The process for Student Leadership applications closed last Thursday and a large number of students presented speeches on Friday morning for several positions.  The quality of the speeches presented by our students was exceptional and the student audience were respectful in listening to every message. 

Public speaking is one of the top rated fears for most adults so the bravery and resilience demonstrated by our nominees in conquering this fear was most commendable.  I still experience some anxiety at times when faced with speaking publicly - despite the many years of practise and rehearsal I have had. 

There is a theory that the feelings of nervousness and excitement are very close so at times, the physical effects associated with these can be the same. An activity or situation which might be exiciting for one person will be equally nervewrecking for another. Both people may have the same response in feelings - think of roller coasters, bungee jumping or even flying. Is your first response excitement or nerves?

We will be notifying students of the outcome of the leadership nomination process on Wednesday this week (previously advertised as Tuesday) and there will be a special assembly on Monday February 24 at 2.20, where all students will be presented with their badges.  Congratulations to all of our students for overcoming their nerves and/or embracing the excitement in stepping into the process for nomination.  We are very proud of you all, regardless of the outcome.

Kind regards

Penny Wilde

Principal

From 5:30pm – 6:30pm classrooms will be open for you to meet your child’s teachers.  To make it an extra fun family experience we will have a Destination Diary for families to explore the school.  When you visit a designated classroom or specialist learning area you will be given a stamp.  Once you have completed the Destination Diary, please drop it into the boxes around the school.  Come and play and have a chance to win a Uniform Bundle, games/craft pack, Metrocard or school hat.

Pimpala Primary School students are invited to “Come and Try” soccer between 4:30pm and 5:30pm – just before the Acquaintance Night.  Please meet under the COLA where students will be allocated to relevant age groups for fun activities.  Please wear soccer boots, sneakers and shin pads (if you have them).

The Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday, 19th February at 6:45pm in the Library, straight after the Acquaintance Night.  If you are intersted in becoming a member of the Governing Council - the decision making body of the school, please let the Administration Office know.  Alternatively you can nominate on the night at the meeting.  We are looking for additional committed members as some of those from last year have gone onto other schools, including high school.

If you are able to attend 2 meetings per term

We have a number of desks and chairs surplus to school requirements so we are offering them to our school community first - to a maximum of one desk and 2 chairs per student -  for a donation of:

Desks - $10ea

Chairs - $5ea

One of each size table and chair will be on display from 4:30pm on Wednesday, 19th February.  If you are interested in acquiring a desk and/or chair, please write your name and details on the corresponding sheet.  Please pay at the Finance Window and then you will be advised when your order is available for collection.  

There will be a Student Free Day on Friday, 21st February, 2020 to enable staff to attend Professional Learning with Kath Murdoch "Thinking About Inquiry". 

POSHC will be open. Please contact Hazel Godfrey for bookings on 0413 482 521 or email at Hazel.Godfrey850@schools.sa.edu.au

SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHS WILL BE TAKEN ON:
Friday 6 March 2020 and follow up on Thursday 12 March 2020

School photographs are scheduled to be taken by Advancedlife Photography . Whilst an envelope and flyer was distributed last week, if possible it is our preference that ordering be completed online to reduce administration and potential security issues related to the return of cash and envelopes on photo day.

Orders for packages and sibling photographs can be placed securely online at www.advancedlife.com.au using our school’s unique 9 digit advancedorder code. See below.

Portrait and group package orders are due by photography day.  Should you wish to purchase a sibling photograph online, the order must be placed no later than the day before photography day. Sibling photographs will only be taken if an order has been placed.

Should you have any queries concerning school photographs or online ordering, please direct them via email to enquiries@advancedlife.com.au

Pimpala Primary School
ORDER NOW go to www.advancedlife.com.au and enter the code
6EJ 4HW 7CX

Pimpala will be hosting Principal Tours on two days each term for anyone interested in enrolling at our school.  They will be held at 4:30pm and 10:00am on the following dates, two tours per term.  Please ring the Administration Office on 83260900 to book into one of the tours this year.

On Monday, 24th February there will be a Special Presentation Ceremony at 2:20pm for our new SRC Members and Executives, Mentors and Monitors.  Everyone is welcome to come along to see the students being presented with their badges. Congratulations everyone.

Ms Power and Mrs Lewis' Year 6/7 classes are heading to Wirraway Homestead for school camp from Monday, 30th March to Wednesday, 1st April. The students will try a range of activities they normally would not get to experience. They will also build leadership skills as senior students in our school community, strengthen their relationships with teachers and staff who work in our classes and with peers. 

 Information and invoices will be sent home this week. 

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Thank you to everyone who has paid their school fees,  started a Payment By Instalment Plan or applied for School Card.  Your early attention to this matter is greatly appreciated.

If you have not already done so but are eligible for School Card, we would appreciate it if you could follow the attached instructions to submit your application on line.

Payments can be made via the following methods:

Qkr! App

If you do not already have the Qkr! app, please visit the Google Play or Apple App store to download the Qkr! app to pay any school payment on-line on any device. This app is the quickest and easiest way to make all your payments to the school and we highly recommend you use it.  

The Finance Window is open in the Courtyard each morning from 8:30am - 9:15am. 

By Phone

The Finance Office will take over the phone EFTPOS payments from 9:15am – 3:00pm daily.

 School fees must be paid in full by no later than Thursday, 9th April, 2020 (unless paying by instalments)

Payment by Instalment

School fees can be paid by instalments, please fill in a Direct Debit By Instalment Request Form which is available on the website, app or Finance Window and return it to the Finance Office by Friday 13th March.  Please note: payments by instalments must be finalised by the end of Term 2, (Friday, 3rd July), unless alternate arrangements are made with the school.

Welcome back to the 2020 school year and a special welcome to all the new families to Pimpala Primary School.  Our library is open from 8:30am until 3:30pm and we encourage families to come in and visit before and after school. 

Your friendly library staff this year are Karen Campbell, Resource Centre Officer, SSO who manages the day to day Library function and Deb Hampton, the Teacher Librarian who has diversified her role to also include Aboriginal Education Teacher and HASS (History and Social Sciences) teacher.  Deb will be in the Library on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. 

 It has been fantastic to see so many students coming to the library to borrow and we would like to remind all Junior Primary parents that library bags are required. Library bags help to protect our books so that they can be borrowed again and again. Of course, we all know that accidents sometimes happen, so if your library book has been lost or damaged in some way, please come to see us so that we can arrange a replacement as soon as possible for others to enjoy.

 While you are in the library, look out for our requests box and let us know what books you would like to have in the library.  This year we have a new book display which will feature recently purchased books.  Many of these books have been bought based on student requests received last year.

 The library will be open on Acquaintance Night, Wednesday, 19th February, 2020 so families can come and visit and get a stamp for your Destination Diary. 

Thank you to everyone who has returned the Student Permission Form.  If you haven't already done so can you please complete the forms and return them to the Administration Office. If your form has been misplaced we can also give you a replacement.

We appreciate that many people walk their dogs when dropping off or picking up their children from school but we ask that you do not bring your dog onto school grounds. Some children and adults are very afraid of dogs while others may be allergic.  In the interests of all of the students and parents in our community, do not bring it onto school grounds.

The entrance gates make a great drop off and pick up meeting point but please do not leave your dog unattended.  Some people find it intimidating to walk past unattended dogs, particularly children.

We understand that you may not consider your dog a threat and therefore, the request does not apply to your dog.  However, this does apply to ALL dogs, no matter how cute or cuddly and is in line with Department for Education policy.

Thanks to the City of Onkaparinga, the flooding issue at the corner of Vanstone Avenue and Dickson Road has now been remedied.  While Council were untaking this work they also realigned the bike track away from the footpath/roadway to alleviate the possibility of bikes hitting car doors and or children as they got out of cars in the Kiss & Drop zone.

Now that the bke track is closer to the school grounds it is important to make sure you check if any bikes are coming along the track before you cross it.  In the interests of the safety of our community, it is essential that all traffic including foot traffic, bikes and vehichles check before entering and exiting the school grounds.

The Canteen will be open for Lunch Orders and Counter Sales on Monday, 24th February in lieu of Friday, 21st February, which is the Student Free Day.