Term 1 has been a very busy and highly successful term for our school. Congratulations to our staff and students on their excellent efforts so far this year in many different and diverse areas. Thanks to our community for their excellent support, our community support is truly outstanding. Anzac Day March is held on Tuesday 25th April. Our teachers return on Monday 24th April and students return Wednesday 26th April. The Anzac Day March is held between these two days and your family support with the March is always greatly appreciated. Anzac Day this year falls the day before students start Term 2, on Tuesday 25th April. South Grafton Public School is always very well represented at this ceremony and we are hoping that again this year we have a large number of students attend. The South Grafton March commences at 10.50am from the New School of Arts. We will assemble from 10.15am in Spring Street. Students are to wear full school uniform, including school hat. Not sports uniform. The service commences at the Cenotaph at 11:15 (and is expected to conclude at approximately 11:55 am.) Parents need to collect students from the park after the service. Congratulations to our footballers who attended the Mid North Coast trials held at Coffs Harbour on Monday. We had representatives in the 11yrs and 12yrs teams. Congratulations to Rhys Pepper, Isaac Barker and Izac McConnell who have been chosen to attend the North Coast trials next term. Our thanks to Mr Duroux and Mr Simpson who coached these two teams. Congratulations to Isaac Barker who has been selected in the North Coast AFL PSSA Team. This is a fantastic achievement by Isaac and we wish him all the very best next term at the State carnival.

Good luck to Andrea Thomson who is competing at the State PSSA swimming carnival today in Sydney. So far this year, including Rahni McGrath for tennis, we have had three students chosen to represent North Coast at State carnival level.

The process for students in Year 4 who wish to apply for our Opportunity Class in 2018 is about to begin. All applications must be done online. Important dates are as follows: Wednesday 26th April 2017: Online applications open Friday 12th May 2017: Online applications close Wednesday 26th July 2017: O C Placement Test Parents will be able to access the online application at https://education.nsw.gov.au/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year-5. All year 4 students will receive a note with more information at the start of Term 2.

Tomorrow our Infants campus is holding the Easter Hat Parade beginning at 11.00am. This is a fantastic occasion for our school and we are looking forward to seeing an excellent attendance by our community. Due to wet grounds and concerns with the weather we have decided to go back to holding the parade under the Infants cola. I would encourage our parents to bring a chair and hat. The P&C Easter raffle will also be drawn at this parade. There will be a BBQ lunch and canteen facilities will be available. Please contact the Infants office if you require more information.

Our Cross Country carnival will now be held on Monday 1st May in Term 2.

Thank you to our families who were able to attend this week’s parent teacher interviews. The three days were an excellent success and we appreciate our families giving up their time to build relationships between home and school. If you were unable to attend and you would like to arrange an appointment please contact the school. The Happy Colours discos

were lots of fun.

South Grafton Public School Newsletter

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we live and work and we pay our respects to the Elders both past and present.

www. sthgrafton- p. schools. nsw. edu. au www. facebook. com/SouthGraftonPublicSchool

Term 1 Week 11 Thursday 6th April 2017

Principal’s Report

Principal: Mr Peter Hickey Vere Street South Grafton NSW 2460 T: 02 6642 3388 F: 02 6643 2065

sthgrafton-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Inspiring Excellence through PRIDE www.sthgrafton-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Congratulations to all students who attended our End of Term Reward Days which were all a great success. Thank you to our teachers for organising a range of engaging activities for our students.

Stage 3 had a great day at Coffs Harbour.

Stage 2 had fun Ten Pin Bowling on Monday.

A reminder to our parents who pick students up from the Primary campus. We have noticed a number of parents entering our school grounds quite early and sitting under our colas. This is a practice we do not encourage due to child protection issues and we would greatly appreciate our parents picking their children up from the designated areas outside the gates at either Vere St or Bent St.

All parents who enter our grounds during school hours are required to sign in at either office.

Three important dates later in the year for you to put in your diaries are Grandparents’ Day Thursday 8th June, Market Day Thursday 7th September and Sesquicentenary Celebrations Saturday 21st October.

I wish our community a fantastic holiday and enjoyable Easter celebration and we look forward to a very successful Term 2.

Peter Hickey Principal Hockey Draw for Round 2 Saturday 8th April Mods 9.30am Legends 1 Simbas v McAuley Legends 2 Nalas v Sailors Div 1 Southies have a bye Div 2 10.30am BLF 1 Sarabis v Sailors BLF 2 Cubs v Sailors There will be no hockey over the holidays. Games resume Term 2 Saturday 29th April This year SGPS are celebrating our Sesquicentenary 1867-2017. This celebration will happen on Saturday 21st October 2017. The Agenda for the day will be: 10.00am - Welcome to Country

Principal’s welcome Performances from band, choir, dance groups, skippers

10.45 onwards - Morning Tea available 11.00 - Library open with photos and memorabilia Primary campus tours 12.00 - Infants campus tours 12.00 onwards - BBQ available in Primary campus 2.00 Finish Students will celebrate at school in the week before - more details will be sent home as it gets closer to the day. Friday 7th April Easter Hat Parade Infants 11am Last Day of Term Monday 24th April Teachers return for Term 2 Tuesday 25th April Anzac Day Holiday-Anzac March Wednesday 26th April First day Term 2 for students Monday 1st May Cross Country Wednesday 10th May Primary Mothers’ Day stall Thursday 11th May Infants Mothers’ Day stall Thursday 8th June Grandparents’ Day Thursday 7th September Market Day Saturday 21st October Sesquicentenary Ceremony

Upcoming Events

School Hockey News

150 years Celebration

Principal: Mr Peter Hickey Vere Street South Grafton NSW 2460 T: 02 6642 3388 F: 02 6643 2065

sthgrafton-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Inspiring Excellence through PRIDE www.sthgrafton-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

KNC Tabitha Simiana KTJ Pippa Brown KAO Kazrianna Duroux KTD Tashiah Woodley/Walker 1BK Rhianna Blair 1KG Lilly Axford 1CC Chloe Valencia 1/2KW Nate Pohlman 2ES Emma Cameron 2MA Lilly Small 2DR Leo Filippa 3JD Cadence Wilkinson-Byrnes 3TM Lexi Bryant 3DM Charni Adamson 4TA Lilly Tough 4TA Nevaeh Jackson 4DM Chloe Taylor 4DM Caitlin Amos 4MS Georgia Shorrock 4MS Maeve Gggins 3/4LG Alyssa Graham 3/4LG Lily Vidler 5WC Melanie Leman 5LH Emily Henderson 5/6TC Grace Creighton 6DZ Phillip Van Meurs 5/6AP Max Rayward 6JR Kaiden Grimes

Principal Awards Ella Sinclair, Keighan Henderson-Wales, Emma Lawson, Andrew Hughes, Blake McPhee, Lemeki Kurimalawai, Caitlin Amos, Mia Nicholson, Isac McConnell, Tara Cook, Brayden Lolic, Madison McPherson, Tallara Taylor, Riley Dawson, Jacob Vickers, Tim Simpson, Mia Torrens, Joel Cook, Kaydence Kilduff Education for your child is important and regular attendance at school is essential for your child to achieve their educational best and increase their career and life options. NSW public schools work in partnership with parents to encourage and support regular attendance of children and young people. When your child attends school every day, learning becomes easier and your child will build and maintain friendships with other children. What are my legal responsibilities? Education in New South Wales is compulsory for all children between the ages of six years and below the minimum school leaving age. The Education Act 1990 requires that parents ensure their children of compulsory school age are enrolled at, and regularly attend school, or, are registered with the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards for homeschooling. Once enrolled, children are required to attend school each day it is open for students. The importance of arriving on time Arriving at school and class on time: Ensures that students do not miss out on important

learning activities scheduled early in the day Helps students learn the importance of punctuality

and routine Give students time to greet their friends before

class Reduces classroom disruption

Lateness is recorded as a partial absence and must be explained by parents.

What if my child has to be away from school? On occasion, your child may need to be absent from school. Justified reasons for student absences may include: being sick, or having an infectious disease having an unavoidable medical appointment being required to attend a recognised religious

holiday exceptional or urgent family circumstance (e.g.

attending a funeral) Following an absence from school you must ensure that within 7 days you provide your child’s school with a verbal or written explanation for the absence. However, if the school has not received an explanation from you within 2 days, the school may contact you to discuss the absence. Principals may decline to accept an explanation that you have provided if they do not believe the absence is in the best interest of your child. In these circumstances your child’s absence would be recorded as unjustified. When this happens the principal will discuss their decision with you and the reasons why. Principals may request medical certificates or other documentation when frequent or long term absences are explained as being due to illness. Principals may also seek parental permission to speak with medical specialists to obtain information to collaboratively develop a health care plan to support your child. If the request is denied, the principal can record the absences as unjustified. Travel Families are encouraged to travel during school holidays. If travel during school term is necessary, discuss this with your child’s school principal. An Application for Extended Leave may need to be completed. Absences relating to travel will be marked as leave on the roll and therefore contribute to your child’s total absences for the year. Any questions you have regarding attendance should be referred to Mr Jones.

Awards

Student Attendance

Principal: Mr Peter Hickey Vere Street South Grafton NSW 2460 T: 02 6642 3388 F: 02 6643 2065

sthgrafton-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Inspiring Excellence through PRIDE www.sthgrafton-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

CRANES Jacaranda Preschool has been a part of the local community for over forty years. We pride ourselves on providing high quality education and care for children in the Grafton area. Jacaranda Preschool is open from 8.30am to 3.30pm. Fees start

from $15 per day. Please contact the preschool for more information – 6642 4082 or jaca@cranes.org.au

www.cranes.org.au

Please support these businesses who support South Grafton Public School

Mark Hunting Branch Manager

62 Skinner Street South Grafton NSW 2460 P 02 6643 3044 F 02 6643 5554 M 0428 433 044 E mark.hunting@bendigoadelaide.com.au

Bendigo Bank

South Grafton

Community Bank Branch

CAPTAIN COOK TAKEAWAY Takeaway Food, Sandwiches, Hot BBQ Chickens, Drinks,

Cappuccino and Flat White Coffee & Grocery Lines EFTPOS available

Open 7 Days Mon-Fri 5.30am-6.30pm Sat 6am-6.30pm Sun 7.30am-4pm

303 Ryan Street, South Grafton Phone 6642 3402

Media Release 23 March 2017

Calling all young artists to enter the Brigade Kids Champion Competition

Firefighters from South Grafton are calling on all budding young artists across the state to use their creativity and imagination to help promote fire safety, and have the chance to win great prizes in the process. Acting Deputy Captain Shanon Tough said children are often unaware that a tiny flame can grow into a dangerous fire. “Their young age and inexperience with the dangers of fire puts them at high-risk. It is important that we teach children an escape plan and practice it frequently. The Brigade Kids Champion Competition launched today is intended to raise awareness of the importance of fire safety amongst children from a young age,” he said. “This competition complements our Fire Education Program which aims to reduce the severity of the tragedy and trauma caused by fires that can have lasting effects on children.” Supported by the NSW Department of Education, the Brigade Kids Champion Competition encourages children from Kindergarten to Year 2 in NSW to create a poster that promotes one of three essential fire safety messages:

• Practice your Escape Plan and have a Safe Meeting Place • Get Down Low, and Go, Go, Go • Call Triple Zero (000) in the case of a fire

The Brigade Kids Champions Competition will run from 13 March to 23 April 2017, with entries to be submitted at www.brigadekids.com. Entries will be judged by a panel of representatives from the NSW Department of Education, Association of Independent Schools of NSW, NSW Teachers Federation, Catholic Education Commission NSW, the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, LEGO, Scholastic, Hi-5 and the FRNSW Commissioner. Winners from each category have the opportunity to win an Xbox One from Microsoft, LEGO City packs, and fire safety certificates amongst others. In addition, the schools of the winning children will also receive gift packs from Scholastic. For more details on the Brigade Kids Champion Competition, please visit www.brigadekids.com, email competitions@fire@fire.nsw.gov.au or phone 8020 1401 About Brigade Kids Brigade Kids is an online initiative of FRNSW. Featuring children’s games, activities and resources, it’s a great way to help children learn about fire safety around the home. For more information, visit www.brigadekids.com.

Fire & Rescue NSW media@fire.nsw.gov.au www.fire.nsw.gov.au General Media (02) 9265 2907 Operational Media 0418 181 000

facebook.com/frnsw twitter.com/FireRescueNSW

flickr.com/frnsw youtube.com/frnsw