PBL Rule of the Week

Week 5: Be Respectful Week 6: Be a Learner

Holsworthy Public School

High Quality Education, Strong Discipline

Principal: Mark Hoppitt

36 Infantry Parade Phone: 9825 1479

Holsworthy NSW 2173 Fax: 9825 2860 Email < holsworthy-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au>

Website: www.holsworthy-p.schools.nsw.gov.au

Wednesday 26 August 2020 Newsletter Term 3 Week 6

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

A Proud Principal What an amazing week! It has been wonderful getting to know the students and the teachers and there have been some social distancing opportunities to say hello to parents. The students have been very welcoming and very keen to come up and say hello. I have been able to get to every classroom and have been impressed by what I have seen. The students are receiving a quality education and are wonderfully engaged in the learning program. I even managed to catch some of the cross-country carnival held last week. It was great to see the students participating and cheering each other on.

SASS Recognition Week This week we stop and pause to thank the wonderful staff who work in the office and/or deliver support programs for the students. Without these staff members the school would struggle to provide the wonderful programs that it does. The ladies in the office do far more than answer phones - they are valuable in ensuring that the school runs smoothly by performing their many tasks (finance, first-aid, responding to parent queries, etc). We also have staff who assist teachers in the classroom. These staff members work closely with the teachers to provide additional support for targeted students. Without their assistance these students would struggle with their learning. I am also grateful for our general assistant who performs a great job in looking after the school by maintaining the grounds.

Tell Them From Me Parent Survey Last week, you were invited to participate in the Tell Them From Me survey. Thank you to those who have already participated – the response has been encouraging. This survey is really important and is one method the school uses to gather the opinions of the parents. Your comments and views are highly appreciated. The staff and students also have an opportunity to complete the survey. By gathering data from these three groups, we are able to get a better picture of the school and how best to move forward. By working together, the school will even be better than it is now and will give an opportunity for us to grow and build upon the programs we are currently delivering.

COVID-19 Procedures Last week we sent home guidelines relating to the latest information received by the NSW Department of Education and NSW Department of Health. These guidelines added further restrictions to be followed by the school. This means that some of our regular activities will not be able to be held or will need to be re-structured. However, NEW guidelines were released on Tuesday 25 August and address the concerns raised by some families regarding COVID testing. A summary appears below:

• Schools should encourage staff and parents to arrange for the person who is unwell to be tested so they can return to school as soon as possible once their symptoms have resolved to minimise the absence from school. For people who are unwell with respiratory symptoms, a negative COVID-19 test result must be received and sighted by the school.

• COVID test results for HSC students will be prioritised by NSW Health to minimise any impact on HSC preparations. When HSC students are getting tested, they need to advise the GP/clinic that they are currently doing their HSC so their test results can be prioritised.

• COVID-19 testing for students with complex health or disability may be challenging. In these situations, schools are to ask the parent/carer to have their child assessed by their medical practitioner. Where a medical practitioner determines that a COVID-19 test is not indicated, a medical certificate must be provided to the school to confirm that the student does not have symptoms that warrant a COVID-19 test. The certificate must also indicate that the student is able to return to the school environment.

• Schools have reported concerns with obtaining COVID test results from some families. In these situations where a parent/carer is unwilling to allow their child to undertake a COVID test or provide the school with a negative COVID-19 test result, the student is to be excluded from school for a 10 day period. Additionally, the student must have been symptom free for at least 3 days before returning to school.

Mark Hoppitt

Building Maintenance - Painting During Term 3 contractors have been engaged to paint some of the school interiors. This will cause some disruption, but is unavoidable. Class routines and lessons will continue as normal but some classes will need to be relocated whilst their classroom is repainted. Next week they are working on Block N and classes in temporary accommodation include KR (relocated to KM’s classroom), 2J and 2H (relocated to the library) and 2D (relocated to the computer lab). These rooms are expected to be painted started Wednesday, 2 September. The next phase of classrooms in Block F (5L, 5S and 5V) will begin during week 5. I want to thank everyone, the students and Holsworthy Staff for their cooperation and support in this process. Further updates as to where classes will be located will be provided as work continues throughout the term.

SCRIPTURE

Due to school building maintenance which is happening across the school we have paused

Scripture at this stage. This is due to limited available spaces and keeping in mind social distancing

guidelines. Further updates to Scripture starting again will be communicated once the maintenance

has been completed.

2020 INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS AND ASSESSMENTS FOR SCHOOLS

(ICAS)

Just a reminder that the ICAS competitions will be held on the following dates. Students will be

advised of times and location on the day.

Please note that Stage 2 competition is on Wednesdays and Stage 3 competition is on Thursdays.

Subject/Paper School

Year Official Sitting Date

English 3-4 Wednesday 26 August

2020

English 5-6 Thursday 27 August 2020

Mathematics 3-4 Wednesday 2 September

2020

Mathematics 5-6 Thursday 3 September

2019

SAFE, RESPONSIBLE AND RESPECTFUL USE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY. Our children and young people have grown up with digital technology and it is woven into their lives. During COVID -19 many young people are using digital technology more often to learn and to socialise. Supporting children and young people to use technology in a safe, respectful and responsible manner allows for more active online learning that can increase student engagement and participation. It also supports access to a broader range of content and learning resources that can supplement students’ learning experiences. Being safe online is a shared responsibility for students, teachers, parents, carers and the broader community. It is important that families can communicate with their children about the how to use digital technology in safe, responsible and respectful ways. Here are some key reminders for children and young people of how to stay safe online:

• Protect personal information, including name, address, school, email address, telephone number, pictures and other personal details.

• Never share user names or passwords and only use your own

• Ask a teacher or other responsible adult for help if anyone online asks for personal information, wants to meet or offers money or gifts.

• Let a teacher or other responsible adult know immediately if anything online that is suspicious, harmful or inappropriate.

• Never hack, disable or bypass any hardware or software security, including any virus protection, spam and filter

Further information can be found at:

• Digital Citizenship website: https://www.digitalcitizenship.nsw.edu.au/

• Esafety Commissioner: https://www.esafety.gov.au/

The department’s Student use of digital devices and online service policy supports schools to maximise the benefits and minimise the risks of digital environments, and prepare students for life beyond school.

KINDERGARTEN NEWS Kindergarten are working very hard as usual. We have been busy presenting news each week using

persuasive topics. It has been tricky trying to think of three reason why people should think or feel

the same way that we do.

We have also using the Chromebooks to access Reading Eggs during some of our Guided Reading

sessions. We all love when we can use technology to enhance our learning.

Last week all of Kindergarten got to make our own version of a Kandinsky artwork. We used different

sized circles and ordered them from largest to smallest in different colours to represent blossoms

on a tree. Who knows but I think we might have some future World famous artists in Kindergarten

2020.

YEAR ONE SHOW AND TELL Year One students have been busy working hard on delivering impromptu and prepared speeches in class. Public speaking is an important life skill and it has been wonderful seeing the children's confidence improve in this area.

In Mathematics, we have been using equal groups, repeated addition and arrays to model multiplication and students are improving their ability to solve word problems using Newman's Prompts.

During Science and Digital Technologies lessons students are beginning to use computer applications on Chromebooks and investigate algorithms and sequences with Beebots.

YEAR 2 Learning

Year 2 Learning about What makes Me Unique

This term in Personal Development and Health lessons

the Year Two students have been discussing what

things make us similar and different to others. Initially

we spoke about the insides of our bodies and our

skeletal system. Students were able to create and put

together their own skeletons. We then moved onto

understanding that even though our skeletal systems

are very similar, there are other things about us that

make us all individually unique. We made a ‘quilt’

where we recorded a major event in our lives and

expressed how we felt before and after that event.

YEAR 3

Show and Tell Comprehension strategies are procedures that readers use to help them to understand texts. These strategies include, but are not limited to, previewing and making predictions, evaluating text structure, generating and answering questions, determining main ideas, using self-monitoring (“fix-up‟) strategies, visualising, retelling and summarizing. Year 3 are currently focusing on how to use self-monitoring strategies such as rereading portions of the text, or reading more slowly and trying to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words important to the understanding of the text. Even repeated readings of a passage will make it significantly easier to recall its important content. They are using these strategies to understand text in all Key Learning Areas. When students self-monitor they need to: 1. be aware when meaning breaks down, 2. identify what it is they do not understand (word, sentence, paragraph), and 3. use appropriate strategies to “fix-up”, to restore meaning

YEAR 4 Show and Tell

Numeracy: Fractions and Decimals

Year 4 are currently focusing on fractions and decimals in Mathematics. Fractions are used in different ways: to describe equal parts of a whole; to describe equal parts of a collection of objects; to denote numbers (eg 1/2 is midway between 0 and 1 on the number line); and as operators related to division (eg dividing a number in half). We are using concrete materials to represent, model and compare commonly used fractions and investigate equivalent fractions. Students used paper plates to create ‘fraction pizzas’, dividing them into halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, sixths, eighths, tenths or twelfths. Working in groups, students used their pizza fractions to compare and order fractions with different denominators. They also used them to investigate the equivalence of fractions with related denominators. Using concrete materials not only engages students in lessons, it increases their enjoyment of Mathematics and allows them to see the relevance of fractions in their everyday lives.

Year 5 and 6 Show and Tell

Science: It’s Electrifying!

This term in Science, Year 5 and 6 have been learning about energy transformations and sources of energy. We have been comparing where Australia gets it’s energy from by examining real time data and discussing the use of renewable and non-renewable sources of energy in each state. Students have also begun looking at how much it costs to run different electrical appliances n the home. They are learning how to calculate the average energy consumed in their home and use web applications to determine approximate running costs. What an eye opener this has been to how expensive items such as fridges and television are to have in the home! Students are beginning to explore how to make an electrical circuit that will power a light bulb using conductive materials and batteries.

EAL/D

EAL/D stands for English as an Additional Language or Dialect.

EAL/D children are those children who are from families of a non-English speaking background.

At Holsworthy Public School we have 75% of our students that speak a language other than English

at home. We are a multicultural school with approximately 50 languages being spoken amongst our

school community.

Our Specialist EALD teachers Mrs Georgi and Mrs Solimon support the EAL/D children by focusing

on language learning and the structure of language. They provide support to develop the language

skills required to achieve curriculum outcomes.

The EALD teachers work either in classrooms team teaching with classroom teachers to model

explicit language teaching strategies, or they may withdraw children to work in a small group.

Withdrawal allows for a focus on the specific language needs of the children.

LIBRARY NEWS

It's the Final Countdown!

The Challenge is quickly drawing to an end, with Year 3 to Year 6 student entries closing this Friday August 28:

To avoid possible issues with site congestion on this date, we encourage you to finalise entries as early as possible.

Book Club Issue 5 orders for Book Club will be delivered shortly and distributed to the students. Thank you for placing your orders online. We will be receiving books for the library as our commission.

Borrowing All students are still coming to borrow from the library on their regular library day. Please ensure that your students bring a library bag and return any overdue books. For everyone’s well-being, all returned books are sanitised and kept aside for at least 2 days before they are returned to our beautiful new shelves. As we are still hosting classes while the painting continues, unfortunately the library is closed at lunchtimes.

DIARY

2020 HPS Diary Term 3 Monday 20 July – Friday 25 September

WEEK 6

August 24

Check-in Assessment Yr 5

August 25

August 26

ICAS English Stage 2

August 27

Reports to go home

ICAS English Stage 3

August 28 Mindfulness

WEEK 7

August 31

Oracy competition class finalists

submitted

September 1

Debatingx2

September 2

ICAS Mathematics

Stage 2

September 3

ICAS Mathematics

Stage 3

September 4

Mindfulness

WEEK 8

September 7

September 8

September 9

September 10

September 11 Mindfulness

WEEK 9

September 14 Oracy Competition

Stage Finals

September 15

September 16

September 17

September 18 Mindfulness

WEEK 10

September 21

Check-in Assessment Yr 3

September 22

September 23 September 24

September 25 Mindfulness

Last day term 3

TERM

Three

Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri

Spring Holidays - Monday 28 September to Friday 9 October 2020

YEARS 3-6 CROSS COUNTRY CARNIVAL

Last Friday we held the remaining events for our Years 3 – 6 Cross Country carnival. Our 11 Year boys and 8/9 Year girls and boys ran their race in much more favourable conditions. A big congratulations to all students who participated and especially to our placegetters in each race. It was great to see our students push themselves to achieve the goal they set themselves before the race. Thank you also to our Ministers and Sports Captains who assisted in the event, cheering on our students and guiding them through the race. Mr Sammut, Mr Polimeni Cross Country Carnival coordinators

Help us do better The Tell Them From Me parent survey is your chance to let us

know how we are going.

Complete the survey

Your results will help us

http://nsw.tellthemfromme.com/3hptt

Parent /Teacher Phone Interviews

Just reminding parents of the dates below for your phone interviews.

Date Classes

Monday 31 August (Week 7) 2/3T 3/4E 3/4C 3L 3P 4J

Tuesday 1 September (Week 7) KR KC KA KM 2D 2F 2H 2J

Wednesday 2 September (Week 7) 1C 1D 1G 1M 1R

Thursday 3 September (Week 7) 5/6N 5L 5S 5V 6B 6C 6S

Student Survey (Term 3, 2020)

In Term 3 Week 8 or 9, students in Years 4, 5 and 6 will take part in the Tell Them From Me student survey. The survey measures factors that are known to affect academic achievement and other student outcomes. The focus of the NSW-wide survey is on student wellbeing, engagement and effective teaching practices.

You may remember that our students also participated in a Tell Them From Me student survey in Term 1 this year. Asking students to complete the survey twice in one year allows us to identify trends in student responses as well as track engagement and motivation across the school year.

The survey is a great opportunity for our students to provide us with valuable and quick feedback on

what they think about school life, how engaged they are with school and the different ways that teachers interact with them. More than 6,300 schools in Australia and around the world have used

Tell Them From Me to survey 5.4 million students. Capturing the voices of our students will help

improve how we do things at our school.

More information about the survey is available at: http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au

I want to assure you that the survey is confidential. The survey is conducted online and will typically take less than 30 minutes to complete. It will be administered during school hours between 7 September (Week 8) and 18 September (Week 9). Participating in the survey is entirely voluntary.

If you do not want your child to take part in the survey, please complete the form sent home and

return it to the school by Friday 4 September 2020.

More information about the survey and the research is available in English on the CESE website: http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au/information-for-parents