2021 Term 1 Week 4- STEM, 2/3/4 High Expectations, Parent- Teacher Conversations

Posted at 2:01 pm on 16 February 2021 Weekly News
Stay up to date with all of the news and upcoming events at Lake Heights Public School. 
From the Principal's desk
Badges of a different type – Two of our new Kindergarten students with their name badges stand by siblings badged into student leadership. What great role models. From the Principal’s Desk – W4 ‘Let’s join together today to create a fabulous tomorrow’
  • Kodali Tanuja
Students leading in our community It was lovely on Friday to hold a very brief assembly to celebrate student leadership and  our incoming SRC and Sports Captains. I think the tradition of parents and carers badging students is a great one, and it was nice to be able to have a small proportion of our community together, albeit briefly. I thank those who attended for following our COVID guidelines, and for supporting us to recognise our students’ achievements. COVID sign in processes changed slightly as of today to simplify things a little, but people visiting on site must still use the QR code and sign in at the front office. A quick reminder for our community of our upcoming PandC meeting and AGM scheduled for Monday, March 1 at 5.30pm here at school in The Hub. Please consider joining our PandC, and perhaps even running for an office bearing position if you have skills, or a willingness to learn and some time to give. Even just joining for the meetings makes a big difference, so please come along if you can. On Tuesday and Thursday this week, the Illawarra Hawks’ School Team will be visiting LHPS to talk to our children about the benefits of healthy living before participating in some skills and drills. WIN news has even indicated they will attend if possible to capture our kids engaging in the program. We thank The Hawks for volunteering their time to come and help reinforce some positive messages around physical activity and nutrition. Speaking of nutrition, at the start of each school year Principals must review all safety considerations in a school, and allergens is an area of particular importance. I spoke to the children at this week’s school meeting about the importance of not packing nuts or anything containing nuts in their lunchbox, and I also explained why we have a ‘no sharing’ food policy at school. Please support us in reinforcing and implementing these requests in consideration of the children in our community who suffer from allergies. Allergy Awareness Week in Australia is May 23-29, but the beginning of a new school year with new friends, teachers and classmates is a great time to revisit this important concept. Have a great week, Kieren Corbyn, Principal  
STEM
We have some exciting news for you! Last year, when surveying our parents and students, we found that our community was looking for a bigger push in the direction of STEM and technology. We took this into consideration when planning for our new  year and we now have a revitalised STEM space under the guidance of Miss Layton who has some very exciting initiatives in the pipeline, especially in the technology space. Hear what she has to say; STEM at Lake Heights Public School​ STEM is an approach to learning and development that integrates the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. At Lake Heights Public School, we want to challenge, equip and empower students with the skills to succeed and solve authentic problems for the ever-changing and complex world around them. Students will participate in a range of STEM activities that foster capabilities and key skills including: curiosity, problem solving, creativity, critical analysis, collaboration, independent thinking, logical reasoning, initiative and perseverance, communication, digital literacy and digital technology skills. To kick-start our STEM program in Term One, students have engaged in a variety of hands-on challenges that have required them to collaborate with their peers, work as a team and use communication skills to problem-solve. It was inspiring to see so many students tackle these challenges with a positive attitude and a never-give-up mentality! Remember to watch this space for a range of exciting STEM related updates! HINT - Term One will see students develop computational thinking skills as they engage in coding and robotics using Sphero robots. I look forward to helping students develop STEM skills which will support them in succeeding at school and beyond! Miss Layton. Click on the video below to see some of our STEM fun so far: https://vimeo.com/512451910
Parent- Teacher Conversations
We value collaboration with our parents and we look forward to inviting you to meet with your child's teacher during parent-teacher conversations in Week 6.  To make a booking, follow the link below and  simply fill out the form by choosing your child's teacher and choosing a booking time. Alternatively, you can hop on to our school website and choose Parent-Teacher conversations from the drop down menu. We look forward to meeting with you. Go to: https: //lhps.nsw.edu.au/parent-teacher-conversations/
Chess fun at lunch

Did you know that we have added chess and board games to our lunchtime fun options? It's a quiet space for children to sit, play and enjoy learning chess with Mr Hurd. Hear what Ella has to say;

On Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, Mr Hurd holds quiet game activities at lunch. I always play Jenga with my friend SieSie. At the beginning, we were playing chess. Chess was tricky and we didn't know the rules but we are learning them. Then we tried checkers but in Jenga you can build towers. It's fun. Ella , 4/5
What Works Best: High Expectations in 2/3/4F
Students learn best when teachers have high expectations. Having high expectations means that teachers work hard to gain students’ interest, encourage them to learn new things, provide help when they need it, are clear and consistent about how they want students to behave and learn, and vary the way they teach to meet students’ needs. 2/3/4F have provided us with some insight into how Mr Fin has developed a culture of high expectations for their class. We love seeing their own personalised mission statement, the 5P's that focus their day and the learning intentions that guide their learning each day. Click on this link to watch their video: https://vimeo.com/512761507 Stay tuned for next week as we gain an insight into how the teachers in KB use explicit teaching to guide their students' learning. We also have a sneak preview into the role of our intervention/ support teachers and how they are using small groups to explicitly teach concepts. 

 
Book Club
Just a quick reminder that all book club orders are due back Wednesday the 17th Feb. 
Merit Awards
Congratulations to the following students who have received a merit award in class this week.
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Next newsletter:  Tuesday 23rd February 2021
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