Lake Munmorah Public School Newsletter Page 1

Thursday 13th August 2015 Principals Report

Ms Joanna Daley – Benefit Night Some of you would be aware that a member of our teaching staff, Ms Joanna Daley is suffering a serious and life threatening illness. Late last year, Jo was diagnosed with a cancer condition which led to her having very invasive surgery last April. Unfortunately, despite the surgery, she is still dealing with its presence and continues to receive treatment to try and rid her of the cancer. Jo has been unable to be at work this term due to her ill health. The school staff have been outstanding in their support of Jo and her family and have done some extraordinary things to help alleviate some of the pressures that they are contending with at this time. To help her manage the considerable costs involved in the treatments she is receiving the staff are now organising a benefit night for Jo and want our school community to join them in

raising the much needed funds. The benefit will take the form of a ‘Trivia Night’ to be held at the

Doyalson RSL Club on Friday 11th September commencing at 6:30pm.

Please try to come along, you can come as an individual, or put together a table to play the trivia game, it will be a lot of fun. If you would like to join us you can purchase tickets from the school office. Ms Terri Fisher will be the contact person.

School Fun Run – Tomorrow The fun run will will be conducted tomorrow. K-2 will start their run at 9:00am and 3-6 will commence at 11:35. You are more than welcome to come along and watch.

Principal’s Spelling Bee Congratulations to our Stage 2 and Stage 3 winners, Tara Forde and Zac Dowdell, the runner-ups were Ebony Neverov and Mackenzie Hammond. They were up against a very competitive field but their extraordinary skills prevailed in the end. Well done! Winners will go on to the next round, competing against other local schools in the Premiers Spelling bee competition. Good luck to the students involved.

P&C Meeting – Important Business Please try to attend the P&C meeting next Tuesday evening as three important business matters will raised. The first matter will be about the school offering an Ethics program in 2016 and the regional coordinator will be present to answer any questions you may have. The second will be about the establishment of an OoSH program on the school site and the meeting will make a final

decision on this matter. The third matter is about the school’s new ‘Purpose Team’ structure and

I will be making a short presentation to the meeting about this new concept and looking for community members to join the teams. The P&C is not only a fund raising body but plays an important and critical role in providing input into relevant school governance matters. I look forward to you being there.

Student Absences Recent analysis of this has led to staff expressing strong concerns about the amount of time some students are away from school. Either as a full day or a partial absence the amount of lost learning time for the school is really at a quite unacceptable level and we must work together as a school community to fix this. At this time the data is showing that as an average, every student in the school had seven full days and 8 partial absences during the first semester. Clearly not all students have this level of absenteeism and therefore some students are having a lot of time away from us. If a student is not at school they are not able to engage with the tuition that is

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being offered and if the absence is continuous it will significantly impact on the learning progress of a student. There are a number of systems in place to address this and other options are being considered to improve the situation. In the meantime, I ask that you are firm with your child about coming to school and being on time. Please do not give in to soft excuses or petitions from your children not to come to school, and please get them out the door and here on time each day. I look forward to us working together to improve in this area.

NAPLAN The families of students who sat these tests this year can expect to receive results during next week. After this time I will be conducting a NAPLAN information session for families wanting to know more about how to interpret the results and most importantly what they can do to support the learning of their child at home. I will advertise the dates next newsletter.

Whooping Cough Update Despite there being a number of people being swabbed (including myself) to detect whooping cough, we still remain free from this condition. Again I thank you for your diligence in having your child checked if you suspect there to be a problem in this regard. Your assistance has been much appreciated.

Before and After School Care – Feasibility Survey A decision about this will be made at the P&C meeting on 18 August. The survey is still live if

you want to contribute your thoughts – follow the link below. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/D6X38Q8

Mr Graham Holmes Principal

M.Ed. Admin., B. Ed.,

Grad. Cert. Public Sector Management

Quality Workers/High Achievers This Week

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BOOK WEEK PARADE IDEAS Thursday 27th August, 2015 11.45am

All classes dress up as a favourite book character -

here are some ideas! Tashi Bernard the Bikie Captain Underpants Pearlie the Fairy Superheroes galore Rainbow Magic fairies Bob the Builder Sporting hero stories Where’s Wally Robinson Crusoe Angelina Ballerina Stick Dudes Harry Potter Pirates Witches Lulu Belle Lilac Ladies Star Wars Classic fairy tales Wizard of Oz – tin man, scarecrow, Dorothy, lion

Samurai & Ninja Friday Barnes Clementine Rose Pippi Longstocking Ella & Olivia Timmy Failure Skulduggery Pleasant Wimpy Kid Demon Dentist Billionaire Boy

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Exclusive Advertising opportunity - Lake Munmorah Public School

Lake Munmorah public School has requested AustNews to provide their newsletter service for a 12 month period. The school distributes newsletters every week over a 12 month period to

375 families, teachers & staff Your ad will be displayed on every newsletter These are exclusive advertising positions (only one of business on a

newsletter) If you would like to promote your business in this way of for further details contact Donna on 3330 1636 or donna@austnews.com.au

Central Coast Public Speaking Competition

Tamsin Conti Winner Stage 1 Bella-Rose Pennell & Asher Francais

Participation Awards Stage 2

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Reflections and Results from LMPS Annual Athletics Carnival:

I was really pleased with the fantastic results that our students achieved at this year’s athletics carnival. The behaviour and sportsmanship demonstrated by the vast majority of our students was first rate. I really enjoyed watching the rivalries and performances, whether it was our champion athletes or just those that participated to the best of their ability. I would also like to thank our teacher’s and volunteer helpers who came to assist on the day. You really do an amazing job! Most of you are flat out working all day; you don’t get the opportunity for a break and you have to supervise a large number of students, many of whom are inexperienced. Making sure that students have a fair go, while ensuring the activities are done safely is a really challenging task. You do a great job and I really appreciate your efforts. I can’t thank everybody by name, but I would like to make special mention of Traci Knuth. Traci volunteered on her day off. She was one of the first to arrive and last to leave, and her assistance was invaluable. I would also like to thank our parents who came to watch. It always adds to the atmosphere when you come and support your children. Our students get a lot out of it and you are always welcome. Finally, I would like to thank Percy Sales. Percy is the equipment manager at Warnervale Athletics Club. In addition to helping us set up, he also allows our school full use all of the clubs facilities free of charge. Any students, who discovered a hidden talent for athletics or would like to receive proper coaching and technique correction, would be well advised to join a little athletics club. Thanks again to all those who helped, participated, watched or supported in anyway. Kind regards, Jeremy Miller Sports Coordinator

The house points are as follows;

Freeman 4th 208 points O’Connor 3rd 244 points Macquarie 2nd 280 points Carter 1st 296 points

Girls Touch Football Gala Day The girl’s touch football team played on Wednesday 5

th August, in a Gala Day at Gwandalan

Oval. Our team’s first game was against Toukley, who ran us over and went on to win the day. The Munmorah girls played well and really started to find their feet towards the end. Fortunately the girls were able to play two friendly games and find their momentum. The second game was against Gorokan where they demonstrated phenomenal team work and won the game. Finally, the last game of the day was against Blue Haven, who beat us in the last five minutes. The girls performed brilliantly and worked so well together as a team. Their sportsmanship was something to be proud of and it was a privilege to take a group of students out of the school to represent us with such dignity. Thank you to the parents who were able to provide transport and support for the students with such short notice. Well done girls! Miss Hannah Lewis

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By Toby Dowdell

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Before School Care & After School Care at St Brendan’s Lake Munmorah

Do you need child care? Care is available Monday to Friday for Before School Care, After School Care & Vacation Care. Enrolment packages are available at the centre. Our Location is inside St Brendan’s Catholic School opposite Lake Munmorah Public School, Large Yellow demountable building next to the Garry Hansford School Oval. Visitors Welcome! Please do not hesitate to contact Ruth Lipski on 02 4358 8157 or 0408 789 189 or by emailing munmorah.OSHC@dbb.org.au We are a Not for profit organisation specialising in Outside School Hours Care. “We are here to serve our community.”

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School Diary Please stick me on your

‘fridge’ TERM 3

August 14 9:00am - 11:00am Kinder - Year 2 P&C Fun Run Activities 11:35am - 1:20pm Year 3 - Year 6 P&C Fun Run Activities 8:30am - 3:00pm Girls & Boys Basketball Gala Day @ Niagara Park Stadium 18 6:30pm P&C Meeting 21 12:45pm 2KM Parent Assembly 24-28 BOOK WEEK - ‘Books light up our world’ 27 Yrs 3&4 Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Final - Good Luck Jessica! 11:45am BOOK PARADE 28 Wallarah Zone Athletics Carnival @ Mingara 12:45pm K Blue Parent Assembly September 01 LMPS Drama Group Performance 02 LMPS Drama Group Performance 04 7:30am Fathers’ Day Breakfast Footy Colours Day 12:45pm 2AF Parent Assembly 14 PHOTO DAY - Sports and Specials 15 6:30pm P&C Meeting 18 11:45am Primary Awards of Recognition 12:45pm Infants Awards of Recognition

2015

P&C Fun Run ...Tomorrow Bring in your Sponsorship Money

SRC will be selling bottles of water for $1 Sports Uniform to be Worn