As we come to the end of another school year, I would like to wish you and your family a safe and enjoyable school holiday. Congratulations to our year 6 students who finish with us next Friday. We are all very excited for your graduation, disco and Fun Day excursion next week. All the very best as you start your new adventure in high school!

Next Monday, your child will be told who their classroom teacher is in 2024. They will be given a piece of paper with information about their teacher and it will come home at the end of the day. If your child misplaces it, please contact their classroom teacher to arrange another one. 

Preschool and Kindergarten students return to school on Tuesday 30 January 2024, while all students years 1-6 return on Wednesday 31 January 2024. Please note, staff are on annual leave until Tuesday 23 January and will not be able to return emails during this time. For school related questions during this time, please email info@ngunnawalps.act.edu.au and we will do our best to respond. 

In 2023, we would like to thank our P&C and School Board for their contribution over the year. We look forward to working in partnership with you in 2024. 

Recently, Jay our Building Services Officer, donated a range of plants for our Year 6 students to plant in our garden beds. Thank you, Jay, for your donation and to the year 6 students who volunteered to plant these. 

This year we farewell a number of staff who have been at Ngunnawal for a lengthy period of time. All of the Ngunnawal staff have worked incredibly hard during their time at our school, and we sincerely thank them for their commitment and contributions. If you see them in the coming weeks, please consider saying farewell and thanking them for all of their efforts to support our students. 

Teaching staff:

Administrative Team:

School Psychology Service:

This year we also farewell Amy Rugendyke, our school psychologist. Amy has been here for the previous 3.5 years and has been a highly valued member of our wellbeing team. We wish her all the best as she travels around Australia with her family. 

Last week, we heard from five of our new staff for 2024. This week we hear from:

Albert Palazzo

Iona Smith 

Sam Chrzczonowicz

Sam is an experienced educator who has recently been working in the Learning and Teaching branch of the Education Directorate as Assistant Director - English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D). Sam is excited to join the Ngunnawal community and will be working on Thursday and Friday's.

Saya Mon 

Hi everyone!

My name is Saya and I am a first-year graduate teacher. I am so excited to join Ngunnawal Primary to begin my teaching career and can't wait to make fabulous memories with everyone. 

I graduated in 2022 and have been relief teaching for most of 2023. While I love relief teaching, I am more excited to have my own class in 2024. 

I love all things literacy and numeracy and am always finding ways to make learning fun. In my spare time I love to visit the outdoors and go on adventures with my best friend.  

I can't wait to meet you and make 2024 the best year yet!

We are seeking parent feedback on what is working well for our assemblies, and looking for feedback to continue improving. If you have information to share, please complete the below survey. 

Each week, a dedicated group of volunteers from within our community, visit Ngunnawal and spend time with our students. Some volunteers read with students, attend our special events, offer support to enhance students social and emotional development and some even help with breakfast club. We truly value the volunteers that we have at Ngunnawal and appreciate all that you do for us. Our community is a richer and more vibrant place, because of the role you play. 

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank one of our wonderful volunteers, Jean, for her very generous gift to our school. Jean has donated an electric piano for our students to utilise during music lessons.

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 

Year 6 Disco and Pizza Party

We are getting excited for the upcoming Year 6 Farewell Disco and Pizza Party! 

Please return your permission slips by Friday 8 December. 

When: Wednesday 13 December 

Where: School Hall

Time: 6:00-8:30pm

A massive thank you to Dominoes Casey who have kindly donated the pizzas for the Pizza Party!! Our community is amazing. 

Mango Fundraiser

Due to circumstances out of our control, the mango delivery will now be the week beginning Monday 18 December. We understand this is after school finishes. If this causes a problem, please let us know. 

Pick up details will be distributed soon. Be sure to follow us on Facebook as we will post more information as it comes in. 

Matchbox Cars

Do you have any spare matchbox cars? We are collecting matchbox cars to donate to the school for an outdoor activity. Please reach out to us via email or Facebook if you are able to help. 

iPad

Do you have a working iPad you no longer need? The P&C are on the hunt for an iPad to assist with streamlining electronic payments at our events. 

As it will be used as a hotpot, it will need to have sim card capability. 

If you are able to assist, please give us a shout. Thanks! 

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

Remember, we also have sustainable, comfortable hemp school uniform options for you to check out. Available to try on in sizes 3 - 16, all with Ngunnawal logo. We have limited stock on hand to sell for $32.95. 

School Canteen

Use theapp to check the menu and order your lunch orders.

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

Contact Us

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

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

Maths- Fractions Unit 

Over the past term, year 6 have had a focus on fractions and completed a range of hands-on and digital activities to showcase their understanding throughout the unit. Students have learnt to locate non-related denominators on a number line and apply their understanding of related fractions when adding and subtracting. Students learnt about the connection between the powers of 10 and the multiplication and division of decimals. Year 6 concluded the unit by demonstrating their understanding of the connection between fractions, decimals and percentages. 

Electricity 

Year 6 has delved deep into our inquiry unit on electricity and renewable energy production. We have learnt a lot about how we can make considered choices for a sustainable future, which is encapsulated through each student's Google Site they created. We have explored concepts such as: circuits, insulators vs conductors, energy transformations, and energy productions. Year 6 students have had some great immersive experiences to aid their understanding, including designing and testing their own wind turbines with The Academy of Future Skills and visiting the Snowy Hydro Discovery Centre to learn more about hydroelectricity.

Scientific Methods

Year 6 has been exploring and learning how to conduct experiments and write their own Scientific method reports. The students have been developing their understanding on how to write a successful report using factual language and scientific terminology. Students learnt about wind turbines during inquiry and tested  their abilities as well as writing about what happens when molten salt is added to water. The year 6 cohort also crafted their own stomp rockets in inquiry  and tested their capacity to fly and documented their findings in their own scientific method report. Year 6 also researched and conducted their own experiment and then wrote a scientific report.

Responisble learner 

Safe

Responisble Learner

Respectful

Safe

Respectful 

Safe 

The below message comes from one of our 2023 School Captains:

Leading into Christmas Mix 106.3 is getting back on the bus and driving around the region, making stops to Pack the Bus full of essential non-perishable food items and toys for kids and families in need, because everyone deserves a Christmas.

I have registered Ngunnawal primary school for a collection point and I am asking if you are in a position to help a family in need that you please bring non perishable food or a new unwrapped gift to the front office.

Thankyou and Merry Christmas.

Emily 

2023 School Captain 

Have you noticed your neighbourhood street trees recently? Are they thirsty? This summer is going to be hot and dry. We encourage all school students to help protect our urban forest and make our city a great place to live by regularly watering their street trees. Water saving tip: take a bucket in the shower with you, and use the excess, to water the base of a street tree at least once a week. Canberra’s incredible trees provides much needed shade, clean our air and provides habitats for local wildlife. Help us protect trees so they can protect us.

The ACT Government has almost 60,000 young trees on the current watering program. While young street trees are watered by the ACT Government regularly to ensure their establishment and survival, the community can help by giving their local trees a drink over summer. For more information about caring for our public trees, read City Services Trees and Nature.

Attachments:

• Give a tree a drink (1 MB PNG)

Contact Lisa Burgstaller on 0481 477 159 or lisa.burgstaller@act.gov.au

The November 2023 Rights in ACTion edition is about children and young people’s right to information. It also includes a report about the work the ACT Human Rights Commission have been doing for the past year.

Please share the newsletter with children and young people you know and encourage them to contribute to future editions. Children and young people can send contributions in any format they like about anything they want. They can also send messages to the ACT Children and Young People Commissioner on Instagram @actkids_CYPC, call on 02 6205 2222, send an email to actkids@act.gov.au or go to Young Thinker Forum to upload files.

Contact Jodie Griffiths-Cook on 02 620 52222 or Jodie.Griffiths-Cook@act.gov.au