COMING EVENTS FOR TERM 1

Thursday 28 March Schubert 7s Gala Day

LNC Rugby League Trials

11s & Opens

Tuesday 2 April St Pauls Orientation Day

Thursday 4 April The Big Veggie Crunch

Parent Teacher Interviews

Tuesday 9 April Macleay Netball Trials

KEPS Cross Country – TBC

Friday 12 April Easter Hat Parade 9.30am

Last Day of Term 1

COMING EVENTS FOR TERM 2

Monday 29 April Staff Development Day

Tuesday 30 April First Day Back for Students (calendar items are subject to change)

Issue 6 – Term 1 – Week 9 – Tuesday 26 March 2019

IMPORTANT NOTICES Active After School Activities Finishes Today Today, Tuesday 26 March, will be the last day for Active After School Activities this term. It will resume next term at a date to be advised.

Student Banking Student banking is on a Friday, passbooks can be handed into the front office or to the students teacher.

Years 3 – 6 Friday Swimming Roster 29th March Mr Kelly’s class to stay and play School based sport 5th April Mrs Cassidy’s class to stay and play School based sport 12th April All students to the pool for post testing

When: Friday 12 April Time: 9.30am

(last day of Term 1) It is time to get your creative juices flowing and start to create fantastic Easter hats. The parade will be held on the last day of term 1, Friday 12 April. This is a fun day where we all get to celebrate Easter together.

Our P&C are running an Easter Raffle and tickets will be sent home this

afternoon with students. Additional tickets will be available from

the front office.

Tickets are $1 each There will be Easter Baskets as prizes. The raffle will be drawn at the Easter

Hat Parade on Friday 12 April.

Principals News

Arriving early no supervision We are having an increasing number of students arrive at school before our play ground is supervised. This is a concern for the safety and wellbeing of our students. We would ask that unless you have made arrangements with myself to drop your child to school that they arrive after 8:45am. At this time we have the playground area supervised for our students and they are able to play and cooperate with their friends. Teacher interviews Please ensure that you log into the system and make an appointment with your child’s teacher. This year it is only necessary to make an appointment with your child’s home room teacher. All staff meet regularly to discuss your child’s data and are aware of how they are working across subject areas and also socially. We would encourage all families to engage in this process to ensure that we are working together to ensure the best learning outcomes for all students. New P and C At our recent P and C AGM a new P and C executive were voted in and are listed below. I would like to thank these parents for taking on these roles. Without your help we are not able to continue to run the P and C. The next meeting will be on Tuesday 2nd April at 2pm. At this meeting the 2019 Anti Bullying Plan, Mother’s day and Easter events will be discussed. If you have something else you would like added to the agenda please let the P and C executive know or phone the office. I would also like to thank Virginia and Jess for running a BBQ at last Saturday’s voting booths. I would encourage other families to please help with these fundraising efforts when they are organised. The funds raised by the P and C go towards helping all of our students. President: Sasha Kennedy Vice Presidents: Toni Barrenger and Anika Vidler Secretary: Bec Sutherland and Aprill Eather Treasurer: Virginia Johnstone An hour to spare? I have received feedback from some grandparents at this school, Greg & Mary-Anne Taylor, who volunteer their time to read with our infant students: Volunteering this term to read with the Kinder/Year 1 classes, we have observed a growing confidence and competence in the children. It is a delight for us getting involved to supplement the obvious great work being put in with their teachers. Besides, what greater gift can you give a child than to encourage the love of reading? This skill will stay with them forever. Parents/grandparents, if you do have a spare hour to get involved, the rewards will be worthwhile. We really appreciate any time parents/carers/grandparents are able to offer in the classrooms. If you would like to volunteer please see the front office as there are forms that need to be completed first. Jaie through to North Coast Soccer Well done to Jaie R, Jette T and Riley T who recently represented the Macleay at the Lower North Coast (LNC) Soccer Trials in Port Macquarie. Jaie R was successful in making it through to represent the LNC at the North Coast Trials in Grafton. Penny Chow Relieving Principal

Early Explorers Transition Program

to Kempsey East Public School

Early Explorers is a transition program to Kempsey East Public School for children commencing school in 2020. The program is designed to make starting ‘big’ school at Kempsey East Public School as successful as possible

for children, families and teachers.

Early Explorers Aims: - to get to know your child as an individual

- to enhance your child’s oral language, literacy and numeracy skills - to provide opportunities for parents/carers to share in their child’s transition to KEPS

- to allow your child to develop relationships with other children they will start kindergarten with, and - to complement the benefits of early childhood education programs your child may already attend.

What you need to do to enrol: If your child is going to start kindergarten at Kempsey East Public School in 2020

and you are interested in your child becoming involved in this program, please fill out an Early Explorers Expression of Interest form

and return it to our school office as soon as possible. You must also complete a Kempsey East Public School enrolment form

and submit this to our school office along with the child’s birth certificate, immunisation details and proof of address (ie. drivers licence).

Enrolment forms can be obtained from our school office.

Start dates and times: Attendance at Early Explorers is on a fortnightly basis on a

Tuesday afternoon from 12.30 to 3.00 at Kempsey East Public School. You are able to choose which fortnight your child attends on.

The first sessions will be on Tuesday 7th May (group 1) and Tuesday 14th May (group 2).

Parent Information Session: A parent information session for Early Explorers will be held at

Kempsey East Public School on Tuesday 30th April at 2.30pm. At this session you will be able to choose which fortnightly group your child is to attend.

We look forward to meeting both you and your child in the near future.

If you have any questions, please contact Teleah Waitoa at Kempsey East Public School on 02 6562 4927.

Get ready for The Big Vegie Crunch! On Thursday 4th April at 10 am our school will be joining hundreds of schools across NSW to break the record for the most students crunching vegetables simultaneously. But we need your help to make it a success! On Thursday 4th April, please pack your child a container of vegetables (not fruit this time) for them to crunch on. Need some ideas?

carrot, celery, cucumber – cut into sticks or left whole

capsicum – cut into sticks or wedges

corn – raw baby corn spears or a cooked corn cob

broccoli or cauliflower florets - raw or lightly cooked to keep their crunch

tomatoes – small cherry tomatoes or a large tomato that can be eaten like an apple

beans or snow peas - raw or lightly cooked to keep their crunch

mushrooms – sliced or left whole If you require more information on The Big Vegie Crunch, please contact the school or your child’s teacher. Mrs Kylie Etheridge Vegetable Week School Coordinator

We have entered two planter pots into the competition this year, one made by students in Mrs Etheridge's class and another made by the gardening club students. Our planter pots

can be seen at the Garden, Plant, Tree expo on Saturday 30th March from 8am at the Kempsey Showgrounds.

Thank you to our newsletter sponsors: JNL Mechanical All-in1 Cleaning Specialists Buddy & Me Macleay Valley Mower Centre 0402 296 886 0431 631 778 0402 538 001 6562 8822

Help us build and test new technologies for use in headspace

Keep coughing kids home and see your GP.

Whooping cough (also called pertussis) began increasing across NSW towards the end of 2018, especially in children between the ages of 5 and 14 years. NSW Health anticipates that this increase will continue into 2019. School-aged children who are infected with whooping cough usually experience a troubling cough that can persist for months, but they rarely get severe illness. However they can spread the infection to younger siblings and other more vulnerable people, who are at higher risk of severe disease. Whooping cough can be a life threatening infection in babies. What can you do to prevent whooping cough? 1. Make sure vaccinations are up to date for all family members 2. Be alert for symptoms of whooping cough 3. Keep coughing kids home, to prevent them spreading the infection to others, and see your GP to get them tested for whooping cough. For more information on Whooping Cough and vaccination visit the NSW Health Website(https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/whoopingcough/Pages/default.aspx) You can also find out about other important infectious disease alerts by visiting the alerts page(https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/alerts/Pages/default.aspx).

Northcott will be hosting a free event to support the families of children with additional support needs and disabilities to engage with all local schools and learn about the process for transitioning their children in to the school setting. The event will be held on Tuesday April 9th from 6.00pm until 8.00pm. Northcott and the NDIS will provide some light refreshments and the function space, the venue will be confirmed within the next week. There will also be a table with some ECEI Coordinators from Northcott in attendance to engage with the school and community and answer any questions you may have about how the NDIS can support children and implement early intervention.