Term 2 2014

Welcome to our second Koori Newsletter of 2014, keeping you in touch with what is happening at school and also about how you can help your children with their education.

At Illaroo Road Public School we want our Aboriginal students to be doing at least as well as all our students, especially in English and maths. Remember, students have most success when we work closely together between home and school.

Your own experience at school may or may not have been a good one, but we want to make sure that your children’s experiences are excellent.

Congratulations to Chloe Beetson (Y1) for winning the Bendigo Bank colouring competition

AttendanceThe student attendance rate continues to be excellent for almost all of our Aboriginal students. Last term there were an amazing 24 Aboriginal students with 100% attendance. There were another 22 who only had one or two absences. That means there were 46 students (out of a total

of 61) who were invited to attend the morning tea last week to celebrate their great attendance.

Congratulations to these students who received their attendance awards at the whole school assembly last week: Jordan Lummas, Alexandra Davis, Yanada Hepi-Te-Huia, Ocean Timbs, Savannah Bolt, Tobias Wellington, T’neil Tucker, George McTavish, Alex, Paige Seymour, Zayne Weinert, Benjamin Alcock, Sophie Smith, Harry McTavish, Karakia Hepi-Te-Huia, Kailey Timbs, Emily Beetson, Chanelle Lamb, Lachlan Mark, Anthony Wellington, Jacinta Smith, Riley Timbs and Patrick.

Twelve students had only one day absent: Jayden Simpson, Noah Williams-McLeod, Lincholn Irwin, Dakoda Seymour, Kyan Hucman-Denny, Wyatt Weinert, Chloe Beetson, Zion Hepi-Te-Huia, Chloe Whitley, Joshua Alcock, Luke Jones and Jarrod James.

Ten students had only two days absent: Matthew Irwin, Nevaeh Wellington, Cuba Foster-Connolly, Lakota Fortnum-Jones, Eliza Martin, Tristan Tucker, Biara Baron, Lionell Wellington, Mia Seymour and Safyre Harris.

Well done everyone. Let’s keep up the excellent attendance this term too! Mr Lowe

Tobias Wellington, Savannah Bolt and Ocean Timbs of Year 1 all had 100% attendance in Term 1

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Reaching For The Sky

Anthony Wellington of Year 5 has been working really hard at his reading over the last two years and is now

reading at the level expected of a Year 6 student! Well done Anthony

Premier’s Reading ChallengeIt’s only the start of May and already fourteen Koori students have completed this year’s reading challenge! Well done to the following students: Alexandra Davis, Yanada Hepi, Lincholn Irwin, Nevaeh Wellington, Noah Williams-McLeod (K), Chloe Whitley (Y2), Alex (Y3), Biara Baron, Paige Seymour, Kailey Timbs (Y4,) Emily Beetson (Y5), Jarrod James and Riley Timbs (Y6)

There are still four months before the challenge ends in August, so keep on reading those books and hopefully every single Koori student at Illaroo Road will finish the challenge this year.

Koori ClubKoori Club takes place on Wednesday afternoons during the first half of lunch and the students have a great time doing Aboriginal cultural activities with their friends.

A big thank you to Mrs Morgan and Mrs Lenihan for giving up their time to allow Koori Club to take place.

NAIDOC WeekThe theme of 2014 NAIDOC Week is Serving Country: Centenary and Beyond. The theme was selected by the National NAIDOC Committee to honour all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women who have fought in defence of our country.

NAIDOC Week will be celebrated at Illaroo Road Public School during the first week of next term. It will include a three day visit by the NSW National Parks Koori Rangers leading a variety of student workshops. This is always a special occasion at Illaroo Road. We welcome you to come along and have a look at what the students are doing in the workshops.

There will also be a number of other events including a Black, Red and Yellow Day and a special NAIDOC week Aboriginal flag-raising ceremony and assembly.

Excellence in Sport

Jacinta Smith represented the region at the NSW PSSA Swimming Carnival and has just been chosen for the

South Coast Netball Team

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Excellence in Sport

Jarrod James represented the region at the NSW PSSA Swimming Carnival and looks like he will have a busy

year with other sporting teams too!

Support in English and MathsThis year, for the first time, the NSW government has given each school a specific amount of funding according to the number of Koori students they have at the school.

In the past we have had to write a submission to get a small amount of funds to help improve the achievements of our lowest performing Koori students in English and maths.

This year we have received enough funds to have a school learning support officer working for a total of about three hours a day with individuals and small groups needing extra help in English, maths and speech therapy. This is making a huge difference for those students.

School ReportsSemester 1 School Reports will be sent home in Week 7, Thursday 12th June. Read them through carefully with your child and go along to the interviews that take place in Weeks 8 and 9. Your child’s teacher would really like to see you!

You will receive an invitation closer to the day.We look forward to seeing you then.

Life in the Year 5 OC ClassAt the start I felt a bit nervous about going into the class, and kept wondering about how well I was doing. It’s fun meeting all the new people and making friends. It’s exciting too. My favourite subjects are English and art and I’d definitely recommend the OC class to other Koori kids.

Emily Beetson started in the Year 5 OC class at the beginning of this year

Don’t forget, if you have a question or need any advice or support, just contact your child’s class teacher, Racheal or Bob on 4421 0422.

Best wishes,

Bob Lowe and Racheal MorganAboriginal Education Committee

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