Celebrating Learning

Celebrating Learning Principal Awards

Congratulations to Ella and Tobias on the respectful manner in which they represented Redhead Public School at the

community ANZAC Day ceremony on ANZAC Day. Congratulations as well to Sophie who shared her essay

on the landing at Gallipoli in a very meaningful and sincere way.

Merit awards On Wednesday morning at assembly Delta, Mrs Church, Mr Finlay and Mr McGill were presented with

merit awards. After lunch on Tuesday afternoon a rather large lace monitor decided to join Delta class. Delta and Mrs Church were very resilient and calm as they vacated their room for the new

“pupil”. Mr Finlay, Mr McGill and I conducted a risk assessment and created a plan to safely capture and relocate the “pupil” to the Awabakal reserve.

Representing Our School Zone Cross Country Carnival

Today 32 Redhead

students will participate in the zone cross country carnival at Barton Oval Belmont. With

last week’s atrocious weather conditions we are hoping for clear skies and a dry track. Good luck to all Redhead competitors.

PSSA Cricket On the last day of Term 1, the Redhead cricket team played a great match

against Charlestown

South Public School. We lost the toss and the opening batters took the crease. Mitch, Liam and Tobias put on a tremendous batting display scoring an amazing 109 runs. When it was our time to field, the bowlers kept the ball on target with pace and accuracy. With some great fielding the boys bowled out Charlestown South for a total of 70 runs. We now progress to round 3 against Floraville Public School. Great job boys!

All students are to wear full school uniform tomorrow Friday 1 May for

our ANZAC ceremony. There will be no sport.

NewsletterRedhead Public School

Hutchinson Street Redhead NSW 2290

P 4944 7215 F 4942 6098 E redhead-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Week 2 Term 2 30 April 2015

Due to lack of stock from the storm and no volunteers the

canteen will be closed next week.

PSSA Tennis Next Tuesday 5 May, Sophie, Tilly, Dario and Lucas are competing in the first round of the PSSA tennis competition against Floraville Public School. Our team will be playing at Floraville tennis courts, the first match should begin at 11:30am. Good luck!

PSSA Netball Our girls netball team will play their first round game against The Junction Public School on 5 May. The Junction is the home team for this game and the venue is National Park Netball Courts, Newcastle. Good Luck Girls!

Zone Touch Trials On Monday 4 May, Kelsey, Mackenzie, Akeira, Lachlan, Lucas and Mitch will attend the zone touch trials at Barton Oval, Belmont. Girl’s trials are from 12.30pm - 1.30pm. Boy’s trials are from 1.30pm - 3.00pm.

Welcome to Redhead Public School This term we welcome Cohen and Charlize to our school.

Welcome to Miss Jodie Pullman who will be teaching Phi each Wednesday and Mrs Megan Bowron from the University of New England who is teaching on Sigma.

Stage 1 Excursion to the Wetlands On the last day of Term 1, Epsilon, Phi, Alpha 2, Chi 1 and Kappa visited The Wetlands Centre in Shortland. During the

day the students participated in activities which included a tour through the wetlands to observe the wildlife and the environment, dip netting in the

pond, hands-on activities in the

classroom, becoming familiar with the fauna of the wetland in the tank room and

investigating mini beasts from the pond using microscopes in the lab. We were happy to hear the positive feedback from the staff of the centre about the students and their enthusiastic involvement in the day.

ANZAC Day School Ceremony Friday 1 May 2.00pm in our hall Our school community is invited to attend our school’s ANZAC day ceremony tomorrow afternoon commencing promptly at 2pm.

Thank you to the Redhead Men’s Shed who have created the letters for our ANZAC garden. Please remember to bring flowers (stem’s cut 4-5cm long) on Friday morning and then place in the boxes or buckets near our morning assembly area. We share the flowers between our students therefore students will not necessarily be placing the flowers they collected into our ANZAC garden.

We are delighted to have Wing Commander Peter Swain from the Royal Australian Air Force and Andrew Dunkin from Redhead Sustainable Neighbourhood to present at our ANZAC service. Mr Andrew Dunkin will share details of the Redhead Sustainable Group’s mural to commemorate 100 years since the first ANZAC landing at Gallipoli.

Due to the significance of the ceremony and the need to maximise seating, parents will be required to leave prams outside of the hall and to have non-school aged children sitting on their laps. If younger children become unsettled, please assist by taking them outside until they are settled.

Storm Damage and Risk Management Thank you to everyone for the support that they offered our school during the recent storms.

At this stage we still have three classrooms that are non-operational. They are Iota, Sigma and Omega. From tomorrow, Iota will be able to use the technology centre as their learning space.

Access to Phi and Lambda is still limited to the path from the administration area due to the tree that is on the roof. The garden between the top building and lower building is out of bounds due to the tree damage.

Please assist by ensuring that everyone who comes onto our school grounds is wearing shoes.

NAPLAN NAPLAN assessment will be in Term 2, Week 4, 12 -14 May for Year’s 3 and 5.

Stewart House Envelopes are being sent home with the newsletter today for the 2015 Donation Drive. Donations of $2.00 or more go into a draw to win a family holiday worth $4,000. Envelopes need to be returned to school by Friday 8 May.

K-2 Infants Assembly From next Monday our Infants Assembly will now be from 2.40pm - 3.10pm in our school hall. Students will need to be picked up from the hall.

Stage 2 Excursion Outdoor Education Centre, Morisset Wednesday 20 May – Friday 22 May A reminder that our Stage 2 camp notes and money are due back by 8 May. The camp runs from Wednesday 20 May – Friday 22 May. Final payment of $225 is due by 8 May.

Due to the need to carry out risk assessments we cannot accept notes past this date. If you are having any financial difficulty please contact the school.

On Monday 4 May, representatives from Morisset Outdoor Educational Centre will be coming to talk to the students about camp. The information session will be from 2.40pm - 3.10pm. Parents are welcome to attend and the camp co-ordinators will remain after school to answer any questions you may have.

Dough for Dungog Epsilon is making and selling play dough to make money for the people in Dungog who lost their stuff and had damage to their home in the recent storms and floods. (By Tahlea and Layla, Year 2)

Next week, on Tuesday 5 May, at lunchtime, Epsilon students will have a stall under the COLA selling Play Dough Monster Kits for $2. Each kit will include a ball of play dough, googly eyes and a pipe cleaner. All proceeds will go towards buying emergency care items for those affected by the devastating storm. We hope the school community will enthusiastically support this worthy cause as Epsilon students keenly prepare to go into mass production of play dough over the coming week.

Library News We have been resilient and accommodating during Library this week. Where possible students are borrowing however some classes will miss out. Some students are beginning to finish their Premier’s Reading Challenge. I will begin putting your pictures up on the celebration wall. Thank you to all those students who have returned their overdue library books.

Public Speaking Each year we participate in the Hunter Central Coast Regional Primary Schools Public Speaking Competition. As part of the process each child presents a speech to their class.

This year students will be presenting their speeches to their class in Week 6. A note with more details will be available next week.

Redhead Yarn Group We are fortunate that we have additional funds that will enable our school to provide support and enrichment programs for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. It will also provide opportunities for all of our students to gain knowledge and greater understanding of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people and their cultures.

Parents and caregivers of our students with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage have been invited to be a part of our Redhead Yarn Group.

The Redhead Yarn Group will have their first meeting on Monday 4 May from 1:30pm - 3:00 pm. The group will meet in the library.

Debating Our first debate for the Year 6 Debating team will be on Monday 13 May at Eleebana Public School. Students involved will receive notes tomorrow.

Mother’s Day Stall Our Mother’s Day stall will be held at school next Thursday 7 May. Presents will be $6 each. Extra presents will be available at recess if your child would like to buy more than one.

Gold Shields Due to our ANZAC Ceremony, Gold Shields will be presented at our Week 3 assembly. Thank you for your patience.

P & C News P & C Meeting On Monday 4 May parents and community members are invited to come to our P & C meeting. The meeting will commence at 7.00pm in our library.

One aspect of this meeting will be talking about the recent storms and to gain your ideas and suggestions for future planning. Uniform Shop Our uniform shop is open Wednesday morning from 8.45am – 9.15am. The uniform shop is located in the back of the Library.

Entertainment Books It's almost that time of year again! Our payment page is now active and ready to take pre-orders for the new Entertainment™ Books.

Our payment page address is: http://www.entbook.com.au/3u4669

Useful Information Free Kids Dental Great news, the Child Dental Benefits Schedule continues in 2015. The Commonwealth Government Dental Scheme provides eligible children with a $1000 free kids dental benefit on selected dental services within a 2 year calendar period. To gain access to benefits, children must be eligible for Medicare, must be between 2 and 17 years of age for at least 1 day of the calendar year with the child or parent, guardian or carer receiving Family Tax Benefit Part A or another relevant government payment.

Important Dates and Reminders DATE WHO WHAT NOTE NOTE/MONEY DUE 1 May All School ANZAC Service 2pm 4 May P & C P & C Meeting 7 pm in Library

4 May Zone Touch Football Trials

5 May Tennis team PSSA Knockout Tennis against Floraville 29/4/15 1/5/15

5 May All School Dough for Dungog stall - $2 7 May All School Mother’s Day stall – Presents $6 each

8 May Hunter PSSA Cross Country

11 May School Readiness Night Charlestown Public School Hall

11 May Starstruck Starstruck Rehearsal 12 – 14 May Years 3 & 5 NAPLAN 13 May Disco 15 May Starstruck Starstruck Rehearsal 18 May Girls PSSA Soccer Gala Day

20-22 May Year 3-4 Morriset Camp $225 Balance Due 8 May

22 May All School National ‘Walk to School Safely Day’ 25 May Boys PSSA Soccer Gala Day 27 May Starstruck Starstruck Rehearsal 10 June Starstruck Starstruck Rehearsal 11 June Starstruck Starstruck Dress Rehearsal 12-13 June Starstruck Starstruck Performance 12 June Starstruck Starstruck Matinee Performance Excursion 17 June Netball Netball Gala Day 18 June Public Speaking School Finals 26 June School Athletics Carnival 26 June All School Last day of Term 2 Please Note: No payment will be accepted after the due date unless prior arrangements are made with the office. If you have not received a note for any activity these are available from the office or the school website. All notes and money must be returned to the office box in an envelope with your child’s name, class and activity

Invitation to our School Readiness Night Come and meet with other parents, pre-school staff and Public School staff and have your questions answered. Legal requirements, age, milestones in development, social skills, speech and language.

Guest speakers- Dorte Bladt- Chiropractor Michelle Batey- Speech Therapist Rachel Elliott- Occupational Therapist When: Monday 11th May 2015 Time: 7.00pm – 8.45pm Place: Charlestown Public School hall RSVP: to your local school or pre-school by Thursday 7th May Refreshments provided. Hope to see you there.

INSIGHTSBuilding parent-school partnerships

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WORDS Michael Grose

© 2015 Michael Grose

As adults we all want our children to live carefree lives and keep them from the pain and even horror of tragedies such as natural disasters. In reality we can’t do this.

Help your children make sense of

natural disastersRecent natural disasters wreak incredible havoc on so many people’s lives and will no doubt leave an indelible imprint on our collective psyches. Graphic images have been brought into our living rooms via the media over the last few weeks, and will continue to do so in the immediate future.

As adults we all want our children to live carefree lives and keep them from the pain and even horror of tragedies such as natural disasters. In reality we can’t do this.

So what is a parent, teacher, or other caring adult to do when the natural disasters fill the airwaves and the consciousness of society? Here are some ideas:

1 Reassure children that they are safe The consistency of the images can be frightening for young children who don’t understand the notion of distance and have difficulty distinguishing between reality and fiction. Let them know that while this event is indeed happening it will not affect them directly.

2 Be available Let kids know that it is okay to talk about the unpleasant events. Listen to what they think and feel. By listening, you can find out if they have misunderstandings, and you can learn more about the support that they need. You

do not need to explain more than they are ready to hear, but be willing to answer their questions.

3 Help children process what they see and hear,particularly through television Children are good observers but can be poor interpreters of events that are out of their level of understanding.

4 Support children’s concerns for others They may have genuine concerns for the suffering that will occur and they may need an outlet for those concerns. It is heartwarming to see this empathy in children for the concerns of others.

5 Let them explore feelings beyond fear Many children may feel sad or even angry with these events so let them express the full range of emotions. They may feel sadder for the loss of wildlife, than for loss of human life, which is impersonal for them.

6 Help children and young people find a legitimate course of action if they wish Action is a great antidote to stress and anxiety so finding simple ways to help, including donating some pocket money can assist kids to cope and teaches them to contribute.

7 Avoid keeping the television on all the time The visual nature of the media means that images are repeated over and over, which can be both distressing to some and desensitizing to others.

8 Be aware of your own actions Children will take their cues from you and if they see you focusing on it in an unhealthy way then they will focus on it too. Let them know that it is happening but it should not dominate their lives.

9 Take action yourself Children who know their parents, teachers, or other significant caregivers are working to make a difference feel hope. They feel safer and more positive about the future. So do something. It will make you feel more hopeful, too. And hope is one of the most valuable gifts we can give children and ourselves.

Children’s worlds can be affected in ways that we can’t even conceive of so adults need to be both sensitive to children’s

needs and mindful of what they say and how they act in front of children.

In difficult times, it is worth remembering what adults and children need most are each other.