The Newlands Times

Leadership

Welcome Back!

What an excellent first week of learning at Newlands Primary School. All of the students have come back bored from their holidays and quality family time and are ready to get back to the fun and the exciting learning at Newlands! 

 

I have walked throughout the school and was in disbelief at how quickly all the students have gotten back into the routine of Newlands life. 

 

I have had the opportunity to have many F/1 students come up to me with their writing books showing off their sentences with their big self-ticks in relation to the Sentence Structure checklist. It has been great to see the F/1s using their sentence structure checklist, being so proud of their capital letters and full stops and have enjoyed the quality finger space demonstrations.

 

Jethro took to the stage in the 2/3 area rocking out ‘Eye of The Tiger’ to the class. This was followed up by Arlo smashing out Thunderstruck. Who said music is dead? While the squealing guitars subsided, the 2/3s were loving the builders activities especially learning about volume, where the students were making houses and learning about location in Spanish playing direction games. ¡Mira hacia abajo para obtener más información!

 

All of the conversations that are taking place in the 4/6 area besides Cross-Country trials is Transformers and The Flash. The students have been exploring science concepts through hands on experiences including torches, batteries and boxes, magnets, static electricity and electrical circuits. Rumours that the 4/6s are creating a new and improved Optimus Prime by the end of the term. Watch out Bumblebee! 

 

There is lots of news and events for next week! Here is an overview, look down further for more detailed information. 

  • We have our 2/3 Camp Information night on Monday 2nd May at 4:00pm (link below)
  • Our School leaders continue to run our school tours for prospective 2023 families on Tuesdays at 9:30am (click here to book a tour)
  • Barry Beckett Kindergarten is coming to visit at 12:00 noon on Tuesday and Thursday as they begin their transition program for their kindergarten students (Barry Beckett Information)
  • The DET Languages Unit is visiting Newlands to see our incredible Bilingual Program on Wednesday 4th May 10:00am – 2:00pm
  • Our Senior Instructional Educational Leader (SEIL) is visiting our school specifically to see the great way our teachers plan and design curriculum for our students on Thursday 5th May 9:00am – 11:00am
  • Our 2023 Foundation Parent Information night is on Thursday 5th May at 7:00pm (See below for more information)
  • Whole School Cross Country on Friday 6th May at Coburg Athletics Track with the first event starting at 10:30am (See below for more information)
  • The NEW Newlands Parents Gardening Social Club (NPGSC) is beginning afterschool on Friday 6th May at 3:45pm (See below for more information). 

 

Grade 2/3 Camp Information Night –  Monday - May 2nd

In Term 3, between August 10th and August the 12th, our Grade 2/3 students will attend their first school Camp to Campaspe Downs. The adventure camp was a fantastic experience for our students in 2019. We look forward to visiting again in 2022. The teachers in the area will be running an online camp information session starting at 4:00pm to discuss all things Camp! Click here to join the meeting

 

School Tours for 2023 Foundation Students

2023 School Tours – Every Tuesday between 9:00am and 10:30am, the school leaders and student leaders will be running school tours. We would like to encourage families of siblings to return 2023 enrolment forms. For any family that would like to book a school tour, please follow the links on our webpage under ‘Starting at Newlands’.

To coincide with the School Tours, the school will also run an information night at 7:00pm on Thursday May the 5th and a tour on Saturday June the 4th at 10:00 a.m. If you would like to attend either or both of these sessions, please contact the office. 

 

 

 Whole School Cross Country – Friday May 6th

Raul has organised a Whole School Cross Country Fun Day at Coburg Athletics track on Friday May 6th.  We look forward to seeing you all there on Friday!

 

Lost and Found

There must be many families out there who are missing items brought to school that have not returned home (jackets, hats, water bottles and even a sleeping bag). 

Have you thought about having a look in the boxes which are in the quadrangle to see if they have been found and put there? 

This is also a reminder to ensure that everything brought to school is clearly labelled with the owners name.

 

Supporting the classroom learning – Monday May 9th – Onwards

Beginning in Week 3 of Term 2, we are inviting families to support our literacy program. We are asking families to come into the classroom to read and work with our students. Notes from each area have been sent home this week for more detailed information. We look forward to finally having parents in the classroom supporting the learning again! Parents will need to provide their vaccination certificate and a WWC check.

 

NAPLAN 9th – 13th of May

NAPLAN commences Week 3 for our Grades 3 and 5 beginning Tuesday 10th May. Please see the Sentral Calendar for the full schedule.

 

NPGSC – (Newlands Parents Gardening Social Club) – Friday May 6th 3:30 – 4:30 

Here is all the information you have been looking for! Are you ready to be NFGSC affiliated?

 

Are you a parent looking for a constructive way to spend your Friday afternoon while your kids are playing with other kids?

 

Own a pair of gardening gloves that you would like to use more often?

 

Want to chat with like-minded parents who like gardening?

 

Wondering why the weeds are so large and the beds are so neglected? 

 

Interested in making Newlands a nicer environment for the kids to play?

 

If you answered 'yes' to any of these questions, then JOIN US!

 

The Newlands Parents Gardening Group is meeting every second Friday afternoon straight after school for an hour for the next three weeks 

Bring you gardening gloves! Bring your kids!

 

When: 

Friday 6 May 3.30pm-4.30pm

Friday 20 May 3.30pm-4.30pm

Friday 3 June 3.30pm-4.30pm

 

Where: 

Meet out the front of the office (at 3.35pm)

 

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Bring your gardening gloves. 

 

Contact Melissa Schellekens for more information! (Contact the office to get in contact with Melissa)

 

Outdoor Cinema Movie Night – Friday May 13th 

The PFA’s first community event for the year will take place on Friday May 13th. Below is the flyer, please see Adam, Sarah or any of the other wonderful PFA representatives!

 

 

Newlands Working Bee – Sunday June 19th of June

There will be a Working Bee announced during Term 2 which will take place on a Sunday between 10:00am- 2:00pm. 

 

 

Q & A Page

I would like to invite families to use the QR code on the Q&A Newsletter page to ask questions that they would like to be answered. I would like to thank Erin, Rylee and Lisa who gave up their time to help the school develop ways to further improve the communication at Newlands. The school passes questions to the relevant teachers and areas, and answers questions on this page to provide transparency that may benefit our schooling community. 

 

COVID-19 Program 

The Department of Education has announced the RAT testing initiative will continue for the first four weeks of Term 2. RAT tests have been handed to students. There are RAT tests available at the office if needed. 

 

Term 2 Important Dates 

Pupil Free Day - Professional Development Day for Staff – Friday June 10th 

Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday – Monday June 13rd

Curriculum Day for Parent Teacher Interviews – Friday June 17th

(Please note: Parent/Teacher Interviews will also take place online, after school on Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd June from 3:45pm to 4:45pm. More information will be provided next week)

 

 

Have a great weekend and we look forward to Ross being back next week!

 

Luke Cripps (he/him)

Assistant Principal