Principal's MessageWelcome to Week 10! Dance2Bfit Concert Congratulations to everyone for contributing to the great success of the Dance2Bfit concert! The feedback has been positive and the energy during both the shows was electric! For the students and teachers who went outside of their comfort zone to dance on stage I commend you and thank you for giving it a go. A big thank you as well to our SLSO and administration staff who also went above and beyond to make this work. I acknowledge the work that went into the day and evening and really appreciate the extra time required to make this work for our kids and their families. The P & C were incredibly supportive during the day and evening and I particularly thank Lisa J and her executive team. Overall whether you danced, supervised, planned, decorated, recorded, cooked and/or everything plus more I am very grateful and I know the children and the whole school community is too! Thank you! Stage Planning Week During week 10, the teachers worked together in teams off class to plan for term four teaching and learning activities. These collaborative planning sessions for teachers are critical to inform decision making and resource allocation for the term ahead. Where possible we utilised familiar staff on site to replace the classroom teacher and any necessary adjustments for individual students have been considered. School Carpet Cleaning and end of term clean up. This happened Tuesday afternoon after school in all classrooms. Students are reminded to take all unnecessary items from their desk home so they can refresh and rest for term four. School Crossing The school crossing supervisors have been experiencing some concerning behaviours in the mornings and afternoons with children running across the crossing before or just after they have stopped traffic. As you can imagine this is very dangerous. We have had transport officers come out from Wollongong Council to observe the afternoon traffic. As yet we do not have a resolution to the traffic congestion during this time but are working on some ideas. Please remind your children that they are not allowed to cross the road without permission from the crossing supervisor and under no circumstances are they to run across the road. I have also been informed that some students are crossing the road at the shops rather than at the crossing area which is very dangerous. The safety of our students is paramount and I once again ask that families discuss the safe ways to walk home with their children. I do acknowledge and thank all parents and teachers who work hard each afternoon and morning to assist all of our students to depart our school grounds safely. Queen Elizabeth II (21 April 1926- 8 September 2022)- Public Holiday, Thursday 22/9/2022 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II passed away on 8 September 2022 at the age of 96. The NSW Government, on behalf of the people of NSW, has respectfully offered its sympathies to the Royal Family at this time. To recognise her passing a public holiday has been announced for Thursday 22 September 2022 and our school will be non-operational on this day. Princess Elizabeth became Queen of England at the age of 25 after the death of her father, King George VI, in 1952. Her Coronation took place in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II went on to become the longest-reigning British monarch, Australian sovereign and leader of the Commonwealth of Nations, which she navigated for more than seven decades. Check in assessments 2022 Check-in assessments are online assessment for students in Years 3 to 9. Students in year 6 have recently completed these two assessments which are reading and numeracy. Years 3, 4 and 5 will be completing these assessments during the first part of term 4. Each assessment is designed to be quick and easy to administer, consisting of between 40 to 50 multiple choice questions. The feedback from these assessments supplement our current school practices to identify how students are performing in literacy and numeracy and further assist teachers to tailor their teaching more specifically to student needs. NAPLAN NAPLAN is an annual assessment for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. The tests cover skills in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy. The assessments are undertaken every year. From 2023, the NAPLAN test window will move to mid-March. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) is responsible for the overall management of the Australian National Assessment Program, in collaboration with representatives from all states and territories and non-government school sectors. Families of students in years 3 and 5 will have all received their NAPLAN results. Overall Year 3 achieved state average or above in reading, writing and spelling. We will now need to work more on grammar and punctuation and numeracy. Overall, Year 5 achieved well above state in spelling and we will continue to work on improving in the areas of reading and grammar and punctuation. We acknowledge that these tests are a window in time rather than the full picture of each child’s learning achievements. Reviewing our morning routine procedures, dedicating each morning as uninterrupted learning time and further professional learning, later this year and into 2023, will be part of our whole school focus to address the improvement required. The teachers look forward to using this data, along with all the other forms of data being collected with the support of Mr Hosler (Assistant Principal Curriculum and Instruction) and the other Assistant Principals, to continue to support positive student learning and growth kindergarten through to year 6. Colour Explosion The UPS Colour Explosion will be held on Friday 14 October. 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 scenes from the P & C committee. Ice-blocks will be provided to students once they have completed the running course. UPS Spellathon reminder Students will have until Friday 21 October to collect sponsors and learn their spelling words. While the children will be practicing the words at school, your encouragement at home would be great! Students will participate in the written spelling test on Friday 21 October in class. Sponsor sheets should also be returned on this day for the teacher to sign off. Completed sponsor sheets will be returned to students, ready for them to collect money from their sponsors. If you would like to submit funds raised electronically please email the sponsor form/s to [email protected] and make a direct debit payment to: Gymnastics Program reminder to pay During Term 4 all students from K-6 will be 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. Please complete the permission note and return it to the office, along with your $20.00 payment by Friday 23 September 2022 Kindergarten Orientation- Change of Date letter By now you will have received your letter in the mail, inviting you and your child/ren to our three Kindergarten Orientation sessions and the Parent/Carer Information session. We are still very excited to run all of these sessions, however, due to unexpected scheduling conflicts that have only just arisen, we now need to change the date of our Parent/Carer Information session and one of our student sessions. The change in student session does allow us to also invite families to come and check out our school ‘Book Fair’ in the library. The new dates for all of the sessions are as follows, with the changes highlighted: Student Sessions: 1. Wednesday 19th October, 9.15am to 10.30am 2. Wednesday 26th October, 9.15am to 10.30am 3. Wednesday 2nd November, 9.15am to 10.30am- You are invited to bring your child/ren to have a look at the books and resources we have on sale in our school library space from 8.55am until 9.15am when the student session begins. Parent/Carer Information Session: • Wednesday 19th October, 6.00pm to 7.00pm Please still refer to the previous note posted to each of you for the organisation details. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused and we look forward to seeing you all during these orientation days and parent information session. Smart Start Wrap up We have just successfully completed our Smart Start program, transition to school program supporting all children in our local community intending to start Kindergarten in 2023 with the skills and experiences required to have the best start to school. The five sessions this term included both student and parent sessions with a focus on social skills development and sharing what literacy, numeracy and technology integration looks like at our school. It was wonderful to be able to wrap up the sessions with a joint ‘Teddy Bear’s Picnic’ and celebrate all of the learning and connections that have been made throughout the program. This worthwhile school initiative is something you will continue to see at Unanderra Public School in the future so please spread the positive news. PBL Rewards day After the mammoth task of collecting 25 000 bees this term, the whole school was rewarded with a ‘Wellbeing Wednesday’ reward. From Kindergarten to Year 6, students participated in a wide range of activities such as playdough making, dance parties, art activities, technology sessions, movie watching, board games and Burroinjin. Buster Bee had a wonderful time visiting the different activities around the school, and congratulating the students on being safe, responsible and respectful throughout the term. We look forward to Term 4 being full of Positive Behaviours for Learning, and our end of year rewards day. This term 3/4J have engaged in learning experiences based around our integrated unit ‘Australia, This Is Us’. The students have been following the Alison Lester book, Are We There Yet?, and have been learning about all of the Australian States that they visit in the story as they make their way around Australia. For each state they have investigated and learned about some of the iconic natural and human made landmarks that make each state unique. They have then used this information to create a range of presentations including written information reports, brochures and Powerpoints. The students have enjoyed sharing their knowledge of Australia through reading, writing and artworks. 1M enjoyed some time in the Yarning Circle singing an aboriginal lullaby called Inanay Capuana. K-6 AssemblyKB Merit: Jasper W & Skylar-Rose Student of the week: Amaleah B KS Merit: Savannah V & Ahmad O Student of the week: Jett W KN Merit: Austin W & Brooklyn J Student of the week: Luna W 1/2AP Merit: Natalya J & Allya D 1M Merit: Caius J Student of the week: Millie B 1P Merit: Taj T & Caige J Student of the week: Daisy 2L Merit: Allira P Student of the week: 3/4D Merit: Memphis H & Kayleigh H Student of the week: 3/4S Merit: KJ T-S & Hayley C. Student of the week: Memphis W-W 3/4J Merit: Zoey C & Khatiya M Student of the week: 3/4R Merit: Brock D-W & Jeremy A Student of the week: Caylee J 5/6K Merit: Ruby H & Finn M Student of the week: Yerremurra W 5/6D Merit: Ebony C & Phoenix I Student of the week: Ella R 5/6M Merit: Sophie G & Aya S Student of the week: Braxton Z 5/6S Merit: Pearce W & Aliesha F Student of the week: Nevaya T Bronze & Silver AwardsCongratulations to the following students for receiving a bronze & silver award: Bronze Awards: Kayla C Chase K Savannah V Annabelle C Ashton P Penny H Charlotte A Marcel M Elijah L Abby D Chase N Kayla C Miranda J Keyara W Jaylen L Jayden S Latia J Isabella H Leanne O Lucy L Stefan V Branden N Silver Awards: Aliesha F Aiden M Ashton P Lexii T Jake F Ryan H Lexi C Mylah K Lekeisha S William P Jemma C Premier's Spelling Bee FinalDuring term 3 students in years 3 - 6 were busy learning words in anticipation of the Premier’s Spelling Bee Finals. All classes held amazing spelling competitions in their own classrooms, with the best 2 students from each class being chosen to represent their stage in the schools finals. Stage 2’s top eight were: Sam C, Chase C, Haley H, Mason H, Ollie, Aliye, and Emily P. Stage 3’s top 8 were: Angus.J, Charlotte.W, Shari.J-P, Zoe.M, Isabella.H, Sophie.G, Jasmine.D and Caleb.P. The atmosphere in the hall was filled with excitement, nervousness, and amazement as the students all did their personal best with the spelling words, as their peers watched on. The UPS PSB finalist for stage 2 was Emily. P and for Stage 3 it was Emily’s brother Caleb.P. In week 8 Emily and Caleb represented Unanderra PS in the first ever on-line regional finals of the Premier’s Spelling Bee. Caleb worked hard and reached round three. Emily made it all the way to round seven in a lengthy nail biting spell off with a student from another school. Emily came in second place, what a wonderful achievement, all her studying paid off. A big congratulations to both Emily and Caleb on the wonderful effort they put into the Premier’s Spelling bee experience. Regional Athletics CarnivalOn Friday 2nd September 10 of our finest athletes from Unanderra Public School, along with their families, traveled to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra for the South Coast Regional Athletics Carnival. The day started off very frosty but ended up being very pleasant and even quite warm at times. As always, the competition was extremely strong with all of our students giving their best and representing our school and district with distinction. Congratulations to the following students for their excellent efforts for making it to the regional carnival: Amy S Braxton S Emily P Gemma C Lachlan C Matilda C Rhydian J Ryan H Samuel F Xaviar L Renae Scruby Sports Co-Organiser Multicultural Public SpeakingWell done to the following students who represented Unanderra Public School at the Multicultural Public Speaking local finals. This year, the students had to film their speeches and send them in to be judged.
Well done to Brodie K and Shari JP for making it to the finals. A big congratulations to Sophie G and Serena R for getting a highly commended award for their speeches.
0 Comments
Principal's MessageWe are nearly at the end of another term which is exciting yet feels so fast. SASS Recognition Week Last week we acknowledged the incredible work done by our school administration, general assistant, and school learning support staff. UPS staff held a special morning tea and all students in the school wrote a message of appreciation on a beautifully coloured in butterfly. These are now displayed in our administration corridor! UPS are fortunate to have many School Administrative and Support Staff who contribute to our school success. These roles include the office administration, the library, school grounds maintenance or in a classroom setting and all are important contributors to the success of the school and learning outcomes of each student. Thank you to our P&C Congratulations and thank you to our incredible P&C who have been working hard to prepare Father’s Day Stall gifts for our students to purchase. The organisation and preparation are always very involved and we thank all who were part of this great fundraiser. Dance2Bfit Matinee and Evening Performances- 13 September 2022. We are so excited to be hosting this school event onsite. The students have been working hard to make this event spectacular! We have reached capacity with our seating allocation for each performance and thank our school community for their support and enthusiasm. Book Parade Congratulations to Miss Prior for her outstanding organisation of the Book Week parade! It was a fabulous effort and everyone on staff looked amazing. I received a lot of feedback from parents and grandparents about the great feeling that the school vibe projects. It was wonderful to have families on site to celebrate this great event. The children looked incredible too! PBL Focus This fortnight we are focusing the “Play Smart, Play Fair’ motto. Please continue to remind students of the expectations and pre‐correct students before they go out to play is often another opportunity to remind them. Applying for Extended Leave As the world becomes more accessible once again we have noticed that some families are wishing to take extended holidays. We encourage our families where possible to take these family trips during school holiday periods to reduce the absences children have from school. However, if this cannot be the case it is important to revise leave requirements for our school. 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.Please contact the office via email or phone, should you require this documentation. We will soon have an application for extended leave form online for you to complete. Staff Professional Learning Variation to Staff Development Day – 20 December 2022 The teachers and SASS staff will be attending two twilight SDD sessions on Monday 17th October and Monday 24 October both between 3.30pm and 6pm in lieu of Teacher Professional Learning on Tuesday 20 December 2022 (this is a pupil free day and the final day of the school term for 2022). There will be two parts to these session with the first part being Supporting Students’ Health and the second part focusing on Teaching Numeracy and developing a pedagogy in line with current thinking and the New NSW Curriculum implementation. Unanderra Public School will be non‐operational on Tuesday 20 December 2022. Aboriginal Education Committee The AEC have been working very hard and really have been positively impactful in building the culture of understanding and embedding Aboriginal perspectives in our day‐to‐day teachings and routines. Recently Miss Bell and Miss Scruby attended Connecting to Country for the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed this significant professional learning. Thank you to Mr Scotland, Mrs Elston and Miss Bell and the team. Smart Start Smart Start was a great success! Thank you to Mrs Newman for the coordination of this and to all the other staff involved. We had a great turn out with the local preschool attending and parents participating in the workshops. Parent/carers who are interested in attending the workshops are invited to contact the school for further details. We look forward to the next three sessions with the final one being a Teddy’s Bears Picnic. We have already had great feedback! Gala Day Changes and Extra‐ Curricular Sport Activities The Gala Day organisation continues to create lots of confusion. It was cancelled due to the grounds not being available with their status being non operational. Thank you to Mr Le Breton and our administration staff for rearranging things. At this stage it is likely that there will be another Gala Day in term 4 in week 6. We will know more details in the next few weeks. We appreciate the patience provided from our students and their families. The Reading Project This term, we have introduced the Parent Reading Project, an initiative where parent/carer volunteers will come into the school and read with students. This program is fully supported and supervised by classroom teachers. Volunteers were required to attend an induction presentation, have a current Working With Children Check (WWCC) and be fully vaccinated. Mrs Brennan will be conducted two induction presentations on Wednesday 20 July and Friday 22 July 9:00‐9:30am in the school hall. The reading project has been a great success! Thank you, Mrs Brennan. Reading Club. Each Tuesday morning Miss Prior hosts a morning book reading club. Students are invited to grab some toast and read a book in the library. Thank you to Miss Prior. This has been a great success as usual the children love this time each week. Have a great fortnight ahead! Anissa Rajendra Upcoming EventsWeek 9 Monday 12th September: Dance2Bfit dress/tech rehearsal Tuesday 13th September: Reading club - 8am in the Library Dance2Bfit Matinee Performance + Evening Performance Wednesday 14th September Smart Start - Kindy Transition Week 10 Tuesday 20th September Reading club - 8am in the Library Wednesday 21st September PBL Rewards Day Friday 23rd September K-6 Assembly at 11:30 Last day of term 3 5/6D have been busy this term learning about the wonderfulness of poetry writing. We have been looking at different types of poems such as, acrostic, cinquain, shape, limerick and haiku. During our poetry writing we have been implementing our learning, including the use of elements of poetry. This has enabled us to use figurative language and sound devices to create poems with effect and interest, giving us the tools to express our thoughts and feelings about different topics. Sound devices are fun to use, like, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and repetition. The shells, in the photos below, have cinquain poems written inside them and the rain drops that you can see have haiku poems written on them. If you are standing at the front of the school, look up at the first class room and you can see them hanging in our window. In 3/4R we have continued to embed Aboriginal perspectives throughout each of our routines. Each morning, 3/4R takes time to reflect, refocus and rebuild our community links in our morning yarning circle. It is here that we take the time to get to know our classmates, discuss our thoughts and share our stories and worries. In numeracy we have begun using symbols and gestures to help us solve addition, subtraction, and multiplication questions. Throughout our integrated unit ‘Australia This Is Us’ we have been learning about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, histories and perspectives. So far, we have explored South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory and have looked at significant Indigenous places that each state and territory have and the importance each of these hold. We enjoy embedding Aboriginal perspectives and culture into 3/4R, but most of all we love how it has strengthened our classroom community. Term 3 Gold AssemblyToday we celebrate the students who have achieved their gold award. For some it is the first time they have achieved their personal best, for others it is their second, third, fourth or even fifth gold award. Every award handed out is a magnificent achievement, and recognises the students who have consistently followed our school values of being safe, responsible and respectful. A very big congratulations to the following students: Bronze and Silver AwardsWell done to the following students who received a bronze and silver award for this week's assembly. These students are working hard and working towards their gold award. Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 Awards: Bronze: Anna A Bentley C Emrah S Ashton F Isla Ava Silver Awards: Zayden M Amelia K Chelsea Stage 2 and 3: Bronze Awards: Gemma C Amy S Casey P Jake B Decklyn. H Ruby H Sedra S Lachlan C Yarra M Jake B Billy K Jake F Kim T Lexii T Addison Nabiha M Diesel W-W Silver Awards: Charlotte B Brodie K Ava C Memphis W-W Jordi O Isabella M Jacob M Ebony C Sienna M Billy P Jackson K Jeremy A Alyson A Loralee H Chris G Charlotte B What a wonderful book week we had this year. It was lovely to be back together rather than online and our school had fun all week. On Tuesday, students were intrigued by the appearance of large foot prints in Area B, a giant cloak and an enormous golden trumpet in trees nearby, as well as a table full of what appeared to be dream jars and potions. Students were able to examine the scene and use it as a writing stimulus to come up with some truly imaginative stories. We also had a book tasting during Reading Club, where students got to try new books they might not have tried before. On Wednesday we had another ex-library book sale run by our fabulous Stage 3 Library monitors. Books sold for 10 cents and much excitement was had as students stocked up on books to read at home. Friday was our big day. It began with literature rotations run by teachers across each stage K-6. Students participated in reading stories followed by fun activities from cooking, to craft, to creating artworks, playing games and much more. Take a look at the fun we had. This was followed by our annual Book Week Parade. Teachers and students came dressed as either characters from a book or something to match the Book Week theme ‘Reading with Eyes Open’. Taking inspiration from the Book Week theme, teachers came dressed up as characters from Lewis Carol’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’. It was wonderful to have our families and carers back on site to watch the parade on the basketball court. Despite getting a little chilly, the rain held off and many families had picnics in our school grounds. You can check out some of the fabulous costumes here… There were many prizes announced during the parade, with the winners of the Book Week Poster Competition and the Costume Draw being announced. Each winner received a book. Poster Competition Winners: Kindergarten – Ashton F Year 1 – Austin D Year 2 – Lani M Year 3 – Lexi C Year 4 – Izaiah L Year 5 – Charlotte W Year 6 – Taneeka M Costume Draw Winners Kindergarten – Emilia J Year 1 – Ella O Year 2 – Amelia P Year 3 – Amelia H Year 4 – Cameron J Year 5 – Ozzy L Year 6 – Jenaya R Thank you to all the parents for putting together costumes for their children. It is always a memorable day. Rachel Prior Teacher Librarian Southern Stars Yanggaa Garaba Dance EnsembleA huge congratulations to our wonderful students who had the opportunity to perform in the Yanggaa Garaba Aboriginal Dance Ensemble at Southern Stars. Amelia Hayes, Axel Cook, Arinya Locke, Charlotte Simpson, Memphis Withers-Wheatley, KJ Thomas Smith and Dakota Forster were amazing representatives of Unanderra Public School. The Yanggaa Garaba Aboriginal Dance Ensemble consisted of 90 students from many schools across the Illawarra and South Coast. The students put in hours of rehearsal time and danced in three performances over four Southern Stars shows. The Yanggaa Garaba dance provided an opportunity for the students to connect to their First Nations ancestors, culture and histories, while telling their story. It was a truly breathtaking performance, giving audience members goose bumps every time they performed. It was tiring and exhausting work and their efforts did not go unnoticed. Thank you to the parents that spent a lot of their time dropping off and picking up their children from rehearsals and performances. It meant a lot to not only your children but our school. We are so very proud of them and Mrs Elston felt honoured to work with such a great group of students. Science WeekUnanderra Public School was hosted Science Week during Week 8 of Term 3. Students were treated with unique lessons all around this years theme of "GLASS - More than meets the eye". Each stage looked at the fascinating ways we use glass in today's society from fun toys to investigating techniques utilising microscopes. Early Stage 1 students used magnifying glasses to explore the world of magnification, exploring our school grounds to find a whole manner of creepy crawlies. They finished off by looking at preserved creatures and materials under the microscopes and seeing how glass plays an important role in how we explore the microscopic world. Stage 1 and 2 students dissected one of the worlds most well known toys 'the kaleidoscope'. Students learnt about how glass plays an important role in reflecting images, pulled apart a kaleidoscope to see how they are constructed then created their own variation of a kaleidoscope called a teleidoscope. The students had a lot of fun customising the images you can see as you can see in the photos below. In stage 3, students made glass disappear through the exploration of refraction. Refraction is the ability of light to bend (change direction slightly) when it passes through different materials, such as glass, water, or plastic. Students experimented with different liquids exploring this phenomenon before seeing how certain liquids can make glass appear to disappear due to their refractive qualities. We all had a lot of fun exploring the world of glass at Unanderra Public School. Mr Synnott Science Teacher (RFF) The Fathering ProjectDad-proof tip: How to strengthen the relationship with your sonWhen dads work to strengthen the relationship with their son, it not only positively impacts the relationship, but his development too.
Fathers have a strong influence on their sons, sometimes without even realising it. The most important way fathers influence their sons is by spending time with them and by being involved in their lives. There is clear evidence now that boys with dads actively involved in their lives do better emotionally, socially and academically. Top Tips
|
Unanderra Public School
|