have started preschool in

2012. They will start school

after four terms of pre-

school as is now the case.

Please talk to your local

Preschool Director or my-

self to determine how this

will work for your child.

2013 is the tenth year of the

Premier's Reading Challenge (PRC). 2012 (the National

Year of Reading) was an

outstanding year for the

PRC, when 124,244 students

across SA completed the

Challenge. We encourage

you to keep up the momen-

tum to read 12 books by 6th

September. For more infor-

mation visit

http://

www.premiersreadingchallen

ge.sa.edu.au/prc/

I wish you all a safe and

happy Easter break and trust

you get to spend quality time

with your families. Deb O’Neill

Pupil Free and School

Closure Days 2013

At Monday night‟s council

meeting the pupil free days

and closure days for 2013

were decided. All sites are

entitled to 2 pupil free days

for training and development

and one closure day for a

day of local significance, traditional our Show day.

For the past 2 years the

Minister for Education has

granted an additional 2 pupil

free days to support staff in

the implementation of the

Australian Curriculum.

School Council are sympa-

thetic to the needs of fami-

lies in determining these

dates and we attempt to give

you as much prior notice as

possible. Out of School

Hours Care will be available

for these dates. See below

for the dates.

On the training days staff

will work with our cluster

schools to develop and im-

plement the areas of the

Australian Curriculum.

Same First Day Start

As of 2014 there will only be

one reception intake per

year. From 2014 there will

be a new start date for pre-

school and school children.

This will be the first day of

Term 1.

If your child turns four be-

fore May 1, they will start

preschool on the first day of

Term One in that year. If

your child turns four on or

after May 1, they will start

preschool on the first day of

Term One the following

year. If your child turns five

before May 1, they will start

school on the first day of

Term One in that year. If

your child turns five on or

after May 1, they will start

school on the first day of Term One the following

year. The new start date will

mean that all children

will have four terms of pre-

school and four terms of

Reception. There will be no

change for children who

From the Principal March 28th , 2013

Gilles Street Primary School

Coming Events

Fri 29 March

Good Friday Public

Holiday (school closed)

Mon April 1

Easter Monday Public

Holiday (school closed)

Fri April 12

End of Term Assembly

2:15 pm in the Hall

Mon April 29

PUPIL FREE DAY

School Closed

OSHC Open

Tue April 30

Term 2 Begins

Inside this issue:

Harmony Day 2013 2

Cultural Festivals 2

OSHC Pupil Free Day

Pre-School 2014 3

Community Notices 4

Principal: Deb O‟Neill

Deputy Principal: Carol West

Assistant Principal: Ginny Pryor

Ph: 8223 5184 Fax: 8223 7114

www.gillesstps.sa.edu.au

dl.0120.admin@schools.sa.edu.au

At the last School Council meeting the council ratified the following dates for 2013 Pupil Free and

School closure days.

MONDAY APRIL 29th 2013 (first day of Term 2 - OSHC available) - PUPIL FREE DAY

FRIDAY JUNE 7th 2013 (Fri before June long weekend - OSHC available) - PUPIL FREE DAY

FRIDAY 2nd AUGUST 2013 (OSHC available) - PUPIL FREE DAY

FRIDAY 13th SEPTEMBER 2013 (OSHC available) - SCHOOL CLOSURE (Royal Adelaide

Show)

MONDAY 14th OCTOBER 2013 (first day of Term 4 - OSHC available) - PUPIL FREE DAY

Once again we have celebrat-

ed Harmony Day despite the

inclement weather patterns.

Students and staff wore

orange and participated in

activities and discussions

around the notions of

harmony.

Amongst the activities we had

Helen, the mother of Esther

from Room 8, come to do

some Harmony Day story

telling today, firstly in Room 8

and then in Room 7. The chil-

dren were captivated with the

story of the colours of the

rainbow. Later we received

this from one of our

families—

“I just wanted to share this

picture that Jasmine did after

Harmony Day. I think that she

really enjoyed the celebrations

and when we talked about

what harmony was about

Jasmine showed a real

understanding of the concepts

of tolerance and accepting

people from other back-

grounds. Kudos to you and

the school for helping her to

develop this understanding”.

the story of Ester but in the

cowboy way like the wild

west. The bad guy was Haman

who wanted to kill all the

Jewish people. Ester and her

cousin Mordechai told the

king about Haman‟s evil plot.

It wasn‟t long before the king

ordered his guards to kill

Haman.

From that day on Ester and

the king ordered Mordechai

to be his prime minister and

all the people (including the

Jewish) lived happily ever

after.

Purim

By Yamina

The Purim Festival is on

Sunday the 24th of

February.

On the Purim Festival all

the Jewish people cele-

brate the day of Ester.

The day of Ester is about

a Jewish girl who became

the queen and saved all

of the Jewish people.

I went to the Purim festival

and I watched a play. It told

St Patrick’s Day in Ade-

laide

By Tara and Patrick

St. Patrick‟s Day on the 17th

of March is celebrated around

the whole world and

especially in Ireland.

St. Patrick was the person

who got rid of all the snakes

in Ireland so he is the Patron

Saint of Ireland.

He is represented by green

the colour of the Republic of

Ireland so on St. Patrick‟s Day

people wear green clothing.

Other symbols are: sham-

rocks (a three leaf clover),

Irish dancing, even green food

and drinks!

This celebration is the

highlight of our year.

Harmony Day

Cultural Festivals

singing. This

circle is called „Haravod‟ in

Russian.

If there is still snow on

Monday, people of all ages

play snow games. All week

they eat lots of „blini‟ pancakes

with jam, sour cream, sugar or

condensed milk or savoury

with cabbage. They spend lots

of time with friends and

family.

It is a very fun, exciting

celebration and we love it!

A Big Russian Tradition

MASLINICA!

By Daria and Sofya

Maslinica is an old Russian

tradition that is about saying

goodbye to winter and saying

hello to spring.

Maslinica lasts for a week.

Each day has a special celebra-

tion. Russian people go to find

a special flower that will make

all their wishes come true.

They play games and go in a

circle holding hands and

Page 2

Gilles Street Primary School

OHSC - PUPIL FREE DAY

Hula Hoop Showdown

A Message From your local Preschool

Director

Dear Families as you may already be aware

there is only one intake for preschool in

2014.

If your child turns 4 before May 1st 2010

they can begin kindergarten in Term 1

2014.

Please enrol your child at your local pre-

school as soon as possible to ensure their

position

OSHC

PUPIL FREE DAY

Monday 29th April 2013

Bookings open from Tuesday 2nd April, 2013

Operating Times: Open - 7.45am Closed - 6.00pm

($20.00 late pickup fee applies after 6.00pm)

Cost - $45.00 per child per day (excursion included)

CCB available to eligible Parent/Caregivers

After School Care will be available. Please pick up booking and excursion consent form from OSHC

office.

PLEASE NOTE:

Bookings will be final at the time the booking form is returned to the Service.

No cancellation will be accepted after the booking form is received and Parents/

Caregivers will be charged regardless of attendance.

Last day to book: FRIDAY 12th April 2013 WITHOUT EXCEPTION

JUMPING CASTLE & FASTA PASTA LUNCH

The SRC organised a fabulous Hula Hoop Showdown on

Monday at recess this week. As we watched the 60 „hula

hoopers‟ we discovered the incredible hidden talents of our

students, who were rewarded with prizes for amazing feats!

Keep practising- you never know when the next pop-up

hula contest will happen!

The SRC

2014 Pre-School Information

Community Notices

Page 4