PO Box 294, Kaolin Street Lightning Ridge NSW 2834 T 02 68290511 F 02 68290137 E lightningr-c.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Term 2, Week 10, 2020

LIGHTNING RIDGE CENTRAL SCHOOL

Principal: Mr Richard Finter

Deputy Principal: Mrs Margaret Morriss

Deputy Principal: Mrs Jane Miles

Principal’s Report

A few years back, the mainstream media filled with questions

that revolved around what schools were doing to help

Australia curb the increasing incidence of obesity in youth. At

the time, some educators became quite defensive, perhaps

even rightly so. English, Mathematics, Science and the array

of other subjects explored at school are a teacher’s bread

and butter ...not bread and butter, unless we are talking

about nutrition in PDHPE classes! Questions swarmed. Where does parental

responsibility kick in?

Where does a school’s responsibility end?

In the spirit of “it takes a village to raise a child” (in this case, read “community”)

you can rest assured that as a school, Lightning Ridge Central School does its

part to raise awareness around what healthy eating looks like, not least in

PDHPE lessons in both secondary and primary. We have a healthy canteen

that serves some of the best canteen food I have ever sampled. We have a

sports program, PDHPE programs, and now offer the soon to resume “Fit for

Life” Programme each Wednesday morning. In addition at lunch and recess

students from K-12 are provided with an array of sports equipment to use and

stimulate physical activity.

Achieving good outcomes for the children in our “village” is a partnership. In

partnership, we can do much to ensure the children in our lives are eating well.

Researchers at South Australia’s Flinders University have found that promoting

substitution is the answer to turn around children’s excessive consumption of

nutrient-poor foods and beverages. The result of this substitution is nutritional

benefits that are even better than reducing intake of these discretionary food

and drink choices.

Additionally, their research has shown that 81% of Australian children are not

meeting physical activity guidelines. Remaining inert and consuming loads of

processed food serves only to compound the issue of childhood obesity.

Professors Adrian Piccoli and Pasi Sahlberg, both from Sydney University, talk

about the three main determinants of student and indeed human success;

nutrition, sleep and physical activity. There is no hierarchy. All are needed in

amounts sufficient to keep an individual functioning their best.

… but back to nutrition and what we can achieve in partnership to ensure the

children in our lives are eating well.

Another survey found that 57.6% of parents are concerned children may

struggle to maintain a healthy weight in life and be at risk of serious disease as

a result of poor food choices. The solution seems too easy: get proactive!

From the research, it appears Australians are good at consuming energy-laden foods that is those heavy in sugar, but nutrient intake is the significant dietary loser, particularly in those aged 2-18.

2020 School Newsletter now available online via our Skoolbag App and

website on www.lightningr-c.schools.nsw.edu.au and SkoolBag

Join us on

Students to bring their

own drink bottle

Uniform Shop

Monday and Thursday

8:30 am to 9:00am

LRCS Naidoc Week

Celebrations

Tues 17th & Wed 18th Nov

Education Week

Mon 3rd - Fri 7th August

Last Day Term 2

Fri 3rd July

Students Return

Tues 21st July

Mid Term Break

Fri 21st - Mon 24th Aug

Semester One reports for Years 7 to 10 will be

handed to students during Week 10. Each student

will be required to sign for their report. Any reports

not collected will be mailed home at the end of

Week 10. Parent teacher interviews will be held

during Week 4 next Term. All parents are encouraged to come and

along and meet with their child's teacher to discuss their progress.

There will be further information in regards to this early in Term 3.

Recently we have been encouraging our students to wear school

uniform, this consists of a plain black or red jumper or jacket which

may have a small logo on the front or back and black jeans, track

pants or trousers. Tights are not a part of our uniform and we would

prefer students not to wear hoodies. Uniform can be purchased from

the uniform shop or if you are travelling away for the next school

holidays please organise to purchase suitable clothing for your children for Term 3. As you can see in the

photos our students look wonderful in their uniforms and ready for learning.

Secondary Deputy Principal’s Report

Continued

Substitution, replacing fast-food choices with healthy foods, and moderation and a reduction in discretionary choices, achieves positive outcomes in terms of energy levels and a reduction in the consumption of salt and sugar and only a mild impact on the intake of protein and fibre. All good things and hardly rocket science. By way of contrast, finding discretionary foods with reduced saturated fats, added sugars and sodium, was found to be the least effective means of changing excessive intakes. It’s not ineffective; it’s just less effective in changing children’s diet choices. The report’s co-author, Associate Professor Rebecca Golley, an internationally recognised expert in

childhood obesity and nutrition promotion, said: “The message is to replace discretionary choices with

foods such as vegetables, whole grains and dairy. This will achieve similar benefits to moderation but will

have the additional benefits of improving diet quality and micronutrient intake.”

Substitution shows the best promise for achieving meaningful reductions in energy intake and, by

extension, curbing obesity trends in Australian children.

It is sobering to reflect on the fact that almost one in four Australian children is overweight or has obesity

by the time they start school, often leading to a lifelong trajectory of obesity, poor health and reduced

achievement.

“Choice” Magazine came some time ago, bagging food labelling in Australia. Their particular target was

breakfast cereals. Their particular concern was added sugars, high in energy and low in nutrients.

So here’s a tip: if you want your kids to eat well, you can always send them to our canteen which is

accredited by the Department of Education, as a Healthy Canteen, which means the foodstuffs sold there

meet strict guidelines

We will continue to do our bit – educating and providing through our P&C a healthy canteen – and a big thank you to those very many of you doing your bit. And if you have not really considered this issue before, I trust this week’s editorial has provided some food for thought.

Primary PBL Focus

Secondary PBL Focus

If you need to get a message to

your child please contact the

school office by 2:30pm.

Thankyou

Library Report

What a term it has been! I know I am looking

forward to a break after all the organising and

cleaning that has been going on in the library.

A massive congratulations to the 52 students that

completed the reading challenge this term. I am

very impressed that amidst all of the changes and

craziness around us so many students took the time to sit and read.

Since the last newsletter we have had a very special delivery to our

school. Ben Innes from I.B. Gumnut dropped into the office and kindly

left us with a very lovely gift, seven of the books he has published

including Dirt Dogs which I am sure will be very popular amongst our

younger students. I was lucky enough to be able to have a chat with

Ben about his inspiration for these stories, he said that all of his

stories come from real experiences he has had. These books are self

published and all created and handled by Ben’s family. Ben is the

clever rhymer writing the stories, his son illustrates the stories and his

daughter handles distribution. These are currently being added to the

library system and will be available to students when school returns next term. For anyone wanting to

learn more about these books I have included a link to the website as well as the flyer showing the books

we received. Thank you so much for your visit Ben, we look forward to reading your stories next term

with each class.

The website is www.gumnutentertainment.com

Over the holidays make sure you use your time wisely and mix up time spent looking

at screens, reading a book and growing your mind. But also make sure you spend

some time with the people you care about doing something fun.

I hope everyone has a safe and relaxing holiday. Make sure you check in the cupboards and under beds during this time for any missing library books.

Turtle Draw Winners:

Week 7 Week 8 Week 9

Kindergarten: Shania Zito ES1P Kindergarten: Arly Seaton ES1P Kindergarten: Ivy Boney ES1P

Stage1: Mullenjarli Bolten S1B Stage1: Oliver Seaton S1Y Stage 1: Aiden McBride S1D

Stage 2: Tyleah Lamb S2H Stage 2: Amy Charty S2F Stage 2: Meerab Akbar S20

Stage 3: Ebony Dench S3C Stage 3: Paxton Kaluski S3B Stage 3: Levi McCabe S3N

Miss Cross’ top picks

Junior Fiction Fiction Senior Fiction Non Fiction

ES1P Kindergarten have began learning the ALERT program. The Alert Program, was created by two OTs and

was developed to teach children how to change how alert they feel and to teach adults how to support

learning, attending and positive behaviours. By using an engine analogy, children learn “if your body is

like a car engine, sometimes it runs on high, sometimes it runs on low and sometimes it runs just right”.

Here we are making speedos to help learn and identify when our engines are going fast, slow or just

right.

S1D S1D have been “grammar

detectives” this week. We

have been searching for

nouns, verbs and adjectives

in some of our favourite

picture books. We have also

been challenging ourselves

to do amazing things in

maths. We are learning to

tell the time, add and

subtract two digit numbers

as well as fill in our giant,

blank 100 chart.

We are SUPERSTARS!

Year 8 Students have been learning all about cells and body systems in the unit 'From Little Things Big Things Grow. Making a model cell using different lollies as the different components was a fun activity students undertook to help learn about the main parts of a cell and how to compare the similarities and differences between plant and animal cells. Throughout the unit Year 8 students have been developing skills in using a microscope and making slides.

Early this term year 7 learned about all things water. They investigated the properties of water that

make it such a versatile chemical and honed their skills in water filtration techniques. The also explored

the Water Cycle and the impact humans have had over time. They finished the unit with an interesting

discussion about whether they would drink recycled water.

Year 12 students working on senior Biology. Here we are decanting boiled and filtered water before sending it off to a

laboratory in Sydney for tests.

Senior students experiencing static electricity on the Van de Graaff Generator. A hair raising spectacle!

Year 7 This term students have been

busy making diorama’s showcasing

their understanding of ecosystems and

the interactions between living not

living organisms. They have

demonstrated impressive talent

modelling with plasticine and painting

accurate representations of their

chosen ecosystem

Student Voice

Going to the Chicken House

One warm pleasant Wednesday,15 students from my

class, S1D walked down to the chicken house. I was

very thrilled because it was my first time going there.

Finally, we arrived. The first thing I saw was a veggie

patch. In the veggie patches there was a green stalk,

with non-ripe tomatoes. In the last vegetable patch

were cotton balls growing on a ripe plant!!! The cotton

was soft and fluffy. It was lovely to touch it.

Next, we saw a cute little brown, black and white calf.

It was so very sweet. It sucked our hands in a friendly

loving sort of way.

We soon left the darling calf. Mrs Slater took us to the

chicken house and she unlocked the gate leading into

the pen. I looked around and spyed a lot of chooks

huddled against each other at the back of the coop.

They seemed quite afraid of us all.

I counted them by twos but it was really difficult to

count by twos, for the chooks ‘cause they were

moving about in a most annoying way. At last I started

to count by ones. The answer was fourteen chooks.

Afterwards we all went to the main part of the chook

coop. We took turns to look in the nesting boxes for

some eggs. We soon discovered that there were six

eggs after a lot of counting.

When we had collected the eggs, we went over to the

food and water bowls. Firstly we had a good look at

the water trough thing. It was long and skinny with

something that kept the water inside the water hole so

that it didn’t come gushing out all over the dirt.

Next, we went over to look at the food bowl. It had a

tube at the top standing in vertical shape. Inside the

tube there was lots and lots of pellets. Underneath it

there was a big tray with a bit of fallen pellets for the

chooks to peck up.

When we had seen everything we took all six eggs to

the staffroom and they got washed straight away

We had really enjoyed our little trip.

I HOPE WE CAN DO IT AGAIN!!!

June Langmead S1D

Naidoc Week

The 2020 National NAIDOC Poster, Shape of Land, was designed by Tyrown Waigana, a Noongar and Saibai Islander man. Tyrown’s artwork tells the story of how the Rainbow Serpent came out of the Dream-time to create this land. It is represented by the snake and it forms the shape of Australia, which symbolises how it created our lands. The colour from the Rainbow Serpent is reflected on to the figure to display our connection to the Rainbow Serpent, thus our connection to country. The overlapping colours on the outside is the Dreamtime. The figure inside the shape of Australia is a representation of Indigenous Australians showing that this country - since the dawn of time - Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land.

Rhonda Walford, Priscilla Strasek and Liz Smith have decorated a cake which was cut on Monday 29th

June. Traditionally Lightning Ridge Central School always celebrates Nadioc Week during Week 10

Term 2. But due to Covid-19 restrictions we have been unable to invite the community into our school.

We are planning to have the celebration Week 6 ,Term 4. This will be most likely be on the Tuesday

17th and Wednesday 18th November when we are hopefully permitted to invite the community to

participate.

Cancellation of Stage 3 Excursion—Great Aussie Bush Camp

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Stage 3 excursion to the Great Aussie Bush Camp has been

cancelled. The venue has had to reduce the amount of days that schools can participate and this does

not allow us the time to travel to and from the camp. In addition, excursions outside of our local area are

currently still banned.

Any deposits and payments that have been made can be refunded or the monies can be placed in fees

in advance against your child/ren’s name and used for other school expenses, such as laptop fees,

school fees or future excursions.

Please be aware that refunds take up to 30 days to process.

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST We are currently seeking expressions of interest for an Aboriginal Artist from the Lightning Ridge area,

to design in collaboration with Lightning Ridge Central School, a mural to be displayed in the front office

of the school.

The artwork will be painted on prepared sheet metal that will be primed and ready for the artist to pick

up. This wll be an all year round celebration of Aboriginal culture.

Submit a vision of your ideas either in a sketch or sample photographs together with a quote for work

including paint and materials required to complete the work to julia.georgievska@det.nsw.edu.au or

alternatively you can drop them off at the front office of the school

If you would like to inspect the space before sending a quote for the work please make an appointment.

Requirements: Tax invoice and ABN number

Or your Childs Classroom

gumbulgaban =bustard, plains turkey With the recent rain there are now quite a few gumbulgaban in the area!

Unfortunately due to Covid

-19, HP's supply lines from

China have suffered an

interruption.

Questioning an HP

representative about the

growing backlog of

warranty claims resulted in

discovering that HP have a

critical stock level issue that is unlikely to be rectified

before August at the very least.

Unfortunately this means that all HP warranty claims

are unable to be actioned until, most likely, mid to late

August.

In a nutshell, if a laptop suffers some warrantable damage, the school is unable to replace/repair that device until the shortages are resolved.

Not the usual type

of computer virus

Aikido Classes Non-contact Aikido classes have resumed

for Years 7-12 at Lightning Ridge Central

School.

Training takes place on the Primary oval

each Monday and Thursday at 3.15 pm.

Mr MacLean follows all safety procedures

outlined by the NSW Department of

Education and his host dojo, Saku

Shin Kan, Newcastle. He has also

undertaken a safety course prepared by

the Martial Arts Institute of Australia.

Please contact Mr MacLean if you have

any questions or concerns. Gassho.