GENERAL NEWS

NAIDOC WEEK CELEBRATIONS 2019

STAFF WELLBEING - SOUP FOR THE SOUL

Last Friday our hardworking staff were able to enjoy some calm, quiet time and soothe their souls with soup! This initiative has been promoted by our wellbeing team for the past three years and is a timely reminder of how important it is to look after our minds and bodies in the "busyness" of the school term.

2019 UNSW COMPETITIONS & ASSESSMENTS FOR SCHOOLS (ICAS)

This year our Year 4, 5 and 6 students from St Nicholas School have the opportunity to sit for the University of New South Wales ICAS Exams.  ICAS is the largest independent competition and assessment program for schools in Australia.  One of the major benefits of ICAS is the recognition from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) with each student receiving an individual report as well as a UNSW certificate of acknowledgment for participation.  These certificates make valuable additions to student portfolios.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE ARE NOT COMPULSORY AND YOU MAY WISH TO DO AS MANY AS YOU WISH OR NONE AT ALL.  EXAMS WILL BE ONLINE.  

Registration forms were handed out to our Year 4, 5 and 6 students last week.  Please return to the office with full payment by tomorrow, Friday, 28th June 2019 so that we can register.  Unfortunately, late entries will not be accepted. 

Any queries, please contact the office staff.

THE VOICE...St Nicholas Style

Congratulations and thank you to our Year 6 leaders - Gigi Innis, Mikeeli Tyrrell, Mia Shvili and Caitlan Myers  for organising and hosting the St Nicholas version of The Voice this term during first break. It has been wonderful listening to the students sing and perform their songs and witnessing the talent on offer in our student body. This morning the winners were announced and prizes awarded:

Encouragement Awards: Anna George, Lynn Mafura, Halley Buckman, Otto Atkinson

Third Place: Jock Barwick, Charlie McMurtrie, Angus Spry

Second Place: Sterling Rodda

Winner: Mia Wallace

Making a Difference

Today Year 4 students Jag Hyland and Maeve Black delivered a letter they had written to the offices of Mr Kevin Anderson MP and The Federal Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce MP. The letter was outlining their concerns (and the concerns of their peers) about the amount of plastic and pollution in our oceans and to gain support for developing innovative ideas to address this problem. They had also gathered a number of signatures to support their request for the Federal government to take this serious issue on board.

POSITIVE SCHOOLS

MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING CONFERENCE

CYBER SAFETY - Ms Susan McLean

Susan McLean is Australia's foremost expert in the area of cyber safety and was a member of Victoria Police for 27 years. Widely known as the 'cyber cop' she was the first Victorian Police officer appointed to a position involving cyber safety and young people.

Susan does not pull any punches when speaking about the world of cyber and the potential risks it poses for our young people. One powerful point she conveyed was "young people have access to the world and the world  has access to them." I strongly urge all parents to read the links I will include in the newsletter each week from this point, from her site Cyber safety Solutions. Better still, I recommend this site to all parents to look at as the information on there is both informative and confronting but, most importantly, real!

Click on this link to read about "Problematic Internet Use"  

http://www.cybersafetysolutions.com.au/downloads/Problematic-Internet-Use.pdf

Lisa Mcsweeney

EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AWARDS

LOST AND FOUND

The office has the following items found by students in the playground.  Please see office staff for collection.

LOST NEW UNIFORMS - PURCHASED FROM LOWES

We have been contacted by a business in Tamworth regarding a Lowes bag of new uniforms (purchased on 14/04/2019  at 12.57pm).  The bag was left in their store.

Please contact our office staff to claim.

HELP NEEDED!

St Nicholas School has hundreds of new home readers thanks to the PT&F's wonderful fund raising. Our young readers are eager however we now have to cover them all in clear contact before they can be put into circulation.

If you are able to help cover some readers with supplied contact, could you please contact Amanda Doyle   -  adoyle@arm.catholic.edu.au     

MOBILE PHONES AND STUDENTS

Here at St Nicholas School, students are not permitted to use mobile phones whilst in our care. However we do appreciate that some students have phones to make communication with parents easier especially after school hours. Our policy is that all students with phones, ipods or other electronic devices must hand these in at the office to Mrs Grady at the start of each day and collect them at the end of the day. If phones are used inappropriately by any student they will not be permitted to bring it to school.

SUPERVISION OF STUDENTS

All parents need to be aware our supervision of students does not begin until 8.15am each day. We are becoming increasingly concerned that children are being dropped off and left on their own, unsupervised by parents before this time - often up to half an hour earlier. This is not a safe or acceptable practice. We cannot be responsible for any accident or potentially harmful incidents occurring. Please organise alternative care for your child if your child requires supervision before 8.15am.

SCHOOL STUDENT TRANSPORT SCHEME (SSTS)

For information visit https://apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts