RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, CARE NEWSLETTER · exciting and fun filled week of learning. Education Week This is being celebrated in Week 3 from 5th – 9th August. More details to follow

Gundagai South Public School Principal: Mrs Pip McAlister

RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, CARE

NEWSLETTER Phone: (02)69441117 Gundagai South Public School Fax: (02)69441158 Luke Street Email: [email protected] Gundagai NSW 2722 Web: www.gundagais-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Term 3 Week 1 23rd July 2019

Dear Parents,

Welcome back everyone. I

hope you were all able to enjoy

some quality time interacting

and sharing great experiences

with your children during the

past two weeks. As we now

move forward into the second

part of the year, the weather

will start to warm up again and

everyone is sure to be

reinvigorated and ready to face

new challenges in their

learning.

Thank you to all parents and

carers for being understanding

and patient with the school

reports. At the end of last term,

we had such an interrupted final

few weeks that it just proved

impossible to get them out

before the end of term. We

hope you were instead able to

spend the time enjoying the

students’ portfolios whilst more

time was available and you will

now be able to focus on the

individual reports over the next

few weeks. Mrs Hillier and I

spent some time during the

holidays finalising Mrs

Jackson’s reports for her, as

she was unable to complete

them herself. Hence, you will

find that they are unsigned by

her.

If you have any questions or

concerns about your child’s

progress, please come and see

us at school and have a chat. It

is much better to come and

voice any concerns directly

with those concerned, as at

times, people sometimes

become confused about what is

actually relevant and relates

directly to their child. We

appreciate your support

Mrs Jackson

Mrs Jackson has, during the

last week of the holidays, made

the decision to take some

extended leave and

consequently will be on leave

for the whole of Term 3 as the

is taking time to care for her

sick father. Given a number of

facts – including the difficulty

in finding a full time casual

teacher of suitable quality for

our K/1 class, and the fact that

as from the end of 2018, our

school entitlement for teaching

staff was reduced from 3 to 2,

Mrs Hillier and I discussed the

issue at length during the

holidays in our endeavour to

achieve the best possible

outcomes for all our students.

Additionally, it is assumed that

Mrs Jackson will return at the

start of Term 4 when classes

would return to normal.

As a result, Mrs Hillier will

now be teaching the K – 4 class,

with half of the Year 3 class

joining me and the 5/6 class.

We believe that this is the best

outcome and will allow our

students to continue to thrive,

grow and achieve their best.

The students will continue to be

supported by our three

wonderful SLSO’s – Mrs

Matthews, Kelly and Joe, Ms

Sini, Ms Wild and our other

visiting staff and support

services.

This week, Ms Sini has also

taken leave and will return next

week, whilst Clare will be

taking a month’s leave

following surgery on her knee.

I will be on leave this Thursday

and Friday – in Bathurst for the

NSW Masters State Hockey

Championships.

Mrs Hall will be taking my

class on Thursday and Friday in

place of Ms Sini.

Next week, Jess McLennan

and Ms Sini will be teaching the

K/1/2 class whilst the rest of the

school is on the excursion.

Starting School Expo

For parents of children

intending or thinking of starting

their child at school in 2020, the

starting school expo will be

held this Wednesday night

commencing at 6.00pm at

Gumnut Child Care Centre. There will be a number of

speakers from a range of

services including schools and

health and wellbeing, so come

along and enjoy an evening out.

Fencing

The fencing has now been

completed around the school.

Our school will now be safe and

secure for everyone. It looks

great!

School Excursion

Only a few days to go now!

Please ensure that all payments

have been finalised before next

Monday. During the holidays, I

had to pay for our admission

into many of the attractions, so

it is now moving into a very

exciting time. I made the

payments based on return of our

initial permission notes.

All students who completed the

initial permission note and first

deposit have been included in

the numbers.

It should be a nice small group

of students and everyone will

certainly have so many great

learning opportunities, which

will allow them to work on this

unit all through this term. Our

learning journey for Term 3 will

all be based on our hands on

learning experiences during the

excursion.

Details with the itinerary,

clothing requirements, money

and medication information is

attached for those who may

have misplaced their original

information. An envelope is

attached for any final payments.

Thank you everyone – we are

all looking forward to an

exciting and fun filled week of

learning.

Education Week

This is being celebrated in

Week 3 from 5th – 9th August.

More details to follow next

week with a day to be

determined and activities to be

set.

Todd Woodbridge Cup – Tennis for Years 3 & 4

On Friday, 9th August,

students in Years 3 and 4 will

all participate in the Todd

Woodbridge Cup for tennis.

There will be teams of 4 boys

and 4 girls. At present, I am

checking with other schools to

ensure we have a position for

all our students. The

competition will be held in

Tumut at their town courts and

the day is being organised and

run by Birdie. Parents will be

required to assist with transport

on the day. Please complete

and return the attached

permission note and return to

school by this Friday. Please

indicate if you are able to assist

with transport on the day. More

details as they come to hand.

Vandalism

Unfortunately, last Tuesday,

people gained access to the

school grounds and damaged

the tennis court by pulling up

the lines and using some form

of sharp chisel to dig down into

the court in various places.

This is very disappointing for

our students as the court now

needs to be locked until the

damage can be assessed by the

DET and insurers.

Term 2 Assembly

Congratulations to our students

who received awards at our end

of term assembly. Besides class

winners, our major award

winners were:

K/1 Principal’s Award –

Pepper Maconochie

2/3/4 Principals’ Award –

Tristan Gould 5/6 Principal’s Award – Amy

Myers

Citizenship Award – Jade

Harvey

Gundagai South Cross Country

Champions:

8/9 Yr Boy – Riley Hourn

8/9 Yr Girl – Makena Hourn

10 Yr Boy – Riley Foster

11 Yr Boy – Jack Clarke

11 Yr Girl – Monique Hayes

12 Yr Boy – David Foster

12 Yr Girl – Lilah Norden

Gundagai South Athletics

Champions:

Junior Boy – Hayden Crossley

Junior Girl- Jaylee Coulcher

11 Yr Boy – Marco Grant

11 Yr Girl – Monique Hayes

12 Yr Boy – David Foster

12 Yr Girl – Lilah Norden

Congratulations everyone.

Book Launch

Congratulations to our very own

ex-student Helen Castles who so

eagerly and entertainingly

launched her long awaited book –

Scoop McLaren - Detective

Editor on Tuesday 1st July.

Helen entertained the students

and those parents and community

members, including the member

for Cootamundra Steph Cooke

and Mayor of Cootamundra

Gundagai Regional Council –

Abb McAlister with an in depth

account of the journey to success.

To be patient and persistent; to

never give up and to follow your

dreams and desires, not matter

how far away they might seem, is

something we should all strive to

achieve. The ability to be

resilient and to bounce back

when often we receive setbacks,

disappointments or challenges in

the journey of life is such an

invaluable skill for everyone to

possess. Congratulations Helen.

External Validation

This term, I will be busy

completing the process of

External Validation. All staff

will be included in collecting

and collating data around the

School’s Excellence

Framework which will be

reported on and submitted at the

end of august. The school will

be assessed on 14 sub elements

in three main evidence sets

including Teaching and

Learning, Wellbeing and

Community.

Small Schools’ Soccer

Congratulations to Otford

Public School who were

successful in advancing to the

next round of the PSSA Small

Schools’ Soccer Knockout

when they defeated our team

5 – 1. Tristan Gould was

nominated for Special mention

on the day as he played with

true sportsmanship and courage.

Special mention also Khyla

Warren. Thank you to all

parents for their assistance with

transport on the day and to

Alicia Crossley, Jodie Dean and Richard Morris for their

coaching expertise!

Congratulations

We would like to congratulate

Lianne Blundell on becoming a

finalist at the Murrumbidgee

Local Health District 2019

Excellence Awards for the

volunteer award.

We acknowledge all her hard

work in creating nutritious and

healthy food for our students

that they all love!

Lianne’s role as Canteen

Manager at Gundagai South

Public School and Leader of the

Small Schools Healthy Canteen

Network has allowed her to

continue to contribute to the

development of strategies

aiming at improving student

health, not only at our small

school but at schools across the

district.

Well done Lianne.

Radio News

Don’t forget to tune into school

news on the radio station

Sounds of the Mountains 94.3.

This can be heard each school

Monday morning at

approximately 9.45am

Week 2: Michael & David

School Banking

Don’t forget to send in your

Bendigo School Banking.

Banking will be collected every

Wednesday.

PBL Weekly Focus Area

This week our focus areas for

PBL will be “Toilets” in the

playground and “Entering and

Exciting the Room” for our

Classroom.

Playground –Toilets

Respect: Go, then leave.

Responsibility: go at recess or

lunch. Flush. Wash hands.

Care: Report problems.

Classroom – Entering and

Exiting the Room

Respect: Walk sensibly and

quietly.

Responsibility: Line up quietly.

Keep in line.

Care: Bags on backs. Hands and

feet to self.

Please discuss our focus areas with

your children this week.

Pip

Canteen

Monday 29th July Lianne Blundell

Wednesday 31st

July

Lianne Blundell

Friday 2nd August

Lianne Blundell