Congratulations to the students who represented our school at regional cross country last Friday. You all did a brilliant job running alongside many students from a lot of schools.

Year 6 Camp written by Seha and Sarah – School Captains

It was a cold chilly Monday morning in week 5 and the year 6 cohort were excited to be departing to camp Cooba. On arrival we had a debrief from the camp instructors and then got separated into 3 groups with a teacher assigned to each group. The activities included:

- The assault course, where we had to show lots of teamwork.

- The big swing, where we had to swing from 12 metres in the air. 

- The survival course, where we had to push a buggy through obstacles and mud swamps and communicate on walkie talkies.

- The secret services game, a cross between OZTag and cops and robbers where we had to hide matchsticks in our clothing and sneak them past the other team. 

- Bikes, where we had to do a pump track and learnt some bike safety skills.

- Archery where students demonstrated their amazing target skills.

The first night's activity was a disco where everyone had a great time demonstrating their best moves. After dinner that day, we had our first cabin inspection by teachers Dan and Erin, who were in full military uniform (we wish we were kidding).

Throughout our cabin inspection you can imagine our surprise when Dan kicked off his shoes and jumped on our cabin mate, Kaylee’s too neat bed. The second night we were exhausted from a busy day of fun so decided on a movie night.

The food was delicious, and the desserts were amazing. We got team points and ‘Cooba Dollars’, with a ribbon for the best team with the highest points. Congratulations to team 2 who won!

Reconciliation Week

Last week our school gathered for the first time this year to recognise Reconciliation Week. The assembly was very capably led by our student and staff Cultural Integrity Leadership Team. We enjoyed performances from Koori Preschool, Year 4 and the Year 6 band. 

25 years ago the Sea of Hands first appeared as a powerful statement of solidarity with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It has been a feature of Reconciliation Day activities in Canberra since the event was introduced five years ago. Students have recreated the sea of hands by making a Pledge for Reconciliation and writing this on their artwork for display. These pledges are now hanging in the administration building corridor.

Leading up to Reconciliation Week each class made a class book focused on the theme Be Brave, Make Change. Classes explored what being brave means in the context of reconciliation and expressed this through written and artistic responses.

Break Time Clubs

Last week we launched our new break time clubs plan. Clubs are a great opportunity to explore new or existing interests in a semi- structured environment with the support of a teacher. Clubs also offer students an opportunity to connect with peers.  Please find below our new timetable. 

Student Reports and Meetings with Teachers

On Friday of week 9 student reports will be emailed to all families. We congratulate all of our students for their consistent effort despite the challenges of semester one in schools this year. Meetings with teachers to discuss your child's progress will be offered in week 10. These meetings will occur online unless an in person meeting is required. Please let your child's teacher know if this is your preference. The link to book meetings will be released on Friday of this week.

Rebecca Turner

Principal

Dear parents and carers

The ACT Government is supporting all ACT public schools to hold two staff planning days during term 2. These days will provide public school teachers with some extra space to complete student reporting and lesson planning.

Our next staff planning day is on:

• Wednesday 15 June 2022

Where possible, we ask that students do not attend school on this day. Students who can’t stay at home will be able to attend school and be supervised while undertaking general learning activities.

Please confirm via email info@ngunnawalps.act.edu.au if your child will be attending school on these days.

If you have any further questions about our staff planning days, please reach out to our front office.

Kind regards

Rebecca Turner

Principal

Ngunnawal Primary School

Bush Preschool

We have started our Bush Preschool program for the year. We have spent the beginning of the term learning about the expectations, the safety rules and visiting the small bush site beside the New Life Presbyterian Church. We learnt about base camp, snake safety, boundaries and returning to base camp when you hear 3 whistles or the drum.

During weeks 5 & 6 the beginning and end of week pre-schoolers then did an amazing job walking (about 1 km each way) to and from our Moncrieff Bush Preschool site. At Bush Preschool we saw some kangaroos, dug in the dirt, found ant nests, climbed trees, played in a bush shelter (which had been built on the site prior to us getting there), built new shelters, found interesting leaves, bark, sticks, insects, and other creatures. I wonder what we will discover and learn about next time we go?

Thank you to Patty and Erin for coming on our first Bush Preschool adventure for the year and for helping us to further embed Indigenous perspectives into the Bush Preschool program. Thank you also to our parent volunteers.

Reconciliation Week

The beginning of week preschool children attended their first whole school assembly to celebrate Reconciliation Week. The educators are very proud of them for walking down quietly and waiting patiently to be seated quietly in the hall. The children watched the presentations respectfully and clapped at the appropriate times.

Once we returned to preschool, we participated in activities run by Gungahlin Child and Family Centre, Libraries ACT and Each. They provided fruit, vegemite scrolls and muffins for morning tea. YUM! We sang and danced with guest musician Johnny Huckle who played the Wombat Wobble and other songs. We created a joint handprint artwork on canvas. We listened to the story ‘Somebody’s Land’ By Adam Goodes, Ellie Laing and David Hardy and replicated the Aboriginal flag on a map of Australia. We made animals out of playdough and craft items. The children did a great job listening to the instructions throughout the morning and visiting each other’s classrooms to engage in the activities.

Respectful

Xavier B

Safe

Responisble Learner

Registered Nurse Asthma Educators provide children, young people and their families with support to manage their asthma. This free service from Canberra Health Services is available to all children up to the age of 18 in the ACT and surrounds. The service includes:

• advice on asthma, asthma first aid, how asthma medications work and when to use them
• symptom recognition for primary school children, aiming to support increasing independence
• support for teenagers to self-manage their condition and device options.

If any students/families would benefit from receiving asthma education, please advise them to call the Community Health Intake line on 5124 9977 to make an appointment.

Attachments:

• PAEDS Asthma DL Flyer (300 kb PDF)

Contact Children’s Asthma Education Service on asthmanurse@act.gov.au.