Issue 2 - 16/02/2024
In this issue
Mark your calendar!
Week Four:
5/6 Camp - Mon. 19 February - Wed. 21 February
Week Five:
Swimming Trials - Weds. 28 February
Bike Club Returns - Thur. 29 February
Week Seven:
Canberra Day Public Holiday - Mon. 11 March
Week Nine:
Good Friday Public Holiday - Fri. 29 March
Week Ten:
Easter Monday Public Holiday - Mon. 1 April
School Holidays: Sat. 13 April-Sun. 28 April
EXECUTIVE NEWS
Michael Hatswell
Michael Hatswell
Thank You Evatt Community
A big thank you to our wonderful Evatt Primary School community for your support of our ‘Welcome Community BBQ’ last Wednesday afternoon. It was great to see so many families come along for a sausage, a play and a chat. Thank you to our parents and carers for making the time to connect with our teachers for the beginning of the year getting to know you interviews.
Safety Reminders for Students
This week, we have been working with our students on some important expectations here at Evatt primary School to help keep us safe. These have been;
‘Hats on’ when outside. All students are required to wear a hat when outside during the designated ‘hats on’ months. If students don't have a hat, they will be required to head to the library for play breaks. They will have the option to attend Active Play which is on our covered multi court out of the sun. Students are also encouraged to wear sunscreen which is available in their classrooms. If you need support in providing a hat for your child, please reach out to our front office team.
‘Safe Pass’ to be inside. During break times we want our students playing, socialising and having fun outside or in our designated play break areas. If a student needs to come into the school building, we ask them to speak to an adult on duty and obtain a ‘safe pass’.
We appreciate any parent/carer discussions with your child at home to reinforce these important safety measures.
Lunch Time Bike Club
Our lunch time bike club will be up and running soon for 2024. With the fabulous Dirt Bike Skills Track on our Evatt top oval, we will be running bike club for students at B1 each Thursday starting in Week 5 (29 Feb).
This will be for students who are already confident riders. Unfortunately at this time, it won't be for teaching students who currently can't ride a bike. We may look to support this later in 2024. Students who are confident riders will be encouraged to bring their bike to school to join in.
Duane Toohey, community member and bike coach, has again kindly agreed to oversee our bike club program for 2024. We are also inviting parents and carers to come along to bike club on Thursday if you have time. If you would like to come along please email michael.hatswell@ed.act.edu.au.
If your child will be interested, keep an eye out for more information and permission notes that will be sent home next week.
NAPLAN
NAPLAN testing will occur in our school between 13 and 25 March 2024 for students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9.
Online NAPLAN tests provide more precise results and are engaging for students. The tests are tailored (or adaptive), which means that each test presents questions that may be more or less difficult depending on a student’s responses. This helps students remain engaged with the assessment.
Tailored testing allows a wider range of student abilities to be assessed and measures student achievement more precisely. A student’s overall NAPLAN result is based on both the number and complexity of questions they answer correctly. Your child should not be concerned if they find questions challenging; they may be taking a more complex test pathway.
All Year 3 students will continue to complete the writing assessment on paper.
NAPLAN provides valuable information to schools and parents about literacy and numeracy achievement. It supports school improvement processes by enabling teachers to monitor student progress over time and to identify areas of strength and development.
All eligible students are encouraged and supported to participate in NAPLAN testing. Visit www.nap.edu.au to see interactive versions of the test and for more information.
Student Learning Resources (previously known as bookpacks)
During the school holidays we have sourced all of the stationary, supplies and resources required to support your child's learning for 2024. With a goal of keeping costs to a minimum + saving parents and carers time sourcing themselves, we have purchased the supplies in bulk and will provide them to the students as required throughout the year. We have ensured the purchase of high quality resources. Some of these supplies include: workbooks, pencils, pens, textas, glue sticks, scissors, rubbers, sharpeners, rulers, scissors, tissues + a large amount of specific resources required for Art, Science, Technology, Mathematics, Sustainability and Literacy.
We encourage all parents/carers to pay for the learning resource requirements for their child(ren). An amount of $70 per student will cover these costs for the year.
Student Learning Resources payment information
Direct Debit payment:
Account Name: Evatt Primary School Management Account
BSB: 032777
Account number: 001244
Reference: <your child’s surname> <1510BP>
Please note the reference code is not the same for Student Learning Resources and Voluntary Contributions.
Voluntary Contributions
All ACT Government Schools ask families for the payment of voluntary contributions. These funds are extremely valuable for ensuring that the school can provide an enhanced learning experience for all students. We will continue to prioritise our voluntary contributions to a new PA system for our school hall.
As we did last year in consultation with our School Board, we are not going to put an expected dollar amount on the voluntary contributions.
Previously the contribution was $120 for one child, $220 for two children or $290 for three or more children.
If you nominate your voluntary contribution to the library fund this amount is tax deductible.
Payments can be made by cash, Eftpos at the Front Office, or by Direct Deposit.
Voluntary Contributions payment information
Direct Debit payment:
Account Name: Evatt Primary School Management Account
BSB: 032777
Account number: 001244
Reference: <your child’s surname> <1410>
Please note the reference code is not the same for Student Learning Resources and Voluntary Contributions.
Hats On
Our whole school day is generally within the hours that sun protection is recommended for UV safety.
Please make sure your child has a sun safe hat with their name on their hat.
From the Education Directorate
2024 student-free days
From 2024, there will be 4 student-free days for ACT public schools. These are the first day of each school term:
Term 1, Monday 29 January 2024
Term 2, Monday 29 April 2024
Term 3, Monday 22 July 2024
Term 4, Monday 14 October 2024.
We use student-free days for staff development, enabling us to plan in a student-free environment. Student-free planning days have been expanded from 1 to 4 days from 2024 as part of our new Teaching Staff Enterprise Agreement which prioritises better teacher workloads for educational leadership, teaching and learning. F
or all school term dates, visit the Term Dates page: https://www.education.act.gov.au/public-school-life/term_dates_and_public_holidays
National Office of Child Safety – ‘One Talk at a Time’
The National Office of Child Safety has launched the ‘One Talk at a Time’ Campaign that aims to help prevent child sexual abuse by encouraging adults to learn about the issue and have ongoing, proactive, preventative conversations with children, young people and other adults. The campaign is aimed at adults with children and young people in their lives. For more information about the campaign, visit One talk at a time. Let’s end child sexual abuse ‘One Talk at a Time’.
Australian Government School Student Broadband Initiative
The Australian Government has established the School Student Broadband Initiative to provide free home Internet for one year for up to 244 unconnected families with school students in the ACT.
To be eligible, families must:
have a school student at home;
not have an NBN connection and
live at an address with access to a standard NBN connection.
For more information see www.infrastructure.gov.au/SSBI
To nominate, please fill in this form: https://forms.office.com/r/kHUg92YZaR
COVID Smart reminder
As you may be aware, there has been an increase in COVID-19 cases across ACT public schools in recent weeks.
To help stop the further spread of COVID-19 in our school, we are encouraging and implementing the following measures:
Students who are COVID-19 positive or displaying symptoms (including a runny nose, sore throat, cough, fever) should test and must not attend school while unwell.
Parents and carers must inform schools if their child is COVID-positive.
Keep up to date with vaccinations.
Families can access a free rapid antigen test (RAT) from the front office of their school. Nasal and saliva tests are available. Test when symptomatic or as a precaution.
Practise good hand and respiratory hygiene.
Distance where possible.
For the latest COVID-19 advice please visit the ACT’s COVID-19 website.
Evatt School P&C
Contacting the P&C
Messages for the Evatt School P&C can be sent to evattpspc@gmail.com or connect on Facebook.
Evatt School Board
Contacting the School Board
Messages for the Evatt School Board can be sent to info@evattps.act.edu.au.
COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTIONS
ACT Government Rent Relief Fund
The Rent Relief Fund (the Fund) is an ACT Government initiative to assist renters to sustain their tenancies and prevent evictions. The Fund provides financial assistance to eligible households in the ACT's private rental sector who are experiencing either rental stress or severe financial hardship – alleviating some of the hardship they may currently be experiencing.
In September 2023, the Government announced an additional $1.81 million for the Fund to continue helping Canberrans facing housing affordability and cost of living pressures in the ACT.
Applications to the Fund are now open
The Fund provides grants for up to four weeks’ rent capped at $2,500.
Read more here:
https://www.justice.act.gov.au/renting-and-occupancy-laws/rent-relief-fund
https://www.carefcs.org/rent-relief-scheme
or call Care on 0423 161 727.
ParentlineACT
Woden Community Services
Woden Community Services Evatt Preschool program offers a safe, secure, and supportive environment for your child. We have built a nurturing, child focused environment in which all children are welcomed and are supported to thrive. Our friendly and qualified educators guide the program with a focus on educational outcomes and school reediness in a small group environment with a high educator to child ratio.
We offer a range of programs at Evatt Preschool to suit your individual care needs,
Before school care: 7am to 9am – from $25.40 per session
Whole day preschool: 7am to 6pm - $124.60 per session
School hours preschool: 9am to 3pm - $83.00 per session
After school care: 3pm to 6pm – from $35.20 per session
All fees attract the child care subsidy
If you would like to enroll, know more about our program, or discuss your individual needs please get in contact with our friendly staff on 02 6147 3318 or email enrolments@wcs.org.au
