Gloucester Public School Newsletter Opportunity - Innovation - Excellence

Find us at: 45 Hume Street, Gloucester 2422 Tel: 65581303 Fax: 65581655 www.gloucester-p.schools.nsw.gov.au

Term 3 Week 9 Tuesday 17th September, 2019

Dates to Remember Term 3 17/9 Blast Off Cricket Day 19/9 Debating v Harrington PS 19/9 Australian Reading Hour 20/9 Stage 1 Excursion 23/9 P&C Meeting 7pm 27/9 Year 6 GHS Tri

Challenge 27/9 LAST DAY OF TERM 3 Term 4 14/10 Day 1 for Staff and

Students 23/10 Year 6 P to H visit 25/10 World Teacher’s Day 25/10 Day for Daniel 6/11 Year 6 P to H visit 11/11 Kindergarten Orientation 18/11 Smooth Start 20/11 Year 6 P to H visit 25/11 Smooth Start 2/12 Smooth Start 4/12 Orientation Day at GHS 10/12 Presentation Night 17/12 Year 6 Farewell Term 3 Assemblies 20/09 Wk 9 5/6C 26/09 Wk 10 Expectation Assemblies

Uniform Shop is open every Friday morning

8.30am – 10.00am

Lunch Club

Sometimes the playground can become overwhelming or too noisy for some students. It might be too hot, too cold, too windy or too wet (unfortunately not the case at the moment). Every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we now offer ‘Lunch Club’ for students in Years 3-6. This is a space where we have organised play activities for students such as board games, card games, art and craft and recycle art. Students are taught how to think creatively and learn how to play co-operatively under the guidance and supervision of Mrs Willis. So far, we have had great success with the club being fully attended each day and students making new friends and learning new skills. If you have any spare ‘recyclables’ at home and can send them in, they would be well received. Felicity Willis, Learning and Support Teacher

For Sale – School Spectacular Tickets for Saturday 23rd November 1.00pm as follows: 1 x Adult 2 x Concession

If you are interested, please come to the school office. Message from Mrs Wakefield What a lovely term we have had. I am taking some long service leave from tomorrow, which includes all of next week to travel out west and down the very dry Darling River. Mr Rod Maggs will be relieving in the role as Principal in my absence. I hope you have a wonderful school holiday starting next Saturday 28th September. Please remember that the P&C Meeting is next Monday 23rd September at 7.00pm. Best wishes and good luck to the Year 6 students competing in the GHS Tri Challenge. I will be thinking of you. School starts again on Monday 14th October. There is no staff development day in Term 4. Staff and students all return on Monday 14th October 2019.

Class Awards (Week 8) KB Charlee Bell Mitchell Andrews Isabella Guiren

Misty Watt (E) KM Tyson Gorton Rosemary Knudsen Lucas Dickson

Kyiesha Oestmann (E) 1/2S Sahara-Roze Genoli Chloe Sabanal Amelia Gruisinga

Connor Forbes (E) 1/2C Xander Galvin Reanna Gorton Dean Griffin

Layla Henrickson (E) 1/2G Paddy Doolan Pharaoh Genoli River Cowley

Trey Oestmann (E)

Sporting Schools Update Our Term 3 Sporting Schools program will finish this Thursday 19 September. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the students who attended a Sporting Schools session this term. It has been a pleasure teaching the students about football and volleyball and we hope they have enjoyed it as much as we have. Unfortunately, there won’t be a Sporting Schools program in Term 4. See you in 2020! GPS Sporting Schools Team Eve Green, Mel Seale, Susie McLeod & Emily Bosworth

Australian Reading Hour This Thursday, the students at GPS will be participating in the Australian Reading Hour when, at some stage in the day, each class will dedicate time solely to the enjoyment of reading. The aim of the Australian Reading Hour is to remind both adults and children of the advantages of reading. We all know about the enormous benefits of children reading and being read to, but it’s also a reminder to adults to find the time to read more. In adults, reading has been shown to reduce stress by 68% more than listening to music, going for a walk, or having a cup of tea! Join us on Thursday and give yourself permission to pick up a book for an hour!

Stage 1 Australian Reptile Park Excursion Friday 20th September

Three sleeps away until we board the bus for our trip down to the Australian Reptile Park. We are asking all students to meet in the hall at 6.45am for final instructions and roll call. The buses will leave at 7.00am sharp. We plan to return to GPS at approximately 5.00pm. Full school uniform to be worn. Students need to bring their recess, lunch, afternoon tea and water bottle in their normal school bag. Thank you to all parents / carers who have returned permission notes and money. Stage 1 Teachers

3-6 Assembly

Friday, 20th September

2.15pm

Hosts = 5/6C

Premier’s Spelling Bee Regional Final Gloucester Public School was recently represented at the regional finals of the Premier’s Spelling Bee by Cody Sparke, Ruby Bradbury, Olive Kelly and Nylah Wisely. Spelling bees are a tricky business with much depending on the word that is randomly chosen for you, hearing the pronunciation correctly and whether it’s a word that is familiar to you. Added to that, is the fact that you’re standing on stage in front of a room full of total strangers - nerve wracking to say the least! While none of our school representatives were successful in making it to the state finals, they were all highly successful in doing themselves and their school proud. Well done! SWAP IT Lunchbox Program

The Good for Kids team was back in our school today to collect data as part of the SWAP IT program and its evaluation. The team consisted of four people: Rebecca Muddle, Benjamin Elton, Leena Stewart and Samantha Wells.

In the morning session, the researchers attended each classroom for approximately 15 minutes to take photographs of consenting students’ lunchboxes before any meal breaks. The students were asked to get their lunchboxes from their bags and lay them out on the table for the photo. In the middle session, the consenting Years 5 & 6 students completed a survey. The research team was available to answer any questions that the students had while they were completing the survey. In the afternoon session, the researchers returned to KB, 1/2S, 1/2C, 3/4G, 3/4L, 5/6T and 5/6C to take some post consumption photos of consenting students’ lunchboxes. The students were asked to keep any untouched or partly eaten foods and not to throw anything out. Good For Kids researchers provided small plastic bags for students to put food into so that their lunchboxes didn’t get messy. We would like to thank the Good For Kids team for coming to our school and the students for participating in this activity. We look forward to hearing about the results of the data collection and learning about strategies and resources that will help us to promote healthy eating within our school and our community. Melissa Seale PE & RFF Teacher

** ATTENTION SCHOOLS SPECTACULAR PARENTS & CARERS **

Exciting news!! I have received the teaching tracks and song lyrics a little earlier than expected and am very keen to get it to our Spec students. I need all the students to bring in a labelled USB no later than Thursday and I plan to send home the teaching tracks and song lyrics by this Friday. Susie McLeod School Spec Coordinator Windstars at the Spring Fair This Saturday, some of our fabulous Windstars members are performing at the Anglican Church Spring Fair. Our Windstars group has grown this year to 31 students and they are making a fabulous sound! Keep up the great practice everyone, especially over the holidays. Don’t forget to name your instrument, the case and your folder if you haven’t done so already. For those performing on Saturday at the fair, be prepared for a few extra rehearsals this week by keeping your instrument and music in your bag or classroom. Sarah Soupidis Thank you to Gloucester Public School for the lovely warm welcome for my first week! Due to supply issues, we will now be stocking Four n Twenty junior pies with a 4-star health rating. No price change will occur. Suzie Dark, Canteen Manager School Banking Thank you for all the support in Term 3. This week see you on Thursday in the library from 8.30am. Please note that in Week 10, Thursday 26th September, there will be no school banking. Please enjoy your holidays and see you all back in Term 4. Jane Richardson, Julie Clarke & Therese Cameron School Banking Coordinators

FOUND – Child’s reading glasses (can be collected from the office).

From the Canteen

GHS Transition BBQ and Information Evening

It was a great turnout last Monday evening for our Year 6 students and their parents, being welcomed at Gloucester High School by many of the staff. The evening began with an informal chat over a sausage

sandwich and a game of handball for the students, followed by a tour of the school for parents by Mr Mik Wisely, Deputy Principal. Everyone then moved into the hall, formally meeting a number of the head teachers and key personnel who will be integral in the transition of our students into Year 7 in 2020. More information will be out early in Term 4 regarding the next phase of transition events for your child’s exciting move to Year 7. Many thanks to Ms Edman, Mr Wisely and their staff for their wonderful hospitality.

GHS Tri Challenge set to be an adventure for Year 6 students

Eight teams of three will be braving the

GHS Tri Challenge event on the last day of this term, the largest squad of GPS students to take on the gruelling three-

leg event. Consisting of a 10km bike, 4km kayak and 4 km run, our teams have been (hopefully) training hard for the challenge. Our kayakers headed off on Friday down the Barrington River with our very own super-paddler Miss Goodwin to complete their mandatory practical training course with Barrington Outdoor Adventure Centre (BOAC). They are also required to complete a swim assessment and final briefing next week. Bike riders are reminded to bring in their bikes and helmets for assessment tomorrow morning with Mr Rob Seale heading down for the formal safety and roadworthiness inspection.

In the meantime, keep training hard. There will certainly be some competition across the teams this year!

Boys’ Cricket Team Update We’ve recently been advised that we are to face off against New Lambton PS in Round 5 of the PSSA competition. This match will be in Newcastle and the boys have begun training again for the much anticipated game. With the recent retaining of the Ashes, the boys are keen to continue our winning streak away. The game is scheduled for the first Thursday back in Term 4 (17 October). Best of luck boys! September 11 War On Terror Service Our school leaders, Ruby, Sam, Harvey and Mia, headed to the clock tower memorial last Wednesday to commemorate the lives of those servicemen and women who have sacrificed their lives in the fight against terror since the attacks on the World Trade Towers back in 2001. They joined a relatively small group of people who came to mark their respects and to lay floral tributes in memory of the names read out on the honour roll that day. They did a fantastic job, as always, in acting on behalf of our school at this special community event.

Year 6 Farewell Meeting for Year 5 Parents/Carers While we did have a few people send in apologies last time, we had only a few parents come for the Year 6 Farewell Committee Meeting in

Week 7. Please, we need more help! Remember, many hands make light work and we can’t run such special events without the support of our school families and community. After all, it will be your child’s special night next year that someone else will be organising for them! Our next meeting is next Tuesday 24 September at 3.05pm in Mrs Bosworth’s room, closest to the hall. We’d love to see you there!

Rod Maggs Assistant Principal – Stage 3

STAGE 3 NEWS

GLOUCESTER PUBLIC SCHOOL P&C ASSOCIATION GENERAL MEETING HELD 26th August 2019

Meeting opened 7.04 pm Attendance: As per attendance book Minutes: Minutes from previous meeting read. Moved to be correct. Moved: Erin Seconded: Robyn Business arising: • Sound system- Installed

• My Community project grant (playground equipment)- 15th Sept outcomes to be advised

• Awaiting quotes for sandpit covers

• Stronger Country Communities Fund (playground equipment)- application process started

Moved: Ruth Seconded: Katherine Correspondence: see correspondence book. Moved: Robyn Seconded: Sally Uniform Shop: • Uniform stock ordered Moved: Leanne K Seconded: Robyn Fundraising: • Firewood Raffle 19/8/19- won by Chloe Doolan • Father’s Day stall 29/8/19- this week. Volunteers have been arranged for the day. • Grandparents Day- a great day experienced. Lots of grandparents in attendance. Many donations of cakes received. Moved: Nicole Seconded: Katharine Treasurer’s Report: see attached report Moved: Robyn Seconded: Erica Canteen Report: see attached report • Midcoast Council report review • Canteen Manager selection process underway. Moved: Ruth Seconded: Robyn Principals Report: see attached report General Business: • Promote Cookbook in school newsletter. Kindy student/families and new students and their families

may not know what the cookbook is about and that it is for sale. • P&C Code of Conduct read and reviewed. To be reviewed at 2020 AGM. Moved: Sally Seconded: Tonia Meeting closed at 8.32 pm Next General Meeting to be held 23rd September 2019 at 7.00pm in the library.