Leadership

What a week!!! There are always so many exciting and fabulous things going on at Newlands. But before we get into any of that, I would like to congratulate and say thank you to Jess as we celebrate her last day at Newlands (for now), as she takes a well-earned break before a new beginning with dedication to blocks and chew toys. 

Jess

Jess has been at Newlands for over 4 years and during that time has not only been an exceptional teacher, she been an incredible Leading Teacher in Literacy developing our Bilingual program as well as an Acting Assistant Principal. Jess has worked tirelessly in not only dealing with conversations about the 9-7 Seattle Seahawks, but has been integral in supporting the students, staff and community.  She reads every possible resource, considers every possibility and with teacher support has made changes to ensure we deliver a dynamic Bilingual Literacy program for our students. Jess is a well adored and respected member of our community whose positivity, kindness and dedication to large oversized water bottles and references to sleep iPhone apps will be leaving a lasting impact at Newlands (until you come back). We are wishing Duc and yourself nothing but the best as you enter one of the most fun, exciting and rewarding chapters in your life. The school is finishing up the interview process for Jess’s replacement which will be announced in next week’s newsletter. 

Uncle Trevor – Reconciliation Week – Smoking Ceremony

It is always a joy and an honour for Newlands Primary School to have Uncle Trevor give us an acknowledgement to country. To coincide with the fantastic learning experiences that teachers have organised to acknowledge the successful 1967 referendum and the High Court Mabo decision. With support from Trevor, our parent community read some of the famous words in Kevin Rudd’s important ‘Sorry’ speech, before some passionate parent dancing. A big thank you to Sonya and the Wellbeing Team for the organisation and running of the event. This is and will continue to be an inmportant event on the Newlands calendar!

Colour Run 

Today it finally arrived! Firstly, to all the students, it was great to see the smiles as bright as the colours and we would like to congratulate you for your time and effort in raising money for our school. It was great to see our students able to enjoy the tunes, while running and getting smashed with every shade of colour. We cannot thank Claire and the PFA enough who has raised over $30 000 dollars for our new school playground. Everyone has seen Claire’s and the PFA’s dedication to creating videos, posters and advertising everywhere they can for today’s event! A final thank you to our community to getting behind the event and raising so much money for the school. More information about the playground will be coming up in the next few weeks. 

Cross Country 

To coincide with the running, Congratulations to all the students who represented our school at the District Athletics this week. Raul’s  Spanish encouragement continues to work wonders with both Paxton and Florence moving on to the next stage. This is Newlands biggest sporting achievement since Sonya and the Newlands staff gold medal in Breakdancing at the 1989 Teacher Games. Congratulations!

Shikha

We would like to welcome Shikha to the Newlands Community. She has officially began working in the office as the new Business Manager and has already been an extra ray of sunshine in the office. For families that see Shikha in the office, please make sure you give her a big warm welcome to Newlands Primary School. We are very excited to have her as a part of our community. 

The Gymnasium

The wonderful people at Alchemy are beginning to pack up their tools.  We expect the school will have access to our brand new gymnasium over the coming week. We just want to thank all the community in their support to all the school changes over the last two years, we are almost at the stage to completely enjoy the success of our new school redesign. 

Have a fantastic weekend, 

Luke