Principal’s Message Welcome back to the final school term for 2016. I hope that all of our families had a safe and restful break with their children and are feeling rested and refreshed ready for the lead up to Christmas. As usual, Term 4 is very busy with a host of events planned for our students. Cricket NSW Cricket clinics began last week and will run consecutively for the next 3 Fridays. These clinics will be run by Cricket NSW. Students should wear sports uniform on Fridays as usual, to allow them to participate comfortably. Each session will focus on the skills associated with cricket as well as the skills of teamwork and sportsmanship. Thank you to Miss Carroll for the organisation of these cricket clinics. Please note that these sessions are free of charge, as they will be covered by the school, and will take the place of normal school sport on these days. Regional Public Speaking Competition The Regional Public Speaking competition will be held tomorrow at Surveyors Creek Public School. I would like to wish Harry Love, Josiah Fonokalafi, Katelyn Smith, Nathan Whibley, Lauren Haly and Emma Hatton the best of luck as they represent Wallacia Public School in this competition.

Newsletter Week 3 Term 4

Monday October 24 2016

Kindergarten Orientation / Transition Our Kindergarten Orientation / Transition program will continue this term. The next session will occur Thursday, October 27 at 9.15am and will continue fortnightly until Thursday November 24. We look forward to seeing our 2017 Kindergarten students there. In addition, a Kindergarten Orientation Information Session will be held for parents on Friday November 18 between 9.00am and 10.00am. 2017 kindergarten students will be able to attend class with Mrs Tritton during the information session. Stage 2 and 3 – Outdoor Adventure Camp / Great Aussie Bush Camp Both Stages 2 and 3 will attend their respective school camps in Week 5 and I’m sure that they are all looking forward to these great experiences. A big thank you to our parents and carers for the prompt return of permission, medical and health care notes associated with these camps. The prompt return of these notes makes it much easier for the organising teachers to navigate the organisational matters associated with them. School Assemblies Our next school assembly will be held on Thursday November 3 at 2.15pm. This assembly has been scheduled for Thursday to allow the cricket program to continue. School assemblies will then occur on Friday November 18 and Friday December 2. Our Presentation Day Assembly will take place on Friday December 9 at the Hubertus Country Club Luddenham.

Appointments with teachers Teachers at Wallacia Public School are always happy to meet with parents and carers to discuss any aspect of a child’s education. Whilst this is the case, it is important that these discussions take place at suitable times and don’t impact on the teacher’s preparation time or at times when teachers have duty of care for students. Whilst I understand that a brief conversation may need to take place to convey a minor concern or incident, I would ask that parents and carers make an appointment through the office if you wish to have an extended conversation with your child’s teacher to discuss aspects of their education. Kids Matter Staff at Wallacia Public School are currently joining with staff from Luddenham Public School to engage in joint professional learning on the ‘Kids Matter’ initiative. This initiative provides the school with a framework and resources to support all children to develop and maintain positive mental well-being, and strategies to develop resilience and coping mechanisms which should allow them to remain mentally healthy and positive in the face of the many challenges which occur in life. To assist us in our planning for this initiative, a survey will be sent home this week which will seek your opinions on aspects of mental health and well-being in our school and community. We would appreciate and value your input into this initiative through the completion of these surveys. If you would like more information about the program, you can visit the ‘Kids Matter’ website at http://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/ where you will find information for parents, and introductory videos that provide an overview of the benefits of the school participating in this initiative.

LMBR IS HERE!

Monday October 17 saw the successful launch of LMBR in our school. Thank you for all your prompt payments prior to the close of our school bank account, your help in this was very much appreciated. There will be some transitioning to our new financial, attendance and management systems; your continued support is greatly appreciated during this transitioning period.

All payments can now resume: POP, Parent On Line Payment, via the school website is now switched back on. POP is the Department’s preferred method of payment. Parents may still, however, pay via the red payment box in the school office using a payment envelope enclosing cash or cheque. I would like to thank Mr Davies, the Teaching Staff and the wider school community for their support and understanding during this time. I would especially like to make mention of Mrs Stove-Wilson and thank her for the support, hard work, organisation and commitment to the tasks during our pre-deployment, of LMBR and including our “go live” and post “go live” phases. We can now look forward to working with 21st Century Learning Management and Business Reform Programs. Kind regards, Mrs Debra Mullen (School Administrative Manager)

Classroom Materials 2016 In order to ensure all students have the required books for each subject area, Wallacia Public School has purchased all of the appropriate exercise books w h i c h students will need throughout the 2016 school year in each Key Learning Area. To help us to keep other costs to a minimum, parents are asked to provide their child’s classroom stationery, such as pencils, pens, etc. A list of equipment is included at the end of this note. We ask that students not bring thick marker pens or liquid paper to school. If parents choose to send textas to school, as these are optional, a maximum of 12 textas only should be included in your child’s stationery.

Please supply your child with all their stationery required. Your support with this is greatly appreciated.

2016 REQUIRED STATIONERY K – 2 HB pencils x 4, coloured pencils (pack of 12), glue sticks x 2, sharpener (with case preferable) and eraser x 2. 3 – 6 HB pencils x 4, coloured pencils (pack of 12), glue sticks x 2, sharpener (with case preferable), erasers x 2, 30cm wooden or plastic ruler, blue pens x 4, red pens x 2 and small scissors x 1. Please ensure that students’ belongings are clearly labelled and fit into one small pencil case. Additional stationery can be kept at home. Please don’t send any items not listed, as these can be distracting, and lead to unnecessary competition between students.

Please monitor your child’s supplies regularly to ensure your child has everything they need for the rest of the school year.

P & C News Our next P&C meeting will be on Monday 7 November at 2.30pm in the library. ALL WELCOME. At our last meeting it was suggested we hold a school fete next year. To be able to make this possible we would need a lot of helpers and parents on a committee to organise such a big event. If you are interested and have some ideas, please come along to our next meeting so we can evaluate how much interest we have to coordinate such an event. The end of year is soon approaching and we will be holding a Christmas raffle at Presentation Day. We are looking for prizes or donations that could assist with the raffle. The donations can be left in the office, thank you in advance for supporting our school and children. Jody Smith P & C