If your child is in Years 2-6 and have another week of LFH, there will be one last opportunity to collect their Week 3 LFH workbook tomorrow morning between 9:00-10:00am from the Armstrong Street Carpark. You can also return any workbooks from the previous week. As always, please remember to wear a face mask and physically distance from others also collecting workbooks. 

Premier’s Spelling Bee Competition 2021 Cancelled

Early last term, we held the Premier’s Spelling Bee grand finals for our school.

The two successful grand finalists were Acacia March-Dickinson for Stage 2 and Emily Cook for Stage 3.                                

Due to the impact of COVID-19 across NSW, the NSW Premier’s Spelling Bee has now been cancelled.

Unfortunately, that means that our two Lambton Public School grand finalists will not be able to attend regional finals as was expected. Congratulations to both Acacia and Emily for participating in the PSB and becoming our school grand finalists. Hopefully, they will have the opportunity to participate again next year.

We hope you are enjoying getting to know some of our students better. The subject of our next lockdown edition is Zayden Brown from 5M.

What is the worst thing about Learning from Home?

Not being able to see my friends

What is the first thing you will do when school goes back face to face?

Play with my friends and talk about what they've been doing since I last saw them

What is your favourite subject at school?

Library

What hobbies do you have?

Reading and doing my homework 

What is your favourite book?

The 130-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths

What do you know how to do that you could teach others?

Drama - I take drama classes and have the role of Willy Wonka in the production of  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory later this year at the Young People's Theatre..... I can't wait. 

What would you like to be when you grow up?

A Teacher or an Illustrator

What is the one thing about our school that you would tell a new student?

Our school has great teachers

If you could be an animal, which one would you be and why?

A monkey so I could eat bananas all day every day.... 

What is your nickname at home?

Zay

What’s the most important thing you want others to know about you?

That I'm kind and funny

How many siblings do you have?

1 brother Kobie

Do you have any pets?

2 fish (Spot & Tiny) and a cat named Dasher

The P&C are putting on a Jellybean guessing competition!!!!!

You don't have to pay any money to enter!!! 1 guess per student to enter

Please send your guess, including the student’s name and class via email to lambtonpspandc@gmail.com or via Facebook post

We'll announce the winner on return to school for all groups on Monday October 25.

Good luck.

Our P&C has registered with Ritchies IGA Benefits Program as a fundraising initiative and would love all families to register as a member and identify Lambton Public School P & C as their nominated recipient.

Here’s how it works!

• Pick up your free Ritchies Community Benefit Card at your nearest Ritchies supermarket or liquor store OR
• Download the Ritchies Loyalty app available in the App Store or Google Play
• Click here to join our free Ritchies Card program, log into your new account or app, click on the "Community" section and follow the prompts. {make sure Click here is linked}
• Choose Lambton Public School P & C as your nominated recipient
• Every time you shop at one of the local IGA stores, you will be asked by one of the friendly Ritchies cashiers to present your Community Benefit Card!
• Local stores include New Lambton, Elermore Vale and Broadmeadow.
• Your card or phone app will be scanned at the register, which will automatically allocate 0.5% of the money you spend to your nominated organization, as long as the school are achieving the minimum of $2,000 spent each month.

It’s a nice and easy way to help raise funds for our school whilst doing your weekly shop!

As explained last term, our P&C are moving to a new online platform called My School Connect.

My School Connect will be used for:

• Online Canteen orders
• Online Uniform orders
• Volunteering for upcoming events
• Purchasing tickets for upcoming events
• Supporting fundraising events

With students beginning the staged return to school in Week 3, now is a good time to register and set up a My School Connect account. When the canteen re-opens, please note that Quickcliq will no longer be available to use. My School Connect will be the preferred platform in its place. To register your account click here.

Here's your chance to indulge in fresh juice Kensington Pride mangoes and support the P & C Fundraising drive. 

They are selling trays of mangoes picked and packed during the premium harvest.

The cost per tray is $20.00 with each tray containing 8 – 12 mangoes depending on size of the fruit. This year’s trays will be approx. 4.5 kgs which is less than the size of the 2020 trays and reflected in this year’s price.  

Ask your family, neighbours, friends and workmates if they want to order through your order and support our fundraising towards new technology at LPS.

Place your order no later than Friday 29 October with delivery estimated first week in December. Orders and payments are to be made through My School Connect. 

Click here to place your order 

The Staged Return

Students will return to face-to-face learning at school in the following order:

• from 18 October – department preschools, Kindergarten, Year 1
• from 25 October – all remaining year groups

Although it is tempting to send students from older grades back earlier, we ask families to respect the staged return plan. Many staff will still be working from home as we continue to meet our obligations to keep staff numbers to a minimum. There is one exception to the staged return above – the students in Year 2 from 1/2J only will be allowed to return on Monday 18 October with the remainder of their class. We are sure that parents would understand that in this instance, it wouldn’t be right to allow half a class to return while the other half are asked to learn from home. The students from 2S will return with all other year groups on 25 October in line with the staged return plan.

Cohorts or ‘Mini Bubbles’

The Cohorts at Lambton will occur as follows:

•  Early Stage 1 – KH, KL and KS
• Stage 1 – 1S, 1O, 1P, 1/2J and 2S
• Stage 2 – 3B, 3/4W, 4B, 4L
• Stage 3 – 5L, 5M, 6CS, 6CS

The students in K/1S and 4/5L which are cross stage classes will remain with their class during learning time, PE and Sport, but will be allowed to join their peers for breaks. We feel this is in their best interests for connections with their friends. Teachers will also operate within these mini-bubbles for teaching and playground duty therefore minimising contact across the school. 

Break Times

To allow the cohorts the opportunity to have breaks without mixing we will be having different break times for recess and lunch as follows:

Recess

• 10:30-10:55am – Stage 2 and Stage 3
• 11:00 – 11:55am – Early Stage 1 and Stage 1

Lunch

• 12:30-1:20pm - Stage 2 and Stage 3
•   1:10-2:00pm – Early Stage 1 and Stage 1

Students will eat their recess and lunch in the usual outdoor areas with the exception of Kindergarten who for the purposes of keeping them separate from Stage 1 will now eat under the small cola in the asphalt area. 

Drop Off  Procedures

The drop-off period in the morning is currently staggered sufficiently to not require any changes. We will be asking students when they arrive to make their way to a designated area of the playground to join their cohort and avoid mixing with other cohorts. 

Pick-up 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

• 2:45pm – Kindergarten – Yr 2 

• 3:00pm – Years 3 – 6 

Please refer to the 'Éxit Procedures' article earlier in this Newsletter for a full explanation of new exiting procedures together with a school map showing showing exit points for each cohort. 

Canteen

Our canteen staff are busily preparing for the students return to school. Parents, please note that the canteen will not re-open until Tuesday 26 October in Week 4. Initially the canteen will only open 4 day per week Tuesday to Friday and will not open on Mondays. There will also be a modified menu as we start rebuilding available stock levels and begin the transition towards having volunteers on-site again. Please pre-order where you can using the new online My School Connect App 

Playground access

The staggered break times above will help to keep the cohorts apart during play periods, but in addition to this, students will only be allowed access to specific parts of the playground with their own cohort at any given time. Each cohort will be allowed access to each area – asphalt, cola, grass, netball court etc on rostered basis across the week. For example, on Monday Kindergarten might have access to the asphalt area for recess and lunch while Stage 1 have access to the grass. This would then switch on a Tuesday. 

Face Masks

Masks will be mandatory for all staff and all students in Year 7 and above while they are indoors and outdoors on school sites unless eating or exercising. Masks are strongly recommended for primary students both indoors and outdoors unless eating or exercising. Students should bring their own masks where possible, but schools will have back up supplies just in case.

Vaccination

All adults at school sites must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by 8 November 2021. Adults that are required to support the staged return to school in October 2021 will be required to have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine by that date. This will include teachers, support staff, SLSOs, counsellors, OSHC staff, canteen supervisors and volunteers as well as contractors.  The Department of Education strongly encourages our students and school community to the same where eligible.

Physical Distancing

All adults must keep 1.5 metres distance from each other, including teachers and support staff, and parents and carers waiting to collect children. Physical distancing between children in the same class is not required under the latest health guidelines. As outlined above, mixing between class groups will be minimised and students will be supported to follow strict hygiene practices like:

•  regularly washing hands
•  not sharing drinks or food
•  coughing or sneezing into their elbow, or else
•  using a tissue which should be put in the bin straight away
•  filling water bottles from bubblers rather than using the bubbler directly.

School Cleaning

Schools will continue to receive additional cleaning in line with advice from NSW Health. Schools have received extra supplies of soap, hand sanitiser, toilet paper, paper towels, disinfectant wipes and personal protective equipment and can order more as needed.

Ventilation

Open or well-ventilated spaces help reduce the risk of COVID-19. Where possible classroom doors and windows will remain open during the day and air-conditioners will be set to use outside air, where possible. An audit of our school’s ventilation capability was conducted in the recent school holiday period and work to ease and adjust any stuck or damaged windows commenced last Friday and will be completed tomorrow.

Attendance

All students should be at school on the date indicated for their year group, unless:

• they have a medical certificate which says
• they can’t return to school due to a condition or illness
• they are currently unwell
• they have been asked by NSW Health to self-isolate

Students must be marked as absent outside these conditions. School are not required to provide learning from home material for students whose families have elected to keep them at home beyond the return to school date for their grade. If you have concerns about your child’s return to school, please speak with your child’s class teacher.

Student Wellbeing

Supporting students’ wellbeing as they transition back to school will be a high priority. There are a number of things that teachers will endeavour to do and be on the lookout for, to best support our students:

•  acknowledge and listen to students’ feelings and concerns
•  take time to specifically re-establish routines and expectations
• create a balance between learning and wellbeing in the first weeks back
• focus on rebuilding connections
• support students who have found the learning from home period difficult
• notice changes in behaviour and offer intervention where necessary