Grafton Public School

Grafton Public School
A Tradition of Excellence
Locked Bag 9024 Grafton 2460
PHONE: Primary - 66421000 Infants - 66422286
Email: grafton-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Term Calendar - Click Here
Term 1 Week 6: Monday, 2 March 2015
School Website - Click Here
In this week’s newsletter…….
*
*Principal’s Message
Upcoming events
Tuesday, 3 March: MNC Basketball, Coffs Harbour.
Wednesday, 4 March: NC swimming, Lismore.
Thursday, 5 March: Ceremony for badged students—Captains,
Prefects, SRC, Library Monitors and House Captains.
Brief But Important
* Another date for the Calendar: The first Deputy Principal Awards ceremonies have been scheduled for the year.
Ceremonies will be held on both campuses on Wednesday, 1 April. Parents of children receiving an award will be
advised by letter beforehand. Deputy Principal Awards are earned when a student receives five assembly awards of
the same colour. Once five are received, students are asked to bring them in to the office so an award can be
arranged.
* Student Leaders’ Induction : All of our Student Leaders (Captains/Vice Captains/House Captains/ SRC/Library
Monitors) will formally receive their badges at an official Induction Ceremony to be held this Thursday, 5 March.
Invitations will issue to parents this week as we would love to see as many family members here as possible on this
special occasion.
The next P & C Meeting for the year is Tuesday, 10 March, starting at 7pm in the school Library. All welcome! This will
be the P & C’s AGM.
Active Transport: What does that mean?
Active transport is defined as any form of human powered transport (e.g. locomotion on foot, or bicycle, skateboard,
etc).
The majority of Australian primary and secondary school children do not use active transport to travel to and/or
from school on a weekly basis.
Both children/young people and parents should incorporate active transport into their everyday routines. Other than
school journeys, replacing short car trips to a range of destinations (e.g. local parks, local shops, friend’s house) with
walking or cycling is feasible (e.g. 1 kilometre is about 15 minutes of walking) and will have a range of benefits both to
the child and the environment.
Can you accompany your child in Active Transport until they are independent and competent enough to do it alone or
with other children?
March 13th ( Wk 7) is National Ride2 School Day. At Grafton Public School we support this event and in 2015 will join
over 300,000 Australian students who will ride (or walk/skate/scoot) to school. The Friday Bike Bus will be
extended on this day and we have added a number of different routes. Extra route maps and times for National
Ride2 School Day can be found in the school newsletter and on the school website.
School Fees
School Fees are due at the start of the year and are paid direct to the front office. A general levy of $10 is owed for
each child. Also owed is a family library/technology contribution of $30 (one child) or $50 (two or more children at
GPS). This family contribution is paid as a tax deductible donation. School fees assist to cover the high costs of
classroom resources.
All families who pay their fees before Friday, 20 March, will go in to the draw for a Family Dinner at the
Village Green Hotel, valued at $100. A big thankyou to the Village Green for their continued support of our
school. This would be a fabulous reward for the family, so please try and pay your school fees as soon as
possible.
Brief But Important
* Kilometre Club began last week with lots of students choosing to participate either for fun, to develop their fitness
level or to prepare for the cross country later this term. Kilometre Club is on each Monday and Wednesday morning at
8:15am (weather permitting). A reminder that children may like to bring a spare pair of shoes as the grass is often
very damp.
* Year 6 Canberra Excursion: All Year 6 children should have received their notes regarding the Canberra Excursion
last week. Payment plans are welcome!
* Mozzies are out in force at the moment with all the wet and humid weather especially under the trees and the
COLA. Please apply insect repellent before school to hopefully keep them at bay.
Ride to School Day 2015
Grafton Public School will be celebrating Ride to School Day on Friday, 13 March. We encourage students and their
families to leave the car at home on this day and get a taste of the benefits, ease and fun involved in riding to school.
The Bike Bus program that currently operates on Fridays will be expanded to included 2 extra pick up points. These 2
new pickup points will operate only on Friday, 13 March.
A map of the current, and new Bike Bus pickup locations, is available on our Facebook page and in this newsletter.
These maps outline the pick-up locations and times. Please be punctual as the Bike Bus will leave at the time stated.
Will you be riding with us? All you need to do is turn up!
All riders are encouraged to wear a bright shirt on the day to promote their visibility.
Prizes to Win! Bicyclenetwork Promotion!
For a chance to win one of 3 great prizes visit the link below.
https://www.bicyclenetwork.com.au/general/programs/3199/
Hearing
OTITIS MEDIA and
HEARING LOSS
• DOES YOUR CHILD
HAVE A HEARING
LOSS?
•
•
•
It can affect your child’s
SPEECH.
It can affect your child’s
HEALTH.
It can affect your child’s
EDUCATION.
• HOW WOULD
YOU KNOW?
•
• OTITIS MEDIA IS
SILENT AND
CAUSES A
HEARING LOSS.
IF YOUR CHILD HAS SORE EARS
OR DOES NOT SEEM TO BE
HEARING YOU, SEE YOUR
AMS, DOCTOR OR COMMUNITY
HEALTH CENTRE.
It can affect your child’s
SOCIAL LIFE.
HEALTHY EARS HEAR BETTER!
1
Recycling for Colgate
We have been nominated by the Clarence Valley Dental Centre in Queen Street, to be a part of a recycling program by
Colgate. By simply collecting empty Colgate packaging and products, we can earn money for our school. Collection bins
are located in the Library and Infants Office . The initiative is explained below and we thank Clarence Valley Dental
centre for nominating us.
From the Principal
Dear Parents and Carers,
I begin this week’s newsletter with some sad news. Karen Crispin’s father, Noel, passed away over the
weekend after battling ill health over the past few months. Noel was known to many of our students as
‘Grandpa Noel’ and was a much-loved member of our school community. Always willing to give of his own time
and expertise, Noel was an integral member of the team who built our Queen Street Frog Pond, our Support
Unit COLA and many other projects at our school over the past few years. On many occasions, Noel
organised local excursions for our Support Unit students to visit local farms and he derived so much
pleasure from seeing the smiling faces of our students on days such as these. Never missing a school event,
Noel was an ardent supporter of our school for many years and we will miss him dearly. Our thought and
prayers go to Noel’s wife, Margaret, the Crispin’s and the extended Watkins family. There may be some
disruption to classes later this week as many of our staff will want to be present at Noel’s funeral to
support the family during this difficult time. We thank you for your understanding with this.
On a brighter note, last week’s school disco proved to be very successful. All students who attended were
provided with the opportunity to learn a number of new dance routines to current music thanks to Ms
McDonagh.
Last Tuesday, I began the process of assessing our parent body’s beliefs about and vision for, our school.
This process will take a week or two or three and will include an electronic survey. At the disco I also
discussed with a number of parents their perceptions of our school and the characteristics they would least
like our school to be known for and those that we should be known for. Current themes from this and
Tuesday evening’s meeting include:
Justice – firm and fair with structures and prompt action regarding bullying;
Opportunity – the diversity of programs being offered to our students – academic, cultural and physical;
Inclusivity – all kids attending our school are respected and cared for;
Balanced – the students enjoy themselves and are taught/shown the differences between work and play;
Open Communication – people know they can approach the school with their concerns and be given a fair
hearing;
Professionalism – staff who are passionate and up to date with their practices.
To say that I was chuffed after hearing this would be an understatement. People spoke positively and
thoughtfully about our school with all saying that they speak highly of our school in the public gatherings/
domain. This is rewarding for students, staff and our community to know that we are giving our best in
trying to set standards and practices that meet the needs of our community whilst providing our students
with the skills and knowledge to become local and global citizens.
This week is a sporting week with many district and zone trials from tennis through to swimming and soccer.
Great to see Manchester United back on track along with Brisbane Roar. I only hope there will be some joy
for the Sharks this season!
Will Randall
Principal
Bike Bus
If your child catches
the bike bus and you
wish to be notified if
the bus is cancelled
due to wet weather,
please advise the
office of your name
and mobile number so
you can receive a
cancellation
notification.
Infants Roster
3/3/15
4/3/15
5/3/15
6/3/15
9/3/15
Marcus Marcus
Jodi Tapp
Suze English
Amy Blanch
Mandy Pierse
Canteen
Primary Roster
3/3/15
4/3/15
5/3/15
6/3/15
9/3/15
Cheryle & David Maunder
Kathy Crawford
Amy Blanch
Rhonda Adamson
Kate Kratz
Assembly Award Winners
Each week we will try to acknowledge the children who received awards at their grade assemblies in the previous week.
Congratulations to the following students who received awards last week:
Kinder: Jesse Martin, Charlie Rainbow, Georgia Carlton, William Maddrell, Kane Tucker, Riley Jewell, Sebastian Chivers,
Sophie Carter, Keira Cooper, Ashton Baker, Jonathan Stewart, Ashby Dendle-Gadd, Izac Shelton, Amber Child, Madalin
Lynn, Kai Jackson, Indiana Hall, Maddison-Jayne Corbett, Damon Irving, Gabriela Coffey.
Year 1: William Mellish, Holly Swadling, Liam Paxton, Harmin Singh, Zahli Laverty, Shalisse Chard, Toby Smidt, Hope
Henderson, Ruby Martin, Tylissah Third, Rebel Morgan, Tamika Nicholson, Lillian Lougher, Aaliyah-Scarlett Roach,
Cooper Stephenson, Grace McIntyre, Cooper Rumpf, Jesse Aston, Tahnee Milne, Hope Henderson, Daisy Ada, Heidi
Chivers, Mason Lawler, Mikayla Gray, Wyatt Jewell, Luca Michael.
Year 2: Tayla Willis, Oliver Shortt, Isabella McLennan, Mishelle Hancock, Makaya Dendle-Gadd, Elizabeth Budden,
Lauren Walters, Jake Crowe, Talija Laverty, Cameron Swadling, Scahlotte Morgan-Saurine, Mason Powrie, Shaniqua
Williams, Jade Middelbosch, Tayla Willis, Oliver Shortt, Caitlin Kingsley, Makaya Dendle-Gadd, Cara Cookson, Chelsey
Clarke, Chad Carlsson, Lachlan Brugnatti, Jaxon Sullivan, Madisyn Murdoch, Blake Claydon, Cooper Armfield-Stevens,
Kobey Jackson, Zackary McClymont, Phoebe Rootsey, Tayla Willis.
Year 3: Lilly Diskon, Bryson Fauntleroy, Erica Power, Tyron Paxton, Sophie Coles, Brock McLaughlin, Braith Latham, Mia
Fahey, Rugeerthana Kumaradasan, Travis Unitt, Griffin Lancaster
Year 4: Matheu Clark, Selina Leslie , Miriam Taylor, Nathan Collins, Darcy Deefholts, Megan Smith, Lily West, Joshua
Donovan-Skinner, Alecia Howe, Isabelle Ellis, Gypsy Crouch, Connor Cowley.
Year 5: Coby Gallagher, Dakota Tomlinson, Andrew Stanmore, Tyleah Larcombe, Holly Martin, William Simmons,
Octavius Corcoran, Oskar Robertson, Jacob Toovey, William Swadling, Jesse McGarvie
Year 6: Luka Primorac, Zebulan White, Hollie Redman, Emily Hartz, Erin Denham, Mathew Creasey, Shannon Millard,
Jordan Hollingworth, Brooke Sippel, Bronte O’Loughlin, Wendee Anderson
Support Unit: Nicholas Thompson, Tabitha Franicevich, Shiarn McGrail-Skinner,
Community News
GPS GIRLS HOCKEY CLUB
If you missed Saturday’s sign-up day, it’s not too late!
Are there any girls out there from Kinder to Year 6
who would like to join in the fun game of hockey?
If so, please call Bec Sippel on 0431 772 475.
All new players receive a $30 voucher at the
Hockey Centre Shop.
Community News
These shows arranged by the
Clarence Valley Conservatorium
are FREE for any of our students
doing music lessons at school
with the CVC.
ROYALS HOCKEY CLUB: Royals Hockey Club are
desperately seeking any Under 11 players wanting to
play in the local boys’ hockey competition. If
interested, please contact Liz Weller on 66421367.
Community News