From The Principal's Desk

Dear Parents and Carers,

This week marks half way in what is a very long term to finish off the year. We are busily making steady progress with firming up our plans for 2023, which is very exciting. This week, your child’s classroom teacher will be asking them to choose 5 students they would like to be in a class with next year. This is a great opportunity to have a chat at home about making great choices. What seems like a popular choice may not be the best choice for maintaining concentration in the classroom. 

Creating classroom groups takes a lot of time and considers many aspects to ensure a balanced outcome that is in the best interest of all. Our goal is to ensure every student is in a class with at least one student from their friendship list. 

Warm weather is finally here… the adjustments required. 

Well, it has certainly been welcoming to see the sun finally appear with some tropical weather forecast during the week. With the improved weather, comes the annual reminders to please ensure your child comes to school using sunsmart behaviours. (... and we will be reminding them at school as well) This will slightly differ for each family based on circumstances, but the general advice is to:

• Ensure sunscreen is applied before arriving at school.
• Ensure your child has a school broad brimmed or bucket style hat.
• Longer sleeve light school shirts are good idea for those who need them.
• Have a discussion with your child about playing in the shaded areas during break times.

As a school we will be asking all students to wear their hats during break times and for those without hats, they will be restricted to the designated shade play areas.

In addition, the change of weather patterns always brings with it lots of lost or misplaced uniforms (usually jumpers). This is a friendly reminder to name everything clearly. If your child’s jumper and hat are clearly named, the chances of them getting back to you, if lost, is very good.

Thanks in advance for your assistance with this.

Hayfever and Asthma Sufferers 

This week, there is a warning out for those who suffer from hay fever or asthma. The conditions in the environment are conducive to higher levels of pollen in the air and thunderstorm conditions. Please ensure that your asthma plan is in place and preventative measures are taken prior to coming to school. We will be keeping a close eye on our asthma sufferers this week to assist with symptoms. The Department of Education have systems in place to cater for such situations and will issue warnings if the conditions become severe at which time alternative play spaces indoors will be offered to students.

If you would like to know more about Thunderstorm Asthma, the following link has some good information.

https://asthma.org.au/about-asthma/triggers/thunderstorm-asthma/

Assessment Weeks

Over the next two weeks students will be busily involved in their assessment work which will assist in formulating student reports at the end of the year. Each class will have a set of learning activities that the students will work through in the areas of reading, writing, spelling and maths. 

It is important to remember that these assessments only form part of the information that teachers use to make final judgements on student growth. Teachers are constantly making observations and collecting evidence of student achievement that will be also used.

You might feel the pressure as parents and carers to prepare your child for assessment week with extra homework or constant discussions about the tests, however the best support is to keep your child calm and relaxed. We know our bodies and brains work best when they are calm. If your child wants to talk about the assessments, the following points may assist:

• Discuss the reasons behind testing from a curious point of view. Assessments help teachers know what to teach next and how best to provide support in the classroom. Ie I wonder what we will learn from doing the tests… it could be about what you know or the strategies you use. 
• Talk about the things your child can control. Getting good sleep and eating healthy food before tests, also being organised and arriving on time so you are not hurrying.
• Acknowledge the feelings but don’t feed them. Ie It is ok to feel nervous, most people do… it is a sign that you care. Constantly talking about the test, dramatising the situation or constantly asking how your child is feeling in the lead up to a test may cause the anxiety levels to rise to an unhealthy level.
• Talk about strategies you used during tests at school. Ie, having a go at each question, underlining the key words in the question, breaking it down etc.

2023 School Captain Process

Over the next few weeks we will be finalising our student leadership positions for 2023. The Grade 5 students have spent a day discussing leadership and participating in activities that help them identify what great leaders do. They have written applications for leadership positions and are eagerly awaiting decisions.

In terms of the School Captain positions, the following process will be followed:

1. Written Applications
2. Interview with school leadership and current school captains
3. Speeches to the student body

After this process we will be in the best position to choose the students who will fullfill the school captain roles for 2023.

We acknowledge that we have many wonderful candidates for the positions but only 4 captain positions available. That is why we have many leadership positions available for 2023. Other leadership roles include School House Leaders, Garden Leaders, Peer Mediators, Art Leaders, Junior School Council leaders, Flag Leaders, Technology Leaders, Photography Leaders, Lunchtime Activity Leaders and Community Service Leaders. 

During the remainder of the year, these roles will be organised for 2023.

Well done to all students who have put their hat in the ring to take on these roles next year. Having said that it is important to note that regardless of the positions available, there is the expectation for all students at Delacombe Primary School that our senior students are leaders anyway. Leading by setting the example for the younger students in the school is essential for our school to maintain an optimum learning culture.

Energy Breakthrough 

The Energy Breaththrough team is busily preparing for the event which begins next Thursday November 17. The students are putting the finishing touches on their displays and presentations and continuing their arduous training regime to ensure they are ready for the racing. We wish our team all the best for the event and if you are in or around Maryborough on November 17 - 19, please feel free to drop in and cheer the DPS team on.

As a way of creating an EBT pathway for students entering Grade 5 in 2023, we will be taking 15 students from Grade 4 up on the Friday for the day to see what all the fuss is about. We have had a lot of interest and obviously can’t take everyone, so we look forward to hearing from our lucky Grade 4 students upon their return.

P-2 Sports 

We were very lucky on Wednesday to be able to hold the P-2 Sports between the bouts of inclement weather. It was great to see all the parents onsite cheering on their child as they jumped, ran, threw and put on interesting costumes throughout the afternoon. 

Special thanks to Mr Storey and Mrs O’Brien for all the work involved in modifying the activities to fit on our all-weather surfaces. Thanks also to the classroom teachers, support staff and Grade 6 helpers who supported the students during the activities. Further details can be seen later in the newsletter.

Grade 5/6 Cup

As an added incentive for our senior students this term, the Grade 5/6 Cup has been devised to help students focus their attentions at break times and build a culture of team.

The Grade 5/6 Cup allows the senior classes to compete against each other on Tuesday afternoons in soccer, basketball and modified sport. Each class is asked to create teams to compete, strategise and establish great sporting behaviours. For each game there are points for a win, draw and great team work. 

This program has been supported by the Inclusive Sport in Schools Program and will have a coach in attendance each week from Sports Central. We look forward to seeing how this program develops over the coming weeks.

The current Leaderboard.