From the Principal's Desk
Welcome back to all families and students for Term 4. We have a very busy term ahead of us with lots of learning and activities planned.
Check-in assessments: This week Years 3, 4 and 5 students will be completing their check-in assessments here in class. Check-in assessments are online assessment for students. They are mapped to the NSW Syllabuses and National Literacy and Numeracy Learning Progressions. There are two assessments in Literacy and Numeracy.
Tell Them From Me: Just a reminder, don't forget to complete the Tell Them From Me Surveys. The Tell Them From Me surveys provide schools with student, teacher and parent perspectives about the engagement and wellbeing of their students. This information is valuable to schools and can be used to identify strengths and successes, as well as areas to target for improvement. Student surveys will be carried out at school. The Partners in Learning parent survey is part of the Tell Them From Me suite of surveys on student engagement and wellbeing. The parent survey helps to clarify and strengthen the important relationship between parent and school. Participation in the parent survey is optional. We encourage as many parents as we can to participate to help us build a robust dataset to ensure we are doing our best to support the Martin’s Gully school community.
Please complete using the link below
State Athletics: Congratulations again to both Nixon Kennedy and Archie Cooper who are competing in the NSW Athletics championships this week in Sydney. We are so proud of you both for your amazing efforts.
State Cricket: Next week, Elsie Piddington will be heading to Sydney as she is part of the PSSA Girls Cricket State Championships. This is a huge achievement and we wish her all the very best.
Swimming: Stage 1 students begin their intensive swimming lessons this Thursday at the UNE pool. This will run for 8 weeks. Please make sure everything your child wears is named, including towels and goggles. A plastic bag for wet gear is also a good idea.
Kindergarten buddy reading program: This week our Kindergarten class will be sharing and reading with students from Milestones Childcare Centre. This will occur fortnightly on Wednesday afternoons for 20 minutes and supports the transition of students from preschool to kindergarten. It also allows our Kinder students to share their impressive reading skills!
Selective high school: For entry to selective high schools in Year 7 in 2024 parents have access to the application website which opens on 18 October 2022. More detailed information is included later in this issue of GULGOS.
Safety at the front gate: Mr Schaeffer has painted a yellow line at our main front gate for students to safely stand behind in the afternoons before they are picked up. We would encourage all parents to please come to the gate or near the gate to collect their children and not encourage them to run across the road to you. There will be a staff member at the gate each afternoon till 3:15pm. After this time any children still waiting will need to please be collected from the front office. Thanks for your help with this.
Grandparents sharing time: Next Friday from 10:00-11:00am Grandparents or other older friends, are invited to come into our school and spend time with their Grandchildren. All classes will be doing various activities and Grandparents are encouraged to visit the different classes their Grandkids are in and spend some time looking at the learning taking place within our school.
Attendance: We are working hard with our families and community to improve the attendance of students at our school. Please see the diagram below for some inspiration to arrive on time before the bell in the morning and to stay at school for the whole day. Thanks again to all parents and carers for your support with this.
Bandanna Day: Tyler Riggall in Year 6 has organised for our school to participate in National Bandanna Day. Held on the Friday 28th of October, Bandanna Day is the flagship fundraising and awareness campaign for Canteen. Canteen provides free and tailored support to young people aged 12-25 who are impacted by cancer. This Bandanna Day, we are supporting young people impacted by cancer by selling bandannas and fundraising for Canteen. Bandanas can be purchased at school on Friday 28th October, and cost $5 each. Please bring the correct amount of money. We will also hold an out of uniform day and ask families to donate a gold coin. Thank you for helping Martin’s Gully make a difference to the lives of young Aussies and well done Tyler for your initiative, drive and kindness in organising this event.
Felicity Pennington and Peta Deiderick