Hello everyone,

We have had a busy couple of weeks with another to go as we complete May madness.

It was wonderful to see the footage of the very special assembly last Friday. Thankyou to Katrina Hood and staff for making this assembly such an enjoyable learning experience for the many, many parents who came along to discover our music program.

GRIP

While the juniors were being musical our senior students were at the GRIP conference. It was a great day. It did take a while for our students to muster the courage to speak to students from other schools, some from as far away as Sea Lake, but by lunchtime there was a mixed basketball and a tiggy game underway.

The GRIP focus on leadership skills was done in such an engaging and effective way. Integrity – reliably doing what is right was one of the skills our students were asked to discover within themselves. We all hope that our students took away something to explore for the future. I was also particularly impressed with our students who demonstrated how well they can represent Newham Primary School. From those who were selected to get up on stage, interactions with other school students, all our students moving through the stadium sensibly, to our two rooms of children effectively deciding who would get to sit in the back of the bus. At all times our students were polite, positive and supportive. Well done everyone!

Zoo Excursion

The P-2s came back from the Zoo last week full of excited stories. A trip to the Zoo is always good value and this trip was no exception. The Red pandas played hard to find, right at the top of the tree, the 1/2s saw the Tassie devil come out to explore and the Preps had the tiger walk past them up close.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN for 2022 is finished. We did have a few students absent during the initial week of testing, however under the new system, doing catch up sessions for students was very straightforward. This year it is unlikely we will get the results in time to use them effectively. Next year, now that any bugs have been ironed out, it is expected that DET will hold NAPLAN earlier in the year so that schools can benefit from receiving the results in a timely fashion.

Cross Country, Athletics & Winter Sports

It was a wonderful effort for all our students participating in sports. Congratulations to our students who competed valiantly in the cross-country event in Bendigo. Goodluck to Isaac, Jett and Sadie who are through to the next stage and off to St Arnaud soon. Our own school sports which took place this year in Romsey were a great success. It was fantastic to be able to have parent helpers back supporting our students as they completed their activities. The weather was mild and pleasant for competition and the venue was outstanding. Being able to have the ground to ourselves with toilets so close and Little aths equipment and facilities at hand made it a venue worth repeating next year. Congratulations to the Blue Tongue Lizards (blue) house on their win. Keep trying Green, Yellow and Red!

Next week 2 teams will be going to Winter sports. Please don’t get confused. The sports association actually took T-ball out of the Winter sports this year so on the 24th May it is Mixed Netball. Students have been competing in trials this week for selection, practicing trying to keep their feet still when they get the ball. Good luck to both teams and enjoy your competition at Romsey.

Next week is also Education Week

On Monday, the P-2s are looking forward to parents coming along and participating in PMP with them on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday there is Winter sports, on Wednesday classes will be visited by an MRSC officer to demonstrate and discuss the use of nesting boxes for our bio-diversity area and on Friday the 3-6 will present their posters on Space and parents are welcome to come along for a viewing and to ask the authors any questions.

Parents & Friends

After 2 years plus of not being able to get together, Newham Primary school once again has a Parents & Friends association! Please consider going along to a meeting, held fortnightly at the Newham General store (this Friday at 2.30). They are certainly a much-appreciated support for our students and programs.

Now that we can have people other than teaching staff in the school it is important to keep up to date with the vaccination requirements for volunteers and visitors.

Vaccination Requirements for Visitors and Volunteers Performing Work

The third dose vaccination requirements apply to any visitors or volunteers performing work on school sites. This includes:

a person contracted to work at an education facility and who will or may be in close proximity to children, students or staff, whether or not engaged by the education operator including casual relief teachers, NDIS providers and auditors (but does not include delivery personnel)
Department staff who attend an education facility (such as allied health personnel)
staff of any other entity who attends an education facility
volunteers that attend an education facility and that work in close proximity to children, students or staff (including parent helpers)
students on placements at an education facility

Vaccination Requirements for Other Visitors to Schools (not performing work)

Parents, carers and other adult visitors are no longer required to show evidence of two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine if not performing work or volunteering at the school. (For example, parents who may wish to attend onsite for parent teacher interviews).

AtoSS for Years 4/5/6

The AtoSS is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education and Training to assist our school to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Students will be asked about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer and family relationships, resilience, bullying, mental health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general. This year, the AtoSS will be conducted over the period 23rd May - 17th June. A message has gone home via uEducateUs, to parents of students in 4/5/6, explaining AtoSS in greater detail.

Thank you in advance

To our parents who answered the call to begin the work on the Bio-Diversity Learning hub with Ms Fullard on Friday. The MRSC have kindly added to our pile of mulch. Parents and mulch are both a much needed resource!

To Newham Landcare and Geoff Williams for the Platypus talk on Friday. It is wonderful to have the support of our community to engage our students in environmental learning.

Pictures of both events to follow in the next newsletter.

To students for bringing and wearing coats, hats, and clothing suitable for the cold weather and layering up! If the weather is truly revolting and we can’t possibly be outside, then we won’t. Otherwise, it is expected that students rug up and dress appropriately for the climate we live in and head outside for a run around and some fresh air. Could parents please ensure that these layers of clothing also have the student’s name on them.

Have a lovely weekend!

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