Alawa Primary School Newsletter

Week 4 and on we roll!

A busy week again last week while only at school 4 days last week we packed in the annual School Photos, Interschool Sport for Years 5 and 6 as well as loads of fun learning through the school.  I have wrapped up my quarterly Pep Talks in the primary classes with discussing with the Year 3 and 3/4 class how their teachers make learning exciting for them. Some terrific feedback for the class teachers and suggestions for other things to try.

This week we launch our Annual School Perception Survey - you should have received an email from me earlier in the week.  See extra information further down in this newsletter - but I encourage you to take the time to provide your feedback to guide our continued school improvement.

Ms White and Ms Bullock have settled into their Year 1 rooms and have quickly established relationships and routines with all their cherubs. Parents if you would like to meet either of the new teachers pop in and say Hello [but remember to QR code on your way through] or make contact to arrange a time to catch up if you would like an individual conversation. Students Led Conferences will be Week 9 and a great opportunity for you to connect as well.

Mrs Lane will be on Long Service Leave for the following two weeks. Mrs Donna Harding will be in for Transition for the two weeks and the teachers have met for a comprehensive handover.

Thanks to all our families who are doing their best to adhere to the extra measures in place due to the ever changing COVID situation - it is appreciated.

This Wednesday the superstar Sara Storer is back in working with all classes - the songs are sounding fantastic already!

I am looking forward to seeing many of our preschool families at the Bikeathon today - am sure this will be heaps of fun again for our little superstars.

Cheers and have a great week and stay safe

Sandy Cartwright [Principal of the Best School in the Multiverse]

Annual Perception Surveys: Open Monday August 9th and close Friday August 27th

All parents and guardians and teachers are encouraged to have their say about their school community by participating in the 2021 School Survey. Results will be shared through the newsletter and with our School Council.

The survey, which is open Monday 9 August to Friday 27 August, allows our school to gain an understanding of what you think about the school. The results will help inform future planning and drive improvement to our school. The school survey is relatively simple and easy and will take approximately 10 - 15 minutes to complete. The survey can be conducted online or you can request a printed version from our front office.

The results of the survey will help inform us about your experiences and provide valuable information about what it is doing well and where it can improve.

An email link was emailed out to all family contacts Monday and we will also have iPads available before and after school for parents to provide their feedback.

All students [Transition—Year 6] were recently provided with the opportunity to also have their say and share their views. I will commence sharing their feedback next week through the newsletter.

 Sandy Cartwright [Principal]

All our students in Years 3-6 have the newsletter emailed directly to them each Wednesday. They then are offered time in class to check their emails, read the newsletter etc.

Question for Week 4: 

What special event is happening Wednesday 11th August in the morning?

Email me with your answer for 20 bonus house points.

Ms Cartwright

Welcome to Week 4!

I have now visited all Early Years classes for their PEP talks. You may have seen your child come home with a little badge about being a good friend. Our two new Year 1 teachers, Tess and Jen have settled in really well and we are very happy to have them here at Alawa.

SRC: Our SRC have now chosen our gifts to order for fathers day and will be busy making things to sell for next month.

Preschool News: Our Preschool Bikeathon is this Wednesday. Thankyou to Alice and the Preschool team and committee for their efforts in the organisation of this event. We are looking forward to the decorations on the bikes and scooters and a fun morning riding around the track. The older children will also be coming out to watch us as we ride. I also heard that there will also be our wonderful ALLE coming to say hello. 

Happy Principal’s Day: Last Friday was Principal’s Day. A big thankyou to Sandy for the amazing work you do for all students and staff at Alawa School. Your leadership and continuous work and commitment to the ongoing school improvement, fun, and learning at Alawa, is truly appreciated by all.

Have a wonderful week!

Genevieve Donohue, [Assistant Principal]

Does your child have a sibling / family member who will be enrolling for Preschool in 2022?

Have you completed the enrolment forms?

Preschool places are limited and filling quickly so please contact the front office on 8997 7666 or alawa.school@education.nt.gov.au to secure your child's spot. 

At Alawa [as with all NT Government schools] students are expected to wear full school uniform on a daily basis. This includes an Alawa red shirt [Monday—Thursday] and the option of the red shirt or house team shirt on Fridays. Shorts / skorts are expected to be Alawa logo or plain—NOT with other logos, branding or patterns or colours.

Leggings and bike shorts are not acceptable - yet a number of girls are appearing to be wearing this daily.

We have also noticed lately a few students wearing a variety of footwear including boots, slips on and ballet flats. These are just not appropriate or safe for the daily activities at school such as the playground, the Farm and the oval.

Jewellery is to be kept to a minimum [plain studs or sleeper earrings, no bracelets, necklaces etc]

Hair is to be tidy and appropriate and if shoulder length or longer tied back.

If students are wearing non standard uniforms or shoes parents will be contacted and asked to rectify this.

We thankyou for your support.

Sandy Cartwright [Principal]

Hi there!

My name is Miss Bullock and I’m so excited to be the Year 1 teacher for the rest of the year! 

I’ve taught in Melbourne and Sydney for the last six years, and recently visited Darwin with the Army Reserves. I loved it so much I decided to stay and join you all at Alawa Primary School. I enjoy spending time outdoors, riding horses, and time with friends and family. I’m really looking forward to meeting you all, and welcome visits before and after school, my door is always open! 

Tess Bullock [Year 1 Teacher] 

Sports vouchers are now available on line to apply at www.sportvoucher.nt.gov.au

The Sport Voucher Scheme makes it easier for Northern Territory children to participate in sport, recreation and cultural activities making for happier, healthier Territory children. 

Children in urban areas receive a $100 voucher twice a year.
An enhanced sport voucher policy, beginning 12 July 2021, includes swimming programs and music lessons/instrument hire during school hours, as eligible voucher redeemable programs. For more information, contact the Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities: 1800 817 860 or sport.voucher@nt.gov.au

Last week the preschool smelt amazing at pick up time as the fragrance of little gingerbread men filled the air. The preschool children took part in the process of baking gingerbread men as a celebration of our exploration of this class tale ‘The Gingerbread Man’ though our book explorer program. We looked at the recipe together and added the ingredients step by step; mixing them all together to make the dough.

Everyone was very patient as they waited for their turn to add or mix or roll. When the dough was ready the gingerbread man cutter was used to make a whole class worth of gingerbread men. The preschool children were absolutely certain these gingerbread men would NOT be escaping the oven like they do in the book (and they were right)!

The best bit of baking is always the eating and these little preschool bakers would certainly agree!

Have a lovely week

Alice, Emma and Kelly and Flor [Preschool Team] 

What are students currently doing in Reading at Alawa…?

Pre-school: The children use the pictures in books to make a story.

Transition Connolly: We just love reading! We love to read with our families, friends, teachers and each other.

Transition Lane: We are so excited about reading! We are using sounds and pictures to help us read new words. We are all so proud that we are now reading beginning books on our own.

Year 1 Bullock: We are enjoying exploring non-fiction texts and connecting the texts we read to our writing.

Year 1 White: We are learning about information reports. We have read about frogs, kangaroos, possums, koalas and bees.

Year 2 Bernadino:  We have been reading about the Olympic games.

Year 2 Ward: We have been reading lots about the different types of sport in the Olympics. We love to read!

Year 3/4 Baines: We love using our class library, which students selected books for, set up and categorised themselves.

3 Hughes: We enjoy combining with Year 3/4 Baines to complete our reading rotations. It makes reading fun!

Year 4/5 France: We are learning all about the four reciprocal reading strategies. Clarifier, predictor, summarizer and questioner. We use these while we read. It is so much fun and interesting to learn about them.

Year 4/5 Henderson: We have had a lot of fun doing oral language stations.

Year 5/6 Lotherington: In reciprocal reading, we read the text and pull out words and phrases that we don’t know and learn new words.

Year 5/6 Hammond: We enjoy annotating the engaging texts we read to deepen our understanding. 

Next week Australia will be celebrating National Science Week and as the Library will be celebrating all things Book Week next week I thought I would shine a light on Science this week. The theme of this years National Science Week is Food: Different by Design. There will be a display and some science related activities happening in the library throughout the week. You can also check out the Darwin Libraries STEAM Zone on Friday the 20th of August from 3.30pm-4.30pm to discover more about the topic of:

Magical Microbiology. Explore a new miniature world that is all around you, but you can’t see it. Join in and take a closer look at helpful and harmful bacteria, learn to create a microscope slide, play with giant virus and bacteria toys

You can get involved at home with some of these great ideas from the National Science Week website found at https://www.scienceweek.net.au/diy-science/

Five Serves of Science - Fruits and vegetables are packed with nutrients and stuffed full of science! Use the chemicals in five different colourful food plants to do surprising science experiments. Download now (434 kB, pdf).

Meandering Maths - Discover symmetry, fractals, Fibonacci numbers, and more in flowers and leaves, and measure the height of trees using a simple geometrical trick. Download now (3.9 MB, pdf)

Ordinary Chemistry - Explore chemistry concepts and techniques using everyday tools and ingredients. Download now (1.3 MB, pdf).

Don’t forget that Book Week is happening at the school in Week 5 with our Book Week Parade on Friday the 20th of August. Have you and your child discussed what character they would like to dress up as?

Sacha Evans [Library and ICT Manager] 

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 dependent 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. 

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:  - Roast pork and gravy roll - one size only $5.50

Thursday: - Homemade Scandinavian meatballs with mash potatoes - Large size $5.50, Small $3.50

Friday: - Chicken and jackfruit curry (mild) - 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