Gundagai South Public School Principal: Mrs Pip McAlister

RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, CARE

NEWSLETTER Phone: (02)69441117 Gundagai South Public School Fax: (02)69441158 Luke Street Email: gundagais-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au Gundagai NSW 2722 Web: www.gundagais-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Term 2 Week 10 1st July 2019

Dear Parents,

WOW! Week 10 – here already

- and what a week it promises to

be. More in a moment.

Last week was a very difficult

one and I especially would like

to thank Ms Sini for her

cooperation and willingness to

take the combined K/1/2 class,

whilst I took the 3/4/5/6

students, whilst Mrs Jackson

and Mrs Hillier were both away

Ms Wild was also unable to be

here due to sickness and again

this week she will not be

joining us.

In addition, our school played

host to two special events –

Multicultural Perspectives

Public Speaking Final and the

STEM share professional

learning day. This also placed

additional pressure on our staff

and luckily, I was able to access

two causals to help out on

Tuesday. Let’s hope we have

our class teachers back on deck

this week, feeling much better.

Congratulations to our four

participants – Lilah Norden,

Sam Crooks, Tahlira Rose and

Dusty Blundell who each did a

fantastic job with both their

speeches – prepared and

impromptu. Once again, the

impromptu speeches proved

tricky for all contestants.

Congratulations to the winners

of the competition and thank

you so much to Lianne

Blundell and Jodie Dean who

did the best possible catering

for the Public Speaking

competitors and their families.

Well done everyone – Gundagai

South can be justifiable proud

of the job we do. A great team

effort!

Week 10

This week, selected students

will be travelling to Marulan for

the PSSA Small Schools’

Soccer knockout games against

Otford Public School. Thank

you to those very keen and

supportive parents who have

volunteered to assist with

transport and support our

students during the games.

Good luck to our team.

Book Launch

Everyone is invited to join us at

12noon on Tuesday

(tomorrow) for the book

launch for our former student,

Helen Castles. Scoop McLaren,

Detective Editor – a labour of

love for Helen has been

published and

will be launched in the United

Kingdom today, 1st July.

Already the first print run has

been sold out with (Ashton)

Scholastic purchasing several

thousand copies for their stores.

Come along and enjoy listening

to Helen telling her story about

how her ideas come to fruition.

We would love to see as many

people at school as possible. It

is anticipated that this launch

will take about an hour.

Assembly

Our final assembly for this

term will be held this

Wednesday commencing at

2.00pm. It will be hosted

by our very competent

Year 2/3/4 class. Come

along and show your

support.

Dance

Our final dance lessons will be

held this week – with our

normal lesson on Wednesday

morning and a makeup lesson

on Thursday morning. Thank

you to Jamie and Hannah who

have led the students during the

past term. It has been pleasing

to see so many students really

engaging in the sequences and

achieving success in the

presentation of whole dance

routines.

External Validation Support

On Thursday morning, I will be

working with a member of the

Regional office team who are

offering support, guidance and

advice about the External

Validation process which we

are participating in. This

support is being offered during

the first few weeks of Term 3

before we submit our evidence

for consideration by an external

panel. Feedback from this

panel will be received toward

the end of term.

School Excursion

Final numbers have been

forwarded to Sydney to our

accommodation and the

attractions which we will be

visiting for our major school

excursion beginning on the 29th

July. Thank you to those

parents who have already paid

the cost in full. Please – if you

owe money for the excursion,

ensure that it is paid in full by

the end of the week. It is such a

huge amount of work to

organise such a complex yet

exciting excursion, so I hope

you can appreciate this and

finalise your payments. It is

such a wonderful opportunity

for our students and something

unique for our school.

Berry Street Education Model

Recently I attended some

training in Narrandera based on

the Berry Street Education

Model. This was an extremely

informative course which was

attended by over 120 teachers in

the Riverina. The training

focused on explicit information

around five domains – Body,

Stamina, Engagement, and

Character, which are all

anchored by Relationships.

These areas of focus are jointly

seen as collaborative indicators

of success to meet the special

and complex needs of

vulnerable children.

Teachers can quickly recognise

students on the margins of their

classroom communities:

students who struggle with

dysregulation including

aggression, hyperactivity, and

non-compliance; students who

have difficulty connecting and

maintaining strong

relationships; and students

whose stress response is

triggered at seemingly

inconsequential moments.

Many of our students arrive at

school with the best of

intentions, hoping to succeed at

the day’s tasks with minimal

disruption. Despite their best

efforts by the end of the school

day they find themselves

defiant, angry, frustrated and

without hope. Often, teachers

observe presenting behaviours

such as distracted daydreaming,

peer bullying, refusal to

complete assignments, or

aggressive hypervigilance.

These protective mechanisms

are sometimes developed by

children who struggle with

chronic or posttraumatic stress

in the aftermath of trauma from

abuse or neglect.

BSEM is both developmental (a

hierarchy of skills) and

cyclically iterative (spiralled

strategies that consistently

address student needs).

Acknowledging that individual

students have differentiated

competencies, needs and

strengths, trauma-informed

teachers resist a strictly

sequenced model. Teachers

must determine missed stages

of healthy development and

accommodate for them.

Simultaneously, teachers apply

the understanding that their

practice must be fluid to meet

changing classroom and

populations.

BSEM also acknowledges that

vulnerable students have

developed coping strategies in

and out of the classroom. These

student strategies often take the

form of defiance, resistance or

withdrawal. Teachers should

know that these behaviours

should not be interpreted as

indicating relational disrepair

between the student and

teacher. Rather, teachers must

position classroom defiance as

an invitation to better assess and

prepare for the success criteria

that best ensure visible growth

for every student.

When meeting student needs,

we continually return to the

principle of engaging with our

students in a manner that is

developmentally-informed and

age respectful.

Much about what was delivered

during the training supported

our positive Behaviour for

Learning Values and the

dispositions of How to Learn.

During the remainder of the

year, the staff will begin

implementing some of the ideas

and strategies in order to

support our students’ learning

P & C Meeting

Minutes from last week’s

special P & C meeting are

attached for your information.

Reports and Portfolios

Due to our extremely disrupted

final week of Term 2 and the

lack of available casuals, I am

not certain that all reports and

portfolios will be ready for the

students to take home on

Friday. We will do our best,

but I hope you will be

understanding if this does not

eventuate. Thankyou

Library Books

Could all library books be returned to school by the end

of this week. Thankyou

Earn and Learn

ALL STICKERS NEED TO

BE RETURNED TO

SCHOOL BY THURSDAY

THIS WEEK PLEASE.

Calendar

The calendar for July is

attached for your information,

Please keep this on your fridge

and add any relevant

information as it comes

School Banking

Don’t forget to send in your

Bendigo School Banking.

Banking will be collected every

Wednesday.

Healthy Recess and Lunch

Congratulations to our

healthy recess and

lunch awards winners

for Week 9

Recess award - Hayden

Crossley

Lunch award - Chase

Anderson

PBL- Uniform Winners

Congratulations to our weekly

uniform award winners for

Week 9– Josie Warren, Gus

Dowell, Pepper Maconochie,

Ethan Hourn.

PBL Weekly Focus Area

This week our focus areas for

PBL will be “Play Areas” in

the playground and

“Assembly” for our Classroom.

Playground –Play Areas

Respect: Share and take turns.

Be friendly.

Responsibility: Play by the

rule. Be sun safe.

Care: Use equipment properly.

Classroom – Assembly

Respect: Follow instructions.

Responsibility: Sit quietly and

listen

Care: Show manners.

Please discuss our focus areas

with your children this week.

Student of the Week

5/6 – David Foster - Great

independent use of technology

to present his learning.

2/3/4 – Kjay Roma-Warahi –

Being able to refocus his

learning and work productively

on his Power Point on the Blue

Tongue Lizard.

K/1 - Kaiden Anderson –

Looking after fellow class

members and gently helping

others stay focused.

Gold Star Award

5/6 – Monique Hayes –

Showing support for her fellow

students and responsibility at

the Public Speaking

Competition.

2/3/4 – Chase Anderson –

Being a supportive and

responsible class member.

K/1 – Sierra McGrath –

Being a focused and co-

operative class member who

takes initiative in the classroom.

How 2 Learn

5/6 – Teleah Smith – Showing

focus during writing time and

independent work habits whilst

completing her learning.

2/3/4 – Tahlira Rose – For

positive, independent

committed learning and

presentation during the Public

Speaking.

2/3/4 – Dusty Blundell - For

positive, independent

committed learning and

presentation during the Public

Speaking.

K/1 - Pepper Maconochie –

Showing resilience and rising to

the challenge when given

higher level spelling.

Final Day

Our final day of Term 2 will

be this Friday. Students

will return to school on

Tuesday 23rd July for

the start of Term 3. Staff will return on Monday

and 22nd with a combined

training day. I hope you

enjoy the time you have

together with your children

during the short school

break.

Pip

Canteen

Wednesday 3rd

July

Lianne Blundell

Friday 5th July

Lianne Blundell