Alawa Primary School Newsletter

Welcome to Week 5

Friday threw us another curve ball at very short notice. Big thanks to our wonderful Alawa school community and staff for your support of our school and community members during these times.

 Students and staff continued their learning as much as possible last Friday  and we hope to have everyone back on board and back into usual programmes and operations this week,  pending advice from the CHO and NT Government. We will continue to keep you informed through our Skoolbag App and via direct email from my own account.

If you do not have the Skoolbag App we encourage you to download as soon as possible as this is our main line of all school communications/COVID updates. 

Inappropriate language

We appear to be having a small group of our older children using inappropriate language in the playground, some of which is being adopted from You Tube music clips. I can assure you we take this seriously and I have spoken to all older children about a zero tolerance approach and consequences that will be implemented if ongoing issues arise. We appreciate support from parents in discussing this with their children at home and monitoring their use of social media.

Parent Feedback through the Perception Survey:

This week I am sharing below the feedback with regards to Wellbeing and Quality Teaching & Learning. It is terrific to note from your perspectives 97% of our students enjoy being at Alawa Primary School. It is also reassuring for all our staff that you view us as partners with you in providing a quality education and learning environment for your child.

Have a great week

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

Dear Parents,

As per the latest announcement from the Chief Minister the Lockout has now been lifted with the following condition in place:

• Masks will be required to be worn until 5pm Friday. Children of Primary School age are exempt.

To keep our students and schools safe we will continue with the following guidelines until Friday 12 November.

• We encourage all families to drop off at the front of the school or limit their time onsite unless required and negotiated with the teacher or Principal / Assistant Principal.
• Side gates will remain closed and entry will be through the front of the school only.

Preschool drop off and pick up

• Preschool parents are able to drop and sign in [plus collect and sign out] their child directly at the Preschool
• Parents/carers to wear masks
• Parents/carers limit their time to a maximum of 20mins
• We would like to keep a register of the vaccination status of parents/carers. We ask that you share evidence of your status with one of the Preschool staff at drop off or pick up time this week.

Alawa Netball team games- Wednesday 10 November

• Game scheduling will be directed by Netball NT. Please refer to their Facebook page for direction
• All APS families attending will be required to wear a mask and adhere to social distancing guidelines.

Remembrance day – Thursday 11 November

• We respectfully request that parents/carers DO NOT join in for this so as to limit disruption on this special day

Netball training – Thursday 11 November 3-4pm

• ·Parents/carers to wait at the front of the school at 4pm for student collection

Playgroup – Friday 12 November

• ·Parents/carers to sign in and we ask that if possible show their double vaccination certificate to Miss Maria.
• All parents/carers to wash hands/sanitise upon entry
• All parents/carers to wear masks and adhere to social distancing guidelines

Assembly – Friday 12 November [Hosted by Transition Lane]

• We request only parents / carers of students receiving an award or who have children in Transition lane attend.
• Parents/carers to sign in and we ask that you share evidence of your vaccination status with our team member at the front door of the library.
• We ask that you enter the school from the side gate near the library.
• All parents/carers to wash hands/sanitise upon entry
• All parents/carers to wear masks and to adhere to social distancing guidelines

3 x 3 Basketball Gala day – Friday 12 November – we are currently waiting on advise as to if this will go ahead. 

All lunchtime sports will continue and special visitors can continue to come to the school when

·         Staff have sighted vaccination status documents

·         Hands are to washed/sanitised upon entry

·         Masks are worn

·         social distancing guidelines are adhered to

Both before and after school care will continue as normal.

Thanks for your ongoing patience, flexibility and support

Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me through the front office.

Sandy Cartwright [Principal]

I can’t believe we are already half way through Term 4. It has been a very eventful time in the last week due to COVID. Although the changes from day to day have been interrupting our daily schedules, everyone has been very understanding and adjusting to the changes as they are communicated. So a big thankyou to all school staff as well as the whole school community in your understanding and adaptability to the changes enforced upon us.

Please know that we are following all safety procedures and the advice from our education department to keep everyone safe. We would like to stress the importance of keeping informed so that we can keep to the normal routine as much as we can and your child can keep attending school.

ENROLMENT INTERVIEWS: We continue to carry out enrolment interviews for 2022. We still have some Preschool positions available but they are fast filling up. We are able to let you know your group for next year if you have been accepted, so if you have not been informed please contact the front office.

Have a great week.

Genevieve Donohue [Assistant Principal]

Today I attended the Term 3 DSM workshop where I had to opportunity to network with other DSMs from the Darwin and Palmerston area as well as guest speakers from some great organisations that we have available to us in the NT. Usually we meet at the DCO headquarters in Winnellie but today for something different our workshop was held at the Mates4Mates center in Goyder Square, Palmerston.

This Friday Defence Kids Club is hosting its annual fundraising Free Dress Day. Students are invited to wear clothing of their choice that is school appropriate and sun safe. All students who wish to participate in the Free Dress Day are asked to bring a gold coin donation, which will be collected in class on Friday morning.  Each year we choose a Not for Profit Organisation that aims to assist the local Defence Community, this year all funds raised will go towards Mates4Mates. If you would like more information on the services that Mates4Mates provides please follow this link https://www.mates4mates.org.

Tomorrow, Thursday 11th of November is Remembrance Day. The Defence students from the Primary Years will be hosting a Remembrance Day service at muster to commemorate and remember those fallen service men and woman. Remembrance Day is also an opportunity for all of us to reflect, give thanks and pay respect to all Service Personnel past and present for the sacrifices made.  Lest we Forget. 

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 4 of Term 4 Goyder was ahead of Manton 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 4 of Term 4, the class with the most points was... Year 2 Ward with 165 points!

*Book Club Due Tomorrow*

Christmas Gift Orders: When you order online you can choose the Gift function so that when your order is delivered to the school it will be marked as a gift and be set aside for you to collect separately. If you are ordering through the school please let us know when you order if you would like your order set aside when it arrives and we will contact you.

Need some ideas? You will find…

Christmas Crack ups [jokes] on pg 1

Minecraft Annual on Pg 2

Harry Potter – Activity book and Baking Book on Pg 7

Construction Machines with a Mini Digger on Pg 11

Robots in Motion STEM Building Set Pg 12

Books on the world around us Pgs 18/19/33

Graphic Novels Pg25

5000 Awesome Facts about Everything Pg 27

Create your own Bath Bombs Pg 30

More great Christmas ideas Pgs 34-38 and

Hidden on the Back page an Advent Calendar which gives the gift of reading every day leading up to Christmas.

Orders are due back by Thursday 11th of November. You can view the catalogue and order online through the Scholastic Bookclub website at scholastic.com.au/LOOP or download the LOOP app From Google Play or from the App Store or by returning your order form and payment to the office. Spare catalogues will be available at the office if you have missed out. 

Please feel free to give me a call if you are having any issues accessing the Loop site or if you have any other questions.  

Miss Sacha [Library and ICT Manager]

We have been continuing with our 'breads of the world' topic.

We used our baking skills to create some delicious sweet or savoury scrolls. We had lots of yummy ingredients to put in them such as feta cheese, spinach, tomato, pesto, herbs, onion, ham, cheddar cheese, capsicum, apple and cinnamon. 

Everyone is getting so much more experienced with using the ovens and all of the Year 3's have earned their knife licenses.

Last week we moved away from the ovens and made tortilla flat breads in a frypan. This was a fun dough to make and everyone enjoyed rolling them out as flat as possible and watching the bubbles pop up while cooking. There were lots of eggs from the farm and other ingredients to make a tasty filling for the wraps. We have more flatbreads coming up this week with a different recipe using yoghurt.

There are some packs of dehydrated mango and mango roll ups for sale in the front office- Ms Sullivan went mango picking and has been busy with the dehydrator!

​Keep an eye out for the Alawa Masterchef Competition being announced- Start thinking about your team of 4 (Year4-6) 

The children really enjoy their time at Alawa Farm, learning to take care and feed the animals, it’s such a rich learning experience for children to partake in. This term as well as feeding the animals we’re extending the farm lessons into collecting and gathering fresh produce each week following with a cooking experience in the Preschool.

This week Red Group made sushi from scratch.

“It was delicious” said Lucas F.

Next week the children are going to harvest mangoes to make mango smoothies.

Alice, Emma and Kelly and Flor [Preschool Team] 

Playgroup will go ahead this Friday 12 November, To keep our students and schools safe we will continue with the following guidelines. 

• Parents/carers to sign in and we ask that if possible show their double vaccination certificate to Miss Maria.
• All parents/carers to wash hands/sanitise upon entry
• All parents/carers to wear masks and adhere to social distancing guidelines

Miss Maria [Playgroup Coordinator] 

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 1-5

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- Butter chicken with rice - Large size $5.50, Small $3.50

Thursday – Sausage roll with corn on the cob - one size only $5.50

 Friday – Chicken chow mein - 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