Phone 6760 9225 Fax 6760 9479 Email nemingha-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au Web nemingha-p.schools.nsw.gov.au

Term 1, Week 7 12 March 2020

Calendar

March

Friday 13 March Assembly - Year 5/6W item2.40pm in the hall

April

Friday 3 April Assembly - Year 5/6R item2.40pm in the hall

Monday 6 April State swimming carnivalWednesday 8 April P&C Meeting

7pm in the staff room

Thursday 9 April Term 1 endsFriday 10 April Good FridayMonday 13 April Easter MondaySaturday 25 April ANZAC DayMonday 27 April Term 2 commences

Staff Development Day

Tuesday 28 April Term 2 commences for students Life Education Van visit

May

Tuesday 5 May Come and Try Dayfor students starting Kindergarten in 2021

Thursday 7 May Mothers Day stallP&C fundraiser

Friday 8 May School cross countryTuesday 12 May NAPLAN commencesWednesday 13 May P&C Meeting

7pm in the staff room

Thursday 14 May Pie Drive delivery - note confirmed dateP&C fundraiser

Friday 22 May Assembly - Year 4/5 itemMon-Thur, 25-28 May Canberra Excursion for Years 5 and 6 students

June

Friday 5 June Assembly2.40pm in the hall

Monday 8 June Queen’s Birthday holidayWednesday 10 June P&C Meeting

7pm in the staff room

Friday 26 June Assembly2.40pm in hall

Clothing Pool - open each Monday and the first Friday of each month, 2.30-3.30pm

Dental checks for Year 1On Tuesday we had the lovely ladies from Darling Dental visit and check Year 1 students’ teeth.They reminded us how to brush our teeth and the importance of healthy eating. To look after our teeth we need to make healthy food choices.

Mrs McDonald is now going to re-think her food choices to use healthier options.

Kindergarten NRMA Bus SafetyOn Monday, Kinder-garten students learned how to travel safely on a bus. Representatives from the NRMA, the bus company and Police talked to the

students about how to be safe.

The students were very excited to go on a short bus trip and put their learning into practice.

Staying healthy and safe

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Harmony Week is all about celebrating the amazing cultures that make up our country. Australia is one of the most multicultural countries in the world – from the oldest continuous culture of our First Australians to the 49% of Australians who were born overseas or have a parent who was.

Let’s enjoy mathsChristopher Jackson, Principal

Let’s face it, there are many of us that can’t imagine a sentence with the words ”maths” and “fun” side by side. Speaking from experience, a teacher once wrote on my report “Chris’ abilities lie in fields other than maths!” Funny thing is I didn’t like doing it myself but I loved teaching it!I’m not sure if it’s an urban myth, but it adds to that very point. I heard once that Australian swimming coach Laurie Lawrence fell into a pool while he was training Olympic swimmers and it became obvious to everyone present that he couldn’t swim. He could impart his knowledge but couldn’t actually “do” what he taught.

Therefore, I am heartened that you don’t need to be an “A grade” maths student to teach maths well. I was working in the 5/6R classroom last week and was happy to teach them all about graphs without any confusion.

Gone are the days of rote learning and regurgitating facts without fully understanding what they actually mean. I know that Mrs Moss and I, when we are balancing the budget, both want to know why we need to do it in a certain way and not just because they say so! It’s the same for our children. They need to understand why this is the process and the value of that.

“If you teach a child to know the ‘how’ they will have a job, but if you teach them to know the ‘why’ they will be the boss.”

So let us strive to teach for understanding of mathematical concepts and procedures, the “why” something works, and not only the “how”.

This understanding, as I’m sure you realise, doesn’t always come immediately. It may take even several years to grasp a concept. For example, place value is something kids understand partially at first, and then that deepens over a

few years.

The “how” something works is often called “procedural understanding”. The child knows how to work long division, or the procedure of fraction addition or fraction division, for

example. It is often possible to learn the “how” mechanically without understanding why it works. Procedures learned this way are often forgotten very easily.The relationship between the “how” and the “why” is complex. One doesn’t always come totally before the other, and it also varies from child to child. As a rule of thumb teachers don’t totally leave a mathematical topic until the students both knows “how”, and understands the “why”.

”If people do not believe that mathematics is simple, it is only because they do not realise how complicated life is”.

- John Louis von Neumann

This year it will be celebrated from the 15-21 March and at Nemingha Public School we will hold our Harmony Day celebrations on Wednesday 18 March from around 12 noon -12.45pm.

It will involve students listening to guests read children’s picture books in another language and learning more about the different cultures we have in our community. Spanish, German, French, Thai and Vietnamese are just some of the languages that local community members and students and staff from Tamworth High School will be sharing with our students.

We invite parents to join their child’s class for this event (rooms are yet to be advised). Students will be required to wear full school uniform.

If you or your family members come from another country and are interested in joining our list of ‘readers’ please

contact the school office for more information. Alternatively, perhaps you own a suitable children’s book written in another language and would be happy to loan it to your child’s classroom teacher. It would be used for a classroom or office foyer display during Harmony Week. Please send these to school by Monday 16 March.

This year’s theme is

‘Picture a World in Harmony’

Congratulations to HARLEY LYE, who will be receiving a Gold Award at tomorrow’s assembly.

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Introducing our staff ...

Vanessa MillerYear 3 Teacher

Years of serviceTeaching for 13 years.

Previous schoolsScone Public School and casually at local schools.

Interests and hobbiesDancing, reading, spending time with friends and family, gardening.

Schools attended as a studentTamworth South Public School and Tamworth High School.

I love teaching at Nemingha Public School and I think my son is lucky to attend such an excellent school too.

Making online paymentsOnline payments to the school for amounts owing for students can be made via a secure payment page hosted by Westpac. Payments can be made using either a Visa or MasterCard credit or debit card, and can be made via computer, tablet or mobile phone. The payment page is accessed from the front page of the school’s website by selecting $ Make a payment.

Items that can be paid include voluntary school contributions, subject contributions, excursions, sales to students and creative and practical arts activities (these include band, drama and dance). There is also a category called ‘Other’ to cover items not covered in the previous headings, ‘Other’ can be used to make a complete payment of a school Statement of Account.

When you access the $ Make a payment you must enter:

9 the student’s name 9 class 9 date of birth

These details are entered each time you make a payment as student information is not held within the payment system.

This is a secure payment system hosted by Westpac. To ensure that your credit or debit card details are captured in a secure manner, these details are not passed back to the school.

You have the ability to check and change any details of the payment before the payment is processed. Receipts can be emailed and/or printed.

Details of the payments are passed daily to the school, where they will be receipted against your child’s account. As a receipt has been issued from the payment page a further receipt will not be issued by the school.

For any enquiries regarding the online payment process please contact the school office.

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden

Beans, chives and radishesThis week, Year 3 were very excited to be starting the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program!

“Today in the kitchen we learnt about germination. We learnt about a type of bean called the mung bean. They sometimes have green seeds but most of the time they are yellow”

Indi and Lucy

“In the kitchen we learned about knife skills and about different ways to cut”

Savannah

“In Kitchen Garden Mrs Blanch has been teaching us about radish and we got to make a great meal and we got to plant chives with water and soil and then we put them in the greenhouse to grow and it was very fun to do and we will get to do it again.”

Brodie Bliss

The following notes have been sent home this week:

All studentsScholastic Book Club

" Orders by Friday 20 March

Participating studentsYears 5 and 6 Canberra excursion " Forms due Friday 20 March

Selected studentsNSW Primary Schools 7s Rugby " Notes and payment due Tues 17 March

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Hockey is a great sport that encourages fitness, friendship and a great family atmosphere. With age groups from Under 7s to Under 15s Junior boys and girls, Men’s, Women’s and over 35’s.

Hockey caters for all abilities and age groups so Mum and Dad can join in the fun too.

Tudor Wests have had a long and successful history in Tamworth and have developed many State Representatives and also Australian Representatives. Your kids will have access to Hockey NSW accredited coaches that will always encourage a fun and safe atmosphere.

Your kids will learn hand eye coordination, increase fitness levels, make new friends but most of all we will ensure that everyone, including the parents, have a great time.

Contact us via Facebook or Call or Text: Jake Sheppeard: 0448 497 005 Andrea Smith: 0402 034 184 Brad Hall: 0419477420

FREE!!! Come and Try days will be on Tuesdays 24th and 31st of March from 4pm and Saturday 21st and 28th of March from 9am at the Hockey Complex. All equipment will be provided.

Sport Report

Football zone trialsLewis Lesslie, Koby Higgins, Harrison Hamilton, Henry Haling, Alex MacKenzie, Mia Gentle, Porscha Ring, Isabel Murray and Raeya Mitchell attended the North West Zone trials for football. Everyone enjoyed the day and learnt lots more skills.

Congratulation to Alex MacKenzie, Mia Gentle, Porscha Ring and Koby Higgins, who were successful and now move onto the next round on Monday 16 March.

Rugby Union 7s Gala DayIMPORTANT MESSAGEWe will be training at school this Monday, 16 March, from 3.30-4.30pm.

Please bring appropriate clothes to train in and a water bottle. A mouth guard is essential.

Kristine Sharkey

Tamworth FC Player Registration is now open! Players from all ages are welcome to register to play football with Tamworth FC for the 2020 season. • Entry Level (5-7 years) - $100 (Free with an Active Kids Voucher) • Junior Level (8-11 years) - $130 • Youth Level (12-16 years) - $150 • Youth playing Seniors (17-18 years) - $200 • Senior Men and Women (18 years+) - $320 • Men’s Premier League - $320 Visit our website (www.tamworthfc.sportingpulse.net) for links to register online or visit www.playfootball.com.au If you would like any further information in regards to the 2020 season registrations, please contact the club via email at

tamworthfc@northerninlandfootball.net.au or call Brent May on 0417 205 430

ASSEMBLY TOMORROWJust a reminder that 5/6W assembly will be held in the hall tomorrow starting at 2.40pm.