Term 2, Week 1 3 May 2018

Upcoming events 4 May Cross Country Anzac Day Service @ school - 1.00 pm 8 May GRIP Leadership – Year 5 ICAS Digital Exam 10 May K-6 Mothers Day – 1pm – more information to come

11 May Zone Cross Country 15-18 May NAPLAN 21-25 May Parent Teacher Interviews 23 May You Beauty – Years 3-6 Social Media Parent Workshops 24 May Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking

Permission notes and payment due –

Stewart House Monday 7 May 2018 Canberra EOI Notes and money due – Friday 4 May Quirindi Public School Horsesports Notes and money due – Monday 7 May Year 3 Lake Keepit Excursion Notes and money due – Friday 11 May Zone PSSA Rugby Union Trials Note due back – Wednesday 16 May

Notes home this week 1. Lake Keepit EOI Year 3 2. Cross Country All years 3. P & C Horse Sports Volunteer All students 4. Zone PSSA Southern Rugby Trials Those interested

Save the Date

Mother’s Day Celebration

10 May 2018

From the Principal’s Desk The first day of term started with a training day for teachers where we undertook some mandatory training as well as looked at where we are going in the future to ensure that the improvement measures in our school plan are met. We also spent some time looking at the Singapore school education system and discussing how we can use some of their successful practices in our own local context. A great group of teachers to work with and as we were doing that our SASS staff were in Tamworth attending their own professional learning adventure. By all accounts it was a wonderful learning experience for everyone. Our students arrived at school on Tuesday morning eager to share their holiday stories and to see their friends. One of the great joys for me is listening to students interact in such a positive way about their plans and their experiences. There was a lovely surprise waiting for our K-2 students on the first break on Tuesday. A generous community member Jenny Sweetman has used her expertise with needle and thread to make fresh and colourful material play items for all our K-2 super-heroes. There are some very colourful capes flying around at playtime and we sincerely thank Jenny for her time and skill in creating these items for imaginative play. The kitchen garden is again open for business with our students very excitedly working with Miss Taylor during the first break in the garden. Mr Valentine, our new GA is working with the K-6S class on how to care for the chickens and ducks and this week Mrs Tully will be in the kitchen cooking up a storm with the first of the classes to go back into the kitchen for lessons. Congratulations and best wishes to our outstanding public speakers who are attending the Australian Speech and Communication Awards in Sydney this weekend. We are very proud of our students who continually sharpen their saw and find their voice to achieve their goals and push themselves to do their best. Congratulations to past student Molly Owen and Bella Pollard who achieved Centre Medals. Ruby Uptin and Sam Durie achieved Studio Medals and Grace Hutchins, Toby Pollard and one other student achieved Studio Achievement Medals. I have attached to this Newsletter a fact sheet that you might find useful for those days when your child just refuses to come to school. As the weather cools down it can be harder and harder to bounce out of bed and be enthusiastic about attending school. Did you know that if your child misses one day of school it is equivalent to missing four days of learning? It is because if the class are learning something in a sequence of learning and your child misses out on one thing in the sequence it is often too difficult for them to catch up and connect the concepts. Our teachers are getting ready to report on your child’s progress through parent/teacher/student conferencing and through the written reports that you receive twice a year. A very special thank you to the parents of our students who transported them to the ANZAC Day march in Quirindi. It was wonderful to march with approximately 90 happy students who were keen to be there and to acknowledge the many who contributed to the freedom we enjoy today. On Friday our Cross Country Carnival and our school ANZAC Day ceremony will be held. I am out of the school that day in Sydney at a family funeral and will miss both these events but my thoughts will be with the students as they undertake both these very worthwhile activities. Our parent/community workshops on Social Media Use will now be run on Wednesday 23 May 2018. More news next week about workshop times and topics. I look forward to seeing as many families as possible in attendance. This will be the forum to ask questions and seek clarification on any concerns you may have about the way the school uses social media and how you can safely use social media too. Mrs Kath Parker, Principal

Check Mate! Chess Club for students in Years 3-6 has started this term! All students interested in improving their match play skills or learning the basics are invited to meet in Mrs Lewis’ room each Thursday during break time.

Miss Wellham’s Adventures For the last two weeks of Term 1, I had the fantastic opportunity to umpire hockey for the Australian Country Hockey Team's as they toured Singapore and Malaysia. Hockey is one of my other passions alongside teaching and it allows me to travel around New South Wales, Australia and now the world for matches and championships. As the umpire for the Men's and Women's team I officiated 14 matches against a range of teams including sporting schools, clubs, universities and national teams. There were many highlights to my tour I but will not forget umpiring the National Singapore team on our first day or umpiring at the Malaysian National Hockey Stadium for the last match of the tour. I have now achieved one of my goals, time to create a new one and take on the next challenge. Quick Quiz - If you are the first student to come to Miss Wellham to answer these three questions correctly you will receive a prize. 1. What was one of Miss Wellham's Highlights? 2. How many umpires are there on a hockey field ? 3. What year were the Commonwealth Games held at the Malaysian National Hockey Stadium?

Co-operation At Quirindi Public School we learn and play together.

Quirindi Public School Bell Times

9.20am School begins 11.20am - 12.00pm Break 1 1.30pm – 2.05pm Break 2 3.20pm School

concludes

School Office Hours Office hours are

8.30am to 3.30pm.

Change of Time: Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition It is with great pleasure that we have to change the advertised time for the Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition due to the high number of students in Years 3-6 who have chosen to participate in this great public speaking opportunity. Please be advised that the Quirindi Public School Competition for Years 5 and 6 will now commence at 12:10 pm on Thursday 24 May. The Years 3 and 4 Competition will commence at 2pm on Thursday 24 May as advertised. Parents/ Carers and community members are most welcome to attend. Public Speaking helps children to: 1. Conquer Fear 2. Build Confidence 3. Learn to Inform, Influence and Inspire 4. Learn to Motivate, Empower and Entertain 5. Believe in themselves to become Future Leaders!

From the School Council Did you know that you have the opportunity to represent your community on the School Council? There are positions for parents, staff and community members, including representatives for the Aboriginal and multi-cultural community. We would like to see you nominate for a position. Contact Derek Blomfield on 0429674724 if you would like to know more, or simply call in to the office and ask for a nomination form. Elections for positions will be held at the Annual General Meeting for the School Council at Collarene, 5.00pm, Wednesday 30 May 2018.

Thumbs-Up Wheel Winners – Week 1 Finn Moore 3/4P Free iPad time Nicholas Boorer 5/6S Free ice block Hope Sevil 3/4P Lucky dip Dakota Oliver 1/2A Lucky dip Clancy Bates 1/2A Luck dip Declan Trethewey 1/2A Canteen Voucher

Mother’s Day Celebration Date – Thursday 10 May 2018

Time – 1.00pm – 1.50pm We would like the special visitors to join the children in their

classrooms for a craft activity, followed by light refreshments in our beautiful grounds.

Term 2 Calendar

Month Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Sat / Sun Apr/May 30

SDD Day 1

1st Day for students

2 3 4 Cross Country Anzac Day at

school 1.00pm

5/6

May

7 8 GRIP Leadership

ICAS - Digital

9

10 11 Zone Cross

Country

12/13

May 14 15 NAPLAN

Years 3 & 5 16 17 18 19/20

May 21

Parent Teacher Interviews

22 23 You Beauty – Yr

3-6 Social Media Workshops

24 MCPS

Competition school heats 2pm

25 QPS Horse Sport

26/27

May/Jun

28 29

ICAS - Science

30 31 1 2/3

Jun 4 5 Yr 3/4 Taster Day

QHS

6 7 8 9/10

Jun 11 Queen’s Birthday

Holiday 12 13

ICAS - Spelling

14 School Photos

ICAS - Writing

15 Regional Cross

Country

16/17

Jun 18 19 20 21 22 23/24

Jun/Jul 25 26 27 28 29 Athletics Carnival

30/1

Jul 2 3 4 5 Reports sent

home

6 Eloura Visit

7/8

Community News