Term 1 - Week 8, 2021

Principal's Message

Dear Parents,

We’ve had a huge week at school this week as we’ve focused on student wellbeing. Last night it was great to meet with parents once again. It has been about a year since we have been able to connect in person as a group. We look forward to organising some more events to include parents and our students into the near future.

This year we have some new Parent Assembly representatives. They are Elaine Morssink, Nicola Beckett and Ashlee Turner. I’m looking forward to working with these parents as we strive to build better partnerships with our parents. My thanks to these parents for assisting with organising our parent gathering last night.

This week, we have focused on student wellbeing. We had extra play, we cooked breakfast for the students, we dressed in green for St Patrick’s Day, held a liturgy and had a school social. Today we are learning about bullying in class. This is important as targeting behaviour is detrimental to student wellbeing. As a community we need to learn about it, so that students feel safe, are supported by their peers and know what to do if it happens online or in the school yard.

Some photos from our week are in the gallery below.

Regards,

Nathan Trezise

Principal  

80's Social

Last night our school had an 80s Social. We  would like to thank all the parents and their kids who brought a plate to share and thanks to all those who dressed up for the occasion! 

We had a Dance-off competition in each stage.

The winners were:

• Stage 1 - Ethan Miller and Chloe Thomas.
• Stage 2 - Ruby Francis and Clay Burnes.
• Stage 3 - Freya  Wright and Cash Gibson. 
• All Kinders - Hunter Gibson, Adaline Lowe, Abby Menzies, Aurora Williams, Keira Turner and Ryan Beaumont

Thank you to all the people who gave a donation for our Canberra 5/6 camp. 

We all enjoyed the night and hope to have another social Wellbeing week next term.

By Stage 3

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.

School Cross Country

Our school cross country carnival is scheduled for Monday 29th March (weather permitting). It will likely take place at the Dorrigo Recreation grounds. However, a wet weather plan may have to be enacted. Students participate in this to gain selection to our Zone Cross Country Team. It will take place at 1:30pm. There will be a fun run for K - 2, 2000m and 3000m events.

Visit with Uncle Mark

On Tuesday the school had a visit from Uncle Mark Flanders, National Parks Indigenous Ranger. Uncle Mark visited each class and shared some stories and local knowledge relevant to the curriculum areas they are learning about.

Stage 3 have been learning about The Solitary Islands Marine Park and the ecological and cultural importance of the area.

In the stage 3 class room Uncle Mark talked about the Aboriginal Gumbaynggirr land and its history. He talked to us about the neighbours of the Gumbaynggirr country. He told us Dreamtime stories and talked to us about the importance of the Solitary Islands Marine Park. He also told us about the fish nets near Arrawarra and how there are sacred places where girls can’t go and how boys can’t go where girls go. These places are usually near headlands, boys stay to the headlands and the girls stay to the bottom of the headlands. The girls' sacred spaces were near fresh water. The Indigenous tribe would always respect this lore, where there was a genuine respect between men and women. He showed us a female dingo skin. 

Stage 2 have been learning about the first inhabitants of this area so Uncle Mark had lots to tell us about that.

Uncle Mark showed us foxes and other animals' skins. He taught us about what stuff we can make houses out of.

By Opheliah (Year 3)

Stage 1 have been learning the history of the Dorrigo Plateau. We talked with Uncle Mark about the history before the white settlers, and he told some stories, taught us some language and showed us some interesting things.

On Tuesday Uncle Mark came to visit us. He told us how to say to say 'mum' in Gumbaynggirr language, it is 'miimi'.

Dad is 'baaba'. Sister is 'jinda'. Brother is 'gagu'. Dog is 'waanyji'. Cat is 'prrrkin'.

He also told us a story about why kangaroos jump and kookaburras laugh.

By Chloe (Year 2)

When Uncle Mark came and visit us he got the skins out. He showed us a fox skin, a boomerang and a possum skin. They felt very soft.

By Amelia (Year 1)

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 are on sale for 20c each.

Weekly Awards

This week's class awards went to:

Hunter Gibson - for sharing good ideas to describe Wellbeing Week.

Adaline Lowe - for sharing good ideas to describe Wellbeing Week.

Hayley Munro - for your wonderful report on dinosaurs. You presented your work on a poster and included detail.

Jinky Ware - for the effort you have put into completing reading comprehension cards on your own.

Reid Gibson - for wonderful work in maths.

Ivy Mila - for being consistently engaged and attentive in class.

Abbi Maples - for being able to create a narrative using the correct structure and use of descriptive words and similes to engage the reader.

Oliver Thornton - for assisting with the organisation of activities for Aussie Day and our school social.

Parent Assembly Recruitment

St Patrick's Day - Limericks by Stage 3

A young smiley girl named Lily

 Who wore a tutu that was so frilly

She would often go dancing,

 Jumping and prancing

But then decided to be a hillbilly.

There was a young lady named Guest,

At long jump she was the best,

All day she would train

Even in the pouring rain 

She would never have time for a rest!

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.

Swimming Lessons on Fridays

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, Ashlee Turner & Alicia Miller, who were 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 now due, 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.

Dorrigo Rangers Rugby

Nutrition Snippet