From the Principal
We are certainly gaining momentum at Newington Primary School with lots of wonderful things taking place inside and outside the classrooms over the last two weeks. We have seen students enjoying the Soccer clinics yesterday with more classes having the same opportunity in the coming week. As I wander around classrooms students are engaged and settled making the most of their learning time. I have observed students reading independently from Foundation through to Year Six while in other classes students are reminding themselves about the importance of the learning pit and having a growth mindset.
Classes called for “Student Voice” nominations last week and students who were interested presented to their class a short speech on why they would like to be part of this important school team. Mrs Delahunty and Lucy later met with the 2022 Student Voice team to share ideas on how the team can best represent the Newington Primary School students moving forward. Their first little project is going to be to sell the chicken’s eggs on a Friday afternoon. You will find them set up outside the double gate at pick up time selling the eggs at a half dozen for $2.00, with all proceeds going back into the Kitchen Garden Program.
Assemblies
Last week I had the pleasure of attending my first 5/6 assembly. Congratulations to the school captains of 2022, Raghav, Jaxon, Harper and Bethany on the wonderful way they hosted their first assembly. Students from each class presented their classes essential agreement, really setting the expectations of the year ahead for learning in each class.
At the moment due to COVID restrictions we will not be having whole school assemblies in person. Each team (F-2, 3-4 and 5-6) will hold their own assemblies throughout the term. I am very much looking forward to attending the 3-4 assembly on Wednesday next week.
Please note that next Wednesday March 2nd we will be holding a virtual whole school assembly so we can present the leadership badges to this year’s student leadership team. A link to this event and further information will be placed on Seesaw in the coming week for families to use as access to the event. Each class will also be logging into the link so they can be part of this special assembly too.
Tutoring Initiative
The Tutoring Initiative is going to continue in 2022, which is a fabulous opportunity for many students. The initiative has been designed to support students following 2 years of disruptive learning during COVID. The Tutoring program at Newington will support the work of the teacher’s in the classroom by focusing on areas that students need extra support in. At the moment we are finalising the students who will be involved in this initiative. You will be contacted by our Tutors if your child is going to be part of the program. This term Karla Devlin and Nicole Considine are the teachers leading this initiative.
Breakfast Club
Newington Primary School is lucky to have the Breakfast club run each day before school from 8:15am. Any children are welcome to join the Breakfast Club and are asked to bring a gold coin donation please. It is important that students are not dropped off to the school prior to 8:15am for their own safety. Staff are not able to supervise students at this time.
Before and After School
If a child is needing to be at school prior to 8:35am and they are not attending the breakfast club then they should be booked into Before School Care. This is also the case for students who are not able to be collected by 3:10pm each day. The YMCA is situated in the Multipurpose room and they welcome families to drop by there and inquire about their service.
Sports Day
Heather Delahunty is currently putting together a fantastic Sports Day program and has the St Patricks students coming across to assist on the day as well. At the moment we are still waiting guidance on whether Parents are able to attend the Sports Day. As soon as we have guidance on any COIVD restrictions to do with Sports Day we will inform the school community immediately via Seesaw and Facebook.
COVID Update
A big thank you to the families who are continuing to do their R.A.T testing twice each week. This is really helping us in detecting positive cases quickly and keeping the rest of the community safe. This is process is going to be continuing for the rest of the term at this stage. Please contact the office at any stage you run out and need another box.
As you have seen in the daily updates we have got multiple cases within the school community. The staff are doing a terrific job at keeping their classrooms as safe as possible by keeping them well ventilated, students sanitising and wearing masks and wiping down surfaces regularly. We are hoping to get more clarification on the new guidelines around schools in relation to COVID in the coming days. I will communicate any new changes to families via the daily update if there are any.
Please remember to report any positive results to the school as soon as you can to the office by phone or email. These are the cases we then alert the community to each day between 3:30-4:00pm.
Seesaw
Seesaw will continue to be a form of communication with our families this year. All families and students are signed up to their 2022 classes. Teachers are happy to communicate with families when needed on this platform but please be aware that our staff will only be responding to messages and posts between 8am-6pm Monday to Friday. Please note that if you do have concerns or questions, phones calls to the office or email are often the best way to communicate directly with staff.
School Council
The first School Council meeting for the year took place on February 14th. It was lovely to meet the 2021 School Council members via WebEx and I look forward to working with the Newington School Council moving forward. We are now looking for members for the 2022 School Council as we have a few new vacancies. In coming days please find information on Seesaw regarding nominations for those interested in joining School Council. Nomination forms will also be available at the office for interested parties to collect and drop back in.
Foundation 2022-
A reminder that the Foundation students are not at school on Wednesdays for the next three Weeks.
Sam Streeter
Acting Principal
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