Term One continues to be very busy. Last Thursday our whole school set about cleaning up the school and surrounds for Clean Up Australia Day. Thank you to everyone for participating so enthusiastically and a big thank you to those families that helped out by sending along extra buckets, tongs and gloves. We are proud of the great job that our students did and also proud that in some areas, there was very little rubbish to be found!

The Kitchen/Garden program has commenced with our 5/6 classes who are having cooking lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Michele is very grateful for the support from our vounteers that she receives for cooking and gardening lessons. If you do find yourself available and can meet all of the requirements for clearances and are double vaccinated, please contact Michele as extra help would be appreciated.  Please check with the Administration Office if you would like more information.

I wandered out to the oval and COLA area last Thursday after school to watch interested students participating in Cross Country practice. I was amazed at the determination and resilience on show. I look forward to seeing the improvement as students continue to put so much effort into their training. Thank you to our students from OSHC who came out to cheer their friends on.

We have been privileged to have Year 11 and 12 students from SEDA College visit our school on Fridays to run Football Clinics for our Year 3 to Year 6 students. Feedback from students has been very positive with some students who were reluctant to take part, having a go and really enjoying the skills training. Thank you to Ms Emily Mooney-Doe, our PE teacher, for organising this for us.

This Saturday is Election Day so we hope to see a good turn-out for the voting and to support our Governing Council Fundraising BBQ. Bring some change to buy yourself a bacon and egg roll or a sausage in bread!

Thank you to all of the families and students who have made me feel so welcome and valued in my new role as Deputy Principal this term. I am really enjoying connecting with families and students across the school.

Sandra Howlett

Deputy Principal

Each fortnight teachers identify students who have demonstrated the school values of Responsibility, Respect and Resilience to a high standard and nominate them to receive an award - usually at the Assembly.  Due to current COVID-19 restrictions we have not had an assembly yet.  

Awards are only awarded when the values are observed and deserved so some weeks there may be more and some weeks less awards.

Congratulations to the students who were presented with an award on Friday, 11 March, 2022. Great work!

Rachel Pullman - Reception - Jax S, Kayden M
Lauren Whitbread - Reception/Year 1 - Lexie B, James N
Lauren Stanley - Year 1/2 - Tate L, Halle N-E
Emma Shillum - Year 1/2 - Tait J, Phia C
Nicole Currer - Year 2/3 - Savannah M, Elliott, T
Holly Fisher/Emily Mooney-Doe - Year 3/4 - Aria J, Mia A
Mel Yates - Year 3/4 -  Koa B, Latoya M
Jo Power - Year 4/5 - Taliyah S, Jasmin M
Syed Janud - Year 4/5 - Mackenzie F, Darcy H
Chris Burns/Rose Knight - Year 5/6 - Chelsea W, Amelia T
Nigel Branson - Year 5/6 - Saadullah K, Sophie P

Rose Knight -  Auslan - Nykaya M

Reminder:  the Annual General Meeting is tonight.  If you would like to be involed in Governing Council please contact the school in time to participate through a Teams link.

We encourage anyone interested to attend and nominate.  Positions will be finalised at the first meeting of Governing Council - not tonight.  If you would like to nominate but are unable to make tonight's meeting, please let the Administration Staff know.

Please consider joining if you would you like to be involved in your child’s education. 

Do you have 2 Wednesday nights free per term?

Are you prepared to participate in some fundraising events and activities?

If so, please join Teams link to the Governing Council Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, 16 March, 2022 at 7:00pm.  Please let us know if you would like us to send you a link to the meeting.  

What does Governing Council do?

Governing Council involves the school community in the governance of the school by:
*providing a focus and a forum for parental and school community involvement and values
*identfying the educational needs of the local community and the attitude of the community to educational developments within the school ensuring that the cultural and social diversity of the school community is considered and the needs of all student groups are appropriately identified
*set the general directions of the school by developing broad policy statements such as the site learning plan, the budget, and student safety, welfare and discipline policies
*monitor and report on:
- the site learning plan
- finances (including governing council enterprises and programs such as OSHC and canteen)
- the council’s operations.
- raise money for school related purposes
- maintain property
- manage OSHC and canteen responsibilities.

Would you like to be part of the school decision making team?

As you would be aware, there will be a State Election on Saturday, 19 March, 2022 this Saturday.  Our school hall will be used as a polling booth so please come and vote here and while you are here please buy a sausage or bacon and egg roll.  All proceeds will go to school fundraising.

If you have a "Voting Card" you will notice that Pimpala Primary School may not be listed as a place to vote (depending on where you live) - but be assured it is the place to go!  Parking in the staff car parks will be easily available, and we are unlikely to have huge crowds so it will be quick and painless to vote here - and buy a sausage or egg and bacon sandwich.

We also need volunteers for our BBQ stall.  If you have a spare hour or so anytime from 7:45am on Saturday, 19 March, please let the Administration staff know.  Many hands make light work so please put your name down. All volunteers will need to be double vaccinated.

The Noarlunga Obedience Dog Club will also have an event here that day but on-site parking is strictly for those voting.  Don't be put off if it looks busy.   If you see cars parked outside of the grounds that's fine, just drive in and park, vote and get your sausage or bacon and egg sandwich here!  We would love to see you and we appreciate your support.

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Thank you to those of you who have generously donated to our Easter Raffle.  We really appreciate it.  However, we need more items of Easter goodies to make up the baskets as raffle prizes.  Can you please help with an Easter goodie donation and bring it to the Administration Office.  

The annual Easter Raffle is one of our major fundraisers for the year.  To make this a huge success can you please send donations of Easter Eggs or any other Easter goodies to the school by Friday, 1st April, 2022 .  Your donations will be turned into Easter Raffle prizes.

 The raffle will be drawn on Wednesday, 13th April and prizes will be sent home with the students.  Other winners will be notified by phone.  Good luck everyone!

Let's celebrate Game Day for the Show Down on Friday, 1st April with DONUTS!  YUM!

Donuts will be available to order in both Adelaide Crows and Port Power colours and will arrive fresh on the day.  They will cost $3.00 each.

Please feel free to order any number of donuts you like!  Orders must be placed by Tuesday, 29 March at 9:00am.

How exciting!  We can't wait for the Colour Splatacular Fun Run on Thursday, 14 April, 2022!  

Just imagine all the fun you will have with an obstacle course, a fun run, slime, colour, water and all your Pimpala friends!

The event will be a fun filled and amazing day!  Make sure you don't miss it! 

We are also adding an extra FUN element.  In an effort to raise as many funds as possible one teacher will be slimed for every $1000 raised.  Slimed means having a bucket of slime poured over them.  Hooley Dooley - now that will be worth seeing!

 MORE DETAILED INFORMATION

The Colour Fun Run - this year known as the Colour Splatacular - is one of the major fundraising events for our school and we strongly encourage you to get involved, participate and have fun and help us raise funds to replace our old playgrounds when our new school is built. Playgrounds can be very expensive!  Thank you so much for supporting our school.  So far we have raised $985.00 so keep those donations coming!

We are also adding an extra FUN element.  In an effort to raise as many funds as possible one teacher will be slimed for every $1000 raised.  Slimed means having a bucket of slime poured over them.  Hooley Dooley - now that will be worth seeing!

When is the Colour Splatacular School Fun Run? We will be hosting our Colour Splatacular School Fun Run on Thursday, 14 April 2022. Make sure students bring a WHITE shirt to wear during the Fun Run. They will be covered in non-toxic, biodegradable colour powder and ooey gooey slime from head to toe!

Is the powder and slime safe? The non-toxic colour powder is made of high-quality corn starch and permitted food colours, so it’s safe for skin and eyes. The water-based slime is designed for contact with skin, so it’s safe for skin and eyes. If you would like to view the Safety Data Material Sheet, visit the school office. Students with asthma are advised to be careful in their decision to participate.

How does my child fundraise? Fundraising is easy – simply follow the instructions outlined in your child’s sponsorship booklet. Create a cybersafe fundraising profile at www.australianfundraising.com.au to enable your child to accept donations online.

Raise more. Earn more! Students automatically achieve incentive prizes as they fundraise, starting from $10. Each prize is ordered automatically, so you don’t need to worry about prize ordering! You can see what the incentive prizes are in the attached sponsorship booklet.

Share in $200,000 worth of extra prize credit! Achieve bigger prizes by helping your child earn bonus credit on their online profile. By creating an avatar, sharing your page with friends and reaching milestone donations, you can share in $200,000 of extra prize credit!  

Monstar Madness. There are heaps of prizes you can win when you fun-raise with Monty! Create your fundraising page in the next 7 days, and you will receive a Holographic Monty Sticker! Check out your sponsorship booklet for more awesome Monty prizes up for grabs, like a Monty Plush toy, a bag tag or a high-bounce handball!

Win a $10,000 JB Hi-Fi Shopping Spree. Do you think you can top our school’s leaderboard? The highest fundraising student in our school will go into the draw to win a $10,000 JB Hi-Fi Shopping Spree, including your choice of televisions, laptops, phones, home accessories and more! Start fundraising at www.australianfundraising.com.au for your chance to win.

Fund-Razor of the Year Award. Do you think you can top the national leader board? Australia’s highest fundraising student in Australia will win a Razor Prize Pack, worth $3,000!

Thanks in advance for your support, and happy fundraising!

PLEASE CONTACT THE SCHOOL IF YOUR CHILD IS ABSENT.

It is a Department for Education requirement that all student absences and reasons for absence must be recorded by the school daily.  This takes on higher significance with COVID-19 reporting and monitoring. 

If a child is absent, it is the parent’s responsibility to notify the school as soon as possible.  This can be done by: 

• Leaving a message on the school’s answering machine (land line - 83260900) which is operational after school office hours;
• Ringing the school on the day of absence;
• Sending an email to 1059.info@schools.sa.edu.au;
• Logging the absence on Schoolzine app Contact Us page;
• Reporting an absence on the website;
• Sending a note with your child or write a note in your child’s diary the following day.

Please note: The phone number for messaging the school is 0427441857 - but lately some messages have not come through.  This is in the process of being remedied.

 EXEMPTION FORMS

If the child is absent as part of a planned absence eg. family holiday, please notify the school before the absence. 

 If your child will be away from school for more than 2 days on a planned absence (not sickness) then an Exemption Form needs to be completed by the parent to advise the Principal of this absence.  An Exemption Form is available from the Administration Office.

The school fees for 2022 are $265 per student, for four terms of schooling.  (Additional costs apply for camps, excursions, incursions, swimming and aquatics and you will be invoiced separately for any of these).

 School fees  must be paid in full by Thursday, 14 April, 2022.

How to Pay: 

• Pay in person - The Finance Window is open in the Courtyard each morning from 8:30am - 9:15am. We accept EFTPOS or cash.

• Pay over the phone - We also accept credit card payments over the phone between 8:00am and 3:00pm on school days. The only exception is on the last day of every month.

• Pay via the Qkr! App – Download the Qkr! App and create a profile for each child by selecting their classroom level and teacher. Note payments for School will finalise at 5 pm each night for processing the next day. Canteen payments on Qkr! need to be finalised by 9 am on Canteen open days, which are Wednesday and Friday’s.

 School Card

If you are in possession of a current Concession Card from Centrelink, you may be eligible for School Card assistance to pay your Materials & Services Charges.

All types of School Card applications are now online. You can access the online forms from any device that gets internet, including mobile devices, such as tablets and smart phones, as well as laptops and computers.  Applying online is easy! Simply follow the steps below.

STEP 1 Visit https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/education-and-learning/financial-help-scholarships-and-grants/school-card-scheme

 STEP 2 Select the type of School Card you would like to apply for (for example ‘Type A’) and follow the prompts.

STEP 3 Complete all mandatory fields. Please note: you cannot submit your application unless all mandatory fields are complete.

STEP 4 Once you have completed a page click on the ‘NEXT’ button.

STEP 5 Once you have filled out all pages click the ‘SUBMIT’ button. Please note: if you exit the form without clicking ‘SUBMIT’ your details will be lost.

You can save the form, and return to complete it at another time, by clicking on the ‘SAVE’ button.

If you are not eligible for School Card but have difficulty paying, please speak to Helen Clark, Finance Officer to organise a payment plan.

Students in Years 3 and 5 will participate in NAPLAN during Week 2 of Term 2, 10 May  to 13 May, 2022. 

 If you have any concerns about NAPLAN, please speak to your child's teacher as soon as possible.

Planning is progressing for another fantastic Sports Day on Friday, 20 May, 2022.   Emily Mooney-Doe,  our PE teacher, has been busily organising some great events for all classes to participate in.  Students are to arrive at regular time.

We are hopeful that some of the COVID restrictions will be eased or lifted to enable parents/caregivers to be able to attend.  This will be clarified closer to the event.  

Prospective students and their parents/caregivers are invited to the Wirreanda Secondary School 2022 Open Night on 21st March from 4pm - 7pm. 

 What can you expect? 

• A warm welcome into the school community via the oval
• Opportunities to connect with key leaders and staff across the school, including at the Principals Address and Specialist Sports Course presentations.  
• Experience school tours led by the Student Leadership Team
• Explore the fantastic new spaces and programs to support learners
• Hear from staff about unique approaches to learning
• Live student performances and demonstrations.

Wirreanda Secondary School Open Night is always a highlight on the school calendar with staff, excited to meet the future learners and connect with their families. They would love to meet you and your young person(s) on the 21st March from 4pm - 7pm.

 If you have any questions about the event, please contact us via email or by telephone on 8329 7200.

Our friends at Credit Union SA have shared these great tips for getting revved up to purchase your next family car. We are sharing this latest offer as part of our School Community Rewards program.