The Northern Natter Week 8 - Castlemaine North Primary

The Northern Natter Week 8
To view the digital edition of this week’s newsletter, go to: https://bit.ly/2J39yHo
Term 1, Week 8 20/03/2020
BSB: 063-509        Account: 10027552

DIARY DATES
March
20th - School Photos (postponed)                                       26th - District AFL9s/Netball Grades 5/6 - cancelled
25th - District AFL9s/Netball Grades 3/4 -cancelled                    27th - Easter Hat Parade
25th - School Council AGM - 7pm                                        27th - Last day of Term One

Principal's Report
Dear Parents & Carers,
What a strange week it has been. We are getting daily emails           I would like to reiterate my gratitude, for the support that our
from the Department of Education, maintaining the message              parent community have shown to the staff at CNPS this last
that schools are to remain open for now. As we know, things            week or so. The extra load for teachers, with preparing for
can change quickly, and we will be sure to let you know as             home learning plans, while still keeping things as "regular" as
soon as we have any further (new) information.                         possible at school, has taken a toll on our staff, with many of
                                                                       us feeling a bit uncertain and drained. I have received lots of
The most recent communication received has been around                 supportive emails from parents, and it really does help to
extra school cleaning until the end of term. The department            keep the momentum and positive energy, when we have the
has authorised schools to request extra time from our                  backing of our parent group. I was reflecting on a
contract cleaners, however, our cleaners are already                   disappointing aspect of this situation, being that we (schools)
stretched between a number of sites as it is. I am currently in        are having to keep functioning, but cancel all the "fun". We
conversation with Bendigo Cleaning Company, and we will                know that having things to look forward to and social events
aim to provide extra cleaning hours as soon as possible,               is what energises and motivates us, and the constant
which will include spot cleaning of high traffic areas such as         cancelling and postponing (while necessary) is adding to our
door handles and table surfaces, and extra toilet cleaning             feelings of uneasiness. On a positive note, it is great to hear
during the school day. You can imagine how much pressure               of parents who are enjoying time at home with their kids to
these decisions put on our contract cleaning companies, and            get back to basics such as baking, crafting, gardening, board
we are all working hard to follow these directives within our          games, reading together and getting outside for walks and
means.                                                                 bike rides.

HOME LEARNING PLANS                                                    I would like to finish by clearly stating that we support the
I will be emailing these out by 11.30am today - teachers have          decisions of all our parents. Whether you keep your kids at
provided work that will be sufficient for the next week, to get        home or send them to school (in a healthy state), we are
us through to holidays. Please email us if you have any                here to provide social, emotional and educational support,
questions about the plans. Hard copies of each booklet will            as always.
also be available outside the office. Today we have over one
third of our students absent from school.

Keep being fabulous, everyone.
Sam :)
chapman.samantha.j@edumail.vic.gov.au

Respect the Badge Award

Victoria Police are currently trialling a ‘Respect the Badge’ initiative in schools in Victoria. We are one of the
schools involved in the pilot program.

Each month, teachers will nominate two ‘Student of the Month Award’ recipients. There’s one award for Grades                        P-2
and one for Grades 3-6. A medal and certificate will be presented to the award winners at assembly by local police members.

The nominated student:
    • possesses a respectful and inclusive attitude within the classroom and the playground
    • is trustworthy and can be relied on to do what they promise
    • displays civic responsibilities at school
    • has positive attendance

Sentral Access
Thank you to the parents and carers who have registered and linked their accounts to their children on Sentral. We have just over
170 parents and carers who have done and hopefully you are finding it a useful way of receiving information from the school and
letting us know of absences. This semester, reports will be emailed to parents and will also be accessible through the Sentral Parent
Portal. This will reduce our paper usage by over 6,000 pages per year!

Currently, we do not have access to the Sentral App for iOS and Android. Sentral have advised us that they are in the process of
testing a new and improved app that will be available at some stage during the middle of Term Two. We will let everyone know once
this is available and any other relevant information about its use.

If you are having trouble accessing Sentral or linking your account to your child, please email Sam Kerr at
kerr.samuel.p@edumail.vic.gov.au and he will assist you in getting it up and running.

Easter Hat Parade
It’s back, it’s big and it’s going to be better than ever. Yep, you guessed it. We will be holding our much anticipated, famously
awesome, annual Easter hat parade on Friday the 27th of March on the basketball court. Cut it, paste it, mould it, build it, scrunch it,
or make it any way you can… but make it yours. We look forward to seeing your Easter inspired creations. May the best hat win!

Harmony Day
This week is Harmony Week and yesterday we held a celebration for Harmony Day. Students worked in multi-aged groups and
participated in a variety of activities, including origami, games, craft, painting and language learning. It was an opportunity to learn
about and celebrate cultural diversity within our community. It was a great day had by all!

Parents and Carers Association
**The craft stall needs donations. Please drop your items, made
from recycled, upcycled or second hand materials
wherever possible, to the box in the hallway near the
office. Contact Sonia by email if you have any queries, or want
some ideas/help

It won’t come as a surprise to anyone that we are going to need to postpone the fete. When we do have this fete, it will be a great
celebration of all things, good, groovy and green.
If anyone has made stuff that can’t last about 6 months, please get in touch because we’ll figure out a way to sell it online or after
school.
 Obviously we’re just going to have to see how things go over the next couple of months - ideally we’ll be looking to go again in
October..but obviously we can’t make any firm decisions.

In the mean time, EVERYONE can get on with crafting and making stuff at home that we can sell.. now that we all have a bit more
(strange) time and space.
We expect to have the most incredible Craft Stall in the history of fetes ever!!

There might still be some plants to sell before the fete..at some point…we’ll keep you posted.

If you do Facebook, please like our Facebook page to keep in
touch. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FCastlemainNorthParentsCarer
sAssociation%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cchapman.samantha.j%40edumail.vic.gov.au%7Cbaf36430a7a84f153dd608d7cc4f380a%7
Cd96cb3371a8744cfb69b3cec334a4c1f%7C0%7C0%7C637202512932316636&sdata=9VqXUoBB32d8girmUJbnyobE3pm4Bmm
FFvnpsAL7PRI%3D&reserved=0

Please take care and stay safe…and get in touch if there is anything we can do to provide help at this time.

Thank you

The PCA Executive.
Nat, Cara and Bergen
0430577773 / mamawobbles@gmail.com

Food Garden News
It was great to have Erin and 5/6E helping up in the garden this week. We got plenty done and enjoyed a rockmelon from the garden
at the end of the session.

Next week we will be carrying on with our jobs in the garden but also we have some brick cleaning to do for the rocket pizza oven.
So if you have a spare hour on Tuesday afternoon please bring along a brick bolster and hammer and give us a hand preparing the
bricks for the pizza oven base.

Depending on the situation evolving daily we will be deciding on the best way to look after the school chooks. If you think you
maybe able to help please let me know.

Any questions please contact Nico 0499603786 or nico@nicopye.com

Thanks,
Nico

PE and Sport News

Ride 2 School Day
It was great to see so many families participating in National Ride2School day last Friday. Well done to all those families who tried
out riding, scooting or walking for the first time. The bike racks were overflowing! Also thanks to those who went to the effort of
getting “wheelie” spooky and dressed up in the spirit of Freaky Friday. A special mention also to Ms Chapman who set a great
example and rode all the way from Newstead!!
A big thank you to the fantastic parent helpers, bike guru Huw Vellacott, the pancake crew John, Phil, Ash, Geoff, Nat and Angela
and the dishes team Claire, Mikaela and Chloe.

Cheers
Ween

Orienteering
Orienteering for the family
Bendigo Orienteers are offering families an opportunity to come and try orienteering. We are running the next couple of events in
your local area, which you are welcome to come along to and try for free.
Saturday 28 March Mt Alexander
For further information on exact start location and time, refer to http://bendigo-orienteers.com.au/wordpress/eventor/events/
Or contact Jacqui Knee on 0400 054 690.

Thank you to the school for supporting orienteering and hope the students enjoy their time with Fredo. I would appreciate any
feedback you may have on the arrangements and delivery of sessions.

Student Sharing @ CNPS
The grade 5/6 classes have been busy designing Easter basket nets for the Prep students. This week they met up with their buddies
to decorate and create the baskets together. The grade 5/6’s have also been developing their mapping skills and will design an
Easter egg hunt where the baskets will be put to good use after the holiday break.

This week the grade 1/2 students are investigating ways of recording data. This is an example of how we recorded data collection
from dice throws in the class. It inspired a lot of conversation and excitement.

Values Awards
The Award for Thoughtfulness, Courage, Passion and Wonder goes to the whole CNPS community this week - teachers, parents
and students - for supporting each other through these uncertain times! :)

Community Noticeboard
Flyers are available at the office for the YMCA holiday program that is held at Campbells Creek PS.