Welcome Ann!

This week we welcome Ann Harrison to the Deputy Principal of Preschool to Year 2 role. Ann brings a wealth of leadership experience across a number of educational settings. We look forward to Ann becoming apart of the Ngunnawal Primary School community. 

Rostrum School Final

Friday last week, we held our 2024 Rostrum Final. Rostrum is a public speaking competition aimed at building student's confidence and communication skills. This year we had 14 finalists from Years 3 -6. Since the start of term, all students have been writing a speech on one of the possible topics. Students delivered their speeches in class and cohort semi finals to form our 14 finalists.

Each finalist presented their speech to the senior school and families. It was a particularly tight competition with all students delivering highly engaging, entertaining and emotive speeches.  Congratulations to Francesca K (3VK) who was named as the 2024 winner for our school competition and Bernadette C (6NM) as our runner up. Francesca will now go on to speak at the ACT quarter finals and we wish her the best of luck!

We would like to congratulate all our finalists from Friday as well as all students who wrote and delivered a speech in their classes. 

	Student	Year group	Topic
1.	Olivia J	Year 6	How exhausting
2.	Aria	Year 5	Let it snow
3.	Ethan N	Year 4	Think Big
4.	Ruby	Year 3	New Olympic sport
5.	Bernadette	Year 6	Think Big
6.	Nina	Year 5	How exhausting
7.	Xavier B	Year 4	Let it Snow
8.	Francesca	Year 3	Get Involved
9.	Desiree	Year 6	A New Olympic sport
10.	Isabelle R	Year 5	How Exhausting
11.	Allie O	Year 4	Bad Advice
12.	Ethan L	Year 3	New Olympic sport
13.	Viv	Year 5	Bad Advice
14.	Matariki	Year 3	New Olympic sport

Reconciliation Week

Our students have participated in buddy activities to deepen their understanding of Reconciliation Week. Our school will also recognise this week in our whole assembly tomorrow followed by activities for our Preschool students. Reconciliation is about strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, for the benefit of all Australians. At NPS we contribute to strengthening relationships by recognising and respecting the First Peoples of this land, by acknowledging the past injustices, and the ongoing inequalities, experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and we continue to strengthen relationships by coming together and working towards a more equal and respectful future.

Student Leadership Team - Culture

Our student leaders will be coordinating our Reconciliation Week assembly tomorrow. They also led the celebration of World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development on 21 May. This day highlights the richness of the world’s cultures and the essential role of intercultural dialogue for achieving peace and sustainable development. To mark this day, our Cultural Integrity Leadership Team read bilingual books celebrating diversity in the library at recess and lunch time. 

Hockey Gala Day

Congratulations to our students who represented our school at the Hockey Gala Day. Gala days offer students the opportunity to try sports in a less competitive, fun environment, we hope they enjoyed trying hockey!

Years 3/4 Girls Basketball Competition

Last week our years 3 and 4 division 1 girls basketball team, along with their coach Jayden, competed in the Sue Geh Cup at Belconnen Basketball Stadium. All the girls worked together as a team and finished the day undefeated, grand final winners. Congratulations girls and well done to Hazel on being awarded MVP of Div 1.

Bee Hive Update

The staff at the lodge have sent us some photos of the bees now living in the hive decorated by Ngunnawal Primary School students, lucky bees!

1 June is the beginning of hats off!

Rebecca Turner

Principal

Fortnightly Focus 

During weeks 5 and 6 our focus is to listen and follow instructions. This is an expectation for all settings within the school, including in the classroom and on the playground. Teachers will be looking to acknowledge students who are listening and following instructions with responsible learner Yunggi Bengals. Listen and follow instructions sits under our Responsible Learner PBL value, however ensuring students are following this expectation also supports the safety of all students at school. As parents, you can support this focus by discussing the expectation at home. 

PBL is all about explicitly teaching students positive ways to interact across a variety of settings. Wihtout explict instruction we cannot expect students to know or show these pro social skills. We approach these teaching moments in the same manner as we would if a student is yet to learn a Mathematics or Engligh concept and requires reteaching to support their understanding. 

PBL review 

As explained in previous newsletters, our PBL Matrix is the list of different school settings (locations) and the specific behaviour expectations of students in these areas under our Safe, Respectful, Responsible Learner Values. PBL has been embedded at Ngunnawal Primary for over five years, and our school has grown and changed in this time. As such we are reviewing our PBL Matrix. This process includes revising our current settings and adding new ones where necessary. We assess if the identified behaviours in each area, if they are still valid, need updating or if more specific teachable behaviours are required. This process will take the staff a few sessions and we will share our updated PBL Matrix with you and our PBL Student Leadership Team for your contributions in due course.  

PBL lessons 

Earlier we mentioned that PBL is about explicitly teaching students how to behave in various settings and situations. This year we launched our new outdoor learning and play space. Whilst our expectations for this space were developed last term and students and teachers have already been working with these, the PBL team have worked hard to create a series of lessons to support a consistent understanding of each behaviour which can be used to teach and reteach now and into the future. These lessons, if not already, are currently being taught and we encourage you to discuss with your child/ren the expectations of this new area of the school.  

The PBL Team

Respectful 

Responsible Learner 

Responsible Learner

Music

You can’t stop the Music at Ngunnawal Primary School!

This term students in Years 3-6 enjoyed a free Musica Viva ins school experience with The Phoenix Collective. A talented string quartet who highlighted the similarities between a sporting team and a musical ensemble. Both types of teams prepare and practise ready for ‘Game Day’. Our students were enthusiastic and asked some great questions from our visiting musicians.

Students in Years 1-6 are learning about the traditional Indonesian instrument called the Angklung. This bamboo instrument is a member of the percussion family of instruments and creates a unique sound. Students are creating musical artworks featuring this interesting instrument. 

Students involved in the Instrumental Music Program (IMP) have been engaged with their lessons and are learning new pieces ready to perform. The Year 6 band played at the first senior assembly for the year and will also play at the Reconciliation Week assembly in week 5.

The Year 5 band has formed and are working hard to learn techniques, notes and simple songs! Watch this space! 

Digital Art - With Dianna Wright

Over the last 4 weeks the students have been participating in making art using technology. Using free online programs such as Google Draw, Quick Draw, Pixilart.com, Google sheets pixel art, scrapcoloring.com, bomomo.com and toytheater.com. Students have created an amazing display of unique digital artworks. As these programs are free and can be accessed at home students are encouraged to continue exploring these programs at home as well as at school. 

by Qasim

Physical Education 

During Physical Education lessons, kindergarten students learn and practice improving their fundamental movement skills through a range of activities during rotations. The skills and technique learnt align with year 1 to 6 and include: ball bounce, catching, balancing, kicking plus more.

Students in Year 1 to 6 have been focussing on the fundamental movement skill of the punt kick aligned with AFL. 

Much time has been spent learning the correct technique of the punt kick to assist students with kicking accuracy, power and proper spin.  

All the classes have enjoyed participating in a range of games and activities such as Collect The Coin, King Of The Hill and modified AFL games.

Welcome to your P&C update. To get in touch with us on any of the announcements below, please send us a message on Facebook or email us at ngunnawalpandc@gmail.com

School Disco

We will be hosting a school disco on Friday 28 June. 

Separate discos will be held for junior (preschool to year 2) followed senior (year 3 to year 6). This event is in its planning phase, and more details (start/finish times etc) will be available shortly.

In order to make this event a success, we need volunteers! If you would like to volunteer to assist at one or both disco’s please reach out and let us know.

Cookie Dough Fundraiser

Thank you so much for continuously supporting the Ngunnawal Primary School P&C, especially through fundraising. We are excited to announce we are holding a Billy G's Gourmet Cookie Dough drive as a major fundraiser this term. To ensure delivery we must sell a minimum of 152 tubs. Last year we sold over 520 tubs, so we are aiming to beat that this year!

Please note Billy G's is a completely cashless fundraiser. All orders must be placed online and paid by credit or debit card or PayPal, so make sure you create your online fundraising page at www.australianfundraising.com.au today!

Start Date: Monday 20 May 2024

Final Orders Due: Friday 7 June 2024

Estimated Delivery Date: Wednesday 19 June 2024

Secondhand School Uniform Shop

The Secondhand Uniform shop is open every Wednesday from 9am - 10am. Pop by the canteen and ask for Kat. Items are $1 - $5 and card or cash payments are accepted. 

Follow us on Facebook for regular updates. 

We happily accept donations of secondhand uniforms in good condition. We cannot accept clothing that is marked, discoloured, broken buttons/zips, or items that are not Ngunnawal colours. 

Please contact Kat directly if you have any questions - 0417 393 887

We will be having a ‘pop-up’ stall on Wednesday 29 May from 9am-11am and 2.30p-3.30p. All non-logo items (apart from dresses) will be $1 with no limits.

Lost Property

Has your child lost a uniform item or personal property at school? Please check the lost property to see if it is there. There are 2 lost property tubs located outside the library (these bins are emptied and the property sorted every Wednesday). Sorted lost property is located on a rack just inside the entrance to the school gym.

It is a timely reminder for parents to label/name your child’s jumpers, jackets, hats, water bottles etc to ensure that it can be returned to your child when the lost property is sorted.

School Canteen

Use the Flexi schools app to check the menu and order your lunch orders.

Remember: Canteen orders need to be in by 9:30am each day. 

Get involved

Our next P&C meeting will be held at the school staff room from 6pm on Tuesday 11 June. All are welcome to attend. P&C meetings are held on the Tuesday of weeks 2 and 7 every term.

We are always looking for willing volunteers to assist us with our activities throughout the year. If you’d like to express your interest in being involved please reach out and let us know!

Contact Us

You can contact us by email: ngunnawalpandc@gmail.com

And stay up to date by following us on Facebook or Instagram.

The Online Safety (eSafety) Education team has developed a set of top tips to raise awareness about eSafety for sharing with your school community. These tips can be shared through your school newsletter and/or on your social media platforms. These online safety tips will be available to share with your families every fortnight.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the eSafety team at: EDUesafety@act.gov.au.

School Psychology Service (SPS) Early Intervention team is offering a series of 2 hour workshops in 2024

Workshop 1

• Thursday, 30 May 2024
• 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm
• For parents/carers of students in years 4 to 12

Workshop 2 

• Thursday, 20 June 2024
• 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm
• For parents/carers of students in years 4 to 1
• 20240521_SB_W4A12b_Responding_to_Your_Child_s_Strong.pdf

  20240521_SB_W4A12b_Responding_to_Your_Child_s_Strong _pdf 5.08 MB

Workshop 3 

• Tuesday, 27 June 2024
• 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm
• For parents/carers and their child in years 7 to 10
• 20240521_SB_W4A12c_Connected_Conversations_Flyer.pdf

  20240521_SB_W4A12c_Connected_Conversations_Flyer _pdf 691.11 KB

All workshops are held at Hedley Beare Centre for Teaching and Learning.

Contact Ava Trudinger on sps_earlyintervention@ed.act.edu.au

Familiarity ≠ Learning

Your child has played football (soccer) for a whole season and you question whether they have  actually improved?

With FunCo, you will see their improvement as they learn to play football like the greats from only 1hour per week.

In a game, the chances are your child is touching the ball on average 8 - 10 times in a 20 minute game, whereas, at FunCo, we advocate for your child to touch the ball at least 10 times in a 1 minute time span.

In the first scenario, your child has a FAMILIARITY with the ball and the game. In the second scenario, your child is LEARNING to experiment and practise skills, make mistakes, receive immediate feedback, correct their mistakes, try again and refine their techniques.

All this through carefully planned sessions by a highly-skilled and qualified coach, who as an additional BONUS, is also a qualified teacher. FunCo can build confidence, skill and competence through gradual release of responsibility, before they get on the field.

Let's advocate for active learning - DON'T leave it to familiarity.

BOOK A FREE TRIAL 

Wednesdays - Weeks 9 - 11 

https://rb.gy/xepzi8