Kay Bradly Acting Principal

• Dismissal and Pick-up Arrangements

A big thank you to everyone who has contributed to a safe arrival and dismissal process.  I really appreciate that parents are not lingering in the school grounds and remembering to social distance, when they are collecting or dropping off students.

I would like to remind parents using Heal Street drop off and pick up zones, that only left turns onto James Street are permissible during these peak times.  Trying to turn right not only holds up all the traffic behind you but could collect you a ticket from police officers who are sometimes stationed in James Street.

• Classes for 2021

As we move into term 3, we begin to think about forming our classes for next year.  This is a complex process which takes into account learning styles, gender balance, English as a second language, learning needs, behaviour, personalities and friendships.  The process is as follows:

 1          Students nominate up to 5 friends, they like working with – teachers are able to help our Preps and Yr 1 students with this. We give students this opportunity to have a voice and parents are not involved in this part of the process.  This is the first step in our process, for logistical reasons, but it is the last piece of information we consult when forming classes. Each student is guaranteed on to be with one friend from their list.

 2          Parents are given an opportunity to send information to the school, via email, that they would like staff to consider e.g. family situation that might impact 2021, personality clash between students, particular learning issues.  We do not take any requests for particular teachers and do not guarantee parent requests will be actioned.

3          School data is collected.  This includes:  academic, behaviour, learning needs, English as a second language, gender and behaviour.

4          Notes made on students who have been with part-time teachers and in multi-age classes.  We endeavour not to have students in multi-age or with part-time teachers two years in a row.

5          Software is used to create draft class lists with a balance of gender, academic, learning needs, English as a second language, behaviour and finally friendships. The software will sometimes run thousands of scenarios before a draft for a particular year level can be found.

6          Draft class lists are reviewed by Mrs Loudon (Inclusion coach) and class teachers 

7          Students who are leaving the school are removed and classes adjusted to ensure friendships are not impacted.

8          Lists are reviewed by Dr McGrath and adjusted due to changes in staffing.

9          Parents and students are notified of classes for 2021.

NB:      Due to the intricacies of this process, changes to final class lists are only made in very exceptional circumstances.           

PLEASE DO NOT SEND ANY 2021 PARENT INFORMATION AT THIS POINT

Melinda Norman Acting Deputy Principal

• Prep Enrolments

It has been a pleasure to meet with prospective new NFSS families this week, as they enrol their child/ren ready to start prep in 2021. The excitement in children (and parents) has been lovely to see. We look forward to welcoming these families to our school community next year.

• Assembly

Virtual school assemblies using Microsoft Teams are held every Tuesday morning. A big thank you to our school leaders, Olivia B (6Z), Finn M (6B) and Mr Fenton who have done a fabulous ensuring all assemblies run smoothly.

• Incursions and Excursion

Excursions and incursions are now in full swing, taking into account approved COVID-19 control measures. There will be events occurring throughout the term and your child’s teacher will communicate this. The year 6 students will enjoy extra excursions this term, given the usual camp to Canberra

• Semester One Report Cards

Individual student reports have been sent home by email today, 28th July. The disruption to school routines as a result of the Queensland government’s response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, has resulted in changes to the teaching, learning, assessment and reporting for this semester.

A Report Card using the information available from school based teaching and learning for Term 1 and Term 2, 2020 has been modified from the planned assessment program as many students did not attend school for the student free days in the last week of Term 1 and participated in a home based learning program for three to five weeks in Term 2.

Students have been provided with a level of achievement for English, Mathematics, Science and Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS). A behaviour and general comment is also included.

If you did not receive your child’s Report Card by the COB on the 29th July, please contact the school office on 3358 7333.

Kind regards,

Melinda Norman

Pool change room update- nearing completion. Thank you to Shane our Infrastructure advisor from Regional office, our project manager Pierre from Honeywill Consulting, Mark from J&D Contracting and all Dept. consultants for assisting with this renovation. We appreciate your support.

Evacuation Drills per Year level- Week 3. Date to be confirmed. This Term we will be doing our drills by building groups.

Lockdown Drill Wednesday 29 July – all year levels  

Upgrade of our security system to include Computer Lab, Library and Maker space- Intec Security has now activated this alarm.

Pool entrance gates – the gate to our pool rea have been heighten for safe access by all. Thank you to Nick from Robson Pool Safety for completing this task over the holiday period.

 School Watch

The School Watch Program is a partnership between Education Queensland, the Queensland Police Service and the State Government Protective Security Service.  It aims to reduce criminal activity in Queensland schools and encourages everyone to look out for after-hours crime in our schools.  If you see anything suspicious, please don’t attempt to intervene.

Call the School Watch number – 13 17 88

Scholastic Book Club

Scholastic Book Club Issue 5 is out now so don’t forget to place your order! This catalogue has a focus on home learning, creative arts and coding activities. You will also find many books under $5.

Orders should be placed by 3August. You can view Issue 5 catalogue and order your books here.

Top Borrower of the Week

Our top Borrower for Term 3 week 2 is Kseniia K in 4W.

Kseniia loves to read in the library and at home every day. She is reading across many series to explore the variety of books in the library.

Well done and congratulations Kseniia for your huge enthusiasm for reading!

  Kseniia

Happy Reading!

Angela Lamb

Applications for enrolment in 2021 are now open. We accept applications the year prior to starting school.

Please complete the following forms and submit to the office or email: enrolments@newfarmss.eq.edu.au

If you have any further queries please phone 3358 7333 Monday Tuesday or Friday

Expression of Interest form

Prep Interview booklet

Checklist to help collect supporting documents required for the application.

Margaret Davidson