Noarlunga Downs Primary School

The SA Child Protection Awards celebrates the achievement of people and organisations who provide vital support to vulnerable children and young people and inspire others to support children and young people in care.  Noarlunga Downs Primary School were nominated for the "Improving education and learning outcomes for children and young people" section.  From this nomination we were named one of four finalists for our dedicated focus on fostering supportive environments so that children in care have every chance to thrive and succeed at school.  A number of staff attended the awards breakfast on Wednesday this week, at the Adelaide Convention Centre.  Unfortunately, we were not the winners however we are extremely honoured to have been nominated and made a finalist.  It is reward and acknowledgement for the tireless work of the staff at NDPS.

It is with great pleasure that we inform you that Michael Sboro has won the Deputy Principal role for the next three years at Noarlunga Downs Primary School.  We are extremely pleased to have Michael continue in the position.

Transition to High School

Students who are attending Christies Beach High School in 2022 attended the school for a half day visit last week. There will be more transition visits coming up for all schools. The high schools will let families know about these dates.

Child Protection Curriculum

This term, all students are learning about recognising and reporting abuse as part of the Child Protection Curriculum (CPC). The CPC is taught using age appropriate language, depending on the audience it is targeted to.

 

Book Week

Book week was held in week 6 of term 3. Our classes and staff spent many hours creating amazing outfits for the day which was based on a shortlisted book. A Book Week parade was held to showcase the costumes and books. Students and staff looked amazing. Classes were involved with activities run by Noarlunga Library staff, either at school or by visiting the library. Unfortunately our two excursions, ‘Stan and Mabel’ and ‘Leon and the Place Between’ were cancelled at the last minute due to Covid-19 theatre capacity. We are hopeful that these can occur in the future. Many thanks to all staff and students for their time and effort in the lead up to Book Week, especially Amy Owen who organised the logistics.

 

During writing and science this term, we have been learning about living things. We have learnt living things grow, change, and have offspring similar to themselves, can be grouped on the basis of observable features and can be recognised from non-living things. We have been researching different animals to collect information to write an information report. Some students have shared the interesting facts they have learnt during their research;

Tahlia: ‘The animal that I researched was the giant panda. The giant panda has survived the ice age and centuries beyond but is now heading toward extinction.’

Asia: ‘The bottle nose dolphin has a curved mouth which gives the appearance of a permanent friendly smile.’

Logan: ‘One drop of venom from the in-land taipan snake can kill over 100 fully grown adults.’

Oliver: ‘Sloths enjoy swimming in water in Africa.’

Adelle: ‘Did you know, that an anaconda can eat a deer?’

Zoe: ‘Axolotls are a type of salamander.’

Aria: ‘Mountain and snow leopards are natural enemies that will attack lamas if they get close enough.’

Archer: ‘Axolotls spend most of their time in water. Thank you for listening.’

In Aboriginal Language and Culture lessons students have been learning the Kaurna names for some animals found on Kaurna land. Students have been learning the Kaurna names of animals through games, art activities and songs.

During MALPA students have been learning about mental health. They have been learning strategies to manage their own mental health as well as ways to support someone who is showing signs of struggling with their mental health.