From the Principal's Desk 

Macarthur Young Champion Awards

The Macarthur Young Champion awards are community awards recognising local young achievers. One of our very own students, Juliet Plummer – Year 6, was an award recipient, last Friday night at the ceremony. A big congratulations to Juliet who was awarded the Macarthur Young Champions Award for Junior leadership. Her award was in recognition of her achieving her Junior BP Award through Ruse Girl Guides. This is a highly regarded level of achievement in the Girl Guides across Australia, particularly for Juliet’s age group. She has been working on achieving her Junior BP over several years. This has involved challenges where she has had to undertake new activities, personal development through leadership and communication and attaining new skills.  

Well done to Juliet from the LPS community. We are very proud of your achievements. 

You can find out more about local Macarthur young champions by reading the following story by the Macarthur Advertiser. 

Vaping Warning

There has been increased concerns of student vaping or selling vaping liquid in the community. Vaping is inhaling of vapor created by an electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) or other vaping devices. Vaping in adolescents can have lasting negative health effects as some e-cigarettes contain nicotine.

Vaping, including the use of e-cigarettes is prohibited: 

• On all school grounds
• At bus stops in NSW
• On buses to and from school 
• During any school-based activities

E-cigarettes can contain high levels of nicotine which can have long-term health consequences for adolescents if they are exposed to it. Vaping can impact on memory, attention and learning. E-cigarettes are available in different flavours, making them appealing to children, however they can also expose students to chemicals and toxins such as formaldehyde, heavy metals and flavouring chemicals. 

We need your support with this concern. You can help protect your children by doing the following:

• Talking to your child about why smoking and vaping are harmful for them.
• Reporting those who are selling e-cigarettes to minors. You can do this by reporting to the Tobacco Information line on 1800 357 412 or at NSW Health. 

As nicotine is a prohibited substance and e-cigarettes are illegal for those under 18 years of age, it will be considered a criminal incident if students are using e-cigarettes on school grounds and the consequence will be suspension. 

Attendance

It’s important that all students attend school every day that they can. The LPS attendance rate reflects our schools high expectations. However, a significant proportion of our students have attendance rates under 90%. Research demonstrates that every day counts as regular attendance helps students to: 

• Develop a sense of belonging
• Develop and maintain friendships
• Be more engaged at school 
• Progress with their learning
• Be more aware of career and life options. 

The pictures demonstrate the cumulative impact of students not attending regularly. If you need support for your children to attend regularly, please contact your class teacher or Deputy Principal, Ms Jo Fair for support. 

School Maintenance

Blocks L, G and E have received their new roofs. Blocks F, D and C will receive their new roofs over the next couple of weeks too. There have been some small interruptions during this time, however I would like to thank our community, students, and staff for being patient and flexible during this time. 

There has been significant progress made on the boundary works and drainage. It has had minimal impact on the running of the school. While there has been much achieved, there is still some work to be completed. I anticipate that this work will continue into next term. 

The installation of an automatic gate and intercom has begun on the Burrendong Road pedestrian gate. This will be finished over the coming weeks. 

In the holidays work will begin on updating the ramp to bottom oval. The ramp will be removed and replaced with stairs. The area behind the hall leading to the stairs will be concreted also. The area will be much safer as a result of the work. 

#proudprincipal

This newsletters first #proudprincipal moment goes to Tahlia-Rose for coming 3rd in her zone cross country event. This is an achievement as there are over a hundred representatives from the Campbelltown area in the zone events. Congratulations Tahlia-Rose (3/4M). You have excelled in achieving your running goals. We wish you and Declan (5/6S) all the best for the Regional carnival. 

We have had a number of students (too many to name) represent LPS at Campbelltown PSSA events. Thank you to these students for demonstrating sportsmanship and representing your school and zone with pride. 

On May 18, LPS hosted a small P&C Federation meeting on behalf of the LPS P&C. I would like to thank P&C members, Mrs Melissa Plummer and Mrs Rachel Dutton for organising with Susie from the P&C Federation to use LPS and Mrs Stephens for supporting the catering and hosting of the day. This was an opportunity for P&C members from the local area to meet and hear from Susie about inspiring ideas for improving community engagement and fundraising for students. This was the second #proudprincipal moment for this newsletter.