Dear JPS Families, 

The school has been buzzing with activity this week as Term 2 shapes up to be a busy and exciting one! Just this week we have had students out at debating, District Cross Country and the GRIP Leadership conference. Garden Club and 3-6 sport have also begun, and plans are underway for many more events and activities throughout the term.

Our Stage 1 Dance Festival troupe has been busy rehearsing, and Mrs Mahoney and Mrs Green, along with some wonderful parent helpers, have been creating some very sparkly props. I am very much looking forward to seeing their performances in Week 6. Don’t forget to purchase your tickets through the Merrigong website.

Mrs McCormack has begun planning our annual Music Night, which will take place in Week 7. As a (very amateur) musician myself, I am excited to see our students share their creative sides.

I took the opportunity to chat with our friendly crossing guard, Paul, this week. He commented on how sensible and courteous Jamberoo students are when crossing the road, which was lovely to hear. Paul has also asked me to remind families that students must dismount and walk their bikes across the crossing. We would appreciate your support in reinforcing this expectation with your children so they are prepared when prompted.

Enjoy your weekend and this beautiful weather while it lasts!

Kind Regards, 

Bec Gavin

Principal

What a fantastic day at the District Cross Country! With the sun shining and spirits high, it was a wonderful event from start to finish. All students represented JPS with pride, demonstrating great sportsmanship, determination, and encouragement for one another. It was lovely to see so many smiling faces out on the course, with everyone giving their best effort and supporting their peers. The positive attitude and teamwork on display truly reflected the strong community spirit of our school. Congratulations to Alby Stewart for making it through to Regionals - what a superstar! A big congratulations to all students for their participation and effort.

Mrs Green and Mr Reed

On Thursday, our Captains and Vice Captains, Zahli, Leo, Elsie and Kiara spent a day honing their leadership skills at the GRIP Leadership conference, held at Wollongong University. They learned about integrity, serving others and role-modeling values, and reflected on ways that that they can take initiative to help others in our school. It was also a great opportunity for them to meet other school leaders from all across the Illawarra, Shoalhaven and Sydney. The day was productive and, just as importantly, fun! Our school leaders were keen to learn, and Mrs Gavin was very impressed with the confident and mature way that they represented Jamberoo Public school. 

The Kiama ANZAC Day march was held last weekend, on a beautiful, unseasonably warm Saturday morning. It provided a perfect backdrop for the community tribute. Our school was proudly represented by 13 students, including several of our youngest kindy participants, who demonstrated outstanding respect and composure throughout the event.

The students marched with pride and were attentive during the service, reflecting the true spirit of ANZAC Day. Jack and Indie had the honour of presenting the wreath, while Evie R carried our school banner with confidence and care.

Mrs Gavin and Mrs Behl-Shanks were very proud of all students who attended: Sidney, Evie R, Hazel R, Caden, Evie-Bae, Henry, Jack, Everlyn C, Logan S, Penny D, and Logan D. Their respectful behaviour and thoughtful participation were a credit to themselves, their families and our school community.

Jamberoo sent a talented team to the Debating Training Day at Bowral Public School Bowral on Wednesday, where Kiara, Elsie, Katelyn and Cate immersed themselves in a range of engaging activities designed to sharpen their skills. Each student rose to the challenge with confidence and creativity. 

Kiara impressed with her extraordinarily convincing argument for why Tom Holland should receive the last parachute on a sinking hot air balloon, earning her a coveted lolly prize. Cate delivered a compelling case for keeping Halloween, highlighting the joy it brings to children and receiving high praise from debating coordinator, Tony Davey. Katelyn led our team with clarity and purpose, articulating the importance of banning school uniforms to promote individuality, while Elsie presented a detailed and persuasive model advocating for the return of the cane, nearly winning Tony over. The day concluded on a high note with a melodic car-eoke trip down the mountain.

 Jamberoo squad now looks well prepared for the Premier’s Debating Challenge, kicking off with Oak Flats, just a few short weeks away.

I am excited to announce that we will be holding our annual Music Night this term! Music Night is an evening event in the school hall where students can sign up, individually or in groups, to perform for the audience. Examples include: singing, dancing, jokes, a short play or playing a musical instrument. Students can talk to me if they have a different idea, to get it approved. Performances should be limited to 3 minutes or the length of a song. Short plays may be slightly longer.

Any songs students are singing and dancing to will need to be primary school appropriate. Parents and carers, please check that the lyrics are OK. Any backing tracks that your child is singing or dancing to will need to be emailed to the school to be forwarded to Mr Reed, (see below) or sent in with your child on a USB and given directly to Mr Reed.

The timeline for Music Night is as follows:

Weeks 2-5 – students can sign up for Music Night with me when they see me out on playground duty. I will have my clipboard with me to write your name down. Students may be in two performances if they would like to.

Please email the school who will forward it on to Mr Reed at jamberoo-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au with your music. You could download music from iTunes or Spotify if you have an account. You can also send a Youtube link if you prefer. Alternatively, you can send in your child’s music using a USB. Please make sure that you or your child hands the USB directly to Mr Reed and that it has your child’s name on it.

Some students will not need music backing tracks, depending on their act.

Week 5 – Thursday 21st May - Your music is due to Mr Reed by this date. Parents will then not need to bring music for their child on the night as it will already be organised.

Week 6 -- Thursday 28th May. We will have a closed rehearsal at lunch time in my classroom for all performers. Students will just do the first minute or so of their act on this day in front of me and the other performers. If students are not organised with their act on this day, I will advise them that we will save their performance for next year. In other words, students must be prepared for this closed rehearsal in order to participate in Music Night. Students who will be playing their musical instrument for Music Night will not be required to attend this closed rehearsal. They should just bring their instrument (or play the school piano) on the night.

Please note that in Week 6, some students will be involved in Dance Festival. If a student is away for the closed rehearsal, I will have them show me their act on the following Monday, Week 7. I advise those involved in Dance Festival to be sure they are organised ahead of time as Week 6 will be a busy week for them. It was not possible to move Music Night back to Week 8 or 9 due to other events happening later in the term.

Week 7-- Thursday 4th June. Music Night will be held at 6 pm in the school hall. All are welcome! It usually goes for about 2 hours. Students are asked to bring their best manners and be a respectful audience. They will be expected to remain in their seats and not leave the hall. Parents and carers should be in attendance to supervise them.

Looking forward to it, and a big thank you to Mr Reed for his support with the backing tracks and the technical side of the event.

Mrs McCormack

Birrahlee students have been busy developing their mathematical thinking by learning and applying a variety of strategies to efficiently solve addition and subtraction problems. This week’s lessons focused on empowering students to approach number problems in creative and effective ways.

The strategies explored include:

· Bridging to 10: When one number is close to a multiple of ten, students use this technique to simplify addition.

· Compensation: By adjusting numbers, students make calculations easier while maintaining the overall balance.

· Levelling: This strategy involves balancing both numbers in a problem—moving them up or down—to streamline the calculation process.

· Partitioning: Using place value knowledge and known facts, students break numbers into manageable parts.

To solidify their understanding, students were challenged to write their own word problems to match given number sentences, and then select the most efficient strategy to solve them. This hands-on approach helped deepen their comprehension and showcased their problem-solving skills.

This term has had a calm and settled start, with students returning ready to learn and showing a positive attitude in the classroom. It has been wonderful to see everyone quickly settle back into routines and approach their learning with enthusiasm.

In English, students have been working hard on a multi-purpose text about a place in Australia that is under threat. This task has encouraged them to inform, persuade and entertain their audience while exploring important environmental issues. Students have completed their imaginative texts, which included beautifully hand-drawn illustrations, and have now begun publishing their informative texts.

In Mathematics, we have been focusing on fractions. Students have been developing their understanding of equivalent fractions, as well as learning strategies for adding fractions. 

This week was buzzing with excitement as Kindergarten joined our Garden Club for the first time! A huge thank you goes out to Mrs McCormack and Mrs Gavin for their extra pairs of hands. With everyone working together, we managed to replant garlic from last season’s crop, tidy up the garden beds, and plant healthy new lettuce seedlings. It was wonderful to see how well the garden is growing, and Elijah was especially proud of the impressive lettuce crop he helped nurture.

Alongside planting, we laid fresh straw to keep the soil moist and gave all the plants a good watering. The garden is thriving thanks to everyone’s hard work!

We have four bunches of bananas almost ready to harvest, and we’d love some help bagging them out. If you have time, please let us know! We’re also looking ahead to future harvests—donations of small containers or tubs would be greatly appreciated for storing and sharing our crops. There will also be garlic bulbs and fresh mini tomato's for sale this week at assembly for a small gold coin.

Remember  garden club runs every Tuesday at 11 - 12. Please fell free to contact Mrs Mahoney if you'd like to join in.

Thanks to everyone for making the garden a vibrant, welcoming place.

Parents and carers, are you interested in attending an informative session about our wellbeing program, Grow Your Mind? We would like to hold one in Term 2 to spread the word. We would also like you to give us some input as to what you would like to hear about from our fabulous Jamberoo friend and Grow Your Mind creator, Alice Peel. Thanks for any suggestions you might have. Please use the link attached 

Mrs McCormack.

Grow your Mind Parent Session - Term 2