Newsletter Term 2 Week 10 – Thursday, 2nd July 2020

TOMAREE PUBLIC SCHOOL PO Box 710, Nelson Bay 2315

EMAIL: tomaree-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au WEB: www.tomaree-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Principal’s Report We are almost at the end of the term, and what a tumultuous term it has been. We started the term with COVID-19 restrictions in full force and staff devising and delivering on-line learning.

We changed from essential worker children only at school, to bringing in House groups on specific days, to having the school return in full but under a whole range of restrictions. This brought with it a whole new way of organising meetings, interviews and procedures and processes.

Throughout it all the school has had the full support of staff, parents and children, for which I thank you.

Now we are almost at the holidays, and I am sure everyone is looking forward to resetting and relaxing in this time.

School will resume for TEACHERS on Monday 20th July, with students returning on Tuesday 21 July.

Beanies for Brain Cancer Today we held a Beanies for Brain Cancer fundraiser and were lucky enough to have Mark Hughes, the Foundation organiser, attend a quick assembly under the COLA just before lunch.

I want to say thank you to Tomaree High School for allowing us to be a part of this day and to Mark for allowing the children to see him. We proudly raised $507 for the Mark Hughes Foundation.

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P&C Easter Raffle Due to COVID-19 restrictions hitting just when we were supposed to draw our Easter Raffle in Term 1, this was held off until this week. Our School Captains, Jonty and Bianca, along with P&C President Alex Smith and P&C Treasurer, Mel Watson did the draw in my office yesterday. There were lots of surprised children and parents who were contacted or given a lovely Easter raffle prize yesterday. Thank you to the P&C for their continued hard work and persistence in getting this event finalised. A great bonus just before holidays!

Demountable Removed You may notice something different when you return to school next term. The demountable closest to the gate will be removed during the holidays as our numbers no longer warrant it being on site. This will go to a school who requires a teaching space due to the increase in enrolments at their school. If you are attending Vacation Care, you may notice a day when the entry into the school is modified as there will be cranes on site. The area will be re-turfed and this will be a lovely area for outdoor learning.

Renovations During the holidays the Release from Face to Face (RFF) room will be undergoing a revamp, fences will be installed all the way along the front of Block A which house our MC classes, and a new fenced entrance to Area D playground will be completed. It will certainly be a busy time for Mr McColl and Mr Menchin, our General Assistants.

I would take this opportunity to remind students and parents that you should not enter the school site unless attending Vacation Care.

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Student Writing The best part of any day is when I get students come to the office to show me their amazing work. Recently, I was fortunate to see two talented writers from KH, Seren and Ivy who read their writing task and showed me their beautiful artwork. Congratulations girls on your fantastic work.

Term 3 Next term will begin slightly differently for me as I head to hospital to have some surgery. I will be away for the first two weeks and am planning to be back in Week 3. Ms Donna Abraham will be taking on the role of Relieving Principal, with Ms Sue Holloway taking the role of Relieving Assistant Principal, ES1/S1. Miss Gigengack will be looking after the education of S1A for the two weeks.

I just want to thank everyone for their flexibility and support at this time and hope you have a wonderful holiday. Take care whatever you are doing, stay safe and well and make wonderful memories over the Winter Holidays.

Christene Gray

Proud Principal, Tomaree Public School

S1T Class News

Throughout the past couple of weeks in S1T, we have been focusing on creating a culture of kindness within our classroom by taking part in the 20 Day Kindness Challenge. We were encouraged each day to show kindness by means of small, simple gestures, such as discussing someone we are grateful for, making a friend laugh, or asking how someone’s day is, just to name a few. It has been lovely to see and hear the children challenge themselves to, something that brings a smile to someone through their small act of kindness. S1T enjoyed this Challenge so much, that we have decided to do another version of it at the start of Term 3. What a positive initiative we have established within our classroom as a way to demonstrate our school’s PBL value of Respect!

Miss Tamsett and S1T

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Meet our 2020 School Leaders

2020 School Captains – Ministers of Public Relations

Bianca McEvilly

What do you think makes a good leader? Respect, responsibility, trying our personal best and taking care of other people. I am interested in: Maths, Science and travelling. When I grow up I would like to: Be a biomedical engineer

Jonty Bunny

What do you think makes a good leader? Good leadership skills, kind and smart. I am interested in: Music, Harry Potter and Star Wars. When I grow up I would like to: Be a doctor.

Our role as Public Relations Ministers: We coordinate student parliaments and meet and acknowledge special guests to our school. Our school Press Club liaise with us when there are school functions and we coordinate a student committee that support our office staff. We represent our school with pride at functions, ceremonies and in school activities.

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P&C NEWS It was exciting to finally be able to hold the P&C AGM and general meeting recently, which had been postponed from March due to Covid. Thank you and welcome to the new faces that joined the meeting. The executive committee elected for the year are:

President- Alex Smith Vice President- Wendy McEvilly Secretary- Jenny Weingott Treasurer- Melissa Watson

If you are interested in being involved in the P&C or finding out more, our next general meeting will be Thursday 13th August. Canteen News Thank you for everyone’s assistance whilst we worked through the changes that effected the canteen this term. It was great to finally be able to open the canteen in week 5. For now, the canteen will remain cashless and the no over the counter sales will continue. As soon as these restrictions are lifted we will be sure to let students and parents know.

CLASS MERIT AWARDS KH Ivy Brown Tyson Simms Lachlan Tulk

KO Breeana Price Shelby Swan Bailey Leeson

S1A Zahli Read Penelope Bass Anthony Grace

S1M Hannah Gentile Rhegan O’Farrell Mia Palmer

S1D Emily Lloyd Jason O’Brien-Williams Caitlyn Fenton

S1T Skye McLennan Samuel Profitt Bonnie Short

S2B Courtney Tyrie Oliver Snell Mikaylah Clark Amber Coughlin

S2G Harrison Stone Tina Benson Madison Lane Ryan Rafferty

S2HS Bess Phillips Bailey Sheppard Lachlan Meechan Macey Osborne Emmett

S3C Harley Stanton Isabella Fry William Keech Charlotte Connellan

S3H Amelia Whiteman-Law Darby White Hamish Clark Bianca McEvilly

S3LS Manas Amith Raj Charlize Williams Jack Shephard Hayley Doyle

S3R Charlize Fines Archie Thompson Jensen Seamer Gilby Burgess

1C Scarlett Olsen Alexander Holt

2/3N London Rundle Ethan Mackay

2/3P Crystal Peterson Harlee Heffron

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A huge thank you to Salamander Bay Recycling who generously assisted to help fund the purchase of the new canteen fridge which was delivered yesterday. It is ready to be filled for next term and we can’t wait to have children return to purchasing drinks and food from it. P&C Easter/ Chocolate Raffle Thank you to all the families that contributed some amazing chocolate and Easter gifts for the raffle prizes. Despite not being able to hold the Easter hat parade, the raffle was a fantastic success. We were finally able to conclude the raffle yesterday with the drawing of the lucky winners by the School Captains Jonty Bunny and Bianca McEvilly. Congratulations to the following winners: Student Prize- Jake Mackay Student Prize- Curtis Watson D. Brabant K. Hamilton David Hochkins Ross Whiteman Emily Watson Jasmine Ferguson Mark Doran C. Keogh Nirvana Goyne B. Diaz School Disco Although it feels like a life time ago, the school disco luckily snuck in just before Covid restrictions hit! What a fantastic night the students had and it was great to see many creative costumes. We couldn’t go past highlighting one of the amazing costumes created by Jasmine Hodgson. Top effort! Thank you to all the staff who stayed back to supervise the students and to all the volunteers that helped with the event. We hope to have another disco later in the year. Once we hear more on the lifting of Covid restrictions over the coming weeks and months and the effect these have on the school environment, we look forward to being able to run a few events including a Father’s Day stall in the second half of the year. Thanks P&C

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