Gundagai South Public School Principal: Mrs Pip McAlister
RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, CARE
NEWSLETTER Phone: (02)69441117 Gundagai South Public School Fax: (02)69441158 Luke Street Email: [email protected] Gundagai NSW 2722 Web: www.gundagais-p.schools.nsw.edu.au
Term 3 Week 1 23rd July 2019
Dear Parents,
Welcome back everyone. I
hope you were all able to enjoy
some quality time interacting
and sharing great experiences
with your children during the
past two weeks. As we now
move forward into the second
part of the year, the weather
will start to warm up again and
everyone is sure to be
reinvigorated and ready to face
new challenges in their
learning.
Thank you to all parents and
carers for being understanding
and patient with the school
reports. At the end of last term,
we had such an interrupted final
few weeks that it just proved
impossible to get them out
before the end of term. We
hope you were instead able to
spend the time enjoying the
students’ portfolios whilst more
time was available and you will
now be able to focus on the
individual reports over the next
few weeks. Mrs Hillier and I
spent some time during the
holidays finalising Mrs
Jackson’s reports for her, as
she was unable to complete
them herself. Hence, you will
find that they are unsigned by
her.
If you have any questions or
concerns about your child’s
progress, please come and see
us at school and have a chat. It
is much better to come and
voice any concerns directly
with those concerned, as at
times, people sometimes
become confused about what is
actually relevant and relates
directly to their child. We
appreciate your support
Mrs Jackson
Mrs Jackson has, during the
last week of the holidays, made
the decision to take some
extended leave and
consequently will be on leave
for the whole of Term 3 as the
is taking time to care for her
sick father. Given a number of
facts – including the difficulty
in finding a full time casual
teacher of suitable quality for
our K/1 class, and the fact that
as from the end of 2018, our
school entitlement for teaching
staff was reduced from 3 to 2,
Mrs Hillier and I discussed the
issue at length during the
holidays in our endeavour to
achieve the best possible
outcomes for all our students.
Additionally, it is assumed that
Mrs Jackson will return at the
start of Term 4 when classes
would return to normal.
As a result, Mrs Hillier will
now be teaching the K – 4 class,
with half of the Year 3 class
joining me and the 5/6 class.
We believe that this is the best
outcome and will allow our
students to continue to thrive,
grow and achieve their best.
The students will continue to be
supported by our three
wonderful SLSO’s – Mrs
Matthews, Kelly and Joe, Ms
Sini, Ms Wild and our other
visiting staff and support
services.
This week, Ms Sini has also
taken leave and will return next
week, whilst Clare will be
taking a month’s leave
following surgery on her knee.
I will be on leave this Thursday
and Friday – in Bathurst for the
NSW Masters State Hockey
Championships.
Mrs Hall will be taking my
class on Thursday and Friday in
place of Ms Sini.
Next week, Jess McLennan
and Ms Sini will be teaching the
K/1/2 class whilst the rest of the
school is on the excursion.
Starting School Expo
For parents of children
intending or thinking of starting
their child at school in 2020, the
starting school expo will be
held this Wednesday night
commencing at 6.00pm at
Gumnut Child Care Centre. There will be a number of
speakers from a range of
services including schools and
health and wellbeing, so come
along and enjoy an evening out.
Fencing
The fencing has now been
completed around the school.
Our school will now be safe and
secure for everyone. It looks
great!
School Excursion
Only a few days to go now!
Please ensure that all payments
have been finalised before next
Monday. During the holidays, I
had to pay for our admission
into many of the attractions, so
it is now moving into a very
exciting time. I made the
payments based on return of our
initial permission notes.
All students who completed the
initial permission note and first
deposit have been included in
the numbers.
It should be a nice small group
of students and everyone will
certainly have so many great
learning opportunities, which
will allow them to work on this
unit all through this term. Our
learning journey for Term 3 will
all be based on our hands on
learning experiences during the
excursion.
Details with the itinerary,
clothing requirements, money
and medication information is
attached for those who may
have misplaced their original
information. An envelope is
attached for any final payments.
Thank you everyone – we are
all looking forward to an
exciting and fun filled week of
learning.
Education Week
This is being celebrated in
Week 3 from 5th – 9th August.
More details to follow next
week with a day to be
determined and activities to be
set.
Todd Woodbridge Cup – Tennis for Years 3 & 4
On Friday, 9th August,
students in Years 3 and 4 will
all participate in the Todd
Woodbridge Cup for tennis.
There will be teams of 4 boys
and 4 girls. At present, I am
checking with other schools to
ensure we have a position for
all our students. The
competition will be held in
Tumut at their town courts and
the day is being organised and
run by Birdie. Parents will be
required to assist with transport
on the day. Please complete
and return the attached
permission note and return to
school by this Friday. Please
indicate if you are able to assist
with transport on the day. More
details as they come to hand.
Vandalism
Unfortunately, last Tuesday,
people gained access to the
school grounds and damaged
the tennis court by pulling up
the lines and using some form
of sharp chisel to dig down into
the court in various places.
This is very disappointing for
our students as the court now
needs to be locked until the
damage can be assessed by the
DET and insurers.
Term 2 Assembly
Congratulations to our students
who received awards at our end
of term assembly. Besides class
winners, our major award
winners were:
K/1 Principal’s Award –
Pepper Maconochie
2/3/4 Principals’ Award –
Tristan Gould 5/6 Principal’s Award – Amy
Myers
Citizenship Award – Jade
Harvey
Gundagai South Cross Country
Champions:
8/9 Yr Boy – Riley Hourn
8/9 Yr Girl – Makena Hourn
10 Yr Boy – Riley Foster
11 Yr Boy – Jack Clarke
11 Yr Girl – Monique Hayes
12 Yr Boy – David Foster
12 Yr Girl – Lilah Norden
Gundagai South Athletics
Champions:
Junior Boy – Hayden Crossley
Junior Girl- Jaylee Coulcher
11 Yr Boy – Marco Grant
11 Yr Girl – Monique Hayes
12 Yr Boy – David Foster
12 Yr Girl – Lilah Norden
Congratulations everyone.
Book Launch
Congratulations to our very own
ex-student Helen Castles who so
eagerly and entertainingly
launched her long awaited book –
Scoop McLaren - Detective
Editor on Tuesday 1st July.
Helen entertained the students
and those parents and community
members, including the member
for Cootamundra Steph Cooke
and Mayor of Cootamundra
Gundagai Regional Council –
Abb McAlister with an in depth
account of the journey to success.
To be patient and persistent; to
never give up and to follow your
dreams and desires, not matter
how far away they might seem, is
something we should all strive to
achieve. The ability to be
resilient and to bounce back
when often we receive setbacks,
disappointments or challenges in
the journey of life is such an
invaluable skill for everyone to
possess. Congratulations Helen.
External Validation
This term, I will be busy
completing the process of
External Validation. All staff
will be included in collecting
and collating data around the
School’s Excellence
Framework which will be
reported on and submitted at the
end of august. The school will
be assessed on 14 sub elements
in three main evidence sets
including Teaching and
Learning, Wellbeing and
Community.
Small Schools’ Soccer
Congratulations to Otford
Public School who were
successful in advancing to the
next round of the PSSA Small
Schools’ Soccer Knockout
when they defeated our team
5 – 1. Tristan Gould was
nominated for Special mention
on the day as he played with
true sportsmanship and courage.
Special mention also Khyla
Warren. Thank you to all
parents for their assistance with
transport on the day and to
Alicia Crossley, Jodie Dean and Richard Morris for their
coaching expertise!
Congratulations
We would like to congratulate
Lianne Blundell on becoming a
finalist at the Murrumbidgee
Local Health District 2019
Excellence Awards for the
volunteer award.
We acknowledge all her hard
work in creating nutritious and
healthy food for our students
that they all love!
Lianne’s role as Canteen
Manager at Gundagai South
Public School and Leader of the
Small Schools Healthy Canteen
Network has allowed her to
continue to contribute to the
development of strategies
aiming at improving student
health, not only at our small
school but at schools across the
district.
Well done Lianne.
Radio News
Don’t forget to tune into school
news on the radio station
Sounds of the Mountains 94.3.
This can be heard each school
Monday morning at
approximately 9.45am
Week 2: Michael & David
School Banking
Don’t forget to send in your
Bendigo School Banking.
Banking will be collected every
Wednesday.
PBL Weekly Focus Area
This week our focus areas for
PBL will be “Toilets” in the
playground and “Entering and
Exciting the Room” for our
Classroom.
Playground –Toilets
Respect: Go, then leave.
Responsibility: go at recess or
lunch. Flush. Wash hands.
Care: Report problems.
Classroom – Entering and
Exiting the Room
Respect: Walk sensibly and
quietly.
Responsibility: Line up quietly.
Keep in line.
Care: Bags on backs. Hands and
feet to self.
Please discuss our focus areas with
your children this week.
Pip
Canteen
Monday 29th July Lianne Blundell
Wednesday 31st
July
Lianne Blundell
Friday 2nd August
Lianne Blundell