New Lambton Heights Infants School

Term 2 Week 5 2023 Newsletter

We at New Lambton Heights Infants School acknowledge that we learn and play on the traditional country of the Awabakal people. We pay respects to Elders past, present and emerging, valuing their knowledge and seeking continued respectful relationships. 

We recognise, respect and appreciate the traditional custodians cultural heritage, beliefs, relationships, and continued connection with the land, the skies and the waterways. This continent was and always will be Aboriginal land. 

National Simultaneous Storytime

At 11am on Wednesday, we participated in the National Simultaneous Storytime. We are so proud to be part of the 2 million plus people who participated in this event all over Australia and abroad! This year's story was the Speedy Sloth by Rebecca Young. 

This story compliments our Term 1 library lessons well, as one strong message  of the story was perseverance. Students were able to re-visit their friend Captain Disposition and talk about the dispositions the Speedy Sloth needed to achieve her goal. 

It's no secret that children love being read at this early stage of their lives and they are such a captive and willing audience. Life is so busy and it can be hard to fit in regular reading to your child, but it is something that can help them develop their language skills greatly.  We worry about getting home readers done, but using some of that precious time reading to your kids is just as important. Learning how to read words is important, but learning how to love reading is just as vital.

Children who are exposed to a wide range of rich literature start to use the vocabulary and ideas in their own conversations and play. This then starts to translate into their writing.  We have been seeing many of examples of this across the school with the new English Units. You will see below some of the Year 1 comic strips inspired by the Mo Willem's 'Don't let the pigeon ..' books. 

Every week we encourage the students to borrow books that can widen their reading diet. Just eating carrots would be boring and not healthy, so we eat a variety of foods. It is the same with reading. A variety of books keeps our minds healthy. Last week on Seesaw I received a gorgeous photo of Ollie in Year 2, cooking dinner for his family from a cook book that he borrowed from the library.  So, please get out those library books over the weekend, talk with your child about them and even better, sit down and enjoy reading together. 

If you would like to watch the Auslan recording of 'The Speedy Sloth' click here.

Enjoy!

Lisa Hughes

Principal

The Speedy Sloth

We are very busy in K/1D ...

What's On at The Heights?

 
Students return for Term 2Wednesday April 26
Snack Canteen Every Fridays. 

K- 2 Assembly

Family and friends are welcome to attend. 

Friday 2:35pm - 3pm

COLA

Dance2bFitEvery Friday - $35.00
P&C Meeting - General MeetingWednesday June 14 7:30pm Please note change of date.
Stage One History excursion to Tocal HomesteadTuesday May 16 - $35.00

Our half basketball court is on it's way ...

The fences are up and work starts on Saturday! We are so excited for the construction of our new half basketball court. If all goes to plan it should be completely finished by the end of the term. 

This has been a real community event, kicked off by Mrs Dowman and  the 2022 P&C with the Variety Bash breakfast 12 months ago. Year 2 2022 gave us brand new balls as a parting gift and our current P&C are looking for volunteers to assist with a mural/sign at the end of the court to finish off the area. We can't wait. 

2024 Enrolments

We have started to have some inquiries about starting Kindergarten in 2024. The first step of the process is a phone call to the office and the office staff will take details. If a parent would like to come and visit the school, Mrs Hughes will phone and organise a time. Alternatively, an online application can be submitted through the Enrolment tab on the school website and we will be in contact. 

At this stage we take details for both local and non local enrolments. From this week, we will phone names on the list or those who have enrolled online,  to have a preliminary discussion. 

If you have a sibling or know of any family or friends who are interested in enrolling in 2024, please contact the office. 

P&C Update

Recycle your cans, cartons and bottles to fundraise with us!

You can help us fundraise for the school P&C AND help the planet at the same time simply by recycling drink containers (remember not to crush them)!You can now donate your 10c refund(s) to New Lambton Heights Infants School P&C Association from any Return and Earn machines located near you using the Return and Earn app.

And it's easy as 1,2,3:

1- Download the Return and Earn app (available from your App store or Google Play store)

2- Look up New Lambton Heights Infants School P&C Association under the “Charities” menu and press "Set as payout”

3- Scan the app, return containers and press "TRANSFER" on the RVM screen when finished! 

100% of the refunds will be transferred to our organisation.After snack canteen we will be collecting the empty juice cartons and boxes and taking these along to the TOMRA Recycling Return and Earn facilities. This will help fundraise for the school and promote recycling to the children. 

The nearest TOMRA Return and Earn Facility is located int he Kotara Homemakers Centre.Funds raised from the Return and Earn recycling activity will go towards the updating line and playground markings on the school grounds.

Volunteers wanted for creative wall mural project

At the beginning of the year we asked the school community what they would like to raise funds for during the course of the year. One of the most popular items was a wall mural such as chalk board or cafeteria to go along with the new basketball court. This will be our next fundraising target. This activity is going to be co-ordinated by Anna Scobie. If you would like to join in with this project, please reach out to Anna Scobie via the P&C email. 

Snack Canteen

Thanks to this week’s volunteers, Susie Horn and Alison Worrall. If you would like to volunteer for canteen, please sign up here: https://signup.com/go/SbXnHzM


Uniform Shop

The uniform shop is open on Mondays from 8:45am until 9:15am or you can find items online at http://new-lambton-heights-infants-school-pc-association.square.site. The uniform shop is able to accept Back-To-School Vouchers. You will need to pay in full then please put your voucher code into the NOTE TO SELLER section. We will refund you the amount of your vouchers when they have been redeemed. Please email Vicki at nlhiuniform@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Meeting update 

Minutes from the most recent meeting on Wednesday 3rd May 2023 are here. The next P&C meeting will be held on Wednesday, 14th June 2023, agenda to follow next week. You don’t need to be a member to come along, all are welcome. 

P&C membership

You don’t need to be a member to join in P&C activities or volunteer your time, but if you would like to join, you can do so here via this online form. The annual fee is $2, details in the linked form. We welcome new members at any time of the year.For any questions, please get in touch at nlhipandc@gmail.com.

Thank you and have a nice weekend!

Tiff On behalf of the NLHIS P&C executive committee and members

ATTENDANCE - ILLNESS

We have an increasing number of students who are absent due to illness. Please be sure to explain all absences either by email, Audiri or Sentral. 

As the cold and flu season is upon us, please remember to keep your children at home if they are sick.  We have had a number of positive cases of COVID 19 since the start of Term 2 and some parents have asked for the latest advice. 

Students and staff should continue to stay home when sick.

Students, staff and visitors should only attend school when they are symptom free. We strongly encourage all students, staff and visitors to follow the guidance issued by NSW Health.

Anyone who believes they have been exposed to COVID-19 is strongly recommended to monitor for symptoms and test if they have any concerns, as well as wear a mask. We will continue to support our families to use rapid antigen tests (RATs) if symptomatic or if you believe you have been exposed to COVID-19. RAT testing may help identify the infection early and is important if you are in contact with people at greater risk of serious illness if exposed to COVID-19.

Parents and carers who have children with persistent or ongoing symptoms of COVID-19 are encouraged to have these assessed by their local health care professional. These symptoms may be related to other illnesses (e.g. allergies or hay fever) that require treatment and management by a doctor. Students can return to school if this is confirmed with a medical certificate.

Please contact the school if you need RATs. We do have students with underlying health conditions and one kindergarten student with a weakened immune system. Please be considerate of these children and their safety when your own children are sick. 

Term 2 Week 4 Gold Award

Term 2 Week 4 Merit Awards

Family Support Newcastle, Holiday parenting and relationship groups

Please find attached information about parenting & relationships groups and a school holiday activity that Family Support Newcastle are offering to families. Some of the groups are held out of the Newcastle LGA however families are still welcome to attend. I have found the information offered in these groups extremely useful and you may too.

Coach to Cope

Family Support Flier

Family Support Fliers

School Volunteers

If you are a parent, carer or grandparent and you would like to volunteer at school this year, you will need to fill out a volunteer's declaration at the school office and show a photo identification. This needs to be done at least one day before you start volunteering, as we need to complete a screening process. At this stage we are only asking volunteers who have not already done this. If you have completed the paperwork in previous years, we will not require you to do this again until advised. 

Visitors please now check in with the iPad or QR Code ..

NLHIS is on Facebook!

We now have a school Facebook page for you to share with your friends and family. In addition to our website, the main purpose of this page is to connect to our wider community and to showcase our beautiful school. 

Search Facebook for 'New Lambton Heights Infants School' or click on this link.

https://www.facebook.com/New-Lambton-Heights-Infants-School-102425461594431/?view_public_for=102425461594431


We will continue to send this eNewsletter on Skoolbag and link on our website  as our main weekly communication of school events and notices each week. 

Skoolbag is also used to send out via push notifications and email information and permission notes and messages to our parents/carers. Parents can also contact the school re absences via Skoolbag. 

Seesaw will be used by class teachers to share learning or special class events. Teachers may also directly communicate with individual or groups of parents through Seesaw.