Dubbo South Public School Respect, Care, Cooperation & Responsibility

From Sharon’s Desk Red Nose Day, although a little damp on the day the students enjoyed the activities on Friday and raised a total of $580.10. Thank you for your generous support and to Liam Hopkins Davies for his organisation and setting up on the day! COVID 19 Updates have seen a range of activities and practices put on hold from this week. As of yesterday: Parents are reminded that children are not to

attend school if unwell. If your child displays any flu like symptoms, they must have a COVID test and test results must be sighted before your child returns to school.

There are additional restrictions on interschool activities, debating and sports. This means there will be NO PSSA in Term 4.

Group singing, chanting and playing wind instruments will not be allowed.

Parents or community members will not be allowed on the premises at any time throughout the day.

Students are reminded regularly of the following hygiene procedures—washing hands, using sanitiser at every break; coughing/sneezing into their arm and filling drink bottles from bubblers rather than using the bubbler itself. All adults on school premises must practise physical distancing at all times. At this time, the uniform shop is open to parents. Visitors to the school must sign a Health Declaration as they enter through the office on Fitzroy Street. For further updates please follow the link https://education.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/advice-for-families. Thank you, I appreciate your support with this. By working together we can ensure we can continue to operate as normal as can be, in these challenging times supporting your child. School App: Free in your App Store and will allow you to order school uniforms online as well as complete

attendance notices. If your child must be away due to sickness etc. please complete the online attendance notice. It will be emailed directly to the school office and then onto the class teacher. Do not use REMIND for absences. This app is only for limited, important notices or updates about your child. I apologise for any confusion. Year 5 Assessment Trial will occur for all of our students. In a non-NAPLAN year we are trying to gather as much information about our students learning as we can. The internal assessment tests will allow teachers to see what students know and how teaching programs need to be adjusted to improve your child’s learning and achieving their outcomes. Although students complete the tests online, the results are then marked and returned to the school. Only the teacher will receive these results. This will allow them to update and make adjustments in class teaching for each child. Parent/Teacher Meetings will be held the week beginning 31st August. A letter of explanation will be sent to parents this week with a link to the online booking platform. Please indicate if you are requesting a phone call interview or a meeting via ZOOM. In these challenging times, please don’t feel pressured to take up the meeting opportunity. Many parents already speak to teachers by phone and REMIND and you may feel that you are fully aware of your child’s learning growth. The offer for a link up is there if you so wish. I realise communication opportunities across the school has been reduced without the usual drop in approach. However, if you feel you need to raise concerns or issues or would like to suggest anything please contact the school by phone or email. It is important to stay in touch! Have a good week and stay healthy. “Forward Always” Sharon Murray, Principal

Email: dubbosouth-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au Website: www.dubbosouth-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Term 3 Week 5 18th August 2020

Due to COVID restrictions Stage 2 Red Hill day trip has been postponed until further notice and

Stage 3 Canberra Excursion has been cancelled.

Notes regarding refund information will be issued in the coming days.

Teaching and Learning Tales - Mrs Kerry McKenzie - 2K Mrs Kerry McKenzie strives to create a classroom environment in which all her students feel connected to learning. “Relationships are the foundations of teaching. I work hard to ensure my students feel like this is a classroom they want to walk into every day, and that someone cares about their learning,” Mrs McKenzie said. Mrs McKenzie’s beautiful classroom reflects her education philosophy. It is warm, colourful and sweetly scented. “I enjoy being a teacher. It’s wonderful to be able to create your own little world for children to learn in. I love it when a child suddenly does something for the first time”. Passionate about improving the planet one child at a time, Mrs McKenzie brings many varied life experiences to her teaching practices. She is a proud Aboriginal woman, who was one of 11 children. Her father was a drover, so her mother and siblings moved around the central western region. “I started my schooling in Wongarbon, then Wellington, before moving to Dubbo to attend both primary school and secondary school.” Mrs McKenzie recalled that she didn’t always feel she belonged, or was understood at school. “I remember I wanted to complete my HSC, but the opportunity to do so just became harder and harder.” Mrs McKenzie school finished in Year 11 and completed her Diploma of Early Childcare Education at Moss Vale in the Southern Highlands. She returned to Dubbo and worked in a childcare centre, before taking on a teacher’s aide position at Fairview Heights in 1988. “In about 1995 I went back into childcare and I realised how much I enjoyed programming, setting up the room, and helping children to feel ready to learn. It made me realise I wanted to become a teacher.” Mrs McKenzie completed her teaching qualifications at University of Western Sydney through the Aboriginal Regional Education Program. All of Mrs McKenzie’s hard work was rewarded when she was offered

Targeted Graduate Status with the NSW Department of Education. “I was initially sent to Wellington, then to Narromine for 3 years, before coming to Dubbo and eventually commencing at Dubbo South Public School in 2009. “Growing up I never thought I was smart enough to be a teacher. I have high expectations of all my students because I want them to realise that if they work hard anything is possible.” Student voices: Ella Rose, 7 years old – “I love doing art with Mrs McKenzie. She is very good at it.” Matilda Handley, 7 years old – “Mrs McKenzie is nice and has taught me about subtraction.” Sally Wier, 6 years old – “Mrs McKenzie is kind and makes me feel good.” Brooklyn Artery, 7 years old – “Mrs McKenzie is fun.” Lilly Foley, 7 years old – “Mrs McKenzie helps me to learn.” James Brady, 7 years old – “Mrs McKenzie has made me better at maths.” Blayne Tracey, 8 years old – “Mrs McKenzie helps me to work well and shows me how I can get better.”

Congratulations to the following students on their achievements: Merit: Kenzie Ireland, Charlie Tonkin, Amira McLelian, Eleanor Moeller Credit: Eleanor Moeller, Lilly Karakasch, James Riley, Lochlan Riley, Nancy Allen Distinction: Rosie Medlin, Nancy Allen, Ruby Jackson

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Respect, Care, Cooperation & Responsibility

Congratulations to Amarni Hardisty who

guessed the closest in the Red Nose Day Competition!

There were 479 Jaffas in the jar.

Amarni won with her guess of 472!

Get the Free School App for

the newsletter and messages

A reminder that

payments can be made on line

through the schools website.

New Books These and other new books are available for borrowing from the library. A new edition of Pippi Longstocking has been published. “Pipi Longstocking is the strongest girl in the world, lives by herself in a colourful house in the forest, and has a pet monkey and a horse. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with Pippi Longstocking?” We purchased three new books about Pipi Longstocking with reward points from the last book club issue. WELCOME TO THE ISLE OF MULCH… “Home to a large number of awful adults who like nothing more than making children miserable. And the island is owned by the most awful one of all – Aunt Greta Greed! Something needs to be done about them. But who could be brave enough? Meet Ned.” David Walliams said: “All children love slime, so I hope they will love this book too. It tells the story of how slime was created, and a boy uses it to wreak revenge on some nasty grown-ups.”

PRC Premiers Reading Challenge This is the second last week to complete the reading challenge. Congratulations to Taylah Redding and Sam Turner plus all the students in Kinder Purple who have completed their reading challenge. If students need to complete their reading log, they can come and use computers in the library before school on Thursday and Friday morning – this week and next. Stay safe and warm. Happy Reading Sue Buttrey Teacher Librarian.

Stage 2 Education Week Competition Congratulations to Nicholas Couley (Yr 4) and Connor Billsborough (Yr 3) for their winning entries - A Wheelie Bin that takes itself out on garbage day and redesigned backpack to get you through long days. Also congratulations to second place entrants Bella Waters (Yr 3) and Jaydence Hyndes (Yr 4) for their entries - a built-in pantry cupboard stair/step for those troubled by height and an economic home cleaning assistant robot. Congratulations to all entrants for their excellent efforts and innovative thinking! We hope you enjoy your canteen vouchers! Stage 2 Teachers

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Respect, Care, Cooperation & Responsibility

ICaN Our Year 5/6 boys made the most of the warmer weather last Thursday heading out with Nathan, Robert and Paul to spend the day at Balladoran with Uncle Ralph Naden. The boys started the day out bush learning the process of cutting didges, Uncle Ralph showed the boys which trees, what size and how to identify if they had been eaten out by white ants. After a big BBQ lunch the boys spent the arvo listening to stories from Uncle Ralph about how he grew up in Balladoran, his family, Culture and making the right choices in life. Through these stories the boys learn language, identity, history and traditional stories. This is what it’s all about for us, having our students listening and learning from local elders and community people. We also had our Year 3/4 boys head out to Balladoran last Tuesday which was the first time this crew had been out there to spend the day with Uncle Ralph. As it was the boys first time out there a lot of the day was spent listening and learning about Culture, respect and growing up to make the right choices. Boys also had some fun doing different activities with spears and boomerangs. Due to the different restrictions arising again from COVID we are not able to go off site with students at this point in time. This means the boys will be back working on different projects around the school and participating in various Cultural Activities. Have a great week. Nathan Riley

Respect, Care, Cooperation & Responsibility

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