From the Principal's Desk

Student Wellbeing Pulse Survey (K-6) Project

In Term 4 last year, our school participated in a pilot project called the Student Wellbeing Pulse Survey (K-6). This project was undertaken by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in conjunction with the NSW Department of Education. The project asked parents/carers of students in Kindergarten-Year 3 and students in Years 4-6 to complete a brief survey on student wellbeing. 

We would like to thank all parents/carers and students who participated in this pilot. Across NSW, 14 schools took part in this project and a total of 719 surveys were completed. This is an incredible result, especially given the survey was delivered at the end of last year when we know families were very busy.

The results from the survey showed that the majority of students across the whole study population are experiencing high levels of wellbeing. However, some students are experiencing lower levels of wellbeing in certain areas.

Our school also received a report outlining which survey items showed higher reported wellbeing, and which items showed lower wellbeing. We did not receive results on individual students or any data that would identify individual students. However, the results will help us understand where we may need to direct our focus to improve student wellbeing across our whole student group.

We would like to remind families that you can contact us here at the school if you have a concern about your child/children’s wellbeing. We also recommend the following services for additional support:

Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800

Parent Line NSW: 1300 1300 52

If you have further questions about the project, you can contact Megan Keyes, Senior Project Coordinator, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute on 0439 631 331 or megan.keyes@mcri.edu.au. 

Visiting Author

Last week we had the very talented Jacob Lawrence come to our school and share the book he has written and published. Jacob is a year 12 student from Armidale Secondary College. Jacob read his book to Kindergarten and shared his Autism journey with the whole school at our assembly. He spoke about how we can support people with Autism in our schools and community. 

Showing kindness and inclusion is so important to model to our children. 

Student Social Worker in Schools Program: (SWiS)

On Monday we welcomed Grace Cudmore who is our new student social worker in our school.  Grace will complete 500 hours with us and will support staff and student wellbeing.  SWiS students provide individual support, design and facilitate group programs and build relationships with community agencies to further resource the school community.

We are excited to be continuing with this program in 2023.

Northwest swimming results:

Congratulations to all our students who competed at the Northwest Swimming carnival on Monday. What a fantastic effort to make it to this level. 

Eily O'Connell, Jack Grace and Nixon Kennedy are off to the NSW State Championships. Wow! Super swimming!

Taronga Zoo Visits Martin's Gully 

On Monday our school had a visit from the Taronga Zoo, Zoomobile. All classes were able to meet fascinating native Australian animals, learn about the roles of wildlife in the environment and their unique features that help them survive. 

PAX Word of the Fortnight: HEALTH

If we have good mental health, we feel loved, safe and secure in our environments. We also feel happy and positive about ourselves most of the time. 

We are kind to ourselves during tough times or when things don't go the way we expect. This means we feel OK about trying new or challenging things.

Here are just a few ideas to for us all to try to improve our mental health: Create a journal, practice gratitude exercises, engage in a breathing exercise, listen or dance to music. 

Students successes this week:

Congratulations to Stage 3 students who came 2nd in their art section at the Armidale Show. Well done! Matt Hobbs our Director, Educational Leadership, has taken the artwork to display at Department Education office here in Armidale.

Congratulations to the Student Representative Council Reps for 2023. Students meet with organising teachers to plan events and fundraisers for our students. They also share ideas for how to make MGPS the best school we can be.

Dates for your calendar: 

1. Week 8 - Parent/student/teacher 3 way Conference. This is a chance to catch-up with your child's teacher and your child, to discuss their learning goals for the year, ask questions and celebrate their success. These bookings are available on COMPASS. Bookings will close on Thursday 9th March.
2. Autumn Festival 1 April 2023. Martin's Gully PS will be part of the Armidale Community of Schools (ACOS) Autumn Festival. This be held on the Saturday 1st April. 
3. An Evening with ACOS.  Students from 3-6 Thursday 10th August at 6pm. 

Attendance Matters:  

We have set our school a target to achieve 90% attendance 90% of the time for 2023. 

Can you help us do this? Can you make appointments or attend extra curricular activities outside school hours?  Coming to school each day between 8:30am and 9:00am and leaving at 3pm is just a simple way we can achieve this together. Let's do this together. 

Staff Spotlight:

Hello MGPS community! My name is Anneliese Williams and I am lucky enough to be on the Stage 1 teaching team this year. 

My background was in marketing and events before I retrained as a teacher in 2018. My husband, cat and I moved back to Armidale from Sydney last October after 12 years away.  We are thoroughly enjoying the tree change and I absolutely love my job at MGPS!  When I am not teaching, I love to paint - specifically big oil paintings of Australian wildlife. We are expecting our first baby in late April so you may have seen me waddling around the school this term.  I have been so blown away by the beautiful culture here at MGPS. It is such a privilege to see students learn, grow and be part of such an excellent team of teachers. The students, staff, and community have been so wonderfully welcoming and encouraging.  What a special place Martin's Gully is! 

Hello Martin’s Gully Community!  My name is Sarah Randall, and this year I’m teaching Stage 1.

From humble beginnings, I was raised by my cold-hearted aunt and uncle and slept in a cupboard under the stairs. Life was pretty hard until one day, on my 11th birthday, an owl dropped a letter through the mail slot and magically changed my life forever…

Oh, hang on, that’s not me…

I’m actually from out west in Narrabri and was raised by my two loving parents along with my three brothers.  We always had lots of pets growing up, so I’m a big animal lover and am passionate about animal welfare.  I am also passionate about creative arts and especially love dance;  I attended lessons for many years, and regularly performed in concerts and Eisteddfods.  Music makes my days brighter and I have taught myself to play the ukulele (a few songs anyway).

I wanted to be a teacher from a very young age and the dream stuck with me. I moved to Armidale to study and have since worked as a casual teacher, a Learning and Support Teacher, a Special Education Teacher and this is my 6th year as a full-time classroom teacher at Martin’s Gully. I love helping my students learn, grow, and develop a lifelong love of learning. The most rewarding parts of my work are making connections with my students and helping them feel that they are seen, heard, and valued. My love of creative arts extends to my teaching, and this term I have been working with my talented Stage 1 students to choreograph an original dance for assembly.  We will be performing Friday, Week 8.  Be there or be square! 

Felicity Pennington and Peta Deiderick