A busy end to Term 1

What another busy fortnight it has been in our wonderful Gawura School. Last Tuesday we had the Charity Bounce organisation visit our school to talk about resilience, goal setting and demonstrate some basketball skills through various activities. The guest presenter was Tracy Williams who is an ex Harlem Globetrotter. St Andrew’s very own Firsts Basketball team also attended and were wonderful role models and assistants who helped run the activities for our younger Gawura students K-6. The students were buzzing with excitement throughout the afternoon which continued when they returned to class. A big thank you to all the families who attended the Easter Hat Parade in the Cathedral last Wednesday. Our Gawura students looked amazing as they paraded around the filled Cathedral in front of their peers and guests.

Our postponed Gawura cultural excursion to La Perouse will take place this week on Wednesday April 4. The students are looking forward to the bushwalk around La Perouse being led by the local elders. If you are interested in attending then please let me know. So far there are 50 people confirmed along with seven parents which is amazing. The students will continue to gain in their wealth of knowledge about traditional culture and customs on this day.

I’d like to remind everyone that Thursday April 5 will be our combined GPAC Meeting along with Parent Teacher Interviews. I’m aware that several parents have already spoken their child’s teacher recently which is wonderful. The afternoon will give us a chance to go through the Personal Learning Plans (PLP’s) which we have created with your child in the past few weeks.

The dental clinician from Experteeth will be visiting our Gawura School on Monday April 9 to conduct an oral health assessment of your child’s teeth. This is another service which we are most happy to facilitate along with the eyesight screening we organised last year through the UNSW School of Optometry.

Finally I would like to wish all of our families a wonderful and relaxing April school holidays. School will conclude on Friday 13 April and resume on Tuesday 1 May. Thank you to all of our families for entrusting your children’s education with us and we look forward to continued learning throughout the rest of the year.
Have a marvellous and safe holiday ahead.

Mr John Ralph
Head of Gawura

Want more photos?

For more pictures of the Easter Hat Parade and the Charity Bounce Day please visit the Gawura Facebook site at https://www.facebook.com/gawura.sacs/

Hello to everyone in our Gawura community. Before I present you with an update on our class, I’d firstly like to thank you all for your warm welcome into the Gawura family and say a special thank you to all of our staff, volunteers and wider school community for working to make our students learning journeys successful and meaningful. My transition into St Andrews has been wonderful and I already feel at home.

Over the term years 1 and 2 have been working towards becoming efficient learners and taking responsibility for their own learning. I am so proud to say that they have demonstrated the abilities needed to reach this goal and are focused learners and hard workers. All of our students have progressed in their development of reading and writing skills and are becoming more and more keen to problem solve!

Thank you to all of the parents for your continued dedication to Gawura and St Andrews- our students are better for your devotion to their education! I’ll leave you with a present -  below is a poem I’ve written for you all.

Wishing you a restful holiday!

Miss Gibbs
Stage 2 Classroom Teacher

Gawura Deadliness

Mizpah’s really making tracks
With her reading and her maths,
Talaara is working with pride
and taking all things in her stride,
La Quaelah’s becoming confident
and beginning to show her true talents,
Jakayla’s such a hard worker
and there is just no tricking her.

Tilly’s such a nice presence
and is great at our Acknowledgement,
Annie’s such a super star
at havin’ a go and workin’ hard!
Jenarose is a character
and is a reeeeal’ smart girl,
So you can see
that 1/2G
is just DEAD-LY!

By Miss Gibbs
T1 2018

Reading books out loud with your child is great for their learning and wellbeing, no matter what their age or reading level. Here are some benefits to reading aloud with your child – even after they can read for themselves!

Learning by listening

As your child begins to read, they learn much more about what words mean by hearing books read out loud and discussing new words with you than from reading on their own. Reading aloud together can help build vocabulary, improve reading skills, and increase attention and listening skills.

Even after they can read for themselves, reading out loud to your child can show them what proficient reading sounds like, with pacing, intonation and expression.  It also helps them experience the pleasure of sharing stories and develop a lifelong love of books.

Books are great teachers

Reading books together can teach your child about different emotions and situations and lead to great discussions. Talk to your child about the stories you read together – what do they think and feel about the characters and what happened in the story? This can help your child express their thoughts, feelings and imagination.

Books don’t just have to be ‘fiction’ to be a great read – books with facts and true stories can be fantastic too. Reading your child history books, science books or biographies out loud can be just as entertaining, and give your child insight into different people, things, places and historical events.

Time to connect

Sharing a good book is a great way to spend one-on-one time with your child – you are giving them your undivided attention, being close and sharing experiences and ideas with them.  As your child gets older and your schedules get busier, reading together can be a way for you to connect on a regular basis.

Reading your child a bedtime story is a great way to get them relaxed and ready for sleep – but if night-time reading doesn’t work for your family, there are plenty of other times to read together. For example, you could have a regular snuggle on the couch with a book on the weekends, read out news stories over breakfast, read out recipes or the TV guide – or listen to audio books together in the car or on public transport.

Extend and challenge

As your child becomes a more confident reader, you can read books that your child could read alone (so they can re-read them independently later) as well as books that are above your child’s reading level. Listening to you read more challenging books exposes your child to more complicated stories and advanced vocabulary.

When deciding what to read to your child, let them choose – or look for books on topics your child is interested in, ones written by their favourite author, or your favourite stories from childhood.

'This article is reproduced from Learning Potential, a product of the Australian Government Department of Education and Training. For more great articles visit www.learningpotential.gov.au and download the app.’

Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC) 2018

Congratulations to the following students who have completed their challenge:

Ilia Campbell, Freddie Cobb, Dennis Cosmetatos, Adam Davidson and Oscar Sanfilippo.

For more information and the booklists visit the PRC website www.online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html

If you attended a different school and completed the PRC there, please come and see me so I can request that your records be merged.  Otherwise this will be your first PRC year.  This is especially important if you are eligible for your gold or platinum certificates this year and if you are looking at earning your Premier’s medal.

Parent / Teacher Challenge 2018

We’ve launched this again this year too, so come on teachers and parents, grab a book and read alongside your child/ren and complete the Parent / Teacher Challenge this year.

Requirements for completion:

Read any 6 titles (in any language). Email me spaul@sacs.nsw.edu.au the titles and I’ll add you to our wall of wonderful reading role models. 

“Children who know adults who read for pleasure take it for granted that reading is a valuable and worthwhile activity.” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1991)

"'What day is it?', asked Winnie the Pooh.
'It's today,' squeaked Piglet.
'My favourite day,' said Pooh."
—The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne

Svetlana Paul
Junior School and Gawura Teacher Librarian

Winter uniform requirements for Term 2

St Andrew’s Cathedral School is one of the most visible schools in NSW with students moving between buildings throughout the day, seniors visiting the Town Hall Arcade during lunch and over a thousand of our students catching public transport all over Sydney and beyond as they travel to and from school. Parents send their children to St Andrew’s because of its high standards in academic, pastoral care, co-curricular and Christian education. In turn, St Andrew’s has high expectations of students. Literature also shows that good uniform standards lead to reduced discipline problems, an increased sense of belonging and higher academic engagement and standards. It also shows pride in the school.

Winter uniform is to be worn from the beginning of Term 2, students have been reminded of our uniform standards.

Below is an outline of the topics that have been discussed:

• Hair – to be neat and tidy. Hair cuts must be conventional and unlikely to cause comment. No shaved sections, no facial hair. Girls’ hair to be completely tied back; boys’ hair to be cut above the collar and eyebrows.
• Shirts & Ties –shirts must be tucked in, top buttons done up and boys’ ties worn correctly at the neck. Shirt sleeves not to be rolled up.
• Blazers – to be worn to and from School and between buildings. (If it is very hot, I will communicate to students a variation to this rule on the day)
• Jewellery – no rings, bracelets, necklaces. Only one pair of earrings for girls - small sleepers or simple studs only. No other piercings allowed. No earrings for boys.
• Makeup – no makeup or nail polish allowed.
• Sport Uniform – students to wear SACS tracksuit/sports uniform to and from venues.
• Shoes – black leather traditional school shoes. No casual style allowed. Please see student diary for allowable styles.
• Socks – Boys must wear grey or black socks. Girls must wear white plain socks that sit above the ankle. Socklets are not allowed.
• Skirts – skirt hems should be at the knee. Skirts must not be rolled.

Please be aware that these expectations and standards remain applicable to the very last day of the school year. For those who have winter uniform requirements, please contact Mr Ralph or the Uniform Store, on 9286 9547 for a fitting time.

• Please label all new (and old) items of uniform.
• The Uniform store normal Hours of Operation are:
• Monday – Wednesday – Thursday  |  8am to 3.30pm

Wiradjuri Language Nest – Gawura and SACS parent workshop

The parent Wiradjuri workshop has started for 2018. This is an amazing opportunity to support and contribute to the revival of Indigenous languages. I am delighted to say that the program is absolutely free. The weekly workshop is on Tuesday afternoons, 3.15pm-4.15pm and is open to all Gawura/SACS parents and family members.

Please contact Mr Ralph on 0411 040 193 if you are interested in joining the group.

Term 1 - Sport

This year the K-2 students will be participating in an In-School Sport Program (with the exception of Term 4 when the Kindergarten children are swimming).

This term’s sport for Years 3-6:

• Year 5-6 Boys AFL (Queens Park)
• Year 5-6 Girls Touch Footy (Queens Park)
• Year 4 Gymnastics (Eastern Gymnastics Academy, Waterloo)
• Year 3 Auskick (Wentworth Park)

Please remember your drink bottle, school cap and tracksuit top, and ensure that all the uniform/sport equipment is clearly named.

Uniform Store

For those who still have 2018 uniform requirements please contact the Uniform Store, on 92869547 for a fitting time. Remember that students in Kindergarten to Year 6 wear the same uniform so please label all items of uniform.

Mobile phone use

Older students, who travel to and from school on public transport and have a mobile phone, need to ensure that they are switched off during the school day and kept in school bags or handed to your child’s/children’s teacher each morning.

Health Centre

Please send in a note detailing any daily medication needs. Daily medication is to be dispensed by the School Nurse at the Sick Bay. Any medication to be dispensed by the School Nurse must be given to the nurse in its original box (containing the prescription label and your child’s name).

Absences

If your child/children are absent from school, I ask that you text or call Neal or the Reception on 9286 9500 before 9am to notify us. The school requires a note from a parent or guardian explaining any absence from school.