Book Week Parade - Friday 25th August

Teachers have started sharing many of the nominated books for the 2023 Children’s Book Week awards. All students will have the chance to vote for their favourite book in each category. Keep an eye on the boards to see which books have been the most popular at SKiPPS.

A reminder that our annual Book Week Parade will be taking place after assembly on Friday 25th August. If you are stuck for costume ideas, take a look at some of the new nominated books – maybe there is a new character that your child might be keen to dress up as.

Walkathon

Our annual school Walkathon will be taking place on Monday 4th September. Notices will be sent home later this week, providing greater detail and asking for your support in collecting sponsors for your child for each lap of the oval they can complete.

We are aiming to raise $15,000 from this year's walkathon - funds that will be used for our major fundraising goal of rejuvenating our school basketball court in 2024.

Following the walkathon, we will continue with the tradition of a whole-school celebration with a sausage sizzle, cake stall and icy poles straight after school in the schoolyard. Look out for ways that you can volunteer to help this take place and start collecting your gold coins now.

Orchestra - new time & day.

Our SKiPPS Orchestra has long been a wonderful and important part of our school.

Since its creation in 2013 by a group of committed and musical parents, it has been through various incarnations with different conductors, parents and students getting involved and working together to create some memorable moments and to provide an opportunity for all children, regardless of their background and ability to play together (often for the very first time).

We are excited that our orchestra has again taken on a new form with a brand new conductor and a new day for rehearsals.

Michael Roper, our wonderful Performing Arts teacher has taken on the coordination of the group and his rich history of working with orchestras and choirs means that we are excited by the music they will be making.

All students are welcome to come along to the Performing Arts room at 7:50am (for an 8am start) each Wednesday morning. No experience or prior skills are neccessary - come along to try it out and maybe start a journey that will take you to some amazing places!

More details are included later in the newsletter.

We want to know what you think!

Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents / caregivers / guardians think of our school.

The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement.

The survey is optional but we encourage all families to participate. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.

A random sample of approximately 30 per cent of parents / caregivers / guardians has been selected to participate in this year’s survey and they will receive an email directly from Neil with instructions on how to access and complete the survey.

The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey will be open from Monday 7 August to Friday 8 September 2023.

The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the survey period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones.

The online survey will be available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

Sub Committee Meetings

Our school has a number of permanent working groups called sub-committees. These groups are made up of staff members and dedicated parents who meet ten times a year with a focus to make our school a better place.

Sub-committees are open for anyone to join and rely on the energy, ideas and hard work of parents to improve the school experience for all of our students.

The groups are open for all parents to join and contribute to so feel free to come along to any of the following meetings.

Group Name and focus	Next meeting date and time	Location	Contact
Buildings, Grounds and Sustainability - To oversee the condition of our school buildings and grounds and plan improvements.	Wednesday 30th August 6pm	School Staffroom	Neil Scott
Fundraising - To coordinate fundraising and community events for the school community	Thursday 24th August 6pm	School Staffroom	Neil Scott
Education and Policy - To monitor the Annual Implementation Plan and develop school policies	Wednesday 30th August 8:15am	School Meeting Room (Office)	Matt Cook
Finance - To monitor the school's financial statements and develop our annual school budget.	Thursday 24th August 8:15am	School Meeting Room (Office)	Neil Scott

Year 5/6 Update

Term 3 Curriculum - Weeks 5-10