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We are a Respectful, Responsible, Safe and Successful School

Caswell Street, PEAK HILL NSW 2869

P: 02 6869 1304 E: peakhill-c.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Peak Hill Central School

Newsletter

Welcome Mr Neilsen - Our New Principal

Term 2 Week 2, Friday 8 May 2020

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Principal’s Message

Principal Mr Peter Neilsen Head Teachers Secondary Studies Mrs Catherine Doyle Mr Joshua Brown Assistant Principal Miss Grace Stewart Administration Manager Mrs Tanya Stanford Aboriginal Education Officer Mrs Vicki Sharah Head Teacher Access Mrs Crystal Stanford P & C Committee President Mrs Kelly Dart Secretary/Treasurer Ms Kim Dern

Thank you to the staff, students and community members for making me feel very welcome during the first two weeks as Principal of Peak Hill Central School. I had an opportunity to meet some parents and carers during Week 1, when I delivered work packages to households. Please remember to contact the school if you need more work or to speak to a teacher or myself if there is anything you wish to discuss. COVID -19 A Managed return to school From Monday 11 May PHCS will be moving into PHASE 1 of the managed return to school. Below is a summary of PHASE 1 and the days in which parents/carers are to send their children to school. If you have multiple children and it is easier for you to sent your children all on the one day you can send them on Family Day each Wednesday. The school will continue on PHASE 1 until we are directed to move to PHASE 2 which is two days per week. On the back page you will find another copy of the full managed phased return to school schedule. Refer to the full plan on last page regarding a managed return to school guidelines for families.

From Monday

Week 3 11/05/2020

PHASE 1

Students at school one day

per week

No Canteen Students to provide own

food and water bottle.

Social distanc-ing and regular

washing of hands contin-

ues

Do not sent your child to school if they

are sick. Parents carers

will be asked to collect children who present as

sick whilst at school.

MONDAY

Stage 6 super-vised in library

to continue with WAP

Zoom lessons.

Families that need to send

their child every day may continue to do

so. No child will be turned

away. When students not at school they continue

their work remotely on

line or package Student col-

lects new pack-ages on their day at school

YEAR 7 K/1/2

TUESDAY

Stage 6 super-vised in library

to continue with WAP

Zoom lessons.

Families that need to send

their child every day may continue to do

so. No child will be turned

away. When students not at school they continue

their work remotely on

line or package Student col-

lects new pack-ages on their day at school

YEAR 8 2/3

WEDNESDAY

Stage 6 super-vised in library

to continue with WAP

Zoom lessons.

Families that need to send

their child every day may continue to do

so. No child will be turned

away. When students not at school they continue

their work remotely on

line or package Student col-

lects new pack-ages on their day at school

A chance for families to

send all their children on the

one day

FAMILY DAY

THURSDAY

Stage 6 super-vised in library

to continue with WAP

Zoom lessons.

Families that need to send

their child every day may continue to do

so. No child will be turned

away. When students not at school they continue

their work remotely on

line or package Student col-

lects new pack-ages on their day at school

YEAR 9 3/4

FRIDAY

Stage 6 super-vised in library

to continue with WAP

Zoom lessons.

Families that need to

send their child every day may continue to do

so. No child will be turned

away. When students not at school they continue

their work remotely on

line or package Student col-

lects new packages on their day at

school

YEAR 10 5/6

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Community Partnerships/Pathways to Success - Re: Establishing the PHCS Agricultural Show Team Later in the year after it is safe to do so, I am keen to re-establish a Peak Hill Central School Agricultural Show Team. I am looking to forge partnerships with local breeders of high-quality Sheep and or Goats within the local area. Ideally, the school will develop a relationship to acquire stock and employ on a part time basis exper-tise to assist in the education and training of students. Students will learn about the stock, husbandry to do with their care, as well as develop skills in showing the livestock at local and ultimately state and national shows. The successful person would be paid one or two days per week to undertake this role. If you are interested or know of anyone who may be interested please see ad-vertisement and pass on and contact me at the school to discuss the variety of possibilities.

Principal’s Message Continues

School Uniform - Taking pride in Self and the School Winter is just around the corner and as the days get cooler students need to be warm. To ensure all stu-dents are warm and in uniform when they return to school the school will be providing ONE free hooded school jumper to every student in the school when they return to school in PHASE 3. Additional jumpers will be available for purchase from the school. It is expected that students attend school in full school uniform. If you require support in ob-taining uniform please do not hesitate to contact me. Year 12 Students University options - School Recom-mendation Scheme Any student in Year 12 who are thinking of applying for University after school, should make time to come and speak to Mrs Doyle and myself regarding the School Recommendation Scheme (SRS). Many Universities offer placement based on how successful the students school believe they will be at a particular course at a particular University, not based on HSC or ATAR re-sults. The SRS has now opened. In light of the disrup-tion to learning caused by the recent pandemic I would like any student interested to apply. You can always knock it back if you change your mind later down the track. Keep up to date with what is happening at PHCS by following us on Facebook and on our School Website https://peakhill-c.schools.nsw.gov.au/ and by reading the schools fortnightly newsletter, which can be found on our Website, the school Front Office, our local Post Office and via email to those requested. Kind regards, Mr Peter Neilsen Principal

WANTED: School/Community Partnership with

local Merino and or Boer Goat producers to assist Peak Hill Central School to establish a successful Ag-ricultural Show Team and assist in the develop-ment of employability skills within the rural indus-tries of our local youth. Paid Part time employment is available to the right person, as well as the potential purchase of top-quality breeding stock. If you feel you may be able to assist or would like to find out more, please call the Principal Mr Peter Neilsen to discuss the wealth of possibilities available.

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Exciting New Directions for PHCS It is with great excitement that staff welcome our new Principal, Mr Peter Neilsen and our new Head Teacher, Mr Joshua Brown, to join our future focused team at PHCS. I know that our students and families will appre-ciate the experience, knowledge and enthusiasm that these two leaders bring to our school and community. Every day staff work to improve the learning outcomes for every child in our care. It’s very exciting to have two new committed staff members join us in our jour-ney towards excellence. Real Support for Students Learning from Home Parents and Carers, I encourage you to call the school, as often as you need, if the teaching staff can do any-thing at all to help to support students learning from home. If there is anything we can do to make learning easier, we are here to help. We want students’ transi-tions back to school to be as smooth as possible, so setting up successful learning and communication until then, is going to be very important. If you have any questions regarding Primary, please speak with Miss Grace Stewart. If you have any questions or need any help with students from Years 7 to Year 12 please call and speak with either Mr Brown or myself. We look forward to hearing from you. Personal Learning Plans (PLP) for Students Thank you to the parents and carers who were able to make it to the PLP afternoon tea, last term, to work with their child and staff to develop individual learning plan to help support student progress and goal setting this term. I encourage all parents and carers to make a time to speak with your child or children’s class teach-er to work together to identify each students’ strengths and areas for improvement this term. A number of teachers have already started calling home to work with parents and carers on this plan. If you have not had a call yet, you will hear from teachers over the coming week. Earphones for Learning In light of the current COVID 19 hygiene restrictions, please note that we will be asking students to bring their own earphones to school for use. Students will be asked to not share these, but to keep them for their own use. Thank you in advance for your understanding with this issue. Water Bottles As students start to return one day a week from next

Head Teachers’ News

Dear Parent/Carers, Students and the wider communi-ty, The first two weeks have flown by, and I feel blessed to have such an amazing staff to work with! I am extremely excited to be taking up the role of Head Teacher Secondary Studies at Peak Hill Central School, having previously taught at Cobar High School. I have heard great things about the school and com-munity and look forward to working with you to fur-ther the education of our students. I grew up in Lake Macquarie, where I enjoyed partici-pating in both soccer and cricket as a junior and senior player. I completed my Bachelor of Education/ Bache-lor of Health and Physical Education at Newcastle Uni-versity. During this time, I worked as a group fitness instructor and personal trainer at a local gym having completed my Certificates III and IV in Fitness. My love of study led me to later complete a Graduate Diploma of Mathematics through Charles Sturt University. We are all life long learners and I encourage students to pursue their passions through hard work and dedica-tion. I look forward to watching the students excel across all KLA’s and cross curricula activities.

Monday. Can you please ensure that your child has their own, clearly labelled, refillable water bottle, as the school bubblers will not be used until such time as it is safe to do so. School Uniform, Covered Footwear and Food A final reminder to families as students prepare to re-turn to school, students will be expected to wear full school uniform and fully covered footwear each day. A reminder that the school canteen will not be opera-tions until school fully returns. So, please ensure that children have food for both recess and lunch each day. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the school to let us know. Take care and stay safe. Mrs Catherine Doyle Head Teacher

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Assistant Principal Continues

We have some new enrolments this term. We welcome George in Year 1, Kyannah in Year 2, Liam in Year 3 and Jackson in Year 4. We hope you enjoy PHCS as much as we do! Lastly, I wish all the wonderful Mums out there a Hap-py Mother's Day for Sunday. Enjoy your special day :) Miss Grace Stewart Assistant Principal Hello, my name is Lyndal Edge and I am super excited about teaching here at PHCS for the remainder of 2020 and beyond. I will be teaching intensive literacy sessions on Mon-days, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I moved to Parkes during the last Christmas holidays and am truly enjoying the country town lifestyle and the friendly community. My teaching career began in Mount Druitt, then Maitland and into Newcastle East where my two adult children are still living and work-ing. I have been a teacher of all grades and subject are-as, although I specialise in Creative Arts and Literacy. My partner and I are both Dubbo originals, so although I miss my children, the beach and the shopping (not necessarily in that order), being back in the country is a pleasure. Thank you to the fabulous PHCS staff for making me feel so welcome, and the students for helping me feel like I belong. If you see me around, please say “Hi”! Mrs Lyndal Edge Classroom Teacher

Head Teachers’ News Continues

I am very approachable, so if you have any questions about your child’s education and progress please feel free to have a chat or book a meeting. I look forward to meeting you all once it is deemed safe to do so! Mr Joshua Brown Head Teacher

Assistant Principal

Welcome back to Term 2! I hope you have had a relaxing stay-at-home break. This term looks different to our usual way of operating, however, I have the utmost confidence in my Primary team to continue to ensure each student is known, valued and cared for in their learning and well being. If you have any questions or suggestions we would love to hear from you. Starting from next Monday 11 May, all students will be given the opportunity to attend school one day per week and teachers are looking forward to seeing more of their students back. Primary class days are as follows: Monday - K/1/2 Tuesday - 2/3 Wednesday - Family Day Thursday - 3/4 Friday - 5/6 Remember, students coming to school are doing the same work as what is being sent home. As students complete their work, can it please be sent back to the school for teachers to give their feedback. I’d like to welcome Mrs Lyndal Edge to the Primary team this term. She will be working with small groups of students coordinating our literacy intervention sessions. You can read more about her in the next column.

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ANZAC DAY

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Art with Miss Grace Stewart

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Look What’s Happening in K/1/2 at Home and at School

I have seen lots of great learning happening at both home and at school, keep up the great work. Remember to try and complete the following activities each day: Soundwaves/spelling Reading Writing Maths I can’t wait to have everyone back in the classroom once again. Remember that K/1/2’s transition back to school day is Monday. Miss Elsie Woodley Classroom Teacher

K/1/2 with Miss Elsie Woodley Year 2/3 with Miss Tiarne McLeod

Learning in Year 2/3 I am looking forward to seeing 2/3 on our allocated day back at school on the 12th of May. It has been lovely seeing the children of essential workers working hard on their home learning packs in the classroom and I cannot wait to see all the wonderful work that has been completed at home. Please have your children return any completed work whenever they attend school, as I have missed seeing their clever brains put onto pages and they will need to be marked. On days that your child is attending school, may you please also ensure they have their home learning pack with them. Each child in 2/3 has a pack that has been created for their individual needs so it is important that they have their own work with them at school. I have loved having the opportunity to connect with the families of 2/3 and look forward to continuing to build these relationships with you all. Miss Tiarne McLeod

Classroom Teacher

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Giraffe Artwork A group of primary students at school completed a giraffe artwork this week. First, I read the story ‘Gina the Dancing Queen’ by Marisa Alo. Students then followed the instructions to draw their very own giraffe. When finished, students painted their background with water colour. More photos on page 7. Miss Grace Stewart Assistant Principal

Year 3/4 with Ms Michelle Ross Art with Miss Grace Stewart

Year 3/4 with Family and Friends

It was lovely to see so many students returning their learning packs on Monday when I took Mrs James on a tour of Peak Hill to deliver this weeks learning from home packs. Stage 2 students and their families are continuing to set a high standard of learning from home. Well done!

Ms Michelle Ross

Classroom Teacher

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Brainteasers: I left my campsite and hiked south for 3 miles. Then I turned east and hiked for 3 miles. I then turned north and hiked for 3 miles, at which time I came upon a bear inside my tent eating my food! What colour was the bear? Move 6 matches to make five squares: Answer to last newsletter’s brainteaser: Pick up the second full glass and empty it into the fifth and then return it to where it was. Mr John Grubb Science Teacher

Science with Mr John Grubb

Hopefully everyone had a good Easter Break, albeit a quiet one. For those with internet access at home more interactive work and links have been put up on the Google Classrooms for Stage 4 and 5 Science for this week. Alternatively, new booklets of work are available from the Front Office of the school, or possibly dropped off at homes last week. If completed booklets could be returned for feedback that would be awesome. Stage 4 Science are now working on Water: fit for drinking Part 1. This topic will look at the Water Cycle and how we get safe drinking water. Stage 5 Science have started a Physics topic looking at waves and communication, and students should complete Part 1 this week either from the booklet or Google Classroom (additional video links on Classroom).

Stage 6 are back on deck at school.

Thank You

Thank You AllPro Eco Friendly Solutions

Peak Hill Central School would like to thank AllPro Eco Firendly Solutions for providing our School free of charge with 10 Litres of hand sanitiser. This kind gesture is greatly appreciated by the Staff and Students of our School.

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Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden

We’d like to wish all the wonderful

mothers in our community a

Happy Mother’s Day!

Community Information

Thank you Mr Rob Cain and Mr Justin Keed for celebrating all the beautiful rain by replanting the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden. A special thank you to Western Student Connections in Dubbo, Ms Ana Pateman, who has kindly supported our students by providing the seedlings, plants and fruit trees for our garden. We are so excited to that the garden will be so beautifully established by the time our students return this term. Mrs Catherine Doyle Head Teacher

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A Managed Return to School

Community Information