Newsletter of the Leura Public School Community
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Newsletter of the Leura Public School Community Volume 8, Issue 17 Term 4, 2020 Week 2 Coming Events Week 3 27/10 Book Character Parade 27/10 After School Cricket program 29/10 Kindergarten 2021 Parent Orientation Zoom 29/10 Fizzics Science Incursion 30/10 Fizzics Science Inursion 30/10 World Teachers Day Time to put the finishing touches on your children’s Book Character Parade costumes. Week 4 Children may wear their costumes to school 3/11 After School Cricket program if they are easy to move around in 5/11 Kindergarten 2021 Transition and weather appropriate. 6/11 Principal’s Assembly Otherwise they can change into them during the lunch break. Week 5 – NAIDOC WEEK Enclosed shoes must be worn. 10/11 After School Cricket program 11/11 Great Book Swap 11/11 P&C Annual General Meeting Online Zoom 12/11 Kindergarten 2021 Transition RESPECT RESPONSIBILITY RESILIENCE From the Principal… Welcome back to Term 4! I have had a great start and I am hoping your kids have too! The ‘Old School Bell’ Project is complete! What an incredible way to return to school this term. The old bell, which is golden and shiny, looks spectacular hanging from the gorgeous timber structure which houses the old school bell arches. What brings me joy, is that this project was completely invested with love. All stakeholders, regardless of their role, demonstrated a deep love for Leura Public School, and this love cannot be bought or replicated by any other community! That is why I firmly believe that Leura Public School is the best! THANK YOU to the talented team of community members, parents, and staff from Leura Public School, who have played a significant role, big or small, in getting this special project undergoing, implemented and completed. We appreciate the time, money and energy you have put forward to make this project successful. I do want to say a special mention to a few people and I hope I do not offend or miss anyone. Coming into Leura Public School halfway in the year throughout a pandemic has not been easy. Firstly, thank you to our very own staff, Mrs. Elizabeth Colton and Mr. Peter Van Gemert for playing significant roles during this project. I understand that Mrs. Colton, our school librarian and school historian, trusted the committee with the idea for the bell. Mr. Van Gemert has been his usual enthusiastic, helpful, and passionate self. He has liaised and assisted at all times during this project. Thank you to the P&C and to Kate Fagan for liaising with me to inform me about the project and to get me connected to the talented Ms. Niki Martignago who was the artist behind the creative design of the structure and the hanging of the bell. Ms. Niki Martignago has demonstrated her deep connection to our community and her close working relationship with the P&C and the school staff on this project. I don’t believe this project would have been this successful if it was not for the close teamwork amongst all stakeholders. Finally, I honestly have never encountered a P&C as excellent as Leura Public School. I have not been in a school where the P&C operate with such a high standard. They are connected deeply to the students, school, culture and community. There is a multifaceted approach to their involvement within our school and I believe the ‘Old School Bell’ project highlights this interconnected approach. Well done to everyone involved! I know we have a special surprise lined up for our Year 6 students at the end of the year! RESPECT RESPONSIBILITY RESILIENCE Premier’s Debating Competition For those who are beginning to know me, I value excellence in Public Education. I am a huge believer of ensuring our students are always the focus of all our decision making. Therefore, I get very excited when our students are able to shine and gain the spotlight for their learning and achievements. Mrs. Aldred has been an enthusiastic and dedicated coach for our school debating teams. She has been intensely working hard behind the scenes to bring out the best in our students. Mrs. Aldred is explicit in her teaching and uses guided teaching techniques to help her students gain new learning. I know firsthand, I have seen this while working in her classroom, 1/2 Agapanthus! Last week, our school debating team beat Berry Public School! I am so proud of our students and tremendously excited to see their next debate against the Northern Beaches school, Balgowlah Public School. The debate will be held on November 4th 2020. World Teachers’ Day – Friday October 30th 2020 This year our students, community and teachers have had to endure recurring challenges to teaching and learning. Challenges to changes made to school operations, new classroom learning and impacts to our additional activities and programs. Despite the unpredictable circumstances of 2020, our teachers have ensured that our students have continued to receive a high-quality education. They have been integral in role modelling and promoting resilience and fun in the classroom regardless of external influences beyond their control. Our teachers are committed and hardworking. They are passionate and enthusiastic about their students and their role within the school. I want to thank each of our teachers and wish them a fantastic week and I hope that on Friday they have a special day. Leura Rocks! This fortnight our students will listen to two songs by Neil Diamond. I mentioned Neil Diamond as a song writer for some of the Monkees songs for last term. This week we will listen to ‘Sweet Caroline’ (first recorded in 1969) and next week we will listen to ‘Crunchy Granola Suite’ (first recorded in 1971). Both songs are off the double live album ‘Hot August Night’. The album was recorded at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles in August of 1972 and was released in December of 1972. Although Neil Diamond was already established as a song writer (from the early 1960s where he was part of the “Brill Building” cohort of pop song writers) and pop performer (Diamond’s first chart reaching recording was Solitary Man from 1966), it wasn’t until the success of the Hot August Night album that Diamond was considered a star of worldwide renown. The album was especially popular outside of the US. In Australia, it spent 29 weeks at #1 on the album charts and was still in the top 50 charting albums until late 1976. The album sold in excess of 100 million copies across the world and established Neil Diamond as a performing icon. RESPECT RESPONSIBILITY RESILIENCE COVID-19 Our current procedures regarding locking gates at 9:15am will continue this term. We are still not allowed to have parents, volunteers and visitors on school grounds. Anyone who has been given permission to come on site, must fill out a COVID-19 acknowledgement form and comply with necessary covid safe practices. There has been some clarification provided to us by the Department of Education regarding our traditional end of year events. We are monitoring the advice regularly and will keep our community informed as we are updated. Kindergarten Orientation 2021 will go ahead however, parents and visitors are not permitted on school grounds. The Year 6 Farewell is also going ahead with a range of restrictions on the night relating to visitors on school grounds, food handling and dancing. We want our students to have a memorable evening and one that will bring some cheer to a crazy year. I know, as a parent who has a daughter in Year 6 this year, how hard it has been on our students and understand the impact that Covid has had on our kids. I would like to thank our parents who have been liaising with our school during this time and Mr. Atkinson for his leadership. The behind the scenes work is incredible and I feel at ease knowing there is an exceptional team of people working hard to make this night spectacular! I would also like to let the community know that I look forward to attending my first Leura Public School Year 6 Farewell and Graduation Evening. However, I will be late because Winmalee Public School have advised that the Year 6 Farewell is on the same night. Health and Safety After the recent holidays, we noticed that we had a significant number of students return with broken limbs. I want to take this opportunity to let parents and caregivers know that if a student, staff member or volunteer has hurt or injured themselves in a significant manner and requires a cast, boot or specialised care, then as a school we are required to implement a WHS risk management plan to reduce the risk of aggravating the injury any further. We thank you in advance for assisting us in this process. Last week we had a slithery visitor in our school grounds. This caused a lockdown and required us to contact local snake catchers to come on school grounds. During the warmer weather, we will be sweeping the school grounds to ensure our playground is safe. We will be taking extra precautions to ensure that our students are safe and providing lessons to our students so that they know what to do if they see a snake. Our school will be having a Bushfire Evacuation Drill in the next couple of weeks. We will keep you posted on Skoolbag of a date for this event. Staffing This week we welcome back Mrs. Field who was on leave.