A message from Margie    

A great week for swimming! 

We've all had a fantastic week at swimming lessons (Reception - Year 5) and Aquatics camp (Year 6). Luckily the fine weather I ordered arrived in time 😉, and it's been really enjoyable for the adults supervising too. The teachers have all expressed appreciation for the students' efforts: their resilience, positive attitude and attempt to do their best.

Thank you to all of the parents who came along to support their children, helped us with assisting children to change out of wet bathers and supervised children at the playground.  I hope you all enjoy the photos of fun in the pool in the 'Round the Classes' section! 

Gritty

Each term we teach a different aspect of our school motto Learn, Stand, Give, Fly to students in all classes. Term 1's focus is always related to an aspect of 'Learn', and this term our topic is 'gritty'. For those not familiar with the term, it was coined by Angela Duckworth. You might like to watch her well-known Ted Talk on the subject:

Grit: the power of passion and perseverance | Angela Lee Duckworth (youtube.com)

All term we will be teaching children to be gritty, in other words to show effort, resilience, and a positive attitude in the face of challenges.  We will also be teaching students to have a growth mindset towards learning and to understand the importance of effort and hard work in achieving our goals. Finally, we will be supporting students to become more comfortable in the 'Learning Pit', in other words, to accept that challenge and setbacks are part of deep learning, and to push through instead of giving up. Phew, it's going to be a big term, but we're ready!  💪

We'll be asking families to help us in teaching students to be gritty along the way, and you can help right away by talking to your children about what you have learned about hard work in your lives. Can you think about a time when you've shown grit and persevered to achieve something that mattered to you?  Please share this with your children and praise them for the times when you have seen them show grit too. 

Grit has been a perfect theme for our swimming and aquatics week. Here's what Ivy and Ada said about knee-boarding: 

I slowly stepped into the river, while my body was trembling, feeling so worried that I might fall off the knee board while the boat going fast, but I had to be gritty and brave. I kneeled down and whoosh! It was so exhilarating and so fun. I got off the board and I thought “Why was I worried?  Knee-boarding is fun".  - Ivy

 

As I watched Anji zoom out on a knee board, my nerves started jangling. ... by the time I let go of the handle at the end, I felt like a natural. It was one of the best things I’ve ever done and it showed how having grit can pay off.  - Ada

This week we have a special newsletter section for the Year 6s to tell you all about their Aquatics camp. 

Pupil Free Days and School Closure 2024  

We will be having 4 Pupil Free Days for staff professional development and 1 school closure day this year.  These dates will sit on our Important Dates page of the newsletter all year. OSHC will be open for these days; you can make bookings by contacting OSHC directly.

Here's a handy hint- if you're looking for an easy way to find the most recent newsletter (or our school policies) just head to the school website Uraidla Primary – Adelaide Hills – South Australia (uraidlaps.sa.edu.au). 

Supervision times 

Did you know the best time to arrive at school is just after 8:30? It can sometimes seem like a superhuman effort to achieve this, but it's the best way to give your children a strong start to the day. 🦸‍♀️🦸‍♂️ That way students have time to make their way to their classroom to put their bags away,  catch up in the playground with their friends (or in the classroom when open) and be ready to start the learning program at 8:50. 

If you do arrive after the 8:50 bell, we ask that you drop your children at the front door of the school instead of the bottom gates, for their safety, since the yard is not supervised after 8:50 am. They can then pick up a late pass on the way through to take to their teacher. Thank you! 

Acquaintance Night Tuesday 13 February, 5-7pm 

We would love to see you all at our Acquaintance Night, taking place this coming Tuesday 13th February. There will be a 15-minute presentation for parents and carers by class teachers and specialists, as well as a presentation by Assistant Principal Troy Welfare on how to best support your child with maths at home (see the timetable below).

These meetings are for teachers and parents or carers only. Students will be supervised by school staff on the playground while you are exploring your child’s classroom and meeting the teachers.  We ask that you keep preschool children with you and keep them on your lap or a chair next to you as we are unable to supervise that age group in the yard, and it is difficult for teachers to present information if toddlers are moving around the classroom. Thank you! 🙏

Information sessions (in classrooms unless indicated):  

5:00-5:30         Troy Welfare – ‘I was never good at maths!’ How to support your kids in maths in Stephen's classroom (formerly the Hall)

5:30-5:45         Reception (Katie Martin and Kelly Charlton) and Year 5/6 (Sallie Griffin) 

5:45-6:00         Year 1 (Jaya Thomas ) and Year 2 (Samantha Irvine)

6:00-6:15         Year 3 (Stephen Tsiaprakas and Troy Welfare) 

6:15-6:30         Year 4/5 (Alex Berry)

6:30-6:45         Specialist teachers in GYM (Susan Lewis, Philippa Callaghan, Emma Troy Welfare and Suzie Tume)

The Parents and Friends would like to invite you to a Family Picnic during the evening of Acquaintance Night, from 5-7 pm. There will be BBQ sausages and drinks for sale.  Please bring a picnic rug or chairs and any other food and drinks you'd like for your family.  We hope to see you there! 

Swiming and aquatics has been a great way to start the year, for kids to learn water safety and work collaboratively with their classmates. At school students are now all familiar with their new class rules and routines, and we're all keen to get stuck into the learning program. 

I wish you all a wonderful fortnight! 

Margie