Book Week

We had a fabulous celebration of magical books in week 5. The theme for this year highlighted the magical marvel that is reading, and the wonders that evolve from sharing great stories and building lifelong habits of finding time with a brilliant book in our youngest readers.

Good Luck!

We have a number of students representing our school this week. Good luck to all students heading to regional athletics on Thursday.

Extra luck to our ACT winning futsal team who are off to Sydney to compete on Thursday. We know you will face strong competition but will give it your very best! What an experience you will have.

School Sport 

Ngunnawal Primary School was proudly represented at the School Sports Australia National U12 Hockey Tournament, held in Cairns, QLD, from August 19th to 23rd. Year 6 student Olivia and former Ngunnawal teacher Tricia, who served as the team’s manager, showcased their skills and spirit on the national stage, representing the ACT with distinction.

The ACT team faced tough competition throughout the week, playing five intense matches against other states. In a thrilling display of teamwork and determination, the ACT secured a victory over Tasmania and held South Australia to a well-earned draw. The matches against NSW and WA were particularly hard-fought, with both games ending in narrow defeats that highlighted the high standard and competitive nature of the tournament.

Olivia's performance and leadership as a senior member of the team on the field was nothing short of impressive, contributing significantly to the team’s efforts throughout the tournament. Overall, the tournament was a tremendous experience for Olivia and her participation at a national level has brought great pride to Ngunnawal Primary School. Congratulations on your outstanding achievement Olivia!

The Great Book Swap

The Great Book Swap is tomorrow, gather your gold coins to donate ot a great cause.

Sentral for Parents App

We recently launched Parent Portal, a secure online platform to share student information between you and your child’s teachers.

You’ll soon be able to access Parent Portal through the Sentral for Parents app. Keep an eye out for more information from us once the Sentral for Parents app is available for our school to use.

If you haven’t registered for Parent Portal yet, I encourage you to do so using this Parent Portal access link and log into or create your ACT Digital Account. To access Parent Portal, you will need your access key. You should have received these by email when we launched.

If you have any questions, or don’t have your access key, please contact our admin team for support using info@ngunnawalps.act.edu.au

Remember that using Parent Portal means you can:

• notify us if your child is sick or explain an absence
• receive academic reports
• receive our school newsletter
• receive messages from your child’s teachers
• make payments

Learning Expo is fast approaching!

School Satisfaction and Climate Survey

The survey closes on 6 September, please check your emails for the survey link to ensure your feedback counts.

Rebecca Turner

Principal

Fortnightly Focus

This fortnight we are continuing to focus on Listening and following instructions, specifically in the classroom. Teachers will be looking for students who are showing they are ready for learning, listening as adults and peers are speaking and taking action on requests or instructions in a timely manner.

PBL Team

Responsible Learner

English  

Welcome to the creative world of writing where everyone's an author. Year 2 went back in time to learn about narrative writing to create their own books. We hit the ground running looking into what needs to be included in a narrative. Year 2 have been using their inquiry skills and creative process to develop a narrative using character settings and focusing on problems they may face such as person or thing vs object or nature. Then when the juices started to flow for the students' narrative we began looking into how we can draft, edit and publish our own  books. To help with the writing process year two had a visit from Author Harry Laing, who was getting students to create their own story idea about “my strange pet”. Harry gave an outstanding performance when reciting his poems from his book RapperBee. Year 2 look forward to showing you their published books at our Learning Journey next week.  

Reading 

We have been visiting the library regularly and borrowing both fiction and non-fiction books. During our Reader's Workshop, we dedicate over 20 minutes each day to reading, which has really improved our reading stamina. We are practising new strategies to improve  our reading skills and working hard to meet our personal reading goals. Our teachers provide us with ongoing feedback, helping us recognise our strengths and areas to improve as we become better readers.

Spelling

In spelling we have continued to learn new phonemes. This term we have been learning the difference between long and short vowel patterns. This includes being able to hear the difference between those sounds made by vowel combinations such as ‘ai’ in rain and the short a sound made by the letter in ‘cat’. We have been using a range of tools such as blending boards and el-konin boxes to segment and blend the sounds in words. Students have enjoyed using Decodable Readers Australia to read stories featuring the focus sounds of the week. 

Maths

In Mathematics this term our students have been taking their first steps into multiplication and division. They have explored a variety of strategies to assist them in calculations, such as equal groupings and arrays. They have worked with manipulatives to see the calculations in action.

Strand 

In our Mathematics Strand unit this term, students have explored the collection, representation and interpretation of data. They have created questions and gathered data before displaying it using a range of graph types.

Students have begun to explore and understand fractions. They have been working with manipulatives to create halves, quarters and eighths of different collections of objects.

HASS

In our History and Geography unit,  we have been exploring local significant sites in Canberra. This includes popular landmarks such as Parliament House, the Arboretum and Lake Burley Griffin. We have also explored the significance of sites such as Black Mountain and Namadgi National Park for Ngunnawal people. We have started making our dioramas of these significant places including demonstrating how they have changed over time. 

Digital Technology

Welcome to the digital age. In Digital technology we have explored how computers work looking into what software and hardware is. Then we moved onto  learning how to research information online. Students have explored Kiddle, a kid friendly website to research information. Then students have learned how to insert an image to a google doc. After learning about using a chromebook we are now learning how to operate and control a Bee Bot. Students have been learning how to get the bots to do a sequence of motions. Using the Bee Bots is going to help develop students' understanding of  their controls before they become engines for our design and technology day where the kids will be creating a cart for a BeeBot to pull a wagon. 

Author Visit

During week 6 we had a fantastic opportunity to meet  Author  Harry Laing. Harry is an energetic and engaging comic performer with a love of language. He kept us  spellbound with his poems, (interactive) chants and the magical creatures from his book covers. We also had an opportunity to write our own poem!

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

Dry stock drive:

The P&C will be having a School Canteen Dry Stock Drive during weeks 7-10 (Term 3)

Please support our canteen by bringing in items listed below.

The class with the highest points total will win a morning tea catered by the canteen.

Eight Points

Disposable gloves (food grade)

Six Points

Golden syrup

Eggless mayonnaise

Aluminum foil 

Large cans of tuna

Wheat biscuits (weet bix)

Cocoa powder

Chicken stock powder

Four Points

Canola oil

Chunky tomato pasta sauce (Woolworths brand)

Pasta spirals

Pasta spaghetti

Pasta – angel hair

Wholemeal self-raising flour (1 kg)

White self-raising flour (1 kg)

White sugar (1 kg)

Brown sugar (1 kg)

Rolled oats

White rice (1 kg)

Popcorn kernels

Baking paper

Small cans of tuna

Two Points

Paper towel

Brown paper bags

Our school canteen is run entirely by the P&C. It is a registered charity and any profits made go back into the canteen. When we keep costs low, we can keep canteen prices low too.

School Lunch Clubs:

Did you know that our school student leaders run a number of clubs throughout the week during lunchtime?! 

If you, or somebody that you know would be interested in lending a hand with any of the clubs (particularly any keen gardeners, artists, writers, coders or legoists) please reach out. Also we would welcome any equipment that can be donated to the clubs.

Secondhand School Uniform Shop

The Secondhand Uniform shop is open every Wednesday from 9am - 10am. Pop by the canteen and ask for Kat or Jason. 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 are planning on holding a pop-up shop in week 9 of this term- stay tuned as the exact date will be announced soon. All non logo items will be available for $1.

Similar to last term we will hold one stall in the morning from 8.30 to 10 and in the afternoon from 2.30 to 4. We are open to being flexible with these times- so please contact us if you would like us to have the stall open outside of these times (particularly the afternoon stall).

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 tubs 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       app to check the menu and order your lunch orders.

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

Colour Run:

Colour run fundraiser to be held on 1 November (term 4 week 3). Sponsorship booklets and parent information letters to be sent home with students next week.

Get involved

Our next P&C meeting will be held at the school staff room from 5.30pm on Tuesday 3 September. 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!

Book Club 

Just a reminder that book club orders are no longer accepting cash 

Contact Us

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

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