Holbrook Public School

SAVE THE DATES! Whole School Performance: Holbrook Public School presents “Holbrook's Got Talent”. Wednesday, 13 and Thursday, 14 September 2023

Next term, we will once again be holding our annual Whole School Performance at Holbrook Public School. The school performance is a spectacular celebration of the Arts in our school, combining singing, dancing and acting with artwork and props for our sets to create something memorable for our whole school community. This year, there will be one matinée performance and two-night performances. Next term, staff and students will be busy preparing performances for you all to see. More information about costumes and ticket sales will come next term. 

Staffing update
As you may have heard, at the end of this term, Mr Ross is returning to Switzerland with his family to start their new school year. Mr Ross and his family have enjoyed their time in Australia, and Mr Ross has thoroughly enjoyed reconnecting with Holbrook Public School and the community. 

We are very sad to see Mr Ross leave Holbrook Public School and Australia, as he has been a great asset to our teaching staff and has positively impacted the Holbrook school community. 

Miss Austin and Mrs O’Connell will teach the 5/6 Quokkas over the five days next term. 

In the current climate, and as you are all aware, staffing a school has been extremely challenging in 2023. Replacing Mrs O’Connell in her two days of Release from Face-to-Face (RFF) teaching will be Miss Emily Owens. Miss Barraclough is returning overseas for Term 3, and Mrs Mandy Fruend will take on Miss B’s two days of RFF teaching.  Mrs Fruend and Miss Owens have been working casually at our school, and we are incredibly fortunate to have some dedicated casual teachers who have our school and its students’ best interests at heart.  

NAIDOC Week
NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.  

National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday) to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. As this date falls in the school holiday period, we will celebrate NAIDOC week at Holbrook Public School from Monday, 17- 21 July, Week 1, Term 3. 

The 2023 Theme for NAIDOC Week is For Our Elders. Across every generation, our Elders have played, and continue to play, an important role and hold a prominent place in our communities and families. They are cultural knowledge holders, trailblazers, nurturers, advocates, teachers, survivors, leaders, hard workers and our loved ones. During our NAIDOC week celebrations, we will share storytelling through books, books written by a First Nation author, oral language, and yarning circles. We look forward to sharing these experiences with our friends at the Greater Hume Children Services, who will be visiting Holbrook Public School during this week.   

Sport

Gymnastics 6-week program in Term 3
All Kindergarten to Year 6 students will participate in a whole-school gymnastics program delivered by Flyaway Gymnastics at Holbrook Public School.  

Gymnastics is a core component of the PD/H/PE curriculum and focuses on movement exploration leading to the acquisition of some preliminary gymnastics skills. Students will investigate and participate in various movement experiences and challenges, developing skills, demonstrating control, and exploring how the body can move. Flyaway Gymnastics will provide qualified instructors and equipment and utilise our hall for these lessons. 

The school is partially subsidising the cost of the Gymnastics program using the Sporting Schools grant. The Sporting Schools grant is an Australian Government initiative designed to help schools increase children’s participation in sports and connect them with community sports opportunities. Permission notes have been sent out on Sentral, and payments can be made at the front office or via POP. 

Riverina Cross Country
Congratulations to Sophie Burey, Braxton McKillop, and Ollie Cardile, who have gained selection in the Riverina Cross Country team with outstanding performances at the event in Gundagai last week. Sophie, Braxton and Ollie will compete in Week 1 next term in Sydney at the State Cross Country Carnival. 

Multisports Day
On Wednesday, we have four students participating in the Multi-Sports Day in Albury, which provides an opportunity for students to experience various sports modified to suit the needs of individual participants. 

Community Meetings
Just a reminder the next P&C meeting will be held via Zoom on Wednesday, 21 June, at 7:30 p.m. All parents and citizens are welcome to attend. 

I hope you all have an enjoyable mid-year break, and we look forward to seeing you all next term. 

Louise Purss-Semple
Principal

To comply with NSW Department of Education regulations, we will conduct an emergency preparedness drill before the end of the term. This drill is to ensure that everyone knows what actions to take if there is a real emergency. It is mandatory to conduct a drill every six months.

Please do not call or come to the school if you hear our alert siren. Our staff will contact our school community via Audiri once they have fulfilled their roles. Remember, an evacuation aims to remove people from the site.

The Wonder Recycling Rewards for Schools program has been created to collect and recycle bread bags at school and earn points to spend on sporting equipment for the school. We are asking all families, and extended family members, to help us fill four collection boxes by Friday, 7 July 2023.

All we need to do is: 

• collect any bread bags (if they contained some type of bread and are soft plastic, then they are bread bags)
• ensure they are free from crumbs so they do not contaminate the recycling process (no need to wash them)
• fill up an empty bread bag with bread bags (squash in as many as you can), send the full bread bag to school and place it in the collection box (in the office foyer)  

Please help us to help our environment and earn more (and possibly different) sporting equipment for our school.  

Chrissy Lavis

Please collect your 10-cent recyclable bottles, cans and fruit boxes and bring them to school for collection in our newly delivered big green drums.  

Please ensure that these items are clean and free of food, liquid or other contaminates. This is a simple, easy way to help raise more funds for our students.  

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