Principal: Kris Pagett Cowra-Carcoar Road, Cowra NSW 2794 6342 2172 0458 422000
@
holmwood-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Term 1 Week 3 – Week Ending 10th February 2017
A Great Start to 2017! What a fantastic start we have had for 2017! Our new students are settling in extremely well to HPS life and it is wonderful to see such enthusiastic learners in the classrooms and happy and helpful children in our playground! Our Kindergarten students are all settled in to their new classroom and it is like they have been at school for months instead of just a week! Thank you to all the HPS parents who ensured that their children’s school uniforms, books and stationery supplies were organised, covered and fully stocked, ready for a big term of learning!
Cowra Small Schools’ Swimming Carnival This year’s Cowra Small Schools’ Swimming Carnival will be held NEXT Friday 17th February. This year Koorawatha PS will be running the Carnival and it will be held at Cowra Aquatic Centre. It is expected that all children K-6 will attend the Carnival. Please note that parents will be required to transport their children to and from Cowa Aquatic Centre. We will have the large Holmwood PS shade tent set up for families to sit under and cheer on our students as they compete. There will be events and activities for children of all swimming abilities, including plenty of games for our non-swimmers. Please ensure permission notes are returned before next Friday.
Parent/Teacher Information Evening Mrs Knight, Ms Whitty and I would like to thank all the parents and grandparents who turned up on Monday to our Parent/Teacher Information Evening. We greatly value our home-school partnerships and are grateful to have so many interested and supportive parents! If you have any concerns or questions about any aspect of your child’s learning, please phone the school and arrange an appointment to speak with your child’s teacher.
6341 1247
www.holmwood-p.schools.nsw.edu.au
Library Could parents please ensure their child/children have a Library Bag for borrowing. Library day for K/1 and Yrs 4/5/6 will be on Thursday and Yrs 2/3 will be on Friday.
School Fees Voluntary School Fees are an essential source of funds for our school. School fees directly cover the costs of student Text Books (Maths, and Handwriting) which the school purchases at the beginning of the year so that we are ready to go from Day 1. As you can appreciate, this is a substantial outlay (around $2,000), which we need to recoup as soon as possible.
The cost of school fees is $35 per child for the year. It would be greatly appreciated if parents could arrange for school fees to be paid to the Office as soon as possible. Thank you.
Best Start This Thursday and next Thursday our new Kindergarten students are being assessed in the areas of Literacy and Numeracy using the Best Start Program. Once all the results are collated, parents will receive a letter from the school informing them of their child’s strengths and areas that they may be able to assist them with at home. The data gained from the Best Start Assessments enables us to find out what prior knowledge and skills students have before they enter school, so that we are best able to plan for their future learning needs. If you have any questions about your child’s Best Start assessments, please call the school to speak with Mrs Pagett.
Paint Shirts All students K-6 are asked to have a paint shirt for art activities this year. All paint shirts were sent home at the end of 2015 for washing so at the moment we have none. An oversized shirt works best as it covers school shirts AND shorts/skorts and keeps everything protected. Paint shirts need to have your child’s name clearly written on the collar and are to be handed in to
class teachers. appreciated.
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Calendar Term 1 Week 3 th
Uniforms We have a large selection of new school uniforms and school hats ready if any parents/caregivers would like to purchase! We also have a large amount of second hand uniforms in the clothing pool for sale. Items from the clothing pool are available for just $2.00. Please see Julie or Anthea in the office for all your uniform supplies.
Nut Allergies We kindly ask parents NOT to send any nut products to school, due to the severe anaphylactic shock that some of our students may experience. Your assistance with this is vital for their safety. If you have any questions, please speak to one of the Staff.
Friday 10 Feb
Scripture
Term 1 Week 4 th
Book Club Due
th
Valentine’s Day
Mon 13 Feb Tues 14 Feb th
Fri 17 Feb
Cowra Small Schools’ Swimming Carnival at Cowra Aquatic Centre
Term 1 Week 5 th
Friday 24 Feb
Scripture Swimming for Sport
Kris Pagett Principal
Attachments
School Swimming for Sport – Permission Note School Photo Information from Cliff Dykes
School Photos Cliff Dykes Photography will be taking School Photos on FRIDAY 3rd of MARCH. You can now order your school photos on line which gives you option of choosing your own background etc. Attached please find detailed information from Cliff Dykes Photography. If you do not have access to a computer or internet you may let Cliff Dykes know on photo day and he will assist you. If you have any questions or concerns regarding school photos, please contact Cliff Dykes directly on 6342 3070.
Canteen – MEAL DEAL Friday 9th February On Friday this week the Canteen is offering a lunch MEAL DEAL. This consists of a Chicken Burger, a Popper and an Ice Block for $6.00. A note was sent home on Wednesday. If your child/children wish to order this Meal Deal please ensure your order with payment is in by Friday morning. We are still in urgent need of volunteers to assist in the Canteen. Please notify the school if you are able to assist and we shall have a P&C member contact you. Thank you to our volunteers who have generously given their time to ensure the students are able to purchase lunch each Friday by way of a Meal Deal.
The “Ponies” Class News This week in “The Ponies” classroom we have been very busy, BUT we have been having lots of fun whilst working hard. Students are settling in to the new class routine and are enjoying making new friends and sharing and caring for each other in the classroom and in the playground. During our Literacy sessions kindy students are working diligently to learn their phonic sounds and use these to sound out words. We have also practiced our handwriting and every student is trying very hard to form their letters correctly. Our older students are using their spelling words to write wonderful stories that have entertained our whole class. During Maths students are loving playing number games and our older students are working very hard to develop their ability to recall number facts quickly. A big thank you to all the parents/caregivers who were able to attend the parent/teacher night on Monday night. Any parents/caregivers who were unable to attend are welcome to contact the school to arrange an appointment if you have any questions or concerns.
Jack L and Riley using 3D shapes to build .
Shelby enjoying making her “sssstrawberry” for the phonic sound ‘s’. We are looking to another wonderful week of learning. Kind Regards Michelle Whitty “Ponies” Class Teacher
“Stock Horses” Class News Thank you to everyone for you warm welcome last week. Year 2/3 have chosen to be called ‘The Stockhorse Class’. This is in line with the horse theme for class names at Holmwood. It has been a ‘getting to know you’ time since the beginning of the term. I have assessed the students and set up groups for Literacy and Numeracy according to their ability. In English we have been reading books from the Gigglers Series.
Each student has a different story and is working independently. I target teach each student during the reading session. In Writing the students have been keeping a daily journal from which their spelling words are found and added to their own ‘My Spelling Word’ book. They are working hard to improve their pencil grip and handwriting. We are enjoying learning about each other through morning news. In Maths we have enjoyed exploring numbers and learning about new 2D shapes like a 7 sided shape is a Heptagon and a 9 sided shape is a Nonagon. They loved creating a collage by cutting and gluing 2D shapes only to form a picture. We have enjoyed the afternoon rotations where the students are in their stage groups. In PD/H we have been learning about the brain and how to care for it. Everyone is looking forward to cutting up sheep brains later in the year. Set homework will be sent home next week. This week the students have been reading every night and filling in their Home Reading Journal. I will send home books but if the students want to read their own books that is fine. I would like homework brought in each day so the students do not have to wait a week if they are having trouble with anything in their homework. I understand if the students are tired and don’t fit homework in each night. Thank you to the parents who attended the information evening last Monday. It was lovely to meet you and I thank you for your support. Have a lovely weekend. Kris Pagett Stock Horses Class Teacher
“Mustangs” Class News We have had a fantastic 2 weeks in the “Mustangs”. The children have all settled into the classroom and are working enthusiastically in all areas. The students are currently reading the texts ‘Encyclopaedia Brown Cracks the Case’ by Donald J. Sobol and ‘From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil.E. Frankweiler’ by E.L. Konigsburg. They answered questions in order to develop their comprehension skills. Mustangs have also been 'pulling apart' and reconstructing narratives. We have been focusing on the structure, features and purposes of this text type. In Maths, our topic area has been whole number. We have worked on place value, prime numbers and composite numerals. The objective of Maths lessons thus far has been the strategies and working outs the students used to solve problems. We will also be working on Maths word problems throughout the year. Last Friday, the students created gorgeous sunset art in Visual Arts and played a competitive game of Super 8 cricket Holmwood Style!! Keep up the fantastic work Mustangs!!! Until next week...
Mrs Knight Mustangs Class Teacher