NEWSLETTER

On behalf of the Greenock Primary School Governing Council, we welcome both new and returning families to the 2022 school year. Although the start of year was not what we expected, 2022 is set to be an exciting and busy year for the school community with a number of projects planned, including:

· External painting of the school Wellbeing Room

· Facelift of the gazebo - fundraised for by the SRC members of 2021.

· Increased opportunities for parent involvement and interactions, including working bees, coffee club and fundraising events.

· Continued internal work of the Wellbeing Room, including new furniture and paintjob

 As some of you may already have noticed, thanks to the generous donations from our local community, over the Christmas break we were able to replace the roof on the Wellbeing Room, a project that was well overdue. None of this would have been possible without the funds raised by the families at Greenock Primary. On behalf of the 2021 Governing Council, we would like to thank all who contributed.

The Governing Council is an integral part of the operation of Greenock Primary School. It provides a link between the school community and the school principal, staff and students.  We, as a team, aspire to make projects, such as those listed above, a reality.  

The Governing Council allows parents/carers to make a difference within our school community, and to the school lives of our children, by encouraging development and growth within the school.  We welcome and encourage parents and carers to become involved. This can be done by nominating for the 2022 Governing Council. 

The Governing Council meets 2 evenings per term and are involved in many of the “behind the scenes” coordination and running of projects. If you are interested in joining, please complete the nomination form that will be sent home with your child.

 Should you not be able to commit to the Governing Council this year, you can still contribute by becoming involved in “just one thing”. A letter outlining this will also be coming home with your child.

 We wish you and your child/children a safe and successful 2022 school year and look forward to “meeting” you at the AGM.

 On behalf of your Governing Council,

 Rebecca Koch & Courtney Mackie

Front Office Hours:

The school reception area is staffed  between 8:30am & 4:00pm (open term time only)

Contacting the school:

 You can contact the school by phone or email (details at the bottom of this newsletter).  On a day where there is only one staff member working in the office or if you call outside of school hours, the answering machine may be on.  Please leave your name, contact number and a short message with the reason for your call. If you ask for a call back, we will respond as soon as we are available to do so.  All messages are passed on to the relevant staff member.

* If you have any queries for staff whilst these current Covid resrtictions are in place, we ask that you use the above methods to contact the school rather than coming to the school in person.  Thank you.

Staff in the Front Office:

*Monday  -         Gail 

Tuesday  -         Liz (am) & Gail 

Wednesday  -   Mari & Gail

*Thursday  -        Mari

*Friday  -             Mari

Uniform Purchasing:

Uniforms can be purchased on Monday - Wednesday by appointment. Call the school office for an appointment time. Uniforms can not be purchased outside of these times. Payment is by EFT and uniforms will not be issued until payment is received.

Drop Off and Pick Up Times - Drive with caution:

Remain in your car and move off after your child has left or entered the car.  These are very busy times of the day and we ask for your cooperation so that our students and the school community  can safely come and go from school each day.  Remember to drive slowly. 

PLEASE DO NOT U-TURN OR REVERSE IN FRONT OF THE SCHOOL

 School Supervision - Yard Duty:

Yard Duty begins at 8.30am each morning.  Please ensure children arrive after this time. Staff will be on duty until 3.30pm each afternoon and children will be supervised  within the JP playground area until they are picked up by their adult.  Please arrange to collect your  children at 3:10pm each afternoon and contact the school if you are going to be late.  If you are having difficulty with these times consider using the Before/After School Care, Happy Haven,  who are operating from Nuriootpa Primary School. Phone 81555444 to book or for more information.

Late arrivals and early departures:

If your child is late to school (ie: arrives after 8.50am), they will need to sign-in at the Front Office and take a yellow 'Late Arrival' card to their class teacher.  If you pick them up early for an appointment, you will need to sign-out your child at the Front Office and take a pink 'Early Departure' card to the class teacher.

Note: Please provide Front Office staff with a reason for either the late arrival or early departure: this is a department requirement and not meant to be intrusive.

 Student Exemptions:

If you are going on a family holiday during school time please inform your child’s class teacher and complete an Exemption Form at the Front Office.  All family holidays must be approved by the Principal and  applications should be forwarded to school at least 2 weeks before you travel.

Student Health:

It is recommended that healthcare plans and medication agreement forms be reviewed every 12 months.

This year we are asking you to update your child's healthcare plan & medication at the beginning of the school year so that your child is covered for the whole year.

Updating plans & medication at the beginning of each year  will be more convenient for parents, will ensure that your child is supported appropriately for their medical condition and will reduce administration time for staff.

Asthma Care, Allergic Reaction plans and a Medication Agreement form is available on the Skoolbag App for parents to access and take to your doctor or you can ask at the Front Office.

Reminders:

Parents are reminded to complete the Permission/Consent eforms on the Skoolbag app and also the Student Personal Information update forms for each child that were sent home on Monday with the oldest child in the family.

So far this year, the Reception class have been up to quite a lot – apart from just getting used to school and school routines. There have been some very big changes in the lives of these little people. And they have adapted to those changes so very well. We have started learning our letters using Jolly Phonics. We have only learnt six so far and we already can sound and blend some words. We have been using Heggerty to practice listening to sounds and making them with our mouths, as well as some “Mouth-letics” each day. We are learning about books and how authors create books and started making our own. We have even learnt the three ways to read a book – read the words, read the pictures or read the words and pictures together. In maths we’ve been looking at numbers and counting and making sure to count carefully so nothing gets missed out. We have started looking at shapes and patterns, too. As well as sorting things into different categories. We are using the Kimochis to learn about emotions and how to handle them. We have met Lovey-Dove, Cloud and Huggtopus so far. They have been really good at helping us learn how to recognise feelings in ourselves and others. For science we have started learning about plants and what they need to grow and stay healthy. In HASS we’ve discussed our families and even drew a simple family tree. And in art we have started to look at colours and how to mix and blend them to create new colours. All of this in only a couple of weeks! Well done to all the new Receptions and their families for getting through these first few weeks – it hasn’t been easy, but the hardest part is over.

Adam Claridge