Henley Beach Primary School Newsletter

Term 2 week 2 - Wednesday 5 May 2021

From the Principal

Welcome back to term 2. It has been positive to see all classes settle back into their routines and learning. A key focus for staff this term is continuing our work in a key strategic direction; increasing student achievement in Mathematics. Building staff capacity to differentiate student learning will be a focus strategy; our teachers strive to implement engaging and challenging learning for all students in Maths and our work in this area will strengthen the positive practices that are currently in place.

Along with this learning focus, many of our students will be participating in various extra-curricular opportunities this term. This includes school sport (basketball, soccer and football), the year 4 and 5 class camps (week 4), Chess Club and Code Club. We also have students participating in SAPSASA sport tryouts, including a team of students representing the school tomorrow in the district Cross Country running event; good luck to these students! Thank you to the teaching staff and parent volunteers who are enabling these great experiences for our students. 

On behalf of the school community I would like to congratulate Brooke Jones and her husband Daniel on the arrival of their twin girls Charlee and Coco. In other staff news, this term we welcome Rosetta Williams to our staff. Rosetta has an extensive background in working with children who have special needs and will be working in our junior primary area.

Student use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology)

Children’s use of ICT devices and their engagement with various online platforms has significantly increased in the past decade. These experiences can provide many benefits for users, including the opportunity to:

·        Support and enhance learning.

·        Collaborate with others.

·        Share their creativity.

·        Connect with family and friends.

·        Pursue their personal areas of interest.

·        Develop and express their unique identity.

An important priority for our school, that I am sure is shared with parents and carers, is for children to become informed and responsible ‘digital’ citizens. Through the Child Protection Curriculum children are taught a range of protective practices, including staying safe online. Along with these elements of the curriculum, the school’s ICT devices are supported by the Department for Education’s web filtering and cyber welfare systems. For some platforms a ‘restricted mode’ is in place that prevents children from seeing potentially mature or inappropriate content. This filtering network will also block websites and alert the school if any inappropriate content has been searched on a device. If students do come across any inappropriate content it is expected that they report these issues to their teacher so that it can be resolved.

For parents and carers, you can also support your child through the following:

·     Stay involved in your child’s digital world — keep up-to date with the sites, apps and online chat services they are using, and explore them together.

·     Build an open trusting relationship — keep communication open and calm so they know they can come to you when someone is asking them to do something that does not feel right.

·      Help your child to protect their privacy — encourage your child to use their privacy settings on social media sites to restrict their online information to known friends only.

·      Teach your child to be alert to signs of inappropriate contact — help your child recognise signs that an online 'friend’ may be trying to develop an inappropriate relationship, such as asking lots of questions about personal information soon after meeting online, asking which room their computer is in, asking them for favours and doing things in return (abusers often use promises and gifts to gain trust).

·     Establish safety guidelines for meeting online 'friends’ face-to-face — explain that it is safest to keep online 'friends’ online, but that if they do want to meet someone face-to-face they should let you know first. Let them know they should be accompanied by you or another trusted adult.

·      What to do if something goes wrong — talk to them without being judgemental or angry and make them feel like they can come to you with anything, without fear of being punished or criticised. Find out what happened and decide the most appropriate course of action.

Supporting your child’s use of ICT devices and helping them manage potential risks means they can safely enjoy all the benefits the internet has to offer. The online world can change rapidly and it can be hard to keep track of what platforms are most popular with your child and their friends. A resource that has been established by the Australian Government to support families is the esafety website. This website has a large range of resources and information suitable for families and is a great starting point, the website can be found at:  https://www.esafety.gov.au

NAPLAN

Next week our year 3, 5 and 7 students will commence their participation in NAPLAN. The testing period occurs between Tuesday 11 May and Friday 21 May. All classes have had a testing schedule developed, including the allowance for catch up tests if a child is absent on the actual day. If you have any queries regarding this process please contact your child’s class teacher.

Grounds Update

Through ongoing liaising with the Department for Education an outcome has been reached that will involve the department funding a replacement of the school’s perimeter fence. The new design will be 1.5m high (a standard design) and it is anticipated that this project will commence during term 2. This upgrade is a positive outcome for the school community and will contribute to our school being a safe environment. In conjunction with this, other department funded tasks have occurred during the recent holiday break, with the carpet in the Library being replaced and the timber decking between the upper primary classrooms being replenished.

Along with this work, the school has developed a draft master plan to self-fund the upgrade of identified areas within our grounds over the next 3-4 years. A copy of the plan has been provided for the school community to review and provide feedback. As a part of this this plan we will be also looking to install volleyball posts on the oval and re-locate the long jump pit.

School of Languages

Last term I met with the principal of the School of Languages which is a government school that specializes in languages education. The School of Languages provides the opportunity for students from Government, Catholic and Independent schools to come together (after regular school hours eg. 3.30-5.00pm) to learn a language. Lessons are held once a week, in an agreed learning space on the school grounds, for 1 ½ hours. Currently schools have access to 26 languages.

If there is sufficient interest in our school community, this is something that could be made available to our students next year. At this stage a language has not been decided, this will be determined through further consultation along while considering other relevant perspectives such as pathways beyond primary school (for example the language being taught at Henley High School, where the majority of our students transition to high school, is Japanese). Please complete the form provided with this week’s newsletter if you would like to provide feedback.

 School Assemblies

Our first assembly of the term will be held on Thursday 13 May from 2.20pm in the gym. Family members of presenting classes are welcome to attend (class teachers will communicate with families leading up to the assembly if they are presenting an item). From this date, assemblies will be held every fortnight.

Sports Day

Congratulations to all of our students on their efforts throughout our sports day. It was great to see the positive levels of participation, enthusiasm and encouragement they displayed. Thank you also to the many families who attended for your support and cheering.

Final results were:

Sandpipers           1,675

Herons                  1,718

Seagulls                 1,745

Pelicans                 1,834

Grounds Improvement Plan

COVID-19 - Update

The Department for Education has indicated that it is no longer necessary for parents and carers to check-in at the school gate to enter school grounds, however, it is a requirement when entering classrooms or buildings within the school (we are also required to use the QR sign in for other events). Visitors must continue to sign in at the Front Office as a part of our normal processes.

Parent/Carer Information Sessions: My Child and Me.

A series of parenting workshops has been planned for this term. The first session is tomorrow and subsequent sessions planned for 13 and 20 May. The sessions are titled ‘My Child and Me' and will focus on assisting parents and carers to build an understanding of childhood development areas, including: brain development, positive approaches to guiding children’s behavior and parenting styles. The sessions will occur after hours in the gym with our OSHC service providing a creche. We have received many registrations already for this opportunity, if you are interested in attending, please contact the school.

 

Admin reminders

The school's Front Office is open from 8.30am to 3.30pm daily.  If your request is afterhours you can email the school or leave a phone message and we will get back to you the next business day.

Email: DL.0177_info@schools.sa.edu.au

Ph: 08 8356 2117

First Aid Reminders

It is Department for Education policy that the guidelines below are followed. Thank you in anticipation of your support with this area.

If your child has flu like symptoms or is sick please keep them at home.

If your child has/had vomited and/or diarrhea they must not come to school for 24 hrs.

If a child presents to class with these symptoms you will be called to pick your child up and take them home.

Sick Certificate & COVID-19 testing

If your child is absent for 3 days you must provide the school with a sick certificate from a doctor.

If your child has had a COVID test please provide the school with a copy of the COVID negative result to clear your child back to school.

Medication

Medication cannot be administered in an education or care service without written advice on a medication agreement (with the exception of emergency medication for anaphylaxis and asthma).

Medication cannot be administered by education and care staff if:

  • a medication agreement has been modified, overwritten or is illegible
  • any of the ‘medication rights’ are in doubt.
  • the medication needs to be injected or administered rectally.

All sections of the medication instructions must be completed and match the pharmacy label on the medication.

All requirements listed in the 'authorisation and release' section must be checked and parent or guardian details entered.

The agreement section must be completed by a treating health professional where the medication is:

  • a controlled drug
  • oxygen
  • pain relief (ie paracetamol, ibuprofen) that is needed regularly or administered for more than 72 hours (3 days) in a week.

Change of Clothes

Due to the colder months please consider providing a spare set of clothes in your child's bag to cover them in the instance of an accident or wet weather. We have a limited supply in the sick room.

Year 6 and 7 to High school

Emails and packs were sent home Wednesday 28 April. Please ensure that you complete the process online prior to the 21 May 2021 deadline.

If you did not receive your online link or are having trouble please let us know and we will be able to assist you.

Literacy update Vicky Jones - Assistant Principal

Grace M Y3

 Mum! Guess what time is almost here…? HOLIDAY TIME!!

Here are some things we have to do!

We have to go to the beach because I need to get the fear of crabs off my mind……..

We have to go to the beach. It’s fun and we can throw the ball in the water. Where else could we go to find shells and soft, wet sand? I will also get used to being around crabs, this is important.

 Jack M Y3

 Dear Mum and Dad,

 Do you really want me to stay with you the whole school holidays? NOPE!

Did you really think we would?

Here are some things you can kick into action! I must have a sleepover with Archer, go skateboarding with Jett and go to the Mega Adventure Park………

Don’t lie, you said I was the most important thing ever so please treat me like it! …..

I have to burn off some energy, like 15 days straight locked inside. I won’t even be me, I won’t be Jack! I will be bouncing off the walls!

Luckily, the power of persuasion worked for Grace and Jack.

Wellbeing - Dr Donna

Welcome to a new term at HBPS!

Our Chess Club has completed the first round of our 8 week chess competition.  This year, we are trialling a different approach from the straight elimination rounds we used in 2020.  All students who have entered the competition will play in each of the 8 rounds.  We are using a computer program to record and compile the points earned in each round.  This program also sorts individual matches according to results.  This means that, as we progress through the competition, students will be increasingly challenged by students at their own level.  It will take the computer program a couple of weeks to become more accurate in its match ups.  Dr Donna would sincerely like to thank Boon Toh for his support and direction with this new approach.

Our interschool chess team started their competition at Grange Primary on Friday, 30th April.  Our team of 5 includes Luka (Yr 7), Finlay (Yr 7), Harry (Yr 6), Hayden (Yr 6) and Will (Yr 6). Thanks to all the parents involved who have made this possible.

The term 2 fundraiser is being organised by students in Mr Johnston’s Year 4 class.  There will be more information on this in the next newsletter.  Dr Donna would like to thank Bella, Lillian, Zaria, Siena, Nikki and Kate for their assistance to the Year 4 girls and for their kindness in sharing the fundraising activities.

Words for Wellbeing: “Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless.” (Mother Teresa)

 

Miss Mary’s Year 5s – Buddies

Our buddy class is Mrs Cook’s R/1 class and in our most recent buddy session, we went to the library to read some books. The little buddies read to us because they brought their readers. They chose some books for us to read to them. – Bella

 It is our responsibility to make sure our buddies enjoy our buddy class lessons so we made sure that we took turns reading but we also let them read as many times as they wanted to. It’s so amazing that they are so passionate about reading. We encouraged them to read their readers every night. – Annika

 We enjoyed being able to see what types of books our buddy class liked to read. We liked being able to interact with our buddy and learn more and more about them. We also really liked being able to see how much their reading has improved this year. – Lulu

 We got the chance to read many interesting books together and look at the colourful pictures. Their class is a Reception and Year 1 class so most of the Year 1’s read their books to us. We think it is very important to do these activities with them so we can connect and get to know them even more. – Grace

 Some of the buddies really liked being read to and some liked reading to us. They read with passion and joy. They were enthusiastic about what we were reading to them and they had lots of energy. We really enjoyed doing this and we hope they did too. - Hayden

School Pupil/Closure days 2021

PUPIL FREE DAY  - FRIDAY 11 JUNE

SCHOOL CLOSURE DAY - FRIDAY 10 SEPTEMBER

PUPIL FREE DAY - MONDAY 13 SEPTEMBER

PUPIL FREE DAY - 5 NOVEMBER

Term 2 Dates

Assemblies odd weeks at 2.20pm.

NAPLAN  - Years 3, 5 and 7 from 11 May to 21 May 

Year 4/5 Camp     - Year 4 from 17 May - 19 May

                                 - Year 5 from 19 May  - 21 May


OSHC - Andrew D'Amico 0401 121 087



Other School News

Thank you for your interest in our School Tours. The current Term 2 tour dates and times are as follows: Monday 3rd May, 9.00am - 10.30am Tuesday 4th May, 1.45pm - 3.15pm Session timeline is typically a presentation followed by a choice to stay and listen to Sports Academy information or go on the tour. After the Sports Academy information you will have a chance to tour the school. Please meet at the front of the school hall 15 minutes prior to the session commencing. Upon arrival you will be required to sign in via the QR Code located at the entrance to the hall.