The newsletter is published fortnightly the next on 11 June 2020

Up and coming events Event Year Date Note Due/Cost

P&C Meeting Monday 1 June Virtual Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday Monday 8 June 2020 Last day of Term 2 Friday 3 July 2020 Maker Faire K – 6 Tuesday 3 November More info to come Presentation Evening K – 6 Monday 7 December More info to come End of Year Party Day K – 6 Thursday 10 December More info to come Year 6 Mini Fete K – 6 Friday 11 December More info to come Year 6 Farewell Years 5 and 6 Monday 14 December More info to come

Phone: (02) 4367 7444 • Fax: (02) 4365 3088

Email: holgate-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au Web: https://holgate-p.schools.nsw.gov.au

Newsletter 28 May 2020

TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE

EXCELLENCE / EQUALITY / ENGAGEMENT

Class Awards – Academic Achievement Award

K: Isla P: for working on ordering numbers from smallest to largest

Kora M: for blending sounds together to read words

K/1: Theo V: for excellent listening skills and following instruction during art lessons

Sami P: for amazing story telling using 5W’s

1/2: Jasper B: for showing great fluency and expression when reading

Anja-Autumn M: for working hard on blending sounds in reading and writing

2/3: Lachlan M: for always asking and answering questions to grow his knowledge

Declan L: for working hard to sound out tricky words when reading

3/4: Archie M: for using fantastic strategies in our mental addition work!

Lucia P: for writing a fantastic narrative with our visual writing prompt!

5/6B: Dash B: for contributing ideas and opinions in a respectful and responsible manner

Oceana M: for effectively incorporating descriptive language and ‘senses’ in her writing

5/6N: Grace G: for taking on feedback effectively to enhance her writing!

Lemar F: for using a range of figurative language to create exciting texts

Positive Behaviour for Learning Award - PBL

K: Paige J: for always using nice words and friendly actions

K/1: Harrison B: for a wonderful first week back into routine

1/2: Toby A: for returning to school with a ready to learn attitude

2/3: Milla B: for smiling every day and always making other people happy

3/4: Oliver R: for being a fantastic upstander when in the class and on the playground!

5/6B: Timur B: for listening carefully and working hard to improve his writing when creating tense scenes in a narrative

5/6N: Aidan T: for thinking of others when working in groups

Principal’s Address

We are so excited to have students return to school this week. It was great to hear and see teachers teaching and students playing and learning. The Department of Education has prepared a three page document for parents and carers outlining the return to full time schooling for reading. Please follow the link below. This is the same document shared last week.

https://holgate-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/doe/sws/schools/h/holgate-p/localcontent/current-notes/Covid_19_-_Return_to_full-time_face-to-face_learning_guidelines_-_Families.pdf

Congratulations P&C

Congratulations to the P&C and the P&C Grants Committee for your effort and success in receiving the Community Building Partnership Grant of $41000 to install two shade sails over the deck and playground equipment. The construction of the shade sails should be undertaken and completed by the start of Term 3. These shade sails mean our students can utilise those areas all year round which is great.

Thank you to the P&C for your generous donation of the sport representative shirts. Congratulations to Eamon Cassidy for an outstanding design. When sporting carnivals and representative teams resume we are going to look sharp!!

Opportunity Classes

Students seeking placement in a selective high school or opportunity class are required to attend a test in the year prior to their placement. The Department of Education is able to confirm the following test dates in 2021. Selective High School Placement Test (for Year 6 students seeking placement in Year 7 the following year) Thursday 11 March 2021. Opportunity Class Placement Test (for Year 4 students seeking placement in Year 5 the following year) Wednesday 21 July 2021.

Year Six Shirt 2020!

Just a reminder to make your payment for this year’s Year 6 shirt.

Reports and Interviews

An abridged version of our school reports are being formulated and will be distributed in Semester One. Please find the attached flyer for further information. The reports will be sent home Thursday 2 July. Parent interviews will be conducted by phone this term Weeks 8 and 9.

Winter Uniforms and Clothing Pool

Students are to wear their full school winter uniform for the remainder of the term. Please utilise our second hand clothing pool if needed. Please call prior to attending the clothing pool to ensure administration and social distancing practises can occur. All payments will need to go directly to the P&C through their online banking. Please do not pay into the school’s online banking.

We are now enrolling for Kindergarten 2021

Holgate Public School is now enrolling for Kindergarten 2021. Please share the information with friends and family to help all of us be organised well ahead of time. New enrolment enquires should make an appointment to see the principal through the office on 4367 7444.

Excursion and additional curricula update

The school is currently trying to rebook Stage 2 and Stage 3 Camps and Rumbalara excursions. The Creative and Performing Arts performances unfortunately have been cancelled for 2020. The PSSA and Sporting Directorates (this includes sporting teams and carnivals) are yet to advise schools on future plans. The debating and public speaking programs are still postponed. Expression of Interests for our school camps will be sent home next week so we can determine numbers and costs to ensure it is financially viable for all. Other significant school events are above in Up and Coming Events.

Technology – lap tops

Please return to the front office all borrowed lap tops and charging devices if you have not done so. Mrs Ireland needs to update software and audit borrowed technology so classes can resume use.

Canteen and water bottles to refill

Our school canteen will resume operations tomorrow Friday 29 May. Please bring drink bottles to refill throughout the day, bubblers are not accessible under the current health guidelines.

Out of School Hours Care (OSHC)

The OSHC tender is currently on hold due to COVID 19. When the moratorium is lifted in July I have been assured our school will be one of the first released to the market.

Playground Activities

With the return of student’s fulltime the following has been scheduled into our playground activities:

Band group tutorials through Zoom Library – Monday and Tuesday Dance – K-2 Tuesday and 3-6 Wednesday Green Dream Team – Thursday Oasis - Friday ICT / Coding – Tuesday

P&C Meeting

The next P&C meeting is this Monday 1 June 7pm. The June P&C meeting will be conducted virtually please check the Facebook page for details. https://www.facebook.com/holgateschool/

End of Year Staff Development Days

In 2020 our school year for students concludes on Wednesday 16 December and the Department of Education has gazetted Thursday 17 and Friday 18 December as School Development Days. At Holgate Public School the staff have opted to complete professional learning as time in lieu from 3:00pm and 6:00pm over Term 3 and Term 4 as follows:

Tuesday 4 August - CPR and Anaphylaxis Tuesday 25 August - Focus on Reading and STEM Tuesday 15 September - Focus on Reading, STEM and learning progressions Tuesday 27 October - School Planning

Vanessa Gordon Principal

Administration

Payment of monies

Please remember to make payments online as we are not accepting cash or cheque at school. Year 6 t-shirt payments are overdue. Please make this payment online ASAP.

Canteen

CANTEEN IS BACK THIS FRIDAY FOR RECESS AND LUNCH

Well what an interesting couple of months have passed but WE’RE BACK!!!!

Once again, the canteen can open on Friday. WOO HOO. I bet all the kids have been hanging out for some canteen time. I have missed it. The full canteen menu will be running and in case you have lost the menu, a copy will be in the newsletter.

WE ARE A HEALTHY SCHOOL CANTEEN for 2020.

So under the current social distancing rules, I am only allowed one volunteer to come in at a time. Please let me know via the Facebook page if you’re able to pop in around 12.30pm to pack some lunch bags for the kids. One hour is all. I promise.

All money that is received into the canteen in the morning will be cleaned prior to being given as change and separate containers will be used when recess and lunch money is received, so as not to cross contaminate clean and dirty money. This is just a small measure we are taking to keep everyone safe. Kids are always encouraged to wash their hands and sanitizer will be available if needed. Social distancing will be encouraged.

Don’t forget to checkout our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Holgate-PC-Canteen-103292007744955/

Search Holgate P & C Canteen or follow the link to find us and keep up to date with what’s going on. Please complete lunch orders on a brown lunch bag (no small zip lock bags) with CHILDS NAME, CLASS and ORDER with prices and please include payment.

Recess items on the menu are only sold over the counter at recess. Please don’t order recess items on lunch orders. Just come at recess and say g’day and it will be ready.

Ice blocks, chips and drinks will all be sold over the counter at lunch. Drinks can be ordered on the lunch order and will be placed in the bag with lunch.

Please double check all currency. Australian dollars only please. Canteen menu is available on the school website and also Skoolbag app.

Looking forward to smiles back again this week at the canteen.

Cheers - Richard Shedden - Canteen Co-ordinator

P&C Welcome back to school kids - A huge thank you to all the teachers and staff of Holgate for managing Holgate School through the uncertain times of COVID-19. It's been a roller-coaster of change over the last couple of months, particularly for the teaching and learning environment, and you have managed it extremely well. Thank you. The effects of the pandemic will continue for a while longer, however we thank you for your continued professionalism.

$41k for New Sunshades over Outdoor Stage Area and Playground Equipment

A big thank you to Adam Crouch - Member for Terrigal and the NSW Government for their fantastic sponsorship of new Sunshades over the Outdoor Stage Area and Playground Equipment. A generous $41,378 has been awarded to Holgate Public School P&C through the Community Building Partnership (CBP) Program. Thank you to a fantastic P&C team for making this happen. We look forward to the installation of the new shade sails before the hot summer sun returns.....

Fantastic new Sports Shirts for Representative Teams

The P&C are delighted to provide new sports shirts for teams and individuals representing Holgate Public School in inter-School events. The striking design was submitted by Eamon Cassidy in a school design competition, and was voted as the favourite by the students. We look forward to seeing the new shirts in action as soon as possible.

Second Hand Uniform Store

The second hand uniform store is accessible, and has stock available, however. Please call the office before you plan to go in so they can ensure timing is appropriate. It’s a self-serve setup with only one at a time to access the store.

Canteen Open This Friday

School's back, and the canteen will be open on Friday too. Please check the canteen Facebook Page for menu updates - https://www.facebook.com/Holgate-PC-Canteen-103292007744955/

P&C Meeting Monday 7pm

Join us for our monthly P&C Meeting and catch up on the latest news on what's going on at Holgate Public School. Due to COVID-19 restrictions the meeting will be virtual via videoconference, please refer to our Facebook Page for the link to join the video-conference. https://www.facebook.com/holgateschool/ . We look forward to seeing you there.

Thanks, Ian Goodman

School Banking Message from Veronica Howarth School Banking

We have been continually monitoring the situation with Coronavirus in each state and territory, with regards to the easing of restrictions. The health and safety of communities and people remain our priority. While School Banking is still paused, we are now considering how best we can deliver the program in a Coronavirus-safe environment.

In the meantime, Start Smart Parent Resources have been created to assist parents and carers in improving their children’s money management skills. These free, short videos and worksheets can be accessed from home and are designed to give students the confidence and skills to make smart decisions about money. To find out more, visit www.commbank.com.au/parent

Veronica Howarth – School Banking

A message from Red Bus Services With the recent announcement of social distancing on public transport, Red Bus Services would like to clarify that dedicated school services are not affected and will not have limited capacity.

Our policy is that no school student will be left behind and as such school students will be given priority over other passengers on regular route services even if this means a service goes over physical distancing capacity.

Where possible students should limit their travel to catching dedicated school buses as this will help us mitigate the risk and help provide a service to regular passengers where capacity is currently restricted.

Please remind students that they are still required to tap on and off with their Opal card when boarding but are requested not to use the Opal card reader nearest the driver.

To help minimise the risk of spreading any infection every bus in our fleet is being hygienically cleaned daily by a team of cleaners.

Red Bus Services has continued to exercise additional procedures for all our employees to follow to limit any chance of the virus spreading.

This includes issuing employees with hand sanitiser, face masks and gloves and requiring employees to wash their hands every time they enter and leave a worksite and requesting that employees stay home if they are unwell. To assist you with any FAQ’s from parents / carers I have copied TFNSW links below.

https://transportnsw.info/covid-19#home-carousel

https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/covid-19-information-workplaces/industry-information/public-transport

For any further enquiries, please contact Red Bus Services. info@redbus.com.au

Regards, Craig McKenzie - Red Bus Services