Week 4, Term 3

Thursday15th August, 2019

Telephone: (08) 89552000 Text: 0418 191 388

Facebook: ross park primary school alice springs

Email: rosspark.school@ntschools.net

Website: www.schools.net.edu.au/rosspark

Ross Park Primary School

FROM OUR

SENIOR TEACHER

Term 3 has been the term for excursions and celebrations.

Yesterday 11 students attended Lego League Jr. The buzz of excitement in the air was infectious as Ross Park students drew in a crowd and presented impromptu explanations to anyone walking past. We look forward to learning more about their work when they present to selected classes. The Lego League Jr. is a non-competitive, hands-on STEM program geared towards children aged 6-10. The challenge for this season was called Mission Moon. Students learnt about the Moon, exploring what kinds of problems they would need to solve in order to live there. They then designed a solution and presented it using Lego WeDo kits.

Today Transition Venske travelled to Sadadeen to meet Miss Pia and her Transition class, to share songs and dances along with exploring the playground and building connections with new students. Later in the term Ross Park will welcome Sadadeen students to build on the connection they have started today.

This morning the Questacon Circus visited and challenged the thinking of those in the crowd. Ask your child to explain what happens to slime when they interact with it at different speeds. Testing the movement of different things in liquid was also a highlight. Have you ever put a ball in a jar of honey? How about strawberry syrup? What do you think might happen? Year 2W and M continued with similar experiments afterwards.

The swimming program for Transition students starts tomorrow – Friday 16th August. It has been designed with one lesson a week for 5 weeks taking into account feedback provided last year- allowing parents to support student learning using introduced skills in between explicit lessons.

Feedback is taken seriously in order to implement change and improve growth for the students, staff and whole school. This week the annual school survey was launched and we thank families who have already taken the time to have a say in their children’s schooling. The link was sent out via email to families: https://www.schoolsurvey.edu.au/s/rpparent2019 . Tomorrow after assembly families are invited to stay for a cup of tea in the staffroom and complete the survey on a school laptop, taking between 10-20mins.

As a follow up from Parent Teacher and Student Led conferences, we encourage you to work with your children on their personal learning goals. Working at home will complement what is happening in the classroom. For students to achieve their goals, they need to commit quality time. There isn’t much debate about that. But did you know that the quantity of their commitment is just as important as the quality? The Power of Deliberate Practice is used for learning a new skill, from our youngest learners to elite athletes and everyone in between. Research shows that breaking challenges into small pieces and focusing on the little things increases skills. Repetition may be boring but it is a sure way to develop mastery. While your child is working on their goals encourage

them to practise with their head as well as their hands, thinking about what they are working on—short bursts with intense concentration are proven to be most effective. All the staff at Ross Park look forward to talking to students about their goals and watching their growth across this semester.

BEC HEWITT Senior Teacher

GUIDED READING Students are encouraged to engage with books of their choice. They benefit from remaining focused on sharing the book with others. Use these strategies to supports students at home:

*read aloud from a book, pointing to each word as it is read. Ask your child to read the sentence back to you, in the same way

*ask your child to find a word in the sentence that’s been read. See if they can remember the word

*ask your child to find a letter sound in that word (eg can you find the ‘p’ sound in park?)

*ask your child to try to remember unfamiliar words in the sentence. If they can’t, read the word aloud slowly, emphasising the letter sounds

*talk about interesting words in the sentence. See if your child can tell you the meaning of the words or relate it to their own lives.

If children become too tired, take a break and come back to the book another time.

Suggestions by Louise Taylor, Speech Pathologist, DoE.

Dates to Remember

Whole school assembly

tomorrow Friday 16th August @ 8.40am

Book Week/Book Fair 19th-

23rd August

School Council meeting Monday

19th August @ 7.00pm in the staffroom

Professional Development

(student free) Day Friday 6th September

Each year we bring children and books together to cele-brate Children’s Book Week. There will be a Book Fair in the library, a dress-up ‘as your favourite book character or superhero’ parade on Thursday 22nd August at 8:40am and bud-dy class activities through-

out the week. Book Fairs help the school stock up on resources to enrich our students’ education. More books means more choice, which means children get to read the books they want to read. The right book can ignite a passion for reading so we encourage families to create a reading culture at home. Everyone at school is super excited! It’s sure going to be super fun!

WEEK 4, TERM 3 PAGE 2

SWIMMING FOR TRANSITION STUDENTS...begins tomorrow Friday 16th August. Transition students need to have labelled swimmers and a towel and sunscreen applied at home.

BLUEARTH

Aligning with our Social Emotional Learning program, Bluearth is physical, dynamic and fabulous!

BICYCLES

In keeping with their sustainability focus, students from 4 Merritt attended a workshop about the benefits of bicycle riding.

HELP WANTED

Student Support Assistants are needed! You would be working with students in classrooms, during school terms (Ochre Card essential)—$27.00 an hour. Contact Administration Manager Naomi if interested.

ROSCO’S

Next week’s special:

Fish Burger only $5.00!

Canteen helpers are needed—$20 per hour. See Gemma in the canteen Wednesday-Friday.

ORIENTEERING

30 Ross Park students participated in the Interschool Orienteering Championships last Friday at the Telegraph Station.

Section winners were:

10 & 11 years boys group D’Arcy S and Zac B

10 & 11 years boys solo Ashton H

12 & 13 years boys solo Harrison K

10 & 11 years girls group Eden J and Ayla R

12 & 13 years girls group Matilda A, Gia W & Nellie C.

Well done everyone!

TENNIS

Our students have lots of sporting opportunities! Tennis was on offer last week.

HEAD LICE

Head lice are insects which live on human heads and feed by sucking blood from the scalp, face or neck. Nits, or eggs, stick to hair and hatch after about a week, developing to adults, which lay eggs and repeat the cycle. Children can develop infection from scratching, causing more serious disease. Transmission of head lice occurs with close contact and lice are very contagious. Available treatments include chemicals and physical removal by applying hair conditioner. Treatment must be repeated until all lice and eggs are gone. All linen and brushes/combs must also be washed in hot soapy water. The National Health and Medical Research Council (www.nhmrc.gov.au) is the best source of information about the latest research and treatments. Keeping on top of infestations requires everyone to follow these recommendations.

BOOK SWAP

Mrs Walton and her Year 2 students walked to Raggatt Street to view the street-side book exchange there. They need ideas to create their own community book exchange.

Reminder

If any of our families have a child who is ready to attend preschool next year, please contact the Teacher in Charge Yvette Pengilly on 89521792 as soon as possible, as places are filling rapidly.

LEGO

12 students, accompanied by Mr Middleton and Mr Mathew, visited Braitling School this week to take part in Lego League. Cleo said, “I am proud because we made a big moon base and we won an award. We said what we were going to make and we made it!”

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Families for a Safe & Peaceful Future-join with other families thinking about climate change every Friday from 3.30pm on the Town Council lawns.

Kids’ dress ups! Preview and purchase @ 16 Warburton Street 16th August from 4.00pm.

Cpr Kids presents baby and child First Aid and CPR cases, October 5th @ Doubletree Hilton. Email hello@cprkids.com.au to book.

3/4 Hempel LOVED the meg-afauna and biodi-versity work-shops at the EcoFair. Looking at the landscape and town from Tharrarletneme/Annie Meyer Hill was a real high-light!

REMINDER

Vehicles need to STOP at our school crossing, when flags are displayed and students are waiting, even if no Traffic Monitor is present. Please consider the safety of our special little ones!