From the Principal's Desk
Principal News:
Welcome back to the new Term, and as I mentioned in a previous message, a very busy one. For me it's great to be back, and I would again like to thank Peta and Felicity for their leadership of the school in my absence.
On returning to school, I received a lovely letter from Ruth Blanch OAM, former teacher of Martin's Gully re the school centenary celebrations.
Congratulations on the successful and wonderful day celebrating Martin's Gully school centenary.
I was so impressed and appreciative of the function - the involvement of the whole school, children, parents, teachers and all staff members. It was such a happy function demonstrating cooperation and respect.
May everyone involved feel proud of what has been accomplished at Martin's Gully school.
Thank you to everyone who made this day a success. It was great to see many former staff and students attend, visiting the classrooms, trying to remember where things used to be, plus looking at the old photos and historical records on display. The fireworks and BBQ was a great way to celebrate the event.
The school still has some memorabilia available for purchase, please see the office ladies.
PAX Word of the Fortnight Weeks 1&2 Term 4 IMMERSE
Immerse means to involve yourself deeply in an activity or environment. Immerse can look like ENGAGING IN LEARNING because you can immerse yourself in your learning.
- Sometimes we immerse ourselves in things without realizing it.
- Immersing ourselves in things can be contagious. If we see someone fully involving themselves in something and they appear blissfully happy, we want that too.
- How can you immerse yourself in your learning/work this week?
Every Day Matters:
All schools across the state have a focus on improving attendance rates. Student attendance rates are only just starting to get back to the levels pre COVID. The attendance rates at Martin's Gully can still improve. Last term the overall attendance rate - this is the average attendance for all students was 91.2%. In Term 1 this rate was 93.6%.
The graphs above show you the absence type for each year level for Term 1 and Term 3 this year. It is natural to see an increase in sick days but there's still a large number of "leave" days that students are taking. This is an area that parents need to be mindful of - ducking away for a long weekend, travelling for weekend sport etc. Every day does count.
Set your child up for success at school. Good attendance is key to your child being able to fulfil their potential and make good progress in school. #EveryDayMatters
Let's do this together.
Students Success:
Congratulation to Olivia O'Neillwho competed in the Northwest Championships at Gunnedah and won both the under 10 girls singles and doubles tennis trophies.
Olivia also competed at Upper Horton Pony Camp she was the equal overall top point scorer with her horse Sassy in the 9 and under 11 both sexes age group on gymkhana day. Well done Olivia!
Three students from Martin's Gully, Julian, Quade and Beau played in the Under 12’s team at the Joeys Mini World Cup Inverell 27-29th September.
They won 4 games and drew 2. They were placed 2nd to play off in the Semi Final which saw them get a 5-0 win. They then came up in the GF against the representative team from Inverell which they lost on a penalty shootout. A great effort from all.
Finally, Kai competed at the Doordash National Touch Football at the Sunshine Coast the first week of the holidays. He played two games a day against teams from all over Australia. His team came 10th overall. Kai received the coaches awarded for being the most improved, shows sportsmanship and had a positive attitude and influence on everyone.
Ian Reeves
Principal