Principal’s Message

Welcome back for Term 2 and I hope you all enjoyed the pleasant weather over the holiday break. This term we have a number of important events and activities planned for our learners. Our school is a vibrant place of learning and I urge you to regularly check the online calendar at: https://www.southcoogeepublicschool.com/calendar/

Grow Your Mind

Our staff have been busy at work engaging in professional learning to prepare for the teacher led sessions of our Grow Your Mind Program. As part of the program being implemented in classrooms this term, all students at South Coogee Public will be learning and developing a range of skills designed to keep their mind healthy.

Each week as part of the program the entire school will be focusing on a different positive quality to improve their wellbeing.

Week 1 – Know Your Brain – Our learners will be introduced to the concept that we need to look after our mental health in the same way we look after our physical health. Students will learn about the different parts of the brain (see images below) and their functions. They will also explore the benefit of practising mindfulness, by examining breathing techniques to help them self-regulate.

Week 2 – Gratitude – Our learners will examine how gratitude can makes us more RESILIENT. When we are aware of the good things in our life, when things don’t go our way we have an awareness that we still have a lot to feel thankful for. They will examine how practising gratitude helps to grow our Wise Owl (prefrontal Cortex), our Elephant (hippocampus) and our Sifting Sooty (reticular activating system) and it can help to shrink our Guard Dog (amygdala).

Our Grow Your Mind Parent Information Evening is being held on Tuesday 21 May at 7pm in the hall. Please see the flyer in this newsletter for further information. We look forward to seeing many parents at this event so we can all work together to support our children’s positive mental health.

Meet Our New Staff Member

Welcome to Ms Melinda Nancarrow who will covering be 1C while Mrs Chantal Cake is relieving in the deputy principal position. Melinda comes to South Coogee from Carlingford PS and we are thrilled to have her join our teaching team.

Congratulations

Kaylie Johnson and her partner Ben are delighted to announce that had a beautiful baby girl, Annabelle on the 30 April. Both mum and baby are doing well and Kaylie is really enjoying being a new mother.

Canteen Tender

Our current canteen licence agreement with Anthony catering has expired and we are required by the Department of Education to go to tender. Our current provider is encouraged to participate in this tender process. The following Advertisement will be placed in the Southern Courier and Wentworth Courier over the next three weeks.

Mother’s Day Breakfast and Open Classrooms

I’m looking forward to our Mother’s Day Breakfast this Friday. Bacon and egg rolls, fresh pastries and coffee from Double Shot Coffee co. can be purchased from the designated areas outside of the hall. Following the breakfast we will be holding open classrooms for all mums, nanas, carers and special friends.

K-2 classes will be open from 9.10am-10.00am

3-6 classes will be open from 10.00-10.50am

NAPLAN (Years 3 & 5)

Next week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) will be completed by students in Years 3 and 5. Students will participate in NAPLAN tests in reading, writing, language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. Further information about these tests is provided later in the newsletter.

Kindergarten 2020

The school is now taking enrolments for Kindergarten 2020. First preference goes to in area students and siblings. Out of area applications will only be considered after the first two categories are exhausted. If you know of any families in the first two categories please advise them to contact the school office.

Exciting Additions to the School

 Our new friendship bench was completed in the school holidays and has been an extremely popular addition to the school playground.

We have also constructed a new garden area in the stairwell to Stage 2 classes. Thank you to the Berger family for assisting with printing the large Grow Your Mind Tree poster.

Parents and Citizen’s Association (P & C)

The next meeting of the P & C will be held on Wednesday 15 May 2019 at 7pm in the library. All parents are welcome to attend. We look forward to seeing you there.

Thanks for your valuable feedback

We received 111 responses to our parent-teacher interview survey and overall the results were extremely positive (please see results provided below). 93% of survey respondents indicated that the interviews were a positive experience and felt they were given opportunities to ask questions regarding their child. An area for further improvement included ensuring future goals or areas for development were identified for each child. Some of the feedback from the open response question related to ensuring the interview time allocated for our year 5 and 6 students was increased. There was also a request for resources or tools to support their child’s learning goals.

Each stage has examined the feedback from this survey and we will be amending some of our structures for parent-teacher interviews in 2019. Thanks again for taking the time to provide us with this valuable feedback.

Deputy Principal’s News

Welcome back to Term 2! The students have staff have all settled back into the swing of things and it has been a positive start to the term. We have many upcoming events so please keep an eye out for Skoolbag and Care Monkey notifications.

I am very excited to be taking on the role of Relieving Deputy Principal this term. As I have been at SCPS for quite a while, I am familiar with many families. However, please feel free to introduce yourself if you see me around. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to contact me either in person or on the school phone.

Below is some information about the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data

All schools in Australia, including South Coogee Public School, participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability. The national data collection is an annual collection that counts the number of school students with disability, and the level of reasonable educational adjustment with which they are provided. This national data collection collects information about students with disability in a consistent, reliable and systematic way. The national data collection draws on and reflects the ongoing work teachers and education staff do to support students with disability. If you would like any further information around the NCCD, or do not wish your child to be included in the data collection, please contact the school. Additional information about the national data collection is available on the Australian Government Department of Education’s website at:

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/disability-learning-and-support/personalised- support-for-learning/national-disability-data-collection

Chantal Cake

Relieving Deputy Principal

Library News

It’s been a great start to the year in our school library.

We have finished checking each chapter book for its Lexile level and labelled hundreds of books. A big thank you goes to parent Susan Elliot who did a lot of this enormous task that began last year.

Our first Scholastic book fair for the year was a great way to end term one. It was our most successful book fair in recent years with our school receiving $2,000 in rewards to spend on new resources for our library. This would not have been possible without the support of our school community. Thank you to everyone who visited the fair and made a purchase.

We have many projects planned for the remainder of the year including purchasing some new furniture, organising the non-fiction section and labelling all the Premier’s Reading Challenge picture books.

If you would like to contribute to the ongoing improvement of our school library, do not hesitate to contact me in person or via email susy.leal@det.nsw.edu.au

Mrs Susy Leal

Teacher Librarian

ANZAC Assembly

SCPS held our ANZAC Assembly this week. The Stage Three ‘Defence Kids’ led the ANZAC Assembly and did an amazing job presenting the ANZAC story and guiding the school through the different components of the commemorative assembly.

We were supported by Lieutenant Colonel Julian West and Major Glenn Scott as our speakers, both Members of 8th Signal Regiment, Randwick Barracks, and Mr Brian Somerville from Bondi Brass, who was our bugler for the day.

Our guests included members of the Coogee Randwick Clovelly RSL and Bronte RSL Sub-Branches. Bronte RSL Sub-Branch presented the school with two new books for our library.

Thank you to family and friends who attended the assembly; it was easy to see the important connections between our South Coogee Public School Community and our wider Defence Family.

NAPLAN

National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) 2019

In Week 3 this term, The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) will be completed by all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 around Australia. Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participate in the annual NAPLAN tests in reading, writing, language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.

NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through their regular school curriculum. All government and non-government education authorities have contributed to the development of NAPLAN materials.

NAPLAN tests are constructed to give students an opportunity to demonstrate skills they have learned over time through the school curriculum, and NAPLAN test days should be treated as just another routine event on the school calendar. The best way you can help your child prepare for NAPLAN is to reassure them that NAPLAN tests are just one part of their school program, and to urge them to simply do the best they can on the day.

The assessment provides parents and schools with an understanding of how individual students are performing at the time of the tests. NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process – it does not replace ongoing assessment made by teachers about student performance.

The tests will be conducted across Australia on the same days for all students according to the following timetable:

A ‘make up’ day will be held on Friday 17 May for any students who may have missed an assessment on one of the above dates due to illness.

For further information can be viewed on the NAPLAN website: https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/parent-carer-support

Walk to School Safely

From the Office

Invoices

Term 2 invoices will be sent home with your child next week. These invoices will carry forward any unpaid Term 1 amounts, plus excursion, incursion, sport and extra curricular activity occurring in Term 2. Please contact the office if you require any assistance, as a payment plan can be arranged.

Spare Clothes

It would be helpful if parents of younger students (who may have the occasional ‘accident’) could leave a spare set of undies and socks in their schoolbag. Thank you.

Athletics Trials – Discus & Shotput

On Wednesday 15^th May at 8.00am we would like to invite any SENIOR students who have experience in discus or shot-put through Little Athletics Programs or strongly believe they are capable of progressing towards the Zone Athletics Carnival to come and trial for the South Coogee Public School team which will be finalised at our school Athletic Carnival in Week 7.

We would also like to invite JUNIOR students who have experience in the Athletics events of discus and shot-put through Little Athletic Programs or who strongly believe they are capable of progressing to the Zone Athletics carnival to come and trial on Wednesday 22^nd May at 8.00am. Students will need to know their age they are turning/have turned this year and possible throwing distances from their little athletics program.

Intention to Apply for Opportunity Class

Intention to apply for Year 5 entry to an opportunity class in 2020

Opportunity classes cater for academically gifted and talented students who may otherwise be without sufficient classmates at their own academic and social level.

Applications for opportunity class placement are considered mainly on the combined results of the  Opportunity Class Placement Test and school assessments. The Opportunity Class Placement Test will be  held on Wednesday 31 July 2019.

If you would like to have your child considered for Year 5 opportunity class entry in 2020, you need to apply on the internet using a valid email address.

Detailed instructions on how to apply online are available  at https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year-5

The application website opens on Tuesday 30 April 2019 and closes on Friday 17 May 2019. You must apply by the due date.

Earn & Learn        

This year, once again, our school will be participating in the Woolworths Earn & Learn promotion. In past years this has enabled us to purchase a variety of learning materials and sporting gear for the school.

There are sticker sheets and a collection bin at the front office, and another collection bin in OOSH.

Term 1 Merit Awards