Volume 13 20th August 2021
From the Principal
Welcome to another edition of Leichhardt State School’s newsletter!
Restrictions Removed!
It is so exciting that the restrictions are lifting today at 4:00pm and we are able to welcome our parents, carers and visitors back on the school site. The wearing of masks is still mandatory, so I thank you in advance for continuing to wear masks when you visit the school. This is very important to keep our students and staff safe.
From next week, we will resume assemblies and other large group activities, including extra-curricular sporting and dancing activities. I am sure that our students in senior school will be very excited to resume their electives on Wednesday afternoons. Our staff are working hard to reschedule the excursions that our students missed during the lockdown and restrictions, and more information will be sent to parents and carers closer to the date.
Our staff will continue to wear masks unless they can stay 1.5 meters apart from other people. This means that teachers will continue to wear masks in the classrooms, unless they are able to physically distance themselves from others. It also means that there will be some opportunities for staff during the lesson to remove a mask to explicitly teach a concept from the front of the room, for example.
Spotlight on Staff
You may have seen on our Facebook page a video of Jethro, our Student Media Representative, interviewing one of the best teachers at Leichhardt State School, Mr Woodford. Whilst the interviewee was excellent, I think we can all agree that Jethro’s interviewing skills and the entertainment value added was simply exceptional. As I always say, Leichhardt State School has incredibly talented students and I am so excited about the future that is ahead of them.
Enrolments
Face-to-face enrolment interviews will resume from Monday 23rd August. This includes the prep interviews for our future students. The enrolment forms can be accessed on our website and parents are encouraged to call the school if they have any questions about the process.
From Term 4, the school will start a Prep Transition program for all interested families. We will share more information about this closer to the date through Newsletter and Facebook. If you are planning on enrolling your child at Leichhardt in 2022, I strongly encourage you to complete the enrolment paperwork as soon as possible, so you receive all the information in a timely manner.
Reporting
This week, I sent a letter to all parents explaining the reporting process we are using in Term 3. The Term 3 report cards are based on the work the students completed this term only. As was approved by the P&C at the start of the year, the report cards will have no comments. There will be no formal parent-teacher interviews; however, teachers have been advised to request a phone parent-teacher interview with parents of any students who are at risk.
In closing, we finished the week to Dancing Monkey whilst we participated in the Emu Parade at second break. It was wonderful to see so many students smiling and dancing to the music. This initiative was part of our PBL focus for the week. Our Gotcha winners are:
Mahalia and Lillie
From the HOSES
We are very proud of our year 5 students who have been working incredibly hard to complete their assessments this week. Please talk to your child about what they have been learning about. If there are any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to contact us so we can support your child in achieving their learning goals.
When children are not able hear properly it can impact on their speech development, academic progress, social development, concentration and behaviour. It is important to make sure we monitor our children’s ears and seek medical advice if our child appears to have difficulties with hearing or repeated ear infections.
If you are concerned about your child’s hearing, you are welcome to request a hearing screener at school. This is not a professional audiology test but can help you to know whether further investigation is needed.
Below is a video on hearing and ear health.
Reading @ Leichhardt
Premier Reading Challenge Class Awards go to…..
Week 5: 2C
Week 6: 4B
Well done students and teachers!
Only 7 days left of the Premier’s Reading Challenge. Please encourage your child to complete their Premier’s Reading Challenge form!
Win A School Visit From Author, Sue Whiting!
Only 7 Days left of the ‘Win A Visit From An Author’ competition! Does your child have 5 books that they absolutely love to read? If so, please ask them to let Mrs Finlay (Head of Department: Reading) know and, after checking for parental/guardian permission, she will help them complete the form to enter the competition!
Book Week Parade
Book Week officially begins at Leichhardt State School on Monday. There will be activities in the library at 2nd play each day for the students. On Friday morning (27-8-21) at 8:45am students and teachers will be parading their book week costumes in the Hall! The theme for this year’s Book Week is: Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds. This allows so many possibilities for costumes! If your child is unsure of what to wear, there will be a mask making activity in the library at 2nd play on the Thursday prior to the parade. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 restrictions, parents and carers will be unable to attend the parade. However, there will be photos on facebook and in the next newsletter!
Leichhardt ‘Pick of the Week’ book reviewers for Weeks 5 and 6 were…..
Lilly (5A)
Ivy (Prep A), Zakk (Prep B), Kevin (1A) and Kaylee (Prep A)
Aunty Marly’s ‘Deadly Readers’ for Week 5 were…..
Makayla (2A) and Kailyn (2A)
PBL News
PBL
Weekly focus:
In Week 6 students have focused on the expectation ‘Be Kind’ and the value ‘Teamwork’ by understanding ways to work together to keep our school environment tidy. We showed teamwork and kindness to our environment by all participating in an emu parade on Friday.
The students have also been practicing good personal hygiene by learning the importance of washing their hands thoroughly.
Attendance:
It has been wonderful to see our students back after remote learning. Congratulations to our winners of the attendance raffle. These 10 students have won a $1 tuckshop voucher for having 100% attendance in week 5!
Junior students - Indigo, Kaiden, Deliah-Rose, Bison, Jewelistah
Senior students - Bailey, James, Melicia, Olivia, Taura
Our class winners for the highest percentage of attendance:
Junior:
1B - 80%
3B - 84%
Senior:
4A - 89.57%
6B - 87%
Learning @ Leichhardt
4B
Year 4 have been enjoying learning about the First World War. We even had the opportunity to look artefacts including medals, photographs and a horse shoe from this time. 4B students have been using their knowledge of WW1 to write recounts of the key events. These photos show students working in teams to develop their skills in recount writing. They focused on using opinion, facts and detail to enhance their work.
Year 2 have been busy being little scientists!
This term they have been experimenting with materials and being busy inventing a Rube Goldberg machine. A Rube Goldberg machine consists of many different materials. The main purpose of this machine is to keep things moving to get to a final goal. Check out the below example!
Mission Australia Play and Learn
It has been a rough term so far for the Play & Learn Discovery group with not many sessions due to COVID restrictions. Luckily I was able to deliver craft resources to families & deliver the program through a virtual Facebook Messenger group over the past couple of weeks.
Next week we are back in the Library from 9-11am where we will have special guests from the Ipswich Library’s First 5 Forever program from 9-9.45am. They are great at teaching us new songs & telling stories in different ways. The session will be lots of fun & I am looking forward to it.
We will continue with the dinosaur theme next week where we will start making Father’s Day cards & making pinch pots from air drying clay.
Community News
