Dear Parents,

We’ve had a very settled week with the last day of NAPLAN held on Monday and all of our teachers planning in their stage teams for Term 2.

On Tuesday, our Cricket Team and Mr Thackray had a terrific win against Bathurst South PS in round 2 of the PSSA Knockout Competition. Our team will now play against Eglinton PS in the next round of the competition. This date has been tentatively booked as Monday 7th April. Well done to the team and Mr Thackray.

Our Schools Spec dancers and choir children are practicing well in preparation for their auditions. The children will make their audition tapes in Week 11 in readiness for submission.

Our school netball team, basketball teams and touch football team have all been practicing well. Our Touch Football Team plays in the gala day tomorrow, our Netball team in their gala day next Friday 4th April and our basketball teams will play on Friday of Week 1 Term 2 (2nd May).

Our classes have started practicing the Cross Country around the school. Children aged 8-13 will participate in the cross country. The Cross Country will be held on Thursday 1st May (Week 1 Term 2) on the school grounds.

On Thursday 3rd April, the SRC will be holding a crazy hair and crazy sock day. All children are encouraged to come in free dress with crazy hair and socks. A gold coin donation would be appreciated and will go towards the maintenance of our school support dog, Trixie.

CWA PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION

Students across primary (Years 3 – 6), will participate in the CWA Public Speaking Competition in Weeks 10 and 11 of Term 1.

Each student is asked to prepare a speech of 2 minutes duration, and present it to their class, as per their class schedule (teachers will allocate days for each student to present their speech). Students are asked to write their speeches as part of homework.

Each class will choose a winner to compete in the grade finals in Week 2 Term 2.

From these grade finals, a winner will be chosen in each grade to represent our school at the CWA Public Speaking Finals in Orange between Monday 26th May and Thursday 29th May.

TOPICS – Students must choose a topic from their grade.

Year 3 topics 1) A Day in the life of ……… 2) Fun facts about Dinosaurs 3) When I used my brave cape

Year 4 topics 1) I like collecting ………… 2) Mysterious visitor!      3) It’s too noisy!

Year 5 topics 1) What does robotics mean to you? 2) The power of music 3) Up the yellow brick road

Year 6 topics 1) What does drought mean to you?   2) Taking a risk    3) The day the aliens landed

HINTS AND GUIDELINES FOR SPEAKERS

• INTRODUCTION: The Chairman (teacher) will announce both the student and the chosen topic. Students will use the form of address, ‘Madam Chairman’ (as this will be what is required of them if they make the final round).

• TIMING will begin when the student has said ’Madam Chairman’. A warning bell will be rung 30 seconds prior to the end of the time limit.

• USE OF NOTES, PALM CARDS: Their use is up to the student; the best cards have only a few key words on them, to jog the Speaker's memory. The notes / cards should be small enough to not get between the Speaker and his / her audience and not distract the audience.

• PRESENTATION: Students need to know that this is a SPEAKING competition- they will not be judged on their ability to memorise their speeches, or to dramatise them. The criterion for judging is based on the student being natural, familiar with what they want to say and talking comfortably with their audience.

Please speak with your child’s class teacher should you have any queries about this.

Attendance

We are excited to see our attendance rate remain above the state and network. This week, we've also seen an increase of 34 students attending more than 90% of the time. This is a great start to our year!

Congratulations to to 3-6R and KM, who had the highest attendance rate last week. We also had nine classes with no unexplained absences! Well done to those classes.

Some general reminders;

• Morning Drop Off - teachers commence duty at 8.30am. Parents are asked to drop children off to school anytime after 8.30am each day.
• Afternoon Pick Up - we ask parents to ensure they park their car when arriving to pick up children after school from the Lambert Street and George Street sides of the school. All school staff have been instructed to not let children leave the grounds until the car is parked and it is safe to do so. We are trying to ensure that all children leave the school safely and this can only be done if everyone follows the safety advice given to us by Bathurst Council, the RMS, and NSW Police. 
• Gates around the school - During the school day, all gates around the school will be kept shut. This is for the safety and security for our children and staff. We have a number of children that are deemed as flight/safety risks/security risks and keeping the gates closed can ensure all of our children are safe. If parents need to access the school throughout the day, please come to the gate in George Street directly outside the school office. All parents and visitors are reminded to QR code into the school before entering.

If any parent has any concerns regarding any aspect of school life, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kate White