Presentation Days and Graduations

This year we have decided to have 7 presentation ceremonies so that we are able to include parents and carers. To make this workable we have decided to combine graduations for Year 6 and Kindergarten with the presentation of awards for those grades. Captains for 2021 will be announced at the year 5 presentation assembly. Major Awards will be announced at the year 6 assembly. These will then be announced at the grade presentations.

·        One parent or carer can attend for each student graduating from Kindergarten or Year 6.

·        Two parents or carers can attend for students receiving awards in years 1-5.

This will be the total number of people we will be able to have attend. Invitations will be sent out in the next week or 2.

Students and their parents and carers will need to be aware that graduation and award ceremonies will be conducted in accordance with the COVID-19 Safety Plan for graduation ceremonies to ensure a COVID-Safe environment for all attendees. Requirements include:

• Guests will be invited based on the total number of people (this includes staff, students, parents & carer or visitors) who are able to be accommodated under the 4 square metre rule.
• Maintain a record of names and contact details for all attendees including school staff and contractors for at least 28 days after the event. This record will only be used for the purposes of contact tracing for COVID-19 infections and are stored confidentially and securely.
• All attendees including students, staff and guests attending are well and free of any flu-like symptoms.
• For seating arrangements, the school will need to:
• Ensure there is enough space for distancing of 1.5 metres between non-household members.
• External visitors will need to remain seated as much as possible to minimise mingling outside of non-household groups or close friend groups.
• External visitors will not be allowed access to areas outside of the designated event venue and should leave promptly at the conclusion of the event.

Presentation Assemblies/Graduation times and dates

We are looking forward to the assemblies and seek your understanding in adhering to COVID guidelines while you are on school property. The timing for each of the assemblies is very tight and we welcome your cooperation in leaving the school grounds promptly. All assemblies will be held under the school COLA.

The year presentations/assemblies for 2020 will also feature on our Facebook page, Skoolbag app and website. We will publish photos of our award winners and celebrate the achievements of the wonderful students at Gwandalan Public School.

Playground Equipment

At the moment it looks like our playground equipment might start as soon as next week and possibly be completed in as little as a week. I wish to make special mention of OOSH’s generous contribution to this equipment that I forgot to mention last newsletter in my excitement.  It has been a great collaboration between OOSH, P&C and the school to make this happen and I thank those who have been part of it. It will be fantastic for our students to have some play equipment that is as safe it can be and lots of fun.

Anti-Bullying

We are always concerned that our students do not get involved in bullying behaviours. This year we have run special programs led by the Uniting Church for stage 2 and 3 students. Each program takes 30-45 minutes week and each of them has run for 8 weeks. Our students should know a lot about what is and is not bullying and how to avoid it. You may be interested to know that less than 1% of incidents that are reported to teachers are actually identified as bullying. Parents often report incidents to me as bullying that often turn out to be an incident where one student has hurt another either verbally or physically or even more often where 2 students have hurt each other. For an incident to be bullying it has to have the following 3 components;

1.      Be hurtful- physical, verbal or even leaving someone out.

2.      Power over someone else- the person doing the bullying is bigger, older or more popular. This most often involves a group of kids against one kid.

3.      Repeated- the same thing happening multiple times to the same person.

Life Education

Healthy Harold will be with us next Friday. Please ensure you have returned all notes and payment.

Bike Safety

Children should not ride a bike or scooter to school without a helmet. If they come to school without a helmet they will be asked to leave their bike or scooter at school until they bring their helmet. This is for their own safety. Their bike or scooter will be locked up securely.

New Students for 2021/ Leaving in 2021

If you are leaving Gwandalan PS next year can you please let us know?

If you know of any new student who are enrolling with us next year would you encourage them to contact our office. We are beginning to plan for 2021 and would appreciate this information.

Kind Regards

Sandy Notley

Principal 

Our Kinder transition last Tuesday was fantastic. They were so good and all went off happily to the classroom with the teachers. They also got to meet their year 4 buddies who were very excited to meet them. We will have 2 more transition visits in small groups on Tuesday 1st and 8th of December. We ask our community if we have any families that may have a child that is starting school next year to please come into the school office and put their name down so that they can receive all the information directly. Please contact the school if you require any additional information or just need to ask a question.

Our office hours are 8.15am to 3.30pm. We accept cash, card and Parent on line payments (via school website). Notes can be dropped off at the office and put into the payment box at the front counter.

Notes  

We sent home Life Education notes $7 per student and Year 6 Dullboys note $25 per student. Invoices for outstanding amounts for Bookpacks parents can pay with cash or eftpos at the front office or via our school website through Parent on line payments. Also, Ukulele payments are now due for Term 4.

Medication     

We are currently updating health care plans, we will be in contact with you in regards to paperwork needing signing or plans needing updating.

If your child carries a puffer in their bags please notify the office as we now have paperwork that needs to be filled in.

Is your child on medication at School?

If so, we would appreciate you arranging to have your child's medication prepared into a Webster pack. This is prepared for you at the Chemist. Many Chemists do this as a free service. However, some may charge a small fee.

Is your child on medication at home?

If so, please contact the office. 

Attendance

We will be sending out sms messages to parents when students are absent. Please ensure that we have your correct mobile as we ask that you reply to these messages by phoning the school or recording the absence via the skoolbag application.

SkoolBag App 

Have you got our skoolbag app? If not, why not download it to keep up-to-date with all the latest news happening around the school. Just go to your application store and search Gwandalan Public School.

Payments Due

Bookpack payments DUE – $60 per student

Ukulele payments Term 4 DUE - $50 per student

Life Education DUE Wednesday 25th Nov - $7 per student

Year 6 Dullboys DUE Wednesday 25th Nov - $25 per student