Term 1 Newsletter 28 February 2022
From the Principal
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WELCOME TO WEEK 5
Have a great week!
CELEBRATING TWOS DAY
It was a delight to visit classrooms last week, as students were involved in a range of highly engaging maths lessons whereby they investigated number patterns associated with Twos Day - a day of celebrating the unique palindromic date 2/2/22.
In KH the children were learning about the number two and the many ways it can be represented. This included representing two with: the number, the word, tally marks, objects and dominoes and then exploring associated vocabulary such as: pairs, doubles and twins.
In 4G the students were completing palindromic activities. They discussed the word palindrome, adding it to the word wall and read a delightful book, Mom and Dad are Palindromes by Mark Shulman. Students then rotated through a series of activities
- Palindrome crossword station
- Mathematics station reversing and adding numbers to find palindromic solutions (as shown above).
- Writing station- finding and using palindromes
In 6DW students where celebrating the special date, 22/2/22, by using exactly five twos to form every integer from 1 to 20. They could use the operations, brackets, decimal points, square roots and factorials if they wanted to.
VISITORS ON SITE
Visitors can now come onto the school site – including parents, carers and families, regardless of their vaccination status. However, vaccination is required for employees.
Gate 3 is open each morning for drop off. A reminder that school begins at 8:55am for all students.
In the afternoon, all students will now leave at 2:50pm, which is the usual school bell time. Kindy students will continue to be escorted to Gate 1 at 2.50pm and Year 1 students will continue to be escorted to Gate 2, with Year 2 to 6 students leaving through Gate 3. Students who have been leaving through the back of the school at Gate 6, now return to the previous arrangement of leaving via the gate close to OOSH. There will be staff members on hand at various locations around the school, to assist the students.
MEET THE TEACHER
Thank you to the many parents who attended our virtual Meet the Teacher sessions last week. It was great to have the vast majority of parents attending. Here are some of the questions parents raised:
- When do extra-curricular activities such as public speaking and gardening operate? How are they joined? Information related to extra-curricular activities is placed in the newsletter on 14 February. There was an overview in the Principal's section and the teacher/s coordinating the activities will relay more detailed information.
- Can parents begin to assist in the classroom? Parent helper training will be advertised shortly so that parents can assist in the classroom, as requested by teachers.
- Can we access the slides used by teachers at the Meet the Teacher sessions? These have been placed on the school website. Here is the link: https://johnpurch-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/learning-at-our-school.html. Along with the overviews that had been emailed to parents last Wednesday afternoon, which provide more detailed information.
- Can we send in cake for children's birthdays to share with their class? If children bring in treats to share, please send in individual portions. For example, in th epast some parents have sent in iceblocks or a packet of snake lollies. Please keep in mind that we have children at our school that have severe allergies to eggs, nuts and other foods.
- Will class buddies be happening? Once we stop our cohorting measures, buddies will be able to be organised. We are continuing our cohorting measures for the time being as we still have a significant number of COVID cases.
- What format will the Easter hat parade take? Online or in person? At this stage, we are planning for it to be in person, but details will be confirmed later in the term.
ART SMOCKS
Students in K -2 are asked to bring in a paint smock to put over their school uniforms when they are painting in class. This protects the school uniform. The smock can be one of mum or dad's old over sized shirts from the rag bag.
BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL CARE VOUCHERS
The Before and After School Care (BASC) Voucher is an exciting initiative offering families in NSW a $500 voucher per child, to support the cost of accessing BASC. From 28 February 2022 you can claim the voucher via the Service NSW app on your smartphone device, or by following the Service NSW website: https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/basc-voucherExternal link.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss BASC needs in your school community, please reach out to the BASC team at bascreform@det.nsw.edu.au or on 1300 244 145.
SELECTIVE HIGH SCHOOL TESTING
The selective high school exam for students wishing to be placed into a selective Year 7 class in 2023 will take place on Thursday 10 March. This will be a pencil and paper test held onsite. Parents who submitted the application should have already received correspondence regarding this exam from the High Performing Students Unit.
CLASS CONTACT LISTS
At the beginning of the school year, when new classes are formed, some parents like to create a class contact list which contain the contact details of other class members and their parents, so that contact can be made to arrange social activities such as play dates, to keep in touch and to ask questions. I also understand that some parents have set up class What's App groups for a similar purpose. Some teachers have been asked to facilitate this process for parents.
Last year, after seeking and receiving advice regarding our school faciliitating this process, a revised permission letter was devised. This obtains consent from parents for the organising parent/s to create a list, disclosing other parents' contact information to other parents. Additionally, the note seeks: written confirmation that other parents receiving the information on that list use it for the specific purpose outlined and agree to keep the information safe, not disclose it to anyone else, and not use the email address for ANY other purpose.
If parents organising a class contact list or What's App group would like the school to support distribution of notes seeking contact information or disseminating such lists, can you please complete the form below. We will then send out the permission note to parents in that class. School staff will not be able to facilitate the process without this permission.
Thank you to the parents who have already completed this form. We will disseminate the permission note in the next few days.
P & C ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING:
NEW DATE 28 MARCH
Join our P & C in 2022 – It’s a great way to be involved in our fabulous school!
Being on the P & C is a great way of supporting our school and meeting other mums and dads. We would love to see you at the meetings. On Monday 28 March the P & C annual general meeting will be held. At this meeting all positions will be declared vacant. If you are interested in nominating for a position, you will be warmly welcomed as there are many positions to be filled.
Please complete a nomination form which can be accessed on the school website: johnpurch-p.schools.nsw.edu.au and click on the canteen, band, uniform P & C tab from the top menu, and then click forms. This form has also been included in this newsletter for your convenience.
Until next week, keep safe, happy and well!
Mrs Leonie Black
From the Deputy Principal
Monday 28th February 2022
Dear Parents and Carers
Many parents took the opportunity to meet virtually with class teachers last week. Thank you for attending and thank you to our dedicated teachers, who spent time and effort to prepare and present, so enthusiastically. It was a privilege to pop in to virtual rooms and listen to the information shared. This Wednesday, at 6pm, parent information sessions will be held for classes 3/4B and 6H. Invitations to these zoom sessions, will be emailed today. Please contact the office if you do not receive your invitation from Mrs Button (3/4B) or Mr Hayman (6H).
We plan to hold face-to-face individual parent interviews at school, in the week commencing, Monday 28th March. I will advise everyone when the online booking process opens, in coming weeks.
Congratulations to our sports coordinator, Miss Nelson, and the students and staff, who participated in the swimming carnival last Thursday. Even though spectators were restricted, the cheers from the crowd brought the house down, as teachers raced students in a special event and Deribong was victorious in the house relays. Impressive freestyle was displayed by Miss Brooks, Miss Scholz and Mr Johnson!
The Student Leaders' Induction Assembly will be held at 1:35pm this Thursday 3rd March, under the COLA. Parents or grandparents of elected leaders, are cordially invited to attend. Invitations are being disseminated today, via the students. The first Silver and Gold awards for the year (as published in the newsletter), will also be presented. Parents of these students, may also attend. Due to the Covid incidences across all stages, we are discouraging attenditional attendees. Naturally, any visitor with cold or flu-like symptoms, is respectfully reminded not to attend. Sign-in tables will be set up outside the administration block for visitors. Please allow time for this process to occur.
In the event of inclement weather, the assembly will be postponed, as we need to be able to safely accommodate all attendees outdoors. A SZapp notification will be forwarded to parents on the morning of March 3, if a postponement occurs.
Regards
Mrs Adela King
Deputy Principal
Swimming Carnival 2022
Bicycle Safety
A reminder that bicycle licences for students in Years 3 to 6, must be renewed annually. If a student in Year 3 to Year 6 is interested in riding to and from school, application forms are available from the front office. This process is important, so that parents have the opportunity to revisit and reinforce aspects of road safety with their children, every year.
Expectation of the Week
Respect: Place all rubbish in the bin
(Clean Up Australia!)
Congratulations to all students, demonstrating our school expectations.
Respect Responsibility Aspire
Purchase Pride Badges
Purchase Prides recognise positive student behaviour on the playground and in the classroom. When students receive ten Purchase Pride award cards, these should be left in Mrs King’s ‘award shelf’ in the school administration corridor. The ten awards need to be bundled together and clearly labelled with the student’s name and current class.
Award recipients will be presented with a coloured Purchase Pride Badge, the week after their name is published in this newsletter.
Purchase Pride cards also have a 'tear-off' strip. This strip may be removed by the recipient and placed in the appropriate stage box outside Mrs King’s office, to go in the lucky dip draw for a canteen voucher.
I will present the Purchase Pride Badges recorded below, in classes, next week.
Congratulations to:
Ekansh G (4S), Bella E (4S), Ryan W (4M), Zali M (1P), Garron W (2Y), Eunjo J (5F), Sasha W (2S), Bhagath V (5S), Shabarish DK (4G)
Class Awards System
JPPS has an incremental class awards system. When a student has received ten class awards, these should be left on Mrs King’s ‘award shelf’ in the school administration corridor. The ten class awards need to be bundled together and clearly labelled with the student’s name, current class and award level reached. A clear, snap lock bag is ideal for this purpose! Students need to be responsible for their own awards, as replacements are not issued.
10 Class Awards = Bronze 20 = Silver 30 = Gold 40 = Bronze Medallion
50 = Silver Medallion 60 = Gold Medallion 75 = Platinum Medallion and Principal for the Day!
This year, all awards (including Bronze) received by 3pm on Thursday afternoons, are ‘stamped’ and published in the next school newsletter, which is usually on the following Monday. At this time, I indicate when these awards will be presented. Depending on Covid guidelines, Silver Awards, Gold Awards and all Medallions, are presented at whole school assemblies. Please note that Bronze Awards are only presented at the end of each term, at the Principal's Morning Tea.
Bronze Award
These awards will be presented to recipients at the end of Term 1 Principal's Morning Tea, planned for Tuesday, 5th April.
Congratulations to:
Mia B (2Y), Taylor LG (6O)
Silver Award
These awards will be presented at the next assembly. This assembly is planned to occur at 1:30pm on Thursday 3rd March, under the COLA.
Gold Award
These awards will be presented at the next assembly. This assembly is planned to occur at 1:30pm on Thursday 3rd March, under the COLA.
Congratulations to:
Ethan P (6DW)
School Tours
If you were unable to participate in our school tours for new parents, don’t forget that you can take a peek online!
From the Teachers
Premier's Reading Challenge
The 2022 PRC opens today. Please see the official website for further details. Students use their Department of Education username and password to access their online reading log. Please ask your class teacher if you have any questions. Happy reading! https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html
Miss Brennan
PRC Coordinator
Stage 1 Choir
Stage 1 Choir consists of any student in Year 1 and Year 2.
This term, the Stage 1 Choir will be held at lunchtime on Tuesdays in Ms Stanton's room, straight after eating time.
If you enjoy singing, come along and have some fun!
Ms Stanton
Stage 1 Choir Coordinator
Stage 2 Choir
We are pleased to announce that Stage 2 Choir is open to all students in Stage 2 (Year 3 and Year 4).
When: Thursday mornings
8:00am – 8:30am
Where: Mrs Pettitt’s Classroom
We hope to see lots of eager students join us for some singing fun!
Mrs Collier and Mrs Pettitt
Stage 2 Choir Coordinators
From the Office
STAY UP TO DATE WITH SZAPP
Please download this app to your phone if you haven't already (instructions below). This year we will be using this form of communication to get important notices to you. The access PIN will be sent to you via email.
It is important you attach your details to your child/ren's class, year group and any other extra curricular group your child is involved in to receive all notifications.
Please don't hesitate to contact the office on 9875 3100 if you need assistance.
From the P&C
AGM Postponement:
The AGM and Next General Meeting for the P&C has been postponed to the 28th March to ensure that the audited financial statements can be presented to the Meeting. The meeting will be held in the Annexe
JPPS Band Program 2022
Welcome back to Band 2022! Rehearsals started again this week after a long long break, and Miss Kendal and Miss Camilla are super excited to have everyone back on board.
If you are i Year 3 – Year 6 and are interested in playing a wind instrument in band, we would love to have you join the program. Please contact band@jppspandc.org.au for more information.
Band Co-Ordinator 2022 – John Purchase Public School P&C Association
Our school band program at John Purchase is looking for a new Band Co-Ordinator for 2022.
Please see the link for the job ad and application requirements:
Community Announcements
Please note our school publishes events for the convenience of families but does not endorse any activity, organisation, person or product.