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PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE:
REPORTING TO PARENTS/CARERS
Mid-Year reports were issued last Friday. This week teachers have allocated times for interviews before, during and after school, with over interviews being held on Tuesday evening to support working families. I would like to take this opportunity to thank those parent/carers who attended interviews to discuss their child/children’s progress.
I would also like to publicly thank the staff for the time, effort and thought put into the written reports and the same level of professionalism they show in the interview process. 286 parents/carers took the opportunity to attend out of hours interviews on Tuesday evening.
Thank you to the parents who notified the office when they were unable to attend at their allocated time. This was most appreciated by teachers and reduced the disruption to their timetables.
PEER SUPPORT PICNIC
The picnic was held last week. It was a celebration of the end of the Peer Support sessions and cements the relationships established during the program. The 44 peer support group lunches were a highlight of the day as was the tug-o-war. Students are to be commended on their behaviour. The weather was kind and everyone had a great time.
SCHOOL DISCO
Last Friday evening over half of the students of the school enjoyed the school disco. A variety of food stalls provided by the different communities within the school raised funds that will help purchase Interactive Whiteboards for classrooms. Thank you to the P and C for their organisation, the parent groups for their contributions, the teachers for giving their time and the students who attended to support this event.
ATHLETICS CARNIVAL
Due to the wet weather the Athletics Carnival has been postponed. Details will be issued next term with the new arrangements.
SELECTIVE SCHOOLS [YEAR 7 2010]
I would like to congratulate the Year 6 students who were successful in the Selective Schools test. This year 39.4% of candidates have been made an initial offer of placement 14% of candidates have been placed on Reserve lists. Traditionally the majority of students have been made an offer up to the commencement of Year 7.
ILLNESS
Over the last fortnight a large number of students have been absent due to illness. On one day alone over 30% of Year 6 were absent. As we hit colder weather in Term 3 it is important that students who are sick are kept at home till they recover. This is mandatory for those suffering flu like symptoms.
On Wednesday 8th of July the first case of Swine Flu in a student was confirmed. Human Swine Influenza (swine flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza. Swine flu viruses do not normally infect humans, however, human infections with swine flu has occurred in the past, and cases of human-to-human spread of a swine flu virus have been recently confirmed.
What are the symptoms? The symptoms of Human Swine Influenza are similar to seasonal influenza. They include: fever, cough, tiredness, muscle aches, sore throat, chills, shortness of breath, runny nose and headache.
Vomiting and diarrhoea have also been evident in some cases of Human Swine Influenza. Symptoms generally appear between two to four days after exposure.
An information sheet is attached for your information.
SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT DAY [SDD]
On the first day of term all teaching staff will be involved in a School Development Professional Learning day based on the Human Society and Its Environment Syllabus. SDD’s are pupil free days so students will commence on Tuesday 28th July.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a relaxed, safe and healthy break.
I look forward to an exciting and productive Term 3.
Regards
Chris Russell
Principal
8th July 2009.
P & C MEETING
The next P & C Meeting will be Tuesday 11th August at 7pm in the School Library.
DEBATING
Our Year 5 team had a debate against St John’s Park this week. They had to argue ‘that parents should ban their children from social networking sites’. This time they had the affirmative side of the argument but were unable to convince the adjudicator to award the debate in their favour. The students are showing improvement every debate and increasing in their enthusiasm to participate.
KOREAN COMMUNITY LANGUAGE
A big thank you to the parents of Alex (6F) and Helen (3P) who have donated many Korean language books to the school. This donation is greatly appreciated and will benefit many students in the school.
A meeting for Korean parents will be held on the third Monday of next term (10th August) in the Korean Community Language room. It will start at 3.00pm and all Korean parents are invited to attend.
SCHOOL AMBASSADOR PROGRAM
Earlier this term students from schools in South Western Sydney were nominated to be part of the School Ambassador Program. Rishika was announced as Ambassador for Homebush Public School. Following is her account of the day:
On Monday 25th May I was privileged to represent this school as an ambassador. I caught the bus at Homebush Boys High School and we arrived at the University of Western Sydney, Campbelltown Campus at 8.00am. We put our name tags on and went into a large lecture theatre where we were welcomed by the university staff.
We were taken to a Science laboratory and shown some experiments that changed the colour of liquid and also showed how balloons act differently with different gases. We then moved on to a room full of snakes. I was handed a python by one of the attendants. I was in the middle of my group so I felt very safe. After that, we learnt a new language. I learnt Italian using headphones and a computer.
Our pleasant stay at the university soon ended and we were moved by bus to the Revesby Workers Club. We were taken into a large hall. There were many children and parents there. It was an impressive sight.
There were some guest speakers, a dance item and a group of drummers performed. At the end all the ambassadors were congratulated and given certificates.
I feel very lucky to be given the honour of representing the school.
STEWART HOUSE
Every year Mrs Geale sells dolphins to raise necessary funds for Stewart House. There are still some left and if students would like to purchase one for $3.00 they should ask Mrs Geale.
NAIDOC DAY
On Monday the 6th of July Homebush Public School celebrated NAIDOC DAY. All students took part in traditional Aboriginal activities and learned about Aboriginal culture and the Dreamtime. $400 was raised through the sales of the Respect bands to support Koori children and their education. Aboriginal Education is an important part of Australian history and is integrated into the NSW curriculum. An educational and fun day was had by all.
Brian Lambert
OPEN DAY
New enrolments are currently being accepted for 2010.
On August 11th an Open Day will be held at Homebush Public School. There will be two opportunities to attend. The first session will be Breakfast and a tour conducted by our students at 8am. The second session will be an Information Presentation at 6pm.
All are welcome to attend. Please inform your friends and relatives who are interested in sending their children to Homebush Public School next year to attend.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING Human Swine Flu Information Sheet
Australia is entering a new phase in our response to human swine flu, known as PROTECT. The change in approach is because the virus strain is currently not as virulent as anticipated. Generally the virus produces a mild disease in most people, a severe disease in some, and a moderate effect overall. This year it is likely many more people will come down with flu-like-illnesses than in recent winter flu seasons because fewer people will have immunity to the human swine flu virus.
The aims of the PROTECT phase are to ensure that people at an increased risk of complications from influenza are treated early to try to prevent severe illness from developing, and to help control outbreaks in schools and other institutions. On the advice of NSW Health we no longer need to exclude staff or students who have been to an area where there is known community or school transmission of human swine flu. Any staff member or student who has been excluded from school and who does not have flu symptoms can return to school immediately. The school exclusion policy was inconvenient but it helped to limit the spread of disease in NSW schools.
As the number of cases of swine flu increases in the community, school exclusions and closures are unlikely to help in limiting the spread of disease as many more children will catch swine flu outside school rather than in school. The NSW Department of Health thanks the parents and carers of NSW school students for their co-operation with these measures while they were in place.
We still need to take steps to minimise the transmission of the virus in the community as some people in our school community remain at increased risk of complications from influenza. Instead of excluding people who may have been to an affected area, or who have been in contact with a person with confirmed human swine influenza, we will now be asking any person with flu symptoms to stay at home until they are well. Any student who identifies that they are unwell, or is displaying flu-like symptoms will be sent to a sick-bay area and their parent or carer will be called to take them home.
Please watch carefully for any signs or symptoms of flu-like illness in your child. These symptoms include fever, cough, tiredness, muscle aches, sore throat, chills or shortness of breath. NSW Health has advised if you or your child develops flu-like symptoms you should seek the advice of your family doctor as you would with any other illness.