Principal's ReportWith only two weeks left until the school year ends, we have certainly entered a particularly busy time. There are so many events to look forward to for all our students, staff and families. These include celebrations to end an era, excursions to support learning and formal assemblies to acknowledge achievements to mention a few. I am extremely proud of the way in which our students, staff and whole school community have managed the many changes that have come their way throughout term 4. Staffing 2023 We currently have two classroom teacher positions and one assistant teacher position that have been advertised and are awaiting panel interviews and subsequent appointment to Unanderra Public School. Once each merit selection panel procedure has been formally completed, I will be able to notify the community of the outcome. It is with mixed emotions that I share with you that Mrs Linda Jackson will be leaving UPS at the end of the year to begin her new appointment at Tullimbar Public School in 2023. Mrs Jackson has been Assistant Principal (Rel) for more than twelve months supervising Stage two students and staff. I am sure you will agree that her unwavering commitment to teaching and learning and the consistent sense of calm that she has provides reassurance and understanding during even the most challenging of days. Mrs Jackson has made a significant contribution to Unanderra Public School, and we have been incredibly fortunate to have her knowledge and high level of organisational skills to achieve so much throughout her time at UPS. We congratulate Mrs Jackson on her new teaching appointment and wish her all the very best in her future endeavours. Mrs Lauren Perry will be returning to her substantive school in 2023 and we hope that when she can, she will visit us and maybe even work with us a day or two throughout the year. Mrs Perry is an outstanding teacher who is always working hard to ensure her class is learning and is working towards achieving their personal best. Mrs Perry has made so many positive contributions to UPS and we wish her all the very best in her future endeavours. We thank Mrs MacFarlane for her work with 3/4D through semester 2 this year. Her commitment and hard work in supporting the class and following in the footsteps of Ms Denham has been greatly appreciated. We wish Mrs MacFarlane all the very best in her future endeavours. Miss Kate Maslowski joined Unanderra Public School at the start of 2022 in the role of Assistant Principal (Rel) supervising the students and staff in Stage 3. This is a particularly demanding role due to the multitude of events that are involved in planning for as year 6 end their time in primary school. Miss Maslowski has shared her expertise in curriculum and is an excellent teacher who has provided us with lots of valuable ideas and a deeper understanding of Formative Assessment and Visible Learning. We thank Miss Maslowski for her dedication and high level of commitment to our students and whole school community and we wish her all the very best in her future endeavours. Reports Student reports will be sent home on Monday 12 December. The teachers have been working on assessing and finalising these documents throughout term four. This process involves a multitude of considerations including triangulating data on each child and meeting as a stage team to ensure consistent teacher judgement is applied. Congratulations to all students on their achievements. P & C- Thank you! A big thank you to our P&C president Lisa and her executive team and membership for their ongoing hard work and dedication in working with our school to enhance the teaching and learning opportunities for our teachers and students. While yet again another complex year to navigate, it has been very successful, with the P&C finding ways to enhance the things we are doing, while providing many valuable experiences and opportunities Thank you to everyone involved. We still have one more date allocated for our P&C to meet, which is Monday 5 December at Mount Kembla Hotel starting at 6.30pm for and informal gathering before a short meeting to close off the year beginning at 7pm. We look forward to seeing as many people as possible to celebrate another successful year in partnership with the P&C. School Enrolments 2023 In order to have accurate numbers for next year, it is important to notify the school office if you know your child will not be returning to Unanderra Public School next year (other than Year 6). This information helps us to plan for 2023. Alternatively, if you know of friends or family members who intend to enrol their children in Unanderra Public School in 2023, please ask them to contact the school office to fill in the necessary documentation. We look forward to welcoming all of our new community members to UPS. Leadership Speeches On Thursday 1 December a small group of Year 5 students presented their speeches for the role of captain or vice-captain in 2023. Each of the students prepared well and spoke very articulately, with confidence. They should feel very proud of their achievements and the successful candidates will be notified in the coming week. GOLD Assembly This important assembly was held today on Friday 2 December at 11.30am in the hall. Mrs Brennan and Mrs Jackson hosted it along with our great school leaders. There is a lot of planning and organisation that goes into hosting these assemblies and so I thank Mrs McCabe and Mrs Jackson and the administration staff for all that they do in making this so successful for our students. Parents Helpers Morning Tea This important occasion will be held at school on Tuesday 6 December at 11:30am o recognise the incredible work our volunteers do to enhance the learning opportunities for all our students. We thank all our volunteers for their dedication and time in supporting our great public school and the amazing children and staff we have. Jamberoo- Stage 3 Excursion Stage 3 students will be participating in an excursion to Jamberoo on Tuesday 6 December. We ask that parents/carers discuss the importance of staying safe and following the school values of being safe, being respectful and being responsible particularly on this day with their child before the event. There will be other school students and teachers at the same venue, and we respectfully remind our students how important it is to make safe choices in this less structured environment. Students are also reminded to pack lot of water and to wear a hat and use sunscreen in the morning and throughout the day when necessary. We wish our students and teachers a great day ahead! Presentation Day On Monday 12 December Unanderra Public School will host the annual school Presentation Day Assembly starting at 9.15am. This is a formal assembly, and all our students are expected to wear the correct school uniform on this day. Parents/carers have been discretely notified if their child is receiving an award. Please keep this a secret so that your child can enjoy this exciting surprise. We look forward to seeing many of our school community members attend this important school event. PBL Rewards Day This will be held on Wednesday 14 December at school throughout the day. The activities planned for this day will be shared with the students in the coming days. We congratulate all of our students for achieving this great reward and following the values of being Safe, Respectful and Responsible consistently throughout the term. Kindergarten Incursion – Taronga Zoo at School The students in kindergarten are looking forward to meeting the animals who will be visiting our school on Thursday 8 December. We can’t wait to see who they meet and what we learn about these amazing creatures. Please contact your child’s teacher if you require further information. Year 1 & 2 Excursion The students in Stage 1 will be participating in an excursion to Killalea on Friday 9 December. This will be an exciting day. Parents/carers are asked to remind their child of the importance of following the school values of being safe, respectful and responsible throughout the day. We look forward to hearing their great adventures on this day. Students are also reminded to pack lots of water, to wear a hat and use sunscreen in the morning and throughout the day when necessary. Year 6 Graduation On Thursday 15 December Unanderra Public School will be hosting a formal Year 6 graduation assembly in the school hall. The families of Year 6 are invited to attend with the proceedings beginning ta 11.30am. Parents/carers wishing to take their child from school early that day following the assembly are reminded to sign their child out. Thank you! Year 6 Farewell On Thursday 15 December the students in Year 6 will be celebrating the end of primary school with an evening of dinner, dancing and a few short speeches. We look forward to this ‘Red Carpet Farewell’ at Wests Leagues Club starting from a red-carpet arrival at 5.30pm and concluding at 9pm. Last Day of School- 16 December 2022 Just a friendly reminder that the final school day for students is Friday 16 December. The teachers will be participating in professional learning on Monday 19 December and the school will be non-operational from Tuesday 20 December 2022. Have a wonderful fortnight ahead. Anissa Rajendra As part of our procedural recount unit, 1P have, and will continue, to participate in a range of interactive experiences. During this week's adventure we roasted marshmallows, sang campfire songs and read spooky stories around the campfire. I wonder where next week's adventure will take us. Here’s a hint: ARGH, X marks the spot! Can you guess what we’ll experience next? Over Semester 2, 3/4S has been learning about famous and significant landmarks across Australia. When visiting a state or territory, 3/4S have looking closely at least one place that hold significance to the local Aboriginal Communities of that area. We have looked Lake Ballard in Western Australia, sacred to the Wongi/Wangkatha people. We have visited the Bungle Bungles, significant to the Karjaganujaru peoples, who have lived in this region for over 20,000 years. We have looked at Uluru, traditionally owned by the Anangu People. We have flow to the Daintree River, which was once inhabited by the Kuku Yulanji Peoples. 3/4S have now landed in NSW, and we have spent a lot of time learning about The Three Sisters, found in the Blue Mountains. The students have been learning about the Aboriginal legend regarding the rock formations and have added this information to their NSW posters and brochures. Please enjoy ☺ The Great Book SwapIn Week 5, UPS ran the Great Book Swap for the very first time! It was great to see so many people support the event, get behind such a great cause and get some new, exciting reading material in the process. We were able to raise over $230 for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation! The ILF will use this money to create reading materials for remote Aboriginal communities across Australia. We say thank you to all the people who donated books to the event and to those who donated money. You have all made a difference to so many lives! I would also like to give a big shout out to the members of 3/4S that supported the running of this event. You are awesome! Mr Scotland. Term 4 Gold AssemblyBronze and Silver AwardsWell done to all the students who received a Bronze and Silver Award at this weeks assembly. There were lots of students from across the school who have been working extremely hard and always do their personal best. Gala DaysAfter being washed out for Gala Day since the start of the year, Stage 2 and Stage 3 students finally got to attend a Gala Day on Friday of Week 5 with beautiful weather! All students had a great day versing other schools in a range of different sports, including Netball, Touch Football, Basketball and Soccer. Students at UPS are to be congratulated for their great sportsmanship and team spirit on the day.
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Principal's MessageHPAG Classes 2022 Five students (Ruby, Yerre, Lily, Ridit and Sophie) in year five have been participating in this program at Mt Kembla Public School one day each week for twenty five weeks. This program aims to provide enrichment for academically gifted students to assist them to optimise their learning and social skills in an extended environment. The Academically Gifted Class is not a supplement to the normal classroom program. It is designed as a withdrawal experience program. Tuesday was the final day of the program whereby all of the students presented their projects to their parents, teachers and principals. Congratulations! Organisational Changes due to Burst Water Pipe Thank you to our school community for your support during the unusual circumstances that occurred, resulting in our school being non-operational on Tuesday 1 November 2022. School staff identified the leak on Tuesday morning and immediately turned off the water mains to limit any further impact and water use. School Infrastructure NSW engaged a plumber who fixed the original problem. An electrician also attended to make the school safe and the Department’s IT team was onsite to assess fix any faults. We can confirm that 6 classrooms have been impacted across 2 levels, including the Practical Activities Area. We have done an initial assessment of damage and work is underway to clear and dry the water in these rooms. Unfortunately, one ceiling has been badly damaged making it unsafe for students and staff to use that area. Unfortunately, for the remainder of this term, some Stage 2 and 3 classes will need to relocate to other learning areas within the school. Stage 2 and 3 Learning Spaces • School Hall - 3/4J & 3/4R • Science and Technology (RFF) Room - 5/6D • Room 9 - 5/6S • Library - 5/6K Book Fair (Week 4) Changes to the Book Fair in our library meant it will now only open in week 4 and closed from week 5. Unfortunately Reading Club is postponed until further notice. Grandparents Day – Wednesday 2 November 2022 All grandparents of our Unanderra PS students were invited to join us in celebrating the valuable contribution they make to the educational journeys of their grandchildren. Teachers will utilised their classrooms, changed learning spaces and enjoyed the outdoor areas during this time to provide opportunities for grandparents and grandchildren to read together. Grandparents were invited to take grandchildren to the library for the book fair in the afternoon. It was such a joyous and successful day! Figtree High School Enrichment Class Visit A number of students were selected to observe the Enrichment Class at Figtree High School. This was a wonderful opportunity to see how the enrichment class operates, and will assist students to make an informed decision about joining the Enrichment Class at Figtree High School for Year 7 2023. Two teachers from Figtree High School, Sandra Fernandes and Ewen Porteous came to visit our Year 6 students last week and they are the 2023 Year 7 Advisers at Figtree High School. They met with their future Year 7 students from our school on Wednesday 26 October 2022. During this visit they introduced themselves and shared a short video that included a tour of the school and a welcome clip from two former students from Unanderra Public School. The students were able to ask any questions they have concerning their transition to Figtree High School. Last Day of Term 4, 2022 As we near the end of the year, I want to thank you for your ongoing support and notify you of a date change for the last day of Term 4 classes. Students will now finish school on Friday 16 December 2022. This is due to an additional School Development Day announced for staff across NSW public schools. School Development Days allow our staff to participate in professional learning that was put on hold due to COVID-19 staffing pressures and plan ahead for 2023 to ensure we meet the needs of our students. With this change, we ask that you arrange alternative care for your child on Monday 19 December. You can find local vacation care services for your child via the Before and After Care School Finder.External link Thank you for your understanding and support. Gymnastics Program During Term 4 all students from K-6 have been participating in a Gymnastics program as part of the mandatory Department of Education PDHPE K-10 syllabus. The program is being delivered by a team of specialist PE instructors from Got Game, who bring all of their own equipment and activities to our school throughout Term 4. The program has been split across the term with Stage 2 and Stage 3 classes participating between weeks 1-5 and Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 classes participating between weeks 6-10. Classes have been allocated a time slot each to participate in this program. The sessions are once a week for 5 weeks between Monday 14 November– Monday 12 December 2022. The children have been really enjoying participating in these sessions and look forward to them each week. Colour Explosion The UPS Colour Explosion will now be held on Friday 25 November. Students will have an early lunch 12:30pm-1:15pm. Parents will be invited to watch the run from 1pm and will be organised to remain on the grass areas behind the stage 2 classes. Teachers and students only will be involved in the race. Children will be able to leave early with their family once they have signed out via the front office. We will have six colour stations that will be headed by SLSO staff and SRC representatives. We are most appreciative of the support and work done behind the sense from the P & C committee. Ice-blocks will be provided to students once they have completed the running course. The Great Book Swap is back! For the past two years the pandemic has prevented many schools from hosting a Great Book Swap. We are hoping that the 2022 fundraiser will have a big come back. Our school is proudly involved. This year this initiative aims to raise $150,000 to gift 15,000 culturally relevant books to children living in remote Australia. Not only are you raising money for a great cause, you are also celebrating the first year of UNESCO's Decade of Indigenous Languages and learning more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Languages and cultures as well as instilling a sense of social responsibility in your students. Visit the website for some great learning resources and ideas to help make fundraising easier and more successful than ever. Thank you to our UPS community and Mr Scotland for providing this opportunity. COLA Progress The cola continues to be a work in progress. We hope that the roof will be completed very soon before the heat of the summer sun comes upon us. We thank everyone for their patience and understanding. Tales from the Science TrolleyAs most of you are aware we have a small leak which made a big flood at Unanderra Public School in Week 4 . This caused quite the rearrange with many teachers and students displaced around the school. This also meant that science has taken to the corridors and is now mobile being taught from a trolley in each classroom around the school. This has been a big change for all but the students have taken it in their stride and have been enjoying completing science activities in their classrooms. This term students have been learning about the 'Physical World', in particular how forces and motions effect the world and how we operate in it. Last week students in Stage 2 had to complete a task requiring them to make a paper clip float as part of their unit on magnetism. Each class had a great time firstly deciding how they were going to tackle the challenge and then working out what materials were needed to create a solution. It was fantastic to see how many different ways students were able to solve the problem. Well done to all students who had a go at our challenge in science last week. 5/6D have had many opportunities to incorporate the Aboriginal culture of our community, school and people of our class, into our learning. This semester we have enjoyed the yarning circle and engaged in stories from the Aboriginal culture such as The Whalers, Birth of the butterflies and How wombat lost his tail. We have drawn beautiful pictures from these stories and enjoyed learning about dream time and also drawn our own family circle in images. We are lucky enough to have students in our class that are related to the authors and illustrators of some of the books we have read, from the Coomaditchie United Aboriginal Corporation in Kemblawarra. K-6 Assembly AwardsKB Merit: Stefania.G & Luke.W Student of the week: Wren A.R KS Merit: Ahmad O & Harlem F Student of the week: Abigail J 1/2AB Merit: Orielle F Student of the week: Noah P 1M Merit: Arlo M & Scarlett C Student of the week: Nicholas P 1P Merit: Daisy K & Eva M Student of the week: Cage J 2L Merit: Miranda J & Mariah G Student of the week: 2B: Merit: Kai. A & Eva. H Student of the week: Jett. K 3/4D Merit: Student of the week: 3/4S Merit: Memphis W-W & Maddy O. Student of the week: Dominic S. 3/4J Merit: Asher. G & Aya.R Student of the week: Annie.W 3/4R Merit: Holly L & Sama O Student of the week: Dakota B-H. 5/6K Merit: Alana G & Zoe M Student of the week: Taneeka. M 5/6D Merit: Jahkobi W & Manaia M Student of the week: Marcel M Silver: Charlotte A Adina M Adam C Bronze: Sam 5/6M Merit: Faith M & Alex W Student of the week: Zahlia L 5/6S Merit: Gemma C & Diesel R-F Student of the week: Shari JP & Brooklyn R Bronze & Silver AwardsBronze Awards: Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 Kaimia W Parker P Olivia H Trinity M Loretta S Ahmad Romon Kingston Alice Daniel Stage 2 and Stage 3: Audrey Y Ruby J Sam F Adina M Mohamed M Lucy L Freya S Kasey R Silver Awards: Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 Aria Ashlee Bowie Caius J Zachary Jackson C Abigail Maddison W Eloise Felicity Stage 2 and Stage 3: Taneeka M Charlotte A Adam C Adina M Anastasia W Aya R Eden W |
Unanderra Public School
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