Narrandera Public School Informer

Excellence, Opportunity, Success

Principal: Ms Susan Ruffles

Phone: (02) 6959 2144

Fax: (02) 6959 3274

Term 4, Week 1 Tuesday, October 9, 2012.

From the Principal’s desk… As I look at my wall calendar in my office I get a very clear view of an extremely busy Term 4 for the children and staff here at NPS! Please check our calendar in each of our weekly newsletters and don’t forget to take a look at the school’s website for more information and photos about the many events and programs we have for the children. This term we will begin our planning for 2013 which includes looking at student numbers and the organization of 2013 classes. If you know of any families wishing to enrol at our school in 2013 please let them know that now would be an ideal time to make an appointment with me for an interview and school tour. I wouldn’t want any child to miss the opportunity to be placed into one of our classes! Staff members will participate in Staff Development Days this Saturday and on Saturday, 3

rd November. We will be

evaluating our 2012 School Improvement Plan and developing aspects of the school’s plan for next year. To assist us in this process, we will be inviting students, parents, caregivers and community members to contribute their thoughts about programs at our school and ideas for the years ahead. Next week we will send out information about how you can be part of this year’s school evaluation and planning processes. You are all invited to come along to a session (3:30 or 7:00 p.m.) on 1

st November to find out more about some very

special learning programs our school offers to students. Please refer to the separate information in this newsletter about this session being coordinated and presented by Mrs. Joanne Stamos. We hope to see many people come along and show a keen interest in their children’s learning. Thanks to our great teachers Bianca, Luke, Kira and Alana and the wonderful staff at Borambola Sport & Recreation Camp the children had a terrific time at camp at the end of last term. I spent a day at camp and was very impressed with the children’s cooking (yummy spaghetti bols) and their archery and rope climbing skills. Thank you to families for supporting this year’s experience and the fundraising to reduce the cost for each child. The children certainly got a great bargain with bus travel, all meals, accommodation, use of the facilities and equipment and, the expertise of the camp’s staff members. We are now looking into next year’s senior school excursion – Mrs. Quirk will let you all know more about this once details have been worked out. School uniforms: we are always keen to get hold of donated second hand uniform items so please send them into school. For each item sent in a raffle ticket will be put into a draw for a $50 voucher to be spent at the uniform shop. This will be drawn at the end of the term. Our transition programs for 2013 Kindergarten and Year 7 students will be in full-swing this term. Our Year 6 students will head up to Narrandera High School Wednesday afternoons in the odd weeks of this term beginning tomorrow Wednesday, 10

th October. Our

Kindergarten Transition sessions will run Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this term. Mrs. Joanne Stamos and Mr. Paul Lucas will be leading the Thursday transition

sessions so they can get to know the children in readiness for our 2013 Kindergarten classes. We are planning for 2 Kindergarten classes with no more than 20 children in each so, once again, if you know of families considering NPS for their Kindergarten child, please ask them to contact me if they are not already enrolled for next year. Builders have been very busy here at school in the past few weeks. We now have 2 new shade shelters – one in the Schools as Community Centre (SaCC) yard and another connecting to the hall COLA in the BBQ area. Our BBQ area has been redesigned and will be completed by the end of this month. What a great facility we will have, combined with our hall and canteen facilities, for the school and community to use! We have also finished laying our signature pavers at the front of the school. They look very smart and maybe we might be able to expand the paving area in the coming years if people are keen to do this. Finally, the SaCC children will enjoy their bike track and using their new storage shed when they are finished in the next week or so. The school library will also have a face-lift in the coming months with new carpet being laid. The new awnings on the west side of the library look very smart and will help keep out the afternoon sun in the hotter months. This term we have welcomed Mr Nat Davis to our school. Nat is currently teaching 3D while Mrs. Davies is on leave and will be working with other classes throughout the term. Nat has previously taught a Year 6 class here for a short time last year and is very pleased to be back at NPS to work with us. We also welcome Mr Jayd Williams to our school. Jayd did some part-time hours with us last term as a School Learning Support Officer and will work full-time this term supporting learning programs for children in our senior classes. It will be an exciting and buzzing time at NPS throughout this term. Hopefully we shall see you all at some time in the next 11 weeks as we all continue our fabulous work in support of all children’s learning and well-being. Enjoy your week. Susan Ruffles

Calendar of Events

Date Event/s

October 10 Year 6 Transition Visit to High School

October 16 AECG – AGM – 10.30am at Foundation

October 17 Taronga Zoomobile

October 18 State Library Visit – Years 3 to 6

October 19 School Assembly – 10.30am

October 20 P & C Ardlethan Country Gardens Bus Tour

October 24 Year 6 Transition Visit to High School

October 24 Life Education Van commences

November 5 P & C Meeting – 7pm - Library

Narrandera Public School Informer Tuesday, October 9

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Training Session When - Friday October 19 @ Narrandera Sports Stadium Time - 5.30pm to 6.30pm Cost - $3 Who - Boys and Girls turning 10 or older next year.

Why - So organisers can see how many teams to nominate and start organising coaches. If you are interested in playing Western League (Rep Basketball) next season or would like to find out more please come along or phone Rex 0428 562 152 or Toni 0408 284 701 to express your interest.

Class News – 3C Welcome back to Term 4. I hope that everyone had a great holiday. I know some mums were happy for the children to return to school. This will be a very busy term with consolidation of skills, assessments, swimming school, and Christmas activities. Please ensure your child attends school as regularly as possible. A reminder also to send in a piece of fruit each day for our fruit time. As it will be getting warmer soon, (I know it doesn’t seem like it) can you also provide a bottle of water for your children. This week’s times tables will be 2’s and our Maths topics for the first two weeks are revision. Science and HSIE units will begin in week 3 after assessments. Thank you.

Kerryn Cassidy - Year 3 Teacher.

This newsletter is produced with the support of the following local businesses:

Junior Basketball Junior Basketball will resume this Thursday. Times for this Thursday are:-

Aussie Hoops - 4.00pm - 4.45pm Juniors Yrs 1,2 & 3 - 4.45pm - 5.30pm Intermediates - 5.30pm - 6.15pm Sub Seniors - 6.15pm - 7.00pm Seniors - 7.00pm - 7.45pm

Principal: Susan Ruffles Assistant Principal: Joanne Stamos Assistant Principal: Alana Quirk Phone: 02 69592144 Fax: 02 69593274 Email Address: narrandera-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au School Website:

www.narrandera-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/sws/view/home.node

Canteen: 02 69591141 Dental Clinic: 1800 450 046 Narrandera Schools as Community Centre: 6959 3894/0410284145

Narrandera Public School P&C Association

Ardlethan Country Gardens Bus Tour

Saturday 20th

October 2012 Bus departs Tourist Information Centre at 9am SHARP!

Tickets: $65 per person Includes: Bus, Entry into 5 Gardens, Lunch, MT/AT,

Champagne and Nibbles.

Tickets available at Shady Gum Nursery and must be purchased prior to Thursday 18th October.

HURRY as seats are limited!

Narrandera Public School

P&C Association Garden Tour Raffle Tickets: $2 each 1st prize - Ballerina Crabapple in Antique Wreath Pot with Assorted Flowering Plants (Donated by Shady Gum Nursery). 2nd prize - French-style Flower-patterned Pot with Plant (Donated by Duff’s Mitre 10) along with a Picture Frame (Donated by Juadine) 3rd prize - $20 Meal Voucher (Donated by Moore Handmade)

Raffle drawn Saturday 20th October 2012. Tickets available at Front Office.

The Great Australian bite sized CIRCUS

at Narrandera Showground Friday, October 19 – 6.30pm

Saturday, October 20 – 2pm and 6.30pm Ticket Prices – Under 3 Free, Kids $12,

Concession $15, Adults $18. Bookings: 0414 823 417 or from Big Top

Narrandera Public School Informer Tuesday, October 9

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Narrandera District Garden Club’s self-drive Town and Country

Garden Visits. – 8 gardens Sunday, October 28 – Gardens open at 9am

Cost $10 per person includes entry to all gardens, location map and Devonshire Tea at Uniting Church Hall. Light lunch served at “Burnside” at a cost of $8.

Contact: Gwen Nielsen 6959 2228 for more information.

Narrandera Public School – HAT DAY

Friday, October 12

Gold Coin Donation for Australian Rotary Health

(Students may wear their own hat on this day)

5/6H Hotspot This term is a very busy term with assessment tasks and activities. Last term we were lucky enough to spend the last three days at Borambola Sport and Recreation Camp with the other stage 3 classes. All students were well behaved and had a great time doing the activities that were set. Borambola Report – By Abigail Pettigrew On the last week of term 3 years 5 & 6 headed off to Borambola Sport and Recreation centre. From Wednesday to Friday we did lots of fun and challenging activities such as kayaking, archery, low ropes, initiatives and many more. The first night we had mini Olympics in the hall and the second night we had a disco. I had a great time. Borambola Report – By Chelsea James Last term on Wednesday the 19

th years 5 & 6 went to

Borambola which is outside of Wagga Wagga. We stayed there from the dates of 19

th, 20

th and 21

st. On the first day

we settled in and played a few games. Also we had chores and lots of them. The second day we had free time and went to a place on the grass and made spaghetti bolognaise, it was nice. We were split into two groups, Spongbob and Scooby Doo. I was in Scooby Doo and on the last day we went kayaking. Borambola Report – By Bree Morgan On Wednesday the 19

th of September students and

teachers went on an excursion to Borambola. When we first got there we were introduced to Tim, he showed us around, then we met the other staff, Steve and Michelle, they were very nice. Some of the activities that we did were, archery, kayaking, low ropes and a dance party. The food there was exquisite, the first night we had roast and vegetables, the second night we had chicken and vegetables, with sweets every night. For lunch we had ham burgers, self made spaghetti bolognaise and chicken wraps. Borambola Report – By Tiana Rose Last term on the 19

th, 20

th and 21

st of September we went

to Borambola for the excursion. Our first activity we had to use a GPS to find letters. Whilst we were looking for the letters I got an electric shock and it scared me. Some of the activities that we did were archery, kayaking, mini Olympics, low ropes, cooking, initiatives and a disco.

Life Education NSW will be visiting our school on :

Wednesday, 24th October to

Wednesday, 31st October, 2012.

Here’s a brief outline of the range of programs

that will be seen by the children:

HAROLD’S SURPRISE ~ (Kinder) – Healthy food

choices, importance of

physical activity, safety.

HAROLD’S MYSTERY TOUR ~ (Year 1) – Body

workings, passive smoking,

safety, decision making.

HAROLD’S HEROES ~ (Year 2) – Environmental

health issues, emergency

procedures, individual needs.

HAROLD’S DIARY ~ (Year 3) – Friendship,

resilience, healthy food

choices, physical activity.

MIND YOUR MEDICINE ~ (Year 4) – Safe and

unsafe situations, medicines,

peer influence and

friendship.

THE BURNING ISSUE ~ (Year 5) – Smoking,

passive smoking, peer

influence and refusal skills.

THINK TWICE ~ (Year 6) – Consequences of

alcohol use, harm

minimization, stay safe

situations and refusal skills.

The programs address many of the components

and objectives within the

NSW PDHPE curriculum.

Please remember to return your child’s note &

money to the Front Office no later than

Monday, 22nd October, 2012.

The cost is $4.00 per child.

Narrandera Public School Informer Tuesday, October 9

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‘I liked kayaking, fencing, the low ropes course and archery on camp. I had a fantastic time.’ Jeremiah Manley Freeman

‘Camp was exquisite and tremendously amazing because we got to experience new things.’ Bree Morgan

‘Kayaking was awesome. It was fun. D’Andre and J’Aime fell in.’ Zac Jeans

‘I thought that fencing was the most fun. I had never done it before.’ Kayla Ellis

‘Kayaking was lots of fun because we played games and had races.’ Will Roffe

Narrandera Public School Informer Tuesday, October 9

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Tuesday, 9th October, 2012. Dear Students, Parents & Carers, It is that time of year once again when our school is lucky enough to receive a visit from Healthy Harold & the Life Education Van. Life Education assists students to:

acquire age appropriate knowledge to support informed health choices

develop and practice skills and strategies to act upon individual decisions

recognise the values and attitudes that may influence lifestyle choices and behaviours.

The highly skilled educators work with schools to develop programs/sessions to support the provision of drug and health education within the school. Sessions are designed to be age specific and sequential.

The van will be at our school from Wednesday, 24th October to Wednesday, 31st October, 2012. Your child’s class will be attending at a time during one of these days.

The cost has been reduced to only $4.00 per child due to the generosity of the Narrandera

Ex-Serviceman’s Club who regularly fundraises to help cut the costs of Life Education Australia so it is affordable for all children to attend. Their efforts with this each year are greatly appreciated. Each child to attend will receive a Student Workbook & sticker as well. A free BBQ will also be held on a day to be announced.

Please complete the attached consent form & return to the Front Office no later than Monday, 22nd October, 2012.

TAMMI RYAN (Life Education Van School Co-ordinator) SUSAN RUFFLES (Principal)

2012 LIFE EDUCATION VAN VISIT

I hereby consent to my child/children attending the Life Education Van at Narrandera Public School from Wednesday, 24th October to Wednesday, 31st October, 2012.

I understand the cost is $4.00 per child & I have enclosed the correct amount of money. CHILD:……………………………………… CLASS:…………….. $................ CHILD:……………………………………… CLASS:…………….. $................ CHILD:……………………………………… CLASS:…………….. $................ CHILD:……………………………………… CLASS:…………….. $................

TOTAL COST: $.............................. SIGNATURE OF PARENT/CARER: ……………………………… DATE:……………….

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TRANSITION NEWS Transition will be on Tuesday,

Wednesday and Thursdays during

Term 4.

Please let the school know

transport details for your child on

Thursdays.

Ms Neville – Transition Teacher.

AECG AGM Tuesday, October 16

10.30am at the Foundation

INVITATION You are invited to attend an information session about

some of our key learning programs in our Kindergarten to Year 3 classes.

COME ALONG AND FIND OUT ABOUT WHAT AND HOW YOUR CHILD IS LEARNING IN ENGLISH AND MATH.

The session will be a great chance to ask questions too! L3 (Language, Learning and Literacy)

TEN (Targeting Early Numeracy) Best Start

The sessions will be held in our school Library on THURSDAY, 1st November, 2012 at

3:30 p.m. and repeated at 7:00 p.m. 2 sessions of approximately 1 hour have been planned to cater for family time preferences.

Children are welcome to come along if alternative care is unavailable.

Light refreshments will be supplied. We hope to see you there.

Mrs. Joanne Stamos - 9th October, 2012.