Newsletter: Term 3 - Week 10

A Message from the Principal

It’s hard to believe that we are now three quarters of the way through the year. It has been one like no other. As well as being full of learning for our students, Term 4 will be the time that we think in earnest about next year. If you are intending on leaving Neville Bonner Primary School, please let us know via this form. It is important that we make accurate decisions for how many classes we have for each year group, and this information is vital. As with previous years, we will be giving students the opportunity to select a number of peers from their year group with whom they think they work well with. This information will be used to ensure each student has at least one friend in their class for 2023. Please take the opportunity to speak with your child about which students they may select during this activity. Particularly with respect to who they work well with. This can quite often differ from who is their best friend!

Book Packs - We will be sending information home at the end of week one with information for purchasing book packs for 2023. There will be a nine or ten week window where families can receive free shipping. Following the email in week one, we will regularly put this information in the newsletter to remind families about cut off dates and such.

Chat with the Leadership - We will be hosting two morning teas during Term 4, enabling parents to come in and have a chat with myself and members of the leadership team. These will be located in our administration building in the staff room. The first will occur on Friday 21 October from 9:10am-10:00am. I will add a form to collect information regarding who will attend in the next newsletter.

Academic Reports - Semester Two - ACT public schools have commenced preparing student reports for Semester 2 2022. The Education Directorate has again made the decision that student academic reports will be provided with an overall A-E grade, and an assessment of achievement standard statements on a 5-point scale. Reports will not include detailed teacher comments.

This strategy supports schools to prioritise teaching and learning as we continue to manage workload pressures due to COVID-19 and other illness. Our teachers will continue communicating directly with families about student learning and you are encouraged to speak with your child’s teacher if you have any questions about their progress.

Wishing everyone a wonderful holidays. If you are travelling, travel safe. I look forward to seeing everyone back on Monday 10 October.

Dates to Remember

Term 4

  • Monday 10 October - First day of term 4

  • Friday 21 October - Community morning tea

  • Friday 21 October - Loud shirt day

  • Tuesday 25 October - Year 3 National zoo & aquarium excursion

  • Wednesday 26 - Friday 28 October - Year 6 camp Cooba

  • Friday 28 October - Pupil free day


  • Friday 11 November - Market day

  • Monday 14 & Tuesday 15 November - Year 5 puberty workshop

  • Thursday 24 November - Community morning tea

  • Friday 25 November - Outdoor Year 5 & 6 band concert

  • Monday 28 November - Pupil free day


  • Monday 5 December - Year 6 Amaroo transition day

  • Thursday 15 December - Year 6 Graduation

  • Friday 16 December - Year 6 fun day

  • Friday 16 December - Last day of term 4


Term 1 - 2023

  • Monday 31 January - M/T preschool, Kindergarten and new students start

  • Tuesday 1 February - All students return to school

  • Thursday 3 February - T/F preschool students start

Communications Sent Home This Week

Notes and Emails Home

  • From the Education Directorate; COVID-19 updates and term 4 pupil free days - email

  • Year 5 puberty workshop - email

  • Seesaw defence club -note

  • Unexplained absence letters - email

SMS Texts Home

  • Absences


School Hours

Learning programmes begin for children at 9am each morning.

Children in Kindergarten to Year 6 are welcome to arrive from 8.45am. Once the bell rings children are to go directly to their classroom.

Back gates will close at 9am and the front gate will be closed at 9.15am. Any arrivals after that time will need to sign in late at reception.

The school day ends at 3pm. Parents/carers are expected to meet and collect their children promptly at 3pm.

Arrangements are in place for children who attend the after school program and catch the bus.

If you would like to enquire about bookings for before or after school care please contact communities at work Neville Bonner Primary School - Communities at Work (commsatwork.org)

Term 4 Assembly Schedule

Positive Behaviours for Learning

PBL Update


Positive behaviours for learning known as PBL is an evidence based whole school approach to ensure consistent behaviour expectations across the school.


Next term the PBL team will be sending home our behaviour expectations for parents to give us feedback and share their thoughts and ideas. As a part of our behaviour expectations these will be underpinned by three whole school expectations. These are:


  • Be Safe

  • Be Respectful

  • Be a Learner


These expectations apply across all settings. In term four the students at Neville Bonner will be introduced to these expectations and start to learn what they mean and how they can be safe, respectful and a learner in different situations. As a part of this we will be starting a positive acknowledgement system. Students will be acknowledged when they demonstrate our school expectations of being safe, being respectful and being a learner. Teachers will identify and label the positive choice with a raffle ticket. The raffle tickets will be drawn out at assembly for a special award. We will also be working towards a whole school celebration. When the school has given out 1000 raffle tickets, we will have a whole school mufti day!


I will continue to provide you with PBL updates next term. Let me know if you have any questions. I hope you have a restful break.


Haeley Simms

Market Day

Donations Required to make products

(You can imagine with 800 students we need a lot!)

Plain flour Vegetable Oil

Popping corn Cream of Tartar

Salt Baking powder

Cheap conditioner Cornflour

Snap Lock Bags (small) Googly eyes

Baby oil Curling ribbon

Washi tape Fabric glue

Feathers Quelch Sticks

Yarn/Wool Rice

Small clean plastic jars with lid

Balloons Lead pencils

Microwave popcorn Dishwashing liquid

Face Paint Glycerin

Bendable straws Patterned paper

Pipe Cleaners/Chenille Sticks

Bath bomb moulds Soap

Embroidery Thread Water Balloons

Halal lollipops Paper cups

Small Styrofoam balls Felt - various colours

Gel Pens Sharpies

Small smooth rocks (decorative garden type)

Good condition second hand items such as toys suitable for prizes welcome. Holidays might be the perfect time for a clean out!

Neville Bonner Primary School staff and students are so excited to announce the return of Market Day this year!

Friday 11 November (Week 5, Term 4)

Every Learning Group has begun planning for the occasion and are keen to get started. There will be a variety of stalls selling items and plenty of fun activities that the children will be able to enjoy.


In order for our Market Day to be a success, we are hoping that our wonderful families and wider community might be able to assist with donations of items.


If you are able to donate any of the following items, please drop them off to Reception or send them in to school with your child, and they will be distributed to the respective Learning Group.

Fresh Ingredients Donations required Week 5

Coconut water, frozen mixed berries, bananas, coconut yoghurt, honey

Donations to be used as prizes

Small bouncy balls, stickers, temporary tattoos, glitter pens, fancy pencils, novelty erasers, wrapped lollies, lollipops, packets of seeds, hair accessories, packet of cards, small toys (good used condition accepted), Post-it notes, fridge magnets, cookie cutters, crayons, colourful chalk, mini bubbles, lanyards, lego mini figs, matchbox cars, key ring, fun paper clips, mini puzzles ....... little fun items to win as prizes.

(We are trying to minimise the use of lollies as prizes.)

Performing Arts Donations

Do you have unused or unwanted performing arts items at home gathering dust? If so, we would gladly love to take them off your hands to be used at the school for the performing arts program.

We are particularly looking for musical instruments from all cultures; clothing that can be used as dress ups to fit children aged from 5 to 12; ribbons and scarves for dancing; puppets; items that can be used for role play such as toy food; and story books related to the performing arts.

We ask that any donated items are in good condition and that they be dropped off at the front office.

Kind regards, Amanda Bray (performing Arts specialist teacher)

Lost Property

We would like to remind families that lost property is not collected or stored at the front office.

Effort is made to return labelled clothing to the child's Learning Group when found.

Please label each item of clothing to make this process easier.

Every building/Learning Group has a lost property collection.

Please check for lost items in your child's learning area.

Sharing Food for Celebrations


We are happy to invite families to bring in food to share for birthdays and celebrations.

We ask that you please comply with our allergy policy and do not include nuts or nut products.


Future of Education Equity Fund

Applications are now open for Future of Education Equity Fund – Round 2, 2022.

The ACT Government's expanded Future of Education Equity Fund provides financial assistance to low-income families (and independent students) with students in years P-12 to meet the costs of education expenses, such as school uniforms, school excursions, sport equipment and activities and music lessons through a one-off payment.

The Future of Education Student Equity Fund Round 1 opened in late 2021 for families with students in years 7-10. Round 2 is only open to families who have NOT already applied for and/or or received payment to support their students in the 2022 school year using a paper based form.

The following payments are available to those who meet the eligibility criteria:

· $400 for preschool students

· $500 for primary school students

· $750 for high-school and college students

2022 applications close 30 September 2022. Only applications received by this date will be processed. There is no limit on the number of students for whom each applicant can apply, providing they meet all conditions.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must:

Reside in the ACT

Have sole or shared parental responsibility for a dependent student(s) in grades P-12; or be an independent student

Be financially responsible for the student(s)

Demonstrate low-income status through:

a current means-tested Health Care Card or Centrelink card, which must list the student(s) as dependents; or

alternative forms of evidence proving low-income status or equivalent financial stress.

Students must be:

· Enrolled full-time in a public or non-government school in the ACT in years P-12. NOTE: For the purposes of the Equity Fund, a preschool is defined as a preschool that is attached to an ACT school and led by a Principal. When applying online, only eligible preschools will appear in a drop-down list.

· Enrolled in an approved form of education other than a school and of an equivalent age to a student in years K-12 E.g. attending the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT), or registered for home-schooling in the ACT.

· Residing with the applicant in the ACT, or in special government care that is paid for by the applicant, or be independent.

Visit https://www.education.act.gov.au/support-for-our-students/financial-and-resource-assistance-for-families for more information and to apply.

School Carpark

Keeping our students safe is always a top priority, and we remind you of the importance of safety when driving through the school carpark.

In order to maintain the efficient flow of traffic, upon entering the carpark off William Cooper Avenue, please drive as far down the carpark as you can to let your child/ren out of your vehicle. Please do not stop at the top end of the carpark near the entry as this prevents other vehicles from entering the carpark and holds up traffic along William Cooper Avenue. We ask that parents/carers do not exit their vehicles as this can slow down traffic flow and there are repercussions for other motorists. If you need to assist your child/ren to exit your vehicle, you will need to park in a parking bay. Parents/carers and visitors are encouraged to use the rear car park off Mabo Boulevard to park in order to drop-off/pick-up students, or to park for extended periods throughout the school day.

Thank you for your assistance in following this routine so we can provide a safer environment for everyone.

Storytime in the Library


During Book Week and Literacy Week we had story time in the library and due to popular demand we are excited to announce we will be continuing this initiative.


Storytime takes place every morning 8.45-8.55am in the library. All children, along with parents with non-school age children are welcome to attend. We look forward to seeing you at Storytime!

Year 3 Learning Page

The Colourful Corals have been working hard to engage our audiences when we read aloud. We have been learning how to read texts fluently, at an appropriate pace and using expression in order to engage our audience. We went to visit the Fairy Penguins in Kindergarten with some of our favourite picture story books that we have been using to practise our read aloud skills. At the end of the session, we discussed what the Fairy Penguins enjoyed about our reading. The feedback was that they enjoyed the variety of voices the Colourful Corals used when reading aloud the speech in the texts.

Parents' and Citizens' Association

Keep an eye on the School Newsletter and the Facebook group for event notices and updates.


The Neville Bonner Primary School Parents and Citizens (P&C) Association is the focal point for parent involvement at the school and provides a place for parents to discuss and debate matters of interest relating to the school and community.

P&C Committee Meeting

Position Vacant - First Aid Volunteers

We are looking to add 'First Aid Officer' to our volunteer list. If you have a first aid certificate, and would be willing to come along to our events and help out for an hour or two, please email us at nevillebonnerps.pandc@gmail.com

Canteen General

Our canteen is open for lunch five days a week, orders are via Flexischools website (https://flexischools.com.au/), the Flexischools App or cash direct to the canteen. Any cancellations must be advised prior to 9am on the day.

Remember, if you happened to forget to pick up some lunchbox items over the weekend, we have some great meal deals on Mondays and Tuesdays to ease the stress!

Birthday cupcakes

Our amazing canteen team offers birthday cupcakes! Cost is $30 per class, with orders required one (1) week in advance. To place an order, or for more information, please email canteennbps@gmail.com.

Over the counter sales.

The Canteen will have over the counter sales available for the following periods:

** Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday: 11.15am to 11.45am - Break One.

** Thursday and Friday: 1pm to 2pm - Break Two.

Our canteen will have some delicious snacks available for the children to buy. There will be freshly baked muffins and pikelets, popcorn, crackers, potato sticks, pretzels, fruit, yoghurt, juice, flavoured milk and more! Gluten free and halal options will be available.

Prices start from $1.00, and this is a great way to learn and be responsible about handling money. Come and support your canteen and grab a yummy snack!

Scholastic Book Club

Scholastic issue 6 orders have arrived and will come home with your child as soon as possible if they haven’t already.

Look at all the fabulous books we were able to order using rewards for the school library!! Our children are so lucky to be able to enjoy these and borrow them from the library.

Thank you for your continued support of Scholastic Bookclub.

Keep an eye out for issue 7 coming home at the start of next term.

Entertainment Book

Purchase this great online book full of entertainment vouchers and discount offers!! Single city books available for $69.99 or Multi city for $119.99.

Did you know you can buy discounted vouchers, gift cards and presents with an Entertainment book?

There are some really great offers. Make sure you subscribe to access the amazing deals.

You can find the Entertainment book Official Site by clicking this link. Proceeds from each book purchased are donated to the P&C.

Second Hand Uniform Shop

Neville Bonner Primary School P&C Second Hand Uniform Stall will be returning in Term 4, both Morning and afternoon sessions will be held, on school grounds, under the school hall covered area, at the following opening hours.

** Week 1 - Wednesday, 12th October, from 2:45pm to 3:45pm.

** Week 2 - Wednesday, 19th October, from 8:45am to 9:45am.

** Week 3 - Wednesday, 26th October, from 2:45pm to 3:45pm.

We have loads of pre-loved uniforms for sale. Preferred payment is via EFTPOS, however cash will be accepted. The photos provide an idea of the availability of stock.

If you have good quality school uniform items you no longer need, the P&C will gratefully accept your donation to our second hand uniform stall through the canteen (or please place them in the tub near the front office).



Return-It Scheme

The P&C have registered with the Canberra Return-it scheme, you can donate to the P&C by using the QR code (or phone number) attached to the newsletter. The process is:

- Place your bags of cans or bottles into a semi-see-through bag (they need to see it's not general household rubbish), a normal kitchen tidy bag is okay.

- Scan the QR code, or enter the phone number, from the flyer, at the return point, follow the remainder of the instructions and attach the printed sticker to the bag.

- Deposit the bag(s) into the hopper.

- The bag(s) will be collected by the Return-It/CDS group and counted at one of their facilities (during a quiet period of their day).

- A notice of deposit will be received by the P&C - Thank you!!!


There are two, close to school, return points located at:

- Gungahlin: O'Brien Place - near the carwash, Gungahlin Vet and Goodyear tyres.

- Amaroo: near the school oval off Horsepark Drive.


The returns generated from the scheme will assist the P&C to support the school, from sports equipment, school discos, Year 6 end-of-year surprises, etc.

Contact Us

Want to touch base with your P&C?

You can email us at nevillebonnerps.pandc@gmail.com, or connect through FB at https://www.facebook.com/NBPS.PandC.

Contact Information

Principal:

Will Johnston

william.johnston@ed.act.edu.au


Deputy Principals:

Haeley Simms (P-2) haeley.simms@ed.act.edu.au

Sylvia Headon (3-6) sylvia.headon@ed.act.edu.au

P&C President:

Jayne Trustum nevillebonnerps.pandc@gmail.com


Board Chair:

Amani Kerr

Community Information

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