Gundaroo Public School

N E W S L E T T E R D A T E

Gundaroo Public School

Week 8, Term 2, 2016

Dear Parents,

I thought I’d share with you two particular conversations I had with my class last week. It was only during my usual weekend recap of the week gone by, that I began to think of these two, simple conversations.

The first was after a completely unremarkable morning; one where everything we did was part of our usual routine, with no changes or interruptions (something of a rarity this term!). Things went like clockwork, and the behaviour of the class was superb. No-one had to be spoken to and everyone just got on with the job of learning. After packing up, I congratulated them on their fantastic work and made note of how much their work ethic had improved. What struck me about this conversation was that they sat waiting for a ‘…but…’ to come, however this time, there was no ‘but’.

The second conversation came after a somewhat stressful number of weeks and a very steep learning curve in ‘personalised learning’. Time had been called on having their very first ERPs (education research projects) finished, and we were (or more specifically, I was) awash with a sense of relief that it was finally over. Mixed in with this sense of relief, was also an equal amount of pride; pride coming from how far the children had come in their learning journey. Again, I congratulated them (twice in one week!), and asked them how they found the experience. The response was that they learnt a lot, and found it fun despite my ‘high expectations’. When asked if the quality of their work would be anywhere near what it was now had those expectations not been there, the class responded with a resounding ‘no’.

I’m sharing these stories with you for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I have made no secret of the fact that I am a firm believer in setting high expectations and kids in my class will happily tell you that. I am constantly urging them to push themselves just that little bit more to help them be the best that they can be.

Secondly, what these two conversations in the last week have reminded me of however, is the need to ‘stop and smell the roses’. Make a point of reflecting with your children on their growth and the wonderful progress that they make, day after day. Ask them about their experiences and what they have learnt, and congratulate them on this.

It can be so easy to get caught up in the day to day, moving from one activity to the next. But the learning that happens by stopping and reflecting on what has been learnt is often just as powerful, and acknowledging this with a ‘well done’ is equally important.

I’ve decided to change our section below a little, by borrowing an idea from Team Harris which will help us acknowledge the wonderful things that happen every day in our little school. Children will have the opportunity to give someone a ‘shout out’ for something they have done, and four will be chosen at random to appear in our weekly newsletter. Keep an eye out - this will begin next week.

Have a great week,

Nigel Trethowan.

02 62368115 [email protected] www.gundaroo-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

In class I like

writing and being

star of the week.

Lily, K/1

14.6.16

ICAS

Writing

15.6.16

ICAS

Spelling

17.6.16

Whole School

Assembly (5/6) &

Choir Performance

2:20pm

20.6.16

Robotics Challenge

Rostrum Public

Speaking Quarter

Final

23.6.16

District Athletics

Carnival

What’s Inside:

Road Safety

Premier’s

Sporting

Challenge

Election Day

Cake Stall

Photocopying

I In class I like to

do spelling tests.

Sarah, 1/2

In class I like River

town.

Maddy, 3/4

In class I like

times tables.

Tim, 5/6

The Premier’s Sporting Challenge has begun! Remember to work with your child to record their physical activity in their activity log (we have attached a printable booklet if you have lost it).

So far…

K-2 are on track for a gold award

1/2 are on track for a gold award

3/4 are on track for no award

5/6 are on track for a bronze award

NSW Premier’s Spelling Bee

Notes went home in Week 6 for the NSW

Premier’s Spelling Bee. Please check with

your child if they are interested in

participating and if so,

return the note to Mrs B

Harris.

Registrations close

THIS FRIDAY, 17th

June.

Election Day Cake Stall On 2 July 2016, the Gundaroo School P&C is running a Federal election cake stall at the School.

Between 8am to 2pm, we will be serving coffee and cake on the day. In addition, we will be selling 150th

memorabilia, whole cakes (to take away) and homemade goods (e.g. plum jam or tomato chutney) and fresh produce from the garden (e.g. fruit, vegetables, eggs, bunches of herbs or flowers, plant seedlings).

Donations of cakes, plants, craft, home-made and grown product or other items will be gratefully received.

The Scouts will also be running a sausage sizzle on the day.

If you have any questions or you wish to make a donation, please contact Maxine Webber.

Mobile 0428368477

BIRTHDAYS! Willem - 21 June

***PLEASE NOTE***

Notes went home today for the Whole School excursion for the National Museum and

Gallery of Art. These need to be returned with payment to the office by Thursday 23rd

June.

Notes for the District Athletics Carnival will go home tomorrow, to be returned by THIS

FRIDAY.

Photocopying You may have heard that we are the proud

owners of a brand new photocopier! As such,

some of the procedures around the

photocopying service that we provide have

changed.

We ask that any photocopying that needs to be

done is done by a staff member, preferably

during the hours of 8:30am & 3:30pm.

Photocopying outside of these hours can be

left at the office.

Prices have also changed. Please see the

attachment for printing/photocopying costs.

A Crunch & Sip tip!

A few raw button mushrooms are a novel veg to take for Crunch & Sip. Make sure you wash and dry them

before packing. You can team them up with another crunchy vegetable so

your child has contrasting veg in terms of taste and texture.

Road Safety Just a gentle reminder that as adults, we have the responsibility to model safe and sensible road use to all children. Please be mindful of the large number of children out and about during the school drop-off and pick-up times to ensure that we are not inadvertently putting them at risk of harm. Check very carefully when driving in and out of car parking spaces, ensure you stick to the 40km/hr speed zone, cross the road carefully and be sure to model responsible driving practices.

Talking Tickets

“You are not beaten until you give up.”

Choir Performance

We understand that many of you are

disappointed at having missed out on tickets to

this year’s Choral Fest. In light of this, our

School Choir will do an encore performance at

this week’s School Assembly. We’d love to see

you there!

K/1

HARD AT WORK

The Musicorp program was started at Gundaroo at the beginning of this year and we have approximately 40 students in the program which is fantastic. The school band has already done a number of performances along with some students doing solo items at school assemblies. The instruments that are on offer are keyboard, bass guitar, percussion, woodwind and brass instruments. Learning an instrument can be both fun and rewarding, so if you wish your child to learn an instrument through our program please contact Musicorp on 1300 858 911 or contact the school's front office for a brochure.

MUSICORP

Playgrounds of the Past

Last Thursday 1/2 were treated with a special

visit from Mrs K! Together we learnt about how

our playground has changed since 1980. We built

a mini version of our school playground as we

followed Gundaroo Public School’s timeline from

1980.

We also learnt about the things Mrs K loved to

do for fun as a child and enjoyed a posh tea

party. Thank you so much Mrs K!

Chess Club… We have had a wonderful response to our lunchtime Chess

Club, with over 30 students from Years 1-6 in attendance! The

children are having a wonderful time learning new skills and

competing against one another. If you would like to join,

please see Mrs Dunkerley.

GOSH News

Café GOSH

The children have been serving each other breakfast at GOSH for some time now. The breakfast service has now become a daily activity where the children write down the food orders from their friends, take the order to the GOSH staff to be pre-pared and then serve their waiting customers. Our Waiters and Waitresses are doing a great job!

In the afternoons the children have been cooking, below is a photo of Elise, Hannah and Dakota cooking up ‘Spice Slice’.

Getting Physical

We are continuing to support the children to achieve the active goals of the NSW Premier’s School Sport Challenge. We have been practicing balance skills and tennis.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

GOSH Contact Details

General Bookings [email protected]

Emergency Bookings GOSH Mobile 0427410537

or call the school on 62368115

mailto:[email protected]

Gundaroo Public School Term 2 Calendar

WEEK MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN

Apr/May

1

25

ANZAC DAY

26

SDD

27

Students return

28

29 30 1

May

2

2 3

P&C Meeting 7pm

4

District X-Country

Sutton

5

Tennis

6

Assembly (K/1) 2:20pm

7 8

May

3

9

10

NAPLAN – Writing,

Language Conventions

11

NAPLAN - Reading

12

NAPLAN – Writing

(No Tennis)

13

14 15

May

4

16

9am - Year 2 Speeches

Musica Viva

$8.00

17


ICAS – Digital Technologies

18 19

9am - K Speeches

Tennis

20


Assembly (1/2) 2:20pm

21 22

May

5

23

9am – Year 5 Speeches

Band Camp

24


Band Camp

25 26


Tennis

27

2pm - School Rostrum

28 29

May/Jun

6

30

Reconciliation Week Activities

31

ICAS - Science

1

Da Vinci Decathlon

2

Choral Festival

3

Regional X-Country


4 5

June

7

6

7

P&C Meeting

7pm

8

9

Tennis

10

Athletics Carnival

CANCELLED

11

12

June

8

13

Queen’s Birthday

14

ICAS Writing

15

ICAS Spelling

16

17


18

19

June

9

20 Student

Robotics Challenge

Yass Rostrum Quarter Final

21

22 23

District Athletics

Queanbeyan

24 National

Museum & Art Gallery

Excursion K-6 $12

25

26

Jun/Jul

10

27

28

Operation Art Goulburn

29


30


1

Assembly (K/1) 2:20pm

Reports Home

2

Election Day Cake

Stall

3

Jul

4

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

5

6 7 8 9 10

Documents

Gundaroo Public School