Aboriginal and Torres Strait lslander Children's Day @NPS 

Students at Ngunnawal Primary School enjoyed a day of cultural learning this week to celebrate National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day with the theme ‘My dreaming, My future’.

Historically the 4th August was used to celebrate the birthdays of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were taken from their families at a young age, without knowing their birthday – the Stolen Generations. Today, this date celebrates the strength and culture of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children.

To celebrate and acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day this year, students at Ngunnawal Primary gathered together as a whole school for an assembly and participated in cultural activities within their classes.

Throughout the day, students listened and learned from Ngunnawal Elder Richie Allan and his daughter Shaenice. They participated in cultural activities, learnt songs in Ngunnawal language, and about traditional symbols used in storytelling. Richie is also a proud grandparent to one of the students and the school. Ngunnawal Primary School Principal, Rebecca Turner said “by listening and learning, we can build respectful relationships which we can then preserve and pass on this cultural knowledge to others”.

Community and connection is extremely important to the Ngunnawal Primary School community. Koori preschool students invited their families to share morning tea and participate in cultural craft activities, donated by Gungahlin Child and Family Centre who have a strong partnership with the school. Manager of Gungahlin Child and Family Centre, Gerard Nolan said, “Ngunnawal Primary School demonstrates amazing cultural awareness and commitment and its always a pleasure to partner with them”.

“Ngunnawal Primary is committed to developing empowering partnerships between the school and the wider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community”. Being able to acknowledge, embrace and engage the community has positive benefits for students and families at our School”, says Early Years Engagement Partner, Nat Munoz.

Adult English Conversation Group at NPS

Do you know someone in our school community who may like to connect with other adults whilts developing English conversation skills? Let them know about the new group we are offering to our parents.

The English Conversation Group is held on Fridays. This group is for adults wanting to practise English. Young children who are not at school are able to attend. 

ACT School Sport Representation

ACT School Sport offers the opportunity for students to try out for ACT representative teams. These are not our school based representative teams for gala days. Students wishing to register to try out for school sport representation at regional, state and national levels should register via the parent link here: https://schoolsportact.org.au/ You can also follow School Sport ACT on facebook. Use the menu at the top to search by sport or view the calendar of upcoming events: 2022 Sport Calendar

A message from the ACT Education Directorate: Keeping our students learning in Term 3

Every ACT public school is working hard to manage the impacts of COVID-19 and the flu in our schools to ensure minimal disruption for everyone and keep students learning.

Face-to-face learning in the classroom remains the core way students are learning this term; however, staff shortages may see them learning a little differently from time to time.

What can parents and students expect?

When schools do not have appropriate staffing levels to support students in their usual classrooms the following measures may be put in place:

• Older students may learn online in a supervised setting.
• Students may be engaged in a modified program of learning in their regular classroom with supervision from school staff.
• Students may participate in self-directed learning (supervised by other classroom teachers this may be via Google Classrooms or a pre-prepared activity).
• Students may be split into classes across the school, where children may engage in self-directed learning and/or the learning of their host class.
• Some activities may be put on hold (eg lunchtime clubs)

Where schools are no longer able to manage using the above strategies students may move to learning from home for short periods of time.

If this is the case your school will work with the Directorate ahead of time to make this decision and families will be provided with learning activities for use during this time.

Sometimes this decision will need to be made quickly. We appreciate that the short notice is difficult for families and, where we can, will ensure we give as much notice as we are able.  

Non-essential events and excursions

There may also be the need to postpone/cancel planned activities and events offsite (eg camps, excursions, sporting days etc) from time to time, sometimes at short notice.

We appreciate any cancellation is disappointing and wherever possible schools will reschedule these missed opportunities.

 Thank you once more to our parents, carers and staff for their ongoing support and commitment again this term.

Rebecca Turner

Principal

Respectful

Safe

Laksh S	Liam M	Izaan H	Aarika H
Lola DS	Liam D	Mysie C

Respectful 

Choeing W	Yuika S	Jorja M	Tenzin D
Shreya K	Jessi L	Charlotte W	Kayden S
Ella M	Beth A	Scarlett L	Olivia M
Damon G	Maddie T	Kyyros Z

Responsible Learner 

Jasper A	Jacob D	Claire B	Senadi P
Adou O	Udaibir D	Summer O	Wyatt S
Elena X	Cobi JY	Lucas O	Matariki A
Aiden G	Kirubel H	Khoi H	Charlie M
Sanil N	Garbriel R	Ellie N	Nathan H
Saharsh SN	Ben S	Noah Z	Isla W
Levi S	Olivia B	William M	Lucas C
Archer C	Kai G	Damon G	Mia J
Avelina VK

Safe

Kai L	Layla W	Milani W	Bernadette C
Ella H	Aekeri O	Jessica T	William R
Kaycee L	Olivia M	Mason D	Archer C
Abbey B	Kai G	Ezana A	Maxwell T
Rjay K	Sebastian F	Joshua T	Logan B
Isabella R

Respectful

Macy W	Riley T	Sam Q	Emily C
Haylee B	Chloe J	Milani W	Paige R
James M	Aiden H	Jacob D	Hailey B
Bella R	Joshua M	Kaycee K	Alex H
Manaal A	Maze MR	Ellie K	Sarah O
Cruz P	Pippa K	Ethan G	Ella J
Felix K	Mia E	Caleb T	Kaylarni R
Laura Mc	Rjay K	Sebastian F	Evelyn B
Ezana A	Levi S	William M	Zach L
Kira R	Logan B	Moon N	Bastian T
Heidi G	Louis R	Sereen M	Zoe B
Zoe I

Writing- Poetry

Students have been exploring the elements of Haikus and Limericks and writing their poems. Haiku poems don’t rhyme, and their particular structure usually conveys features of nature. Limerick poems also have a set structure which includes rhyme and humour. We linked the Haikus to our Science unit on living things, and students have used their ICT skills to create a final copy of their Limericks and Haikus, practising tasks such as changing the font type and size as well as changing their background.  

Science- Zoo Excursion

This term, students have been learning all about living things. First, they learned the seven life processes (MRS GREN) and how these features support the categorisation of organisms as either living or non-living. Then, students learnt about the classifications of animals into vertebrates and invertebrates, followed by the life cycles, the variety of habitats and how animals interact through the food chain. In Week four, we visited Canberra National Zoo and Aquarium. We had a guided tour that allowed students to learn about the creatures from experts and interact with some animals. Finally, students had an opportunity to put their learning into action and see how varied the animal enclosures were to reflect their natural habitats.

Maths - Length

Our studies of measurement this term began with a unit of learning on length. After sharing their prior knowledge on measuring length, students worked in small groups to measure a range of classroom objects using informal units of measurement, such as paper clips, clothes pegs or glue sticks. Students then began investigating the metric units for measurement, particularly centimetres and metres. Activities included explicit lessons on using a ruler to measure lengths, ordering objects by their length and then making comparisons of objects based on their length eg. The red pencil is longer than the green, but shorter than the orange.

Social & Emotional Learning (SEL)

The unit for SEL this term on emotions comes from the Bounce Back program. Students were introduced to the topic by identifying as many emotions and feelings as they can think of. Students discussed what each emotion involves and when or why we feel these emotions. Discussions and activities then focused on identifying a range of negative emotions, such as feeling sad, angry, worried and jealous. Lessons built on these discussions to investigate strategies for how we can self-manage these emotions and move back into a positive frame of mind.

Join us for Paint ‘n’ Sip

A fun night of raffles and prizes, lucky door winners, grazing, sipping and painting!

Follow the link for all the info: https://www.trybooking.com/CBEXC

Only 7 seats remaining – book now!

Bunnings BBQ

It's happening Sunday August 28th! A HUGE thank you to all of our community members who have put down their name to help out on the day. We have had a great response.

Are there any local businesses out there who would be happy to help us out with sourcing our sausages and bread? Please reach out if you can help!

We are finally bringing the Colour Explosion Run 4 Fun back to Ngunnawal Primary!!

FRIDAY 16^TH SEPTEMBER

Don’t miss out on this super fun day – save the date! Volunteers are essential for this event to go ahead ? More details on the Facebook page.

Can you help?

We are looking for someone to help us empty our return it bin and take our the drink containers to the return it depot. This would only need to happen once or twice a month. Please reach out if you can help.

Second Hand Uniform Shop

We are still looking for uniform shop helpers. If you have a few minutes to spare once a week to help organise our uniform shop and respond to community requests, please let us know :)

Contact Us

You can contact the P&C by email: ngunnawalpandc@gmail.com or via our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NgunnawalPandC

The next P&C meeting will be held Monday 12^th September – 6pm in the staffroom – all are welcome!