N E W S L E T T E R D A T E

Gundaroo Public School

Week 7, Term 2, 2016

Dear Parents,

We regularly make mention of how busy we are from week to week, and term to term, but rarely do we sit back and take stock of just how much we have achieved. Late last year I invited all parents and teachers to provide their feedback on a range of aspects related to school life. These included student wellbeing, teaching and learning, administration, resources and facilities and community partnerships. While it was not recorded who had responded, we did have 52 responses which indicated close to 100% of families provided their input; a fantastic result. From this qualitative data, the teachers have spent many hours reading, reflecting and putting into place a plan to improve on these facets of school life as a response. It has been a task that has taken much longer than anticipated, however one which has been invaluable. Attached to this week’s newsletter and at the P&C meeting tonight, I will share the results of this feedback, which complements our revised 2015-2018 School Plan, that identifies the improvement measures which will take place over the coming 12 months. The school staff have been working incredibly hard over the previous term and half, beginning to implement much of what had been outlined as needing improvement. It is only when you take the time to tick off the milestones, that you realise how much has actually been achieved in such a short space of time. As an example, we have: Refreshed the newsletter format and increased online presence including

the school website, facebook and twitter Increased opportunities for students outside the classroom – Tennis, and

next term Basketball, Da Vinci Decathlon, Chess Club, Lego Robotics Revised our communication with parents and conducted three-way

interviews in Term 1, term notes and a new reporting format Refreshed the Administration block, including paint, new blinds and a new

colour photocopier, and Revised, communicated and implemented the School’s Discipline policy These changes are all part of our effort to improve our day-to-day operations, and we will continue to work towards implementing further priorities throughout the year and beyond. We will have another consultation process later in the year, however as always, welcome any feedback that you may have. Have a great week,

Nigel Trethowan.

02 62368115 gundaroo-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au www.gundaroo-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

I like to play

games inside on a

rainy day.

Freya, K/1

7.6.16

P&C Meeting

All Welcome

7pm

9.6.16

Tennis

K-6

10.6.16

Athletics Carnival

CANCELLED

13.6.16

Queen’s Birthday

Public Holiday

14.6.16

ICAS

Writing

What’s Inside:

Athletics

Carnival

Premier’s

Sporting

Challenge

Election Day

Cake Stall

I I like to sit inside

and play video

games on a rainy

day.

Sam, 1/2

I like to talk to my

friends on a rainy

day.

Dekoda, 3/4

I like to play video

games on a rainy

day.

Tom, 5/6

Regional Cross Country Well done to Tom W who

represented Gundaroo

and the Queanbeyan

District at the South

Coast/Illawarra Regional

Cross Country last

Friday. Tom came 59th

out of 79 runners in wet,

sandy and soggy conditions. Well done!

NSW Premier’s Spelling Bee

Notes went home last week for the NSW

Premier’s Spelling Bee. Please check with

your child if they are interested in

participating and if so, return the note to

Mrs B Harris.

Once registered, students

will receive a password to

access and download the

spelling lists.

Election Day Cake Stall On 2 July 2016, the Gundaroo School P&C is running a Federal election cake stall at the School.

Between 8am to 2pm, we will be serving coffee and cake on the day. In addition, we will be selling 150th

memorabilia, whole cakes (to take away) and homemade goods (e.g. plum jam or tomato chutney) and fresh produce from the garden (e.g. fruit, vegetables, eggs, bunches of herbs or flowers, plant seedlings).

Donations of cakes, plants, craft, home-made and grown product or other items will be gratefully received.

The Scouts will also be running a sausage sizzle on the day.

If you have any questions or you wish to make a donation, please contact Maxine Webber.

Mobile 0428368477

Last Wednesday, 3/4 walked to the Gundaroo Oval, to

look at the playground equipment as students are

designing their own playgrounds to suit Gundaroo.

We had a lovely time exploring the playground equip-

ment, and got lots of ideas for our own designs which

we will share over the coming weeks.

3/4 Playground Walk

The Premier’s Sporting Challenge has

begun! Remember to work with your

child to record their physical activity in

their activity log (we have attached a

printable booklet if you have lost it).

So far…

K-2 are on track for a gold award

1/2 are on track for a gold award

3/4 are on track for no award

5/6 are on track for a bronze award

A Crunch & Sip tip!

Blueberries are little super fruit bombs of juiciness. They are rich in

antioxidants and their benefits are said to outweigh all other berries combined! Kids love ‘em, so why not pack some

for Crunch & Sip?

Athletics Carnival Given the recent wet weather, and predicted rain for the remainder of the week, we have made the decision to cancel our Athletics Carnival for this year. Unfortunately with the timing of the District Athletics Carnival being earlier, we are unable to reschedule at this point.

We will be squeezing in our running and field events during class time when we can. We apologise for any inconvenience, and are looking forward to having an Olympics Day next term, hopefully on dry ground!

Talking Tickets

“The way to be happy is to make others

so.”

Da Vinci Decathlon

Well done to our Da Vinci Decathlon team! Of

35 teams from across Canberra and NSW

surrounds, we managed an incredible 4th in

Science and 5th in Engineering! A fantastic

result for our first attempt. Most importantly of

all, the students had a fantastic time and can

not wait until next year!

“I thought it would be scary but it was so

much fun. We went to Lake Burley griffin

and went for a walk to the sculpture

garden. We saw the mirror diamonds. I

thought it was really fun overall.”

Ella

“Last week on Thursday the school partici-

pated in the Choral Festival. We sang

“Royals” by Lorde and “You’re my best

friend” by Queen. For the massed item we

sang “One call away” by Charlie Puth and

‘Beauty and the Beast”. It was so much

fun!”

Greta

Gundaroo Public School Term 2 Calendar

WEEK MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN

Apr/May

1

25

ANZAC DAY

26

SDD

27

Students return

28

29 30 1

May

2

2 3

P&C Meeting 7pm

4

District X-Country

Sutton

5

Tennis

6

Assembly (K/1) 2:20pm

7 8

May

3

9

10

NAPLAN – Writing,

Language Conventions

11

NAPLAN - Reading

12

NAPLAN – Writing

(No Tennis)

13

14 15

May

4

16

9am - Year 2 Speeches

Musica Viva

$8.00

17

9am - Year 1 Speeches

ICAS – Digital Technologies

18 19

9am - K Speeches

Tennis

20

9am - Year 4 Speeches

Assembly (1/2) 2:20pm

21 22

May

5

23

9am – Year 5 Speeches

Band Camp

24

9am – Year 6 Speeches

Band Camp

25 26

9am – Year 3 Speeches

Tennis

27

2pm - School Rostrum

28 29

May/Jun

6

30

Reconciliation Week Activities

31

ICAS - Science

1

Da Vinci Decathlon

2

Choral Festival

3

Regional X-Country

Assembly (3/4) 2:20pm

4 5

June

7

6

7

P&C Meeting

7pm

8

9

Tennis

10

Athletics Carnival

CANCELLED

11

12

June

8

13

Queen’s Birthday

14

ICAS Writing

15

ICAS Spelling

16

17

Assembly (5/6) 2:20pm

18

19

June

9

20

Student Robotics

Challenge

21

22 23

District Athletics

Queanbeyan

24

25

26

Jun/Jul

10

27

28

Operation Art Goulburn

29

Operation Art Goulburn

30

Operation Art Goulburn

1

Assembly (K/1) 2:20pm

Reports Home

2

Election Day Cake

Stall

3

Jul

4

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

5

6 7 8 9 10