March 28

The Newsletter of Vacy Public School Friendship & Learning

786 Gresford Road, Vacy 2421 Ph: 0249388153 Relieving Principal: Mr David Stone

www.vacy-p.schools.nsw.edu.au Email: vacy-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Term 1 Week 10 Tuesday March 28

Dates for your Diary

March

Thursday 30 Crazy Hair Day & Sausage Sizzle

Need parent volunteers for Sausage

Sizzle CANTEEN CLOSED

April

Saturday 1 P & C Fundraiser Dance

Monday 3 Cross Country

Friday 7 ANZAC Assembly - 9.30am

Easter Assembly - 10.00am

Morning Tea– Then classes resume

Parents welcome to come back for

Easter Scripture Service 12.30pm

Last day Term 1

Stewart House envelopes due back

Monday 24 Staff Development Day

Tuesday 25 ANZAC DAY

Wednesday 26 All students return for Term 2

Newsletter Term 2 Week 10 - Relieving Principal’s Report

Tell Them from Me I am delighted that this term, our school, like many other public schools in the state, will participate in a Department of Education initiative: the Tell Them From Me student feedback survey. The survey measures factors that are known to affect academic achievement and other student outcomes. The focus of the NSW-wide survey is on student wellbeing, engagement and effective teaching practices. More information about the survey is available at: http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au The survey is a great opportunity for our students to provide us with valuable and quick feedback on what they think about school life, how engaged they are with school and the different ways that teachers interact with them. Schools in Australia and around the world have used the Tell Them From Me survey to help improve how they do things at school. I want to assure you that the survey is confidential. The survey is conducted online and will typically take less than 30 minutes to complete. It will be administered during school hours during Week 11. Participating in the survey is entirely voluntary. A note and consent form is included with this newsletter and you will also find additional information in the parent FAQ document which can be accessed at: http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au/images/TTFM_Student_Survey_FAQs_Parent_and_Carers_T12017.pdf

Changed your details/Medical Updates Just a reminder that if you have a change in personal details such as address or contact numbers; work, mobile or home, please ensure that you notify our office ASAP. Please note that any change of address details will require proof of address. (Documents such as a rates notice or home-related bills, such as telephone, gas or electricity, including name and address). Also if your child/ren have any changes in medical needs to let us know ASAP as well. Have a great week, regards David Stone (Relieving Principal)

PSSA News The Vacy Public School community would like to extend their congratulations to Jack Magri who was accepted into the PSSA Rugby League team. After a competitive trial, Jack will now be competing as part of the Maitland Regional team. Well done Jack! We look forward to hearing of your triumphs.

March 28

STUDENT OF THE WEEK AWARDS

24.03.2017

K/R Zac Sibley

1/2G Emily Grainger

2/3G Campbell Evans

4/5B Dakota Robertson

5/6F Tia Magri

CLASS AWARDS

Kinder Nicholas O’Rourke for great counting in TENs games.

Year 1 Sonny Thorne for effort in learning “friends of ten”.

Year 2 James Walters for effort with learning to count to 100.

Year 3 Maddie Lean for hard work in Mathletics.

Year 4 Madison for writing a well structured and logical persuasive text.

Year 5 Isabella Grainger for using her time wisely during class.

Year 6 Jessica Johnson for working hard to improve her concentration in all areas.

Canteen Roster Thanks to our volunteers from last week, Anne Lean, Rachel Frank & Penny Evans. We are in desperate need of volunteers for Term 2. If we do not get enough volunteers we will have to close the canteen. I f you can help out please either call the office on 4938 8153 or ring Alyssa Ulrick on 0400440740.

Thursday 30 March Closed due to

Crazy Day

Monday 3 April Tanya Reynolds &

Jillian Reid

Our Easter activities for 2017 will take place on Friday 7th April. We invite parents and friends to join us at our school assembly at 10am in the COLA. We will award our Easter colouring prizes and draw our famous monster Easter raffle. All hot cross bun orders, raffle tickets and Easter egg donations need to be handed into the office by Monday 3rd April. More raffle tickets are available at the office if needed. We are asking for helpers to help wrap our Easter prizes on Tuesday 4th

April in the library. If you can help out please contact Penny Evans. We look forward to seeing you at our Easter celebrations.

4/5B Class Party As we are nearing the end of term it is time to start preparing for our class party. The invited 4/5B class members will be partaking in a PJ party on Thursday 6th June! Students should arrive at school in full school uniform with a normal recess and lunch. They should bring with them comfy pyjamas to change into later on in the day, as well as a pillow and possibly a sleeping bag to lie on. Mrs Babic will provide popcorn and a movie! We're looking forward to a fun afternoon.

Sausage Sizzle Parent volunteers are need on Thursday 30 March. If you are able to help please ring the office on 4938 8153.

March 28

Kindergarten News We have had a very busy couple of weeks. We worked really hard with Mrs Beasley

practising our singing for Harmony Day. In maths we have worked on patterns, coding

and number.

Many thanks to our classroom helpers this term, we hope you can join us next term. Our

groups will restart Week 2 Term 2.

We are all looking forward to our PBL reward day on Wednesday. Students can dress up

as a favourite character or wear casual clothes and we will play “ Pass the Parcel” in the

afternoon.

Congratulations Kindergarten, after only 10 short weeks you have settled into routines,

learnt new rules, made new friends, learnt many new skills for reading and writing and

you have amazed Mrs Grainger and I with your perseverance and big smiles everyday!!!

5/6F Class News Here are a few reminders for all of my students as we finish off this very busy term.

Firstly, projects are due this Friday 31st March. I conferenced with the members of my class a few weeks ago so I am very excited to see some of the information they have researched about Japan and China.

Secondly, we have our rewards afternoon on Monday 3rd April and I am allowing the boys and girls to bring in their own devices for the day so that we can use them as a treat in the afternoon. This is a reward for those who have managed their behaviour well throughout the term. Only games that are school appropriate can be played on that day and all students who bring electronic devices bring them at their own risk. I will do my best to lock our door during the day when we are not in our room but that is all I can promise. School laptops will also be available for use.

Finally, the Year Six students were given their notes regarding their Year Six graduation shirts yesterday. It is not compulsory to purchase one but they are nice to have as a memento. Notes and money need to be back as soon as possible so I can order the shirts ready for use in Term 2.

I would also like to say that this term has been a busy one for our class. They have all settled into the year very well and I am proud of all of their achievements so far this year. Next term is also a busy one with NAPLAN testing taking place in Week 3.

Monday 3/4/17

5/6F Electronics afternoon – Students bring in hand held electronic devices. Lap tops and ipads will be available

Wednesday 5/4/17

Kindergarten Dress up day: dress up as your favourite character or party clothes and we will play pass the parcel in the afternoon. (Please do not bring props such

as swords, guns or the like to school)

Thursday 6/4/17

4/5B PJ – Party – Students bring own pjs to school as well as a pillow or sleeping bag. We will watch a movie and enjoy popcorn.

Wednesday 5/4/17

2/3G and 1/2G

Electronics afternoon – Students bring in hand held electronic devices. Lap tops and ipads will be available

PBL Rewards Day for Term 1

In week 11 this term we will be rewarding students for adhering to school expectations, good manners and following rules.

Each class has discussed and decided on a reward day for their class.

Any student who has received a detention will not be eligible to participate in the day and will have

to do their work in another class.

A detention will be given to any student who does not adhere to school expectations and does not fol-

low school rules. A detention can be given as a consequence of a negative incident or from 3 notifica-

tion slips for class or playground issues. A detention will be given from the Principal and a letter will be

sent home to inform parents.

Each class has talked about school expectations and our Vacy 5 rules.

Please note your child’s reward day and what they will need for the day.

Well done Vacy students!!!!

March 28

An Insight In To the Collaborative Workings of 2/3G

We were discussing the PBL reward day scheduled for Wednesday 5th of April. (Please note, this was originally booked for Thursday). Talk

turned to what electronic items and games students were planning on bringing, so we thought we’d write this down on the Smartboard.

We decided that was a bit untidy and hard to collate all the information, so we created a table.

We thought the table looked much

better than the board but since many of

us are visual learners we thought it would be useful to present the information in a graph. This way

we could easily see which was the most popular activity for the afternoon and Ms Graham could

sort out how many school IPads and laptops we would need.

I think you’ll agree that this was a very productive and practical session.

Thanks Maxwell, Campbell, Harrison and Sam for making our graph. Well done boys.

What are we playing

Ipad 3DS Old phone

Tablet School Ipad

School laptop

Names Sam Harrison Tommy Nellie Henry Maddy Lars Emmaline Eva Deegan

Wil Maxwell

Sam Tommy Maxwell Eva Laura Jasmine Lars

Maxwell Fay Maddy Emma-line Alex

Laura Maddie Eva Sam Campbell Jasmine Tommy

1/2 Class News Next week is our reward day for students who have not had a detention or 3 Loss of Play notifications. We will be having a games afternoon on Wednesday ( 05.04.17). Students who do not meet the criteria for the afternoon will spend the time in another class. Children are welcome to bring in board games or electronic games. If they choose to bring in electronic devices I would ask that they bring them straight to me in the morning for safe keeping until the afternoon.

1/2 have been using Mathletics at school. We are busy practising getting into our student portal and also logging into Mathletics. I will set this as a homework task next term when they have a little more experience with this. The log ins will be sent home glued in the front of their homework books. Thanks for helping your children remember to bring in their homework books on a Friday and their Home Readers on their News day. Please remember that homework is not compulsory and it is up to you how much you do. Also it has been great to see so many children remembering to bring in their library bag to borrow books on a Thursday. The children love going to library and choosing a book to share with you at home.

We have been enjoying our new reading nook area and have included a photo of the students working in this space. If any mums or dads would have any appropriate farm machinery, car, bike or sports magazines that we could include in our reading area please send them in. We also love catalogues especially toy and sporting ones!

All of 1/2 (including Mrs Graham's Year 2) have been busy learning about historical sites in Australia. We have been researching Sydney, Maitland, Newcastle, Tasmania, Uluru, Canberra and Lake Mungo. We have been discussing the type of information we can find about our past from these places. If you know any facts that you can share with your children please do. May provide a nice dinner conversation starter.

Thanks to all parents who were able to make it to our Harmony Day assembly. The children loved sharing their songs with you.

March 28

Dear Parents and Carers,

Here are the current rosters for the Tocal Field days and the Billycart Derby (Gum Boot Toss). Many

thanks to those who have already offered your assistance, it’s greatly appreciated. As you can see, we

need your help to make these events a success. Remember, this is all about raising funds to support

improved learning outcomes for our kids. Please let us know which spot you can fill at

vacypandc@hotmail.com or text to 0411 125677

Kind regards,

Joe Thompson

P&C President

Tocal Field Days Roster

Gresford Billy Cart Derby Roster

Thursday 4th May Coordinator supports set up of craft stalls.

Kristy Grainger

Friday 5th May

8.30 – 11.00 10.45 – 2.15 2.00 - 4.30

Rebecca Sibley

1 more required

Jenny McCosker

Sian Jones

2 required

Saturday 6thth May

8.30 – 11.00 10.45 – 2.15 2.00 - 4.30

2 required 2 required 2 required

Sunday 7th May

8.30 – 11.00 10.45 – 2.15 2.00 - 4.30

Joe Thompson

1 more required

Amy Rowles

1 more required

2 required

FRIDAY APRIL 14th 9.00AM – 12.00PM 3 people required

SATURDAY APRIL 15th

8.00-10.00

Darren Thorne

10.00-12.00

2 required

12.00-2.00

2 required

2.00-3.00 (pack up)

2 required

Presented by: Hunter Drama Holiday Fun

Welcome to the wondrous world of Seuss where all your favourite characters come to life! Guided by The Cat In the Hat, a young boy goes on a fantastical musical adventure!

Starring a host of talented young performers (aged 8-14) this show is bound to be as fun as it is colourful. (Running Time 45 minutes – No Interval)

PRICE: All tickets $24.15 (Book through Civic Theatre or Ticketek.)

Tour Dates:

Ticketek is selling for the following

venues only

Wed 26 Apr

Newcastle Playhouse Theatre, NSW

Thu 27 Apr

Newcastle Playhouse Theatre, NSW

Fri 28 Apr

Newcastle Playhouse Theatre, NSW

March 28

Dear Parents and Carers

Vacy Public School will transition to the new NSW public schools’ finance system and a new bank account on 24

July 2017.

To ensure a smooth transition, there will be changes to the way we accept parent or carer payments.

Direct deposits: As of 30 June 2017, we will no longer accept direct deposits into our current school bank

account as we prepare to close this account and transition to the new one. Any payments made using

direct deposit after this date cannot be properly allocated to a student’s account in a timely manner. Please

ensure you have made any outstanding direct deposits before 30 June 2017.

EFTPOS payments: We will not be accepting EFTPOS payments from 30 June 2017. Please ensure that you

have made any outstanding EFTPOS payments before 30 June 2017.

Cash payments: Between 19 July 2017 and 24 July 2017, we will also not be able to accept payments by

cash as we prepare to close our current bank account and transition to the new one. Please ensure that

you have made any outstanding cash payments before 19 July 2017. From 25 July 2017, cash payments

will be accepted as before.

Payment methods from 25th July will be POP payments(online), cheques and cash only!

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we transition to our new finance system. If you have any

questions, please contact Amanda Buck.

Amanda Buck

Relieving School Admin Officer