Principal's Pen

Kaya, hello and welcome to out Term Two Newsletter. As always it has been a strong term of learning with lots of news to share from across the school. 

Semester One Reports 

The teachers have been working hard to complete the reports which will be sent out to families this week. As you know, we are trialing a new paperless system. We appreciate your support with this new process, please contact the office if you have any issues accessing your child's report. For those families who requested the paper copy, these will be sent home this week. 

Another new system that we trialed this semester was the online booking of the parent teacher meetings. Thank you to the families who took the time to follow the process to make the booking and then meet with your child's teacher. Our staff really enjoyed being able to connect with families and take the time to discuss the progress of each student. If you did not make the time to have a meeting and you have questions about your child's progress, please speak to your child's class teacher. 

To all our families, thank you for a great first semester. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the very best for the holidays. Stay safe and I will see you next term. As always, it has been a strong term of learning with lots of news to share from across the school.

DEAR- Drop Everything and Read

CONGRATULATIONS to all classes for the improvement in the number of students participating fully in the daily reading. Thank you to parents and care givers for fully supporting this process and making each session a great start to the day.  It is wonderful to see all classes starting their day with reading. As a result, reading confidence and results across the school are continuing to improve. Please remember that our library is open before and after school if you would like to read together or your child would like to change their books. The following students have read 50 to 100 times across the semester! Well done:        

Staffing Update

This term we welcomed Miss Jay and Miss Maria to our team, both in the role of Aboriginal and Islander Education Officer - AIEO. We are excited to have the ladies join our team and look forward to working together. They have been enjoying getting to know our students and families. Thank you to Elder, Sydney Phillips for assisting with the process and for welcoming Miss Jay and Miss Maria to the team. If you haven't met the ladies as yet, please drop in, any Wednesday to the Breakfast Bowl to introduce yourself.

School Improvement

• Bindi Bindi (B Block) Roof Replacement- It was wonderful to return to school after the holidays to have the roofing project completed. Our Kindy and Pre Primary students and staff have been enjoying the upgraded heating, particularly on these cold days. Thank you to our families who supported our students to adapt to new routines and then to settle back into classrooms. As a result of the move, a number of our classes adapted to the spaces so well that we made some changes. Our Kindy class remained in Room 6 and our Pre-Primary class led by Ms Ward moved to Room 1 and are enjoying their classrooms. 

• 54 Reasons - Discover and Explore Playgroup- You will find the group each Tuesday based in Room 3. All parents with children aged 0-4 years are welcome. Feel free to drop in and meet Angela and Muzhda each Tuesday.
• Sensory Room Update- Exciting news, our sensory room is taking shape and the wonderful team from IKEA will be commencing the work from Monday 10 August. Throughout the month of August, the team will complete this project in Bindi Bindi Teaching Block. I would like to thank Ruth Moore, from 54 Reasons for making this collaboration possible and Nina and her team from IKEA for providing our students with the opportunity to work with their design team to create this wonderful project. They are creating a space for our students to access and enjoy. Thank you to Svetlana and our student team who had a wonderful day visiting IKEA last year and spent the day planning and exploring the store.

Great work:

Year 3- Michael 

Year 5- Ayanna, Merinda, Sienna and Annabelle

Year 6- Cazna, Maletia, Isabella and Alice

We are all looking forward to seeing this project come to life.

Early Years Partnership - EYP

This term we had a visit from the members of the EYP Board. They were excited to visit our school, meet families and students and see the great work of the 54 Reasons team across our early childhood classes, led by Ruth Moore. The EYP support our youngest members of our community in many ways including providing the Nurse Practitioner service who is available to support our families, our Parent Group led by Angela and Muzhda and BOOST ED which is providing a range of speech therapy supports, to name just a few. We are very appreciative of their ongoing support. 

School Parking 

You would have noticed some changes this term to our access to parking around the school. The Calvary Church have installed new fencing on their property resulting in the carpark no longer being available for school parking. Whilst this is a challenge that we need to adjust to, we sincerely thank the Calvary Church for their generosity and support over the years in allowing us to use their space.

Families are encouraged to use the available parking on Brookdale Drive and Terrigal Way, as well as the Kiss and Drop-off zone located on Brookdale Drive. Please be mindful to ensure that you follow the road rules when parking and refrain from parking across driveways or on front lawns. When using the Kiss and Drop car park, the design is for continual movement where possible. Please teach your child to be prompt and ready to get in and out of the vehicle as quickly and safely as possible. People using this process have been doing well, the increased traffic is causing some challenges

Brilliant Kids Morning Tea

On Tuesday of Week 10, two students from each class were invited to attend our Term 2 Brilliant Kids Morning Tea. These students enjoyed a special morning tea with the Executive Team in recognition of their consistent effort across the school both in and outside their classroom. These students were recognised for showing BEST and leading by example. We are proud of their efforts and enjoyed celebrating their success. Congratulations to all children selected for this term.

Kindergarten and Pre Primary Enrolments 2027

It is great to have already received applications to enrol for Kindergarten in 2027. We will be reviewing these applications at the beginning of next term. If you have a child commencing school next year, please make sure you submit their application for enrolment before Friday 24 July.

Pre-Primary enrolments for 2027 are also now open. Current Kindergarten students are required to re-enrol to secure their place for next year. For further information, please consult the school website or attend the front office. Submitting enrolments early will assist with ensuring a smooth transition. 

School Board 

Mrs Tara Richardson, Chair of the School Board spoke recently at our music assemblies to share the news that there is a position available on our School Board for a parent or caregiver who is interested in working together with staff and community members to support the successful running of our school. Tara is a parent of one of our kindergarten students and is keen to support other parents to engage with the Board. If you are interested, please contact the front office. 

Reconciliation Week - ALL IN

The theme this year is All In. As a school we are all in developing our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).

The RAP consists of a number of actions that the working group have identified and then as a school we work to achieve these actions. Please see one of the actions below. If you have ideas to share or would like to be a part of our working group, please contact the office to let us know. It would be great to hear from you.

Action: In conjunction with the Cultural Program Coordinator, Elder, Sydney Phillips alongside our Dardy Yorgas and Moorditj Boys, develop a week-long timetable of activities to celebrate National Reconciliation Week.

Some examples include: Our Year 5/6 students shared their thoughts on their vision for reconciliation. 

Chloe shared:

We may not be responsible for the past but we are responsible for the future and that means celebrating differences and giving respect.

Ckeil shared: My vision for reconciliation is to stop people from being racist to people, if you hear someone being racist to one another, report them. Respect their culture and their differences and don't make fun of them just for being different from everyone.

Thank you to families who joined our whole school walk for National Sorry Day. The walk through the school grounds to the Yarning Circle provided time and opportunity for quiet reflection. You will notice the native hibiscus growing in and around the Yarning Circle. Also known as the Desert Rose, this is the official symbol for National Sorry Day. 

Please share any thoughts you have on how we can celebrate National Reconciliation Week next year by leaving your details at the front office.

NAPLAN

Congratulations to our Year 3 and Year 5 students who completed the NAPLAN assessments last term. The interim results are very pleasing, showing strong progress in a number of learning areas. Congratulations to our staff, as this is a collective effort across the school which shows the positive impact of programs that have been implemented with consistency, including Initalit, Spelling Mastery, Talk 4 Writing through explicit direct instruction, maintaining consistent engagement norms and following whole school practices. Staff will analyse and reflect on the data to ensure continual improvement. We are looking forward to the final results arriving at which time I will share these with students and families. Thank you to families for continually preparing your children for learning, arriving on time, communicating with class teachers and supporting as needed in so many ways.  

 REAL SCHOOLS

Celebrating a Culture of Respect and Growth at Neerigen Brook Primary School

Congratulations to all our staff, students and families for the remarkable progress we are seeing across Neerigen Brook Primary School. As a proud Real Schools partner, we have committed to a consistent, connected approach to teaching and learning, with respect at the heart of everything we do.

This year, our focus on respectful relationships and positive behaviour has been more than just talk—it’s been visible in every classroom and playground interaction. Staff have worked together to ensure that expectations are clear and that students are primed for success before every event or transition. This shared approach means that when challenges do arise, they are addressed quickly and fairly, often before they become bigger issues.

The results speak for themselves. Our Chronicle data shows an almost 50% decrease in Behaviours of Concern—a testament to the power of a united, respectful culture. Even more encouraging are the moments we see every day: students solving problems together, listening to each other, and working things out with empathy and maturity.

Thank you to our staff for leading by example, to our students for stepping up, and to our families for your ongoing support. Together, we are building a school where respect is more than a value—it’s our way of learning and living.

Dale Fest 

Congratulations Ms Mees and Ms Aporo who attended the Dale Fest this term with our school choir. The children performed beautifully and had a wonderful time. We are all very proud of their efforts and wish to thank out parents and family members who attended to support the children. 

Lesley Barrett

Principal