Newsletter

What’s On

18 June 2020

Issue 9

02/07/2020 Amazing Achiever & PBL Virtual Assembly

03/07/2020 Last Day for Term 2

21/07/2020 First Day back Term 3

26/08/2020 School Photos

CARE

LEARN

BE SAFE

Dear Parents and Carers, As we near the end of Term 2 it is important to reflect on what the first semester has looked like. It has looked like no other semester in history. Thank you for supporting all the changes that have taken place throughout this year and the ones to come. Thank you for ensuring the health and safety of your child and in turn the health and safety of everyone. Thank you for keeping your child home if they are sick and practicing good hygiene routines and social distancing during drop off and pickups. Thank you for communicating with the school and for signing notes and returning them. A letter and some information from the Department of Education titled This guide is for parents and carers – A guide to NSW school students returning to face to face learning was sent home and emailed yesterday. Please take the time to read this information. A letter has been emailed to all our therapists, informing them of the return of therapists to The Ponds School in Term 3. Please ensure your child’s therapist contacts the school and/or your child’s teacher as there can only be one therapist in a class at a time. Reports will be sent home the week beginning 29 June. Due to the very different learning opportunities during the semester, the report will look different from your child’s previous reports. PLP reviews will take place early Term 3. Your child’s teacher will be in contact with you in regards to a day and time. We are hoping to do our Amazing Achiever and PBL virtual Assembly on Thursday 2 July and have school photos taken on Wednesday 26 August. School Website We have added an Acknowledgement of Country presented by one of our students, Denzel, to our Website. This was part of the culmination of our Reconciliation Week activities. Mental Health Awareness Week Last week The Ponds School Staff had a focus on our own Mental Health and Wellbeing. We completed a self- care pledge, a wellbeing challenge, the whole school celebrated with cupcakes and blowing bubbles, and the week ended with a wellbeing breakfast for the staff. The past few months have been a difficult time for the majority of people and it is important to remember that we all need to be caring for ourselves and one another. Louise Green our School Counsellor has put together some relevant information regarding self-care and a self-care wheel for you to complete. Take Care Regards Leonie Donaldson Principal

Take a moment to look at the Self Care Wheel below and consider each segment. Start by identifying your current

self-care strategies that nurture each area. By doing so, you may identify some segments that need attention or

that you would like to make a priority to focus on. Below the wheel are some examples of self-care ideas for each

segment. It is important to find what works for you.

Resource from the Columbia River Mental Health Services

Class 5 have been super busy!

Cameron has been enjoying zooming into our music sessions with Peter and Jack.

Evie has been showing us how talented she is at using her Eye Gaze machine.

Taani has become our class DJ, using a switch to play various songs for the class.

Kush has been showing us how strong he is while learning to sit up and stand tall in

his stander for longer.

Mia has improved greatly in her ability to walk around the classroom and school.

We have also started to learn to use Spheros (robots).

What a strange semester it has been for everyone! Class 18 has showed great versatility to continue learning and exploring each of our Key Learning Areas, despite all the interruptions of COVID-19. Whether it has been learning at home or at school, each of the students have worked hard to develop their skills in the first half of 2020. But since returning to a mostly normal classroom routine, it has been refreshing to get back to working together as a class. Whole-class deskwork time remain our most productive lessons, with each student receiving plenty of opportunity to practice literacy and numeracy tasks with one-on-one support.

We also really enjoy getting out into the school playground during class time, with one of our most successful and engaging activities this term being our Gym / Fitness programs. We head over to the sports storeroom and set up our circuit of activities, such as the gym bike, heavy rope, agility ladder or rowing machine. Taking turns to practice a variety of skills, while building both strength and agility. These activities have proved to be a real favourite, and are very socially interactive for our whole class to enjoy.

In keeping with our fitness focus, our morning walk has also allowed us to take on one of the school duties – raising the flags.

It’s something that is now part of our daily routine, but clearly a duty that the students take pride in fulfilling each day. Since

raising the flags involves using pulleys, it has integrated well into our “Simple Machines” science unit, demonstrating how

relevant the curriculum is to our everyday lives, especially with our senior students.

NSW Premier's Reading Challenge (PRC) aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and enables them to experience quality literature. The Challenge encourages students to read, to read more and read more widely.

Class 9 are currently reading a variety of books from our library

that are specially selected as PRC books. Some of the books we

have enjoyed so far are ‘Room on our Rock’ which is about

being kind, ‘Wombat Wins’ which was about trying and the funny story about ‘Redback on the Toilet Seat’.

We are enjoying our stories and also enjoying creating

Interesting displays for our classroom. Happy reading!

Wednesdays, Term 2

9-10 am

BYO MUG!

Selected students from Class 19 are

running a Café during Term 2.

We would appreciate your support in

running this enterprise.

Join us at the TAG Café by the carpark.

When – Wednesdays 9-10 am

(starting Week 6 – Week 10).

Tea, Coffee or Hot chocolate- $2 a cup

Bottled water - $1

Cakes or Slices- $2

An invitation for drivers, ATSOs, parents and carers.