Alawa Primary School Newsletter

Week 8

Alawa Primary School Newsletter

Welcome to the Alawa Primary School weekly newsletter.

Principal Updates

Welcome to our Week 8 News!

Mr Steve Trezise is on leave for the rest of the term supporting his wife as they welcome their new baby to the family. The Science and PE lessons have been planned by Mr T to ensure consistency of the program and are being covered by Ms Wood, Mrs Griffin and Mrs Cleary.

This Wednesday our Student Commissioners head to the city to meet with other Commissioners from other schools and take the opportunity to delve into our data to help identify the focus for their work this year.

Our students in Years 3 and 5 are all sitting through some practice NAPLAN assessments this week - that way they are prepared for the formal assessments in May and know what it is all about. It also gives us an opportunity to check our technical readiness, device settings etc Please do your best to have your children have a good sleep each night and be ready for optimal performance at school on time each day.

A small group of students have been engaging in unsafe and inappropriate play as they head home after school, fooling around dangerously on the edge of the roads and delaying around the basketball courts, showing disrespect for their school uniforms etc. These matters are taken seriously and followed up with parents. If students are receiving behaviour referrals this impacts on their selection for activities such as Sports Gala Days.

Junior Learning Commission

Yesterday Mr France, Ms Katie and I spoke to interested students in Years 3 and 4 about the role of the Junior Learning Commission for 2021. They are now invited to submit a written application to Mr France by Monday 29th March. Interviews will be Wednesday 31st and the Junior Commissioners announced Tuesday 6th April with badges presented Friday 9th April. Weekly sessions will commence Wednesdays after lunch from the start of Term 2.

Student Led Conferences

Have you booked in yet?

It is that time again when families are invited into school for a chat with your child and their teachers. This is the opportunity for you to share their successes, their challenges and their plans for moving forward. See further in the newsletter for details re booking directly online.

 An information flyer with details was shared via email a few days ago. Bookings close Thursday 1st April.

 Have you booked in yet?           Don’t disappoint your child!

 We are looking forward to seeing many of you at the Harmony Day breakfast and celebrations this coming Friday from 7:30am....a lovely way to start the day!

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

Drop Zone Expectations

  • The purpose of the Drop Zone immediately at the front of the school is for quick drop off and pick up ONLY - both mornings and afternoons.
  • Drivers are required to remain in their vehicles and children climb in and out safely.
  • The cars should be pulled right alongside the kerb - not a significant space away.
  • Maximum of 2mins in the drop zone to facilitate a smooth flow of traffic.

Morning arrival at school: NOT Till 8am

Our gates open at 8am each school day which then allows 30mins for children to come in, connect with mates, play sport, table tennis, settle in etc. A lovely way to start the day.

However lately we have up to 30 children arriving way TOO early and they then wait at the front office for 8am. This is causing congestion and disruption in the front office. We ask that families ensure children DO NOT arrive till 8am at the earliest.

Lunchtime Activities

At Alawa we offer a range of options for students during their break times. We have worked with students across the school last year to come up with a list of ideas of what they can do during their break. These posters are displayed in all classrooms and rereferred to by teachers regularly. See the list for you to also discuss at home if your child is saying they do not have anything to do during breaks.

In addition to the usual activities they can take part in we also offer the following:

  • Library open every lunchtime for quiet games, reading, drawing etc
  • Various clubs & activities initiated by students [last week we had the Dance Off, the Book writers club, the drawing competition and the sports club]
  • Organized game on the oval for students in Years 3-6 every lunchtime with an adult supervisor plus a student referee. The games are negotiated at the start of each term with Ms Cartwright and a roster set up for the term.
  • Games / sport activities for Trans - Year 2 during recess and lunch co-ordinated by older students
  • Morning soccer / ball games supervised by an adult
  • Junior Choir at lunchtimes on Tuesday with Ms Saleena
  • Senior Choir with Mr Lotherington at lunchtimes on Thursday
  • Tek Ninjas with Ms Sacha Monday lunchtimes
  • Tek Interns with Ms Jeffery Tuesday lunchtimes
  • Defence Kids Club with Ms Katie Thursday at lunchtime
  • Totem tennis, table tennis and Connect 4 before school as well as during recess and lunch breaks.


Assistant Principal Updates

Hello everyone,

Wow the term has flown by and we are now in week 8. Easter will soon be upon us and the end of Term 1.

Harmony Week is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians. Our cultural diversity is one of our greatest strengths and it makes Australia a great place to live. Orange is the colour chosen to represent Harmony Week. Traditionally, orange signifies social communication and meaningful conversations. It also relates to the freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect.

We are looking forward to coming together to celebrate our diversity this Friday for Harmony Day. You may like to wear a traditional costume or something orange to symbolise support for an inclusive Australia.

Over the last couple of weeks Lucy Hartley our special education teacher has met with parents/carers, teachers and support staff to create Educational Adjustment Plans to support students learning. Thank you to all those involved in this process. The importance of a collaborative approach in developing and implementing goals is crucial to each students success.

On Monday we had 5 teachers attend Professional Learning delivered by Lisa Keskinen: Improving student Reading Comprehension and Thinking Skills. This was an excellent opportunity to further develop our knowledge to effectively implement our school improvement focus of effective reading in the classroom. I am looking forward to seeing the sharing of this knowledge and these practices through all classes across the school.

Genevieve Donohue, Assistant Principal

Events calendar

DateEventTime
Friday 26th March

Assembly hosted by Year 4/5 France [Parents and Carers are invited to stay for light morning tea directly following]

Harmony Day Breakfast

8.40am 

7.30am

Friday 2nd AprilPUBLIC HOLIDAY - Good FridayAll day
Monday 5th AprilPUBLIC HOLIDAY - Easter MondayAll day
Tuesday 6th AprilStudent Led Conferences - please book appointment 3-6pm
Wednesday 7th AprilStudent Led Conferences - please book appointment 3-6pm
Thursday 8th April 

Netball Gala day

Attendance Reward day

All day
Friday 9th April

Assembly hosted by Year 2 Ward [Parents and Carers are invited to stay for light morning tea directly following]

Last day of Term 1

8.40am

Monday 19th AprilSchool resumes for Term 2All day

Honour Awards

30 students, 1 staff member and 1 parent will be presented with an Honour Award plus 1 Honour Distinction Award for Dimitri Papantoniou at assembly this Friday 26th March.

This makes the award total for 2021 thus far: 61 Student Honour Awards.

This means that 610 Alawa Merits have already been redeemed for the Honour Awards.

Shyloh ChittyIvyanna RonayneAlena ChauLestari Smith
Lachlan LiJayden Favreau-LeeXavier GrantHien Thuc Ta
Maurice PettersonMia-Teresa Evans ShawMercy ManokFelicity Martin
Azekeial ColbranTaylah BuganeyJed GeddesAalayiah Favreau-Yovanovic
Tate MartinLydia McCreadyDakoda TweedieDarcy Rayson
Hunter Agnew-AuldSam TaylorAmelie DennisOrlando Papantoniou
Gabrielle McCraePaige HughesKayden TaylorMaryanne Manby
Loti BarkerNicole RuddFlordeliza Hodgson

We are certainly proud of all our students for their ongoing positive attitude towards learning and their time at school. 

Preschool news

It feels like the dry season is in the air and we are starting to get excited about all the different learning experiences that we can have in the beautiful preschool outdoor environment when there is no (or very little) chance of rain.

The past week the sandpit has been very popular and has been a hub of play and learning. On Wednesday children from both groups were working together to make volcanos, digging up sand and deciding where to build it up. There was great teamwork and negotiation taking place and lots of rich language.

Both groups have also been really enjoying whizzing around the preschool bike tracks and because the bikes have been so popular children have had to learn the art of patience while waiting for their turn.

We haven’t seen much of our resident frilly ALLE lately, however, we are never short of little detectives who report sightings of her in all sorts of locations in the garden. It is so exciting when she decides to pay us a visit!

Have a wonderful week.

Alice, Emma, Kelly and Flor. 

Attendance

Primary School Average for Week 7 Term 1: 91.38%

It is terrific having all our families back with us at school.

The class with the highest attendance for Week 7: Year 5/6 Hammond!

In the lead for Term 1 is... Year 2 Bernardino!

Lates

Arriving late for school has a significant impact on your child’s learning and engagement in the education program.

There were 45 late arrivals in Transition—Year 6 in Week 7 Term 1!

The class with the least lates for Week was: Year 3 Hughes!

House Points

Students at Alawa receive raffle tickets [house points] for their attitude and behavior in the playground and out the front of the school at the end of the day, as well as having a go at the weekly quiz. These are then counted on a Friday along with the points from the activity after recess on Friday where we count the 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 7 of Term 1 Finnis is ahead of Manton and Goyder. 

Goyder is still in the lead for the year!

Class Points

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 recognizing 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 7 Term 1, the class with the most points was... Transition Connelly!

Recycling

Alawa Recycling is not only an important part of our fundraising activates here at Alawa with all proceeds going directly back into the farm, but also a vital step in helping us achieve the goal of creating a more sustainable farm and garden program. 

Items can be deposited into the house bags in the back car park and are counted at the end of each week as each item earns a point for that house. 

Water bottle house point count

Twice a week we tally up all students water bottles and students receive a house point for each one brought in. 

In Week 7 of Term 1 Manton is ahead of Finnis and Goyder with 1510 points!

In the lead for Term 1 is...Goyder with 4590 points!

Farm news

It feels like we are finally getting on top of the weeds in the vegetable garden, which is perfect timing as April is the best month to be planting out a lot of our vegetables.  The students have been working hard preparing  the garden beds for planting, growing seedlings and harvesting some great leafy greens and our bumper citrus crops.

The older students have been constructing a new quail pen, cleaning up the native garden, moving wheel barrow loads of woodchip mulch and cleaning out the aquaponics grow beds.

The younger students have been learning about the parts of plants and pollination, finishing off the large chicken mosaic and planting up the herb garden outside the kitchen. All classes have been caring for the animals, with Barbra the super relaxed and friendly sheep visiting us from time to time in the shed. 

We really appreciate all the cans and bottles you have been donating to us for our container deposit recycling program. Looking forward to seeing you at Student Led Conferences.

Linda Conder, Farm Teacher

Library news

A big thank you to those who have brought in Puzzles for the library. I am still looking for some 24 – 300 piece puzzles if you have any around the house.

Once a week in the library at lunchtime we have been watching a story being read online. There are a number of channels on YouTube which have a great range of picture books and or novels being read aloud. Sometimes with interaction from puppets and reading by the author of the book or well known authors and actors. There are also audio books available which do not have video accompanying them. Some examples include:

Julie’s Library – This has stories read by Julie Andrews (Audio only)

https://www.julieslibraryshow.org/

ABC Kids Listen App – This has amongst other things Bedtime Stories and Story Salad (Three words, Three minutes, One story salad). This is Audio only and can be downloaded for 7 days to listen to offline.

https://www.abc.net.au/abckids/abc-kids-app/11131264 

KidTime StoryTime – YouTube Kids stories read with love personality and puppets

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEPsNDUhUm-7yZhUjQQNqwQ

StoryTime at Awnie’s House – Picture Books

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbqmj1hzxuAXsjk08k-KP6w

DOB 31 CHILDREN'S STORIES & FUN – These are chapter books

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWxfzi5sJWCIiD42VbNXCnw/playlists

Sacha Evans, Library & ICT Manager

Classroom news - Year 3/4 Baines

In Year 3/4  Baines we love making the most of our time in our outdoor classroom space. It allows us to be in an open space and have fresh air while we learn.

This week we started making a mural for our Harmony Day festival at Alawa next Friday. Heath’s Mum, Catherine, come in to help us and lead the way.

We painted a spiral with red and yellow. Then we added smaller decorations on top of the spiral using blue paint. Everybody got a chance to contribute.

We hope you enjoy adding to the mural on Harmony Day and all the celebrations that will be happening at school.

Written by: Grace, Aliyah & Sofia on behalf of  Year 3/4 Baines.

Cafe

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: Week 8

Wednesday – Spaghetti Bolognaise *V option available or Chicken curry and rice

Thursday – Spaghetti Bolognaise *V option available or  Chicken Hamburgers

Friday – Pumpkin Mac and Cheese

[Serve $3.00 or large serve $5.50 Spaghetti, Gluten Free Spaghetti $6.50]

A reminder that our school Cafe is open Wednesday to Friday ONLY. Closed on Monday and Tuesdays. 

Order online at www.quickcliq.com.au  

Playgroup

It was so fabulous to see so many happy children and parents at Playgroup last Friday. We had a wonderful time and welcomed new friends and families too. We had such a fun time indoors with puzzles and books, drawing, building shapes with magnetic blocks and playing dress ups too.

We all were keen to visit the Farm to see the goats, lamb, watch Turtey and to feed the chickens. We searched the chicken run for eggs and found a couple hidden away in bushes.

We returned to preschool to play outdoors. We even had time to share a biscuit while our carers had a cuppa! 

Miss Maria, Playgroup Coordinator

Student Led Conferences

Students responsible for their own learning!

In order to help you better understand what is going on with your child’s learning, we are continuing to hold Student Led Conferences this semester.

Students will be leading the meeting and explaining to you what they have been learning in various subject areas this year. Your child has reflected on their learning and is preparing to share their reflection and some of their work with you. This will include information about their efforts, achievements and continued focus areas.

 

Why Student Led Conferences?

Value: Encouragement

Student Led Conferences provide an opportunity to encourage students and share their learning journey. Students are encouraged to reflect on and discuss their learning honestly and openly.

Value: Respect

Student Led Conferences encourage and support students to manage and take responsibility for their own learning. They guide students to develop respect for their learning and the learning of others in the school environment.

Student Led Conferences are an opportunity to meet collaboratively with students about their learning

Value: Pride and Personal Best

Students are learning to assess their own growth through reflecting on their work and learning goals. They are encouraged to consider their learning strengths, challenges and goals. Student Led Conferences are an opportunity for parents and students to recognise effort, perseverance and achievement. They enable students to demonstrate pride in their achievements and learning

 

What will happen at the Student Led Conference?

·         The student is center stage

·         The student introduces their parent/carer to the teacher

·         Students discuss and share their own reflection, some samples of work and/or achievement data.

·         There will be an opportunity for questions and positive feedback at the end of each item presented.

·         It is important that adults respect the timing of the conference

·         Parents who need to talk with their child’s teacher as a result or in addition to the conference are welcome to make another appointment to have a discussion with the teacher.

 

Some questions parents might like to ask their child about samples of work and/or data.

·         Tell me about this piece of work/data?

·         What did you do here?

·         What did you learn when you did this?

·         If you did this again how could you improve?

·         What is the data telling you?

·         What do you need to do to improve the data?

·         What learning goals have you set using your data?

·         What are you doing to achieve your learning goals?

·         Have you achieved your learning goals? How do you know?

 

2021 Student led conferences will be held from 3pm – 6pm on Tuesday 6 April and Wednesday 7 April.

You can now book interviews at times that suit YOUR FAMILY BEST. 

BOOKINGS CLOSE

Thursday, 1 April COB

 

COVID update

Please watch out for any new and important updates required to be sent out via email from Ms Cartwright and in our Covid updates section in the newsletter each week.  Please note that birthday cakes etc can still not be brought in to school to share amongst students. 

Our bubblers are open and available for students to use so please ensure they have a water bottle to fill up each day. 

Refer to Northern Territory Government Coronavirus website for the latest COVID-19 Hotspots issued in the NT: https://coronavirus.nt.gov.au/travel/quarantine/hotspots-covid-19

Community notices