The Newlands Times

Leadership Report

What a Fantastic Friday!

Last Friday was a wonderful day filled with exciting events. The class information sessions, Wellbeing Celebration, and PFA Welcome Back Picnic were all incredible, and we want to extend a big thank you to all the staff and community members who contributed to making the day such a success.

 

 

We’ve had some families asking for the Wellbeing Handbook and stickers – feel free to stop by the office, and we’ll be happy to provide a copy! There’s still plenty to look forward to in Term 1, so let’s dive into the upcoming events.

 

Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent Teacher Interviews are now live on the Sentral app. This term, you’ll have the chance to meet with both your child’s English and Spanish teachers. Given the resources required, each interview will be 10 minutes long. Teachers are excited to share your child’s progress and next steps in their learning. If you need any assistance booking your interview, please don’t hesitate to visit the office, and we’ll gladly help.

 

Spanish Club

Our amazing Spanish parents are running Spanish activities on Mondays after school to help students practice their language skills. It was fantastic seeing all the kites soaring higher than our gym last week! If you'd like your child to join in the fun, come to the office for more information. You can also find more details in the Spanish Club page in this week’s and last week’s newsletters.

 

Leadership Presentation

After a few delays with badges, our 2025 school leaders will be officially presented with their badges at this week’s assembly, starting at 2:45 PM. We encourage all families to attend and celebrate this exciting moment with our new leaders. Wearing their badges every day will be part of their leadership journey, so you might want to find a special spot at home to keep them as a reminder.

 

Classroom Highlights

Foundation

I had the pleasure of joining the Foundation class during their fruit snack time, where they shared their favorite women for International Women's Day:

 

  • Maeve – My mum because she helps me feel better.
  • Arrabella – My mum is my favorite because when I fall over, she helps me and buys me things.
  • Albert – I like my Nanny because she has lots of toys.
  • Amina – My mum because she loves me too much.
  • Frankie – I like my auntie because she plays snakes and ladders with me.
  • Leopold – Paula because I love science and she makes it fun.
  • Tejas – My auntie is the best because she buys me Pokemon stuff and things for my sister.
  • Ava – My Nanna and Mum because they take care of me and buy me food.
  • Alana – My Mum because I love her.
  • Isabelle F – I like Isabelle D because she talks to me, and I bought her a toy.

1/2

 

 

The 1/2 class was filled with laughter and support this morning as they worked through their collective activities. They were confidently answering questions to write their letters in Spanish: “Responde a estas preguntas para escribir un texto” (Answer these questions to write a text). The energy was contagious! When asked about their weekly highlights, here’s what they shared:

  • Harry – I loved bike education because we got to ride bikes in PE.
  • Carolina – STEAM was awesome because we made lots of slime.
  • Esther – I like handwriting because my handwriting looks great.
  • Cooper – In Music, we identified high, medium, and low notes with our voices.
  • Audrey – Playing with my friends and having fun.
  • Will – Counting to 20 from different numbers.
  • Saxon – I loved making slime in STEAM.
  • Elki – Paula is a really great teacher.
  • Noori – Paula makes me feel great, I give her hugs.
  • Augie – Paula is funny and a very good teacher.
  • Koa – Paula is so nice.

3/4

 

The 3/4s were engaged in the Nessy phonics program before their snack. This program helps improve students' phoneme understanding in a structured way. We highly recommend supporting its use at home as it has a significant impact on spelling and language development. During snack, I asked the students what they had learned this week:

  • Patrick – I’ve been learning about decision-making.
  • Layla – We’ve been learning about inverted commas – it got me so excited I started dancing and singing, and three other students joined in!
  • Ace – I’ve learned how to use talking marks in my narratives.
  • Frida – I learned how to tighten my helmet during Bike Education.
  • Mossy – I learned how to describe things in writing to trigger more emotions in our readers.
  • Charlie – You can’t use the bus stop division sign to solve multiplication problems.

5/6

 

 

I joined Simon’s Daily Review session this morning, and the students were on fire! The Daily Review session helps consolidate past content, and it was great to hear the students articulating their thinking. They worked on inverse operations, long division, fact families, and angles. Here’s what they said about the Daily Review:

  • Lowri – We relearn things so we don’t forget them.
  • Felix – It refreshes our mind.
  • Jack – It helps us understand more.
  • Seb – We get to use whiteboards.
  • Eloise – It helps us remember things.
  • Angus – It ensures we don’t forget how to do things in the future.
  • Reuben – It gets stored in our long-term memory.
  • Mali – We get to listen to other people’s ideas and answers.

 

Upcoming Events

 

Monday Public Holiday

Just a friendly reminder – there’s no school on Monday.

 

OSHC Enrolment

On Tuesday, OSHClub will be at school early to help families sign up for the holiday program. They’ll be offering a range of activities both inside and outside the school. They’ll be available from 7:00–9:30 AM and 3:00–5:00 PM, and they’re excited to start a new relationship with Newlands and our community.

 

NAPLAN

Next week marks the start of NAPLAN. While NAPLAN is a national initiative, we use the data collected to inform our teaching and planning. Students have participated in practice tests this week to help them understand the routine and processes.

 

1/2 and 3/4 Incursion - Supreme

Next Week our 1/2s and 3/4s have their Supreme incursion. If it’s anything like the Foundation students’ experience, they’re in for a fantastic time filled with fun activities that promote teamwork.

 

Finally, a big shout out to Jack. On the weekend while his sister was smashing up the basketball court, Jack was practicing his 'Facts on Fire number writing! What an absolute champion!

 

We hope you have a great weekend, and we look forward to seeing you on Tuesday!

 

Thanks,

Luke