PRINCIPAL’S REPORT Welcome to Week 2 of Term 4.

It promises to be a quiet week as the

rowdy Stage 2 kids head down to Phillip

Island for their two night excursion. This

trip away is always lots of fun and I am

sure that we will have lots of stories upon

our return. Stage 2 parents can keep up

to date with home arrival times through

the school sign, skoolbag, our website and

facebook. Of course, I will be in contact

with the school each day so a quick phone

call to the office will also help out.

CATTLE DADS

Our calf fattening fundraising is off and

running. Thanks to David Marsden and

John Montgomery for all of their help and

insights last term. We have three calves

being fed by John Montgomery, two of

them were donated by the Montgomery

family and one by the McGrath family. We

also have two calves being reared by the

Alexander family. Once the hand feeding

finishes in January we will be moving them

on to pastures on one or two other

properties. They will be ready for sale in

12 to 18 months.

It has been a slow process getting this

fundraising program up and running but

with some wonderful school community

support we look to be in business. The

most likely model appears to be families

donating and rearing a calf to paddock

stage, at which time other families will

take them on and finish them off in their

paddocks. Should you be in a position to

help out with this wonderful fundraising

idea then please contact me, at school,

later in the week. We need all the help we

can get and this is a great way for busy

families to support their school.

The program is going to be a little more

than just fundraising. Students will be

able to track the growth of our calves,

visit them on site and have a multitude of

real life numeracy and literacy activities

linked to the program. I am looking

forward to seeing this program grow and

become an integral part of our school

moving forward.

PROUD AND DEADLY AWARDS

Last week I mentioned the Proud and

Deadly Awards. The date has been

changed to Wednesday, 5th December at

11.00am at the Deniliquin RSL. All

information will be on our school website,

skoolbag and facebook.

2013 NATIONAL FUNDING

At some time during the next three weeks

our school will receive its National

Funding for 2013. This is an extension of

our involvement, as one of only 47 schools,

in the Schools Pilot Program and a very

exciting time. Instead of staffing

numbers we will receive a staffing value.

This will be integral in ensuring that we

can maintain our smaller classes and high

quality teachers. Our participation in this

program will have these two goals clearly

highlighted as they are something our

FINLEY PUBLIC

SCHOOL

Telephone: (03) 5883 1135

Fax: (03) 5883 2397

Email: finley-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

15 October, 2012

Week 2, Term 4

DIARY DATES

**OCTOBER**

Monday 15 –

Wednesday 17

*Stage 2 Phillip

Island Excursion

Friday 26

*11.30-3.00

Jumpstart

*Spring Round

Robin - Tocumwal

**NOVEMBER**

Friday 2

*11.30-3.00

Jumpstart

*4-3T Assembly

Friday 9

*11.30-3.00

Jumpstart

*Remembrance Day

ceremony

*2-1T and 6-5E

Assembly

**DECEMBER**

Tuesday 11

*Presentation Day

parents, staff and students all indicate as highly

important to the continued development of our school

as a high quality educational institution. In conjunction

with our infrastructure plan, we will also be

implementing two whole school curriculum focus areas

based on whole school NAPLAN analysis and teacher

data. These two areas will be comprehension and

spelling. The initiatives will involve some intensive

teacher training and the development/refinement of

our current whole school comprehension and spelling

strategies. Exciting times are ahead!

NAPLAN

Our NAPLAN results have been sent home to parents

and there were no real surprises. I have had the

chance to do a little more investigation into the

statistics of our school, with some pleasing results.

The most important thing is the consideration of each

child’s individual scores and how we can address issues

that are directly impacting on their achievement of

outcomes.

In the Year 5 section we have the added value of

being able to track a student’s improvement from

Year 3. If we remove the scores of six students who

are on special programs then our school average moves

above the regional average in all areas, above the

state average in three areas and very close to the

state average in all others. If we consider ‘value

added’ or rate of improvement for those students on

special programs, then our school average is higher

than both the regional and state average rate of

improvement. In short, we are making a difference to

the outcome attainment of these students. They are

learning faster than their peers across the state. I

would like us to be making even more of a difference

for all of our students and it will be to this end that

we modify programs and implement new whole school

programs for the next three to five years.

Year 3 students, as a whole, performed below the

state and regional average. Kim Roebuck has

identified a group of eight students who will be

provided with individually targeted programs that will

address their current level of outcome achievement

and set in place plans to ensure rapid improvements in

these areas. On average, the top 70% of Year 3

students are performing above the regional average in

all areas and around the state average. Please feel

free to call in for a chat should you have any questions

about NAPLAN and how we will use the data, as a

school, to ensure improved outcome attainment for all

students in our care.

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT

As part of our school improvement cycle it is

important that we access the views of all stake

holders. We have completed and collated the parent

survey this year with some pleasing results and clear

directions. Staff have now had the opportunity (as did

parents in the survey) to anonymously comment on the

strengths and weaknesses of my leadership. These

results will factor into the areas of my development

over the coming years. We are still to survey the

staff and students in regards to our school, it’s

strengths, and areas that need to be looked at. This

will complete the cycle of data collection and begin

the process of school plan evaluations and new

directions. I will be discussing these procedures at

the next P&C for anyone interested in learning more

about the process.

JUMPSTART

Our Jumpstart program is getting very close indeed.

Please be proactive within our community and

encourage all families to send their children along for

a look, should they be considering kindergarten for

2013. As members of our wider school community you

have a real role to play in promoting and

recommending our school. Your comments and

recommendations are extremely powerful in regards

to potential families and, based on the fact that our

enrolments have steadily increased over the past five

years, you are doing a super job!

We will be doing everything in our power to ensure

that our kindergarten class sizes remain below 15 and

we have an extraordinary Kindy team in place. This

year sets a wonderful example, yet again, with 45

students making wonderful progress. The state

expects students to be reading at Level 6 when they

leave kindergarten. We have set our goal at Level 10.

At this stage all but five students will meet or exceed

this goal. A truly incredible result and testament to

the skills of our Kindy team. This trend is continuing

into Stage 1.

We have one more intake for our Reading Recovery

program. Students accessing this program usually do

so from a Level 1 or 2 in most schools. Our latest

students will be entering the program from a Level 12

or higher! Even the district Reading Recovery

coordinators are astounded at this level of skill.

We look forward to greeting the Jumpstarters for

their first session at 11.30am on Friday 26th October.

Have a great week. Should you have any issues that

cannot wait until Thursday then please see Amanda

Lyons. I will be in contact with the school each day.

Simply let the office know if you would like me to give

you a ring.

Todd Potter

Principal

Happy Birthday!

Dekota Shumack KA 28 September

Dekota had her birthday in the holidays!

Lilly O’Hehir 2-1A 8 October

Emma Griffiths 2-1S 8 October

Sophie Griffiths 2-1T 8 October

Cooper Burke 4-3T 9 October

Joc Brain 2-1T 12 October

Amy Ventrella 2-1A 14 October

Jalen Ogilvie 4-3H 17 October

Charlotte Hurlston KA 18 October

Caitlin Griffiths 2-1S 18 October

Kim Montgomery 6-5B 19 October

Jack Ogilvie 2-1S 20 October

Happy Birthday!

Birthday calls are announced each morning at

7.45am on Deniliquin Radio 1521QN and on

Classic Rock 102.5 at 6.55 am and 8.25am.

Phillip Island Excursion

Parents please be sure to check facebook,

skoolbag and our website for expected time of

arrival home from Phillip Island.

WANTED

Plastic jars or small plastic containers and

used wrapping paper for our mystery jar

stall at the fete.

Please send in to Mrs Taig.

Canteen Thursday 18 Tanya Clarke

Friday 19 Kelly Taylor

Thursday 25 Melissa Miaoudis

Friday 26 Sophia Ingram

Wednesday Meal Deal

Sausage roll and sauce

Big M

Icy Bite $5.00

Great Wall of Dairy Specials

Available recess and lunch this Wednesday

Yoghurt fruit cups $1.00

Cheesy muffins $1.00

Choc or strawberry milkshakes $2.50

Glenda Rogers

Canteen Supervisor

LIBRARY NEWS

Thank you to everyone who supported the

Book Fair last term.

Special thanks to the Marsden, Twemlow and

Anderson families who bought and donated

books to their child’s class. Thankyou also to

the Collier and Potter families for their

donations of books to the library earlier in the

year.

These donations are very much appreciated.

Week 10, Term 3 Achievement Awards KA KL KS

Eloise Warenycia Erica Nicholls Claire Ingram

Kohan Joseph Nicholas Taylor Sophie O’Donnell

Josie Coombs Sophia Flack Destanee Miaoudis

2-1A 2-1S 2-1T

Lenny Dattoli Lachlan Twemlow Isabella Kelly

Johnothan Barker Jack Ogilvie Mackenzie Watson

Jacob Orro Tyrell Nona Joc Brain

4-3H 4-3T

Nick Gray Courtney Cook

Talon Cardwell Jake Boyd

Savannah Wilson Shakaya Graham

Billie Matheson

6-5B 6-5D 6-5E

Eliza Loy Everyone in the class! Jeremy Gastin

Eliza Lucas Josh Ventrella

Regan Cole Johanna Tessier

LIBRARY AWARD

Week 10

KA With 100%

borrowing!

4-3H With 95%

6-5B With 94.1%

Well done to these

classes!

Week 1, Term 4 Achievement Awards KA KL KS

Charlotte Hurlston Katie John Sophie O’Donnell

Daisy Daniel Jasmine Burke Claire Ingram

Jessica Andrews Nicholas Taylor Jordan Sykes

2-1A 2-1S 2-1T

James Partridge Hayden Knowles Levi Webster

Lucy-Jayne Burdon Zac Bartlett Isabella Kelly

Olivia Cicolini Elizabeth Lee Stephanie Bramley

4-3H 4-3T

Kinglsey Ford-Jenkins Jessica Bovell

Bree Knowles Saxon Burdon

Taylon Cardwell Logan Shumack-Bell

Jai Taylor Samantha Stokes

6-5B 6-5D 6-5E

Zoe Chellew Cody Lee Kattarina White

Dylan Sibraa Simi Naicori Kiarni Jones

Dan O’Bryan Grace Turley Lauren Steel

LIBRARY AWARD

Week 1, Term 4

KA - 100%

6-5B – 100%

Well done to these

two classes, again!

FINLEY JUNIOR TENNIS

COMPETITION

Who: Primary and secondary school

students

When: Tuesday afternoons in term 4

Where: Finley Tennis Courts

Contact Tanya Clarke 5883 1686 or

Cherilyn Taig 5883 2010 to register.

TERM 4 CLASSES WITH KAT

Mondays 5.00pm Dynamic Core

5.30pm Healthy Eating/Weight

Loss Challenge (includes daily

support)

5.45pm Yoga

5 weeks prepaid $75 for one class or $100

for all three programs.

$18 for a casual visit.

Classes are held at Finley Public School.

Please contact Kat on 0428 861819 to secure

your place.

Monster PWA Street Stall

Wednesday 24th Ocotober, 9.00am start.

Proceeds to support FHS Chaplain Josh Renn.

Donations of saleable goods gratefully received on

the day.

For more details contact R Lockhart 5883 2249.

TENNIS COACHING

Coaching with Peter Morgan is available on

Thursday afternoons from 3.30pm.

Lessons go for 45 minutes and cost $8.00

per lesson. All levels welcome.

Please contact Tanya Clarke on 5883 1868

for more information.

COMMUNITY NOTICES

ATTENTION MUMS Kate Farrell is a qualified fitness instructor who is

running core strength and fitness classes for mums

with little ones.

When: Wednesdays at 9.30am

Where: Finley Rec Reserve

Cost: $10 per 45 min session

Children play while mum exercises!

Remember to bring a towel and a water bottle.

Please contact Emma Warenycia on 0407 411236

to register your interest.

Subscribe to the Finley Farmer’s Market newsletter and

keep up to date with happenings, recipes, seasonal

produce and much more.

Email finleyfarmersmarket@hotmail.com to be added to

the mailing list.

The November market, on Saturday November 3, is the

Children and Youth market. There will be stalls featuring

items made by children and some great children’s

activities. Come along and have some fun!

The Cupcake Decorating Competition which was to be

held at the October market will now take place at the

November market.