Principal's Message	Canteen opens this week Tues - Fri - New Menu	Revised Exit Procedures
New Playground update	Support Class for LPS 2022	P & C News including notice of AGM

All back on deck

For those of you with children in Years 2-6, this last week may have felt like one of the longest of the LFH period. It is always when you get really close to an important milestone that you have waited so long to get to, that time feels like it slows down. If you are like me, I would expect you can’t wait to send your children back to school tomorrow to join our Kindergarten and Year 1 students that started back last week. On behalf of the whole staff, my sincere thanks for supporting the final week of LFH last week even though you may have been tempted to send your children back to school early. The number of students from Year 2-6 attending last week was very low and reflective of those families who have been working in essential services throughout the lockdown period. Last week was a really settled week at school. The teachers and I were delighted with how our K-1 students returned and settled back into routine so beautifully. This might be going too far, but we almost felt like LFH may have given them a greater appreciation for learning at school! Either way, we look forward to having our full compliment of students and staff back at school tomorrow and getting back into the school routine.

If you are still working from home this week, I would encourage you to treat yourself with a visit to your favourite café to celebrate the great support you provided to your children while LFH. Great job everyone, we will take it from here.

Please stay home if unwell

You have heard this message a lot since the beginning of the pandemic, but please remember that despite the inconvenience, if your child is unwell – you need to keep them at home. Schools have been encouraged to maintain a safe learning environment, by asking parents and carers to collect children that are unwell from school immediately. I understand that after 11 weeks of LFH your instinct may be to send a sick child to school with the ‘see how you go’ approach, but unfortunately this approach is not appropriate for the current circumstances. Your cooperation in this respect is appreciated. If your child is unwell with flu-like symptoms, there is still a requirement to have a Covid-19 test and share the negative result with the school prior to them returning (the same applies to staff).   

Establishment of a support class

Earlier this year, I was informed that The Department of Education had identified a need in our community for the establishment of a specialist support class at our school. I am sure you would understand, there is a growing need in our system to provide placements for students with disability in mainstream schools. Students in these classes require a higher level of support and modified programs to support their development than can be offered in a mainstream class. The Department’s strong values around inclusion underpins the need for these classes to be established in mainstream schools like ours. Children that are eligible for the placements need to be integrated into and have strong connections with a school. We have been informed that we would be asked to form a special needs autism class at Lambton 2022. I see the establishment of this class as a wonderful addition to our school community with numerous benefits to the children who will be placed in the class and to our existing student population. Below this section, I have attached a letter with more detail about the establishment of this class and what it means for our school. I welcome your feedback, questions and or concerns. If you wish to provide feedback, please direct it to me via the school email address Lambton-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au.  I hope that you will join with us in recognising what a wonderful addition this will be to our school and community. 

Have a great week

David Holland

Congratulations to our Students of the Week for Week 3 of Term 4: 

Exit Procedures

Although our previous exit procedures were working very well, under the new guidelines we are required to limit students having contact with others outside their cohort bubbles. It may be frustrating, but our previous process of having students with specific surnames exit through a particular gate will not meet the new requirements. Therefore, under Level 3+ guidelines, there will be 2 finishing times at Lambton PS as follows and we ask parents to make arrangements to collect children at the times below:

·       2:45pm – Kindergarten – Yr 2

·       3:00pm – Years 3 – 6

For Kindergarten to Year 2 - because the largest group of students exits on Croudace Street, teachers will start the process by walking their class to the designated Croudace Street exit gate first (see below). Parents who are meeting their child at the gates, are asked to review below which gate their child’s cohort will exit through and meet them here. A teacher will remain inside the grounds with any child not collected at the Croudace Street  gates, while other staff will then take the remaining students exiting through other gates via a loop to each of the other exit points including OSHC, the back gate and a meeting point for Kiss and Drop. Students exiting via Kiss and Drop will be marshalled under the top cola and will wait with teachers until the Years 3-6 cohorts joins them. Students exiting via Kiss and Drop will do so from 3:05pm onwards with their siblings.

If younger children would normally meet older siblings to walk home together unaccompanied by parents, they can meet Mrs Brown at the Stage 3 eating area who will assist them and guide them from there. They will then leave via the hall/canteen gate together. 

The department has updated its pages with detailed guidance for parents and carers about what will happen should there be a confirmed case of COVID-19 at school and students are identified as a close or casual contact (find it here).

All schools have COVID-safe plans and are taking precautions to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission on-site. This includes enhanced cleaning two times a day in all schools in line with the latest advice from NSW Health and SafeWork Australia. It is important to note that medical advice suggests transmission among children is lower and when they do catch COVID they generally only have mild symptoms. A reminder that anyone who has the mildest of COVID-19 symptoms must get tested immediately and self-isolate until they get a negative result - even if they‘re vaccinated. 

We have come to that time of year where we are starting preliminary planning for the 2022 school year. Student enrolment numbers play a strong part on our teaching allocation and budget for next year. If any families are already aware that their child will be moving to a different school for the start of the 2022 school year, could you please alert the office as soon as possible so we can take this into account. 

The following information is for parents of students currently in Year 4 who earlier this year nominated their child to sit the OC Placement Test for Year 5 2022. Due to the ongoing COVID restrictions, this year's Opportunity Class Placement Test has been rescheduled to Wednesday 17th November 2021. The test will be administered as a computer-based test and will be held here onsite rather than at a central location. This is to ensure placement of students in opportunity classes on Day 1, Term 1, 2022.

Selective high schools cater for academically gifted students with high potential who may otherwise be without sufficient classmates at their own academic standard. Selective high schools help these students to learn by grouping them with students of similar ability, and by using specialised teaching methods.

If you would like to have your child considered for Year 7 selective high school entry in 2023, you need to apply online. Applications opened on 19 October 2021 and will close on 17 November 2021. You must apply before the closing date.

If you would like some advice on whether a selective high school placement should be considered for your child, please speak with your child’s class teacher or Mr Semmens, the Stage 3 Assistant Principal. Further information will also be sent home with all Year 5 students this week.

The Selective High School Placement Test will be held on Thursday 10 March 2022.

Click here for detailed instructions on how to apply and the link to the online form.

Now that our youngest students are working back at school, they had a busy first week. K/1S spent the week learning about Summer. They have been looking at what they can do at the beach, what they can wear and what they may see at the beach. They have been learning about weather symbols and focusing on washing our hands with soap and water while singing the happy birthday song in our heads. They have also been enjoying throwing and catching during PE.

How are you finding the Parenting Ideas articles that we have started including with each newsletter? This week, we have selected an article with a positive spin - Dr Justin Coulson give suggestions on ‘Seven ways to be a positive influence on children and young people’.  We hope you find it interesting. 

As the demand increases, we will be needing some parent/carer volunteers to help Barb and Deb in the canteen. Please note that you will need to provide evidence that you are double-vaccinated in order to volunteer at school. Please email lambtonpscanteen@gmail.com or message 0478 648 740 for more information.

The information provided below is current as of 3 pm Friday 22nd October.

Teaching & Learning

The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) has eased curriculum expectations for the remainder of 2021 giving schools flexibility to identify and address specific areas of need. When students return to face to face learning, our teachers will have 5 main priorities between now and the end of the year:

·       English – identifying and addressing gaps in foundational areas like reading and writing

·       Maths - identifying and addressing gaps for each numeracy strand

·       Wellbeing – reconnecting with friends, teachers and school

·       Physical fitness - 150 mins of activity per week

·       One other KLA area 

Activities not permitted under Level 3+

There are a number of activities that are not permitted under Level 3+, these include:

• Singing, chanting, choirs
• Sport (except in classes)
• Band
• Emergency drills
• Interschool activities
• SRE/SEE
• Assemblies
• Excursions
• Community events
• P&C activities
• Community use of facilities (except OSHC services)
• Face to face staff meetings or professional learning
• Attached below are two documents that you may also find helpful