Upcoming Events

Tues 2nd May Parent/Teacher Meetings Thurs 4th May Cross Country @ LMPS

Mon 8th May 9:30am-11:00am - PAT Sessions Hub 6:00pm– 7:30pm - Library

Notes sent home this week

Notes Who Received

Cross Country Carnival

Yrs 3-6

Multicultural Public Speaking

Yrs 3-6

All Notes available from the LMPS Website for download.

On ANZAC Day students, parents and teachers attended the march at Doyalson-Wyee RSL. Our school captains, Jordan and Harry laid a wreath on behalf of LMPS at the cenotaph. Yesterday, we had an ANZAC Service at school. Mr Harry Burdon from the sub-branch of Doyalson-Wyee RSL attended the service and shared some of his experiences and wisdom with us all. Thank you very much Mr Burdon for being our special guest. Thanks also to all the parents and guests who attended the service and to those students who brought flowers to lay on our wall of remembrance.

Term 2, Week 1—Thursday 27th April 2017

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Thursday 27th April 2017 Principals Report Welcome Back It was great to see the children back yesterday, refreshed, relaxed and ready for another term of interesting and important learning. I have heard some very interesting tales from the children about their adventures during the two weeks and it was terrific to hear them talk about spending quality time with their families. We are looking forward to providing, yet again, a quality educational experience over the coming term. Staff have also returned refreshed after a very busy term one and are ready to go with their teaching and learning programs. There only staff change has seen Ms Maree Anderson take leave for the impending birth of her child and will remain on leave for the remainder of the year. Ms Dana Dyson-Smith and Ms Rhianna Sheriden will replace her duties in the meantime. ANZAC Day Assembly The ANZAC assembly that we held yesterday morning served to effectively settle the children quickly with them

participating in a most respectful and reverent way as they remembered those who gave great sacrifice for our

country and for our freedoms. As I said in my address to the assembly, I continue to be impressed by the increasing

willingness and desire of young people to genuinely show that they acknowledge and respect the sacrifices of those

brave and courageous men and women who gave up so much. The number of students who not only attended the

Doyalson RSL service but also other services around the Coast is remarkable and, when asked why they go, they

can articulate the right reasons for doing so – not just because Mum and Dad said I have to! With this, we are

certainly in a good place with our students appreciating and understanding why we enjoy the freedoms and the

lifestyle that we do in our great country. I thank Ms Vicich and her team for organising this event – it was a great

occasion.

School Vision and Core Values On last Monday the staff, and quite a number of the classroom connectors, participated in activities to develop a

new vision statement and core school values as part of our School Development Day. We were able to progress

these to a point where we will soon be circulating a draft vision and values statement to our community to seek

further feedback and comment. Please have input when the opportunity arises as this statement needs to reflect the

opinions, ideas and wishes of the whole community, not just a few. I hope that the draft statement will be ready to

send out over the next week. I sincerely thank the ‘Connectors’ for the giving of their time on Monday – their input

was invaluable. (Please see the report on the day from Ms Kim Auld in this newsletter)

Site Improvements Over the holidays, the school was a hive of activity with a number of works being completed to improve the amenity of the site.

1) A new whole school public address system has been installed improving sound quality and increasing the sound range to include the oval area.

2) New seating and benches were installed in the fairy garden area as the first part of the development of our outdoor classroom.

3) New concrete surfaces were installed outside the kindergarten classrooms, replacing the old pavers. 4) New checker plate cladding has been installed on the reticulated doors on the external part of the hall. 5) New ramping and fencing has been installed in the special education classroom area. 6) Tree and offending branches were removed to increase student safety.

There are other works taking place over the coming weeks including erecting new signage and repainting the

playground markings around and underneath the COLA.

Parent Teacher Interviews Remember that further information about your child’s first term progress will be available at the parent teacher

interview afternoon/evening on 2 May. Bookings for these interviews are to be made online at the ‘School

Interviews’ site: www.schoolinterviews.com.au - you must enter the code: v34b5 to find the event. Please be quick

to secure your preferred time.

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NAPLAN 9-11 May 2017 NAPLAN testing will be held during Week 3 for students in Years 3 and 5. All students are enrolled to undertake the tests and hopefully we have had communication with any parent who has concerns about their child ’s participation. Please contact us immediately if you have any questions. Notes will be sent home to families next week detaining the testing schedule and requirements.

Graham Holmes Principal

Quality Workers/High Achievers This Week

The School Development Day – A Parent Perspective On Monday 24th a small number of class room connectors attended the Term 2 School Development Day. The purpose of the day was to commence the new classroom connector program and to work with teaching staff to develop a consensus on the vision and core values of the school. We participated in brain storming activities and provided feedback on many areas of the school. We received a demographic snapshot of our community and it provided an awesome opportunity to connect with the teachers and staff at the school. We discussed the PBL (Positive Behaviour for learning) framework and the positive effects for our kids and the community and started to put together ideas for our schools PBL matrix expectations and guidelines. When we visited our current school mission/vision statement we established a new one was required. We worked collaboratively on ideas and direction for what we thought was important for the school to strive towards. We discussed expectations for the classroom connector program. This program is designed to support the proven research of positive benefits in parental involvement in a child’s education. It is about getting parents connected and being engaged in meaningful ways. We are looking forward to watching this program develop and become established in our school bringing the benefits of the community spirit. It was a great day very full of information and was good to see teachers not having to teach and taking their learning and development seriously. Our school has a fantastic team of educators who truly have the interest of our children’s education as first priority, they were open and welcoming into their workplace and it was a pleasure to be part of it. Regards Kim Auld

Student/s Class Work Sample/s

All students attending the Doyalson RSL service as representatives of our school on Tuesday

K-6

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Counsellor Corner

26.4.2017

The Way Ahead Mental Health Association of NSW is a team of professionals who work hard to promote aware-

ness and a positive support service to the people of the Central Coast. Recently, they ran a free public seminar

on the topic of anxiety. This is timely because anxiety is something we all feel in our lives at some point in time.

At home and at school, small children, for example, often show great distress when separated from their par-

ents. Young students are often frightened of strangers, thunderstorms, or the dark. These are normal and usual-

ly short-lived anxieties. But some students suffer from anxieties severe enough to interfere with the daily activi-

ties of childhood or adolescence. Anxious student may lose friends and be left out of social activities. They may

also experience academic problems and low self-esteem. Because many students with this disorder are quiet

and compliant, the signs are often missed. Teachers and parents should be aware of the signs of a possible

anxiety problem so that appropriate help can be given. Signs of anxiety may present differently in children and

adolescents than in adults. Common signs can include:

• Excessive worry that persists • Restlessness and irritability • Crying or losing temper easily or frequently • Avoidance of enjoyable activities • Disruption to sleep and eating patterns • Truancy or even school refusal • Withdrawal from social, class or school activities

Tiredness and fatigue

Some of the many strategies which can help anxious children and adolescents include the use of positive rein-forcement for their efforts, teaching relaxation techniques and learning to understand their fears and worries through counselling. Parents can talk to their child about any worries they may have; and seek the advice and help of their doctor in cases where anxiety is causing distress over a long period of time. Of course, your School Counsellor is also available to discuss concerns with you and provide support to your child. Ruth Jenkins Senior Psychologist, Education

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Story of War

“BANG! Watch your heads!” Shiny black riffles shot bullets toward us. I smelled the fresh riffle fire in the misty air. The noise overwhelmed me. I stepped down the ladder, which led me to a smaller boat, As we surged through the waves to the beach, the rough sand filled my boots as quickly as a raging waterfall. My feet had so many blisters already they just bled and got worse. As I scaled the sandy cliff, the effort took my breath away from me. I got to my trench and loaded my gun. I was ready to fight. I had to be cautious because at any time a grenade could explode right in front of me. I could not give up; I had to persist! Written by Grace Field 3 /4 Vicich

The Horse Soldier in France “Boom!” The shells explode as I run through the green field in beautiful France. I hear the sound of the soldiers screaming in horror. As the smoke comes closer, I mount my horse in the hope that I will not be shot by the grenades. “What will happen to me?” I thought with panic. Suddenly the smoke is right in front of me, it’s like I’ve been sucked into a tornado as I run up to the poppy field. The red petals on the poppies are like the horror in the soldier’s eyes. As I pick the poppy up to put into my buttonhole it reminds me of trying to save a friend. I taste the souls of dead soldiers. This is war. Written by Chelsea Hoile 3 / 4 Vicich

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MOTHER’S DAY BREAKFAST Our Mother’s Day Breakfast is on again! On Friday 12th May from 7.30am, we will be holding our annual Mother’s Day Breakfast. The breakfast is for all LL’s (Lovely Ladies in our children’s lives).

We will be serving pancakes with maple syrup or jam and cream, thick-cut raisin toast and tea and coffee. There is no need to RSVP, as there will be plenty for everyone. Our Mother’s Day Brekkie is a great way to spend your morning and kick-start your day. Come along and meet some new parents, play with the kids and have a cuppa and a pancake. We very much look forward to seeing you on the day.

Welcome back Ethics families to Term 2.

Classes started back this week and we are back into the swing of things.

It was a great week for me as I had the privilege of taking Mrs Auld’s Stage 3’s and discussing the topic of punishment, where the children enthusiastically shared their thoughts.

My Stage 1’s are really enjoying discussing ‘Being similar and Being different’. Not only do the kids learn but so do I, I didn’t know what a Shrew was until I was enlightened by a Year 2 student!!!

Mrs McKinnon’s Kindergarten class have just finished the Topic ‘Secrets and a big important question’ and are about to start ‘Doing Harm without meaning to’.

Mrs Wright’s Stage 2 class are tackling the important Topic of ‘Is Lying Wrong?’.

A big thank you to all our Ethics teachers who volunteer their time every week to deliver these great informative classes.

Remember if you would like to know what your children are discussing in Ethics classes and help encourage discussion don ’t forget to subscribe to the Primary Ethics at home email which is found under the information for Parents and Carers section on the Primary Ethics website.

Looking forward to another great Term.

Kellie Carroll Ethics Coordinator

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P & C NEWS

Welcome back families to Term 2, looking forward to another fun and busy Term.

The new Committee are settling in and really looking forward to working with the Families and LMPS staff in 2017.

We would like to thank the parents for their contributions/donations to the

Easter Raffle. There were a lot of great prizes.

Thank you to our lovely parent helpers who worked hard to wrap all of the gifts for the day, couldn’t have done it without you.

To Kristy, Trina and all the volunteers who manned the canteen for the Easter Hat parade we heard it was a massive task that ran very smoothly –

thank you thank you thank you. Last but not least a big thanks goes to the teaching staff for organising yet

another amazing Easter Hat Parade.

MOTHER’S DAY

WATCH THIS SPACE FOR UPCOMING DETAILS ON

WHAT’S HAPPENING FOR MOTHERS DAY.

Our next meeting is on 16th May 2017 at 6:30pm in the Staffroom. Topics for discussion

Uniforms

Fathers Day

Year 6 Graduation

Fun Run At P & C meetings, a great variety of school issues are discussed. Meetings provide parents with the opportunity to have their say or just to know the background information on the what, where and why about current and future school matters. Please remember that everyone is welcome at meetings – the more the merrier. If you can’t make it to a meeting but would like to add something to the agenda please email our Secretary Kellie Carroll aljakel@iprimus.com.au or drop it in to the office.

Thank you for supporting your P & C.

All monies raised go towards purchasing resources and equipment

that help and support your children on their educational journey here

at LMPS.

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Community News!

If anyone in the community has any second hand LMPS Winter skirts, if they

could be donated it would be highly appreciated

Thankyou!

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School Diary

Please stick me on your ‘fridge’

TERM 2 May 02 Parent/Teacher Meetings 04 Yrs3-6 Cross Country 08 9:30am-11:00am - PAT Sessions Hub 6:00pm-7:30pm PAT Sessions Library 09 NAPLAN - Language Conventions & Writing 10 NAPLAN - Reading 11 NAPLAN - Numeracy 12 7:30am - Mother’s Day Breakfast 16 6:30pm P&C Meeting

Canteen Volunteers Still Needed Urgently

If you could spare a

couple of hours would be fabulous