CLARENCE TOWN PUBLIC SCHOOL

82 Queen Street, Clarence Town NSW 2321 Phone: 4996 4156 Fax: 4996 4392 Email: clarenceto-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au Website: www.clarenceto-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Kindness Honesty Effort

Term 1, Week 6 Student of the Week: Molly S2K Molly is a very caring and hard working student. She consistently demonstrates high quality work in all areas and always maintains a positive attitude towards learning. Molly is a valuable classroom helper who is always willing to give up her own time to support her fellow classmates. She always displays our PBL values and is a wonderful role model for other students. Molly is a very active student who really enjoys being outside playing with her friends. She is a very passionate animal lover and loves spending time being surrounded by animals of all shapes and sizes. Molly is a pleasure to have in the classroom and we think she will make a fantastic student of the week!!!

Diary Dates 2020

Wednesday 4 March

Assembly 2:15pm

Friday 6 March

Stage 2 & 3 Swimming for Sport

Reg Kelly Cricket @ Dungog 10am

Friday 13 March

Ride 2 School Day

Tuesday 17 March

P & C – AGM 7pm

Friday 20 March

Bullying Day

Reg Kelly Cricket @ HVG School 9.30am

Wednesday 8 April

School Photos

Assembly Merit Awards – Wednesday 26 February 2020 ES1E Denzel Brand, Sebbri Haywood, Blake Toohey S1O Kingston Kuru, Mali Metham, Brooklyn Wright S1W Bailey Billinghurst, Callum Gifford, Bridie Hicks S2K Scarlet Fitzpatrick, Wil Salter, Liam Willis S2/3B Riley Croxton, Ellee Maytom, Samuel McLean S3GD Aylia Head, Ewan Head, Sophie Thompson

Message From The Principal’s Desk : The New South Wales Department of Education utilises its world class research base at the Centre for Educational Statistics in Education (CESE) to accumulate extensive research to confirm that feedback from the school community and all stakeholders invested in schools is valuable for schools to continue performing to the expectations of the community and more importantly, discover meaningful strategies to improve, both scholastically and socially ensuring our children are spending their days in the best possible setting and that parents trust teaching staff to nurture, protect, extend and stimulate our young 21st century learners. It is therefore extremely satisfying to see over 60 responses from our families to the recent community survey which was either completed at home, online or in person at the recent disco evening. The results are now being scrutinised by the Relieving Principal and will be published in full for the staff and community to view and digest. Over the last week when visiting classrooms, it has been very pleasing to see Kindergarten settling so well and working cohesively, year 1 and year 2 working hard on their spelling program, year 3 applying themselves to mastery in mathematics, year 4 and year 5 continuing their exploration of an innovative science unit on extinction and diversity and finally year 6 nominating themselves to serving the school in a variety of roles including communication, environment and fundraising initiatives. One thing is certain; this school provides a place for everyone. Clarence Town Public school welcomes you and values your children. Please spread this message as far and wide as you wish that this school is a wonderful place to be every day. Clarence town Public School without a doubt deserves a reputation far above its current standing and after over 170 years of service to this community, it will continue to prosper and succeed. I am so proud and fortunate to serve you as Principal until Mrs Blakemore returns in term two and incredibly thankful for the opportunity.

Sporting equipment inventory Students at Clarence Town are blessed to have such a range of quality sporting equipment available to use each day and some of our very generous parents gave up their Friday afternoon to clean the main sports shed, take an inventory on current stock and evaluate what our students need in the future. This gesture is greatly appreciated and already some ‘new’ equipment is making it to the playground.

Photographs from the Term 1 week 5 Assembly

Newcastle Jets Football Clinic The Sport in Schools program which has provided twenty-five of our students a four week program in skills, touch, dribbling, shooting, passing and other technical requirements to play the world’s most popular sport comes to an end this week on Tuesday afternoon with Mr Kemp once again monitoring the program and W-League star of the future, Kiah Parrish, coming to Clarence Town for one final clinic.

Scripture and Religious Education (SRE) The Department of Education provides space within the curriculum for scheduled religious education and from week 8, commencing Wednesday March 18th our students will have a team of trained coordinators visiting the school for weekly 30 minute lessons. Mr Allan Welch from St David’s Presbyterian Church in Marshall Street straight across the road will be leading the scripture program in 2020.

Classroom readers by the hundreds…. Mrs Brown is working very hard in the library to organise hundreds of new books which will be available to use in classrooms as soon as they are covered. If you have any spare time, please see Mrs Brown, take a box home and enjoy the therapeutic benefits of covering new books which your children are going to enjoy for years to come. This significant investment of $22000 is thanks jointly to our P&C who once again are providing large amounts of funding to support and add to school funding to make our classrooms even better and resource our teachers with quality literature.

Clarence Town Sporting Kits When our students leave our school grounds to represent the school on any sporting occasion, we want them looking the part and these new kits have made their debut at the Mark Hughes Rugby League Shield and Hunter Regional PSSA Swimming Carnival with students wearing the new green, red and white representative polo accompanied by a matching hat. Wherever we travel, we want others to know we are Clarence Town and wear our school colours with pride.

Clean Up Australia Day Last Friday saw our students sweep the playground and support Clean Up Australia Day. It was a sunny afternoon and our rubbish collectors made a huge difference to the appearance of some forgotten areas of the playground including cleaning drains, fence lines and hidden garden areas across the school.

Week 5 pics from the playground

Historical Enquiry by Ellee Maytom Students in year 4 and year 5 are currently investigating the history of Australia and in particular the permanent arrival of Europeans to our shores, and as an ongoing narrative of our rich past. It is always gratifying to see students go a step beyond what is required as is evident in this essay written by Ellee over the weekend covering characters and explorers of Australia’s past. Developing strong study habits before High School is always a good idea and here is a fine example by Ellee of S2/3B.

Welcome to Willow Our newest enrolment started with us at Clarence Town today in year 5 and we welcome Willow and her family to Clarence Town Public School. Willow is a welcome addition to stage 3 and the staff and students of our school are happy to see her wearing our uniform and joining our school community.

Voluntary School Contribution

Our 2020 School Fees will be the same as previous years - $20.00 per student or $40.00 per Family. We keep these fees as reasonable as possible. These fees are used to purchase classroom stationery supplies eg exercise books, rulers, pencils, pens, erasers, sharpeners, glue, scissors, etc.

Our Tawny PBL Mascot is going well. PBL stands for Positive Behaviours For Learning and is the

basis of our Student Wellbeing Program in the school.

We are constantly reminding students of our PBL Values and school motto along with our Tawny 5 Rules and I would also encourage parents to use these words when celebrating positive behaviour and discussing negative choices with your child. The Tawny 5 Rules:

• I can listen

• I can put up my hand and wait

• I can work quietly

• I can follow instructions

• I can control what I do and Say The School motto:

Kindness Honesty Effort The Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) Values:

Learning Safety Respect Through working together we create the best opportunities and learning experiences for all our students. Have a great week. David McGaw Relieving Principal Remember to like us on Facebook and register for Skoolbag

so you can keep updated on the latest news from our school

Student Assessment ACER PAT ACER Progressive Achievement Tests will be conducted in Terms One and Four this year. Students in Years 2 to 6 will sit the tests in our IT lab on individual computers. Each assessment takes about 40 minutes. The assessments are designed to inform our teaching and learning and to assist in planning effective and targeted learning programs. They provide a measure of student achievement in each learning area assessed. Students will sit a Maths, Reading and Spelling assessment. The assessments are mapped to the Australian Curriculum and allow us to look at whole school and individual learning needs on a short and long term basis. The results will also form a part of each students’ individual assessment data which is reported in our end of Semester Reports

Canteen News Our school canteen still requires a number of volunteers for Term 1. Please see below a list of dates that volunteers are required for. If you are able to assist on any of these days, please contact the school asap. Please note that if we do not have two volunteers per day, unfortunately the canteen will be closed.

Monday 9 March x 1 volunteer Friday 13 March x 2 volunteers Friday 20 March x 2 volunteers Friday 27 March x 2 volunteers Wednesday 1 April x 1 volunteer Wednesday 8 April x 1 volunteer

Student Emergency Contact Detail Report It is important we verify our records to ensure we have correct contact details for your child. A blue note went home last week with every student. Could you please make any changes if necessary and sign the bottom of the form (even if all the details are correct) and return to the office as soon as possible.

Mathletics Fee

Once again in 2020 we will be implementing the Mathematics Mathletics Program across all grades K-6. This is a brilliant program which offers ability/grade based maths exercises for the year. This is a great supplement to Homework and with easy to follow instructions and explanations is great for students and parents alike. All students will be using the Mathletics program at school and I would strongly encourage all parents to purchase the licence, at the cost of $13.00 per student, so your child receives their password to use the program at home.

Year 6 Commemorative T-Shirt Commitment Note

Our school is currently in the process of ordering our Yr 6 Commemorative T-Shirt. The T-Shirt design will be chosen by the Year 6 students and is able to be worn one day per week (day to be confirmed). Your child’s name will be included on the back of the T-Shirt. We are asking that parents / caregivers commit to purchasing the shirts before we place our order by signing the commitment note and returning it along with a $20 deposit was due last Friday 28 February 2020. Payments can be made by cash, cheque or via our school website and Make a Payment tab (please contact the school if you have any questions regarding the Parent Online Payment). The shirts will cost approx $60 each (to be confirmed). As soon as we have finalised costs and suppliers, the order will then be placed. Unfortunately, if the note and deposit is returned after the above date, your child will not be able to purchase a T-Shirt. If you are unable to pay the $20 deposit by the due date, please contact the school. Birthday Cakes A reminder to parents that due to food allergies and health conditions we do not allow Birthday Cakes or Cup Cakes to be brought into the school to celebrate your child’s special day.

Canteen Roster – Term 1

Week Monday Wednesday Friday

Week 6

2 March Rina Rocco Alana Hammond

4 March Kelly Ryan Lisa Zilliotto

6 March Julie Saville Amy Berends

Week 7

9 March Alana Hammond 1 x Volunteer Needed

11 March Kershia Jones-Clark Bec Aurer

13 March 2 x Volunteers Needed

Week 8

16 March Rina Rocco Kelly Ryan

18 March Katie Bagnall Michelle Croxton

20 March 2 x Volunteers Needed

Coronavirus Update

To ensure the continued health and wellbeing of our students, staff and school communities, I wanted to provide you with an update in relation to COVID-19 (previously referred to as Novel Coronavirus). While only a small number of COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in New South Wales with no known community transmission, the Department continues to work closely with NSW Ministry of Health to monitor international developments. With numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases increasing, overseas and community concerns about the possible development of an international pandemic, I can assure you that the Department has been operating in accordance with its pandemic plan. We will implement relevant actions, based on advice from the NSW Ministry of Health, which we will communicate to you as soon as possible when decisions are made. I will keep you updated as this work progresses to ensure you stay informed on developments.

Updated Advice

Effective 1 March 2020 the Federal Government has issued a travel ban on foreigners coming to Australia from Iran. Only Australian citizens and permanent residents coming from Iran will be allowed entry to Australia and from 1 March they are required to self-isolate for a period of 14 days after departing Iran consistent with the restrictions for those entering from China. Additionally, Australians have been advised NOT to travel to Iran.

The updated advice from the NSW Government for parents and affected staff is:

• Any student or staff member who has been in, or transited through, mainland China (not just Hubei province) or has been in Iran is excluded from work, school or child care services for 14 days from the date they left mainland China or Iran (as the COVID-19 incubation period can be as long as two weeks).

• Any confirmed case of COVID-19 will be excluded until they are medically cleared to return.

• Close contacts of a confirmed case of COVID-19 will be excluded for 14 days since last contact with the confirmed case.

• Students and staff who have returned to Australia from mainland China or Iran more than 14 days ago and have shown no symptoms are able to return to school.

The NSW Ministry of Health has processes to identify any close contacts of cases confirmed in Australia. Advice about not attending school would be provided to these close contacts by the NSW Ministry of

Health.

Schools should report any suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 to the Incident Report and Support Hotline on 1800 811 523 and their Director, Educational Leadership.

Consistent with our current guidelines, staff and students unwell with respiratory illness should remain at home until symptoms resolve. If any student becomes unwell, we will implement our infection control guidelines and follow the advice provided by the NSW Ministry of Health as appropriate.

If you have any questions please contact your Director, Educational Leadership or call the Health and Safety Directorate on 1800 811 523. Further information on COVID-19 is also available from NSW

Health.

Overseas Travel/school Excursions

Many of our schools have planned overseas travel or excursions to occur during the year. However with the current COVID-19 situation, the safety of our students and staff is paramount and it is for this reason

that all overseas excursions are required to be now placed on hold until further notice. If you have an excursion planned for later in Term 1 you will need to make the necessary arrangement to cancel the

excursion or consider rescheduling until later in the year. Exceptional circumstances will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

If you have any questions or wish to have your travel plans considered please speak with your Director, Educational Leadership who will determine if it should be referred for further consideration.

Travel Exemptions for Years 11 and 12 students

On 22 February 2020 the Australian Government announced a strict framework to allow small numbers of Years 11 and 12 students who remain in China (but excluding Hubei Province) due to Australian travel restrictions to

resume their studies in Australia in recognition of the importance of the final two years of school.

This week the Department has been working closely with the Australian Government and NSW Ministry of Health to put in place strict measures to assure the health and safety of our students, staff and school

communities. We have been establishing a clear process for NSW schools to manage the return of students in Years 11 and 12 from mainland China and further information will be provided to you next

week.

The Australian Government has advised that the relaxation on travel exemptions for Year 11 and 12 students

will not pose a risk to the community.

Only students enrolled at NSW schools and granted approval to travel from the Australian Border Force Commissioner will be allowed entry to Australia. This approval will be on a case by case basis and must

be granted prior to a student undertaking travel to Australia.

Students (and their accompanying guardian) must meet the following criteria:

• be a current international student visa holder, granted on or before 22 February 2020, and be enrolled in an eligible year 11 or 12 course;

• not currently be unwell;

• not travelling from, or via, Hubei province in China;

• have a stable residential address at their point of entry into Australia to enable self-isolation for 14 days; and

• be willing and able to meet the quarantine requirements set out by state or territory health authorities.

Students deemed exempt from the travel restriction arriving in Australia will be subject to the same enhanced border measures that apply for Australian citizens and permanent residents returning from

China.

Every student will undertake a 14 day isolation period upon arrival, which will be assured by NSW Health. Students will also be given information about how to obtain medical attention if they

experience symptoms whilst in self-isolation.

More information about this travel exemption is available from the Australian Government’s

Department of Education, Skills and Employment.

No student or families currently under Australian travel restrictions in China should make travel arrangements

out of China, based on this process, until they get official approval from the Australian Government.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your students and their families, please speak with your Director Educational Leadership.

Practising Good Hygiene

Maintaining good hygiene standards is an important way to reduce the risk of acquiring and spreading respiratory infections and the department’s infection control procedures provide a range of practical strategies for schools to prevent transmission of infectious diseases. Schools are reminded to provide

appropriate handwashing soap as hand washing is the single most effective way to reduce the spread of germs that cause respiratory disease. Health and hygiene support information including NSW Health fact sheets and posters are available to help promote personal hygiene practices within our schools.

Schools are reminded to report any suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 to the Incident Report and Support Hotline on 1800 811 523.

Please find attached an updated version of the Principal only FAQs. Tomorrow I will email you a draft parent letter including translated versions in Persian and Mandarin which you can use to support your

communication with your communities.

We will continue to monitor the situation closely and keep our schools up to date on this matter.

Should you have any questions in the meantime, please contact your WHS Consultant or Director, Educational Leadership.

Regards

Murat Dizdar

DEPUTY SECRETARY, SCHOOL OPERATIONS AND PERFORMANCE

NSW DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Adjunct Professor, School of Education

Western Sydney University

Level 11, 105 Phillip Street, Parramatta 2150 | 7814 1152 | :murat.dizdar@det.nsw.edu.au