Dear families & friends, 

It has been a long and busy start to the year in term 1, with lots of changes and adjustments. I am, as always, so proud of the way our staff team, students and families are able to remain positive, flexible and adapt to changes to ensure students are always at the centre and continue to grow and learn.

School Facebook page 

We are pleased to have now launched our new school Facebook page. Please 'Like', 'Follow' and 'Share' our page with family, friends and local community members and groups. 

Felixstow Primary School Facebook page

OSHC 

We are excited to welcome back Hannah Gustard to the Director role next term as she returns from maternity leave. Hannah will be working on Thursdays and Fridays and will be responsible for the planning and administrative tasks of running OSHC. Hannah will be supported by Georgia and other staff to run the program for the rest of the week. 

LATE BOOKINGS - Recently we have had a few issues regarding late bookings for the OSHC service both after school care and vacation care. OSHC services are bound by national regulations under the Childcare Act regarding staff to child ratios. As a small service, staffing can be very difficult as we have a small pool of staff and cannot guarantee regular contracted hours to employees. As such when we have late bookings it is often difficult for us to find additional staffing to be able to legally cover the minimum ratio requirements.

It is important that bookings are made with as much advance notice as possible to reduce the risk of us not being able to provide the service. We understand that there are emergency situations where parents require care at short notice, however often we are finding bookings are just being left to the last minute. To cover this, sometimes teachers and SSO's are having to step in to run the OSHC or support OSHC staff to ensure we cover ratios, after they have been in class all day. School staff are mostly doing this as volunteers, not paid to work the additional hours, to ensure children can be cared for.

Late bookings (after cut off dates) for Vacation Care  also cause this same issue. We also have a minimum of 10 children required to be booked in every day we are open in the Vacation Care program to be financially viable and break even for the vacation care period. The late bookings can also cause issue for families who require the service during this time as they then need to find alternative arrangements if we are not able to open the service. 

Please help our service continue by ensuring bookings are made as early as possible. 

School uniform

As of term 2 wearing school uniform is expected every day as part of our new School Dress Code (Uniform Policy) which was ratified at the last Governing Council. I would like to thank everyone for encouraging your child to be in uniform each day. It feels more cohesive at school and builds a sense of connection for students. Please note, if you would like to order a school jumper or top for next term this needs to be done with Gillian asap. 

Link to policy: FPS School Dress Code

Heading in to the last week of term  we look forward to celebrating with everyone on the last day with a family breakfast and sharing of learning. 

We invite you to join us from 8.30 for an 'Eggy Breakfast' followed by a visit to your child's learning environment. See details on the flyer later in the newsletter and previously sent out on Audiri.

I wish you all a safe and happy holiday and Easter season with your loved ones and look forward to seeing everyone for Term 2. 

Cheers Skye 😊

Join Karissa and other families at Playgroup each Thursday 9.00am - 10.30am. 

Sensory play and fun at Playgroup :)

Please come along to Breakfast Club and enjoy some warm toast or a treat if it is one of our special breakfast theme days, such as Fairy Bread Friday and Hot Cross Bun day!

Breakfast Club is open from 8.30am to 8.50am, Monday to Friday in the OSHC kitchen. All students and their families are welcome, just drop on by (there is no need to book a place). 

Breakfast may include:

• Toast and various spreads
• Fruit
• Cereal
• Yoghurt
• Milk
• Tea/Coffee (for adults)

It's a great opportunity to have a bite to eat and socialise with other students/families.  

We would like to thank Claire and Amanda for volunteering and Adelaide for donating a jar of Vegemite. 

If anyone is interested in volunteering at Breakfast Club, please let Kelly know.

If you are interested in your child attending piano lessons at school, please contact the tutor Kat Mustanow, her details are;

Email: kmustanow@gmail.com

Ph: 0422754947

Visit to Aldersgate residential aged care (Felixstow) 

This week P1 students prepared for their visit to Aldersgate residential home. We started by talking about why we might visit and what to expect when we visit. The students created cards to introduce themselves and share some information. We set off on Thursday excited to meet the elders with Easter cards and crafts items. We were a little nervous at first but some of us brought items to share that helped to break the ice. We chatted about where they had come from and what jobs they did. One resident had come from Germany as a little girl and is turning 100 later this month. Ethan in year 4 gave an impromptu piano performance and wowed the residents with his skills. We are so excited to have reconnected with Aldersgate residents and look forward to sharing more times together.

Over the last few weeks, we have been fortunate enough to have several representatives from the Port Adelaide Women's Football Club out helping us with our AFL learning in P.E. There will be photos in next term's first newsletter.

If you have not already, please look on Audiri or see the physical form for the sign up. There are several benefits and a better sign up rate means we are more likely to continue the program with the AFL/AFLW teams into the future.

In health, we are continuing our learning on emotions and personal strengths in the Juniors. Our Primary students have been learning about building and maintaining positive relationships.