30 March 2017

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

April

May

From the Principal

On Thursday, March 16th, our School Association Committee met for the first time this year. Our focus topic was the Fair. Our School Association Committee is an excellent way that the community can support the work of staff, students and parents to help improve outcomes for all our students. We will be having our AGM early in the new term, so look out for calls for nominations. We would welcome any new committee members so, if you are interested in finding out more, please contact the office.

It is pleasing to see so many students in school uniform. Wearing school uniform demonstrates pride in our school, helps everyone feel like they belong and provides an equal level of dress with their clothing. We appreciate the work that goes into ensuring your child is in correct school uniform every school day. Our School Association Committee has a uniform policy, so if you would like to see a copy of this, please contact the office.

Jerome Pape - Principal

Hilly Kids Are Friendly Kids

Our HKFK focus for this week has been “Being Punctual”.

Next week’s focus topic will be “Listening” and the week after will be “Being Helpful/Give Way”.

Listening

Listening is a very important social skill to develop as it allows us access to learning, recalling information, shows we care about others, models good conversational skills and allows us to interact in social situations. The intent of the speaker is clearly understood.

Part of being interesting is showing interest in what others have to say. You show interest and courtesy mainly by listening and asking good questions.

It is important that the listener does things to show they were listening and what was said is seen as valuable. Good listeners ask questions that allow for an interesting answer. For example a good question might be “What did you do on the weekend?” A question like this allows for an interesting answer.

Being Helpful

Almost every day at school there are ways to be helpful. In the classroom we can help our friends and our teachers. Outside in the playground we can help children from other classrooms and especially some of the younger children at our school.

There are all sorts of ways to help others at our school;

• you can help people carry things,
• help people pack up,
• help others get equipment,
• help them find things.

You can help your teacher by keeping your locker and room tidy, by being on time and by listening carefully. And of course there are plenty of things you can do to help at home as well.

See if you can think of something useful to do at home that will help Mum and Dad this week.

Good luck and good helping!

Give Way

With our school getting bigger and busier we really must practise the skill to give way. Giving way at school is very much like giving way on the roads. We wait first and then allow others to pass before we go.

We need to give way to people coming out of doorways. Step back, perhaps even hold the door open for them. Be sensible though. If someone is carrying something heavy, let them pass.

In the playground giving way might mean letting some children continue their game, or retrieving their ball before you move into an area or play your game.

Our Hilly Kid of the Week for “What is Bullying?” week was Ruby Kaye from P-1P and for “Speaking Nicely” week was Noah Purton from 5-6H. Congratulations, Ruby and Noah!

Well done to our other class representatives:

NWPSSA Athletics

Congratulations to the students who represented our school at the NWPSSA Twilight Athletic Carnival last week. It was a wonderful effort by all the runners to perform so well. Congratulations to our two students who received Coastal Champions ribbons: Jonty Lunson who came second in the grade 5 boys 75m race and Gemma Last who came third in the grade 4 girls 75m race.

David Carter – PE Teacher

Easter Raffle

Raffle ticket books were sent home with students last week. Please sell them to family & friends and return the books with the money in a sealed envelope to the school office by Friday, April 7th. The raffle will be drawn on Monday, April 10th. Please be mindful of the laws regarding children door knocking to sell raffle tickets: they MUST be accompanied by an adult. There are plenty of extra books in the school office.

A big thankyou to Mrs Kelly’s mother-in-law, Mrs Mavis Kelly, for making and donating first prize.

Lyn Aherne – Fundraising

Mothers’ Day Stall

As Mothers’ Day will be in the second week of Term 2 this year, our Mothers’ Day stall will be held on Tuesday, May 9th. This makes our collecting of donated items for the stall a little complicated this year! We will put collection boxes in the classrooms next week for the week leading up to the holidays.

The purpose of the stall is to give each child an opportunity to buy a small gift for their mother for Mothers’ Day. It is also a School Association fundraising event.

Parents are asked to buy or make a small gift to the value of $3 and send it to school by Monday, May 8th. Your child will put the present in a box in the classroom and tick their name on the list on the box. Every child who donates to the stall will go into the draw to win a gift hamper donated by Top to Toe Beauty Solutions to give to mum.

PLEASE DO NOT WRAP GIFTS.

On the day of stall please send your child to school with $3 to purchase a gift for Mum. If you do not want your child to participate, please tell him/her beforehand.

Donations of second-hand wrapping paper are also needed. Wrapping paper is given out to children to wrap their own present. Gift ideas include garden gloves, face washers, soap, socks, chocolates, garden items, stationery, coffee mugs etc.

Offers of assistance to help run the stall on Tuesday, May 9th, 9-10.30am would be most welcome. Please leave your name at the school office.

Lyn Aherne – Fundraising

5-6F

Grade 6 Camp Clayton Leadership Day

Last Wednesday our grade 6 students went to Camp Clayton to participate in a leadership day. The aim of the day was to learn about some of the qualities that leaders have, some of the challenges that leaders face and learn that we can all be leaders in our own way. Some activities we had were:

The Giant Swing, The Maze, The Seesaw, The Wall, The Log, The Tight Rope and The Island Hop.

We took lots of photos and videos so you can see some of the things we did.

Here's what some of our grade 6 students had to say about the day:

Toby: “My favourite part about the day was when I went upside down on the giant swing and went all the way to the top.”

Jorja: “It was an amazing day. My favourite part about Camp Clayton was the giant swing.”

Emily: “My favourite part of Camp Clayton was the giant swing. My second favourite was the maze. It was fun.”

Tyler: “It was the best day that I had ever had at Camp Clayton. I loved the giant swing and the maze. I really loved it.”

Jye: “It was amazing. My favourite part of the day was the maze because we had to blindfold our team mate then give them directions and then we had a race through the maze. Toby fell over twice.”

Samantha: “I really enjoyed going to Camp Clayton with my class. I was challenged by the giant swing and when we had to work as a team and try to climb the wall. I had fun on the trampoline.”

Jacob: “I really liked Camp Clayton. My favourite part was the challenge course because we had to work as a team and do lots of cooperating.”

Elizabeth: “It was a really fun day. We all had a turn on the giant swing and did our best. We had a go in the trampoline and everyone showed off their trick that they could do.”

Chloe: “It was fun.”

Zoe: “I had a really fun day at Camp Clayton. My two favourite things were the giant swing and the challenge course.”

Tuckerbox Tips

Lunchboxes for Less

Packing a healthy lunchbox for school doesn’t need to be expensive. Try these tips:

• Buy fruit and vegetables in season for the best value for money
• Buy in bulk - tinned fruit, dried fruit, yoghurt and crackers are cheaper if you buy them in bulk, rather than single serve portions. Simply put the amount your child will eat into re-useable plastic containers
• Keep ‘occasional’ foods, such as muesli bars, biscuits, chips and chocolate to a minimum. These foods are expensive. For example: apples in season cost about $4 per kilo whereas fruit straps cost about $35 per kilo.

Lyn Aherne - Canteen Supervisor

Move Well Eat Well

Making better takeaway choices

Takeaway food can cost a lot and is often high in fat and salt and low in fibre and vitamins. Having takeaway food sometimes is ok but try to buy healthier choices.

• Pizza - have more vegetable toppings, eg pineapple, capsicum, mushroom & tomato
• Sandwiches - choose salad sandwiches & rolls with ham, roast beef, chicken, egg or cheese. Try different types of bread, eg mountain bread, grain, wholemeal, bagels, etc.
• Chicken - choose bbq chicken, remove the skin and have it with bread & salad instead of chips
• Fish - have grilled fish with rice, bread & salad rather than chips
• Italian - choose tomato-based dishes. Try ones with different ingredients & a variety of vegetables
• Hot potatoes - try vegetable toppings such as beans & salads. Limit sour cream, cheese, butter & bacon.

MWEW Team

Riverbend Kids Camps April 2017

Riverbend holds camps every school holidays, packed full with exciting activities, encouraging studies, action packed games and all sorts of fun. Get your application in fast as spaces are limited.

Contacts: 6452 1635 OR admin@riverbend.org.au OR the link below: