Principal's MessageWelcome to the end of yet another productive and busy week at Unanderra Public School. I was overwhelmed with the positive feedback from parents/carers about the parent/teacher interview processes we trialled last Tuesday. The teachers were flooded with positive support, and it was a privilege to chat with as many parents as I did. My thanks are extended to our parents and carers who made the long evening of parent/teacher interviews so positive. The teachers expressed how appreciative of the conversations they were which makes teaching your children even more special. Mother’s Day Stall I hope that everyone had the opportunity to celebrate Mother’s Day in their own special way. For many of you, I hope it was made that little bit more special with a small gift from your child, purchased at our Mother’s Day stall. To all those parents who coordinated this event, particularly Lisa, I thank you on behalf of all the excited children and their very happy gift recipients. Our P & C committee’s dedication to making this event a huge success for our students and whole school community is deeply appreciated. District Cross Country A huge congratulations to the students who competed in this event. It is a challenging event, and I was super proud to hear of the amazing achievements our students made on this day. Several teachers and other adults commented on the high level of respect and responsibility our students demonstrated to other competitors. You should all be extremely proud of your accomplishments. P & C Meeting Please note that our next P & C meeting date is Monday 5 June at 7pm at Mt Kembla hotel. All parents/carers and local community members are welcome to join us. Kindergarten 2024 We are so excited to be taking enrolments for kindergarten 2024. If you have a child ready to start kindergarten in 2024, please contact the school administration office to obtain a Unanderra Public School enrolment package. Mrs Rajendra is always available to meet with families if they feel they would like to. If you know of a child ready to start kindergarten in 2024, please encourage them to contact the school for further information. Kindy Expo! We will be hosting our annual Kindy Expo on Tuesday 20 June at 4pm in the school hall. This will be an opportunity for Unanderra Public School staff and students to showcase the vast array of valuable teaching and learning, and extra-curricular experiences we have to offer for any prospective parents/carers of children looking to enrol their child in kindergarten for 2024. A short tour of our school grounds will be offered to see what fabulous things UPS has to offer. Thank you to Mrs Bell for organising this event. Please share this information with your family, friends, and neighbours. We look forward to meeting everyone! Drop Off and Pick Up Zone Just a friendly reminder to our parent/carer drivers that you are not permitted to park in our neighbours’ driveways (even if it is for a short time) to collect your child. Thank you! Parents must remain in their car unless they need to buckle in their child into a seat. The staff member on duty will call out the family name over the microphone for your child/ren to move to the car. Children will not be dismissed if parents have double parked. If a parking space is not available, parents will need to drive around the block until a space becomes available. We remind drivers to remain patient and never to park in the drop zone area during afternoon or morning pick up and drop off times. Parking and walking to the school to collect your child/ren where possible is also encouraged and appreciated. Thank you for assisting to ensure that all our children exit and depart the school grounds safely. Coming Up
COVID- 19 and Non COVID Related Vaccinations Update Thank you for your continued support in helping to keep our students, staff, and community safe while COVID-19 is still circulating in the community. With winter approaching, we will also see an increase in respiratory illnesses and by working together, we will keep our school community healthy this term. Our COVID-smart measures continue to be in place to help reduce the risk of transmission for students and staff members and are vital in allowing us to keep our schools operational while prioritising student and staff wellbeing. These measures include:
Due to previous COVID-19 restrictions, NSW Health have noted that some children and young people have missed out on the non-COVID school-based vaccination programs that they would have otherwise taken part in. The department would like to remind parents and carers to make sure that all of their child’s vaccinations are up-to-date, including other non-COVID vaccinations. If you are unsure about whether your child has missed any vaccinations, speak to your GP or go to NSW Health’s Immunisation requirements in primary and secondary schoolsExternal link. Parents and carers who have children with persistent or ongoing symptoms of COVID-19External link are encouraged to have these assessed by their local health care professional. These symptoms may be related to other illnesses that require treatment and management by a doctor. For more information on vaccinations refer to Vaccination requirements for school sites or the Australian Governments COVID-19 vaccinesExternal link. Dance Festival Unanderra Public School dance troupe are performing in the South Coast Public Schools Dance Festival 2023. We would love you to come along and support our school. Tickets will go on sale on Friday 19 May at 10:00am and can be purchased via the Illawarra Performing Art Centre website: https://merrigong.com.au/venues/ipac/ Southern Stars Unanderra Public School Students will be performing in Southern stars in the mass dance ensemble and in the Aboriginal dance ensemble- Yanggaa Garaba. We would love our school community to come along and support them. Please see below for further information. Have a wonderful fortnight ahead! Anissa Rajendra KB and Healthy HaroldKB had a fantastic time visiting the Healthy Harold Van last Monday. During our time with Harold, KB learnt about the importance of building positive friendships and how we care for one another in a respectful way. KB used body clues to identify unsafe situations and discussed who could keep them safe in different scenarios such as crossing the road, swimming at the beach and playing at the park. We really enjoyed visiting Healthy Harold and cannot wait to see him next year, especially for more hugs! During Term 2, 5L are engaging in learning to develop an understanding of places by the state, local governments and Aboriginal perspectives in Australia. 5L students are studying questions to guide an inquiry about a local place which is of interest to them. They will collect relevant information from primary and secondary sources, organise and represent data in a range of formats, consider different viewpoints, including Aboriginal knowledge, history and perspectives. Furthermore, students will present their findings in a persuasive text format either promoting a particular place or persuading the audience that action must be taken at a significant landmark. K-6 AssemblyKB: Merit: Gabriel R & Evelyn T Student of The Week: Dominic Y KS Merit: Josephine K & Tilliana R Student of the week: Hunter CR KE Merit: Caspian T & Ellie L Student of the week: Mia H 1/2R Merit: Ashlee A & Lily B Student of the week: Oakland H 1M Merit: Austin W & Ramon G Student of the week: Lara V 1P Merit: Bowie C & Stefania G Student of the week: Jett W 2L Merit: Matilda H & Daisy K Student of the week: Sophia G 2N: Merit: Emiliano M & Winter-Rose M Student of the week: Mackenzie C 3/4BA: Merit: Lexi C & Amelia H Student of The Week: Freya S 3/4C Merit: Eva H & Ela Student of the week: Isabela F 3/4M Merit: Kayla S & Sam H Student of the week: Dominic S 3/4S Merit: William P & Emrah S Student of the week: Asher G 5D Merit: Dakota B-H & Chloe O Student of the week: Aliye S 5L Merit: Cooper E & Brianna M-M Student of the week: Madeline O 6S Merit: Braxton Z & Ella R Student of the week: Zahlia L 6V Merit: Oscar T & Layla H Student of the week: Penny H Bronze & Silver AwardsBronze Awards: Stage 1: Jax T Chance M Stage 2: Nabiha M Cali F Ayah S Charlotte B Dominic S Amelia Eva H Cayle J Nabiya Charlotte B Aya S Callie F Stage 3: Evie D Zahlia L Silver: Stage 1: Kyen C Hollie M Emelia J Stage 2: Sam C Bentley C Kiara C Baylee T Hands In Harmony - Nan Tien TempleOn Friday 12 May, our school SRC and Leadership Team had the opportunity to attend an experience at the Nan Tien Temple in Berkeley. This unique Australian Indigenous and Buddhist intercultural program focused on sustainability and Care for Country. This was the first time Nan Tien Temple hosted the Sea of [Lotus] Hands. Our students had the unique opportunity to place their reflection card (with lotus symbol, drawing and/or name) on their ‘Hand’ before planting into the ground to create the Sea of [Lotus] Hands. The lotus represents purity and strength. The installation is symbolic of respect, inclusion and resilience. Each hand will help form the 2km long rainbow serpent to show the cultural exchanges between Australian Indigenous people and Buddhists on Dhawaral land. All the students who attended on the day were also treated to a delicious vegetarian lunch and we all took something away from the day. A fabulous and worthwhile experience. Multicultural Public Speaking School FinalsWe are very fortunate to have many talented speakers at UPS. Stage 2 finalists were Oliver O, Bronte W, Lola R-V, Allira P, Lexi C, Amelia H, Brodie K, and Sam C. Stage 3 finalists were Emily P, Chase C, Khatiya M, Serena R, Sophie G, Adina M, Ruby H, and Aliesha F. It was a nail-biting competition, with the students speaking about different topics relating to Multiculturalism. They all showed maturity, knowledge and awareness when delivering their speeches. The students clearly researched their topics, took pride in their speeches and all should be proud of their efforts. The schools' adjudicators were Mrs Brecely Di Noro, Mr Scotland and Mr Lloyd. Stage 2 UPS MPPSC final winners were Lola R-V and Lexi C. Stage 3 winners were Khatiya M and Serena R. These students will be representing Unanderra Public school at the Local Finals at Mount St Thomas PS on the 16th of June. At the finals they will deliver their prepared speeches about multiculturalism, and also will be required to complete an impromptu speech. If the students make it through the local finals, they then have the opportunity to participate in the State Finals. Notes will go out to the finalists with further information. Congratulations to all participants. District Cross CountryCongratulations to all of the children from Unanderra who participated in the District Cross Country on Monday 8th May at Kembla Joggers. All of our children finished the long and difficult course successfully and represented our school proudly. Thank you to the family members who came to support their children on the day and helped cheer on all the students. Ten of our wonderful runners will now go on to represent the district at the Regional Carnival on Thursday 8th June at Cambewarra. Good luck to the following children: 8/9 Year old boys and girls: Parker P Lola RV Freya S 10 year old boys and girls: Sam C 11 year old boys and girls: Lucas M Madeline W 12/13 year old boys and girls: Isaac F Jaymes D Matilda C Amy S Congratulations to all of our competitors! Renae Scruby Sports Coordinator Representative SportOver the past few weeks, we have had students trialling for District and South Coast Teams for Rugby Union. Sam (6S), Isaac (6V) & Decklyn (6V) went down to Batemans Bay on Friday 12th May to trail for the South Coast team and were all successful in getting on the team! Congratulations to all of you on this outstanding achievement. The South Coast Region is a huge area and selection in these teams is something to be very proud of. Good luck and have fun at your training sessions down in Goulburn and State Carnivals! Renae Scruby Sports Coordinator NSWPSSA Netball Knockout CompetitionOn Wednesday, nine Stage 3 students attended the Netball PSSA knockout games. although the competition against Nareena Hills proved challenging, the girls showcased resilience and gave their utmost effort throughout the game. Despite falling short of victory, their spirit remained undeterred, making it a fun day for all involved. The girls exemplified the core values of Unanderra Public School, representing our school with determination, perseverance, and sportsmanship. Their conduct on and off the court was truly commendable, leaving a lasting impression on all who witnessed their performance. Congratulations to these girls for their hard work, who should take immense pride in their achievements. PSC at Figtree High School - Leaders in SportA group of 20 students attended Figtree High School on Monday 15 May to take part in the Premier's Sporting Challenge. This program is designed for students who display leadership qualities in sport. Our school was one of the 6 local schools that attended. Students in Year 10 were the coaches and mentors who took us through the skills of OzTag, Dance, Soccer, Basketball and AFL. Our students immersed themselves in the activities and each took away some of the skills and qualities necessary to be a leader in sport. Everyone worked well together to achieve a common goal in the different sports and had a really fun day. Scholastic Book Fair SuccessA big thank you to our amazing school community for supporting our first full Book Fair since before the pandemic, last week. The Book Fair went extremely well in our newly redesigned iLibrary with the fair being placed inside our renovated Computer Lab, so as not to disturb lessons. Our families were very complimentary on viewing our new library space and were excited to support their children’s love of books and reading. Many books were bought and students were excited about the wide variety of books in the fair. We have been able to purchase many of these books for our school library as a result of the commission UPS makes from every sale. Our commission from this Book Fair has allowed us to purchase books up to the value of $1 500. What a great way to start Term 2. A big thank you to my library monitors and the teachers that helped run the Book Fair. It is definitely a team effort. A special thank you must also be made to those students and families that donated books to the school library. Students will have a personalised book plate placed inside the book they purchased. Due to the success of this Book Fair, we will run another in Term 4. From Ms Prior Teacher Librarian
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Principal's MessageDear Parents and Carers, It is amazing to think that we are already in week 2 of term 2 and nearly halfway during the calendar year. On the first day staff returned to school we focused on Aboriginal Education and reviewed the UPS Reconciliation Action Plan as a whole staff. Mr Scotland led this professional learning day which was extremely productive and enjoyable. The afternoon session was filled with stage planning meetings and organisation for the term ahead. The students arrived at school last Wednesday filled with excitement and lots of chatter about their fun filled Easter holidays. It was so fabulous to hear of the camping trips and family adventures that many of them experienced. These holiday times are so precious, and I am always heartened to hear of families spending time together and taking the time to share life experiences. Already this term we have acknowledged ANZAC day with an assembly under our new cola area and we also used our new flagpole area. We look forward to the old school bell being placed near these flag poles and the area around these monuments being manicured and completed as a formal space in the school playground. Last Thursday our students enjoyed participating in the Cross Country which was so much fun. Many families and visitors attended to support the children and we thoroughly enjoyed the community vibe and encouragement. We have a lot to look forward to this term including the annual Book Fair which will be held next week in the library and Ms Prior is so excited to be preparing for the enthusiastic purchasing of books and other items that will be available. The Life Education Van will be visiting next week. Although we had originally planned not to include this event in 2023, it became a free option and we felt we should accept this generous offer. It was important that it be directly related to the topics focused on in each stage. The outline is below. Kindergarten- Harold's Friendship Year 1- Harold's Friendship Year 2- Growing Good Friends +1/2R Year 3/4- Friends and Feelings Year 5 & 6- Relate, Respect The class newsletters will be sent out next Monday and parent/teacher interviews will be held in week 4. The parent/teacher interviews will take place all in one night and parents will be invited to choose a time to meet with their child’s class teacher. The Parent Reading Project will continue from week 2. This term we welcome parent readers into kindergarten! Applications for Opportunity Class placement tests close on Monday 15 May 2023 for students in year 5 for 2024. Applications for opportunity class placement are considered on the results of the Opportunity Class Placement Test. Students who wish to be considered for placement are required to sit the Opportunity Class Placement Test on Thursday 27 July 2023.Parents/carers must apply online between Thursday 30 March and Monday 15 May 2023 at: https://education.nsw.gov.au/oc.Parents/carers must use their own email address and not one belonging to their child. Late applications are not usually accepted. If parents/carers do not have internet access, they can apply at a public library or at your child’s school. If you have a disability that prevents you from using a computer, you can contact the Unit for assistance after 30 March 2023. Parents must submit only ONE application for each student. Coming Up
Staffing - Term 2 We welcome Mr Lloyd who has returned to UPS in a permanent capacity as Assistant Principal supervising Stage 3. Mr Lloyd is teaching Year 5 and we acknowledge and thank Mrs Old for her contribution to UPS and the students in this class. Mrs Newman will be taking extended personal leave throughout term 2 and we look forward to seeing her back at school in the second part of the year. Mrs Bell will be relieving as Assistant Principal supervising K-2 with the additional support of Mrs Natalee Brennan for term 2. Mrs Vujasin will remain teaching her Year 6 class and we thank her for the work she does to ensure that the learning is exciting and the final year of school for her students is consistent and supported. Kindy Expo! We will be hosting our annual Kindy Expo on Tuesday 20 June at 4pm in the school hall. This will be an opportunity for Unanderra Public School staff and students to showcase the vast array of valuable teaching and learning, and extra-curricular experiences we have to offer for any prospective parents/carers of children looking to enrol their child in kindergarten for 2024. A short tour of our school grounds will be offered to see what fabulous things UPS has to offer. Thank you to Mrs Bell for organising this event. Please share this information with your family, friends, and neighbours. We look forward to meeting everyone! Full School Uniform We are all proud to be a part of the Unanderra Public School community and as such expect that each of our students to wear their uniform with great pride. As the weather becomes cooler, I understand that additional clothing may need to be worn. Parents/carers are reminded that only school jumpers are to be worn to school and excess jewellery, long colourful socks or colourful jumpers are not part of the school uniform. Our school is always willing to discreetly support families with school uniforms etc where necessary. Families requiring support are encouraged to contact the school for further information. A respectful reminder that public education sport representative jumpers are only to be worn on Fridays. Correct school jumpers are to be worn otherwise. Please also note that all children who are representing Unanderra Public School such as attending high school master classes etc are expected to wear their full school uniform. Communication Sharing correct and timely information to our families is extremely important to us. There are three main channels of communication we use so you can keep up to date with what is happening at UPS: SENTRAL Parent Portal- used for notes, reminders and reporting absences. All correspondence will be posted on the portal and important dates will be added to the calendar. Seesaw- used for communication between teachers and families. Teachers may choose to send reminders through this app. Facebook- used to advertise the wonderful things happening at UPS. This webpage can be seen by the greater community. Parent-Teacher Interviews Teachers are looking forward to meeting with parents/carers on Tuesday afternoon/evening in week 4 for the formal parent-teacher interviews. The interviews will take place on Tuesday 16th May, with times allocated from 3.20pm to 7.30pm. Interviews will be held in the hall for Stages 2 and 3, and Early Stage One classrooms for Kindergarten and Stage 1. Parents will be able to book a face-to-face interview through the Sentral Parent Portal from today. Bookings will close on Friday 12th May 2023 at 3:00pm. Parents/Carers who have already registered for the Sentral Parent Portal are encouraged to continue accessing the portal by logging on using the application or the URL: https://unanderraps.sentral.com.au/portal Please know that this is not the only time you can discuss your child’s progress with the teacher, and we understand that not all families will be available to t make a booking. Our teachers are available where reasonably possible and can be contacted through the Seesaw app, via email to the school or by contacting the front office to make an appointment. We encourage families to stay in touch with the teacher as best they can and are always welcome to discuss any issues that may arise. Mother’s Day Stall Thank you to our amazing P&C who have spent time preparing a variety of gifts for our Mother’s Day stall. We are always appreciative of the many hours and work they put into our school to ensure that special days can be celebrated by everyone. Thank you! Student leave during the term We understand that at times students are required to take extended leave during a school term. Families are encouraged to holiday or travel during school vacation period rather than during the school term. Holidays taken by students outside of school vacation periods are included as absences. Please be aware that the accepting or declining an application for leave is at the discretion of the principal. If the principal does not believe the absence is in the student’s best interests and does not accept the reason, the absence will be recorded as ‘A’. In this case, a Certificate of Extended Leave – Holiday will not be issued. This will always be communicated with the parent/carer. We thank you for understanding and look forward to continuing to work in partnership in your child’s learning journey at UPS. Southern Stars Our school is excited to be once again participating in Southern Stars in 2023. After the excitement and success of last year we are again offering students in Years 4-6 the opportunity to participate in Mass Dance Ensemble at this year’s Southern Stars Performance. We are pleased to advise that Unanderra Public School will also participate in the Yanggaa Garaba Aboriginal Dance Ensemble at this year’s Southern Stars Performance. We are offering students in Years 2 – 6 the opportunity to be part of this fun and exciting event. Participation in Southern Stars is a huge commitment from both students and parents as there are many rehearsals and additional costs involved and we thank you for participating. Southern Stars is a wonderful event that provides students with a passion for performing arts to engage with a professional and accomplished production. We wish all the students participating all the best as they work hard in the coming months to prepare for what will be an event they will remember for life. Dance Festival Miss Bell and Miss Ryman have been working hard with our school dance troupe in preparation for multiple performance at the Illawarra Performance Centre in Wollongong during week 8 of this term. We wish them all the very best of luck and look forward to watching this great performance. District Cross Country Many of our students have been selected to represent Unanderra Public School at the Dapto District Cross Country Carnival to be held at Integral Energy Cross Country Park (Kembla Joggers), Darkes Road, Brownsville on Monday 8th May (Week 3, Term 2). Time: The carnival starts at 9:00am (roll call with School Team Managers) and should conclude by 2:00pm. Transport: Travel to the carnival will be by private transport. Cost: The cost for competitors is $5.00, which covers the cost of the hire of the venue, and PSSA carnival levy. Wear: Sports shorts, running shoes and school shirt Bring: Water, hat, recess, and lunch (small canteen will be provided), warm clothing and something to sit on. Spectators are welcome at the venue to support their children. Please keep in mind that official judgements are final, and no video or photographic evidence will be considered in making final decisions on the day. Parents are NOT to park in the museum car parking area. The public needs to go to the very end of the driveway and use the grass area on the right. Because of safety and supervision concerns, the playground equipment is ‘OUT OF BOUNDS’ for all competitors. Disregarding this expectation will result in disqualification. The first 7 place getters in each age group will represent the South Wollongong District at the South Coast SSA Regional Cross Country Carnival at Willandra Cross Country Course, Camberwarra on Thursday 8th June 2023. Congratulations and wish all our student representatives lots of luck and enjoyment for this day! Drop Off and Pick Up Zone Our routines for drop off and pick up are continuing. It is our preference that parents ‘kiss and drop’ at the gates in the morning and pick up in the afternoon as per current routines. Morning supervision commences at 8:30am, parents are asked not to drop their children off until this time. The morning bell rings at 8:55am, students arriving after this time will collect a late note from the school office. The routine for afternoon dismissal is: • Kindergarten, Year 1, Year 2 and any siblings will depart at 2.55pm • Back gate will exit from 2:55pm • Students Years 3-6 will continue to finish at 3pm. To assist with the safe arrival and departure of students in the pick-up zone, all families have been given a laminated card with their surname on it this week. Families may also create their own sign if they wish. We encourage users of this zone to clearly display the surname of the child/ren they are picking up on their dashboard. Please display family cards on the dashboard on the passenger’s side of the car. This will allow for a quick and safe collection of students. Please email or call the office if your family requires a card or you require a replacement card. Parents must remain in their car unless they need to buckle in their child into a seat. The staff member on duty will call out the family name over the microphone for your child/ren to move to the car. Children will not be dismissed if parents have double parked. If a parking space is not available, parents will need to drive around the block until a space becomes available. We remind drivers to remain patient and never to park in the drop zone area during afternoon or morning pick up and drop off times. SAFETY TIPS FOR PARENTS: • Always drop-off or pick-up your child from the designated area, following the school's procedures. • Make sure child/ren use the footpath-side door when getting in and out of a car. • Make sure the hand brake is applied when the vehicle is stationery. • Never double park. • Never Park across a pedestrian crossing or driveway. • Never undertake a U-turn in close proximity to the school. • Never reverse when in close proximity to the pedestrian crossing. SAFETY TIPS FOR STUDENTS • Stay buckled up until the vehicle has stopped in the ‘Drop-off and Pick-up' area. • Make sure your school bag and other items are in a safe position, e.g., on the floor. • Be ready to get in or out of the car with your belongings when the car has stopped, and you have unbuckled your seatbelt. • Always get in and out of the backseat of the vehicle through the safety door – the rear footpath-side door. • Wait until your name has been called out before going to meet your parents. Have a wonderful fortnight ahead! Kind Regards, Anissa Rajendra In 2N, we are very excited to return to school for another term of learning and growing in and out of the classroom. Our Visual Arts unit has been focused on utilising constructive feedback, provided by our teacher, peers, and selves, to enhance our artistic abilities. Specifically, we have refined our skills by producing several drafts of a bird portrait. This valuable lesson on the importance of feedback will guide us in our pursuit of creating the most exceptional bird portraits imaginable! Our next challenge involves selecting an object of choice, locating a photo on the laptops, replicating it, and producing multiple drafts using the same process. We are eager to continue our journey of development and strive for excellence in all of our work. In 3/4M we have enjoyed taking our maths lessons outside to learn on country. This week's lesson on 3D shapes was embedded with Aboriginal pedagogies for teaching and learning. The students used images to represent 3D shapes and symbols to tally the number of 3D objects we found in the environment. We connected with the environment when we found a tree that grows its own cylinders (Banksia Tree) and of course we enjoyed sharing our discoveries in a yarning circle. In 3/4M we love a fun lesson, especially when we get to go outside and find real world examples of what we have been learning. K-6 AssemblyKB: Merit: Aya S & Ellira DW Student of The Week: Coby C KS Merit: Hamish & Finley Student of the week: Layla KE Merit: Evie A & Harvey H Student of the week: Kenzi M 1/2R Merit: Felicity B & Caige J Student of the week: Tyler L 1M Merit: Jax F & Emelia J. Student of the week: Abraham M 1P Merit: Otis M. & Luke W. Student of the week: Chase K. 2L Merit: Lola W & Oliver Y Student of the week: Jarli L 2N: Merit: Leo D & Olivia H Student of the week: Jemma C 3/4C Merit: Nate. W & Kaimia. W Student of the week: Alyson. A.W 3/4S Merit: Brock D & Loralee H. Student of the week: William P 3/4BA Merit: Amelia P & Cali F Student of the week: Kaleb MM 3/4M Merit: Tempe W & Keira G Student of the week: Kiara C 5D Merit: Elise W & David O Student of the week: Emily P 5L Merit: Piper B Student of the week: Arinya L 6V Merit: Mohamed M & Alana G Student of the week: Isaac F 6S Merit: Charlotte W & Levi R Student of the week: Levi R Bronze and Silver AwardsBronze Awards: Stage 1: Caige J, Lily B, Sage C, Lola W, Brianna J, Fletcher N, Chance M Stage 2: Brock DW, Lucy W Stage 3: Adina M Silver Awards: Stage 1: Evelyn W, Ava D, Hugo D, Savannah V, Daniel L, Austin W, Jarli L, Max R, Evie B, Annabelle C Stage 2: Abby D, Lani M, Millie B ANZAC Day AssemblyOn Wednesday 26th of April, we were lucky enough to spend time in class and as a school to reflect on ANZAC Day and soldiers who have fallen for our safety. We made wreaths as a class and attended our ANZAC Day assembly hosted by Miss Ryman and our school captains and vice captains, where we learned about the history of ANZAC Day and what this means for us. K-6 Cross CountryLast Thursday, all students in K-6 participated in the Cross Country Carnival. It was a wonderful afternoon and all students demonstrated sportsmanship and perseverance as they ran around the cross country course. K-1 also had the opportunity to play some fun tabloid games and activities. There was a parachute, egg and spoon race, sack races, 3-legged races, and obstacle course and an Indigenous game called Kai-Wed. It was a really fun day had by all! It was lovely to see heaps of families come along to the carnival to support their children. District Cross Country for those students ages 8 and up will be on Monday 8th of May at Kembla Joggers. Miss Scruby and Mr Lloyd will be there to cheer and supervise the students on the day. PBL Term 1 UpdateLast term students engaged in various lessons such as learning and refreshing our school values of being safe, responsible and respectful. Students were reminded about our ‘Zones of Regulation’ and classes were able to discuss the settle space and different tools to use when students were outside of their green zone. Our Kindergarten students met Buster Bee for the first time and learnt what a ‘busy bee’ is as well as how to be legendary. The school community watched students receive their bronze or silver award at our fortnightly assemblies. After a busy term working towards collecting as many busy bee’s as possible, we were able to celebrate with a rewards day. Our rewards day this term was surrounded by the theme of ‘Old Fashioned Games’. Students participated in relays, egg and spoon races, a game or two of rob the nest and games with parachutes. Classes from different stages were able to team up and all students participated within the rotations. It was a ‘bee-utafil’ day! Mrs Rebecca McCabe PBL Co-Ordinator Healthy HaroldHealthy Harold & the Life Education van will be visiting UPS next week. The program this year is fully funded which means our entire school will have the opportunity to visit Harold. For more information please chick on the link. Road SafetyEthics ScripturePrincipal's MessageDear Parents/Carers, Well, we have made it to the end of what has been a most productive and positive term one. We had enjoyed several exciting school events including the ‘Welcome to UPS Fete’ and ‘Meet the teacher’ afternoons. The students have developed many positive relationships in their new classes this term and the learning growth that they have made is exciting to see. · Last day of school for Term 1 is Thursday 6 April 2023 · Staff return for Term 2 on Monday 24 April 2023 · Students return for Term 2 on Wednesday 26 April 2023 ‘Welcome to UPS Fete’ What a fantastic ‘Welcome to UPS fete’ we had recently. A huge thank to Lisa, Joanne and the P & C members and executive team. Additionally, I thank Mrs. Brennan, Mr. Jacobs, Mrs. Martinoski, and the office staff for the incredible amount of work they did to support and enhance the day. My huge thanks are also extended to the staff who gave up their Saturday to help. Many staff brought family members (grown up and not so grown up!) to help and I am immensely grateful to them all for the work they did to ensure that our day was so successful. The whole fete was positive and so much fun for our children and visitors. Everyone was in great spirits and the experiences such as the Creature Features and the Face painting (to name a few) were extremely popular. The extreme heat did not deter our community and the support we received was generous and greatly appreciated. Once again thank you! Reconciliation Action Plan The Unanderra Public School Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) has been completed and approved. My thanks are extended to Mr. Scotland and the AEC for the work they have been doing. NAPLAN NAPLAN was administered in all schools for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, during week eight of this term. Our students were supported through the process with our focus being to encourage each of them positively. We remind ourselves that NAPLAN is, after all, just one assessment. Whilst it provides valuable information on an individual and whole school basis, it’s important to remember that the assessments done in class, on a regular basis, are generally more informative and give greater detail than one-off tests such as this one. 2022 Annual School Report Please see the link for the 2022 UPS Annual School Report. My thanks is extended to the staff, parents and students who contributed to this document. https://reports.sparo.schools.nsw.gov.au/annual-report/2022/3308/2022_Unanderra_Public_School_Annual_Report.pdf Election BBQ The P&C have been working hard and once again dedicated their Saturday to run a very successful BBQ during the election voting held at our school. Lisa Jones made lots of cupcakes and there were several donations which were all sold on the day. Mr. Thomas also spent his day helping to prepare the BBQ and pack up which was very generous of him. A huge thank you to Michael Doig and his team for the great work they did in organising the election BBQ. We certainly appreciate all the hard work you all do to support out wonderful school. Staffing As you may be aware the graduate merit selection took place recently and I am pleased to announce that Christine Solomon was the successful applicant. Congratulations to Miss Solomon! Thank you to our panel members for giving much of their time to this important process. We will be welcoming Mr. James Lloyd formally back to Unanderra Public School next term and he will be now teaching 50 for the remainder of 2023. We thank Mrs. Georgie Old for her dedication and hard work in setting up the class throughout term one. The parents and students will be advised of this tomorrow at school. Mrs. Carolina Vujasin will be remaining as classroom teacher for 6L for the duration of 2023. I acknowledge that originally Mr. Lloyd was to take 6L however the students are very settled, and some unforeseen changes have allowed for this consistency to be possible. Miss Crystal Ryman has been successful in gaining a permanent position as classroom teacher at UPS due to the permanent transfer of Anna Lawler to her current school. We thank Mrs. Lawler and congratulate both her and Miss Ryman on their recent new appointments. Mrs. Newman is currently taking extended personal leave and will continue to do this into term 2. Mrs. Bell has been successful in attaining the Assistant Principal (Rel) position during the time Mrs. Newman is on leave. Traffic Management around Schools The Safer Routes to School Working Group aims to work collaboratively with individual schools. This is done via consultation with the school Principal and a P&C representative regarding educational programs, which can aid schools to develop short-, medium-, and long-term plans to improve safety, promote public transport and encourage walking and cycling to school. We now have a nominated a representative from the P & C to work in partnership and join “A Safer Routes to School Working Group’ that will be established with Council engineers, planners, Council’s Road Safety Officer, and Mrs. Rajendra. Traffic and Transport around schools is a high priority for our school and Wollongong City Council. Please be assured that we share the priority for safety and are working towards an improved network for community members and visitors of all ages and abilities to enjoy. A Safer Routes to School Working Group has been established with Council engineers, planners, Council’s Road Safety Officer, The Principal & a P&C representative. The role of this group is to inform the school community of existing road safety education programs and support schools with respect to transport around schools; to develop short-, medium-, and long-term plans which improve safety around schools, promote public transport and encourage walking and cycling to schools. We ask that your requests and opportunities be raised at your next P&C meeting to ensure that we have consistency and an agreed approach to transport planning around our schools. Opportunity Classes- 2024 Opportunity classes are for primary school students who have high academic potential or who are intellectually gifted. They provide an environment where students can learn and make friends with classmates of similar ability. This can benefit a student’s academic progress and their wellbeing. Opportunity classes are offered in Years 5 and 6, with parents/carers applying in Year 4. Students who are successfully placed will usually have to leave their current school to enrol in a school with an opportunity class for Years 5 and 6. Opportunity classes are just one of the ways that we cater for our high potential and gifted students. Testing and assessment Applications for opportunity class placement are considered on the results of the Opportunity Class Placement Test. Students who wish to be considered for placement are required to sit the Opportunity Class Placement Test on Thursday 27 July 2023. How to apply Parents/carers must apply online between Thursday 30 March and Monday 15 May 2023 at: https://education.nsw.gov.au/oc. You must use your own email address and not one belonging to your child. Late applications are not usually accepted. Staff Professional Learning- Assistant Principal Curriculum and Instruction Term 1 Update Throughout Term 1 the staff at Unanderra Public School participated in professional learning with a major focus on formative assessment and delivering effective feedback to students. This professional learning opportunity is having widespread positive impact in classrooms with teachers reflecting on the feedback they offer students and thinking deeply about how they can use feedback to improve student outcomes. Using student learning data, the school has identified ‘additive thinking’ as our major focus area for 2023. The APC&I has been working with stage teams to create differentiated, data driven and engaging learning opportunities to improve this focus area. During week 10 and 11 all staff had collaborative planning days with the APC&I and RFF team to plan and prepare for learning in Term 2. The collaborative planning days have been a major success with our staff now having the ability to work closely together to plan, evaluate and improve learning opportunities for their students. Our K-2 team have been working hard on implementing the new syllabus and units of work. The new 3-6 syllabus for English and mathematics will be implemented in 2024 and the current 3-6 team is working with the APC&I to prepare for the changes coming and adapt their teaching and learning programs to suit the changes that will occur in 2024. On staff development day in Term 2, the staff at UPS will be participating in professional learning with a major focus on Aboriginal education, supporting our staff to better support our students. Chocolate Coin Toss Thank you to all our parents and friends for your kind and generous donations that went towards our chocolate coin toss. The students had an awesome time trying their hardest to win some delicious chocolate treats. Most of them did. We have managed to raise an estimated $566.35 that will go towards our Year 6 Farewell at the end of the year. Huge Thank to Miss Scruby for all her hard work and time running the event. Easter Egg Guessing Thank you to our P&C for donating some of their easter eggs to go towards more fundraising for our Year 6 students. The eggs went into a jar and were up to be guessed by the students. Our Year 6 students ran the guessing competition at recess and lunch times. Thank you also to everyone who participated. We managed to raise an estimated $225.70 . Congratulations to our winner Dominic Yendall from KB who guessed exactly 179. Try Year 7 for a Day Year 6 students who will be attending Figtree High School next year had the opportunity to experience high school life for a day. They participated in some sport activities, mathematics and geography lessons and also visited the library space. It was a wonderful day and a great opportunity to get a snapshot of what high school is like. Premier’s Sporting Challenge The Figtree High School Premier’s Sporting Challenge that was postponed until Term 2 will now be held on 8th May 2023. A new note will be sent home early next term with more information for those students involved. Thank you once again to the school community for the support and have a lovely Easter holiday break. Anissa Rajendra 5D have had a wonderful start to the year and have been involved in many activities in the school and classroom. We have had fun participating in:
This term, every student in 3/4S has been working hard on their informative writing. We have all become experts on the Laughing Kookaburra, by looking at detailed information from the website animalia.bio. From there, we researched different words that we did not yet know the meaning for to broaden our vocabulary, and wrote down information that we found interesting in our writing books. This information was then used to create the fact files you see before you. We will continue to work on Laughing Kookaburra by using our fact files to create the most incredible information reports to ever exist! In 1/2R we have been embedding Aboriginal perspectives throughout our routine. We start our day by building community links through our morning yarning circle. Where we share stories, get to know each other and discuss what we are grateful for. In writing, we have been using symbols to plan our narratives in our storyboards. We have been enjoying spending time in our school yarning circle, especially when the weather is nice. Our yarning circle has been a place where we have been able to listen to each other and talk about a range of topics in a judgment-free space while getting to know more about Country and the histories around our school and the area around us. Nagangbi Mudjingaal! Hello friend! KS are extremely proud to show you some of the learning we have been doing in the last few weeks. This term we have learnt where Grandmother Mountain and Grandfather Mountain are in our community. We greet them each morning in our Acknowledgement of Country. This week we have been learning about Aboriginal Dilly Bags and what they were used for. KS have discovered that they could hold different items, mainly food sources which sometimes included liquid like honey! The students enjoyed learning about the images used on the Wingaru Dilly Baskets. They were lucky enough to take their baskets home with their own food item- a chocolate egg! K-6 AssemblyKB Merit: Leo.O & Indie. J-H Student of the week: Ziggy.E KS Merit: Lily H & Kai B Student of the week: Indiana S KE Merit: Emily B & Hunter W Student of the week: Oliver W 1/2R Merit: Taj T & Glory P Student of the week: Evelyn W 1M Merit: Dylan M & Kyen C Student of the week: Zachary S 1P Merit: Student of the week: 2L Merit: Austin D & Alya D Student of the week: Fletcher N 2N: Merit: Zayden M & Willow W Student of the week: Annabelle C 3/4C Merit: Lily .D & Annaleise S Student of the week: Bronte W 3/4S Merit: Lara VL & Allira P. Student of the week: Lucy W. 3/4BA Merit: KIai A & Hudson L Student of the week: Cali F 3/4M Merit: Paxton M & Olivia J Student of the week: Eddie C 5D Merit: Harper K & Jake B Student of the week: Charlotte S 5O Merit: Piper B & Marshall F Student of the week: Arinya L 6L Merit: Deklyn.H & Leanne O Student of the week: Amy S 6S Merit: Stefan V & Aliesha F Student of the week: Ella H Bronze & Silver AwardsBronze Awards: Stage 2 Hayley C Stage 3 Ruby H Siara P Matilda C Alana G Mohamad M Finn M Silver Awards: Stage 2 Kaimia W Latia J Freya S Jordi O Freya S Stage 3 Addison C Yarra M Angus J Charles H Amy S Audrey Y Sport at UPS!Over the last few weeks, we have had multiple students trail for district teams for basketball, soccer, touch football, rugby league. We have had 1 student so far to be selected from our school to be part of South Coast sports teams. A big congratulations to Amy (6L) who has been selected in the South Coast Girls Touch Football Team. The South Coast Region is a huge area and selection in these teams is something to be very proud of. Isaac (6L) and Sam (6S) will be off with their district teams trailing for the South Coast Rugby League down in Batemans Bay in term 2 and we wish them luck! Next term is full of more sporting opportunities with the Cross Country coming up in the first week back and then straight to district in week 3. The Athletics Carnival will be coming up later on in the term, along with the Stage 2 & 3 Gala day. Renae Scruby Sports Organiser Principal's MessageWhat a fantastic ‘Welcome to UPS fete’ we had on Saturday. A huge thank you to Lisa and her team of P & C executive and community members for the incredible amount of work they did to support what was a brilliant day. A fete such as this required lots of planning and extra time to ensure that everything runs smoothly and everyone attending is safe and can enjoy the experiences. This was certainly achieved, and I cannot thank the P & C enough for making this such a success. My huge thanks are also extended to Mrs Brennan, the administration staff for all the preparation they did beforehand and to the staff who dedicated their Saturday to help. Many staff brought family members (grown up and not so grown up!) to help and I am immensely grateful to them all for the work they did to ensure that our day was great. The whole day was so positive and a lot of fun for our children and visitors. Everyone was in great spirits and the experiences such as the ‘Creature Features’, inflatables, plaster casts and the face painting (to name a few) were extremely popular. The extreme heat did not deter our community and the support we received was generous and greatly appreciated. The money raised by the school will go towards the purchase of Literacy and Numeracy resources to support the introduction of the new curriculum in our K-2 classrooms. I wish to extend my huge appreciation to all our amazing students, staff and parents who have been managing numerous changes to timetables throughout this term. We do have a great partnership and I am certainly proud of the effort that our teachers go to in order to ensure that school routines run as seamlessly as possible. The students are really demonstrating that they can manage unexpected changes to situations while continuing to follow the values of Safety, Respect and Responsibility. Our recent K-2 assembly was a great reflection of this, all students were in correct school uniform and did their best to remain quiet and respectful, even though it was so hot! Well done everyone! As you may know our school run a variety of playtime clubs each day. Activities include Lego, drawing and technology. The thought and time going into these fun and interactive experiences for the children are making a positive difference. Please remember to encourage your child to participate in a play time club that may be of interest to them. The P & C will be running a BBQ next Saturday during the election at our school. If you have some time and can offer some help, I know it would be greatly appreciated. Please let Michael from the P & C executive know when you are available to help. Thankyou! Have a great fortnight ahead! Anissa Rajendra Upcoming EventsWeek 9 Naplan continues for years 3 & 5 Parent Reading Project Begins Harmony Week Week 10 Tuesday 28th March Easter Mufti Day and egg donation Wednesday 29th March K-6 Cross Country Week 11 Monday 3rd April Premier's Sporting Challenge (Stage 3) Easter Egg Colouring Due Thursday 6th April K-6 Easter Hat Parade Last Day of Term 1 In Visual Arts this term in 6S, we have been looking at different types of Aboriginal Rock Art and its importance. As a class, everyone covered their hand in paint and placed their handprint onto a piece of paper. We then used images and words to create a story of our lives and what is important to us. K- 6 AssemblyCongratulations to the following students who received a 'Student of the Week' and 'Merit' awards; KB Merit: Skylah C & Estelle L Student of the week: Emmy.B KS Merit: Student of the week: Odie C KE Merit: Onoeti T & Claudette G Student of the week: Mia M 1/2R Merit: Sage C & Ava D Student of the week: Hugo D 1M Merit: Hollie M Student of the week: Abraham M 1P Merit: Eloise H Student of the week: 2L Merit: Keiren E & Brianna J Student of the week: 2N: Merit: Harlem H & Airlie S Student of the week: Jax T 3/4C Merit: Hayley H & Jordi O Student of the week: Noah P 3/4S Merit: Zoe C & Millie B. Student of the week: Lola R-V. 3/4BA Merit: Cameron K & Nabiha M Student of the week: Keyara W 3/4M Merit: Van M & Bentley C Student of the week: Brodie K 5O Merit: Charlie C & Lachlan C Student of the week: Serena R 5D Merit: Daniel M & Audrey Y Student of the week: Madeleine W 6L Merit: Matilda C & Lucas S Student of the week: Adina M 6S Merit: Callum L & Yerremurra W Student of the week: Lily E Bronze and Silver AwardsBronze Awards: Stage 1: Arlo M Austin D Ella O Stage 2: Ayah S Bronte Stage 3: Callum L Yerremurra W Dakoto B-H Silver Awards: Stage 1: Lyla R Dylan M Jax F Stage 2: Kai A Stage 3: Emily P Ella H Clean Up Australia DayLast weekend was Clean Up Australia Day and the students and staff at UPS were excited to support this annual event once again on the Friday before. Clean Up Australia Day is a great opportunity to recognise what a beautiful country we live in but that it is up to all of us to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle every day keeping our environment clean and rubbish free both for ourselves and the animals that we share our world with. Classes spent 15-20 minutes after playtime on making sure to pick up every scrap of rubbish we could find in the playground. We have decided to make this a weekly event and take responsibility for keeping our school rubbish free and beautiful. Take a look at us hard at work… Ms Prior Clean Up Australia Day Co-ordinator Get Ready for the Big Veggie Crunch!On Thursday 30 March our school will be joining hundreds of schools across NSW to break the record for the most students crunching vegetables simultaneously. But we need your help to make it a success! On Thursday 30 March, please pack your child a container of vegetables (not fruit this time) for them to crunch on. Need some ideas? · carrot, celery, cucumber – cut into sticks or left whole · capsicum – cut into sticks or wedges · corn – raw baby corn spears or a cooked corn cob · broccoli or cauliflower florets - raw or lightly cooked to keep their crunch · tomatoes – small cherry tomatoes or a large tomato that can be eaten like an apple · beans or snow peas - raw or lightly cooked to keep their crunch · mushrooms – sliced or left whole · if fresh veg isn’t possible, try canned or frozen vegetables instead If you require more information on The Big Vegie Crunch, please contact the school or your child’s teacher. Assunta Brennan Vegetable Week School Coordinator Principal's MessageWe have thoroughly enjoyed the last few weeks of swimming carnivals, swimming scheme and “Meet the teacher’ just to name a few exciting school events. Congratulations to Miss Prior who has worked hard to prepare our upgraded library ready for our children to enjoy. Although it was so much hard work, it looks amazing, and it is a productive and exciting learning space. I also appreciate the support and hard work provided by Mrs Martinoski who completed a lot of the administrative work and Mr Thomas and Mr Thomas who moved furniture and everything else in between. The library looks fantastic! Meet the Teacher Information Sessions It was such a delight to be able to welcome our families to school last week to meet their child’s class teacher. This was an opportunity for parents to hear about expectations, homework, excursions, units of work and other activities being offered this year. This year, parent information sessions for Years 1-6 were hosted by individual class teachers in their respective classrooms. A big thank you is extended to the families who came along and to our fabulous teachers for hosting this very valuable meeting time. School Uniform We all take great pride in belonging to Unanderra Public School community. I ask that all students continue to wear the correct school uniform each day. If this request causes any financial difficulties families are reminded to contact the school to arrange to speak with Mrs Rajendra. P&C Our P&C meet at 7pm on the first Monday of the month. The next meeting will be Monday 6 March, and this will include the AGM. The meeting will take place at school in our beautiful new look library. All parents/carers are welcome to come along and join us. It is a great opportunity to meet new people and learn about the great things UPS does. Departure times As with many schools, parking around our school, especially at pick up time, is difficult. Where possible, we encourage families to walk. If this is not a possibility, we ask that parents display patience, understanding and care. It is important to remember that the school drop zone does not allow parking and parking across our neighbour’s driveways is not allowed. The drop zone is for two minutes and the safe flow of traffic during afternoon pick up is critical. We remind drivers to be patient with us as we ensure all students depart from our school safely. Students will not be allowed to enter cars unless it is safe to do so. Our priority is to ensure the safety of our students and their families as they depart and your cooperation in this matter is appreciated. Attendance Regular attendance at school is essential to assist students to maximise their potential and students are required to attend school each day it is open unless they are unwell. Below is the flyer for minutes of learning lost when children are absent or late to school. https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/student-wellbeing/attendance/Attendance_flyer_Minutes_Lost_-_Primary.pdf Safety, Respect and Responsibility The staff at Unanderra Public School are proud to be a part of this outstanding school community and continually strive for all students to become self-directed, lifelong learners who can create a positive future for themselves and for the wider society. For this to occur, our school needs to be a place where every student can learn and grow with confidence. Students develop best in schools where teaching and learning occurs in a positive, safe and harmonious learning environment whilst working in partnership with parents and carers. The values of Safety, Responsibility and Respect remain constant and a high priority at Unanderra Public School. Our students are reminded that these values should underpin their actions and decisions each day. Everyone has the right to be treated fairly and learn in an environment free from disruption, intimidation, harassment, and discrimination. Parents/carers are respectfully reminded to address any concerns that they may have with their child and/or any school routines etc with the class teacher, by contacting the administration office to arrange a mutually convenient time to have a discussion. The school staff are best placed to manage the matters of concern rather than approaching other students or their families. Thank you. Regardless of any variations to a school day all students are expected to treat one another, their teachers and visitors with respect and carry out their day with consideration to their own learning and that of their peers. Congratulations to all students who have begun this year of learning so positively and successfully! I am also really pleased to see those students who attend school each day in correct full school uniform leaving brightly coloured socks, shoes and accessories for weekends and special school mufti days. Well done UPS! UPS are Allergy Aware Please be aware that there are students in our school with allergies to nuts. We ask that you consider to voluntarily agree to not send nut products, in particular peanuts and peanut butter to school. We thank you for making this choice to support our children. NAPLAN 2023 NAPLAN is a national literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students undertake. Please see the link for further details. https://nap.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/naplan-information-brochure-for-parents-and-carers.pdf Figtree High School Newsletter Link https://sway.office.com/7BGE9d1fRifSLMdK?ref=email Welcome back to the iLib in 2023. In case you didn’t hear at the end of last year, the iLib had a total refresh over the school holidays. We are very excited to show you pictures of the newly refurbished UPS library. It has been freshly painted with a new colour pallet and all the furniture has been replaced. All bookshelves are now along the outer walls and the Circulation desk moved to the centre of the library. Students have been excited to use the new seating in the Storytime area, though we still love our Waterways rug from the Aboriginal company, Emro. Students have given a big thumbs up to the ottomans at our learning desks, replacing the previous plastic chairs and there is more relaxed seating spread throughout the library. It has taken a little while to get all our books back on shelf but we are almost there and all classes have been supplied with a tub of books for classroom reading and borrowing has begun. Kindergarten will begin borrowing for the first time next week (week 6). Please encourage your children to pack their library bags every week and show some interest in what they are reading. Research has shown that there are many benefits to reading for pleasure, not the least being building kindness and empathy but also supporting children to do better in all other subjects. The library is now open every recess and four lunch times a week and we are as busy as ever. Our P&C has had their first meeting in the iLib and I look forward to our parents, carer’s and school community visiting the library again when we have our next Book Fair in the next term. Hopefully, you all got a chance to purchase a book from our first Book Club of the year. Your support of the iLib is very much appreciated. All the best from Ms Prior Teacher Librarian 2023 Leadership Induction AssemblyDistrict SwimmingOn Tuesday 21st February around 40 competitors, as well as teachers, parents and spectators from the Unanderra Public School community traveled to Dapto Olympic Pool for the Dapto District Swimming Carnival. It was a fantastic day, with everyone from Unanderra P.S trying their best and showing great sportsmanship. A big thank you to the parents who helped with the setting up and packing up of the tents. Also thank you to Mr Scotland for looking after the team on the day. Congratulations to the following students who have qualified to represent our school and the Dapto District at the South Coast Regional Swimming Carnival on Friday 10th March at Dapto Olympic Swimming Pool: Zare Williams - 11yrs girls breaststroke & butterfly Sam fitzgerald - 11 yrs boys breaststroke Emily Palmer - 11 years girls breastroke, freestyle & butterfly Charles Hislops - 11 yrs boys breastroke Isaac Fisher- senior boys breastroke, backstroke and 12 yrs freestyle Leo Damir - 8 yr boys freestyle Freya Swimdells - 9 yr girls freestyle & junior girls relay Aliye Sen - junior girls breaststroke & junior girls relay Alexis Cambrige - 10 years freestyle & junior girls relay Amelia Hislop - junior girls relay Congratulations all on a great day! Renae Scruby Sports Organiser Year 7 2024 informationP&C NewsPrincipals' MessageDear Parents/Carers, Welcome to the new year! We have been able to form our 2023 classes and the students have settled well with a positive energy to begin their new school year. Following a week of BestStart and small group play dates our kindergarten children have settled well into ‘Big School’. We are so delighted to welcome our new kindergarten students and their families to UPS. A big welcome is also extended to our new students in years one to six and their families who have joined us this year. Congratulations to all the children who participated in the swimming carnival on Tuesday. All students were encouraging of one another by cheering each other on and clapping at the end of each race. We are certainly proud of you all! A big thank you to our volunteers and to all families who assisted the staff and students throughout the day. Finally, thank you so much Miss Scruby and all staff who worked tirelessly throughout the morning and beforehand to ensure that the day ran smoothly! The day was a great success and we are all are very appreciative of the hard work and dedication in preparing for this carnival. Well done everyone! Head Lice As the warmer weather continues, we may have an increase in the incidences of headlice across the school. Head Lice can, not only be uncomfortable but also be quite distressing for the child if, not treated in a timely manner. Please refer to the information provided to avoid and/or treat your child/ren for headlice. https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/headlice/pages/default.aspx Healthy Food Choices As you may be aware all students eat with their class and/or stage groups. Our staff are always happy to see and hear the children chatting happily to one another making healthy food choices. Ice-packs inside insulated lunch boxes are encouraged during the warmer weather to keep food fresh and safe to eat. We also encourage children to bring healthy food choices such as fruit, vegetables, fresh sandwiches, rice or pasta etc to school and remember to leave sweet treats and chips as a sometimes food. Drinks bottles (filled with cold water) are essential as the days are warmer so, please ensure that these are also clearly labelled and can close securely after use. Staying Sun Safe Please ensure that your child/ren wear the correct full school uniform including a school hat and that all items are clearly labelled. It is also a good idea for all children to apply sunscreen in the mornings before school as part of their morning routine when possible. On very warm days we ensure that the children eat in shaded areas and that everyone wears a hat while playing outside. Applying For Extended Leave Any family wishing to take five or more school days of extended leave (for travel purposes) should contact our school and complete the relevant paperwork. A certificate will be completed by the school and provided to the family, prior to their trip. This certificate can be used, whilst on your trip, should you ever be requested by authorities. Please note that this is an expectation from the NSW Department of Education. It is important to also note that requests should be made, where possible, well in advance of the leave occurring, to ensure that all paperwork can be completed. UPS are Allergy Aware Please be aware that there are students in our school with allergies to nuts. We ask that you consider to voluntarily agree to not send nut products, in particular peanuts and peanut butter to school. Drop off and Pick up Procedures. A big thank you to our parents/carers for their patience and flexibility during the start of the year and the earlier pick-up times for kindergarten students this week. All students K-6 will finish at 3pm starting next week. Parents/carers are reminded not to park in our neighbours’ driveways or stop on or too close to the pedestrian crossing. It is important that our students’ safety enter and exit our school grounds each day. Thank you for supporting the staff during these times of the school day. Swimming Scheme- Year 2 The students in Year 2 will have received a note to participate in a swimming program that will begin on Monday 20 February and continue for nine days to Thursday 2 March 2023. Each swimming lesson will go for one hour and buses have been booked to transport students to and from the pools. We encourage all eligible students to participate with the total cost being $30. Contact the office for further information. Induction Assembly Each year, students are elected by their peers into leadership positions at Unanderra Public School. This privilege is highly valued by our students, community, and staff. The development of children is a partnership between home and school and the leadership responsibility is considered as a recognition of how successful that process has been. To celebrate this achievement, we are hosting a School Leaders’ Induction Assembly, on Friday 17 February 2023. The assembly will be held in our school hall at 11:30am and we request that all children wear full and correct school uniform for this important occasion. A note has been sent home to the families with children who will be receiving awards during this assembly. Meet the Teacher Our ‘Meet the Teacher’ parent/carer information sessions in Week 5 has been arranged. This is an opportunity for parents/carers to hear from their child’s class teacher about expectations, homework, excursions, units of work and other activities being offered this year. This year, parent/carer information sessions for Kindergarten to Year 6 will be hosted by individual class teachers in their respective classrooms on Monday 20 February & Tuesday 21 February in separate afternoon sessions. Please see the note for more details. Please be mindful that this is not a parent/teacher interview about your child’s progress as this requires privacy and allocated time. If you would like to arrange a meeting regarding your child, please contact the office or speak to your child’s class teacher. Welcome to UPS Fete The P & C will be hosting a Welcome to UPS fete on Saturday 18 March 2023. It will be held at school starting at 11am and concluding at 3pm. Further exciting details will be shared soon. Wellbeing for all Each year on returning to school several students and their families often request information around building a positive mindset, developing resilience and promoting wellbeing. At Unanderra Public school we embrace and celebrate the uniqueness of each child and we are certainly proud of all students and their individual achievements in all areas of learning academically, emotionally, and socially. Unanderra Public School is committed to providing safe and supportive learning environments that respect and value diversity that are also free from violence, discrimination, harassment, and vilification. We know that the research shows the supportive environment schools provide can have a lasting impact on both the educational and lifelong outcomes for students. Below are some additional resource links from a variety of support services that may be useful. For general health · Health direct is a provider of trusted, free health information and advice and is supported by the government. For calming the mind · Smiling Mind - A web and app-based meditation program developed by psychologists and educators to help bring mindfulness into your life. · Headspace - A web and app-based mindfulness app. · Stop Breathe & Think - An app that allows you to check in with your emotions, and recommends short guided meditations, yoga and acupressure videos, tuned to how you feel. · Calm - An app for mindfulness and meditation to bring more clarity, joy and peace to your daily life. · Colorfy - Colouring therapy for adults on your mobile. · Pacifica - Daily tools for stress, anxiety, and depression alongside a supportive community. Music to help you unwind · ‘Unwind’ playlist on Spotify - A great playlist for relaxing and unwinding. · Relax Melodies - Relaxing sounds and sleep meditations that you can custom mix and fall blissfully asleep to. Some good TED Talks · Why we all need to practice emotional first aid - Guy Winch. · There's no shame in taking care of your mental health - Sangu Delle. · The power of vulnerability - Brene Brown. If you feel comfortable to reach out to talk with someone, below are some additional supports that may also be useful. 7 Cups of Tea - Find someone to talk to: 7 Cups of Tea provides online therapy and free counselling. The Better Access initiative provides better access to mental health practitioners through Medicare. If you’re eligible, you’ll receive Medicare benefits for up to 10 individual consultations with a mental health professional in a calendar year. For more details head to Beyond Blue or the Better access to mental health care factsheet. We understand that exploring professional help in person might not be the best option for you, so below we’ve listed some alternatives: · Have a conversation with friends or family members · Call Lifeline if you require crisis support - 13 11 14 · If you’re under 25 you can use eheadspace for online and telephone supports - 1800 650 890 · Call the Beyondblue support service - 1300 22 4636 · Visit Head to Health to explore a range of digital mental health resources Please contact the school via email [email protected] or telephone 4272 8730 if you require any further information or clarification. My continued thanks to the Unanderra Public School community for their ongoing support and generosity. I look forward to sharing an exciting year of teaching and learning with you all in 2023. Have a great fortnight ahead! Kind Regards, Anissa Rajendra Staff Development DayDuring the Staff Development Day, UPS staff spent time reflecting on the School’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). The RAP is a document that details the school’s commitment to promoting reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the wider Australian community. After reviewing our school’s progress from 2022, the staff shared thoughts in a Yarning Circle, respectfully listening to other’s ideas to promote reconciliation at Unanderra Public School. It was an extremely productive session! We were all motivated and committed to continuing our work to incorporate Aboriginal culture into learning, both in and outside of the classroom. School CanteenScripturePrincipal's ReportWelcome to the final newsletter for 2022. The final weeks of school at Ups have involved so many exciting events. We bid farewell to our Year 6 students and celebrated their achievements with a ‘Red Carpet’ evening at Wests Leagues Club last Thursday evening. This followed a fabulous Year 6 assembly and a week of rewards and fun classroom activities. Congratulations to our kindergarten children who have completed their first year of formal schooling and we are looking forward to seeing how they enjoy becoming the bigger kids when our new kindergarten students arrive in 2023. Our school celebrated a year of excellence with a presentation assembly recognising high achievements and outstanding effort in all areas of learning. We were fortunate to be able to enjoy some outdoor fun using our very new cola area. Regardless of whether they received an award at the presentation assembly, I want all our students to know how valued they are at Unanderra Public School and that their personal achievements and growth is something to be immensely proud of. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the class reports of each child and am excited to see the continuous learning that will take place into 2023. Thank you to all the parents and carers who continue to encourage and support their children in partnership with our teachers. Being committed together to focus on the academic, social and emotional growth for each child makes all the difference. Thank you! During the coming school holidays our school library will be repainted and upgraded which is very exciting and we can’t wait to see what it will look like. We also anticipate that the classrooms flooded in early November will be repaired and ready for use at the start of 2023. Just a reminder school returns for students in Years 1-6 on Tuesday 31 January 2023. Kindergarten students will begin on Monday 6 February 2023. Please note that 2023 kindergarten children have already been advised of their Best Start time and date. Please email or phone the school administration team if you require clarification of these details. The staff at UPS will be participating in professional learning on Friday 27 January and Monday 30 January. These days are not school days for students so they can enjoy a few more days to rest! The staff at UPS wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and New Year and thank our school community for the support and generosity shared throughout the year to ensure such positive outcomes and opportunities are available for all students. Thank you 3/4R have been very busy this term in a new learning environment. We have been extremely lucky to be working alongside 3/4J and have been working hard to learn about Australia, its states and territories and the amazing landmarks we have. We have explored the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. More recently we have been excited to share our learning time with our Kindergarten friends through Peer Support. This week we spent time with our buddies and friends to build kindness boxes and Christmas boxes. We learned about how we can communicate clearly and how to use our active listening skills to help our friends. We have had an amazing year learning and working together. From us to you we wish you an amazing holiday break! In preparation for 2B’s excursion to Killalea State Park, the students looked at the dreamtime story of “The Rainbow Serpent”. The students engaged with this story to learn about the indigenous connection that we have with nature and the land that we live on. K-6 AssemblyCongratulations to the following students for receiving an award at our last assembly for the year; KB Merit: Saxxon M.S & Romano.G Student of the week: Jasper.W KS Merit: Jett & Emelia Student of the week: Ramon M G KN Merit: Isla G-H & Lyla R Student of the week: Skye S 1/2AP Merit: Lara L Student of the week: Moriah G 1M Merit: Caius J & Nicholas P Student of the week: Harlem H 1P Merit: Taj T & Airlie S Student of the week: Glory P 2L Merit: Alex M & Van M Student of the week: Noah. I 2B: Merit: Tempe W Student of the week: Milah K 3/4D Merit: Zara W & Ryan H Kimberly T & Jake F Student of the week: Kymani J 3/4S Merit: Isabella M & Cooper E Joshua M & Hayley C Student of the week: Izzy B & Casey P 3/4J Merit: Kasey.R & Ayse.H Brianna.M & Chloe.O Student of the week: Jaxon.M & Khatiya.M 3/4R Merit: Jeremy A & Lily D-H Jamaica D & Rocky R Student of the week: Arinya L & Ryley N-S 5/6K Merit: Ruby H & Yerremurra W Leanna & Lucy Student of the week: Nora S & Stefan V 5/6D Merit: Adam C & Elijah L Ashton P Student of the week: Oscar W 5/6M Merit: Adan N & Amelia H Lexie S & Bentley P Student of the week: Luca R & Sienna M 5/6S Merit: Mandela M & Ben A Eli C & Halil S Student of the week: Tahlia D & Amy S Bronze & Silver Awards Bronze Awards: Madeline O. Luna W Hayley H Rockey R Sama O Medeline O Mason H Ryley N S Silver Awards: Romano.G Jasper.W Bonnie.A Evie.A Luke.W Skylar-Rose.T Saxxon M.S Lachlan C Diesel W W Sedra S Kayla C Merry Christmas from the iLibraryWhat a term it has been. Thank you to everyone who brought back their library books and congratulations to KB, who were the first class to bring all their books in and won class Super Dupers. Also, thank you to those who have made a donation to the school library via the school website if they were unable to locate their books. Your support is very much appreciated. The iLib was happy to welcome 5/6K to the Library main, due to the closure of several classrooms as a result of flooding in Week 4 of this term. Unfortunately, this meant that the Book Fair had to close early but will be back in Term 2, 2023. The iLib has been focusing on Technology and our library lessons have been in the Computer Lab. Here is a quick overview of what we have been doing this term: ES1: We finally made it to the Computer Lab after lots of anticipation. Students were introduced to parts of a computer and vocabulary to talk about technology as well as basic digital citizenship information about being Safe, Respectful and Responsible when online. In addition, students learned to log in using a username and password and navigate to the student portal via the internet browser, Google Chrome. Stage 1 have been learning to create PowerPoint presentations utilising their online access to Microsoft Office via the student portal. This can be reached wherever students have access to the internet. Students have learned to open and name a presentation, insert text boxes and pictures, adjust text colour, size and style, insert bullet points and edit layout. I have heard from many classroom teachers that students are using their new-found expertise to create presentations for News items! Stage 2 have been introduced to coding concepts and computational thinking skills building programs using the coding language ‘blockly’. Working through the Code Studio coding course, students have worked at their own pace at their various levels of coding expertise as they reason and problem solve to work through game based challenges within the program. Stage 3 have been further developing their existing coding knowledge, continuing to progress through the Code Studio courses, with many students completing the courses and moving on to build their own arcade games using Microsoft: Make Code Arcade. This culminated in a Robotics session as students coded our school Dash Bots to navigate an obstacle course and then race each other through an obstacle course challenge. Buster Bee also came to visit us in the iLib on the PBL Rewards Day to take a look at the work we have been doing to empty the library for painting and refurbishment, which will be taking place over the school holidays. It has been a mammoth job and a big thank you to our GA, Mr Thomas and the many students that helped me pack books into bags and transport to another classroom. Thank you to everyone who donated the bags! I think the students will love the new look 2023 iLibrary and we will make sure there are opportunities for our school community to come and check it out also. And finally, a big thank you to the iLib Library Monitors and Tech Crew who have worked tirelessly throughout the year to keep our library running like clockwork. They have been happy, hardworking students who give up a minimum of one lunchtime a week. I am very proud of each and everyone of them. So until next year... 2022 Ethics at Unanderra2022 has been busy year for Primary Ethics at Unanderra Public School. The younger children have been encouraged to develop their skills by listening to others, taking turns and giving reasons for their ideas. The older children have developed critical thinking skills on a wide range of discussion based topics. Primary Ethics Parents Page: https://primaryethics.com.au/parents/ outlines the full program of topics by Stage taught in 2022 and lots of information about the program.
If you are interested in enrolling your child in an ethics class in 2023, please contact the school office. This year Primary Ethics has introduced a recognition program for volunteers. We would like to recognise the hard work and dedication of Rebecca Phillips, who started the Ethics program at UPS in 2016. Rebecca taught Ethics classes for 5 years, taking 2 classes a week for most of that time. Thankyou Rebecca. Unfortunately we will not have enough volunteer teachers to fully run the Primary Ethics program here at Unanderra in 2023. Can you, your children’s grandparents, or carer assist by becoming a voluntary ethics teacher? Classes are 30 minutes each week and all the teaching material is provided. Information on volunteering can be found on the Primary Ethics website at https://primaryethics.com.au/volunteer/. To inquire about becoming a volunteer ethics teacher please contact Joanne Egan, the UPS Ethics Coordinator at [email protected] or on 0437 404 758. 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. 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 Principal's MessageIncredibly we have reached the end of Week 2 in Term 4. I hope that everyone enjoyed their recent school holidays although it does feel like some time ago now. Our teachers have lots of exciting opportunities planned throughout this Term giving us all lots to look forward to. Welcome and Congratulations! We congratulate Mr Synnott and his wife Molly as they celebrated their marriage during the most recent school holidays. The wedding was beautiful and we wish them all the very best in their lives together. Congratulations to Mrs Elston and her husband who are celebrating the birth of their beautiful baby boy last week. We look forward to meeting him very soon and wish them all the very best. Welcome back to Mrs Erin Alewood who has returned from her maternity leave and is replacing Mrs Elston for two days each week (Wednesday & Thursday) for the remainder of 2022. A warm welcome to Mrs Elissa Cleary who is replacing Mrs Lauren Elston in her Learning and Support role each Tuesday for the rest of 2022. Miss Melindee Best has joined the UPS team this term. Her role is teaching 5/6S each Wednesday while Miss Scruby works on information and communication technology supporting teachers and staff on this day. Welcome! Mr Isaac Hailstone has joined the UPS staff as a School Learning Support Officer working across the school in both in the classrooms and in the playground K-6. Welcome! Welcome to Miss Solomon who will be teaching 2B for the remainder of the term while Mr Bennett remains on personal leave. The students in 2B are really enjoying working with Miss Solomon and have settled in really positively with their new teacher. We look forward to Mr Bennett returning in 2023. World Teachers’ Day Next Friday 28 October 2022 is World Teachers’ Day. On this day we acknowledge and thank our teachers for the role they play each day in creating stimulating and critical learning opportunities for their students. I am sure that you would agree with me that we are very fortunate to have such an outstanding team of teachers who are dedicated to the children of UPS and our whole school community. Their commitment to ensuring that each day is exciting, reflective, and purposeful for each child is something that we can all be so proud of. I acknowledge and thank all of our UPS staff. Additional Staff Development Day on Monday of Week 11 Many big announcements around education occurred during the school holidays. A significant announcement was that the school year will now finish for students on Friday 16 December 2022 (Previously Monday 19 December 2022). This is a decision from the NSW Department of Education and is due to incoming curriculum reform. Teaching staff will now be engaged in additional Professional Learning on Monday 19 December 2022. Kindergarten Enrolments 2023 Our Kindergarten enrolments for 2023 are looking great, with nearly 50 students currently enrolled to begin school in 2023. If you know of anyone, living within the Unanderra Public School catchment area and still wishing to enrol their child, please encourage them to visit our school, as plans are already taking place for next year. Kindergarten Orientation Our first official Kindergarten Orientation was held this Wednesday, with lots of excited faces joining our school for their first taste of “Big School” with their 2023 Kindergarten peers. We have two more sessions for our newest students planned, where we hope to provide them with a positive experience and some understanding of what awaits them in the very near future. These sessions will occur between 9:15am and 10:30am on Wednesday 26 October and Wednesday 2 November 2022. Last Wednesday evening we had the opportunity to share the great activities we offer at Unanderra Public School to the new Kindergarten families beginning in 2023. It was lovely to meet with the families and makes plans for the exciting new school year ahead. School Enrolments 2023 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, who will assist them with their enquiry or click on the link below. https://unanderra-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/about-our-school/enrolment.html Deadly Encouragement Awards Last Thursday, the Northern Illawarra Deadly Encouragement Awards took place at Bulli High School. This was a beautiful afternoon, to celebrate the great achievements of our Aboriginal Students who are doing brilliant things within our schools. Congratulations to Bentley and Yerre who both received awards for their attitude and application at school. Selective Schools 2024 Year 7 Online Applications Online applications for Year 7 Selective Schools – 2024 – have now opened. Parents whose children will be in Year 6 in 2023, who are interested in their child sitting the selective high school placement test, are required to complete this process by Wednesday 16 November 2022 at https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year 2023 school travel applications are now open Applications for student travel in 2023 open from Monday 10 October 2022. Students who need a school Opal card or travel pass for 2023 can apply now. A new application will need to be submitted if they are applying for the first time, or if they are requesting an additional travel entitlement as a result of a new shared parental responsibility situation (e.g. joint custody). Please see attachment below for all information relating to travel in Term 4 2022 and 2023 https://www.smore.com/app/attachments/download/634e0a434453847a8b462701 Just a reminder that Premier Illawarra have advised that all children using the bus will need a working and Opal card. Applying For Extended Leave Any family wishing to take five or more school days of extended leave (for travel purposes) should contact our school and complete the relevant paperwork. A certificate will be completed by the school and provided to the family, prior to their trip. This certificate can be used, whilst on your trip, should you ever be requested by authorities. Please note that this is an expectation from the NSW Department of Education. It is important to also note that requests should be made, where possible, well in advance of the leave occurring, to ensure that all paperwork can be completed. Check in Assessments At the end of Term 3 and beginning of Term 4 all students from Years 3-6 in New South Wales have been completing Check-in assessments. Years 3-5 are to complete a numeracy and reading assessment and Year 6 are to complete both numeracy and reading as well as writing. The data collected and information gathered from these assessments assists teachers in identifying areas of focus in their classroom teaching and helps guide professional learning for schools. Student results for these assessments are not shared with families. If your child has been absent for any of the assessments, we will be conducting catch up test sessions in Week 3. UPS are Allergy Aware Please be aware that there are students in our school with allergies to nuts. We ask that you consider to voluntarily agree to not send nut products, in particular peanuts and peanut butter to school. We thank you for making this choice to support our children. Have a wonderful fortnight ahead! Anissa Rajendra Upcoming EventsWeek 3 Monday 24th October 3-6 Gymnastics Tuesday 25th October Reading Club at 8:30am Wednesday 26th October Kindergarten Orientation Figtree High Transition Talk (Year 6) Week 4 Monday 31st October 3-6 Gymnastics Book Fair from 8:30am Tuesday 1st November Book Fair from 8:30am Reading Club at 8:30am Wednesday 2nd November Kindergarten Orientation Thursday 3rd November Stage 3 PAT Testing Book Fair from 8:30am Friday 4th November PLP BBQ Book Fair K-6 Assembly KS are extremely proud to showcase some of our learning this term! This term we are focusing on how to write an information report on Australian Animals. The students really enjoy gathering information on these animals, especially through informative texts. Their favourite part is getting to look at the animals and describe what they see. We are also learning about division and how to make equal groups. KS are fantastic at using manipulatives such as counters or farm animals to create equal groups. So far, we have learnt that our class can be divided to make 2 equal groups of 9, as well as 9 equal groups of 2. The wonderful students in KS have had a fantastic start to Term 4! During Term 3, students explored the Book Week shortlisted books for 2022. The theme this year was ‘Dreaming with Eyes Open’. We created a Book Week display in our library of the great Rainbow Serpent, who features in many Dreamtime stories as a creator. We also studied Visual Literacy cues in the short-listed books, used by illustrators to support meaning in the stories we read. Visual Literacy is the ability to make meaning from pictures and images. Being able to understand how images create meaning allows students to use their critical thinking skills to understand how the message being presented is being communicated. This helps us understand how the images we see in the world and in the media are communicating messages to us. Students observed in picture books the way the salient feature (the object most obvious to the audience) is highlighted through use of size, colour, position and juxtaposition. We also spent time outside after reading the book ‘Walking in Gagudjul Country’ by Dianne Long. We looked at how the book used frames to highlight things the author and illustrator wanted us to notice. Ms Prior Teacher Librarian Deadly AwardsOn Thursday 13th October, the Northern Illawarra Aboriginal Education Consultative Group held its 7th Annual Deadly Awards. The purpose of this award ceremony is to recognise and celebrate the work that our Koori kids do both in and out of the classroom. Two students from Unanderra Public School were nominated and attended the event. Bentley F. (Year 5) received an award for the leadership qualities he shows around the school. Yerremurra W. (Year 5) received an award for his work ethic and achievement in numeracy. We want to give both award recipients a huge congratulation, and we are very much looking forward to witnessing what all of our Aboriginal students will achieve in the future. Well done boys! K-6 AssemblyWell done to the following students who received a merit award and a student of the week award for this week's assembly; KB Merit: Chase.K & Abraham.M Student of the week: Mmuti.T KS Merit: Eloise H & Bowie C Student of the week: Ashlee A KN Merit: Lara V & Kairo D Student of the week: Kyen C 1/2AP Merit: Kayla S & Leo D Student of the week: Austin DW 1M Merit : Jemma C & Keiran E Student of the week: Lily B 1P Merit: Tyler L. & Evie B. Student of the week: Leah M. 2L Merit: Student of the week: 2B: Merit: Andrew. W & Noah. I Student of the week: Baylee, T 3/4D Merit: Student of the week: 3/4S Merit: Emily P & Elise W. Student of the week: Brodi K. 3/4J Merit: Serena.R & Chase.C Student of the week: Corey.A 3/4R Merit: Declan R & Jackson K Student of the week: Hayley H 5/6K Merit: Lucy L Student of the week: Leanna O 5/6D Merit: Yarra M & Marcel Student of the week: Ridit T 5/6M Merit: Sophie G & Caleb P Student of the week: Victoria S 5/6S Merit: Ella H & Xavier L Student of the week: Ben A Bronze & Silver AwardsA big congratulations to the following students for receiving a bronze and silver award; Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 Bronze: Winter-Rose M Aria K. Daniel L Silver: Ruby S Harlee G Oakland H Glory P Matilda H Alana G Taj T. Natalya J Stage 2 and Stage 3 Bronze: Jett F Ella H Millie B Angus J Adina M Oscar W Ella R Silver: Amelia B, Arinya L Holly L Nabiha M Aya S Yarra M Library Monitor & Tech Crew 2022The role of a Library Monitor or Tech Crew member is one that students will carry with them throughout their whole lives. Funnily enough, I was a Library Monitor at my primary school and I remember it as being a terrific and fun experience to be given such responsibility by my own Teacher Librarian, Mrs Salisbury. The role of Library Monitor encompasses making sure students are safe in the iLib by ensuring all hands are sanitised on entry to the library and there is no running. Library Monitors spend time putting returned books back on shelf correctly, tidying up shelves, running the Circulation Desk during class time and lunch time, finding and labelling new Premier’s Reading Club books, setting up and packing up activities in the library for other students as well as ensuring the library is tidy again before the bell goes. Tech Crew support students to remember their Digital Citizenship values of being safe, respectful and responsible online. They support students with any issues when using the computers in our computer lab from logging on and off, finding forgotten usernames, helping students with PowerPoint or coding game issues and ensuring the Computer Lab and technology is packed up and looked after at all times. These students are like my surrogate class who help me with Reading Club on Tuesday mornings, the running of events such as National Simultaneous Storytime, Book Sales, Book Week and next term they will be helping me with the return of the Scholastic Book Fair – start saving your pocket money for Week 4 Term 4. Our school library could not run without the help of these students, who have shown great dedication, coming to the library one lunch time a week (sometimes two). It was my honour to hand out these badges to these students. Ms Rachel Prior Teacher Librarian Unanderra P&C Spooky Gingerbread Folk House Are you ready to create a Spooky House for 31st October (aka Halloween)? Then support our fundraiser by purchasing through this link:- https://share.gingerbreadfolk.com.au/6m9VqD We would love it if you would share photos of your creations with your school community Happy decorating P&C Executive Gingerbread House KitYou can build magical gingerbread houses AND help us fundraise at the same time! Our P&C will earn $15.00 for every GINGERBREAD HOUSE KIT you purchase (between 1 Oct - 30 Nov) through the link below. For gingerbread house making joy, head over to Gingerbread Folk (via the URL below) and pop your kits in the cart. Don't delay - The more the merrier as they say! Here's the link: https://share.gingerbreadfolk.com.au/6m9VqD Selective High School PlacementLearning Labs |
Unanderra Public School
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