Celebrating Learning

Celebrating Learning

Aussie of the Month Aussie of the Month Award for November 2015 was presented to Jemimah for being a friendly and kind school citizen. She is caring and co-operative and has been a wonderful and supportive buddy. Jemimah is involved in a wide range of activities

and always gives her best. She is an excellent role model for other students. Well done Jemimah!

Principal Awards Congratulations to Myles, Madeline, Bella, Sam, Mackenzie and Ruby who

received Principal’s

Awards this week. Gold Shields

Congratulations to Reid who was our Gold Shield recipient for Week 5.

Merit Awards Congratulations to our Merit

Award recipients for Week 5. Please look at the end of this

newsletter for details.

Welcome to Redhead Public School Welcome to Kaylah who has joined our school community this week.

Representing our School This Week Choir – Celebration Sing Out

On the weekend 21 students from Stage 2 and 3 went to the Sydney Town Hall to perform in a combined NSW Primary Schools

Choir. On Saturday we travelled with Mrs Church and Mrs Scobell to Granville Public School to rehearse. We rehearsed all songs to perfection.

On Sunday the orchestra, primary, secondary and adult choirs joined for the first time at the Sydney Town Hall. The performance was absolutely beautiful with songs consisting of ‘Feed the Birds’, ‘Animals Lullaby’ and ‘Oye’. For the finale we joined together with the adult and secondary choir to sing a mix from Les Miserables.

We would like to thank Mrs Church for giving up her weekend taking us to Sydney and making sure that we had a memorable experience.

By Lucy and Zoe

Mrs Church would like to thank the parents, carers and extended family for coming and supporting our choir.

Newsletter

Redhead Public School

Hutchinson Street Redhead NSW 2290

P 4944 7215 F 4942 6098 E redhead-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Week 6 Term 4 12 November 2015

Tomorrow, at 9.15am, we will attempt to take the smiley face

photo with the drone. All parents, carers and community members

are invited to take part in this.

Premier’s Spelling Bee State Final Yesterday

Fergus competed

against the most talented spellers in NSW in the state finals of

the Premier’s Spelling Bee. We are very proud of his achievement.

Remembrance Day Ceremony Yesterday our whole school attended the

Redhead Remembrance

Day Ceremony in the park. The students were

outstanding in the respect that they demonstrated throughout this important service. One senior citizen went out of her way to share how well behaved they were.

Annabel and Beau shared verses from the poem, “In

Flanders Field”. Their readings were delivered in a

sincere and highly moving manner.

Lunch with the Stars On Tuesday six Stage 3 students attended “Lunch with the Stars” at Wallsend library. Each school was seated with either an author or illustrator and enjoyed a fabulous lunch. Students from Redhead were seated with author Lynn

Jenkins who wrote the picture book ‘Lessons of a LAC’. The keynote speaker on the day was award-winning author and poet Libby Hathorn. Students enjoyed listening to each of the authors and illustrators talk about their books and why

they became authors or illustrators. They also participated in an illustrator challenge where they had to draw pictures from randomly chosen words.

Band Workshop What a

fantastic day we had last Friday at Kahibah

Public School. Our

students joined in

with students from Kahibah and Charlestown South Public Schools to form a massed band. The students workshopped 4 songs throughout the day, working closely with tutors from the other schools and Mr Bird to polish each piece. The combined band rehearsed so well that they managed to perform to their parents and carers at the end of the day. Congratulations to all students on their exemplary behaviour and getting along skills that were on display throughout the day.

Assembly Last Friday we presented our assembly item. Our reporters told the assembly

about different

celebrations from around the world. The school got to learn about Christmas traditions in Germany, how Hindu and Sikh people celebrate Diwali, where Halloween came from, why England celebrates Guy Fawkes Day, the Irish celebration of St Patrick’s Day and the customs related to Chinese New Year. We thought our item was interesting and fun to perform. We learnt a lot about different countries and their traditions. Thank you to our Parents for helping us with our costumes. We hope you enjoyed our performance as much as we did. By Eva Potts and Mitchell Barr

Assembly commences at 2.15pm in our hall. Tomorrow Epsilon will present their item.

Epsilon will present the Assembly item tomorrow and all students will

receive a Gallipoli medallion

Kidsmatter – Every Face Has A Place

Peaceful Playgrounds Yesterday I was delighted to present a shield to a Year 4 student for being a “Peacemaker.”

It is great to hear the many kind words that students are sharing with each other, “filling their buckets.”

It would be appreciated if our school community would reinforce these positive life skills.

As a part of our final Kindergarten 2016 visit the students will create a snow globe, listen to the story ‘Have you Filled a Bucket Today?’ and create a paper person. We feel that it is important for all members of our school community to have these mindfulness skills.

Michael Grose – Parenting Idea this week – What bullying isn’t and what to do if it happens Sometimes the term ‘bully’ is used by parents to refer to an incident that may happen which is just a disagreement between two or more children. Please read the back page of our newsletter to find out more.

Kindergarten 2016 Visit Tuesday 10 November

Year 5 students

enjoyed the opportunity

to meet their Kindergarten

buddies again on

Tuesday. The final visit for 2015 will be Tuesday 17 November 9.30am -11.00am.

School Leadership 2016 This morning Year 5 commenced the leadership process for 2016. This follows a meeting in July where information about the process was shared with everyone.

Before nominations were accepted the students considered the pledge that they will make when they are inducted into their positions. The pledge is: There were 10 boys and 16 girls who presented a one minute speech to Year 5 after recess. Year 5 voted for 4 boys and 4 girls. From this, 16 students (8 girls and 8 boys) will be placed on the voting form.

On Thursday 19 November after recess the candidates will present their speeches to the school community. Following the speeches Years 1-5 will vote.

On Friday 27 November the elected councillors for 2016 will be announced and they will be inducted into their positions at our Presentation Day.

Drum Group Needs Your Help The drum group has been very lucky to make use of the loaned djembe drums. Unfortunately these drums had to be returned to their owner. Whilst we are fortunate to have 10 of our own djembes, we currently have more drummers than we have drums. This is where you can help! Do you have a spare (strong) bucket? Chlorine buckets are great as they are reinforced and can withstand being hit by drum sticks. Donated buckets (drums!) can be left at Alpha classroom or given to Mrs Moran.

I will obey all school rules, all of the time.

I will respect all teachers and other staff.

I will try to be a role model for my fellow students and lead by example in the classroom and the playground in

the way I behave. I will give freely of my time to assist on

special occasions when requested. I will be truthful and honest at all times.

I will wear correct school uniform, including badge, at all times but in

particular when presenting assemblies and when representing the school.

I will always be on time.

Out of Uniform Day On Wednesday 18 November Redhead Public School will be participating in an out of uniform day to raise money for the Sony Foundation Children’s Holiday Camp. Students are asked to wear clothes in the colours of the Sony Foundation (green, yellow, orange, red, pink, blue) and donate a gold coin. All money raised will go towards the 2015 Newcastle Children’s Holiday Camp.

Special Assembly Dates (All commence at 9.30 am) Friday November 20 Kindergarten

Graduation Assembly, Library Monitors, Peer Mediators and Debaters also recognised

Friday November 27 Sports Presentation Assembly

Wednesday 2 December

Presentation Day Year 6 Graduation Certificates

Friday 11 December Final assembly for 2015 to be led by our new leaders

Assembly Support Our assemblies are a celebration of learning and achievement. It would be appreciated if non school aged children who are unsettled in assembly are taken outside to settle. When they are settled, please return to be a part of our assembly.

Special Christmas Activity K-2 students will have the opportunity to attend the annual ice show at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium. This show will feature state and national champions as well as local students.

The show this year is based on “Frozen”. This will be on Thursday 10 December and the price per student will be $15. This includes entry and bus fare. Permission notes will be sent home at a later date.

Laptop Payment and 2016 Program Term 4 laptop payment of $60 is now due. Children are not permitted to take their laptops home until payments are up to date.

Notes went home this week with our current Year 4 students regarding the laptop program for 2016. Please ensure that all notes are handed in by Friday 20 November to allow enough time for ordering these machines.

A reminder that a parent/carer information evening will be held on Tuesday 17 November at 3:30pm in the library for any Year 4 parents/carers who would like information regarding this program.

Stage 2 and 3 Party Day On Wednesday 16 December Stage 2 and 3 will be attending Springloaded at Gateshead for our end of year activity. The students will travel by seat-belted bus. Notes will be coming home shortly. The price will be $20. For families with more than 2 students at school we ask that you pay for the first two children. It will be great fun. Classes will then have classroom party activities on their return to school.

Special Visitors for our Indigenous Students

On Monday, Lachlan's

dad, Nathan, organized for

Thomas Franks, a

Wonnarua man

(Singleton) to come with him to visit our group. The map of NSW was used to show the children exactly where the Wonnarua land is. This was a wonderful afternoon of sharing experiences, music, stories and tools. Thomas played two different didgeridoos. The children were amazed at the different sounds they produce and also by Thomas's playing.

Next week the group will be visited by Dean French, a Kamilaroi man (Moree).

We have received our new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders flags and the work on our yarning circle in the playground is slowly taking shape.

Library News Well done to all the students who received their gold shields this year. We have many beautiful new books donated in your names. This will be

the last week for gold shields for this year. You can, however still accumulate shields in readiness to claim the many great books available next year.

Next week will be our last week of borrowing for the year. The following week all books will need to be returned in readiness for stocktake. Students will begin to receive weekly overdue notices. Missing library books is a significant loss to the school, please take the time to look for and return missing books.

Selective High School 2017 If you would like your child to apply for selective high school placement in Year 7 in 2017, you need to do so soon.

Parents must apply online at: www.schools.nsw.edu.au/shsplacement

Online applications close on 16 November 2015. All applicants are required to sit the Selective High School Placement Test to be held on Thursday 10 March 2016.

Talent Quest Each year the students of Redhead Public School astound us with their talents in our annual talent quest. The winners of the talent quest perform at MADD night on Monday 14 December. Each stage will have auditions at lunchtime in Week 8 and from that group students will be selected to perform at our talent quest final on Thursday 26 November. Parents are welcome to MADD night but talent quest auditions and the final are only for school students.

The talent quest is a sharing of talent and is a positive experience for our creative students. We encourage everyone to ensure that when preparing for the talent quest they also demonstrate all our getting along skills so that it is a wonderful experience for all.

Students need to provide music on a disc or USB. Please do not send students to school with iPods. For safety reasons we cannot have acts that include tumbling or acrobatics.

Below are the audition dates for each stage. We look forward to enjoying the creative talents of our students. It is always a highlight for the year.

Stage 3 23 November

Stage 2 24 November

Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 25 November

If you have any queries please direct them to Mrs Langholz or Mrs Williams.

Peer Mediators Report On Wednesday we saw people playing soccer. Remember to pick the teams fairly. We saw people playing handball. Remember the first 3 people in the line choose whether or not somebody is out. We saw people borrowing equipment, remember to return your equipment when the sports bell rings. People were getting along on Wednesday and we had a great time so remember Peer Mediators will always be there.

P & C News Attached to this newsletter you will find an order form for the skorts that were approved for addition to our girl’s school uniform at this month’s P&C meeting. Again, thank you to those from the school community who took time to provide feedback on the skort. The P&C is confident that it will be a welcome inclusion to our girls range.

At the P&C meeting it was decided, for at least the initial orders, that the skorts would be paid for on ordering. The reason for this decision is two-fold.

1. It will allow the P&C to gauge interest in the skort and work out the best levels of stock holdings for each size.

2. The Treasurers report at the P&C meeting highlighted that the current cash funds held in the P&C general account is around $7,000.00. Keeping in mind the P&C’s existing financial commitments to the school such as the Year 6 Farewell and contributing toward costs for Presentation Day, the P&C is not in a position to make another large cash outlay.

The P&C has not held a major fundraising event since the fabulous fete in 2013 - as a result, with the annual school donation and operational costs our funds have dwindled to their current level. We have completed many successful small scale fundraisers throughout the year with the help of

our amazing volunteers. These have supported us in assisting the school with replacement of air conditioners for the classrooms.

We would love any assistance with fundraising ideas for 2016. If you can offer any suggestions to assist with our intended Halloween fete for October 2016 your school and your P&C would appreciate your input. We have a great school and some very talented parents, carers and students in our community so let’s put our heads together and plan some great events for our children.

Vacant P&C Roles All P&C roles are declared vacant at our annual AGM in March. We are currently aware of some roles that will become vacant a little earlier, at the conclusion of the school year. In an attempt to maintain the important services that the P&C provide to the school, we are currently seeking interest from the school community for people to fill the roles of canteen co-ordinator and uniform shop co-ordinators.

Michelle O’Loughlan is going to step down from the canteen co-ordinators role. This is a shared role and we are looking for someone who has 1-2 hours to spare each Monday morning to take care of ordering requirements for the week. The rostering and grocery purchasing will be covered by the other canteen co-ordinator, Kylie Tayler.

Our current uniform shop co-ordinators, Angela McLennan and Hayley Sawyer, will be stepping down at the end of the year. So we are looking for two people who can operate the uniform shop each Wednesday morning from 8.45am – 9.15am.

Both these roles have responsibilities to the P&C as determined by the P&C Federation of NSW. If you would like more information regarding either of these roles, please email treasurer_rps@outlook.com or contact Katie 0477 096 424 on or Tracey on 0408 460 737.

Our volunteers are the lifeblood of the P&C. Without them, the P&C couldn’t support the school in all the areas it currently does. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Michelle, Angela and Hayley for all their effort, time and dedication to their roles.

Canteen Roster Weeks 5-10 Term 4 2015 Help is still needed for Friday November 27. If you can help, please contact Kylie Tayler on 0414636261. Friday 13 Nov Katie Disney

Jodie Hadden Louise Morgan

Wednesday 18 Nov Helen Clare Thursday 19 Nov Vanessa Barnard Friday 20 Nov Kylie Tayler

Cheryl Davico Wednesday 25 Nov Belinda Davico Thursday 26 Nov Kellie Booth Friday 27 Nov Help Needed Wednesday 2 Dec Janie McLachlan

Kylie Tayler Katie Disney

Thursday 3 Dec Kylie Amos Friday 4 Dec Jodie Hadden

Belinda Davico Wednesday 9 Dec Yvette Kerr

Tracey Hadden Thursday 10 Dec Sandra Hatcher Friday 11 Dec Kylie Tayler

Cheryl Davico Wednesday 16 Dec Canteen Closed

Woolworths Earn and Learn Thank you to everyone who supported our Woolworths Earn and Learn campaign this year. We have managed to claim over 16,000 stickers. Thank you!

Australian Wildlife Hospital Charlie King has enrolled to participate in the Australian Wildlife Hospital Read-a-thon to help raise much needed funds so they can continue their phenomenal work. If you would like to support Charlie in his endeavour the link is below:

https://readathon2015.everydayhero.com/au/charlie-king

Class Merit Awards Sigma Lucas Morton Interesting “Nana’s

Holiday” news India Davidson Super work in maths Josh Foskett Lovely calendar artwork

Omega Fletcher Duffy- Smith Entertaining news

presentation Alex Jones Improved writing tasks Hannah Hadden Great number work

Chi Alita King Beautiful attention to detail

in her drawings Alice Hill Excellence in completing

her home reading West Osland Working hard to improve

with his sounds and sight words

Matilda Lee Fabulous class work

Phi Phoenix Visscher Fabulous Student Council

Representative for Term 4 Tahleesha Smith Fabulous Student Council

Representative for Term 4 Locke Sawyer Wonderful effort in

handwriting

Kappa Savarna Patsan An excellent role model and

class citizen Skyla Poole Working really well with

paragraphs in her weekend recounts

Oliver Wylie Trying really hard to maintain focus

Epsilon Mia Hill Fabulous listening, great

work and super co-operation

Dakota Enthusiastic participation in swimming

Makenna Regan Enthusiasm and progress in reading

Alpha Reid Brinkworth Great contributions to note

taking activity

Emily Snowden Excellent maths work with formal algorithms

Fletcher Hardy Wonderful effort in maths groups

Delta Angus Elliott Improved effort in spelling

this term Mataya Amos Great effort in procedure

writing Phoenix Kennedy Improving 7 benchmark

levels in 2015

Gamma Chase Osland Showing improved effort in

his class work Lexie Kennedy Being an outstanding

student and role model Lucy Niddrie Taking special effort in

explanation writing

Theta Riley Jones Working well at all times Henry Allen Being a helpful class

member Mae Wilson Being a pleasure to teach

Lambda James Cresnar His willingness to challenge

himself in mathematics Samuel Donald Making connections during

reading groups Harvey Portier Working hard on 2 digit

multiplication

Iota Cameron Claridge Improved written

comprehension results Akeira Barnard Thorough comprehension

skills Taj Britz Using technology to assist

learning

Gold Shields Pippa Meissner Audrey Maxfield Emily Snowden Kiara Barbour Mackenzie Williams Faith Cole Savarna Patsan Charlotte Proctor Phoenix Visscher Hannah Hewat Lily Crockett

Important Dates and Reminders DATE WHO WHAT NOTE NOTE/MONEY DUE 17 Nov Kindy 2016 Final kindergarten 2016 visit 9.30-11.00am

17 Nov Year 4 Parent Information evening re laptop program

18 Nov All School Out of Uniform Day Gold coin donation 20 Nov Kindergarten graduation assembly 9.30am 23 Nov Years 5-6 Talent quest audition 24 Nov Years 3-4 Talent quest audition 25 Nov Years K-2 Talent quest audition 26 Nov Selected Talent quest final 27 Nov Sports presentation assembly 9.30am 2 Dec Presentation Day 9.30am 3 Dec Year 6 High School orientation day 8 Dec Year 6 Year 6 farewell 10 Dec K-2 End of year activity 11 Dec Final assembly 14 Dec MADD night 15 Dec Year 6 Surf Fun Day 16 Dec Years 3-6 End of year activity 16 Dec All School Last day of Term 4

Please Note: No payment will be accepted after the due date unless prior arrangements are made with the office. If you have not received a note

for any activity these are available from the office or the school website. All notes and money must be returned to the office box in an envelope with your child’s name, class and activity

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INSIGHTSBuilding parent-school partnerships

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Stay one step ahead of your kids with great ideas & expert advice from Michael Grose. Join

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WORDS Michael Grose

© 2014 Michael Grose

Bullying should not be confused with teasing, rejection, random acts of violence or physicality and confl ict. While children will often tease or fi ght, this bickering should not be confused with bullying.

What bullying isn’t,and what to do

when it happensBullying is a word that’s wrapped in emotion.For many people bullying is associated with bad childhood memories. It’s been estimated that around 40% of people have experienced some type of bullying in the past.

Bullying is an insidious behaviour that transgresses children’s natural right to feel safe and secure. It can adversely aff ect their learning, emotional well-being, further peer relations and their sense of self.

Bullying takes many forms and guises including, physical and emotional abuse, intimidation, harassment and exclusion.

It now has a well-publicised cyber-dimension which has moved the goalposts for many kids. In the past children could escape bullying behaviours they may have experienced by being at home. Cyberbullying now means that kids can’t escape the bully like they once could.

Bullying is not the domain of one gender. Girls bully just as much as boys but they do it in less physical ways. While boys use physical intimidation or verbal abuse to wield power, girls are more likely to use exclusion or verbal sarcasm to assert themselves.

Bullying should not be confused with teasing, rejection, random acts of violence or physicality and confl ict. While children will often tease or fi ght, this bickering should not be confused with bullying.

Bullying is about lack of power as one person is powerless to stop the teasing or physical abuse. Bullying is the selective, uninvited, repetitive oppression of one person by another person or

group.

If you think your child is being bullied then

handle with care as children often don’t want

to admit that they are on the receiving end of

bullying. Some kids keep it close to their chests

so it helps to be on the lookout for warning signs

such as: items being stolen, changing the route to

school and withdrawal from usual activities.

If your child is being bullied:1 Listen to their storyChildren who are bullied need someone to

believe their story. Take them seriously and avoid

dismissing complaints as tell-tale. Use common

sense to diff erentiate between bullying and more

random, non-selective antisocial acts. Kids can

be nasty to each other, yet this doesn’t constitute

bullying.

2 Deal with their feelingsA child who is bullied probably feels scared, angry

and sad. Boys are more likely to display anger and

girls claim they feel sad. The degree of emotional

intensity is an indicator of the amount of bullying.

Recognise and validate their emotions. Let them

talk about how they think (remember boys

respond better to ‘think’ language) and feel. It’s

normal to feel sad, scared or just plain confused.

3 Get the facts

Get a clear picture of what happens, including

who is involved, the frequency and what happens

prior to any bullying. Get your child to be as

specifi c as possible by asking good questions.

An accurate picture will help you determine your

next course of action.

4 Give them coping skillsWith a clear picture you can start giving your child

some help about how he or she may deal with

bullying including using avoidance strategies,

being more assertive and changing poor body

language.

5 Get the school involvedBullying is best handled when parents and

teachers are involved. Approach your school

through the appropriate channels, make yourself

aware of your schools’ anti-bullying procedures

and programs, and be willing to work within

these guidelines.

6 Help build your child’s support networks

Kids need a group of friends to support them

when they experience bullying so look for

practical ways to broaden friendship groups.

7 Build their self-confi dence

Provide children with systematic encouragement.

Let them know through your words and

treatment of them that they will get through this

period.

It’s worth remembering that children who

experience some form of bullying often come out

stronger and more resourceful because they have

experienced diffi culties and they know they can

defeat them.