15 November 2017 No 37 COMING EVENTS November Wed 22 Playgroup (OSHC Hall, 8:45 11am Wed 22-Thu 23 2018 Get Set for Prep Parent Chat Interviews Fri 24 White Ribbon Day Sat 25 P&C Election Day BBQ Mon 27 P&C Christmas Stall Commences Wed 29 Interhouse Swimming Carnival Thu 30 Year 6 Graduation Thu 30 RI Concert (Sports Hall) December Wed 6 School Christmas Concert Wed 6 Report Cards Issued Fri 8 Last Day of Term 4 January 2018 Thu 18 Class Meet and Greet (2-3pm) Mon 22 First Day of Term 1 Friday From the Principal 24 th November 2017 Dear Parents/Caregivers Congratulations to those students who were presented with awards at the 2017 Newtown State School awards presentation last Thursday night. It was lovely to see the excitement on the student s faces as they anticipated the recipients of the awards and to witness the pride emanating from both the students and their families. It was also a wonderful to hear each teacher speak so positively and enthusiastically about each of the students and with such heartfelt words what a gift to those students. Thanks to our school captains and vice-captains who did an outstanding job as the Masters of Ceremony. Warm Regards Tania Angus Principal
REMEMBRANCE DAY Remembrance Day in Australia is dedicated to Australians who died as a result of war, particularly from World War I onwards. Remembrance Day was originally called Armistice Day and commemorated the end of the Great War (World War I), the signing of the armistice, which occurred on November 11, 1918 the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Many Australians stop what they are doing at exactly 11am in their local times on November 11 each year to dedicate a minute of silence for those who died in war, especially soldiers from as far back as World War I. Newtown State School staff and students acknowledged Remembrance Day with a minute of silence during parade on Monday. SCHOOL OPINION SURVEY Last term, parents/carers were invited to take part in the annual School Opinion Survey. Results indicate that 100% of those who responded to the survey agree that: I can talk to my child s teachers about my concerns This is a good school Staff at this school are approachable The three greatest positive changes from 2016 included: This school is well organised (72.7% to 93.3%) This school takes parents opinions seriously (90% to 100%) My child feels safe at this school (90.9% to 100%) The three least positive areas included: This school asks for my input (80%) This school provides me with useful feedback about my child s progress (86.7%) This school keeps me well informed (86.7) The survey provides valuable feedback on what Newtown State School does well and areas where we can improve. Many thanks to those parents/carers who completed the survey. Your time in doing so is greatly appreciated. BEFORE/AFTER SCHOOL SUPERVISION Unless there are special circumstances, students should not arrive at school before 8.30am. If students are arriving at school before 8.30am, parents must make a request to the Principal in writing. Before School Care is provided from 6:00am. Supervision commences at 8:30am. Parents of students who are consistently dropped at school early, can expect a phone call/letter from the school requesting that they attend to their responsibility to care for their children before school. All students are required to have departed the school grounds by 3.10pm. School playground facilities and sporting equipment are not to be used after 3.00pm. DO YOU HAVE A STUDENT GOING TO HIGH SCHOOL IN 2018? Secondary schools in Toowoomba seek our support in promoting early application for enrolment for year 7 in 2018. Our information indicates that only half of our year six students have applied for enrolment. Please make contact with your high school of choice as soon as possible to ensure that your child has the opportunity to attend transition events before the end of the year. ENROLMENT 2018 Preliminary planning has commenced around staffing for 2018. It is imperative that we obtain accurate enrolment information. It would be greatly appreciated if you could let the office know if your child/ren will not be returning to Newtown State School in 2018. Similarly, if you know of someone who wishes to enrol (in our catchment) and has not yet done so, please advise them to call to the office for an enrolment package and to make a time for an enrolment interview. BEDAZZLED NUMBER 1! The Bedazzled Number 1 was awarded on assembly this week to Prep B for being the class who has the most students arriving on time in the morning. Prep B had no late arrivals!!! Congratulations PB! In second place was 2/3R (1 late arrival) and third place was a three-way tie between, 4M, 5M and 1/2S (2 late arrivals). Well done everyone! The challenge for the next week is going to be for the class who has the tidiest bag racks and walk through/past areas. This will encourage students to care for their belongings and take pride in their class space.
2018 CALENDAR TYPING ERRORS Last week, all families should have a received a school calendar for 2018. This calendar also doubles as the school handbook containing relevant information about our school. There are two errors; one on the welcome page which should refer to 2018 (not 2017) and the other, on the calendar for January. The class meet and greet is on Thursday 18 January from 2:00 3:00pm (not Wednesday). The class meet and greet is a great opportunity to come in and meet your child s teacher and bring in all of the booklist requisites to make the first day of school a little easier. Please use a marker to make the date change now! An apology is extended for these errors. PLAYGROUP IS ON 22 NOVEMBER!!! 8:45 11:00am in the Outside School Hours Care hall. All welcome!!! NOODLES! Please note that staff are unable to provide students with boiling water for 2-minute noodles due to the safety risk that is posed. Ensuring that students bring food that can be self-managed as much as possible is greatly appreciated. LAST NEWSLETTER Our last newsletter for 2017 will be next Wednesday 22 nd December. INTERHOUSE SWIMMING CARNIVAL Wednesday 29 NOVEMBER 2017 TIME AND VENUE: The fifty-first Inter-house Swimming Carnival will be held on Wednesday 30 November 2016 at the Newtown State School Swimming Pool commencing at approximately 9.15am. YEARS: At 9.00am, Years 2-6 (8yrs to 12yrs) will assemble on the parade area. Prep, Yr 1 and Yr 2 and non-swimmers will have normal school during the day. Non participants will be allocated to classrooms at this time. CHANGING INTO CLOTHES: The children competing will proceed to the pool dressing rooms to get ready for the carnival. Clothes must be placed in their bags & removed from the dressing rooms. HOUSE AREAS: At the pool, children will be divided into their houses. All clothing except protective clothing and towels will be left in the areas allocated. POINTS: Points for all heats and relays will be: 1st - 8 points, 2nd - 5 points, 3rd - 3 points, 4th - 2 points, 5th - 1 point. There will be no house points for finals. STARTS: When the starter is ready to begin a race, he/she will blow a whistle. Everybody will be QUIET from the time the whistle blows until the start of the race. EVENTS: All competitors (9yrs -13yrs) swim 25m in heats and 50m in finals except for Butterfly, which will have 25m finals. Finals for 8yrs will be raced over 25m in all four strokes. The order of events will be all 25m heats of a stroke followed by finals of that stroke. Events will run in the order of Freestyle, Breaststroke, Backstroke and Butterfly. FINALS: The five finalists in each event will be chosen on times swum; (the five fastest competitors in the heats). Placegetters in the finals will be awarded points 8, 5, 3, 2, 1 for the individual age championships. AGE CHAMPIONS: Children aged 8yrs, 9yrs, 10yrs, 11yrs, 12yrs and 13yrs will need to compete in finals to be eligible for individual championship points and medallions. Children aged 8yrs have been included in the 25m heats. Finals for 8yrs will be raced over 25m in all four strokes. The first three place-getters in the finals will receive place ribbons. MORNING TEA: Morning tea will be at approximately 10.45am. LUNCH: Lunch will be taken from approximately 12.30pm to 1.00pm. PROTECTIVE CLOTHING: Each competitor should wear a bathing cap in house colours whilst competing. Bathing caps are available from the office at a cost of $3.00. During their race competitors can remove their shirts if they are swimming in a one piece swimsuit. While being a spectator in the grandstand all students must wear a hat and shirt. All competitors must have at least one towel. No paper rosettes, streamers, zinc cream etc allowed in the pool area. UV cream should be used for sun protection.
Newtown State School 15 November 2017 P&C Contact Details: pandc@newtownss.eq.edu.au Lauren 0409 266 181 A big Thank you to everyone who attended last night s meeting. We will be holding an Election Day BBQ on Saturday 25 th November, commencing at 7am. If you are able to spare an hour or two to assist with the BBQ, please contact either Lauren or Toni. Uniform Shop Term 4, Uniform Shop is open Tuesday & Thursday mornings from 8:30-9:30am. EFTPOS is available (25c surcharge applies) Swimming Caps are all back in stock!! Blue caps (Kendall House) are now available at the Uniform Shop, or at the school office for $3 each. Do you need one for the Swimming Carnival??? SECOND HAND - BARGAINS GALORE! We currently have heaps of stock of good quality second hand trackpants and shorts. Thank you to those families who have donated items to the Uniform Shop. They are greatly appreciated. UPDATE SCHOOL DRESS ETA. Our new school dress was advised to be here in November. Due to supplier s delays, it will now not be in stock until the first day of trade in 2018. This is Thursday 18th January 2018. We will be open 12pm-3pm. Recycling Recycling is open every Tuesday morning from 8:15 8:45am outside the Uniform Shop. We can recycle paper (not cardboard) and aluminium cans (crushed). The individual prize is Diary of a Wimpy Kid Board Game and the class prize is an ice block for each class member at the end of term! OSHC Swimming, did someone say swimming? Yes, we do swimming at OSHC in the Newtown State School pool every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. The children get to have free choice swim with learning water safety skills. With two staff Austswim qualified, the children are unintentionally learning new skills in the water whilst playing. If you have any questions please contact us on: Mobile: 0428 502 967 Centre: 4614 5718 Email: newtownss.oshc@gmail.com Weekly Meal Deal $5.00 Year 3 6 Prep Year 2 Thursday Friday Name: Class: Hot Dog with Sauce AND a choice of drink: Slushy, or Juice Apple, Orange or Apple Blackcurrant Milk Chocolate or Strawberry Christmas Stall Our annual Christmas Stall will be held the week commencing 27th November (only 1 week away!). If you have any unwanted new items, Christmas decorations, etc, please consider donating them to our Christmas Stall by dropping them into the school office or into the Uniform Shop on Tuesday and Thursday Mornings thank you Funds from our Christmas Stall go towards our literacy program that supports our students. Thank you to our volunteers who have put their hands up to run the stall! Thank you! SPELLATHON Thankyou to everyone who participated in the Spellathon. Prizes will be awarded on parade on 20th November 2017- This Monday! All are welcome to attend. Who will be the class winners? BBQ Raffle Tickets were sent home to families two weeks ago. MORE TICKETS are now available at the office. However, numbers are limited, so get in quickly! Please purchase or sell the tickets and return the tickets and money to the office no later than Tuesday 5th December. The draw will take place at the Christmas Concert on the Wednesday 6th December. If your family received tickets and do not want to sell them or buy them, please return them to the office as we have families waiting for more tickets to sell!