Alawa Primary School Newsletter

Welcome to Week 2.

Yesterday Jo Baines and Katie Wedel took our Senior Learning Commissioners to The Leadership Summit at the Convention Centre. Our students were invited to share their journey and success and explain what the Learning Commission is all about. All students were wonderful representatives of Alawa and they spoke with confidence in front of Principals and Education leaders across the NT. They were a fine example of how we can listen to and allow student voice to influence change within a school. Thankyou to Jo and Katie for preparing our students for this event. I felt very proud of their ability to confidently express their thoughts and opinions in front of so many adults.

PIRLS- The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) is an assessment and research project designed to measure reading achievement at the fourth-grade level. It provides internationally comparative data about how well children from different countries read after four years of primary schooling. Next week our Year 4 students will complete the reading assessment and questionnaire on their attitudes toward reading and their reading habits.

VAPING -  In a number of NT schools there has been incidences involving vaping (also known as e-cigarettes or stigs). Vaping is the action or practice of inhaling and exhaling vapour containing nicotine and/or flavouring produced by a devise designed for this purpose. Vaping has been the cause of acute lung disease and long term affects are still not known as it is a fairly new activity. Of great concern is that ‘vapes’ are marketed to youth through the use of bright colours, attractive packaging and flavours. For more information:

https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Articles/F_I/Health-effects-of-vaping

CYBER SAFETY - I would like to take a moment to reflect on the use of digital technologies and the range of platforms our children communicate with each other. As parents we often find it difficult to keep up with this world of communication through technology and many times we are unaware of what is actually going on. Please take the time to find out how your child is spending their time online. They need our support to be part of a positive online world and we need to reinforce respectful and responsible online behaviour. For more information: https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents

Have a wonderful week

Genevieve Donohue [Acting Principal of the Best School in the Multiverse]

Another busy week at Alawa this week. I have been into all classrooms from Years 3 – 6 to set the scene for Term 4 and get ready to tie up the remainder of the year. In these sessions we have framed the coming term in a positive light by discussing self-regulation strategies and the need to be at school on time every day. We also reflected on Term 3 behaviour data which proved to be excellent, with 99% of students in Years 3 – 6 doing the right thing in last term. Students were also able to see the results of our online PIVOT survey. In this survey, students gave teachers feedback from their perspective. It is another way in which student voice is recognised at Alawa.

In other news, we continue to develop our whole school approach to reading through our Reader’s Workshop. Connecting reading, writing and oral language is a major focus of our current School Improvement Plan and teachers, with the support of the English Team have been developing their understanding on how students best learn to read. The Reader’s Workshop has been developed at Alawa to target the development of necessary reading skills for children and directly reflects elements of the school’s Writer’s Workshop. It has been exciting to see Alawa’s approach to reading grow and to see children respond in such a positive manner to the approach as they begin to see themselves as successful readers. Further development of the Reader’s Workshop will also be a focus of this Friday’s Professional Development day.

Matthew Lotherington [Acting Assistant Principal]

Our 4th and final Professional Learning Day for staff is planned for Friday 22nd October. There will be no school for students that day. Our staff will be reviewing our progress towards the goals in our Annual School Improvement Plan and developing the priorities and plans for 2022. We will also be reviewing staff and parents Perception Survey feedback to inform these priorities and our 2022 operations.

Bratpack will be available for care. All bookings to be made directly with the Bratpack team.

thebratpacknt@bigpond.com 

office: 8927 2546

mobile: 0423375089

Australia will celebrate and thank the teaching profession on World Teachers’ Day on Friday 29 October 2021.   Teachers (with support from parents and carers) have ensured education continues across the country this year, despite major challenges. It has reinforced the significant role teachers play in the lives of children, their families as well as communities.

On Friday 29 October, you can say a big thank you to teachers by posting a photo in your sunglasses on Twitter or Facebook, either on your own or with family or friends. Use these tags: #BrightFuture @aitsl 

Explore photos from 2020 for inspiration: https://twitter.com/i/events/1320498810343231489

From 14 October, help collect a million virtual apples to thank teachers across Australia at www.worldteachersday.edu.au

Other ideas for how parents/carers and students can get involved are included in this article: https://worldteachersday.edu.au/for-parents-community

On Tuesday 15th October Senior Learning Commissioners spoke to a room of 150 principals and Leaders in Education in the Territory at the Convention Centre.

Students spoke about their journey and findings so far this year and how and what it is all about. 

Student reflections:

"For learning commission we went to the convention center and spoke in front of Principals from around Darwin. Henbury School also spoke with us. We talked about our journey and more and had so much fun" Niluh

"It was really fun breaking down questions given by the Principals and giving reasonable answers and reflecting on our presentation" Grace

"Some people spoke about what we have done in Learning Commission this year and then after that we did a Q n A with the Principals" Taylah 

Students at Alawa receive raffle tickets [house points] for their attitude and behaviour in the playground and out the front of the school at the end of the day. These are then counted on a Friday along with the points for students in full uniform, wearing house shirts etc.  At the end of each term we also include the points earnt through the recycling project and water bottle checks.

In Week 1 of Term 4 Goyder was ahead of Manton and Finnis. 

Finnis is in the lead for the year!

Muster is held at Alawa after each recess and lunch break. This gives us an opportunity for everyone to settle from playtime, share any celebrations and work on consistency of messages and expectation.

Each day we allocate class points during Muster time recognising those students who were ready and waiting to go back to class calmly and quietly after break times. The winning class from each 3 weeks will receive ice-blocks from Ms Cartwright and get to choose 5 songs that will play before our bells for the following 3 weeks.

In Week 1 of Term 4, the class with the most points was... Year 2 Ward with 170 points! 

Teachers, a great one can enrich a generation.

They can inspire you to learn about Math, Life, Science or Art… and maybe even teach you whatever Pythagoras’s theorem was about.

If hearing this makes you think of that one teacher that deserves a little more than a gold star, then nominate them now for Apple for the Teacher for 2021.

There's heaps of prizes up for grabs. Let's show these absolute legends how much we appreciate them!

And make sure you lookout for the Mango Squad, as they jump in GWM Haval brand new SUV! The team has loads of fresh Mango's onboard to deliver to your school.

Hot100FM and Harvey Norman’s Apple for the Teacher!

It’s our turn finally in the STEM Room! We have been waiting all year for this and we are excited to design and create multiple STEM projects that will challenge us to problem solve. If you have any items that you may think will be useful for our projects e.g. straws, cardboard, marbles plates, etc... Please can you bring them in?

I am looking forward to STEM because I can create lots of fun things. I will also challenge myself by working well in a team to complete our STEM challenges. From Tegan

I am looking forward to exploring and making new things. I am also looking forward to using different muscles like my fingers to create projects. From Jorja

I am looking forward to our big competition about survival. It will also be good to work in a team to design new things and have fun with my friends. From Annabel

I am looking forward to making our big project around survival and working with my group. From Flynn

I would like to thank you all for recognising the importance of encouraging your child to read and supporting the school and the Library at the recent Book Fair. We are pleased to announce that we raised $1500 to be used for books and resources for the students. Book Club is on again and a catalogue will be coming home this week. This is a bumper Christmas edition with 40 pages of Christmas gift ideas, summer holiday reading and the best of the best children’s books for 2021.

When you order online you can choose the Gift function so that when your order is delivered to the school it will be marked as a gift and be set aside for you to collect separately. If you are ordering through the school please let us know when you order if you would like your order set aside when it arrives and we will contact you.

 

As with past Book Club orders you have a couple of ways to order:

·         You can view the catalogue and order online through the Scholastic Bookclub website at scholastic.com.au/LOOP https://mybookclubs.scholastic.com.au/Parent/Login.aspx or download the LOOP app From Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.scholastic.BookClubs_Android or from the App Store https://apps.apple.com/au/app/book-clubs-loop-for-parents/id932249497 or

·         Return your order form and payment to the front office.

Please feel free to give me a call if you have any questions.

Miss Sacha [Library and ICT Manager]

So far this term it has been very, very hot. We make the most of the beautiful outdoor learning environment in the cooler mornings while spending more time indoors in the afternoon to escape the heat.

The Preschoolers have begun doing rotations in small groups in the afternoon. Each group spends time engaging in activities with a fine motor/ numeracy focus before moving on to a new activity with their group. These rotation activities help to further develop and extend the children’s fine motor skills and understanding of numeracy concepts while also letting them experience small group rotations which are often a component in the transition classrooms. Children have really enjoyed taking part in these rotations which include activities such as cutting, threading, building and numeral recognition. We look forward to continuing these afternoon rotations throughout the term.

Alice, Emma and Kelly and Flor [Preschool Team] 

Each week the farm will have a limited number of Farm produce boxes for sale with a variety of seasonal fresh produce. 

Each box is $15 and will include items available on the day. Please note items will vary from week to week depending on what is in season. 

Orders are to be made through our Quickcliq system https://quickcliq.com.au/ for Fridays only and can be picked up from the front office at the end of the day. 

https://www.backyardchickencoops.com.au/blogs/learning-centre/5-reasons-to-love-belgian-duccle-chickens

Our Mission - is to provide the Alawa School community with delicious healthy meals and snacks and to create meaningful links to our kitchen garden program.

LUNCHTIME SPECIALS: Weeks 1-4

Available every day lunch only [Wednesday - Friday]:

- Mini beef burgers  $3.50

- Spaghetti bolognaise small serve $3.50 or large serve $5.50/Gluten Free Spaghetti $6.50

Wednesday- Butter chicken with rice - Large size $5.50, Small $3.50

Thursday – Sausage roll with corn on the cob - one size only $5.50

 Friday – Chicken chow mein - Large size $5.50, Small $3.50

A reminder that our school Cafe is open Wednesday to Friday ONLY. Closed on Monday and Tuesdays. 

Order online at www.quickcliq.com.au