IMPORTANT DATES

Assembly

Friday 12th June

At 9.15am

Governing

Council Meeting

Tuesday 16th June

At 3.30pm

Pupil Free Day

Friday 5th June

EGPS Phone app

www.skoolbag.

com.au.

Evanston Gardens Primary School Newsletter

Week 5 Term 2

29/05/2015

Learning Today for Tomorrow’s Community

WE VALUE RESPECT, PERSEVERANCE, PROBLEM SOLVING

From the Principal

Our Valued Volunteers

At today’s Assembly we recognised our valued volunteers. These parents, grand-

parents, extended family, friends and community members make an invaluable

contribution in areas such as Governing Council, Fundraising, Excursions, Break-

fast Club, the Library and Classrooms.

The following volunteers were presented with a perpetual plaque for their out-

standing services to volunteering at our school: Jackie Blades, Rosie Zilys, Sheryl

Walker and Geoff Gordon (posthumously). Between them they have worked in a

variety of roles at our school (eg Governing Council, including office bearing

roles, fundraising, classroom, library, admin to name a few).

These volunteers have been awarded certificates in honour of their service to

our school—Emma Brushnahan, Astrid Buck, Pam Freeman, Tanya Gent, Tori

Geraghty, Victor Grey, Debbie Jackson, Joanne Lees, Jacquelyn Payne, Sue

Reeves, Mariann Thomas, Sheryl Walker, Bianca Woods, Rosie Zilys.

Thank you to Tony Piccolo MP and Ian Tooley (Deputy Mayor) for attending our

assembly. We welcome any new volunteers. A current DCSI police check is re-

quired (please collect one from the front office and the school pays for the pro-

cessing fee). Processing may take some time, training is provided re your other

obligations. We are fortunate to have several volunteers who have recently com-

pleted training and we thank them in advance for their service.

Thank you Bianca Woods, recently retiring secretary from Governing Council for

her service in this role. We wish her well in her new employment.

ATTENDANCE

If your child signs themselves in as late/or are absent, we are required to make

the reason as unexplained unless an adult rings with an explanation or sends a

note to the class teacher. Parents can also sign their child in when late.

AWARDS

Congratulations to the following students who received

awards at Assembly in Week 3.

Class Award Winners

Room 2: Josh H, Tyson H

Room5: Ebony A, Kurtis R

Room 6: Emma C, Lilly-Rose M

Room 7: Mathew H, Bethany A

Room 9: Brayden K, Riley K

Bucket Filler Award Winners

Tankia M, Ekatarina S, Jordan F, Mikaylah G, Jaylee G,

Katie-Rose M, Evie J

Healthy Lunch

Could you please ensure that your child has correct

school Dress Code including winter tops. They are avail-

able at the front office. (Green/Gold Polo Shirt &

Green Jacket/Jumper)

Nominations now open for the 2015 ASG National Ex-

cellence in Teaching Awards.

Teachers make a vital contribution to the lives of our

young people and help shape the future of our country,

yet there are few opportunities to recognise and

acknowledge their outstanding commitment to the com-

munity.

The ASG National Excellence in Teaching Awards

(NEiTA) is the only independent national awards pro-

gram where school and early childhood communities—

individual parents, school councils, committees of man-

agement, parent associations secondary student coun-

cils and community organisations—can publicly recog-

nise and encourage inspirational teachers, directors

and principals who contribute excellence.

All nominations can be made online at www.asg.com.au/

nominate.

Nominations close on 31 July 2015

Teaching Awards

Dress Code

Wicked Wednesday Healthy Lunch

Wednesday 3rd June

WEEK 6

Please return your order stapled to your lunch

bag with the correct money by

11 am Tuesday 2nd June

No late orders will be accepted

One student only per order form

NAME:

______________________________

CLASS: Pettigrew Payne Chebotarev

Emmerson Moore Priestman Staff

Special Fried Rice

& Banana Muffin

$3.50 each

PUPIL FREE DAY

There is a Pupil Free Day on Friday June 5th. Staff will

be working/training in the area of improving Reading,

Comprehension, working on personalised learning, and

preventing bullying/anti-bullying.

Thank you to Janice McPhail (Dyslexia/reading difficul-

ties expert) and Bruce Giddings (Behaviour Coach) for

joining us on this day. Also thanks to Tegan Chebotarev

and Cheryl Pettigrew for conducting teacher training on

this day in the area of reading comprehension.

Reminder

Regular Attendance Pastoral Care Worker

From the Pastoral Care Worker

Hello again! I hope you are all well, and trust you’ve

well and truly settled in to our second term for 2015.

For those of you who are unaware, I have had a

change in days, and am now onsite as the Pastoral Care

Worker on Thursday (8:30am-2:00pm) and Friday

(10:00am-3:30pm). I am also onsite on Monday and

Tuesday as an SSO undertaking student classroom

support.

Over the last few weeks there has been a lot happen-

ing at EGPS and the lives of our students. It’s been

great to have a few parents put their hands up and

volunteer for breakfast, which we are now running

three mornings a week (Tuesday, Wednesday and

Thursday). It is fantastic to be able to expand such a

helpful program in our school, and all students are

welcome to attend from 8:30 on these mornings.

Last Friday we also had our first parent coffee after-

noon. Linda McKaye SSO and I opened up the library

in the afternoon for an opportunity to share a coffee

with parents, and to get to know you a little better. It

was great to see meet and reconnect with those who

attended. We are hoping to hold these events twice a

term in 2015, so stay tuned for more information on

the next date!

It’s exciting to see what is happening at EGPS and

great to have so many enthusiastic volunteers who are

willing to help out. I look forward to seeing what the

rest of this year has in store!

Sincerely,

Mary

Regular Attendance is Important

Regular attendance at school has significant benefits for

students, educators, parents/caregivers and the commu-

nity. Benefits for students include increased likelihood

of them being successful at school, making friends and

learning to maintain relationships over a period of time,

development of self-discipline, punctuality and organiza-

tion skills, and improved general wellbeing and self-

esteem.

Student attendance has improved since last year and the

majority of our families are to be congratulated for

their efforts in supporting their child/children’s regular

attendance. However the number of students regularly

arriving late to school is still a concern. While we under-

stand that unforeseen personal or family circumstances

can occasionally result in children arriving at school late

or having to be absent for a period of time, regular late

starts or absences do significantly impact upon student

learning and development and need to be avoided where

possible.

It is vital that parents/caregivers make every effort to

get students to school before the school day begins at

8.55am. This allows children to be organized and ready to

participate in morning literacy activities and allows

teachers to teach without interruption. If your child

does happen to arrive late they must report directly to

the front office so they can be issued with a late slip

before going to class.

We also ask that if your child is absent from school due

to illness or family reasons that parents/caregivers pro-

vide a note in your child’s communication book stating the

reason for absence. Regular contact with your child’s

class teacher helps to ensure that the impact of any ab-

sence is minimized.

We appreciate your support with this matter and encour-

age you to contact the school should you have any specif-

ic questions or concerns regarding your child’s attend-

ance.

National Simultaneous Storytime Thank you to Michelle Coventry for organising this event where the same book was read across Australia at the

same time (11am Wednesday 27/5/2015).

Children listened to the story—The Brothers Quibble by Aaron Blabey. This was enjoyed by students attending.

Greater Gawler Partnership of Schools and Preschools

As part of a Department of Education and Child Development (DECD) initiative to meet the outcomes of

the DECD Strategic Plan (2014-2017) all sites have been put into a partnership that is a group of schools

and preschool sites working together. Our partnership is called the Greater Gawler Partnership of pre-

schools and schools and we have been working together as a partnership since the beginning of 2014.

The Greater Gawler partnership is made up of the following sites:

Evanston Gardens Primary School, Gawler & District College B-12, Gawler East Primary School, Gawler

Primary School, Hewett Primary School, Lyndoch Primary School, Mallala Primary School, Sandy Creek

Primary School, Two Wells Primary School, Williamstown Primary School, Elsie Ey Children’s Centre,

Gawler & District College B-12 Children’s Centre, Gawler East Preschool Centre, Lyndoch Valley Family

Centre and Two Wells Community Children’s Centre all contributing to our Partnership and as our motto

states we are “Flourishing Together’’. At a recent Residential Conference held in McLaren Vale, leaders from the various partnership pre-

schools and schools were provided with recent research based evidence from case studies in America,

United Kingdom, Scotland and from other states in Australia. Research evidence clearly indicates the

benefits of schools working collectively and how this can directly impact on improving student learning

outcomes and accelerated school performance.

The international work of renowned educators such as David Hargreaves, Michael Fullan and Peter Sen-

ge, have identified that sustainable school improvement comes from working collaboratively through:

Reducing gaps in and the overlap of services

Enhancing relationships among all members of the school and community

Focusing on the strengths of the child or youth, thus promoting optimism and motivation

Increasing the community’s capacity to address the needs of children and youth

Our Partnership has a strong community focus through collaboration, with the wellbeing and learning out-

comes of children being of highest priority. This is reflected in our Partnership’s vision and mission

statements.

Our Vision

Success through innovation and collaboration. Our Mission

Our partnership, in collaboration with families and the wider community takes collective responsibility for the wellbeing and learning of all our children and young people through high quality care and educa-tion. Your School Principal or Preschool Director will be able to answer any questions about the Greater Gawl-

er Partnership that you may have.

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

WEEK

6

1 2 3

Room 7 Excursion

4 Pupil Free Day 5

WEEK

7

8

Queens Birthday

Public Holiday

9 10 11 Assembly 12

Newsletter

WEEK

8

15 16

Governing Council

Meeting 3:30

17 18 19

WEEK

9

22 23 24 25 Assembly 26

Newsletter

Rooms 5/6/7

Excursion

WEEK

10

29 30 1 2 3

Casual Day

Regular Happenings: Tuesday Fortnightly: Wicked Wednesday Lunch orders due by 11.00am (even weeks) Wednesday: STAFF MEETING DAY 3.30pm - 5.00pm Thursday: Friday Fortnightly: Newsletter (odd weeks) Assembly (odd weeks)