Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the State-Wide transition day. Children will spend the day in their 2021 classes. We will discuss with the children today what classes they will be in so that they can go straight to their classrooms in the morning. Children have been placed in classes based on a number of factors – including who they would like to be in a class with. We also considered the events of the year and what would be the best way to help the children learn as best they can. Some parents spoke to me about friendship groups and we have taken that into consideration as best we could, though there are no guarantees. I do not take requests from parents about individual teachers or the placement of children not in their family.

Next year we will welcome Emily Hurley to join our teaching team. Emily will be with us tomorrow for the transition day and will meet her students, teachers and, no doubt, some parents. I look forward to welcoming Emily to our learning community.

Yr. 6 Graduation is this Friday. We are finalising arrangements early this week and will let families and students know of final details as soon as possible.

There will be an assembly this Friday at 3:10. I am very much looking forward to holding a proper whole school assembly. Parents are welcome to come to assembly but are encouraged to maintain their social distancing practices while present. There will also be an assembly on the final day for students (Wednesday 16^th December). We will farewell everyone – in particular the Yr. 6 students who will ring the bell to signal the ending of their Primary School life.

We aim to send out reports on the final Monday of the term (next Monday). By now families have had their interviews/conferences with teachers. I think that given the year we have had, all students, teachers and parents should feel proud of what they have achieved and endured. I am constantly amazed at the way the whole school community dealt with difficult circumstances and still managed to put so much effort into their learning. Well done all.

Michael Edwards 
Principal

Year 3/4/5/6 Big Day Out
If families haven’t paid for last Friday's excursion yet could you please do so this week.  Thank you.

Class Pool Parties
Permission forms for the pool parties were sent home last week.  Please return the form with payment if pool membership isn't held tomorrow.

Family Statements
Statements have been sent home to families today.  As it is the end of term please pay any outstanding fees by Friday.  Thank you.

Year 5 & 6 Netbooks
The second and final payment of $200 for the Year 5 netbooks needs to be paid by Friday 11th December if you wish to take it home over the holidays.
Year 6 students who are purchasing their netbook for $150, payment is also due by Friday.

Lola Mahoney for developing her range of mental strategies to solve problems in maths.
Gabrielle Gargiulo for quickly generating new ideas for her creative newspaper articles.
Zoe Riley for always being an organised and hard-working member of 3/4E.
Harlen Webster for fabulous spelling success with high frequency words this week.  Well done!
Ivy Mahoney for showing attention to detail in all work and superb handwriting.
Nicholas Shepherd for consistent effort in learning and reading 'The Nig Nang Nong'.
Alex Beatty for always being an effective listener during class discussions and offering valuable contributions.
Peter Kellaway for displaying a real interest in class discussions through justifying your opinions and challenging those offered by others.
Abbie Williamson for showing enthusiasm and persistence with completing your poetry anthology.
Frankie Barker-Powell for excellent strategizing during PE games!
Sierra Allan for excellent attitude every week in PE lessons.
Pippa Graham for always listening carefully in class discussions and offering a well thought out opinion.
Will Boddenberg for excellent skip counting and recording numbers beyond 100 this week.
Jake Blair for trying his best to improve his letter formations when writing.
Claudia Grech for working so hard on her letter formations and showing great improvement!  Well done.

iParent Portal
We apologise for any confusion which may have been caused in creating an iParent portal account.

We ask that all parents who have not yet signed up to the iParent Portal please use the email invitation (sent Friday 4^th December) to create an account. Once an account has been created you will be able to click “find a place” and fill out the enrolment form for 2021.  Alternatively you may click on the link below – the link works better through Chrome than Internet explorer.

https://app.kidsoft.com.au/p/YackandandahPrimaryOSHC/find-a-place

2021 Enrolment Forms
Even though we are using the Parent portal and iEnrol we still need to receive new enrolment forms every year for each child using the service. This enables us to ensure that we are compliant as well as keeping family information up to date.

We ask that all parents who wish to use our service in 2021 please create a new enrolment for their child/ren (even if they currently use the service).  This needs to be done before their child can attend in 2021. This can be done by logging into the iParent portal and clicking “find a place”.

Emergency Contacts
Please add one or two emergency contacts to the enrolment form. It is important that these are different to the parent(s) of the child as the educators need a secondary contact to call in case of an emergency and you are unable to be contacted.

When asking for an emergency contacts Drivers licence number feel free to use 0000000000 as upon arrival to collect your child in case of an emergency a cross reference of name is sufficient.

Please click on the link below to access the “iParent Portal Guide” which may assist you in filling out the enrolment of your child(ren).

iParent Portal Guide

Vacation Care Permission Forms
Please click on the links below to access the permission forms for the Vacation Care excursions.
Please complete the forms and return to school by Wednesday 16th December.


Albury Cinema Permission Form

Berry Picking Permission Form

Sports Park Permission Form

Ten Pin Bowling Permission Form

Waves Permission Form

Yack Pool Permission Form

Bookings
All Vacation care and OSHC bookings can now be created through the iParent portal by clicking the ‘booking’ tab and selecting the appropriate date(s). Any questions please ask Laura, Siobhan or Sandra.

Pupil Free Days
Thursday 17th December and Friday 18th December are Pupil Free days.  Bookings for these two days can also be made via the iParent portal or throough the school office.

BOOK SALE! Thursday 10 December 1.45pm (Recess) – 3.45pm in the courtyard

This Thursday at recess (second break) there will be a book sale of ex-library books. Lots will be FREE (loved to death but still good for one last read, or cutting up for craft etc), and some will be $1 or $2 each (these books are in excellent condition and may have been duplicates in the library). If you are interested in obtaining some books for your home collection, please send your child/ren to school on Thursday with some gold coins. Parents will be able to access the book sale before 3.30pm if you arrive early for school pick up. I’ll be there until 3.45pm. All money raised will go to the Library to purchase new books in 2021. Thank you in advance for your support.

In The Library
Last week, Foundation and the Year 1/ 2’s completed their recycled paper Christmas. They looked fabulous and are hopefully now hanging on your tree at home! 

For our last session of the year, we read Sing me the Summer - a beautiful new book by Jane Godwin and illustrated by Allison Lester, highlighting all we things we love and associate with summer in Australia, and in fact all seasons of the year. It would make a terrific gift if you have little people in your life.

I sadly said goodbye to the year 2’s who will not have me for library in 2021. It’s been an absolute pleasure teaching them this year and watching their interest and passion for literature bloom. I will miss their enthusiastic contributions in group book discussions and activities.

End of Year – Returning Books

Last week I sent home lots of overdue library notices with students. It would be fantastic if you could please ask your child/ren about their Library books and assist them in finding and returning them to school. They can be returned any day of the school week and given to their classroom teacher. They do not need to wait for their Library day. Thank you!

 I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted. Books shouldn’t be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage. – Roald Dahl

Wishing you all a wonderful festive season with your loved ones, and a peaceful New Year,

Sarah McAlister

The Big Day Out

On Friday, the Grade 3 – 6’s enjoyed a fantastic excursion to the Albury Skate Centre and Albury Pool & Waterslide! We enjoyed the most delicious Christmas donuts for morning tea and an amazing lunch pack of fried rice, spring rolls and chicken wings from the Thai Cart! The students represented our school beautifully, with staff from both locations commenting on how respectful and kind our students were. The weather was stunning! Thank you to our parent helpers and bus drivers who helped to make the day a huge success!

7^th December – Harlen Webster