TERM 1 WEEK 6/7 NEWSLETTER 2024

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

KINDERGARTEN PARENT/TEACHER INTERVIEWS

During Week 10 and 11, we will have our Parent Teacher Interviews for our Kindergarten students. These will allow parents and teachers to discuss how the children have settled into school and also how they are progressing. We will also give you information about the Best Start assessment that took place before school commenced. 

To make your booking/s, simply follow the link below to get started:

https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code/m98hc

The website will guide you through three simple steps, and moments later you'll get an email confirming your bookings. If you need to change or cancel your bookings, just enter the event code again (m98hc). If you're on the same computer, you'll go straight to your bookings. If you are having problems booking an appointment, please contact the office to assist.

The interviews will either take place in the classroom or sometimes in another office area in the school. Please note the School Interviews booking website will close on Wednesday, 27^th March. Further details confirming your interview and the exact location will be distributed on Thursday, 28^th March.

As in previous years, Parent/Teacher Interviews for students in Years 1-6 will take place towards the end of Term 2.

SCHOOL BYTES APP

A reminder that School Bytes has an app that works on both Apple or Android platforms. We have found in discussions with a number of parents that they are still using the web-based portal. The app assists in making School Bytes more mobile 'friendly', including push notifications. As a parent, to get the most out of School Bytes - the app is a MUST!

CLASS NEWSLETTERS

On Thursday you should have received a notification on the School Bytes app with a link to your child's Class Newsletter. This year we have tried a new online format utilising Microsoft Sway.

The newsletters contain a variety of information about your child's class including teaching and SLSO staff, curriculum, rosters/timetables, class routines and various weekly activities like homework, homereading, sport and library. We hope you find the information useful in supporting your child at school.

A copy of the newsletter links can be found below in case you missed the notification.

EASTER HAT PARADE

On Thursday, 28th March Kindergarten, Year One and Year Two children will participate in an Easter Hat Parade starting at 12:00pm. We invite all parents and carers to attend this event! The parade will be held on the asphalt area in front of the Stage 3 classrooms (near the big 100 Chart).

The children are asked to make their own hats at home. We suggest they may like to decorate an old hat from home with Easter pictures and/or eggs etc.

This will be an exciting event for our infant students with each class parading their hats. Stage 2/3 students will also come out to enjoy the parade.

After the parade, the school P&C will be providing a BBQ lunch. Lunch costs and purchasing details will come out over the coming weeks. Parents and carers are welcome to stay/order lunch.

Easter Raffle

Stage 2 are organising an Easter raffle for which they are asking donations of Easter eggs, rabbits, bilbies or any other item that could be given as prizes, as well as small baskets. These items can be left at the school office.

Tickets for the Easter raffle will be $1.00 each and sold under the COLA befotre school, at recess and before the parade starts. The raffle will be drawn after the Easter Hat Parade.

Proceeds from the raffle will be used to subsidise the cost of the Stage 2 excursion later this year.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND REMINDERS

• Thank you to everyone able to come along last Tuesday to our family Meet & Greet. This event was an important opportunity for the Orange East community to come together – parents/carers, staff and students – to meet each other, exchange useful information and enjoy a relaxed afternoon. I would like to acknowledge the P&C and volunteers for their work in providing the BBQ, free of charge. It was easily the biggest turn-out for this event in many years.
• Congratulations to those students who represented OEPS at the Orange District Swimming Carnival. Our team represented the school with pride competing across a number of events.

OFFICE VISITORS

SCHOOL NEWS

SCHOOL DANCE AND CHOIR PROGRAMS

This year we are fortunate to be able to offer students the opportunity to participate in dance and choir programs each week. There will be a:

• Kinder Dance Group
• Yr 1/2 Dance Group
• Yr 3/4 Dance Group
• Yr 5/6 Dance Group
• K-2 Choir
• Yr 3-6 Choir

Each of the groups will perform at the Orange Eisteddfod,  OEPS School Production, NAIROC as well as an Orange East Performance Showcase in Term 4.

Please note, due to significant popularity there is a maximum of 30 students per dance group or choir. Students are permitted to be involved in both a dance and choir group. As there are significant costs in running these programs there is a fee of $50 for dance and $15 for choir. Fees cover lessons, entry to eisteddfods/performances, bus costs and costume hire (dance). These fees represent a small portion of the total running cost of the programs with the school covering the majority of the expense.

Over the coming days, a notification will come out via School Bytes to all parents. The notification will contain a permission section, information on payment options, due dates and student expectations. Dance and Choir lessons will commence in Week 9 this term and run until the end of Term 3.

NAPLAN 2024 PARENT AND CARER INFORMATION

Each year the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is undertaken by students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. Students will participate in tests for writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.

The test window for all schools to complete NAPLAN 2024 runs from  Wednesday 13 March to Monday 25 March.

Orange East PS Test Schedule

• Wednesday, 13^th March – Year 3 & 5 Writing
• Thursday, 14^th March – Year 3 & 5 Reading
• Tuesday, 19^th March – Year 3 & 5 – Language Conventions
• Wednesday, 20^th March – Year 3 & 5 Numeracy

For students who have missed one or more tests, we will work to administer catch-up tests where possible before the closing of the test window on the 25^th March.

NAPLAN is just one part of our school learning assessment program. The tests assess literacy and numeracy skills your child is already learning at school.

In preparation for NAPLAN, our school will undertake activities to help students become familiar with the format and functionality of the online tests. These activities are not an assessment of student ability and will not be marked. Excessive preparation for NAPLAN is not required nor recommended.

The public demonstration site (https://www.nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site) is available to see the types of questions, tools and functions used in the NAPLAN tests.

Further information about NAPLAN is available on the NESA website (https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/k-10/understanding-the-curriculum/naplan/parent-information).

If you have any questions about NAPLAN, please contact:

• Year 3 – Mrs Maclean - toni.ross@det.nsw.edu.au
• Year 5 - Miss Croker - alison.croker@det.nsw.edu.au

As always, we will work across this period to support our students undertaking these tests.

NAPLAN BREAKFAST

As has become a tradition at our school, we will be running a free NAPLAN Breakfast for our Year 3 & 5 students across each test day listed above. This has been a really successful strategy to support our students and give them an extra bounce as they tackle the various assessments.

The breakfast is usually run through a combination of staff and P&C volunteers. If you would like to volunteer to assist with running of the breakfasts please see the information below.

Volunteer time slots:

• First shift - 8.15am set up
• Second shift - 8.30am service
• Third shift - 9am pack up

If you can help, please fill in the P&C volunteer form and indicate NAPLAN and the preferred day and time in the "Any other areas of interest" question. 

(LINK - https://forms.gle/G8rVRC2Yqk1Nbcsj7)

The P&C will confirm your time with you in a return email.  Thank you for being a valuable part of our school community and helping the kids on these big days in their school lives.

Clothing Pool

The Clothing Pool is open every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning from 8:40 - 9:10am. Afternoons are by appointment only.

A reminder that the Clothing Pool also welcomes donations of any clothing. Please drop items off at the office or clothing pool on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

CURRENT FORMS/PERMISSION NOTES

KITCHEN/GARDEN NEWS

WE'RE IN A PICKLE NOW!

This week sees year 5/6 in a pickle in the kitchen as we preserve cucumbers and vegetables from the garden.

5/6 PICKLERS

UPCOMING EVENTS

FRIDAY ASSEMBLY

Assembly Information

In 2024 we will continue with our regular alternating Friday Assembly with parents and carers invited to attend. The assembly commences at 2pm on Friday in the School Hall. Each week the assembly will alternate between Primary (Yr 3-6) and Infants (K-2).

On Friday mornings from 8:40am, either Infants or Primary students (corresponding with the assembly weeks listed below) are invited to bring their lots of 10 Blue Merit Awards to the office for stamping. During the day, we will also process Principal Awards and Homereading Awards. These awards and the Safe Respectful Learner Awards will be presented at the assembly after lunch.

Parents will receive a notification early in the week via the School Bytes app if your child is receiving a Principal’s Award.

Photos of the award recipients will continue be included in the newsletter the following week.

Please note the roster below:

• Week 6 - Friday, 8th March (Primary)
• Week 7 - Friday, 15th March (Infants)
• Week 8 - Friday, 22nd March (Primary) 
• Week 9 – NO ASSEMBLY GOOD FRIDAY (29th March)
• Week 10 - Friday, 5th April (Infants)
• Week 11 – Friday, 12th April (PBL Assemblies)

WEEK 4 PRIMARY ASSEMBLY AWARDS

WEEK 6 INFANTS ASSEMBLY AWARDS

CLASS OF THE WEEK

WEEK 4 - 2 KOALA

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P&C NEWS

P&C MEETINGS 2024

Term 1

• Week 8 - Tuesday, 19th March @ 6:30pm

 Meetings are held between 6:30 - 7:30pm in the Staffroom with access from the Spring Street entrance (see map below). Meeting length is strictly limited to one hour or less if possible! New members are warmly welcomed. Do not hesitate to contact the school office if you would like further information.

Parents and carers can also opt to join via Zoom. Zoom participants will need to create a registered account and use the details below:

https://nsweducation.zoom.us/j/63652201858?pwd=ZUVKSFdidzErNkZ0OWVMT2hQM3NMUT09

Meeting ID: 636 5220 1858

Passcode: OEPS

JOINING THE P&C OR VOLUNTEERING

We love parent involvement at Orange East. You can volunteer in the classroom, working bees, help cook at BBQ's, share your professional or special interest skills, join a committee and more. Please complete this online form to register your interest and the P&C will email you details of upcoming events and P&C meetings for your calendar.

Expressions of Interest - OEPS P&C (google.com)

COMMUNITY NOTICES