Term 1 - Week 7, 2021

Principal's Message

Dear Parents,

This week International Women’s Day was celebrated. This day represents an opportunity to reflect on the many females that are part of your life, and celebrate the achievements and joy they bring. In primary school education women make up about 80% of the workforce. However, there is still a gap between male and female superannuation balances, with Industry Super noting that by 2030, women will retire with 39% or $170,000 less super than men1!

We celebrated this day on Thursday with a luncheon to recognise the significant contribution women make in the lives of the students at our school. I hope you were able to take the time to recognise the women in your lives.

Next week, we are having our first ever Wellbeing Week. We are taking the opportunity to start the discussion about our wellbeing with students, teachers and parents within our community. Below you will find a list of some of the events we are undertaking. 

Monday:

• Action Ideas for Children to learn about happiness and resilience in class
• Extra play at recess
• Wellbeing assembly led by Kindergarten and Mrs McIntosh @ 2:45pm

Tuesday:

• Cooked breakfast for students and staff
• Class meetings - What’s going well? What gets in the way of your learning?
• Meditation

Wednesday

• Dress in Green for St Patrick's Day (Stage 3 Camp Fundraiser).
• St Patrick’s Day Liturgy

Thursday

• School Social @ 5:30pm - 7pm for K - 6 students (80's theme)
• Parent Assembly gathering at the Dorrigo Hotel with Mrs Darby and Mr Trezise

Friday 

• National Day Against Bullying

There is no homework for students next week. See the flier below for alternative activities after school. Wellbeing is very closely linked to student achievement. We are hoping to be able to hold a Wellbeing Week every term. We look forward to our first one and are open to ideas looking ahead to Term 2.

Finally, over the past few weeks classes have been establishing expectations and class agreements for how best to work together. In Stage 2, they have been working particularly hard. They have some very interesting rewards. In the pictures below are Clay, rewarded with a smelly feet award. He got to work in class with his shoes off. Also pictured is Mia, she was rewarded with use of the teacher's chair. It’s great to see these creative, positive measures in Miss Griffiths class. They are very popular with the students. 

Regards,

Nathan Trezise

Principal  

School Social / Parents' Night Out

As advertised in last week's newsletter, on Thursday 18th March our Stage 3 students are organising a School Social with an 80's theme for all students in the school. The social will run from 5:30pm to 7pm and it is open to all students from Kinder to Year 6. 

A Parent Assembly event will be run at the Dorrigo Hotel (Top Pub) at the same time. A number of parents have stepped into the role of Parent Assembly Representatives and our first event will be a dinner for parents as well as a Q & A with school leaders. The topic will be:

What do your children need the most? How do we work together to achieve this?

You can register for the dinner by scanning the QR code below. Dinner is free, and parents can buy their own drinks at the bar. Please register before Tuesday 16th March.

I hope you can make it and I look forward to talking with the parent group. 

Pupil-Free Staff Development Days

Please note the following dates as they will be Pupil Free Days. These days are essential so that we can come together as a staff to undertake professional learning. 

Thursday 1st April (Term 1 Pupil Free Day)

Monday 19th April (Term 2 Pupil Free Day)

Wednesday 5th May (Proclaim Lismore Staff Day)

Please note, the last day of Term 1 is Wednesday 31st March. School resumes for Term 2 on Tuesday 20th April.

Easter Raffle

We are holding an Easter Raffle again this year to raise money for the Stage 3 excursion to Canberra. Donations of Easter eggs or other Eastery things are welcomed! Please bring your donations in to school. Tickets will go on sale next week and they will be 20c each.

Year 5/6 Market Stall Fundraiser

To raise money for the Stage 3 excursion to Canberra, the Year 5/6 class held a fundraiser at the Dorrigo Markets on Saturday, selling delicious baked goods. Many thanks to Monique Shaw (who co-ordinated the market stall), her band of willing helpers, and everyone who supported the stall by baking, donating ingredients, helping out on the stall or buying something. They raised $472.50 - what a brilliant effort!

Parent Assembly Recruitment

Stage 1 Excursion to Dorrigo Museum

On Tuesday, Year 1 & 2 students visited the Don Dorrigo and Guy Fawkes Society Museum in Dorrigo. Below are some photos from the excursion.

Stage 1 Science Experiment

On Tuesday our class, with Kindergarten, did a science experiment with Skittles.

Step 1 Get a plate.
Step 2 Get the Skittles and put them around the plate in a ring.
Step 3 Get warm water and pour it slowly and carefully on the plate.
Step 4 We wait and don't bump the table!
Step 5 Draw a picture of the rainbow Skittles in our book.
By Ethan MacDonell

Weekly Awards

This week's class awards went to:

Pele Coello - for writing an interesting sentence about insects.

Ryan Beaumont - for making a great attempt at writing a sentence about insects.

Jules Francis - for working hard in writing this week to finish his report on a megalodon. Keep it up!

Chloe Thomas - for the fantastic effort you always put in English lesson. You are a great role model to others. Thankyou.

Rosie Wright - for showing effort in reading groups.

Clay Burnes - for showing consistent effort in class and writing a wonderful introduction.

Cooper Colley - for being able to apply what he has learnt in Reading (English) to topics being addressed in R.E.

Holly Shaw - for demonstrating responsible and independent learning behaviours through being able to redirect peers to engage in tasks.

St Patrick's Day - Dress in Green

On St Patrick's Day, which is next Wednesday 17th March, students and staff may to come to school dressed in GREEN for a gold coin donation. The Stage 3 class will also be selling green jelly cups at recess for $1. This is a another fundraiser for the Stage 3 excursion.

Request for Art & Craft

Mrs Darby is asking for donations of small boxes for Stage 1 Art & Craft - tissue boxes, tea boxes, medicine boxes etc. They can be left at the front office.

Orienteering in Dorrigo 13 March

Last week we distributed a poster about the orienteering event being held at the Showground in the afternoon of Saturday 13 March. This is a tremendous opportunity for Mt St John's kids to enjoy a social and mildly challenging event, in a safe environment. Hopefully they will be keen to participate, if they can, in the event on Saturday.
In order to participate, children will need to be accompanied by a responsible adult. The adult will need to complete an entry form for the child and sign a standard waiver form. The cost is $5 per child, for the map and electronic card needed for the course. 
The entry form can be completed online at www.dorrigoshow.com Printed forms will also be available at the school office. 

Term 1 Swimming Program

Swimming lessons are held each Friday. Swimming is a compulsory part of the PDHPE curriculum. Students will need to bring swimmers, a towel, goggles, a cap and a sun shirt for their lesson. There is no cost for swimming lessons, as the school covers the pool entry fees and payments to the swim teachers. Swimming lessons will take place each Friday in Term 1 at the following times:

Stage 3 at 1pm

Stage 2 at 1.40pm

K - 2 at 2.20pm

Students will walk to and from the pool. Please note, K - 2 students are to be collected from the pool at the end of the day each Friday as their lesson will finish at 3pm. Due to Covid regulations Tracey has asked that parents pick their children up from outside the pool. K - 2 students catching buses will be supervised at Dorrigo Public School by our staff. 

Library Day - Wednesday

Library day for all students is Wednesday - please make sure your child brings in his or her cloth library bag on this day. Each student may borrow four books per week. 

School Uniform Items Available

We have a stock of school uniform items available for purchase from the front office. We accept cash, cheque or bank transfer. Uniform prices are as follows:

School hats - $15

School shirts - $25

Skorts - $20

Shorts - $20

Rain jackets - $50

We also have some items available to buy from our 2nd-hand uniform pool.

Canteen

Thank you to Amii Francis & Elaine Morssink, who are our canteen volunteers today. If anyone is available to volunteer in our canteen one or more Fridays per term, please contact our canteen co-ordinator Alicia on 0488 280683. If we have no volunteers available we will have to cancel canteen for that week.

Please note - if you top up your canteen account via bank transfer, the funds will take a week to clear so you will not be able to order canteen immediately. 

Please send your lunch wallets into school and we will keep them here.

School Bus Travel

Applications for student travel can now apply online. A new

School Drive Subsidy

The School Drive Subsidy is available for eligible school students where there is no public transport available for all or part of the journey. If you have to drive your child more than 1.6km to a school bus stop, you may be eligible for this subsidy – go to the link below to apply. 

Head Lice

If you notice head lice on your child, please treat his or her hair ASAP and notify the school that you did this. Remember – long hair must be tied back at school.

Soccer Registrations Open

The Dorrigo Highlanders Football Club is now taking registrations for Miniroos, Juniors, Intermediate and Senior players in the 2021 North Coast Football season.  Player registrations are also needed to fill a Mixed 14s team.  Register online at www.playfootball.com.au with your Active Kids Voucher.  The NCF season for community club football begins Saturday 13 March.

Working With Children Check

For those parents who are volunteers at school, such as canteen helpers, we need to ensure that you have a current Working with Children (Volunteers) Check. To apply for this check, go to 

COVID Student Attendance

Staff and students exhibiting even mild COVID-19 symptoms should be sent home and are required to produce proof of a negative COVID-19 test before returning to school. 

As per these guidelines, a screenshot of the text message, confirming a Negative result, is all that will be required to return to school. 

Updated Bell Times

This year we have modified our bell times.  The current times are as follows:

8:55 am - 11:00 am English Block

11:00 am - 11:15 am Lunch (children sit and eat)

11:15 am - 11:35 am Lunch Play

11:35 am - 12:55 pm Mathematics Block

12:55 pm - 1:05 pm Recess (children sit and eat)

1:05 pm - 1:20 pm Recess Play

1:20 pm - 3:05 pm Other Key Learning Areas (Science, Arts, History etc)

Term 1 School Fees

SCHOOL FEES: Term 1 school fee accounts have been sent home. Term 1 fees are payable by next Friday 19th March, unless you are paying by regular direct deposit amounts.

Several payment methods are available; 

• Regular direct deposit payments (see suggested amounts below).
• Lump sum direct deposit
• Cash
• Cheque

If you are planning to set up regular direct deposit school fee payments for the 2021 school year, following are instructions on how to do this: 

Suggested direct deposit amounts (from beginning of February 2021)

1 student - Term 1 - $326.00 (includes $50 resource fee per student)

      Terms 2, 3 & 4 - $276.00

       $46.16 per fortnight (x 25 fortnights)

       $23.08 per week (x 50 weeks)

2 students – Term 1 - $583.00 (includes $50 resource fee per student)

        Terms 2, 3 & 4 - $483.00 per term

       $81.28 per fortnight (x 25 fortnights)

       $40.64 per week (x 50 weeks)

3 or more students – Term 1 - $771.00 (includes $50 resource fee per student)

       Terms 2, 3 & 4 – $621.00

       $105.36 per fortnight (x 25 fortnights)

       $52.68 per week (x 50 weeks)

If you would like to arrange a regular direct debit payment from your Bananacoast Credit Union account into the school’s account, the BCU Credit Union in Dorrigo will organize this for you.

When using Internet banking, please use your child’s surname as a reference.

Banancoast Community Credit Union   BSB no. 533-000

Account no. 3282 0430                 Name: Mt St John’s Primary School

GLUE

GLUE: "God Loves Us Eternally" (formerly GFS) is on each Wednesday from 3-5pm at the Anglican Hall. Afternoon tea, games, fun worship and craft. All primary kids welcome, as are newcomers. For more info, ring Gwenneth on 6657 2135. COVID-safe practices will apply.

Coffs Coast Hockey

Nutrition Snippet