It is hard to believe that we are yet again at the end of another term. Teachers will be available for parent / teacher interviews this week by prior appointment.

NAIDOC Week This week our school will be involved in NAIDOC celebrations. NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. Its origins can be traced to the emergence of Aboriginal groups in the 1920s which sought to increase awareness in the wider community of the status and treatment of Indigenous Australians. Today, NAIDOC is a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and an opportunity to recognise the contributions of Indigenous Australians in various fields. Activities take place across the nation during NAIDOC Week in the first full week of July. As this usually falls during the school holidays most schools celebrate NAIDOC Week during the last week of term. Our school held an opening ceremony yesterday which included flag raising; a welcome to country and an address delivered by Ken Eveleigh; playing of the didgeridoo by Kyia Eveleigh; and the kindergarten performance of the song ‘Red, Black and Yellow’. Our Indigenous students helped by compering the assembly. Mrs Groves and Mrs Schafer, together with the AECG, have organised and prepared for a whole day of activities this Thursday.

Athletics Carnival We had a wonderful day for our Athletics Carnival last Friday. The students participated keenly and the house captains did an amazing job leading the

cheers and keeping their team members motivated. Congratulations to Bradman who won the house competition. Congratulations also to all of the age division champions. Sincere thanks to the parents, carers and supporters of the school who offered their services to help run the carnival. Star Struck I have included below a couple of paragraphs written by a parent whose child was involved in Star Struck.

Having been involved with the students during a performance (behind the scenes), watching them perform as a spectator and seeing them interact during other activities when not involved with Star Struck commitments, I felt the need to forward this letter. During the week all students were very polite and courteous, showed patience, followed instructions, were dedicated and clearly gave 110% for the whole week whilst in Newcastle. Their behaviour and respect shown towards others could not be faulted. All students were excellent role models and represented the school with pride. They are an asset to your school and the local community. I have nothing but praise and admiration for the way in which everyone participated and behaved during their week in Newcastle. It is wonderful to receive such positive feedback about our students. We know they are great but it is appreciated when other people acknowledge them.

Gloucester Public School Newsletter Opportunity - Innovation - Excellence

Find us at: 45 Hume Street, Gloucester 2422 Tel 65581303 Fax 65581655 www.gloucester-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Term 2 Week 10 Tuesday 28th June 2011.

Staff Development Day Monday 18th July 2011

The first day of Term 3 is gazetted as a Staff Development Day by the New South Wales Department of Education.

There will be no school for students on that day. Students resume on Tuesday 19th July.

Jenny Stockdale, Principal.

Tiarne Lawler, Jade Wratten, Bryce Lacey, Byron Harris, Kane Davis, Tahnee Papalia, Preston Pollock, Melia Mulder, Kelly Groves, Tyler Cook, Frankel Chan, Lachlan McLeod, Jack Wratten, Natasha Murray, Jeremy

Spindler, Chloe Tresidder, Will Griffis-Powick, Olivia Corbett, Tyson Dixon, Kyle Rush, Joshua Anniwell, Isaac Earle-Broadley, Caitlin Campbell.

Kindergarten Sounds and words – this week is revision.

- Amy Bowman, Alicia Taylor, Debbie Howland.

Class Awards: KA Caitlin Campbell Jax Eveleigh Ryan Beggs KB Jackson Blanch Holly Mills Beau Murray K/1D Mia Plant Tia Relf Brendan Palmer 1M Lilly Mills Isaac Earle Broadley Anna-Rose Seale 1/2L Allison Simon Mia Warwick Daffa Anwar 2W Tiarn Harvey Lilly Maurer Darcy Allardice 2A Joshua Anniwell Shaelie Hanson

Kindergarten Groups Groups will not be on this Thursday due to NAIDOC activities. Thank you to all the parents who give up their time on Thursday afternoons.

– Alicia Taylor & Amy Bowman.

Kindergarten Excursion to Oakvale Farm This excursion will take place in Week 2 of next term – Friday 29th July. It will be a great day filled with lots of fun and learning. Please return notes and money to your child’s classroom teacher by Friday 22nd July. Thank you – Alicia Taylor, Amy Bowman & Debbie Howland.

NAIDOC CLOSING ASSEMBLY

This week...Friday 1st July...

The assembly is held in the school hall at 1.30pm.

Everyone is invited to attend.

Reminder: Students please return your notes and $3.00 to your class teachers.

6R Narrative Workshop Kyle

We finally made it! 6R have been working tirelessly this term with Mr Maggs and Miss Budge on developing narrative stories that target a specific audience. We focused on young children for this task and planned our stories carefully around topics that engage and inspire kids around the age of 5 to 7. We then chose whether our narratives would be aimed at girls or boys, or a mix of both. This work was planned, drafted, edited, published, re-edited and re-published to produce a wonderful collection of short stories that we have had bound into books for all of our infants’ classes to share and enjoy. It also gave us in 6R great enjoyment in producing something meaningful and worthwhile from our stories to entertain others. These books contain stories on everything from princesses, unicorns and fairies for the girls to tractors, dinosaurs and scary creatures for the boys. We also have stories about

dwarves, talking animals, faraway lands and a strange assortment of unique fairytale-type creatures! Feel free to pop in to 6R or one of the infants’ classes and have a read for a couple of minutes. Our budding authors have done a truly splendid job – well done 6R! Thanks to KA, KB, K/1D, 1M and 1/2L who let us come up yesterday to share our stories with them in the sun. I’m not sure who got the greatest pleasure from the day – the authors or the audience! It also provided students with the opportunity to entertain an audience – the true purpose of a good story. Here are some pictures from the day Mr Rod Maggs – 6R class teacher

Teliah

Haisha Jack

Jeremy

Olivia Kylee

Today your child will bring home a Maths Dictionary with a laminated strip card of Newman’s Prompts inside. These two articles are very important to your child’s learning. Please take great care to keep them fresh and available to your child. They will assist you and your child when they are completing set homework whether they are in Kindergarten or Year 6 and anywhere in between. This is Gloucester Public school’s commitment to our families as we target Mathematics across our school from Kindergarten to Year 6. Alison Clifton Assistant Principal National Partnerships

6R Sculpture Gallery As part of our unit work on symbols we have looked into symbolism in art this term. As part of this, we have examined the symbolism behind the ‘dream catcher’, a Native American tradition. We then designed our own dream catchers, incorporating our own unique symbolism and meanings behind our creative sculptures. The design brief was that it must be able to separate good dreams from bad and that you must be able to hang it from above. Some of the students have come up with some impressive and creative designs for these dream catchers. We invite everyone to come and have a look at our works, currently on display in the foyer, the library and the hall. Please look for the artist’s card on the wall nearby to read the name of the artist, title of the masterpiece, the ideas behind it and the materials used to construct it. Best of all..... it’s a FREE EXHIBITION put on especially by us! Come in, look to see what’s above you and be filled with great dreams!

- Rod Maggs.

Reading Survey Many thanks to the parents who have returned our school survey. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to complete the survey, please go to our website, www.gloucester-p.schools.nsw.edu.au Click on Reading Survey under ‘News Story’ on our home page. – Eve Green

Stage 3 Bathurst and The Goldfields Excursion Reminder: $50 deposits should be paid by

tomorrow, Wednesday 28th June.

Soccer On Thursday 24th June, the Gloucester Public School boys’ soccer team played their first game against Dungog Public School at the local soccer grounds. Unfortunately, the boys were defeated and will not progress into the next round of the

schools knockout. They showed great sportsmanship and determination and represented their school with pride. The boys showed enthusiasm and confidence as they played, but Dungog were just too good. All of the boys should be congratulated on their determination and their willingness to give up their lunch to practise with myself and Mr Williams. We would like to thank Nathan Williams for helping out with coaching and refereeing our game. The boys will get another chance to play in the Manning Zone PSSA Gala Day on the 5th August. – Amy Schafer.

An Amazing Athletics Carnival for 2011 Last Friday we were blessed with a great day for our 2011 Athletics Carnival. The day began with the traditional march past and all houses showed great formation and discipline with their marching. Flynn began a great day with the winner’s points for marching. Then began the events – Students displayed great enthusiasm and sportsmanship as they competed in the 100m, 200m and 800m races. Students also competed in the long jump, discus and shot put. Many students worked hard to beat their best distances while others were pleased to join in the fun throwing games.

There was a great deal of house spirit shown by all and this was evident in fairly boisterous chanting throughout the day. At the end of the day the scores were combined from the various events to determine the individual champions and the winning house. Results are as follows: Senior Girl Champion Haisha Theuil Runner-up Grace Moar Senior Boy Champion ) Bryce Lacey ) Jack Davis 11 Yr Girl Champion Olivia Allardice Runner-up Eleanor Malone 11 Yr Boy Champion Clay Boorer Runner-up Peter Williams Junior Girl Champion Ella Blamires Runner-up Jessica Moore Junior Boy Champion Cameron Dunlop

Runner-up Jacob Sopher The winning house was BRADMAN. Congratulations to all our champions!! Thank you to all the primary staff who helped

organise the carnival and for their assistance in running a great day.

A special mention must also be made of all the parents and friends who volunteered time to help on the day or simply to come down and cheer on the children. It means a lot to them and this support is essential in making these carnivals so successful. Thank you to each and every one of you who played a part - no matter how great or small.

A great school community makes our great school! - Kym Earle.

Eleanor Malone, Olivia Allardice, Peter Williams, Clay Boorer.

Jacob Sopher, Cameron Dunlop, Jessica Moore, Ella Blamires.

Bryce Lacey, Jack Davis, Grace Moar, Haisha Theuil.

Jacob Bird & Kylee Fitzgerald – Winning House.

Canteen News:

This Friday we’ll be selling some lollies to celebrate the last day of school. We’ll have red and black licorice and Rainbow Serpents!

The canteen will be open on Tuesday 19th July (first day of Term 3). Have a safe and happy holiday.

Rosters for Term 3 went home last week. Please check them. If you have any worries, give me a call – 65582169.

- Sharon Osborne, Canteen Supervisor.

Canteen Roster: - Term 3 Tuesday 19/7/11 - Louise Harris Melissa Feeney Wednesday 20/7/11 - Mel Seale Leanne Kearney Friday 22/7/11 - Rachel Linda Brown Kate Shanley Rachel Blanch

Little Athletics begins on Tuesday, 19th July at 3.45pm. For information contact Lyndell – 65581738.