Principal Report
Hello all!
We are almost at the end of Week 4 and things are humming here at NLPS.
Classrooms are full of engaged students, participating in lots of learning activities, some of which will feed into their Semester 1, 2024 report, and we have sporting events to look forward to (e.g. Cross Country, NLPS Athletics / Tabloid Sports Day) as well as year level incursions and excursions.
School Values
Hopefully, you are all familiar with the current Newport Lakes Primary School school values;
- Resilience We keep on trying.
- Critical Thinking We solve problems and use our minds well.
- Responsibility We take care of ourselves, our community and our world.
- Compassion We always treat each other well.
- Respect We think about and act in a positive way towards each other.
You may be interested to know that the school vision and related values were created collaboratively with the entire school community in 2016. We use these values as a basis for our classroom expectations and agreements, our restorative discussions and many of our health and wellbeing lessons. We ask all our staff and students (our student leaders in particular), to model these values in their actions, and interactions, to help embed them fully in our daily life at school.
We have also fostered a culture of meaningful recognition and celebration that aligns with the shared vision and values. Recognising individuals, or groups, who exemplify the values through student awards (e.g., class, values and numeracy awards etc.), staff shout-outs, ‘green’ Compass notifications, and other regular acknowledgments reinforces their importance and encourages others to embrace them.
As the educational and social landscape evolves and new challenges arise, our shared vision must adapt accordingly. As part of the leadership group that completed the 2022 School Review, we made the very deliberate decision to keep the existing vision and values as we returned to the classrooms after the interruptions of Covid-19. We did make a change to the ‘Values Matrix’, making it more student friendly in its descriptions of the values and also incorporating the words ‘These are the ways that everyone in the school community demonstrates our values, at school and online’ as we recognise that parents and families are also part of this learning journey as well, and support this important learning for life. We ask that all parents adhere to these expectations when communicating with NLPS staff and student members. If we are all consistently modelling and promoting our values, both in words and actions, we create a culture where they become ingrained in the fabric of our entire school community. Thank you for your support.
Ride to School Day 2024
It was wonderful to see so many students ride, scoot, skate and walk to school last Friday morning. Being active every day is a fantastic habit to form and keep up to ensure physical and mental wellbeing, and what better way to do it than on a crisp autumn morning, capped off with completing one or two obstacle courses once they got to school?
Thank you to teachers Issy and Chris for organising the event this year, and to the many other teachers that volunteered their time to help the courses run smoothly. Another big thank you to the Specialized team (AKA Talia and Alana’s mum, Jenny!) for donating the wonderful prizes for the raffle as well.
Nudel Kart Club
As part of our new building works, we had to unfortunately demolish a storage shed, and were forced to use the old ‘Pod’ shipping container to store classroom furniture instead. As a replacement for the ‘Pod’, a popular, regular lunch time activity, the school purchased a Nudel Kart as a new way to promote creative construction during lunch breaks. The Nudel Kart Club started this week in the now unused MPR (Multi Purpose Room) and was attended by many happy students, who were able to use their imagination and collaborative skills to build some interesting pieces.
Pokemon Cards
Each year, inevitably, some of our students are heavily invested in Pokemon and their precious collection of cards. Although we would prefer that anything that students value is not brought to school, we also recognise student key interests and that it is a way to build social connections and negotiating skills. However, the temptation to extend their collection through negative means (stealing or trading unfairly) has again been too tempting for some students and we are left in an awkward position as a school, and have to waste time playing detective.
Please remind your child of the need to be respectful of other people's belongings and the fact that trades should be fair and only occur in their respective year levels. If you notice that your child suddenly has an increase in cards or even a new folder, please let us know. I do not want to resort to completely banning such items, but unfortunately it is becoming a possible option. Thank you for your cooperation.
Community Engagement
Classroom Helper Induction Sessions
We ran two sessions early this term and we had over 70 parents attend to ensure they were eligible to support learning in the Foundation and Year 1 classrooms. The helpers were taken through the theory and practice of current literacy teaching and learning and were asked to familiarise themselves with the numerous relevant DE and NLPS policies that relate to volunteering in the school. Thank you to those that attended and we look forward to seeing you all in our classrooms soon!
2025 Foundation Tours
These tours began in Week 2 and will continue until late May, including an information session on the evening of May 23rd. We have had strong response from the community again and would like to remind families that enrolment is required to be done by July 26th, so we can plan for 2025 with confidence - of course, enrolment can also be done earlier. If you have a sibling of a student that attends here already, please do not forget to get this done by Friday 26th July 2024. Enrolment forms are attached below or are available from Compass, the front office or on the school website - here.
Coffee Morning
We held our first ‘Coffee Morning’ last week and our attendees enjoyed coffee prepared Turkish style and a selection of middle eastern treats as they chatted amongst themselves and with members of the leadership team. We will be holding these regularly, so please look out for further details via Compass.
Safety Issues
Illness
If your child is not well, please keep them home. A reminder that as the weather changes, the prospect of getting a cold and/or flu increases. There is also the ever present possibility of being infected by Covid-19. We ask families to be vigilant in these matters and err on the side of caution to ensure that we reduce the risk to other students and staff members.
Drop off after 8:45
Please be reminded that staff supervision only begins at 8:45am in the morning. Please do not drop your child/ren off earlier as this is a potential safety risk.
Parking AND Drop Off / Pick Up Zones
There are a small number of people that have not been following the parking restrictions in Elizabeth St, particularly near the pedestrian crossing and in the blue ‘pick up and drop off’ zones near Ross St. This is a reminder that the drop off/pick up zone is for 2 minutes only -- you must not leave your vehicle unattended.
The school has been informed that the council‘s parking officers will be increasing their patrols of the local streets around the school over the next few weeks and fines will be imposed upon cars parked illegally. Sometimes you may see the council officers, other times they will just take photos and you will receive an infringement fine in the mail – the simple way of avoiding this would be to park in the correct areas, obey the rules and make it safer for our students. If you are finding the area congested, an idea could be to park a block or two away and then walk with your children before/after school, with the time alongside each other a great opportunity to get some fresh air, ask about their day and practice road safety skills.
Thank you in advance for your support regarding the above safety matters.
QB Vacation Care - Term 2 Holidays (June/July)
Bookings will be open for Newport Lakes PS families Term 2 Vacation Care Program from May 17th - 20th, so please ensure you place this in your diary if you wish to ensure that your child gets a place on the dates you need these upcoming holidays. A brochure that outlines the activities planned (including a visit to the bowls club, the Sun Theatre, and a cafe incursion etc.) will be made available prior.
For more information, please visit their website admin@qbcc.org.au or phone 9742 5040.
Enjoy your week. Happy Mothers Day to those that will be celebrating on Sunday! Thank you to the NLPS Parents Club for resourcing and organising the cute activity for all our students to complete with their special person.
Carly Bannon
Acting Principal