Week 5 Term 2, 2020

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE What a wonderful sound it is to hear the chatter and laughter in our playground once again with the full time return of students to school. Students have returned with an amazing level of energy and enthusiasm and it has been a delight to observe their joy at once again being able to play with their friends and be back in the classroom with their peers and teachers. On Monday 97% of students were onsite and ready to learn.

The feedback we have received from our families who completed the Learning from Home survey has provided insights for the executive team into aspects of communication, the feelings of families and students about returning to school and the understanding of infection control measures at DPS. Many families also took this opportunity to provide appreciative comments to the staff which acknowledged the work, commitment and approach that DPS implemented during Learning from Home. There is a summary of the survey responses contained in this newsletter for your information. Thank you for your responses and kind comments.

As a Principal I have been reflecting on the challenges that COVID-19 has presented to school leadership. The executive team and I will continue to reflect in the weeks ahead to identify positive aspects from Learning from Home that can be incorporated into our systems and practices as we go forward, to ensure that all students at DPS continue to have access to high quality teaching and learning. Kind Regards Megan Druitt Principal

In Week 8, we will welcome Miss Tiana Snowdon and Mr Jake Sawyer to the DPS community. Miss Snowdon is currently working in an early childhood setting and will teach Kindergarten for the remainder of 2020. Miss Snowdon and Mrs Bridge will team teach Kindergarten for the last three weeks of Term 2 to ensure a smooth transition prior to the commencement of Mrs Bridge's maternity leave. Mr Sawyer has been appointed as the new Assistant Principal - Primary and will teach Year 6 for the rest of the year. Mr Sawyer is currently teaching at Barnsley Public School. We look forward to our students and families meeting our new staff members when restrictions are eased.

SCHOOL CANTEEN OPEN Monday/Wednesday/Friday

Lunch orders ONLY

P & C MEETING 15 June to be held offsite

Please contact Simone George for details 0418 118 994

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SCHOOL CALENDAR In an effort to reduce our printing and paper usage we will be using Skoolbag for the majority of

our communications. Please ensure that you download the app and keep it updated to guarantee you know what is happening at school.

The school calendar will only be available through the Skoolbag app and will be regularly updated to keep families informed of upcoming events and activities. The paper version will no

longer be available. To access the calendar select the Events tab on Skoolbag. From there you can not only see all

upcoming DPS events, but also add to your own personal calendar as a reminder. We have included a step by step instruction guide that can be used to download and install the

app on your device or smartphone below.

NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WEEK Denman Public School has a proud tradition of recognising and acknowledging National Reconciliation Week and National Sorry Day each year. Due to current restrictions students and staff are unable to participate in community events. Teachers will instead provide opportunities this week for all students to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

DENMAN PUBLIC SCHOOL LEARNING FROM HOME SURVEY 23RD MAY 2020

How would you describe your child’s experience of Learning from Home? (Top 4 responses) 53.7% - Enjoyable 48.1% - Suited my child and their learning style 29.6% - Overwhelming 20.4% - Frustrating

What has been the best aspect of Learning from Home for your child/children and your family?

(Top 4 responses) 70.4% - Understanding what my child/children were learning 66.7% - Spending time together as a family 55.6% - Helping my child learn 46.3% - Watching my child/children develop new technology skills

What has been the biggest challenge or difficulty for your child/children and your family during this time? (Top 4 responses) 66.7% - Balancing home life with school work 48.1% - Distractions 42.6% - Managing time 31.5% - Internet access

How are you (families) feeling about your child/children returning to the classroom full time?

79% - Happy/ecstatic/ confident/ excited/fine/grateful 21% - Mixed feelings/anxious/worried/too soon/ nervous/not happy

How is/are your child/children feeling about returning to the classroom full time?

87% - Excited/happy 13% - Nervous/anxious

It is great to be back at school every day with all our friends again and learning in our classroom. We have settled back into our routine and were lucky to have Mrs Druitt teach

us while Mrs Bridge was working from home due to Government restrictions.

In Literacy, our writing continues to improve, and we are working very hard on writing sentences. Our focus this term is on recount writing and we always have something

interesting to write about. We listened to the story “The Magic Hat” by Mem Fox and made some fantastic magic hats

of our own.

In Maths, we are working on lots of different concepts. Our lesson about groups and which group has more was very enjoyable.

We love our hands-on maths activities.

WONDERFUL WORK WEEK 5

Early Stage 1

KINDERGARTEN Bryce displayed some

fantastic creativity after reading a story about a

whale.

WONDERFUL WORK Stage 1

YEAR 1 This week Year 1 has been looking at '5 Star

Quality Book Work' to improve their bookwork presentation. Benji has been taking

this very seriously and putting in a lot of effort. The whole class were very impressed

with the improvements he has made.

YEAR 2 Grace presented an outstanding book report

on Junior Fiction in Library this week.

WONDERFUL WORK Stage 2

YEAR 4 Gabbie worked extremely hard during Learning from home to complete all tasks to a high standard.

During Visual Arts she experimented with using a light source to create shadows. Gabbie created many different kinds of shadows and I particularly liked her rabbit and dog shadows. Well done, Gabbie!

YEAR 3 Year 3 are beginning to learn cursive

handwriting. Ruby’s handwriting is beautiful!

WONDERFUL WORK Stage 3

YEAR 5 In this lesson, Alex was supported

to practice his letter formation and pencil grip.

YEAR 6 Caitlyn created a selfie using abstract art inspired after watching a video on Sandra

Silberzweig's Selfies.