NEWSLETTER NO. 15 TERM 2 WEEK 5 WEDNESDAY 27th MAY, 2020

BONVILLE STREET EMAIL: urunga-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au PO BOX 21 WEBSITE: www.urunga-p.schools.nsw.edu.au URUNGA NSW 2455 TEL: 02 6655 6393

On the traditional lands of the Gumbaynggirr people

IMPORTANT DATES

Mon 25th May All students return to school five days a week.

Mon 8th June PUBLIC HOLIDAY - Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend

RETURN TO SCHOOL We are so happy to have all of our students back at school and learning in our classrooms. The excitement was palpable as some children saw their friends for the first time since late Term 1. While there are still many restrictions in place for students and lots of extra sanitising and cleaning being done, students and teachers were relieved to feel slightly ‘normal’ again. Everyone is looking forward to settling back into school routines and continuing on with their learning.

NEWS FROM OUR PRINCIPAL MRS JANE MARTYN

At Urunga Public School, we continue to have high expectations of our learners and our community. We have learned a lot about ourselves recently both as people and as learners. We have encountered, sought and developed new ways to learn and new ways to teach along the way. Many things have changed and many of the ways in which we do things have changed, including the ways in which we communicate and collaborate.

It has been wonderful to be a part of the collaboration, support and genuine kindness that has grown and been nurtured between teachers, students and parents. While there have been difficult and uncertain times recently during this pandemic, there has been much good come from these changed ways. Some new ways will continue on in our schools and some will not. It is certainly an interesting time for us all.

It is absolutely magic to hear our children playing and laughing and to see them engaged and happy to learn and to be together again!

From all of us here at Urunga Public School, thanks ever so much for your continued partnership in the educational journey of our young ones who are all known, valued and cared for. We are all in this together.

PARENTING IDEAS ARTICLE This week’s article is titled ‘Successfully transitioning students back to school.’ This article focuses on practical ideas and strategies to help protect our young ones in the coming weeks. It is included further on in the newsletter.

RETURN TO SCHOOL FULL-TIME Now that we have all returned to school full-time, school activities and operations will continue to be in line with Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) and NSW Health guidelines as applicable.

School students do not need to follow physical distancing guidelines, but should follow good hygiene practices like:

Regularly washing hands Avoiding sharing drinks or food Coughing or sneezing into their elbow, or a tissue which should be discarded immediately.

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE All students should be at school unless: They have a medical certificate which states that they are unable to return to school due to an ongoing

medical condition They are currently unwell.

Students who have a medical certificate to stay at home will be supported to learn from home in line with regular procedures if they are able to. These regular procedures are different to what was offered during the learning from home period. If you require work to be provided to your child whilst they are at home due to an underlying health condition, you should contact the school for assistance.

Please note, students who live with a family member in one of the categories identified as being at increased risk by the AHPPC, should attend school unless a medical practitioner advises otherwise in writing.

If your child is unwell, do not send them to school. If they are unwell at school you or your nominated emergency contact will need to collect them immediately. Please make sure your contact details are up to date. If a student is absent without a medical reason for more than three days, this will be recorded as an unauthorised absence and followed up by the school. If you need any support to get your child back to school, please contact your school.

Our focus this week is the green rule “raise your hand

and wait for permission to speak”

REPORTING AND ASSESSMENT Your child has been assessed during the learning from home period and will receive additional assessment on their return to school. With the new guidelines about reporting, the Semester 1 report will go home at the end of this term. This will be a simplified version of the report you normally receive. SCHOOL ACTIVITIES Teachers will continue to follow the same school curriculum with the exception of some activities that cannot go ahead for now. What children can do: Use the school library Engage in non-contact sporting activities What students can’t do: School assemblies (unless for critical information) School incursions and excursions including camps Inter-school activities (debating, inter-school sport) In-school activities requiring parent or other volunteers Drink from a water bubbler – bring a water bottle instead SCHOOL CLEANING AND HYGIENE SUPPLIES We currently have additional cleaning in line with the AHPPC guidelines and advice from NSW Health. Targeted areas include high-touch areas and other hard surfaces, door handles, lockers, light switches and handrails in stairways and movement areas. There will also be additional cleaning of toilets and bubblers and topping up of supplies like soap. We have received supplies of soap, hand sanitiser, toilet paper, paper towels, disinfectant wipes and personal protective equipment. We are able to order more as needed. RESPONDING TO COVID-19 CASES There is a clear plan in place for schools to respond to any suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our schools. We are working closely with NSW Health and will communicate with parents if a situation was to arise. VISITORS TO THE SCHOOL We ask that in order to maintain social distancing to protect our staff and our students, unless it is necessary for you to attend the school, please email or call us instead until further notice. If you are attending our office, only one visitor should be in our foyer at any one time. Please wait on the seat outside or at the bottom of the steps if there is already a visitor in our office. DROP OFF/ PICK UP CHANGES Until further notice, we ask that parents and carers drop their children at any of our gates in the morning and avoid entering school grounds. For afternoon pick-ups, we ask that parents wait socially distanced outside the gate on Orara Street or Bonville Street and the teachers on duty will get your child for you. For those students who walk home or catch the bus, there will be no changes. Changes are only for students who get picked up by their parents and carers. Our pick up times will be staggered between 3.10pm and 3.30pm to support adult social distancing. This means that if you are picking up your child, you may now pick them up from our Orara Street (bottom/bus bay) entrance as well as our Bonville Street (top) entrance at any time between 3.10pm and 3.30pm. Please let your child know if you intend on picking them up from the top or the bottom/bus bay gate to eliminate confusion. It would be a good idea for parents of K-2 children to send a letter or email to their teacher(s) stating which gate that they will be picked up from. Thank you again for your patience and cooperation through these very complex and difficult times. I will continue to update you with further details over the coming weeks. Please do not hesitate to call us for support or if you have any questions or concerns. Take care Jane Martyn

LAKE AINSWORTH EXCURSION - EXPRESSION OF INTEREST The Lake Ainsworth excursion for Year 5/6 children is scheduled to be held from Tuesday 15th September to Friday 18th September 2020. We are hoping that the excursion will still go ahead but as you can appreciate, in these uncertain times we cannot guarantee this. We will be guided by Department of Education policies regarding excursions and also by Lake Ainsworth as the COVID-19 restrictions are updated.   An expression of interest note was sent home on Monday with all Stage 3 students. Please return notes by Friday 5th June indicating whether your child will be participating in the excursion if it goes ahead. LIBRARY NEWS As of this week, students can again borrow books from the school library. Due to COVID-19 guidelines, there are extra safety precautions being taken with the handling of books coming from students’ home and within the library also. These include returned library books being put in quarantine for at least 24 hours, extra hand sanitising before books are touched by students or staff and the request that all students (Kinder - Year 6) bring their library books to school in a library bag. Please bring your library bag for borrowing as well. We look forward to seeing you in the library soon. Mrs Daley BYOD TRIAL FOR STAGE 3 As students return to school this week and as we look into the future, Stage 3 would like to look at moving towards using BYOD. BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) refers to students bringing a personal laptop to school to use for educational purposes under the direction of a teacher (please note - not mobile phones or iPads). The school will connect compatible devices to a filtered DoE internet service which will provide safe, secure internet access for students. De-vices will be locked in storerooms during breaks. An overview outlining all the key points for students, parents and school roles in a BYOD initiative was emailed to Stage 3 parents and paper copies were handed to students. It is important to read all the information and if your child is bringing their own device, return the form with parent and student signatures to your child’s classroom teacher. Kim Prior (3-6 Assistant Principal) Andrew Sercombe (Technology Coordinator) URUNGA PUBLIC SCHOOL LEGO BUILDING COMPETITION Many of us, during the days of learning from home have been reconnecting with Lego and watching the Lego Masters TV show! Last year Mr Ticli's class designed a 3D printed model of the school. This year we thought this would be a great opportunity to host a Urunga Public School Lego building competition at home. The challenge is to build our school (current or a future one). You can build as a family or send in multiple creations. Send photos of your finished masterpieces to the school email address: urunga-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au by Monday 1st June. Mrs Martyn, Mrs Prior and Mr Patterson will be our competition judges for your chance to win a Merge Holographic Cube! We can't wait to see your designs of our school. Check out the promo video at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jZ4m0iVmDKe34KSCSBK_oYSvFdTBGF2N/view?usp=sharing Have fun and let's start building! Mr Sercombe

NEWS FROM OUR COMMUNITY LIAISON OFFICER JENNY LUXON

SPOTLIGHT ON OUR AMAZING SLSO’s Our SLSO’s – Student Learning Support Officers– were very busy over the last few weeks assisting our wonderful teachers with getting your children set up for Home Learning. They were also supporting students who had been attending school with help in the classroom and in the playground. Many resources have been made over the last few weeks in order to support students both at school and at home. We love our SLSO’s and couldn’t do without them! They are all excited to see our students’ return this week and are now getting back to our regular work routine and enjoying everyone’s happy, smiling faces again.

NEED TO SAVE MONEY?

URUNGA FOOD PANTRY CAN HELP We have moved to

CARDOWS ARCADE ‐ NEXT TO LAUNDOMAT

Everyday groceries at reasonable prices Open to anyone with a pensioner or healthcare card

OPEN EVERY THURSDAY & FRIDAY

Thursday: 10.00am ‐ 12.00pm Friday: 9.30am ‐ 1.30pm

COME & VISIT US AND SEE WHAT WE HAVE FOR YOU!

If you have lost your job or are experiencing financial hardship due to the current COVID‐19 crisis, please feel free to come and do a shop.

BELLINGEN FOOD PANTRY IS ALSO OPEN

Tues 10‐12 and Fri 10‐12

St Barnabas Op Shop is open on the following days:

TUESDAY: 9.00am - 1.00pm WEDNESDAY 9.00am- 1.00pm SATURDAY : 9.00am - 12 noon

Warm winter woollies available