July 29th

It has been wonderful to see school return to some level of 'normality' this term.  We have had an amazingly settled beginning to term 3.  The level of resilience shown by our families during the many changes and uncertainies throughout the COVID-19 situation has been outstanding. Let's all continue to keep working together to play our part to keep a wave 2 at bay!

Some things that we will continue and a few changes....

• additional cleaning of classrooms and equipment
• physical distancing with adults continues as per Public Health guidelines
• regular handwashing for all staff and students as per term 2
• staff and students staying away from school if presenting with a fever or cold like symptoms
• parents are now able to enter classrooms to drop children at school, however we ask that for now you maintain the Stop, Drop & Go action by doing this as quickly as possible
• we are now able to welcome help back into the school, however, please ensure that this is pre-organised with the appropriate staff and that you enter via the office.  A Vistor Health Screen form will need to be completed at the school office prior to commencing any volunteer work.  
• Pre-kinder and Launching into Learning programs are gradually being re-introduced with some COVID-19 preventative guidelines.  So pleased to see our little people back with us!!  

Beginning next week, Monday 3rd August, Prep-6 siblings of kinder students will return to leaving class at 3:00pm. Parents are welocme to wait in the school grounds after collecting kinder children, however, please ensure that you maintain physical distancing regulations. 

ABSENCE from SCHOOL

Consistent school attendance is always important and with the interuptions caused through COVID-19 this year it is now more than ever imperative that when children are well that they are attending school consistently.  

This term we have noticed an increase in the amount of children leaving school early.  It's easy to feel that 15-20 minutes at the end of the day does not make a difference, however, this is a time when whole group sessions and often reflective sessions on the days learning is done. It often sets students up for the following day with any messages etc. that help them to be organised to start the day effectively and efficiently.  We certainly understand that sometimes students have medical appointments that they need to attend...this is absolutely a valid reason for late arrival or early departure.  Please remember that if your child does need to leave early, you are required to come to the school office for collection and officially sign them out.  Parents must not be directly remove chidren from the classroom during school hours. 

REPORTS

A basic mid-year report will be emailed to families tomorrow. If you have not received this by Friday please contact the office. This will give some future focus points for the term and a short general note relating to students' wellbeing at school. We are certainly hoping for a more comprehensive report to be available at the conclusion of the year.  

Karen

Kinder 2021

It's that time of the year again! Enrolment forms for children who live in our school intake area and who will be coming into kindergarten in 2021 will be available from today. They will be given out through pre-kinder today, sent home with siblings or can be collected from our front office. Please return these forms to the office as quickly as you can, along with:

• your child’s birth certificate,
• immunisation record
• documentation of child’s medical conditions
• proof of parent identity eg. Driver licence,
• proof of residence

Pre-Kindergarten

Thank you to all our Pre kinder families for a fantastic start last week. Due to our three Pre-kinder groups running back to back and with extra cleaning restrictions due to COVID-19, it would be appreciated if you could stay in your car until 1 or 2 minutes until your child’s session starts. This then gives us time to see one group off, re-set the room, clean tables and resources and then be ready to welcome the next group through the doors! Thanks for your understanding and we look forward to seeing you all next week.

Please contact our office if you are unable to come to pre-kinder due to commitments on a Wednesday as we are considering an alternative on a Friday.

Launching Into Learning

Our Launching Into Learning groups are gradually resuming. Mrs Fankhauser has to consider all aspects of our COVID-19 Safety plan which includes social distancing.  This means that some of our groups will need to be different to what had been originally planned. Mrs Fankhauser will be in touch with families as groups resume.

Lynn Wyllie-Watson

Forest Fun

Monday’s 1:40pm-2:40pm

Dress in warm winter clothes and gum boots 

We meet at the kinder building and walk up together. Look forward to seeing you!

From the 3^rd of August The EveryBody! Program will be visiting our school. The program works with students from Prep to Grade 6 and is aligned with the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education. Our students from grades Kinder to Grade 6 will be participating in the program.

The EveryBody! Program will be presented by Wendy Gregory who is a registered nurse with over 20 years experience working with children and families in schools and the community. Wendy previously visited our school in 2018.

The in-class sessions will be held between August 3^rd  and August 21^st. 

Parent session will be held tomorrow, Thursday 30th July in the school Library at 7:00pm.

Gary Jones

With pools being closed due to COVID-19 for term 2, a change to the schedule of schools has been required, a re-prioritisation of the schools involved.

In 2020 Norwood Primary has not been listed to participate in the amended swimming and water safety programme. While disappointing, we recognise the reasons behind the decision, and we have indicated a willingness to have some if not all children involved should an opportunity arise.

Gary Jones

While we have begun to have slightly larger gatherings in the hall for the purpose of sharing or learning, we are yet to invite parents to attend. Rather than a 3-6 assembly for example, which has had 11 classes present, we are having a 5-6 assembly with six classes and this is followed by a 3- 4 assembly with five classes present.

When we begin to welcome parents to the assembly we will limit this to the host class and other presenting students. Parents will need to record their attendance along with COVID 19 health screening forms. This is all in line with DoE and health guidelines.

In today's assembly we look forward to learning about Cyber Safety and social media from Senior Constable Annabel Shegog.

Gary Jones

5-6 Sport

Parents of grade 5-6 children will have received a letter recently from the President of the association. If sport is to resume there are many protocols that need to be followed. Parents are not permitted to spectate and hand sanitiser will be used when getting on and off buses when travelling to other schools. A manager’s position and a checklist of compliance has been created.

A code of behaviour serves as a guideline to successful participation for students and needs signing by coach, student and parent/carer. These were sent home on Tuesday and need to be returned by Friday 31st July.

Gary Jones

Play is a vital part of childhood and is directly linked to learning in all areas of development. There are many examples of different types of play happening every day in our school both in our classrooms and our playground.

We are incredibly fortunate to have our forest as part of our school grounds.  Every day we see fabulous examples of physical, creative and collaborative play in the forest. Kindergarten through to grade 6’s use this space both as part of their inquiry times as well as during recess and lunch.

As with most types of challenging play, there are small risks associated with forest play. There are teachers on duty specifically in this area. However, if you would prefer that your child does not engage in forest play please let your child’s teacher know.

We have a roster for play in our forest: Monday’s will be grades 1 and 4; Tuesday’s grades 2 and 5; Wednesday’s grades 3 and 6 with Friday’s being preps.

Lynn Wyllie-Watson

Term 3 has seen change for primary school teachers. The contact hours for teachers has been reduced slightly, and it supports planning, preparation and assessment times. It is also directly linked to the government’s commitment for an additional allocation of music and physical education teachers. For NPS children this has meant that they have either two PE lessons and one Music lesson each week, or one PE lesson and two Music lessons. We anticipate that this will be reversed in fourth term.

Gary Jones

Mr Jones requires the support of a couple of parents between 8:15am and 9:00am on the mornings of Fri Aug 14, Mon Aug 15, Tues Aug 16 and Wed Aug 17^th. Outside the music room Yo-Yos are going to be for sale, after an upcoming N.E.D. virtual assembly. Classes above grade 2 will be witnessing the growth mindset presentation that incorporates yoyos as a tool. We had a similar event 4 years ago.

If you are available please let the office know. Thanks in anticipation of a couple of good helpers.

Just a reminder that you can check our school calendar for upcoming events on your Schoolzine App or in our newsletter when viewed online. Just click on the calendar button in the app or view Upcoming Events down the side of the newsletter.  

We are excited to announce that our new uniform items - the Jade and Navy Polo and the Jade and Navy 1/2 Zip jacket are in stock at Midfords available from Friday 31 July.  We are in the process of updating the school's Uniform Policy, once completed we will present to the School Association for ratification. If you have any questions about uniform items the staff at Midford are able to advise you.

Our Canteen menu has more items added for sale this week. Cash and counter sales are still not available. Orders can be made via the Qkr! app. Thank you!

Sustainable Living and Learning at Norwood After School Care

Sustainability has been our focus during Term 2 at the Northern Lady Gowrie Tasmania Outside School Hours Care Services. The educators have challenged children to think about sustainability in a more holistic way.

We have explored shopping in our own pantries for cooking experiences that do not require a trip to the shops, rethinking our energy consumption and exploring the versatility of our existing resources.

At Norwood After School Care, the children have enjoyed thinking outside the box when it comes to their favourite games and traditional construction items. Recently, two of our Grade 3 boys spent an afternoon working together to create different tracks and towers using Jenga blocks. Both boys love a game of Jenga, but were quite inventive in how they used these in their loose parts play, with the Jenga pieces transforming in to models, dominos, catapults and more!

While trying to create a path that enabled the dominos to fall across a space between two table, the conversation below was observed:

Oliver: ‘It didn't knock down.’

Jett: ‘I think we should just re-create this but make it instead straight with a little turn, and all on one table.’

Oliver: ‘Wait I know what to do!’

Jett: ‘Ahh I think that might work.’

It was great to see both Jett and Oliver truly engaged in this experience, but more so in valuing and experimenting with each other's ideas to achieve some exciting results.

Courtney Hobbs Northern Outside School Hours Care Manager

School Association Meeting

When:           Tuesday 11^th August

Time:             7:00pm

Where:          Staff room

Did you know every person with a child at our school is automatically a member of the School Association? All welcome to attend our first meeting of the year.

Some of the Topics covered will be: 2020 Fundraising, School Disco, Grade 6 Awards.

Please send all additional agenda items to norwoodpsa@gmail.com

Everyone is welcome to attend!

AGM Report:

On June 16^th, we held our Annual General Meeting, we are excited to announce our 2020 Executive Group:

Chairperson – Ben Cunningham

Vice Chairperson – Savanna Moore

Treasurer – Chantal Innes

Secretary – Sarah Merritt

We wish them all the best for the year ahead!

Entertainment Book 20/21

Entertainment Book 20/21 - As the memberships are all digital now, they do not require direct contact with the school, please feel free to use the link below to purchase your new 20/21 Entertainment book!

Entertainment Book Raffle