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Gloucester Public School Newsletter     Opportunity  ‐  Innovation  ‐  Excellence 

 

  Find us at:    45 Hume Street, Gloucester 2422                         Tel: 65581303  Fax: 65581655  www.gloucester‐p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Term 1 Week 5 Tuesday 24th February, 2015. 

Dates to Remember 16-20/3 Interview Week Cross Country 27/3/14 (Back-up 2/4/15) 2015 Excursions: Kindergarten 31/7 Stage 1 4/9 Yr 3 Sleepover 19 & 20/3 Yr 4 Dubbo 18-21/8 Yr 5 Lake Keepit 13-16/10 Yr 6 Canberra 22-25/6 Term 1 Assemblies 2.10pm Fridays: Week 4 – Infants (2M) Week 5 – No assembly Week 6 – Infants (2H) Week 7 – Primary (5M) Week 8 – Infants (1B) Week 9 – Primary (4R) School Photos 3/8/15 NAPLAN Dates: 12, 13 & 14 May 2015 Canteen Roster 25/2/15 Tracey Murrell Brad Sparke 27/2/15 Rachel Blanch Tim Norrie 2/3/15 Kareen Higgins Linda Dillon 4/3/15 Ruth Edwards Leanne Kearney 6/3/15 Louise Thurgood Leanne Anderson

Student Records Update 2015

Please fill in this form if there have been any changes to your address,

phone number, emergency contacts etc. Please also advise your email address below if you would like to receive

your newsletter by email (if you are not already on our list). Name of Student/s: _____________________________________ Address: ______________________________________________ Telephone: _______________________ Mobile: ______________ Work Numbers: Mother ____________ Father ______________ Emergency Contacts (other than yourself): Name: _____________________ Relationship to Student: ___________ Phone: ____________________ Mobile: _______________________ Name:_____________________ Mobile: _______________________ I would like to receive my newsletter by email (please tick) Email Address: (please print clearly) ________________________________________________________

Parent/Carer Signature: ______________________ Date: __________________

Caring For Our Kids Online

Did you know? 13 years old is the minimum age for Facebook, iTunes and Instagram accounts. No primary aged children should be accessing these programs/Apps. 17 years old is the minimum age for KIK messenger, as it has no privacy settings and right now it is the number one APP for sexual predators. 17 years is also the recommended age for Instagram as there are very few privacy settings and the program owns all your photos when posted, giving predators the ability to use your photos and photos of your children. 30% of online child victims are boys, 70% girls. 100% of children that are victims of predators have gone willingly to meet with them. 75% of children willingly shared their family information online in exchange for goods and services. Online Grooming Young people are quick to embrace and explore the online world, but parents/carers should be very aware of the risks. Online grooming is where an adult predator tries to lower a young person’s inhibitions, or heighten their curiosity regarding sex, with the aim of eventually meeting them in person for the purposes of personal/intimate activity. The process may start with the sending of inappropriate images to ‘normalise’ the discussion of personal activities, and then move to requests for further explicit images or to perform an act on webcam. This can take place via all forms of digital technologies – email, texts, gaming sites, instant messaging programs or Apps, forums and chat rooms with a young person and ask personal questions. Predators also use items such as iTunes credit etc. to gain trust and then use the images and information to bribe the young person into doing more or the possibility of contacting their parents if they do not continue with the activities. Research shows that the young people most at risk are 10-14 yr olds. Children make some poor decisions about allowing people into their online lives, believing that those who are ‘nice’ online will be the same in the real world. Young people are naturally curious. Research also shows that most online predators are under 30 years old. Social networking sites are designed to share personal information, providing a way for online offenders/predators to ‘target’ those who make themselves vulnerable, for example, by not having many privacy settings in place or being online under age. Susan McLean (Cyber Safety Solutions) explained that as parents/carers we don’t let our children out on the streets at night, however we trust our children online where there are potentially more predators and greater dangers. She stresses that parents should remove all technology from bedrooms and be vigilant when our children are online. It puts young people at risk. She also gives a scenario: Do you leave the front door open for anyone to enter? Do you allow strangers into your home? Do you give your email, address and personal information to anyone or place it on signs or pictures? Do you put pictures of yourself on signs in your front yard for all to see? Not having correct privacy settings or allowing young people to access the online environment unsupervised is like leaving your front door open. You are providing your personal information and your family’s information to millions of people. We don’t allow strangers into our homes, however we allow our young children to talk to strangers on line in our homes and in our/their bedrooms. Photos and images that are uploaded can be seen by millions. Reminders: P&C AGM – Change of date as Mrs Wakefield is not available and attending professional learning. Monday 2nd March at 7.00pm in the Library with a normal meeting to follow the AGM. Everyone is welcome to attend. A reminder that membership fees ($2.00 per person) are due. AECG Meeting Thursday 12th March at 12.30pm at Gloucester Public School Library. Aboriginal Dance/Art Group 11th March lunchtime 12.50 to 1.30pm. For the first few weeks the students will be painting a mural instead of dancing.

Alice Murphy, Anita Jackson, Jack Bignell, Violet Broadhead, Tristan Young-Longmire, Ellie Berry.

We are learning: ‐ Weekly Sounds: Aa and Tt ‐ Weekly Sight Words: at, can, see ‐ Numbers: counting forwards from 1-30

and backwards from 20 -1, writing from 1-10

‐ Maths Focus: adding, patterns, length and 2D shapes

Things to remember: ‐ Library Day is on Tuesday so don’t

forget library bags. ‐ We are still waiting on a few paint

shirts. Please send one in as soon as possible.

‐ Going home arrangements- please send in a note if your plans change.

‐ Homework: Please ensure that your child traces over their rainbow writing sheets each night and hands their homework in on Friday. If your child hands their homework in each week there will be a special reward for them at the end of the term.

‐ Home Reading Folder: This folder needs to come to school each day! KM and KS are starting Home Reading this week and if they don’t have their folder, they will not be able to borrow a book. Information will also go home with their first book and will contain some helpful resources on how you can support your child’s reading.

‐ Kindergarten information evening this Thursday 5:30 – 6:30pm. Please return the slip to your child’s classroom teacher before Thursday.

Kindergarten Information Evening Parents and carers of students in KM and KS are invited to attend a Kindergarten information session on Thursday 26 February. The aim is to provide parents and carers with some simple and interactive strategies that can be used at home to support learning at school. Focus: Jolly Phonics: Sounds and sight words, Early Reading Strategies: Home Reading, Early Arithmetic Strategies: Maths in a

Cupboard, ICT: Computer programs for school and

home. Date: Thursday 26 February Time: 5:30- 6:30pm Where: Kindergarten rooms If you have any questions regarding this Information Session, please contact the school for further details. Mirabai Carruthers & Sophie Keen Kindergarten Teachers

2D shape investigators ready to explore the playground for squares, triangles, rectangles and circles.

Kindergarten listen to Mrs Norrie explain how to buy food at the canteen. Sophie Keen & Mirabai Carruthers Kindergarten Teachers Class Awards (Week 4) KM Mia Blamires Nash Griffin Lacey Wall Hailee Labry (E) KS Emily Horton Oliver Collins Laura Broadhead

Amy Fry (E) 1B Sophie Lenahan Jamie Richards Lillianne Dangerfield Stuart Turner (E) 1S Kailee Hogan Jessica Higgins William Wooster Charlotte Marchant (E) 2H Dylan Kilmurray Poppy Yates Tylah Johnson Emily Beggs (E) 2M Xavier Soupidis Kaitlyn Beggs Adam Burley Georgia Hughes (E) Citizenship: Alex Channon

Nutrition Presentation for Parents

GPS is offering an informative, yet casual presentation, on the Nutritional Needs for

your children/ our students. As part of the Lower Mid North Coast Health promotion, our local Community Dietician, Claire Dawson, will be visiting our school on MONDAY 2nd March: 6pm to approximately 7pm in the School Library to discuss nutrition, portion sizes for children and breakfast/lunch ideas. This will be held before the P&C AGM at 7pm. Claire is very enthusiastic to share/follow up on other areas that parents may be interested in ... perhaps you have a dietary concern that Claire can help you with? This night will be an opportunity for informative, relaxed discussion and we hope you can join us (why not bring a friend). Any questions - please see me. Debbie Howland (2015 PDH teacher)

No

assembly

this

week

Hogs For Homeless Next Friday there will be NO swimming for sport, as all of the Years 3-6 students will be travelling down to the Rec. grounds to participate in football, netball and soccer clinics. The day will commence at approximately 12 o’clock with 5 NRL Football stars- Nathan Hindmarsh, Brad Filter, Matt Cooper, Steve Menzies and Josh Perry riding into town on Harley Davidson motorcycles to support the ‘Hogs for Homeless ‘. At approx. 12.30pm the students will then be split up into three big groups- Football, Netball and Soccer. Only those students who have signed up and returned their permission notes will participate in the football clinics. Unfortunately, due to DEC policy only male students will be able to take part in the football clinic. The remainder of the students will participate in either soccer or netball activities organised by Gloucester Soccer and Gloucester Netball Clubs. The clinic/activities will run for approximately 1 hour and will finish at 1.30pm. Gloucester Magpies will run a sausage sizzle on the day and each student will receive 1 free sausage sandwich. If students wish to purchase more sausage sandwiches they will be $2 each. The sausage sizzle will take place at the completion of the clinics at approximately 1.30pm. As this is a charity organisation which is supporting ‘Hogs for Homeless’, we are asking the children to bring in a gold coin donation to support ‘Hogs for Homeless’. Students will need to –

wear full school sports uniform including a school hat

bring a water bottle have alternative food if you are not

having a sausage sandwich return football permission note if

participating in the football clinic

All parents and community members are most welcome to come down to the Rec. groups between 12-2 to show their support. Amy Schafer Assistant Principal

Teacher Training and Collaborative Planning Teachers will participate in a day of collaborative planning to further develop whole-school maths programming and balanced numeracy sessions. An introduction to the new History syllabus (due for implementation in 2016), is also planned for some stages. The whole day training for each stage is as follows: Early Stage 1 – Monday 9th March Stage 2 – Tuesday 10th March Stage 1 – Wednesday 11th March Stage 3 – Thursday 12th March Rod Maggs Assistant Principal Zone Swimming Tomorrow 25th February, 14 students will head to Taree to compete in the 2015 Zone Swimming Carnival. We wish all students attending the best of luck in each of their events. Have a wonderful day. Just a reminder for all parents who have volunteered to transport students, please ensure your driver’s licence and car registration details have been sighted by the office. All students need to be at school no later than 8am Wednesday morning as the carnival begins at 9am sharp. Amanda Coghlan and Susie McLeod Zone swimming Coordinators

SMART PACKS & VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS

Smart Packs are once again available for purchase. Thank you to all those parents who have already paid for these. The costs are as follows: Kindergarten - $45.00 Years 1-6 - $35.00 These packs contain everything your child will require for the year e.g. pens, pencils, glue sticks, exercise books, textbooks etc. Please pay for your child’s pack as soon as possible at the office. We would appreciate it if you would make this a priority. The code for paying online for smart packs is 051624.

Schools Spectacular- GPS Auditions Thank you for the wonderful response from choir students who want to be involved in Schools Spectacular 2015. It has been overwhelming to see so many interested students and I’m pleased that lots of people would like this opportunity. Unfortunately, it means that some students will miss out this year, which is not an easy job for me to do. As mentioned in the audition note, students from Years 5 and 6 were given the preference this year. I would like to thank all of the Year 4 students who wanted to audition, however, we have enough Year 5 and 6 students for our 2015 GPS Schools Spectacular choir. Please try again next year because you will have the preference. Congratulations to the following students:

Year 5 Year 6 Anna-Rose Seale Brooke Willis Ava Tuckwell Laura Stone Savannah Ashby Emily Walker

Mauatua Barff Brooke Turner Hannah Higgins Allison Simon Natasha Murray Danielle Channon Lilly Maurer Chloe Edstein Shaelie Hanson Sharla Gammage

This week, rehearsals will begin for these students as we busily prepare our audition item. Unfortunately we won’t find out if we are accepted into the Schools Spectacular Show for quite some time but I will let everyone know as soon as I find out. Once again, thank you to everyone who showed an interest in Schools Spectacular 2015. We certainly have a lot of talented students at Gloucester Public School. Mirabai Carruthers GPS Schools Spectacular Coordinator

Boys cricket team preparing to face Old Bar in Round 1 A short-listed squad of approximately 16 players will vie for selection in the boys’ cricket team to face regular early round opponents, Old Bar Public School. With a win and a loss over the last couple of years, this should be again a great battle out in the middle.

We will continue training at school and will aim for a nets session in the lead up to the match. I am currently in the process of contacting Old Bar PS to organise a suitable time and venue. Many thanks must go to the many students who tried out for the squad, with over 30 boys and girls trying out for the selection trials. Unfortunately, it disappoints me (and the students) not to be able to include everyone in the team, and I do hope we have similar numbers for next year’s tryouts. Good luck to those in the squad and we will select the team to play in the coming week. Rod Maggs – GPS Cricket Coordinator Basketball Congratulations to Bradey Rose for gaining selection in the Manning Zone Basketball to compete in Newcastle shortly. Well done to our other players and parents for trying out and providing transport. Well done! Mark Howland

Stewart House Stewart House is a children’s charity that provides short term respite care in the form of a hospital and school. It helps over 1,800 public education children each year and is largely funded by teachers (teacher donations account for about 55% of operating expenses). Each year Gloucester Public School is proud to support Stewart House with their fundraising activities. (School donations account for about 13% of operating expenses.) This year, our school is fortunate in being able to send two of our students to Stewart House. In the past, Stewart House has offered dolphin key rings and bouncy balls for fundraising. This year it’s a real working LED miniature torch keyring for only $3.00. If you would like to order one, please complete and return the note at the end of this newsletter to either the office or classroom teacher. Orders will be sent to Stewart House on Monday 16th March. Debbie Howland Stewart House Representative.

CANTEEN NEWS "HOT DOG" DAY

Thursday, 12th March We are having a special Hot Dog day on Thursday, 12th March. More details and order form will be in next weeks' newsletter so stay tuned. Thank you to the wonderful ladies who donated tomatoes

and cucumbers to the canteen a couple of weeks ago. Donations of fruit and vegies are always welcome as it helps to reduce our costs, in turn, helping the school. If anyone else has an abundance of vegies in their garden, and would like to donate some, they can be left at the canteen Monday, Wednesday or Friday between 9am and 3pm. All donations are greatly appreciated. Lisa Norrie Canteen Supervisor

UNIFORM SHOP

Open every Friday

8.30am – 10.00am

SCHOOL BANKING Banking for students at school has recommenced. Banking is every Thursday at 8.30am in the library. School banking accounts can be opened at the Gloucester Commonwealth Bank branch. Just ask to open a Youth saver account for School Banking.

Gloucester Gymnastics Class Time changes

Classes have been running for two weeks and our new coach Penny has been grading the students. The Kindergym/Gym Fun will no longer be running and the class times have changed. Children aged 4 years and over can start in class 1. Classes are held in the St Joseph Hall located at 53 Denison Street and the new times are: 3.15 – 4.00pm Class 1 (Beginners) 4.00 – 4.45pm Class 2 (Intermediate) 4.45 – 5.30pm Class 3 (Advanced) Classes are $8.00 per week and a $60 annual registration or $50 per child for families with more than one child. New families can have a free trial day so why not come along and see if you enjoy it. For more information please contact Coralie De Angelis on 65502675

2015 Gloucester Junior Showgirl & Master Stockman Competition

Tuesday 17th March from 4pm in the luncheon

pavilion at the showground.

Miss Mini Showgirl & Master Stockman (7 to 10 years) – A brief discussion about your favourite thing at the show and answer some general knowledge questions. Miss Junior Showgirl & Master Stockman (11 to 14 years) – A brief discussion about an experience or memory of the show and answer some general knowledge questions. Miss Teenage Showgirl & Master Stockman (15 to 17 years) – A brief discussion about what you would do at the show if you were president and answer some general knowledge questions. Entry forms available from: Town & Country, www.gloucestershow.org.au Contact: Kathy Sansom 65589050 Stuart Moore 0417403126 RSVP by 6th March

Want to experience the thrill and excitement of BMX?

BMX Come & Try day When: Saturday 28th February 2015 Time: 10am Where: Manning Valley BMX Track Urara Lane, Taree The sport is fast and exciting and is great exercise for kids and adults. Suitable for total family participation. You need to wear a long sleeve top, long pants, shoes and socks gloves and full face helmet (available to loan from the club if necessary). You will also need to bring your bike. Free sausage sizzle! BMX riding demonstration by Manning Valley Senior riders! It’s great fun… see you there! Further information 

E: manningvalleybmxclub@hotmail.com

Stewart House Keyring Torch Order Form ** If several children from the one family are ordering, please combine on the one order form. Name: ________________________________________ Class: ___________________ I would like to order ______ keyrings at $3.00 each. I enclose the total amount of $ ______________ as payment. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------