Alawa Primary School Newsletter

Wow Week 6 already - I cannot believe we are in the final 5 weeks of the 2021 school year!

Our students have been very focused in class over the past two weeks and have been engaged in their formal assessments for literacy, numeracy and science. This provides teachers with an opportunity to track and monitor academic progress and achievements against the year level standards in the Australian Curriculum. It is pleasing to note the focus the students are applying and their interest in reviewing their data as soon as they can after the assessments. At Alawa we continue our explicit teaching and learning focus right through to Week 9, when we then engage in a range of art / craft and creative activities as we wind up the year. I do need to remind families students are expected to attend school every day right through to Thursday 16th December.

 Learning Commission

This Friday I am looking forward to escorting the Senior and Junior Learning Commission and Teacher Commissioners to the Darwin Convention Centre for the end of year wrap up and Pitch to the Minister. I am super proud of these students, their confidence in sharing their views and their commitment to improving learning for all at Alawa. Next week at Assembly and at School Council, they will also share their journey this year and their recommendations. Later they will share with all the school community through Facebook and the newsletter.

Class Structures and Student placements for 2022

As advised previously we are currently finalising our class structures for 2022— it currently looks like we will have as follows:

• 2 x Preschool groups [Both 2.5 days per week]
• 2 x Transition groups
• 2 x Year 1 classes
• 2 x Year 2 class
• 1 x Year 3 class
• 1 x Year 3/4 class
• 2 x Year 4/5 classes
• 2 x Year 5/6 classes.

 
Students will be allocated a class which will be proposed and not finalised until the week prior to school starting in 2022. Draft class lists will be shared Tuesday December 14th at the end of the school day.

Just so all are aware, the process is:

1. The number of classes and composition of year levels across the school is determined based on numbers of students expected at each year level as well as our staffing budget.

2. Teachers are then assigned to  classes based upon teacher requests, the best match to skill sets & knowledge and of the needs of our students.

Children are allocated to classes based upon their friendship requests as well as  teacher recommendations with the optimum aim to balance classes for maximising engagement and learning.

If any parents have specific request you are welcome to make an appointment to discuss these with Mrs Donohue or myself - but please keep in mind these request cannot always be accommodated.

Have a great week, 

Cheers 

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

Yesterday, Tuesday 16 November the Chief Minister announced 9 new positive cases in the Katherine region and that the lockdown in Katherine has been extended for 7 days, until 6pm, Monday 22 November 2021.

Due to the latest outbreak a mask mandate is in place across the NT from midday 16 November to 6pm Monday 22 November 2021. A mask must be worn at all times when you are outside of your home and unable to maintain a physical distance of 1.5m of another person who you do not reside with.

Please note students in Primary School do NOT need to wear a mask. 

Sandy Cartwright [Principal]

Recently at School Council there was a further discussion regarding the feasibility of Alawa offering Out of Hours School Care in response to a parent letter and also further feedback through the annual perception survey. We have also been approached about offering an early morning service. We are meeting with Jingili to discuss this further next week.

There are many factors that need to be considered in this decision and these include space, numbers, staffing, facilities as well as policies and legal requirements. Erica Garcia [Council Chair] along with Gen Donohue [AP] have discussed possible options with a parent who is leading a feasibility study.

The 5 options being investigated include: After School Care being offered:

1 Onsite at Alawa for Pre-Year 2 students- will require full accreditation

2 Onsite at Alawa for all students - will require full accreditation

3 Onsite at Alawa for all students with registered service from Jingili or Bratpack

4 Jingili / Brat Pack - After school Care Service with an extra bus for early years transporting to site as we currently have in place

5 Combine with current service at Nemarluk.

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 5 of Term 4 Manton was ahead of Goyder and Finnis. 

Goyder 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 5 of Term 4, the class with the most points was... Transition Connelly with 140 points!

With the Lego League Tournament having been postponed the Tek Ninjas have continued to work on and improve their Robot Mission Runs and Innovation Project. They have been researching the idea of Drone delivery for the location of the City of Palmerston and had the opportunity this morning to speak via video call with a representative from the company Wing. Wing delivers small packages in a couple of locations in Queensland and the ACT and were able to give an insight into how it works and the challenges they had to overcome to provide the service.

Miss Sacha [Library and ICT Manager]

Last Wednesday while both preschool groups were playing outside, one child made a paper plane. Suddenly lots of children wanted to make paper planes and see if theirs could fly the furthest. Children had different sized pieces of paper and set to work folding their sheets for maximum flying power. Miss Flor made a very streamline design and soon had an audience of keen builders watching her demonstration and creating their unique aircraft. One group of children searched for the highest point in the playground and had races to see whose plane was the most aerodynamic.  This interest in the humble paper plane has so much learning potential and invites lots of questions; Which design flies the best? Which plane is the fastest? So much inquiry happens naturally while children are engaged in play. While the planes were being designed Emmett and Chad were using unifix cubes to build the longest snake ever created. They were planning on covering the whole verandah! What a busy, investigative morning we had at Preschool.

Alice, Emma and Kelly and Flor [Preschool Team] 

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 6-10

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- Nachos - Large size $5.50, Small $3.50

Thursday – Sushi, Tuna and corn OR Chicken and cucumber - one size only $5.50

 Friday – Chicken fried rice - 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