0 - Ironbark Ridge PS Cnr. Ironbark Ridge Road and Withers Road, Rouse Hill, 2155 Ph: 8814 5687 Fax: 8814 5698 Email: ironbarkrg-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au Webpage: www.ironbarkrg-p.schools.nsw.edu.au Nurturing personal growth through inspired learning…

Newsletter 2018

Term 1 Week 3 15th February 2019 Be Safe, Be Responsible, Be Respectful

DATES FOR THE DIARY

FEBRUARY FEBRUARY 11th – Swimming Carnival 13th – Chinese Kung Fu presentation 18th – Allergy Awareness Sessions, Parent Info Session 19th – The Ponds HS Open Day (see later in newsletter) 26th – Meet the teacher 3.30pm and 4.30pm 27th – Ridges Zone Swimming

MARCH

** Subscribe to our ‘Ironbark Ridge – Events’ Google calendar (see the app or the school website)

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

The new year at Ironbark Ridge is fully underway with students settling well into their new classes, new routines, new places to line up, and new relationships with their teachers. Being a teacher is such a wonderful privilege - sharing the lives of your amazing children five days a week for a whole year! Creating a positive, nurturing and inspiring learning environment is a difficult but hugely rewarding task for classroom teachers, so crucial to maximising the personal growth of each child in every room, every year. At Ironbark Ridge our teachers work in teams to evaluate and problem-solve along the way towards this goal – so please let us know how it’s going from your point of view! Class Names for 2019 This year we chose to name our classes after Aboriginal placenames, as the United Nations has declared 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages. Not all letters for classes line up perfectly with teacher surnames so be on your toes as a result . The names of all classes and their teachers are included in the ‘Stage Snippets’ sections of this newsletter. A map showing where all classes are located is also included a bit later in the newsletter. The link below will take you to more information about Indigenous languages… https://www.arts.gov.au/what-we-do/indigenous-arts-and-languages/2019-international-year-indigenous-languages Meet-the-Teacher For the parents of Year 1 – 6 students we will be holding ‘Meet the Teacher’ afternoons in Week 5 on Tuesday 26th February. Each teacher will be running two sessions in their classroom: one at 3.30-4.15pm and a second repeat at 4.30-5.15pm. This is designed to give our earlier and later arriving parents a chance to attend one of the two sessions. At the sessions, classroom and teacher specific information will be spoken about and there will be time allocated for social chat together - a chance to actually meet your child’s 2019 teacher! Kindy parents have already been invited to special Thursday 21st Feb. afternoon sessions at 5pm in the classrooms (Week 4), followed by our annual Welcome to Kindergarten BBQ from 5.30pm. Join us for a bite to eat out on the new grass!

*Stage Information ‘Slide-Shows’ Information for all Stage groups (eg. Stage 2 is Years 3 & 4) will be published on the school website and shared via the new School Star app (see below) as a ‘slide-show’ to download and watch before you attend the Meet-the-Teacher sessions. This saves us time and provides you with a resource to refer back to during Term 1. You can also ask questions about this information if you’ve already read it… maybe we should run a Kahoot in each classroom to test whether you’ve read it or not ;) Awards, rewards, goalsetting, growth With the finish of ‘Star Awards’ last year, many parents have asked what will replace them. A fair question I think! The short answer is that no new award system will replace them. Over time, Ironbark Ridge will develop effective ways of engaging our students in more ‘intrinsic motivation’. Part of this redirection will be towards personal goal-setting, and student self-assessment against benchmarks, as well as the collection of evidence and examples of mastery in a range of behaviour, skill and knowledge/understanding domains. Many schools worldwide are turning in this direction, and in fact organisations such as PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) are now valuing and measuring student capabilities in areas such as Creative Thinking (to be tested in 2021). Our Ridgy Didge Awards will continue, and will recognise students who have been demonstrating the Habits of Successful Learners – this term we’re focussed on Courage, Using Feedback, and Collaboration. Students will be discussing these Habits and ways they can improve in using them. As 2019 progresses, teachers, students and parents might just begin to grow in all 12 of the Successful Learner Habits, and this growth, as well as in other areas such as Character Strengths, Academics and Leadership Capabilities will be measurable, visible and able to be recognised. A new system of growth recognition will emerge as a result… however the focus will remain on the intrinsic satisfaction of achieving goals we have set for ourselves through our own hard work. Far better than an award handed down from on high for reasons we are unsure of! Caballo Street Gate - procedures From next week (Monday 18th Feb.) we will be opening the ‘bottom’ gate into the school from Caballo St. It will open at 8.45am for students and families to enter in the mornings, closing again shortly after 9am. Late arrivals must enter school via the front main gate. In the afternoons it will be opened at 2.50pm for parents to enter, however all students will still be walked by their class teacher to the regular ‘afternoon safe release points’ at the Hangar and brick COLAs at the end of E, G and F Blocks. Families are free to exit the school in the afternoons from the Caballo St gate. Hopefully this offers another parking option in Caballo St and in fact I’d encourage families who live in the Rouse Hill Town Centre apartments to walk to and from school via the ‘lake’. If using the Caballo St gate, please avoid disturbing students and classes in E Block as you pass by Allergies at school – Parent Info Session on Monday 18th! Did you know that Australia has one of the highest incidences of food allergies in the world? Each year we remind families about the importance of carefully considering the foods sent to school in lunchboxes and schoolbags for eating. Many of the students in our school experience difficulties with allergies, some very extreme - anaphylaxis. We have invited Jackie Nevard, author and founder of the My Food Allergy Friends program to our school next Monday 18th February to present fun info sessions to our younger K-3 students, as well as a special Parents and Teachers session will be conducted in the school Library from 3.15pm to 4pm. Please join us for that after-school learning session about allergies. Grass play area With the extra two weeks to ‘bed-in’ our newly laid oval turf is really growing strongly and has now had its first mow by Mr Jong-Si, our new Site Handyman. Students have really enjoyed the extra space to run around, kick the ball and play ‘Tip!’ this week. We have a few narrow turf edges to still finish off but the grass play area looks fantastic at present

Swimming Carnival Monday’s annual school Swimming Carnival was a great success, with some outstanding performances by many of our strong swimmers and a courageous attitude to have a go from many others. Balancing the participation and fun with serious competition is something that stands out at Ironbark Ridge events like this… and is a sign of our STRENGTH and EXCELLENCE!

Well done to every swimmer and to the organising teachers for a wonderful carnival! Watch out, Ridges Zone! Our Canteen Awarded! NSW Health and the NSW Department of Premier & Cabinet have awarded our school canteen with official recognition as a ‘Great Choice’ Healthy School Canteen. Only three school canteens in Western Sydney have passed this test! Our amazing Canteen Manager, with her support volunteers and staff, went through a range of changes to the menu, ingredients, scheduling and advertising to score so highly. This is a wonderful start to the year for our Ridgy Didge Kids’ Fridge 2.0

** Special thanks to our students who sent in entries to our ‘Name the Canteen’ competition over the holidays. We have settled on the original name, The Ridgy Didge Kids’ Fridge, and future promotions and communication will begin to bear this name. If you know any graphic artists, painters or designers, we are hoping to have the frontage to the canteen decorated with mural-style Ridgy & Friends cartoons promoting healthy eating and lifestyle. Send Doris an email (via the school address) if you have a talent or connection in this area.

School Star app trial We are introducing a new school app to assist in secure communication with you all. The app is called School Star, and allows a visual-style of communication akin to Facebook, however in a secure environment that only registered users can access (via entering your mobile phone number to register). Please download the app and follow the steps in the brochure later in the newsletter. We will also send everyone a special message via the new system inviting you to do this. This allows us to send messages via SMS to your mobile devices in emergencies, but also via the School Star app (far cheaper) if you all download it and register. The SchoolStar app will become the main source of Ironbark updates and celebrations through the newsfeed during 2019. More info in the Week 5 newsletter, so please download the free SchoolStar app and set yourself up to hear what’s going on at Ironbark Ridge. Our current school app will continue to be used as part of the trial to compare functionality so please stay with both if you can for a while. Day of Action – Bullying, No Way! Ironbark Ridge prides itself on having a nurturing and caring atmosphere, both in the classroom and the playground. This year we have ‘tasked’ all of Year 6 with being Culture Creators, and on 15th March we will be recognising the national day of action against bullying and violence with the theme: Bullying – No Way! Take Action every day! All classes in our school will be involved in conversations and learning about ways we can stop bullying in all areas of our lives. Bullying is never OK, and we want all Ironbark Ridge students to ensure our playground culture never accepts bullying-type behaviours. Every student should have some positive strategies to use if they find themselves as a ‘bystander’ in a bullying situation.

Switching on your child’s strengths… With our focus at Ironbark Ridge on guiding our students to develop Successful Learner Habits, we are really focussed on only one half of the equation! True success in life depends on both Competence (learner capabilities developed into HABITS) and… Character (integrity and intentions, referred to by Ridgy the Frog as STRENGTHS). Please take the time to read the thought-provoking article from Professor Lea Waters (later in the newsletter) about how we as parents can help identify and support the growth of our children’s strengths. There’s also info and a voucher for free access to an upcoming Webinar (8pm on 6th March) on this topic towards the end of the newsletter. Let’s work carefully and purposefully to grow every one of our children’s personal strengths! Getting School Traffic back in order I have myself witnessed some very dangerous drop-offs out the front of our school lately: students being told to get out of the car whilst stopped in traffic, parents stopping on the corner opposite the school, even a parent driving away while a student was still getting out of the back door! The safety of our students is our number one concern and the simple solution is for everyone to follow the road rules. Some parents have also been parking in illegal places on our local streets. As streets near our school are often very narrow, specific parking bays have been marked. It is NOT legal to park your car half up on the kerb on the opposite side of these narrow streets. Our local neighbours do not appreciate this being done on their front lawns, gardens and the pathways! Police and Council Rangers have been assisting us in these early weeks of the year by monitoring and enforcing these rules so please don’t be upset if you receive a fine and demerit points from your license. The simple prevention method is to do the right thing… for the safety of our Ironbark Ridge students, and just because it’s the right thing to do (not just to avoid the pain ). Snake! It’s that time of year again where we get visits from our resident Rouse Hill snakes… laying on pathway edges in the sun, moving along to new places scared by lawn mowers, or even searching out places to find food to fill their bellies before winter. Please coach your children to be alert but not alarmed, scanning ahead as they walk home and staying in the middle of the paths. Stay safe! Yours in lifelong learning, Nick Thomson Principal

DEPUTY PRINCIPALS’ REPORT We are now three weeks into 2019, and would like to extend a warm welcome our new and returning families to Ironbark Ridge. Our classes are full of excited and enthusiastic children who are relishing the challenges being provided by their teachers and we wish them every success in 2019. We would like to introduce our teaching staff of 2019. We encourage you to come and meet us at our ‘Meet the Teacher’ evenings, scheduled for Tuesday 26th February (all classes Years 1-6) and Thursday 21st February (Kindergarten). Meet the Teacher evenings will be held in your child’s classroom and will run from 3.30-4.15pm, and repeat again from 4.30-5.15pm. The attached map will assist you in finding the correct classroom! (HB stands for ‘Home Base’ – our brick classrooms; P stands for ‘portable’ – our demountable classrooms.)

CLASS TEACHER/S BLOCK ROOM K Aranda (KA) Ms A. Wijesinghe F P39a K Dandenong (KD) Ms M. Davies F P35 K Gundagai (KG) Ms V. Goddard F P 37 K Kirribilli (KK) Ms K. Sexton (ES1 Rel. Assistant Principal) F P39b K Noosa (KN) Ms T. Nahirny F P36 K Woombye (KW) Ms L. Woodbury F P38 1 Currumbin (1CB) Ms N. Cameron (Tues-Fri) Ms S. Bryce-Borthwick

(Mon) G P18

1 Eurambie (1E) Ms E. Regan G P19 1 Jindabyne (1J) Ms A. Johnson E HB4 1 Lilli Pilli (1L) Ms C. Lee E HB2 1 Raukkan (1R) Ms S. Ryan E P20 1 Toongabbie (1T) Ms T. Sammut E HB1 1 Yengo (1Y) Ms E. Laws (Year 1 Rel. Assistant Principal) E HB3 2 Amaroo (2A) Ms M. Ayas E P28 2 Coraki (2C) Ms L. Antoniazzi E P27 2 Dharruk (2D) Ms N. Dhillon E P32 2 Kalkarindji (2K) Ms N. Kronast E P29 2 Mooloolaba (2M) Ms W. Milliken E P31 2 Wooloomooloo (2W)

Ms S. Williams (Year 2 Rel. Assistant Principal) E P26

3 Attunga (3A) Ms J. Attinger F P17 3 Cronulla (3C) Ms A. Carter F P15 3 Kerang (3K) Ms K. Heyes F HB12 3 Sheringa (3S) Ms S. Horsley F HB13 4/3 Barangaroo (4/3B)

Mr D. Brent (Stage 2 Assistant Principal) F HB14

4 Echuca (4E) Ms E. Furnell F P16 4 Iluka (4I) Ms K. Ingrey F P33 4 Howatharra (4H) Mr B. den Hollander F P21 4 Patonga (4P) Ms T. Pratt F HB11 5 Bermagui (5B) Ms J. Barton G P25 5 Erina (5E) Ms E. Fox G P24 5 Humumba (5H) Ms S. Hoggan G HB9 5 Walgett (5W) Ms K. Withers G P22 6/5 Minnamurra (6/5M)

Ms J. McCarthy (Stage 3 Assistant Principal) G HB8

6 Akuna (6A) Mr A. Maffey G P23 6 Canberra (6C) Ms A. Chaouk G HB5 6 Jamberoo (6J) Ms J. Maher G HB10 6 Larrimah (6L) Ms L. Stewart G HB6 6 Seisia (6S) Ms T. Sayer G HB7

The work classroom teachers do would not be possible without the support of our specialist teachers and support staff. For 2019, these are:

Learning & Support

Ms K. Robson (Assistant Principal, Learning & Support) Ms B. Greentree Ms T. Katopau

History RFF / Support teachers

Ms T. Kaur Ms A. Turner Ms C. George Ms C. Buda Ms L. Wilkinson

English as an Additional Language /

Dialect

Ms N. Childs Ms M. Shorten Chinese RFF Ms L. Przyrembel

Ms C. Chong

Library RFF Ms J. Paton Ms R. Bryce Ms A. Weekley

School Counsellor Ms E. Zammit

School Learning & Support Officers

Ms S. McGill Ms R. Luton Ms N. Georges Mr N. McConnell

School Administrative & Support Staff

Ms A. Batten (Manager) Ms M. Jones Ms J. Lewis Ms J. Budzinski Ms B. Aspland Mr I. Barton Mr X. Li Ms D. Cull Ms M. Cooper

Deputy Principals

Ms K. De Jager Ms K. Pho Principal Mr N. Thomson

STUDENT AND VISITOR SAFETY We have a number of procedures and expectations to ensure the safety of our students and staff. Thank you in advance for supporting the following procedures when on school grounds:

Visitors during the school day: Whilst we actively encourage an inviting and welcoming school, the safety of our students, staff and resources remain our highest priorities. Visitors are defined as all people other than staff members, students, and parents/carers involved in the task of delivering or collecting children at the start or end of the school day.

All visiting parents including canteen helpers, carers, workers and contractors are be required to report to the School Administration Office prior to undertaking any activity within the school, where they will be required to complete and sign the Visitors Register. They will be given a Visitors badge which they must wear at all times whilst they are within the school. All visitors will be required to report to the administration office at the end of their visit to return their badge and to sign out in the register. Apart from the keeping your children and the staff safe, the school’s emergency management procedures will ensure that visitors within the school at the time of any emergency or practice drill will be recognised and be appropriately catered for. Thank you for your understanding of this very important issue. Please note that this does not apply to parents or visitors to school assemblies or events.

All parent helpers who are working in the canteen or in classrooms or on school excursions and events must have a valid Working With Children Check. For volunteers, this WWCC is free and valid for five years. Please be aware that you are unable to assist in classrooms and work with children if you don’t have a valid WWCC. Applications form for applying for a WWCC are accessed online through the NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian. A link to the website can be found below. Once again we appreciate greatly your support and thank you for your assistance in this matter. www.kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au/child-safe-organisations/working-with-children-check Attendance Children benefit from attending school all day every day and should only leave the school during operating hours for exceptional and unavoidable reasons. We ask that all parents visit our front office to collect or drop off their child during the school day. Please ensure that all partial and whole-day absences are explained promptly with a note to the office or via our app.

Car Parks We ask that you do not use the staff car park as a walkway or parking area at any time. With the constant movement of vehicles in and out of the car park, it is not safe for pedestrian use. The car park is for staff parking only. Thank you for upholding our school expectations when entering or leaving the school. SCHOOL PHOTOS A reminder that our annual school photos will be taken on Thursday 7th March. Envelopes explaining package options and providing online ordering access codes will be sent home this week. It is important that each child is dressed in full school summer uniform including red, green or white hair pieces and clean black shoes.(No sports uniform please.) If you wish to pre-order your child’s class photo, portrait or would like to arrange a sibling photo, please log onto www.advancedlife.com.au and enter the code BCL PXG JLJ. All orders are to be processed through this site. Please note that no notes or money will be processed through the front office. TERM 1 CALENDAR Please see the attached calendar for the term events. The IRPS ‘Events’ Google calendar is updated regularly. We encourage all parents to download this calendar onto their phone or device to keep updated with all school goings on. Have a great weekend, Kerrie Pho and Kerry De Jager Deputy Principals

DEPUTY PRINCIPALS’ REPORT

Kerrie Pho and Kerry De Jager Deputy Principals

ADMINISTRATION Welcome back to the new school year. We will be emailing out term invoices within the next couple of weeks. There will be a “due date” for payment and this is strictly adhered to. If payment is not made by the due date, unfortunately your child will be unable to attend any of the activities that are being planned.

Parents are requested not to walk through the staff car park, with our without any children as a matter of safety. It is very busy in the afternoon and it is a no pedestrian thoroughfare, Thank you for your co operation

Mrs. Allison Batten School Administration Manager

Kindy Capers

Welcome to Kindergarten 2019!! We are excited to be teaching your children this year and hope that you have found it a smooth transition to big school so far. It has been a lovely start to the year with a very settled group of students. A few tears here and there that usually turn to smiles quickly. Do not be surprised if your child is extremely tired during the first few weeks of school. They are learning a lot in these beginning weeks about their new school

and making friends. We are busy establishing daily routines and expectations that will be followed throughout the year. Parents are encouraged to give their children space to develop independence and routines at this time. Students will be joining the whole school morning assembly next Monday. They will still place their bags in their class line on the basketball court and then proceed to the handball court area to line up. This morning assembly takes place each Monday. We have also come to the end of our early pick up arrangements. It has been wonderful to meet so many parents/grandparents each afternoon and become familiar with the pick-up procedures for each student. From Monday, students will be walked to the basketball court in the afternoons for collection at 3.00pm. Please do not wait near the classrooms. Next week we will be beginning our Crunch n Sip time (also known as fruit break). Students are able to eat a small fruit or vegetable snack during the morning learning time. The snack needs to be packed separately and be something that is easy to eat whilst completing activities. Library day for Kindergarten classes is as follows -

• KN and KK – Tuesday • KG, KD, KW and KA - Friday

Borrowing will commence in the next few weeks and students will require a library bag to be able to borrow a book. Sport day is Thursday. Students are to wear sports uniform and running shoes. Students participate in many art and craft activities in the classroom. If you would like to provide an art smock to help protect uniforms, please send it in to the class teacher. We are looking forward to seeing all of our parents on Thursday 21st February at 5.00pm for our Meet the Teacher and Welcome BBQ evening. After meeting with your child’s teacher in their classroom, we will all come together to meet other teachers and families at our BBQ dinner.

Classes for 2019

Kindergarten Kirribilli Mrs Katrina Sexton – Assistant Principal Kindergarten Aranda Miss Amanda Wijesinghe Kindergarten Dandenong Mrs Melissa Davies Kindergarten Gundagai Mrs Vanessa Goddard Kindergarten Noosa Mrs Tamara Nahirny Kindergarten Woombye Mrs Louise Woodbury Kindergarten teachers would like to thank parents for their support during the first couple of weeks. It has been wonderful to work together to ensure the best possible start to school life for our students! We are looking forward to the year ahead! ES1 Teachers

Stage 1 Snippets The Stage One teachers would like to welcome all our families to Stage One 2019. We have formed our new classes and are enjoying getting to know your children. Stage One has 13 classes this year.

Classroom Stationery & Supplies Many thanks to all families who have sent in classroom supplies. If you haven’t already done so, please send items in as soon as possible.We will send some reminders throughout the year to top up on various items. Glue sticks, lead pencils, handwash and paper towel run out quickly so please replenish items each term if possible.

Crunch ‘n’ Sip

Each day students will participate in Crunch ‘n’ Sip during the morning session. Please remember that food containing nuts, fish, honey and eggs should not be consumed at school as some students have severe allergies to these items.This includes some snack and muesli bars.

Library Borrowing books from the Library will commence in the next few weeks. Students will require a library bag for borrowing.

Sport Students will need to wear their sports uniform for Sport.Year 1 will have Sport on a Friday and Year 2 will have Sport every Thursday.

With our hot summer weather, please ensure your children have a water bottle and a school hat, both clearly labelled with your child’s full name and class.

Class Contact If you are interested in becoming a class contact please inform your child’s teacher as soon as possible.

CLASSES FOR 2019 1 Yengo Mrs Emma Thomson Laws - Assistant Principal (Year 1) 1 Currumbin Mrs Nichole Cameron, (Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri)

Mrs Stephanie Bryce-Borthwick (Monday) 1 Eurambie Mrs Emma Regan 1 Jindabyne Mrs Alison Johnson 1 Lilli Pilli Miss Christina Lee 1 Raukkan Mrs Sandra Ryan 1 Toongabbie Mrs Tracy Sammut 2 Woolloomooloo Mrs Simone Williams - Assistant Principal (Year 2 Amaroo Miss Madison Ayas 2 Coraki Miss Lorriana Antoniazzi 2 Dharruk Mrs Navneet Dhillon 2 Kalkarindji Mrs Nicoline Kronast 2 Mooloolaba Miss Whitney Milliken

We are all looking forward to a wonderful year of learning and growth.

Stage 1 Teachers

Stage 2 Snippets WELCOME BACK EVERYONE! Stage 2 have settled well into their new classes and have certainly hit the ground running. We have been busy learning how to ‘stretch’ our brains and recognise the language of a growth mindset, changing the way we think and setting ourselves up to be successful learners in 2019.

Thank you to those families who have sent their children with all the necessary school supplies. This enables your child to begin their day feeling organised and ready to jump into learning. If you are unsure of what your child’s class requirements are, please check the school website for a complete list for each grade.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!! It was wonderful to see all the students in Stage 2 dress up in their red and yellow colours last Tuesday for Chinese New Year. This week we were lucky enough to see the amazing performers from the “Invincible World” Martial Arts group. They talked to us about the value of a strong heart and mind, amazed us with their wonderful talents and taught us some simple skills in martial arts that everyone enjoyed.

YR 4 BROKEN BAY CAMP The year 4 camp to Broken Bay is approaching fast and the children are all buzzing with excitement! The teachers are looking forward to spending time with your children and getting to know them outside the context of the classroom. This is such a wonderful time for students to get to know each other in a beautiful outdoor setting. Camp gives your child the opportunity to develop important skills that enhance their physical and mental wellbeing as well as have loads of fun along the way. Important Information A new permission note for camp will be emailed with the term invoices as the dates for camp have changed. Please sign the new permission slip and return it to the school office or to your child’s teacher at your earliest convenience.

Below is a link to the medical online survey that parents/guardians will need to complete for your child prior to attending camp. Some other details needed when completing the online survey have also been included below. https://sportandrecreation.nsw.gov.au/facilities/medicalandconsentform Booking Number: 550688 Venue: Broken Bay Sport and Recreation Centre Start Date: 01/04/2019 Congratulations to all our students who competed in the swimming carnival. We have a few little ‘pocket rockets’ in Stage 2 and with the beautiful sun shining down on us for the day, they were able to showcase their talents as well as cool off. Well done to those students who made it through to the zone carnival, it is an honour to have you represent our school.

CLASSES FOR 2019 3-4B Barangaroo David Brent (AP – Stage 2) 3A Attunga Jenni Attinger 3C Cronulla Alison Carter 3K Kerang Kirstin Heyes 3S Sheringa Sascha Horsley 4E Echuca Liz Furnell 4I Iluka Kylie Ingrey 4H Howatharra Byron Hollander 4P Patonga Tara Pratt Stage 2 Teachers Stage 3 Snippets Everywhere teachers look we see the positive growth mindset of students, demonstrating through the persistence of bodies and minds, to achieve something new and different. Their willingness to challenge themselves and take calculated risks is so important and that is just what the students of Ironbark Ridge are doing. We could not be prouder!

Year 6 students were given an opportunity to participate in a Leadership Day recently. It was an absolutely fantastic day with all students gaining great skills in positive self-talk, teamwork, challenging and respecting themselves to be their best version and looking outside of themselves to support others. For the teachers, it gave us an insight into the amazing students we get to work with this year and we loved seeing the kids interact and work with others outside of their friendship groups. We are excited that Year 5 will have the same opportunity later in the year.

This year we will be incorporating School Magazine into our classrooms. These magazines deliver a rich array of texts, allowing readers to explore the exciting world of literature. Teachers will be using the magazine to prepare readers as they transition into high school with a sophisticated and accessible range of texts supporting them on their English journey. We will get a new magazine every month for use in the classroom and the students will be able to take their magazines home after they have been used. We know students will be excited to work with this amazing resource, as are the teachers. We have to say a huge shout out to the amazing Stage 3 during the swimming carnival on Monday. It was fantastic to see the participation both in the pool and cheering from the side lines. Everyone did their absolute best. The Leaders worked so hard out the front of their house teams modelling the appropriate behaviour, encouraging and cheering on their team members. Congratulations to those talented swimmers who will be representing Ironbark at the next level. We wish you the very best of luck and we know you will do Ironbark and yourself proud.

CLASSES FOR 2019 6-5M Minnamurra Jenni McCarthy (AP – Stage 3) 5 Bermagui Janette Barton 5E Erina Erin Fox 5H Humumba Sally Hoggan (OC) 5W Walgett Karlene Withers 6A Akuna Andrew Maffey 6C Canberra Amanda Chaouk 6J Jamberoo Jess Maher (OC) 6L Larrimah Lara Stewart 6S Seisia Tracy Sayer Stage 3 Teachers

CHINESE Xīnnián kuàilè! 新年！ Happy Chinese New Year everyone! And welcome back to another year of learning. Last Tuesday, we celebrated the beginning of the lunar year of the Pig. Students dressed up in red and yellow or traditional costumes and enjoyed some fortune cookies.

This week we completed our new year celebrations by participating in a Kung Fu Workshop with the team from Invincible World. The students learnt about the history of Kung Fu in China, the oldest of all the martial arts, and learnt how to do some basic self-defence moves. Along with a greater cultural understanding, the students were also spoken to about hard work and discipline, to always be and do your best. It was a very engaging and interactive workshop enjoyed by all.

Gōngxǐ fācái! 恭喜发财！Wishing all our Ironbark families a happy and prosperous 2019. Mrs Przyrembel and Miss Chong – Chinese Teachers K-6

Borrowing from our School Library will commence next week (Week 4) for all students in Year 1 to Year 6. Kindergarten students will commence borrowing in Week 5 Please ensure your child/children bring their library bag on their class Library Day.

Thank you Library Teachers

Garden Club 2019

Garden Club is up and running for 2019! With so many keen gardeners itching to get started, we braved the heat and began tidying up our beloved, but very overgrown vegetable garden. The hot and wet summer conditions has meant there was a jungle of weeds that we needed to tackle before we could start preparing our garden beds for the autumn planting. Once the garden beds are prepared, the students will be involved in deciding what is to be planted, how we organise the planting, and constructing anything that the plants will need to grow on. We will also be tidying up our rather scruffy garden friend, Russell Scarecrow.

Garden Club major project for 2019

Over the Christmas holidays, a new post and rail fence was built in our playground. This fence is the first stage of the Garden Club’s major project for 2019. The plan is to renovate the garden space on the handball court side of the new fence. With retaining to create levels within the garden, new soil, fresh mulch and colourful plants and flowers, we hope to create a beautiful space for everyone to enjoy. A garden here will also provide a spectacular backdrop for whole school assemblies and events. Students will be involved in the designing and planning stages of this project as well as the planting and maintaining of the garden plants. Of course the new garden will need a name. Garden Club will run a whole school competition to find a wonderful name for this new and exciting space.

SCHOOL SWIMMING CARNIVAL Another successful Ironbark Ridge Public School Swimming Carnival was held last Monday. The weather was certainly on our side and congratulations to all swimmers on their incredible efforts. It was pleasing to see our less abled swimmers participating and ‘having a go’. Numerous swimmers who attended our Swimming Scheme Program during Term 4 last year were able to swim 50 metres. Suzie A broke six records at the carnival. Congratulations on an outstanding effort Suzie.

Open Girls 100m Freestyle Junior Girls 200m Individual Medley 10 Years Girls 50 Freestyle Junior Girls 50m Backstroke Junior Girls 50m Breaststroke Junior Girls 50m Butterfly

A huge thank you to all helpers on the day; our carnival would not be a success without your assistance. The Ridges Zone Swimming Carnival will be held on Wednesday 27th February, at Blacktown Aquatic Centre. Best wishes to all Ironbark competitors. House Places: 1st Wattle 2nd Bluegum

3rd Casuarina 4th Waratah

Age Champions: Junior Girls: Suzie A Junior Boys: Ruan M 11 Years Girls: Shelby J and Kavisha T 11 Years Boys: Kai M

12 Years Girls: Judy S and Lauren B 12 Years Boys: Oliver P

Thank You Judy Paton

PSSA SPORT – TERM 1 STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN PSSA TEAMS ARE REQUIRED TO BE

AT SCHOOL ON FRIDAY MORNINGS BY 8.45AM FOR AN 8.50AM SHARP DEPARTURE. IF STUDENTS DO NOT ARRIVE ON TIME THE

BUS WILL NOT WAIT AND YOUR CHILD WILL NOT BE PARTICIPATING IN PSSA ON THAT FRIDAY.

WEEK 1 22nd February AFL Wrights Reserve, Pyes Road Quakers Hill SOFTBALL/T-BALL Hills Centenary Oval CRICKET Hills Centenary Oval NRL TAG Russell Reserve – Field 2 (Withers Rd, Rouse Hill (ex Second Ponds) WEEK 2 1st March AFL Wrights Reserve, Pyes Road Quakers Hill SOFTBALL/T-BALL Caddies Creek Reserve, Milcroft Way, Kellyville CRICKET Caddies Creek Reserve, Milcroft Way, Kellyville NRL TAG Russell Reserve – Field 1 (Withers Rd, Rouse Hill (ex Second Ponds) CANTEEN Ironbark Ridge has achieved Healthy School Canteen status, and we are one of three schools in our local education area to have achieved this, which is a fantastic achievement.

We now have a pop corn machine and Our range of healthy breakfoods are available. Sell bags of popcorn for $1.50 Priced between $1.00 and $2.00

P & C

Ironbark Ridge Public School P&C Association 1 Ironbark Ridge Road, Rouse Hill NSW 2155 Telephone: 02 8814 5687 Fax: 02 8814 5698 Email: executive@irpspc.com

ABN : 13 563 185 237

Notice of P&C Committee Meeting 20 February 2019

All parents are welcome to attend the P&C meeting for Term 1 which will be held on E 20 February at 7:00pm in the school library. Attending this meeting is a great opportunity to meet other parents and become involved in the school community at Ironbark Ridge Public School. It also provides an opportunity to gain valuable insight into what is happening at the school and what can be expected in the year ahead. The P&C committee currently has a Vice President’s position vacant. If you are interested in this role or joining the P&C come to the meeting next week. P&C Membership fee is $2 a year and we encourage you to join so that you can have a say in your school. All parents are welcome. We look forward to seeing you there.

Ironbark Ridge P&C Association would like to thank our

Platinum & MAJOR Fete Sponsor WEBSITE : www.skylinesolar.com.au

Ironbark Ridge P&C Association would like to thank our GOLD Fete Sponsors

WEBSITE: ww.rousehillsmilesdentalcare.com.au Rouse Hill Plaza G07-G08, 2-4 Aberdour Avenue, Rouse Hill, NSW 2155

Phone: (02) 8381 0501

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COMMUNITY NOTICES

rative R e g i s t e r a t TERM 1 STARTING SOON ENROL TODAY Classes focus on building skills by practice

1 February 2019 OPEN NIGHT 2019

ATTENTION: YEAR 5 & 6 STUDENTS Dear Parents & Carers, The Ponds High School Open Night will be held on Tuesday 19 February from 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm. The evening will begin with an information session in the school hall; this will include a general overview of the school and systems including BYOD, Learning Support and GATs programs. The Ponds High School students will lead tours of the school and introduce the subjects on offer. You will have the opportunity to ask teachers and students questions about the school and their experiences. Looking forward to meeting you on Tuesday 19 February. Yours sincerely,

Jenny Weal Principal The Ponds High School

Principal: Mrs Jenny Weal Deputy Principals: Mr Brad Cook

Mr Andrew Fitzgerald Mr Philip Scandizzo