Teaching & Learning, Student Wellbeing, Leadership Page 1

Yates Matters Yates Avenue Public School

36 Yates Avenue, Dundas Valley, 2117 T: 9874 6302 | E: yatesave-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au | W: www.yatesave-p.school.nsw.edu.au

Our Vision: To deliver excellence and equity in teaching, learning and wellbeing by working together as an inclusive and engaged school community.

Term 2, Week 10 Wednesday 3rd July, 2019

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Celebrating Student Achievement With Semester 1 reports going home today, please take this opportunity to read the report with your child, celebrate their achievements so far and discuss their learning goals for Term 3 and beyond. We are very proud of our students’ achievements this semester, with a 10% improvement in students achieving grade outcomes in English, compared to the same time last year. In the last 12 months, we have also seen an 8% improvement in attendance which has helped to consolidate literacy and numeracy concepts and provide consistency in the learning process. I would like to thank all the staff at Yates for their amazing dedication to our school, our families and ensuring the academic and social needs of every child are supported and enriched.

Reminder - Online Parent Portal We have created a Parent Portal on Sentral to provide parents and carers with information about their child's progress at school. The portal will also be used to book parent-teacher interviews, which will take place on Wednesday, 24th July (Week 1, Term 3).

If you require an interpreter for your interview, please inform the school by Friday, 5th July.

A reminder letter is being sent home today to those parents who have not yet registered and booked an interview.

How to Register

1. Go to https://yaps.sentral.com.au/portal/register 2. Enter your email address to create a username, then enter a password. 3. Click on the 'My Access' link. 4. Click 'Add New Access Key', enter your personalised code from the letter, then click 'Add Key'.

How to Book a Parent-Teacher Interview

1. Once registered, click on 'Parent Teacher Interviews' from the column on the left, then choose 'Select Time Slots' 2. Choose a date and time and save the booking. You will then receive a confirmation email with the interview details. The address for continued access to the portal is: https://yaps.sentral.com.au/portal. Alternatively, download the ‘Sentral for Parents’ app from the Google Play or App Store.

K-6 Athletics Carvival – Postponed With the weather forecast predicting showers for tomorrow, we have postponed our athletics carnival until Thursday, 1st August, at Curtis Oval. We are crossing our fingers for a bright, sunny day!

Life Education – Healthy Harold Healthy Harold will be visiting Yates in the first week of Term 3. A permission note with details was sent home last week. Parents are asked to return the note and payment by this Friday, 5th July. Where possible, please pay online using the POP option on the school website.

Schoolzine eNewsletter -Term 3 From next term, we will be producing a new eNewsletter using Schoolzine. This change will enable us to communicate with the community in multiple ways using a consistent approach. I hope you find the eNewsletter engaging, as it will provide us with a more efficient and effective means to share stories, photos, video, calendars and feedback forms with you.

Thank You As we near the end of Term 2, I would like to thank the community for their help in the classroom, uniform shop and canteen, as well as supporting school events such as ANZAC Day commemorations, the Mother’s Day stall and breakfast, zone cross country, community breakfasts and PCC meetings. It is wonderful to have such hardworking, caring and dedicated parents who support our great school!

A reminder that students return from school holidays on Tuesday, 23rd July. I look forward to seeing you in Term 3

David MacSporran Principal

ACCOMPANYING NOTES - Term 3 Calendar - Reminder note for parents who have not registered

for the Parent Portal and booked an interview

CALENDAR Friday, 5th July – PAT & Assembly – Preschool & Buddies Tuesday, 23rd July – Students return Wednesday, 24th July – Parent-teacher interviews WHAT’S DUE? Friday, 5th July – Healthy Harold note and payment

Term 2, Week 10 Wednesday, 3rd July 2019

Teaching & Learning, Student Wellbeing, Leadership Page 2

K-2 Public Speaking Final

This term, each student in K-2 was asked to write and present a speech to their class. From these speeches, each classroom teacher chose 3 finalists to present in front of parents and Mr MacSporran.

The students had the choice of three different topics -When I grow up, If I could change the World and My Favourite Animal. Their speeches were fabulous and showed great confidence and enthusiasm. Congratulations to all our finalists: Madison Walsh, Jacob Gooch, Spencer Lunn, Joey Haumu, Bruce Ou, Eloi Bahn, Leon Kim, Koby Bennett, Ruby Alevras, Chloe Giang. We had two fabulous hosts - Kirra Howell and Oscar Wilkinson.

Our winners for Term 2 were Madison Walsh (K/1W), Bruce Ou and Eloi Bahn (K/1W) and Koby Bennett (2D) – congratulations!

Kimberly Walter Coordinator

PRESCHOOL NEWS Throughout the term, the Preschool Dolphins and Turtles have enjoyed many individual and small group learning projects. These projects, inspired by the children’s interests, questions and curiosity about the world around them, have supported opportunities to be confident and involved learners.

They have also enabled the children to be effective communicators and created opportunities to extend their own learning. By planning experiences with each other and with educators, the children have tested their ideas and made learning visible to share with families and visitors to our preschool.

Last week, we welcomed teachers from Carlingford West PS to our preschool to observe play-based learning in action. During the visit, our visitors played alongside the children to experience how high quality, intentional play supports and extends learning across all curriculum areas. We would like to thank all our families for sharing their interests, skills, cultures and family experiences with us throughout the term. We wish everyone a relaxing and safe holiday and look forward to continuing our learning together next term.

SCHOOL NEWS

Term 3 Calendar Accompanying this newsletter is the Term 3 calendar. Please keep this visible at home and check the newsletter and Skoolbag for updates about school events, in case there are changes.

Term 2 Principal’s Afternoon Tea – Friday, 5th July This Friday, we will celebrate the achievements of those students who have worked consistently hard in class and shown great dedication to learning. The following students will be receiving their Term 2 Principal’s Award: Koby Bennett, Emily Grout, Annie Domaschenz, Eligh Huang, Ruby Alevras, Nicole Alevras, Adam Thomas, Jack Zhu, Isabella George, Jack Taylor, Olwen Harris, Jack Domaschenz, Charlotte Ting, Milina Wilks and Zeke George.

Debating

Last Thursday, our Year 5 & 6 debating team competed in the second and third round of the Premier's Debating Competition.

It was a busy day with one team competing against Jasper Road Public School on the topic of 'Parents should pay their children for helping out around the house', and another team competing against Winston Heights Public School on the topic of 'The government should provide free wifi to all children’.

We were defeated by Jasper Road but were successful in winning the debate against Winston Heights. Both teams showed tremendous growth and we are immensely proud of their personal improvement. We look forward to our final debate in the competition in Term 3.

Stacey Talbot & Liz Salvagio Debating Coordinators

Term 2, Week 10 Wednesday, 3rd July 2019

Teaching & Learning, Student Wellbeing, Leadership Page 3

How can you help your child learn Vocabulary?

There are many things you can do to help your child increase both their receptive and expressive vocabulary, including:

Explaining the meaning (definition) and function of new words (e.g. a 'car' is something that takes you somewhere; it is a type of transport. Use new words in context so a child understands how they can be used in a sentence (e.g. 'the car I saw yesterday drove down the street'; ‘I drove my car to work this morning’)

Discuss the different features of a new word (e.g. size, colour, shape, parts it has, etc). For example: ‘a banana is yellow in colour, curved in shape and firm to touch. It has a stalk and thick outer skin and is a type of fruit’)

Discuss words that have similar meanings to the new word (e.g. 'fast' is another word for 'quick')

Provide multiple repetitions of the new word and use it in different ways to help consolidate new vocabulary items.

Grace Adams Speech Pathologist (CPSP) Learning Links Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) Focus Area – Using Technology

When we use technology, we are Learners who are:

Safe Carry iPads and laptops with both hands.

Respectful Use iPads, laptops and desktops

appropriately.

Responsible Follow the acceptable usage procedures at

all times.

Mrs Lawson and Mrs Lilli Learning Links – Speech Therapy Welcome to last week of Term everyone! What a busy term it has been! This week we will be exploring Vocabulary.

What is Vocabulary? Vocabulary refers to the set of words that a child knows. Vocabulary can be split into two types: receptive vocabulary and expressive vocabulary. A child’s receptive vocabulary consists of the words the child understands when he/she hears or reads them.

Why is Vocabulary important? Vocabulary is the basis for learning language. Educational research shows that vocabulary strongly relates to reading comprehension, intelligence, and general ability. As children learn to read, they must learn to decode (sound-out) print, but they also must have a vocabulary base (word knowledge) in order to make sense of what they decode.

As holidays approach, the role that screens and devices will play becomes an increasing concern for parents. Days when kids are usually tied up with school and activities make way for many an idle hour and, as such, parents fear those hours will be spent largely engaged with a screen or gaming console. While there is certainly no harm in some well-balanced screen time and developmentally appropriate online activities, we must remember that, as parents, we have an important role in helping our kids manage and balance that screen time. Here are a few things we can do:

Understand the battleIt is important parents know the beast they are dealing with. It is easy to shout from another room to get off a screen or whinge to our friends that ‘kids of today’ are all addicted to their phones, but we need to recognise the pull that many of these devices have. The social networks are designed to keep us liking, commenting and sharing. The games cajole us into having ‘just one more’ turn at being the last man standing. These technologies tempt us to reach just one more level, or to scroll for just a few minutes more. Our brains experience a dopamine release and a sense of insufficiency when we use a device. There is always something else to do or something else to scroll through, or one more YouTube video to watch. So our kids are up against it when trying to control their time on a device. We need to help them with that.

Get outsideWe can complain that kids never go outside and play anymore, but sometimes we have to physically get out there with them or offer opportunities in which being outside and active play are appealing. We have to work a little harder at this today because we are competing with a device that answers many of our kids’ perceived needs. We need them to know that their needs are greater and more varied than what their screens can offer.

Have some rulesDespite their apparent dislike of rules around technology, kids will (one day) appreciate having boundaries to help them manage their screen time. Rules can be established regarding time limits, devices in bedrooms, device-free meal times, etc. Whatever you decide is important, be sure that you have those discussions with your kids. And any discussion around rules or consequences should happen away from the screens so they are clear on the expectations. (Talking about their screen-time habits while they are just about to be the last man standing on Fortnite is probably not going to make for engaging conversation.)

One console on one television…outside the bedroomHaving only one television that is connected to a gaming console or to Netflix is a good way of ensuring that the

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Technology holiday guide for parentsby Martine Oglethorpe

insights

TECHNOLOGY AND PARENTING

device gets shared and one child doesn’t monopolise the screen. And leave consoles out of bedrooms where the appeal of just one more quick game can very quickly rob them of important sleep time.

Role modelMake sure you are showing your kids how you want them to be. Have times when the devices are put away and you give full attention to the people around you. Don’t answer calls or emails at the dinner table. Don’t fall asleep with a device landing on your forehead. Take time to get outside and do things active and in nature. Don’t ever use a phone while driving. Use the Screen Time feature on iOS products to monitor just how you are using your technology and whether you could be making some changes. Kids learn more from what we do than what we say.

We know the technology isn’t going anywhere, and we know there are many wonderful benefits that screens provide. But ensure that holidays and downtime hours can be filled with many different experiences and in ways that leave your kids in control, even if you have to work a little harder to give them that.

Martine Oglethorpe

Martine Oglethorpe is an accredited speaker with the Office of the eSafety Commissioner and has presented to numerous parent groups, schools and teachers. She is a speaker, counsellor and educator with a passion for building resilient kids in a digital world. Contact details: info@martineoglethorpe.com.au, themodernparent.net, facebook.com/themodernparent

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