at the end of the tunnel. When 2020 began, nobody explained to us that it was going to be like this! It is an understatement to say that the last few months have been challenging for many people across Adelaide, Australia and the world. Life is about building strong connections with fellow humans and supporting each other through challenging times.

LNPS is an ecosystem and we have embraced a great amount of change and taken most of it in our stride. Our reception students, their families and our staff (Libby, Lauren, Erin, Maddie and Alisha) deserve special praise for the way they have taken to the ‘kiss and drop zone’. Not ideal at first for our youngest students, however they have demonstrated excellent resilience and independence as the weeks have gone on. These skills, among many others, are recognised as vital in today’s classrooms and will stand these students in good stead for their future years.

‘Lockleys North students are resilient and able to embrace change.’

Another of the most pleasing aspects of recent history are the positive attitudes and gratitude for all of our staff from the wider community. Your continued support is greatly appreciated and certainly put smiles on our faces during trying times. Lovely as the chocolates and CBTB were, kind words in emails and friendly waves from the car were gratitude of equal importance. In the final weeks of last term, our support of local businesses helped to boost staff morale, while also developing our network within the community.

There has been a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes to ensure a successful return this term and we will, with your support, continue to support our students as they transition back to full face-to-face learning and the associated assessment expectations. Please continue to demonstrate this understanding in the coming weeks and months so that appreciation and mutual respect are at the forefront.

To create a caring climate, which reflects our school values of Honesty, Respect, Care, Concern and Excellence, starting this week, we are implementing our school-wide Team Points system. With the postponement of our Sports Day in Term 1, we wanted to raise the status of our Team Captains throughout this school year. All staff and Team Captains will be distributing team points to students who regularly display our core values - Respect, Care & Concern, Honesty and Pursuit of Excellence.

‘Lockleys North students are

co-operative, caring, sincere and respectful to all.’

As this system evolves, Team Captains will be given a fortnightly article to celebrate their teams and students who go above and beyond excellence in their behaviour and their work habits.

Captains will be responsible for updating a display in the gym and also work towards leading Team Meetings once a term. They will announce the team in the lead at the end of this term, who will be asked to wear their school colours on the last day of term.

Sports Day T-shirts Have Arrived!

We are excited to promote our brand new Lockleys North Primary School Sports Day T-shirts. They are now available from our uniform shop or online for $18.00. Throughout the year we plan to wear our team colours on special occasions, including Sports Day. Much appreciation and thanks to Amy Byrnes for organising this in consultation with our uniform provider.

The aim of this system is to foster a community where everyone belongs and feels connected. The criteria below will be used to support us, you may wish to discuss questions like… ‘How have you demonstrated care and concern today?’ or ‘How have you been kind today?’

STUDENTS WILL uphold our LNPS Values:

Be polite and respectful to all - always greet and treat people in a positive manner.
Be respectful to the environment - litter, toilet areas, learning areas inside buildings, outside learning spaces, on excursions…etc.
Show genuine Care and Concern for all - stand up for what is right - support people who are not feeling well, are injured, or who you know are having a tough time.
Have the drive and determination to be successful.
Be honest even when it might get you in trouble!

Being a GOOD CITIZEN:

Show good sportsmanship - cheer everyone on!
Think about and act to support people in our community.
Demonstrate bravery - make your voice heard, make a stand against bullying and anti-social behaviour in the real and online worlds.

We are aligning our Values Certificates with the Team Points system so that students who regularly display aspects of the criteria can achieve certificates for 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 points and also aim towards badges and end of year awards. More information will be promoted as this system evolves throughout the year.

We began this for 2020 and both Amy and I are very pleased with the success of our Active Lunches initiative. Opening up the gym and giving students daily access has been appreciated by many of our students who access the gym every day!

We are especially grateful to our awesome Play Leaders who give up a great amount of time to volunteer and help organise fun lunchtime activities. We expect there to be a positive attitude and high level of respect towards these students by all other students who access the gym at lunchtimes.

When, as adults, we have to step in, it is mainly as a reminder of our school value of RESPECT. This type of lunchtime activity is only possible because of our people - who have a significant role in the success. We’d rather not block students from accessing this provision, but consequences are sometimes necessary to ensure that our Play Leaders are rewarded with kindness and respect.

‘Lockleys North students will actively seek a healthy lifestyle.’

We are currently investigating a Parachute Club for our youngest students, but don’t worry we won’t push them out of a plane! To support their High Flyers Award this term, Ella and Eleni will be our start up Play Leaders, who with a team of others will initiate this club every lunchtime on the Early Years outdoor learning space grassed area.

Initially our Reception adults will organise teams of students to take part each day, but once this club becomes part of everyday Active Lunches our Play Leaders will manage these daily groups.

We are so proud of our Play Leaders who regularly embrace new opportunities to support our Active Lunches - hopefully with our respect and gratitude, we can maintain their interest and continue to offer these amazing activities.

Thank you…

Noah D

Luca D

Stephan C

Anna D

Eleni F

Ella S

Yana B

And the many other Play Leaders who support them every day!

Lockleys North Primary School

Issue 7 · 20 May 2020

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