October 23, 2019

Term 4 Week 2

DALIRRGANG – BUILD UP Dalirrgang is the hot and very humid ‘build-up’ season. Box jellyfish are now seen and thunder and lightning can be heard in the distance. King tides occur and the winds blow mainly from the north-west. The red flowering Kurrajong tells you that the sharks are fat. Flying Fox eat the fruiting mangoes. The cocky apple (possum tucker) drops a carpet of white flowers. Their sweet smell signals that the build-up has arrived. From Gulumoerrgin Seasons - http://www.larrakia.csiro.au From the Principal… At Stuart Park School we have identified the traits of a “Good Learner”. These traits are displayed in every classroom and you are welcome to ask your child’s teacher or the office for a copy. It would be great if we used the same language of learning at school and at home. I have been covering one of these traits each week. The third of these traits is: I take risks when learning – Good learners think outside the box. They have the courage to try new ways, they don’t mind failing, it just spurs them on to try another way. In order to foster this approach to learning we need to be willing to let our children try things by themselves and possibly fail. Let them try without stepping in, even if it doesn’t go well. If we are forever there to ensure that things don’t go wrong then they are devastated when something eventually does go wrong. Learning by doing is a recognised effective way to learn. Thinking of risk taking as an opportunity to succeed rather than a chance to fail allows us to ‘have a go’ and learn from whatever happens. If the plan doesn’t go well then it is a great opportunity to discuss what happened and where to now. I like the thought that failure is not the opposite of success but a stepping stone to success. I can’t remember who said that, not me, but it is true. Here are some quotes about risk taking from people who knew about its importance. “Do one thing every day that scares you.” – Eleanor Roosevelt “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” – T. S. Eliot

World Teacher’s Day this Friday! This Friday is World Teacher’s Day. It is celebrated in over 100 countries throughout the world and in Australia we celebrate it on the last Friday of October each year. It is a day on which students, parents and community members can demonstrate their appreciation for the contributions that teachers have made to their community. It first started in 1994 when governments, working through the United Nations, recognised the importance of competent, qualified and motivated teachers in society.

Our School Council has agreed to put on a morning tea for us this Friday. They are such a supportive group of parents as is our whole Stuart Park community. They also know that teachers just love a good morning tea. As teachers, we don’t need much to keep us going. We know our job is important and we know our community here at Stuart Park appreciates what we do so that is a great reward.

Nudl Street STUART PARK NT 0820 PO Box 37421 WINNELLIE NT 0821 Telephone: (08) 89 977333 Email: stuartpark.school@ntschools.net

We have a new sign! You may have noticed our new sign at the entrance to our staff carpark. Just to clarify, this refers to dropping off in the staff carpark only. You may still drop off in the drive through area in front of the canteen. We were having some issues with parents dropping off children in the staff car park which is not a safe place for children to be walking as they often can’t be seen. The best place to drop off in the morning is past the pedestrian crossing in our drive through area. Pick up in the afternoon is from the same area but it is best to wait until 2:45pm once the buses have departed. You will find it a stress free time to drive through. If you have an Early Childhood child who you are concerned about waiting at this place, let us know and we will get them there and look after them until you arrive to pick up.

Last Book Club for 2019! Your child received a Scholastic Book Club Order form last week. Orders are due no later than this Friday, October 25th. You can order and pay for your order online or you can order the old fashion way by sending orders to school with cash or cheque. Please make sure orders are filled out correctly and placed in an envelope or small bag, so the money doesn’t fall out. Please don’t sticky tape money to the order as this makes it very difficult to read. Your help in these matters would be appreciated.

The Day the Ministers Visited our Class! During Term 3 the Year 6 students were all learning about the three different levels of government, the voting system and how legislation is passed. In English our focus was on persuasive text types. 6AW and 6KA decided that as our writing assessment piece we would like to lobby our local member with our concerns about the single use plastics legislation of 2011 and the need to leave a more sustainable Earth for future generations by reducing plastic usage. On our recent excursion to Parliament House, Year 6AW presented our letters to Mr Jeff Collins who then agreed to table them in parliament. This in turn caught the attention of the The Honourable Selena Uibo, Minister for Education and The Honourable Eva Lawler, Minister for Environment and Natural Resources; Minister for Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics and Minister for Climate Change, who then visited our school to hear the students’ concerns directly. This involved a robust conversation after which The Hon Eva Lawler praised our students for raising their concerns in a mature fashion and declared the world was in safe hands if this was the calibre of students being produced. Our letters have now been referred to the Economic Policy Scrutiny Committee for consideration and then to be reported back to the Assembly. This is the first time ever that any students have achieved this! In the words of Jeff Collins MLA, “I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of your students that they are the first to have an issue referred to a scrutiny committee that is not legislation emanating from the Assembly. They can truly consider themselves trail-blazers. This is how Parliament really should work to be open to the people.”

Oral Health Services Dental Visits The on-site dental service at Stuart Park Primary School will be available from 25th to 29th November for dental examinations and treatment. To arrange an appointment please call Oral Health Services on 8922 6466. All children attending dental appointments will be required to be accompanied by a parent or carer. A reminder, parents can always access Oral Health Services appointments for their children at conveniently located NT Government dental clinic by calling 8922 6466.

For further information visit the Oral Health Services website: www.health.nt.gov.au/oral_health

Preschool Enrolments 2020 We are taking enrolments now for our 2020 preschool classes. Our preschool is for children who turn four years of age before 30th June, 2020 and who live in our Stuart Park School Priority Enrolment Area. This is Stuart Park, Woolner, Tipperary Waters, Bayview and Winnellie. If you have an eligible child, or know someone who does, please call the school and start the enrolment process.

Cash for Cans

We are still collecting cans and other containers that attract the 10c refund. (not bottles please). Keep sending them in as the Cash For Cans team is keen to get them recycled.

CALENDAR

DATE DAY EVENT

25th October Friday World Teachers’ Day All School Assembly

30th, 31st Oct and 1st Nov. Wed-Friday School Review

31st Oct Thursday Music Count Us In 7th November Thursday Cyber Safety Parent Info 21st November Thursday Preschool 2020 Info Session 28th November Thursday Transition 2020 Info Session 2nd December Monday Year 6 Graduation

10th December Tuesday Presentation Assembly Reports home

12th December Thursday Last day of school year 20th – 24th Jan Mon-Fri School office open

28th January, 2020 Tuesday First day of 2020 school year

Stuart Park Primary School is fundraising with Entertainment! Your support really helps our School, so we’re thrilled to let you know about special bonus Early Bird Entertainment Membership Offers for loyal supporters. Pre-order the NEW 2019 | 2020 Entertainment Membership and receive bonus offers you can use right away!

https://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/orderbooks/91s6057

The following advertisements are not necessarily endorsed by the school.

OTTWAYS TAE KWON DO AND SELF DEFENCE Classes are held at Stuart Park Primary School on the following nights …

All ages Tuesday 6.30 to 8 pm All ages Thursday 6.30 to 8 pm

Come and enjoy martial arts with a qualified instructor for self-defence, fitness and fun. Contact Peter on 0427991394. Come and Try. First two lessons free.