It has been another massive week at Newlands! How could you not notice the incredible artwork taking over our library windows, created by Peader Thomas, add to that our students having the opportunity to hear from Julianne Negri, and the colour, creativity and excitement of today’s Book Week Parade, and it has certainly been a celebration of all things books at Newlands.

Students have practically been living in the library this week as our Read-A-Thon officially gets underway. It has been fantastic to see so many students reading while also raising money to help us continue beautifying our library and filling the shelves with the coolest books we can find. A massive thank you to our incredibly amazing librarian, Jess, for the enormous amount of work that has gone into making this week so excellent!

Newlands Primary School was also a blinding display of ribbons this week as our students proudly returned from the Coburg Athletics Track. Newlands finished fourth out of fifteen schools, our highest result since our famous win back in 1994, when we competed against five schools! Raul came back absolutely glowing, not only because of how well our students competed, but because of the way they supported one another, celebrated each other’s achievements and interacted so positively with students from other schools. A great day to be from Newlands!

What’s Happening Next Week at Newlands

Next week is shaping up to be another huge one, with plenty happening across the school!

Wear It Purple Day

We will be celebrating Wear It Purple Day on Monday. We encourage all students and staff to wear something purple as we celebrate diversity, inclusion and the importance of creating a school where everyone feels safe, respected and that they belong. It’s a simple way for our Newlands community to stand together and show that everyone belongs here!

Foundation Flying Bookworm Theatre Incursion

Our Foundation students are in for a treat with the Flying Bookworm Theatre Incursion! Students will see stories come to life through an interactive and entertaining performance designed to build their love of reading, storytelling and imagination.

Book Week Author Visits

Our Book Week celebrations continue next week with two fantastic Australian authors visiting Newlands! On Wednesday, we’re excited to welcome Nova Weetman, author of books including The Edge of Thirteen, The Jammer and Elsewhere Girls, as well as Nat Amoore, author of We Run Tomorrow, The Power of Positive Pranking and Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire. It’s a wonderful opportunity for our students to hear directly from the people behind some brilliant Australian children’s books and to be inspired to keep reading, writing and creating!

Girls Bat Tennis District Finals

Our Girls Bat Tennis team will also be representing Newlands at the District Finals next week! We wish the team the very best as they take on some of the strongest schools in the district and put their skills, teamwork and sportsmanship into action. Vamos Newlands!

Father’s Day Breakfast – Friday

Next Friday is a double-header of an event!

We’ll start the morning with a celebration of our fathers and, importantly, everyone who plays a special role in helping our students thrive. Whether you help get them ready for school, make their lunches, help with homework, read with them or simply encourage them to be the excellent students they are, this breakfast is for you!

Everyone outside of Foundation already knows how good our famous Values Buns are, but it is finally time for our Foundation families to experience the sophistication of egg, bacon and cheese on a roll. And, just in case the legendary Karl Buechner arrives, there will of course be an awesome vegan option as well!

Breakfast kicks off at 8:00am on Friday 4 September, and this time we won’t be in the quadrangle. We’ll be set up out the front of the gym, because breakfast will coincide with...

Before School Activities Sign-Up Morning!

We have already received more than 100 responses to the new activities we are offering in Term 4, and we have no doubt that number will continue to grow as students get the opportunity to try some of the activities over the coming week and again at our Sign-Up Morning.

Each activity at the Sign-Up Morning will have a QR code or another way for families to register and make payment, making it as easy as possible to secure a place. Our timetable is now confirmed, with a few slight changes from the version shared last week. Some activities will still need to reach their minimum participation numbers before we can officially confirm that they will go ahead.

If you would like any more information about the Before School Activities program or Sign-Up Morning, please check the page in this week's newsletter!

5/6 Term 4 Staffing Change

Unfortunately, due to circumstances outside of our control, Israel will be finishing in his official teaching role in the Grade 5/6 area at the end of this term. While Israel will continue to work at Newlands in Term 4, we want to ensure there is a strong and smooth transition for the new teacher joining the 5/6 team. This will provide students with consistency and allow the incoming teacher to establish relationships with students, families and the wider 5/6 team.

We are currently working through the replacement process and hope to be able to share more official information with families in the coming weeks.

We appreciate your understanding and will continue to keep families updated as arrangements are confirmed.

Wellbeing Hub - Morning Support

To strengthen the support we provide for students who benefit from a differentiated start to their school day, we are excited to officially welcome Romy to our Wellbeing team. Romy has been part of the Newlands community for more than 10 years through our OSHC program, and we have made the decision to utilise her considerable experience, knowledge of our students and strong relationships with families in our morning Wellbeing Hub.

The Wellbeing Hub provides a calm and supportive space for students who may need some additional assistance transitioning into the school day before moving into their classrooms and learning. Romy will work in the Wellbeing Hub from Monday to Wednesday each morning, helping students start their day feeling settled, supported and ready to learn.

We hope you have a great weekend.

Thanks,

Luke

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