Issue 27 - Ngunnawal Primary School

Principal:
Email Address:
Board Chairperson:
P&C President:
Kristine Stewart
info@ngunnawalps.act.edu.au
Stephen Tokley 0409 928 525
Ty Newton
ngunnawalps_pandc@outlook.com
Ngunnawal Primary School acknowledges and respects the traditional custodians of the land we are on, the Ngunnawal people.
Newsletter No. 27 – 30 August 2016
.
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
DATES TO
REMEMBER:
29 Aug – 2 Sept
Literacy and
Numeracy Week
Wed 31 August
Whole School
Assembly, 9:15am
Wed 31 August and
Thurs 1 September
ThinkUKnow AFP
Cyber Safety
Sessions, Years 3-6
Wed 31 August
Family Maths Evening,
5:30pm – 6:30pm
Mon, 5 September
Excursion to
Legislative Assembly,
5/6GH & 5/6AP
Tues 6 September
Internet Safety Parent
Session, 6pm
Wed 7 September
Christian Education
Sessions
Wed 7 September
Junior School
Assembly, 9:15am
(KSM & KIL)
See NOTES HOME
reminders on Page 6.
Dear Parents and Carers
Welcome to week seven, this term is flying!
Excursions are a plenty this week at Ngunnawal
Primary School. Kindergarten students were very
excited this morning to get on the buses to go the
National Zoo and Aquarium. This excursion
complements the students learning in Science about
the characteristics of living and non-living things.
Yesterday 5/6NK and 5/6LW went to the Legislative
Assembly to further their learning about Australian
democracy. They learnt about the ACT’s electoral
system and even participated in a mock vote! The
remaining 5/6 classes will visit the Legislative
Assembly over the next two weeks.
Last Thursday night I had the pleasure of attending
Step Into The Limelight where students from
Ngunnawal Primary performed as part of the
Combined Choir. Their medley of songs from the
Sound of Music was just outstanding and certainly
brought back many fond memories from my
childhood. Some students performed on both nights
as part of the ACT Primary Concert Choir.
Congratulations to all of our Limelight students, they
were exceptional ambassadors for the school and
should be very proud of their efforts. I would also
like to thank Elise Velnagel, Ann Walker and the
many other teachers who supported the students
through rehearsals and the performance. Your
dedication is very much appreciated.
This week is National Literacy and Numeracy Week
and to celebrate we are holding a Family Maths
Night this Wednesday evening. It will begin promptly
at 5.30pm in the school hall. It is not too late to
RSVP to the Front Office on 6205 8182 to let us
know you are coming so we can make sure we have
enough take home games for your family. During
the evening we will be holding mini-parent
workshops to help you gain an understanding of how
we teach maths at Ngunnawal Primary. It is sure to
be an informative evening with lots of fun. I look
forward to seeing you there.
A reminder that Hats Back On commenced on 1
August. No student will be able to be out on the
playground or participate in outdoor PE and Sport
lessons without a hat. It is the time of year where UV
rays are back at high levels so it is imperative that
students have hats at school with them every day.
Caps or hoodies are not acceptable because they do
not provide an appropriate level of protection from UV
rays therefore students will be asked to sit in the
shade during breaks and PE & Sport lessons if this is
what they bring to use as a hat. School bucket hats
are available from the front office for $10.00 if you
would like to purchase one.
I will be taking some Long Service Leave
commencing on Monday 5 September and will return
to school at the beginning of term four. Danielle
Porter will return to the school to act as Principal
during my absence. She is looking forward to her
return to Ngunnawal Primary very much. I know she
will be enthusiastically welcomed back by staff,
students and the community. The school will be in
good hands for the last weeks of term three as
Danielle, together with the rest of the executive team
are committed and hardworking school leaders. They
will be available to meet and discuss questions or
concerns you may have, so please do not hesitate to
call the Front Office on 6205 8182 to make a time to
meet with them.
I look forward to seeing you all again next term.
Until then, keep smiling.
Kristine
Kristine Stewart,
Principal
Canteen: 02 6205 2264
Newsletter No. 27 – 30 August 2016
Spotlight on Learning!
Buddies
Buddy classes spend enjoyable time together
sharing their work and learning new skills. Here,
2ES and 5/6 NK work on iPads to develop coding
skills and read each other’s narratives.
Science
During our Science lessons we have been
investigating mixtures. We have been observing
what happens when we mix different substances
together.
The new visualisers have made it easier to see our
mixtures up close and help us to create accurate
drawings of our observations.
Book Week
We all had a lot of fun dressing up as our favourite
characters during book week. 2AW and 2SM
shared stories with some preschool buddies as
part of book week celebrations.
Ann, Sharee, Laurie, Sarah, Estelle
Newsletter No. 27 – 30 August 2016
Newsletter No. 27 – 30 August 2016
Helping kids focus in the age of distraction
By Sarah Wayland
Finding ways to turn your kids from flitters to focusers –
how teaching your children to ‘stick with it’ can have
lifelong benefits.
As a society we often debate about the ’right’ amount of screen
time, and with the introduction of personal screens over the last
decade, to add to TV, laptops and desktops, the focus on a
single task has slowly ebbed away. The British Psychological
Society found that too much screen time (more than their
recommendations of no more than 2 hours per day) could
unintentionally cause permanent damage to a child’s stilldeveloping brains. Impacting the capacity to focus, to
concentrate and to give attention to tasks.
Neuroscientists tell us that the more a young person can
practice keeping focus and resist distraction, the stronger and
more richly connected this child becomes. By the same token,
the more distracted, the less so. Rebecca finds that the
evidence is clear in our own homes and in classrooms ‘we now
have young people who are experts at ‘flitting’ from one device
to another’ and she refuses to take a defeatist approach
because without refocusing those ‘flitters’ to ‘focusers’ who risk
the next generations creative or scientific masterminds we risk
losing children who are able to ‘sit still and agonise over a task
long enough to see it through to its marvellous end’
Tips for helping kids maintain focus and attention
1. Build your child’s focus
As with all tasks the aim is to start small and build your
child’s capacity to master the concept of ‘sticking with it’.
Cath, a school counsellor, finds that she can use the same
strategies with the teens she works with and her primary
school aged children when she gets home: ‘it’s all about
breaks and rewards. Set a timer between breaks and then
on a break they need to do something active like a pushup. Then there is a little reward for staying on task for a
particular amount of time.
2. Remember it’s all about the journey
Parents and researchers agree that understanding what
can be gained from being focused is the key to engaging
your ‘flittering’ child. Our solution driven society is often
focused on what we receive at the end rather than the
process to get there. Teaching your children to tolerate the
unexpected can have wonderful benefits, as can sitting
with something that may have previously been viewed as
unachievable.
3. Keep calm and focus
Use calm methods to engage children who become
distracted: ‘breathe, relax and high five each other’ when
working alongside your child or when with a group of
children. Talk about what might be achieved at the end
and make it a fun process.
Screens, for all their negatives and benefits, are here to stay.
Many argue that they provide complexity and new
experiences to our children’s world by identifying exciting
technologies but they also provide avenues to ‘opt out’ of the
hard yards.
Reaching what you thought was unattainable by engaging in a
single focus and ‘sticking with it’, can provide lifelong lessons.
Internet Safety Parent Session
6 September 2016
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR ALL PARENTS
ThinkUKnow is an internet safety initiative which aims to raise
awareness of the issues that young people face online and
whilst using mobile phones. It is a partnership between the
Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Microsoft Australia, and is
now proudly supported by ninemsn and Datacom.
Ngunnawal Primary School will be hosting a ThinkUKnow
presentation (on Tuesday 6 September at 6.00pm) and all
parents, carers and teachers are encouraged to attend.
Please note that the presentation is tailored for the adult
audience and we ask that children are not present.
The presentation will cover topics such as how children are
using technology to have fun, online grooming, cyber-bullying,
inappropriate content and e-security. This is a fantastic
opportunity for you to learn more about how young people have
fun online, how you can help them to stay in control on the net,
and how to report a problem.
For more information, you can visit the ThinkUKnow Australia
website at www.thinkuknow.org.au or contact Anna McGown.
Please advise your attendance to Anna McGown 62058182 or
email anna.mcgown@ed.act.edu.au
Senior Assembly, 24 August 2016 - Merit Certificates
Senior Assembly, 24 August
Clockwise from top left:
North Gungahlin District
Athletics participants.
SRC Members reporting.
Visit by AFL representative.
Newsletter No. 27 – 30 August 2016
Newsletter No. 27 – 30 August 2016
Senior Assembly,
Wednesday 24 August
UNSW ICAS Certificates
for Spelling, Writing,
Science, and Digital
Technologies,
P&C Constitution: The Ngunnawal
Primary School Parents and Citizens
Association has called a Special
General Meeting to vote on changes
to our Constitution. Copies of the
current and proposed Constitutions
are available for viewing at the Front
Office. You can also request copies by
sending an email to ngunnawalps_pandc@outlook.com. The
Special General Meeting will be held at 6pm on Monday 12
September in the school staff room. Everyone is welcome to
attend!
Father's Day Stall - volunteers needed! Father's Day is just
around the corner! The P&C will be running Father's Day
Stalls on Tuesday 30 August and Thursday 1 September at
the school canteen. Gifts will be $4.00 each. In order to run this
event, we really need some helpers to run the stall throughout
both days. If you can help, please sign up here:
http://signup.com/go/C9sQ4S
Online ordering now available at the School Canteen! The
Ngunnawal Primary School Canteen now offers online
ordering and payment through Flexischools! Available from
your mobile or computer, you can place canteen orders and
pay securely online anytime, anywhere! Just go to
flexischools.com.au and click ‘register’. More information is
available from the Canteen.
Wednesday 31 August
5:30-6:30pm
School Hall
Celebrating Literacy and Numeracy Week 2016
NGUNNAWAL ANGELS
 meet on Wednesdays, 9:10am to 10:40am in the Library,
straight after assembly (drop in when you can)
 open to all parents/carers
 chat and contact
 help your children’s teachers
 children are welcome (there are toys to play with!)
 stay as long as you can, whenever you can
Hope to see you there!
Footy Colours Day is coming up next Tuesday 6 September.
Students are encouraged to wear their favourite footy team
colours on the day and pay a gold coin donation which will be
donated to the Fight Cancer Foundation.
From 2pm there will be a community event on the oval which
parents and carers are encouraged to attend. By signing in at
the front office and paying a gold coin, parents and carers can
release their child/children from class for the afternoon session
to participate together in footy related games. There will be
professional football players in attendance to teach students,
parents and carers skills and tricks. It will be a fun filled
afternoon so we would love as many parents and carers as
possible to come along. Please make sure you RSVP to your
child's classroom teacher if you plan on coming along so we
can make sure there is enough equipment available and
adequate supervision on the day. We look forward to seeing
lots of people there.
Stacey and Cath
Newsletter No. 27 – 30 August 2016
Boomerangs
Softball
Club
BOYS AND GIRLS
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A NEW SUMMER SPORT TO TRY?
COME AND PLAY BALL WITH THE BOOMERANGS!
MAKE NEW FRIENDS, GET ACTIVE AND HAVE FUN
WE CATER FOR ALL AGES AND ABILITIES
IN T-BALL AND SOFTBALL
JOIN AS A SCHOOL TEAM OR INDIVIDUAL
REGISTRATIONS NOW OPEN
Please contact our Junior Softball Co-ordinator for more
information -RAE MCKINNON -
boomerangs_softballclub@hotmail.com
or 0403 563 810
NGUNNAWAL PRIMARY FACEBOOK PAGE
Did you know we have a facebook page? Please take a couple of
seconds to check it out. We often post information about what is
happening at school, provide updates and
amendments when we have to.
Please like it and share it with our community.
NOTIFICATION OF STUDENT ABSENCES
If your child is absent from school, please call and
advise the front office staff on 6205 8182 by 9:15am.
NOTES HOME
Notes home:
 Cyber Safety AFP Information Sessions, Years 3 to 6 – 31
August and 1 September.
 Internet Safety Parent Session – Tuesday 6 September,
6pm
Notes due back
 Preschool Botanic Gardens 2 September – Blue, Green, Yellow
 Year 5/6 Bands – Bandfest notes due back Thursday,
1 September.
Reminders
 5 September - Legislative Assembly Excursion - 5/6GH &
5/6AP.
 9 September – Bandfest - Years 5 & 6 Bands.
Newsletter No. 27 – 30 August 2016
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
The Combined Gungahlin Churches will present the Term 3
Christian Education program (Kinder to Year 6) at Ngunnawal
Primary School on Wednesday 7 September at 9:15am (K-2)
and 9:50am (3-6).
"We will teach the children the importance of having a solid
foundation for their lives and commending Jesus's teachings as
a foundation for joy and peace. We will teach using songs,
story, video and a game to teach the children from the Bible.
We may ask for student volunteers from the school to
participate in these activities."
If you wish your child to attend the Christian Education sessions
in 2016 and have not previously done so, please complete the
permission slip below and return to the school.
-----------------------------------------------------------
PERMISSION NOTE - CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
I give permission for my child/ren to attend Christian Education
sessions in 2016.
Child’s Name: __________________________ Class: ______
Child’s Name: __________________________ Class: ______
Child’s Name: __________________________ Class: ______
Parent/Carer Signature: ______________________________
DISCLAIMER
The school, its staff and the Territory are not aware of, and make no
representation as to the truth or accuracy of the information provided in
advertisements appearing in this newsletter. Readers should make their
own enquiries in relation to the information.
Parent/Carer Name: (please print):
__________________________________________________
Date: ______________