30 January 2019

Week 1 - Term 1 2019 Newsletter – Principals Message - Welcome back to the start of the 2019 school year It was fantastic to welcome back to school our very excited students this morning and introduce our new students to their peers. Our teachers have been busy throughout the break working to ensure that we are prepared and ready to challenge, inspire and address our students learning needs. Congratulations Mrs Senior-Conroy! After 6 years as Principal of Queanbeyan East Public School, today we said a sad goodbye to Mrs Senior-Conroy. All the students and staff will miss her leadership, compassion, support and educational expertise greatly but we are proud to congratulate her on attaining the permanent position of Director, Educational Leadership for the Queanbeyan Principal’s Network. It is a much deserved promotional position and we wish her all the best and look forward to welcoming her back to visit! I am excited to continue in my role as Relieving Principal until a permanent Principal is appointed. Welcome to our new staff At the end of 2018 we said our fond farewells to Miss Bell and Mr Browning, who are taking up positions in rural NSW for the year as part of the Rural Schools Program. Mrs Feeney will be working at the Queanbeyan Education Office in Term 1 and Mrs Campbell will be on leave in 2019, enjoying time with her new baby boy. Some of our much-loved temporary teachers from 2018 have also taken up new teaching positions within the Queanbeyan area. We are fortunate to be able to welcome a number of new temporary staff to our team. Miss Tori Matthews will be teaching Kindergarten, Miss Katy Shaw will be teaching Stage 2 and Mr Matthew Jones and Ms Ngareta Konia will be joining our Stage 3 teaching team. Mrs Emma Hudson will be teaching RFF and Library and Mrs Chloe Truijens will also be based in the Library on Mondays and Tuesdays. We also welcome Miss Grayce Cooper who will be teaching K-6 Red for Term 1. Our teachers have come from different areas in NSW and bring a broad range of experiences and will add depth to our talented teaching team. Meet the Teacher Evening Parents will have the opportunity to meet their child’s teacher and find out general school information at our Meet the Teacher evening. Further details will be provided in the near future. Our 2019 Classes The start to 2019 has seen us welcome a number of new families to our school community during the school holidays. We are still continuing to enrol new students this week. There are also a couple of students who have moved away from Queanbeyan during the school holidays. The number of students enrolled at a public school, determines the number of classes and also the number of teachers on a state-wide formula. As a result of our student enrolments, we are close to increasing our class structure from 10 to 11 classes. We will be revising our numbers until we are required to report to the Department later next week our student enrolment data. This will determine our final staffing allocation and our financial allocation. A variation to numbers may lead to some changes being made later this term. With new housing in our local area we expect additional students throughout the term. If you know anyone who has moved or is moving into our local area – please ask them to enrol their child as soon as possible. Why is my child in their class group? Our classes have been formed in the best interests of ALL the students. We have considered students who need support from another close friend and those students who are best separated so both students can concentrate

10 Yass Road, Queanbeyan NSW 2620 Phone: 6297 2619 Fax: 6299 4128

E: queanbeyae-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au W: www.queanbeyae-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Relieving Principal: Kim Smith

on their studies. We discussed students who need to be together to provide language support for each other, students who are experiencing difficulties and those students who require extension. We have ensured that these students are spread across the class groups. We have taken into account the special needs of our students and these needs may be social, intellectual, emotional or physical. We have ensured a balance of boys and girls in each class and that a balance of the student leadership is maintained across classes. All classes will have been formed to be academically and socially balanced and serve the best interests of all of our students. Our classes and staff for 2019 are:

2019 Class Teacher Position Kinder Red Miss Tori Matthews Classroom Teacher Kinder Blue Mrs Rebekah Lindsay Relieving Assistant Principal

Miss Kelly Broomham Thurs-Fri 1/2 White Miss Melany Budakoski Classroom Teacher

1/2 Red Miss Kate Berry Classroom Teacher 1/2 Blue Miss Gemma Hawkins Classroom Teacher 3/4 Red Mr Geoff Smith Classroom Teacher 3/4 Blue Miss Katy Shaw Classroom Teacher

4/5 White Mr Matthew Jones Classroom Teacher 5/6 Red Mr Dave Marchant Relieving Assistant Principal 5/6 Blue Ms Ngareta Konia Classroom Teacher K-6 Red Mrs Naomi Feeney/

Miss Grayce Cooper Teacher – Special Education

RFF /Library Mrs Emma Hudson Classroom Teacher Library (Mon-Tues) Mrs Chloe Truijens Classroom Teacher

Learning Support (Wed-Thurs) Mrs Kristin French Classroom Teacher School Administration Team Mrs Fran Fisher School Administration Manager

Mrs Lindy Hall School Learning Support Officer Mrs Paula Millar School Admin Officer Mr Mark Palmer R/General Assistant

Relieving Principal Miss Kim Smith Why does our school have the class structure?

Our students have been allocated classes by the school executive, with the assistance of all classroom teachers. We have taken a great deal of time to allocate our students to the class that we feel will best support their educational achievements. Traditionally at East a number of students enrol at our school during the year. We also have some additional residential developments in our school zone and expect additional enrolments during the term as new families move to the area. Our classes have been formed to allow for any new students to move into the classes throughout the year to minimise the need to restructure our classes as these additional enrolments occur.

Our multi-age class structure aligns to the stages of the Australian Curriculum. Each stage of the curriculum is taught across a 2 year period on an Even and Odd year cycle. We also know that every child learns at a different pace and in every year group students may be working at, above or below their stage level.

Early Stage 1 = Kindergarten Stage 1 = Years 1 and 2 Stage 2 = Years 3 and 4 Stage 3 = Years 5 and 6

The Parents Guide to the NSW Syllabus provides detailed information about the curriculum and is available at the NSW Board of Students website http://k6.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/go/parents/parents-guide-to-the-nsw-primary-syllabuses

Where is my child’s classroom located? The QEPS map provides an overview of our classroom locations. Please be aware that all visitors must sign in through the front office before entering our school. No parent will be able to take a child home early from a classroom without first signing their child out at the front office.

D190565/6 Red

Mr Marchant

D147535/6 BlueMs Konia

D159481/2 Blue

Miss Hawkins

D149931/2 White

Miss Budakoski

D124471/2 Red

Mrs Berry

D16503

BR9004OSHC Store

DisabledToilet Gate

BR9005Sports Store

Cage

D11131Canteen

AR0014Storeroom

AR00

17O

ffice

AR0013Comms Server Room

AR0009Photocopy

Room

AR0008Toilet

AR0007Cleaner

AR0006Electrical

AR0010Toilet

Entrance

AR0020Principal's

Office

AR0016Meeting Room

AR0018AP's Office

AR0019SAM's Office

Foye

r

Vera

ndah

Sick Bay

AR0004Office

Epi-pens

Carpark

D191454/5 White Mr Jones

D126213/4 Blue

Miss Shaw

LibraryAR0023

AR11Entry

D133383/4 RedMr Smith

BR0003Boys Toilet

Stairs

BR0008K Blue

Mrs Lindsay

Emerg Exit

Storage under AR00024

Ramp

Ramp

D13482K/6 Red

Mrs Feeney

BR0001Girls Toilet

AR0005Staffroom

CleanersStore

Stor

age

unde

r AR

0005

BR9003Multi Purpose Room(below BR10 & BR8)

BR0010K Red

Miss Matthews

Double gates

Kindergarten 2019 - We look forward to welcoming our new Kindergarten students who will start school on Monday 4 February. Mrs Lindsay, Miss Matthews and Mrs French will be conducting the Best Start Assessments with the new Kindergarten students for 2019 on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week. Book Packs Every child at East will be provided a “School Book & Stationary Pack” this week. Each pack contains essential items for your child to use at school. Depending upon the Year your child is in the Book Packs in a bag which can be used as a library bag include: Maths & Spelling Text Books, a number of Exercise Books – with line spacing appropriate to the students stage of development, pens, pencils, an eraser, glue stick, whiteboard markers, rulers and a QEPS Student Diary for our senior-students. The pack also includes a subscription to “Reading Eggs” which is used in all classrooms and accessible via a unique log in at school and at home. Invoices contributing to the cost of these supplies will be issued this week. Covering Your Child’s School Books Teachers will be sending exercise and text books home during the next couple of weeks for students / parents to cover in contact / plastic so that they are protected throughout the year. Please ensure these are returned with your child promptly as the books will be used each day. We thank you for your support to assist with this task. Clothing Pool Uniforms Needed Has your child grown out of their school uniform? We would love to have it donated to our school clothing pool. We make these uniforms available to children as they need them throughout the school year. Please send your child’s outgrown uniforms to the front office and help out another family at East! Building Work Continues Throughout January extensive construction work has continued throughout the school. We can now see the structure beginning to take shape! Please see attached flyer for an overview of the building updates and completion timelines. Please ensure you remain cautious of construction traffic and temporary fencing at all times, but particularly during peak drop-off and pick-up times. Thank you for your continued support and patience while we build our exciting and innovative new school. A reminder about East’s School Day The duty of care for all students at Queanbeyan East remains our priority. I wish to assure you that the protection and safety of students is a priority for me as principal, and for my staff. The arrangements for the school’s end of day routine to reflect this paramount consideration. I take this opportunity to inform you of the school’s procedures and the legal responsibility of parents in relation to their children.

Background Section 22 of the Education Act 1990 provides that is the duty of the parent of a child of compulsory school-age to cause the child to be enrolled at, and to attend, a government school or a registered non-government school. Section 22 recognises that parents have a choice about which school they wish to enrol their child. The legal duty imposed by Section 22 confers by implication a responsibility for parents to decide how each the child will travel to and from school, and what supervision, if any, is appropriate for the child during their journey to school, and for making arrangements (including supervision) for the child when the child is dismissed at the end of the school day. Parents are primarily responsible for supervising their children, and in particular are responsible for supervising their children before they arrive at school, after the school day has ended and on weekends and other days that their children are not required to be in attendance at school. In NSW government schools, the Department’s long established practice is for students to leave the school site promptly at the end of the school day, and school’s duty of care is therefore to supervise the students to promptly commence their journey home. As you will appreciate, in circumstances where teaching staff cannot be rostered for supervision duty, principals will not permit students to remain on the school site outside school hours. Our school day at Queanbeyan East Public School starts at 8.55am and ends at 3:00pm. Students are not permitted to enter the school grounds prior to 8:30am and are required to leave the school grounds at 3:00pm, and parents are expected to reinforce these requirements with their children. The School does not provide supervision for students before 8:30am or after the time when normal classes finish (3.00 pm).

Parents at Queanbeyan East Public School have a number of options in relation to arrangements for at the end of our school day including:

1. Students walking directly from the school to their home (or other destination such as a relative, friend or neighbours place as arranged by a child’s parent).

2. Parents or relatives collecting students from the school via private vehicles. Students who are collected by parents or relatives arriving by car wait at various exit points around the school. These students should be only waiting a very short time for their parents, as they are invariably collected from school promptly at 3:00pm.

3. Parents who access the School Student Transport Scheme. Our school ensures the safe handover of our students to school buses with supervision. To ensure the teacher is able to focus on the safe handover of students to the school buses, students who not catch the school buses have been asked to wait away from this group of students.

4. Finally, we understand that many parents may have commitments at work which require them to start early or finish beyond our school day. To cater for these parents, there is an Out Of School Hours Care provider operating on site. The provider is Camp Australia - and their service operates within the school from 7.00 am to 9:00am every school morning and from 3:00pm until 6:00pm in the afternoon. Details follow.

We understand that on rare occasions there may be emergency circumstances where a parent or carer may not be able to be at school by 3.00 pm. In those emergency circumstances the school will attempt to telephone the nominated emergency contact to collect the student. However, as indicated above, on any particular day, all school staff may have to leave the school grounds by 3.30pm and close the school. In those circumstances Child Protection obligations would not permit me to leave a student alone at the school and consideration would be given to contact police to take any student who had not been collected by his or her parents to the police station. School Hours

Before School Supervision 8:40am – 8:55am School Starts 8:55am Crunch & Sip 10:00am – 10:10am Recess 11:00am – 11:35am Lunch 1:15pm – 2:00pm End of School Day 3.00pm

ONLY students catching school buses are supervised in the bus line area by the teacher on duty until the school bus arrives. No student is to be left at school after 3:00pm unless they are enrolled in After School Care with Camp Australia. Parents who leave their child unattended outside school hours will be contacted by the principal / executive and formal action in accordance with Departmental policy requirements will be followed. Before and After School Care – Camp Australia

Camp Australia provide the before, after school and vacation care program for East students in the multi-purpose room and makes use of the outdoor areas throughout our playground.

Before School Care operates between - 7:00am – 9:00am After School Care operates between – 3:00pm – 6:00pm

Parents need to contact Camp Australia directly should you require this use of the OOSH service. Camp Australia’s hours of operation are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so you can contact them at a time that suits you to arrange care. (The phone service is only closed on National Public Holidays) Phone: 1300 105 343 International callers dial +61 3 8851 4100 Email: oshc@campaustralia.com.au Website: www.campaustralia.com.au

Queanbeyan East Public School's Security Fence We seek your support to ensure the safety of our students and staff remains our number one priority. Our school day starts at 8:55am and ends at 3:00pm. School perimeter gates will open school days from 8:30am and no student is to arrive at school before this time (unless the student is enrolled at our OSHC operated by Camp Australia). Perimeter gates will then close from 9:30am and reopen by 2:45pm.

Our school community is welcome to enter the school during the school day via the front office. The main pedestrian access gate on Thurralilly Street will be open during office hours from 8:30am until 3:30pm. Perimeter gates will close in the following way after the end of the school day:

1. Yass Road pedestrian gate will close at 3:10pm after the duty teacher walks students to the crossing. 2. The pedestrian gates near the demountable classrooms on Thurralilly Street will close shortly afterwards. 3. The teacher on bus duty will close the pedestrian gate on Mulloon Street after the buses have left the

school. 4. All access gates will be closed by 3:30pm when our front office closes.

PLEASE NOTE: Camp Australia will provide access to families with students at the OSHC via the pedestrian gate on Thurralilly Street during the OSHC operating hours. Parents should discuss these arrangements with the Camp Australia staff. NO PARKING ON SCHOOL GROUNDS Parents are reminded that only staff are able to drive a vehicle & park onsite. All vehicle access gates will be closed and locked before, during and after school hours. Contacting Us All families are always welcome to make a time to discuss your child's particular needs. A suitable meeting time can be requested through contacting the school office by email at queanbeyaep.school@det.nsw.edu.au or by phone on 62972619. For those times when a formal meeting may not be required, teachers, executive staff and the principal may be available for a quick chat before or after school. This is sometimes all that is needed to ensure that any requests or concerns are communicated and managed quickly and efficiently. Looking forward to a great start to our school year. Kim Smith Relieving Principal

NSW Department of Education – School Infrastructure

schoolinfrastructure.nsw.gov.au

For more information contact: School Infrastructure NSWEmail: schoolinfrastructure@det.nsw.edu.au Phone: 1300 482 651www.schoolinfrastructure.nsw.gov.au

Investing in our schoolsThe NSW Government is spending $6 billion over four years to deliver more than 170 new and upgraded schools to support communities across NSW. In addition a record $847 million is being spent on school maintenance over four years. This is the biggest investment in public school infrastructure in the history of NSW.

Queanbeyan East Public SchoolA project is underway at Queanbeyan East Public School. The project will cater to current and projected growth in the area, and provide:

• 9 additional permanent classrooms

• An upgraded library

• A new covered outdoor learning area(COLA)

• A new canteen

• An upgrade to staff/administration facilities.

Progress summaryConstruction work is underway and expected to be complete in late 2019.

Queanbeyan East Public School Project update

Upcoming construction work In early February the steel framework for the new building will be erected. This will involve a crane being brought onto the site.

Construction work will take place as per approved hours of between 7am and 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 4pm on Saturdays.

Keeping you updatedRegular updates about what to expect will be provided to the school and local community throughout construction.

You can also speak with us via the contact information below.

January 2019

Artist impression of the Queanbeyan East Public School upgrade