Dear Parents/Caregivers,

Welcome back to Term 2, it is a very busy and exciting term with many events and learning opportunities.

There have been some updated COVID-19 restrictions in place, they are as follows.

For the first 4 weeks of Term 2, when indoors, face masks are:

• required for all adults (including visitors), except when it impedes ability to teach
• required for students in years 7 to 12
• strongly recommended for students in years 3 to 6.

 The use of face masks in education settings will be reassessed by the Emergency Management Committee and the department ahead of the start of Week 5. 

Exemptions will continue to be made for students or staff who have a medical condition, such as problems with their breathing, a serious skin condition on the face, a disability, or a mental health condition.

It is the intent of the Department to remove restrictions to allow the following to resume from Week 3, Term 2

     overnight, intrastate camps with shared indoor spaces (ie dormitory accommodation) with no restriction on travel time within the state

     indoor assemblies can be held in a COVID safe manner

     parent/caregiver attendance at large indoor events.

We are still required to report COVID positive cases of students and staff so please let us know if any of your children test positive.

This week our Year 3 and 5 students will be participating in NAPLAN Assessments.

NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national standards and over time.

NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. It doesn’t replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ progress.

NAPLAN also provides schools, education authorities and governments with information about how education programs are working and whether young Australians are achieving important educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy.

Please remind your children that if they are participating in NAPLAN this year, that the assessments do not however assess what makes each of our students exceptional and unique.

They do not show how some of our students are amazing at singing, are good at drawing or can teach others to use computers. They do not see the way that some of our students can dance with grace or speak confidently to a large group. They do not see that our students are supportive and loyal. They do not show that some of our students participate and excel in sports, help around the house or look after their siblings. They do not see that our students are kind, thoughtful and every day do their best. You cannot test for these attributes.

The assessments will test how students perform on that day, but they do not tell us everything.

They do not tell us that our students put a smile on our faces every day, just by being themselves.

We are very happy to be able to have parents/caregivers at our Sports Day in Week 3. It should be an amazing day, students have been practicing with Ms Mooney-Doe and are excited to show off their skills. There are Sports Day Accessories available for sale on QKR!, get in fast so that you don’t miss out.

More information about the upcoming events this term will come out soon.

Thank you again, for all of your support to keep our community safe in these uncertain times. Knowing that we have a supportive community has made what could have been a very challenging time much more enjoyable.

Hello everybody!

My name is Kingsley Heard and I am very excited to have joined the wonderful community at Pimpala Primary School as Deputy Principal.

I have been involved in education for over 18 years and have fulfilled a range of roles throughout this time. Most recently, I have been at Port Noarlunga Primary where I was a classroom teacher and Deputy Principal for almost 10 years. Before then, I worked at Hackham East Primary and also lived in Port Augusta for almost 7 years where I worked at Stirling North Primary School.

Outside of school, it is very busy times. I have three sons ranging in age from 13 to 3 and a wife who also works in education. I am a huge AFL fan, barracking for the Power (don’t hold that against me!) and enjoy golf, cricket and finding time to keep active.

I have been incredibly lucky to have been a part of some wonderful school communities and having grown up in the country, very much value the importance of everybody working together. I have been very impressed throughout my first week at Pimpala in how welcoming everybody has been and certainly can feel the strong sense of community that exists.

Taking on the role as Deputy Principal allows me to really focus on many components at Pimpala Primary School. My main role is to assist student learning with our wonderfully inclusive staff and work on many processes to ensure every student at our school has the best opportunity possible. Being a part of a strong school community is vital for our students and having the support of all of our families is also priority.

Thanks to all of those people who have come up so far to introduce themselves and I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible moving forward.

Kind regards

Kingsley

We are urgently looking for volunteers to help with our cooking program for Ms Shillum and Ms Whitbread's Year 1/2 classes.  The program will run for Weeks 3, 4, 5 & 6 commencing next week.

If you have the required clearances and are free on a Tuesday or Thursday between recess and lunch to assist, please let Michele, or the Administration Staff know.

NAPLAN tests will be undertaken this week for Year 3 and 5 students.  Please ensure students are at school on time.

Principal Tours are available on the following dates and times:

• Monday, 30 May - 9:30am and 4:30pm
• Saturday, 18 June - 10:30am 
• Monday, 4 July - 9:30am and 4:30pm

Please contact the school to make a booking. We would love to meet you, show you around and answer all your questions.

These tours are subject to change/cancellation due to the current COVID regulations or situation at our school.

Our first session of Jumpstart at Pimpala, our free playgroup for 3-5 years olds with parents/caregivers, will be held on Friday, 13 May at the usual time of 9:00am - 10:30am.

We have lots of fun things planned and we can't wait to see you!

If you would like more information, please call the school on 83260900.

This week our Jumpstart at Pimpla program will be based in the Performing Arts/OSHC room as the Library and STEM room which we usually use, will be used for NAPLAN. Please meet at the Administration Office at 9:00am.

Get ready to have fun!

See you on Friday!

Starting Secondary School brochures were sent home to Year 6 students last week with information about how the process will work this year.   Here is the link to the brochure:

https://edi.sa.edu.au/library/document-library/psp/conditions-for-learning/Starting-secondary-school-parent-brochure.pdf 

Emails have also been sent to every Year 6 family with an individual link for each child.  Please complete the link by Friday, May 27.

If you have any questions about the process, please contact Barb in the Administration Office.

Which team will you be cheering for on Sports Day, Friday, 20 May, 2022?  Anderson (Blue), Bain (Green), Morphett (Red) O’Sullivan (Yellow)?

We have planned some great events for all classes to participate in with students required to be in class at usual time with the actual Sports Day events commencing at 9:00am.  

Great news! Parents/caregivers will be able to attend Sports Day this year, subject to COVID restrictions, and local school restrictions, which may apply.  We strongly encourage visitors to wear masks while on school grounds.

There will be a sausage sizzle, drinks stall and a coffee van available.

This will be a fun day so please put it in your diary.  We hope to see you there! 

A program of events will be available on the day.

The Pimpala Primary School Fundraising Committee would like you to celebrate this years Sports Day supporting your team loud and proud.

Order your Sports Day Team Merchandise via the QKR App or at the Finance Window 8.30am - 9.15am.

Pom Poms - $3

Funky Glasses - $3

Bandanas - $3

Sweat Band Set - $5

We are excited to be launching the innovative Children's University program at our school this term.

Please consider this exciting new innovative program which is renown for  it's success  in assisting students in boosting academic achievement and increasing student ambition.  Students are encouraged to explore and discover new ideas, concepts and experiences via Public and Restricted Learning Destinations and can choose topics they would enjoy. 

Awards are based on effort, activity and time spent which allows access to everyone.

Christine MacLean will be the Children's University coordinator and will oversee the running and validation of Children’s University clubs or Restricted Learning Destinations in school.   

Students who enrol in the program will be given a Passport to Learning which is where Children's Universtiy members collect their learning.  Each activity is recorded along with the time spent, and validated with a stamp from the Learning Destination.  As learning hours accrue, they build towards Children's University certificates awarded at graduations.

The cost to access the program is $16.50 (includes GST), per member per year.  This includes a Passport to Learning, annual graduations as well as validating local Learning Destinations and access to the Children’s University website and Portal.

All students from Year 3 to 6 will attend an Information Session on Thursday, 26 May at 1:30pm. Junior Primary students can choose to attend too.  If your child thinks they would be interested in undertaking the program then they can register and attend the session on Thursday, 9 June where they will be given their Passport to Learning.  A parent information session will also be held after school on Thursday, 9th May at 3:30pm

Christine will be available to answer any questions you may have about Children's University from 27 May, 2022.  

We understand the Kiss and Drop Zone is a great way to drop off and collect your children each day but please do not park in this zone to wait for your children to come out from school.  If you are not able to see your children, please go around the block to give them time to come out from class.  This way the traffic keeps moving, making it more efficient for everyone.  Thank you.

Our team sports in netball, basketball and soccer have either commenced their season or are about to start. Thank you to the school staff who have organised the teams and to the parents and carers who have volunteered as coaches and team managers. Your time and support of our students is greatly appreciated.

A school uniform gives children a sense of belonging, fosters identity and pride in the school, provides safety and discourages fashion competition. 

The Uniform Policy which is endorsed by Governing Council and is available on the website.

All children are required to wear the recommended school uniform each day and messages will be sent home to parents whose students are not in correct uniform, to ensure everyone is complying with the policy. We appreciate that sometimes there are exceptional circumstances but this needs to be communicated with the teacher in the first instance.

Please note:  Students in Year 6 only are able to wear "Seniors" tops and jumpers. 

We appreciate your cooperation in ensuring all of our students wear full school uniform to school each day.

On ANZAC Day, 25th April, Grace and Nicholas attended the Youth Vigil for the City of Onkaparinga.  Our students represented Pimpala with pride, showed respect and embodied mate-ship. With the easing of COVID restrictions, it was wonderful that we could pay our respects at the cenotaph. 

Well done to both of our students for taking time out of their school holidays to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Lest we forget.

We hope everyone enjoyed their Mother's Day yesterday.

Thank you for your support of the Mother's Day stall, which raised $462.

WOW! Everyone had a fantastic day at our Colour Splatastic Fun Run on the last day of Term 1.  What a magic way to finish the term.

How good was it to see 10 of our staff members getting slimed and then we also got Mr Carey - who has moved to Wirreada Secondary School to volunteer too!  How epic!

Our wonderful volunteers from left to right:

Mr Janud, Faye, Kylie, Ms MacLean, Helen, Mrs Finlay-Smith, Mr Branson, Debbie, Tina, Ms Currer, Ms Knight, Mr Carey. 

Everything went sensationally, the weather wasn't too hot, there was lots of stations to get excited about, 

Some of our students made the fun run more into a race than in interacting at every station and were able to run over 14 laps in just less than an hour while others took their time and savoured every bit of colour, slime and water available.  Either way, every students ended up in a multi-coloured state.

To our Pimpala PS community, please accept a special thanks for your generosity and enginuity in raising this tremendous amount of money.  It is so heartwarming to see everyone band together to make this a success while enabling the students to have one of their best days of the year, so far!

And finally, you helped us raise a significant amount of money,  to go towards a projector in the hall and future nature play developments.

We hope everyone had a wonderful time over Easter.  Congratulations to the 29 winners of our Easter Raffle!  Thanks for your support and we hope you enjoyed your chocolate.  You helped us raise $1391.

Congratulations to Sharone, one of our parents on winning the Credit Union SA Instagram Easter Promotion!   Thank  you  Chris  from  Credit  Union  SA  for  delivering  Sharone's  prize  in  time  for  Easter.