the library. They are for mature readers only. There are currently a small number of these books and with more titles, more students will be able to borrow them.

Ava J

Halogen National Young Leaders’ Day

A few weeks ago, Newport’s school captains, Lillie, Aston, Bronte and Liam attended the National Young Leaders Day in Darling Harbour. We went with other school captains from all over New South Wales. 5000 students attended and the event was held at the Sydney International Convention Centre. It was a great day and we all enjoyed the experience. There were four amazing speakers; sports reporter Erin Molan, author Rove McManus, former Australian netball player Bianca Chatfield and motivational speaker John Courtis.

 Erin Molan – By Lily

The first speaker of the day was Erin Molan. She is a successful television reporter and is the co-host of the popular NRL show 100% Footy. She does the daily sports report on 9 news and strongly supports many charities.

 But her life wasn’t always the glamorous life of a journalist. 

She experienced many hardships growing up and found it hard to form any close relationships. She had a dream of being a reporter and pursued it until, after ninety-eight rejection letters and one very nerve-racking interview, she was selected to become a Channel 9 sports reporter. Shortly after her first article went live she endured extreme backlash relating to the fact that she was a girl. She was very disappointed but was determined not to allow others’ opinions stop her from fulfilling her goals and chasing her passion.

Erin’s values and traits have led her to become one of the most successful and renowned female reporters in history. Her strength, resilience and persistence inspire many young girls (and boys) to live and chase down their dreams and goals, no matter what anyone else says. She is one of the many examples of a true leader.

 John Courtis – By Liam

John was born with a severe physical disability and at a young age he decided it was time to remove his legs as they were useless to him because they didn't work. Without the lower part of his body, John embraces a full and positive life. He rolls around on his custom skateboard and uses humour to communicate some of life’s most important lessons. John has delivered his inspirational message to over 6 million people around the world, speaking at events to complement former US President Bill Clinton, global entrepreneur Richard Branson, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the late Steven Covey and former South African President Nelson Mandela.

 John is a family man, husband and father. In October 2004 John, and his family, joined with notable Australian sporting greats such as Allan Border, Stephen Waugh and Ian Healy, Ben Darwin, John Lazarou & many others, put together a charity walk from Ipswich to the Gold Coast (124 kms). They raised almost $40,000 for three charities that are very close to their hearts; Hydrocephalus, Amputee (Limb Kids) & Fibromyalgia. 

On the day John spoke about, his favourite colour (purple), how handsome he is and his life story. He truly gave a strong message about not giving up and always persisting.