13 May 2022 - Week 2 Term 2

Principal's Report

Welcome back to Term 2, we hope you had a lovely break with your family and got some well-earned rest and perhaps the chance to travel somewhere nice for the holidays.

Staffing

We have had a few staffing changes over the holidays. Mrs Wendy Ogg has retired after a career that spanned more than four decades. Mr Rob Moss will replace her and work one day a week with Mrs Averil Binetti in Room 31. Mrs Cathy Padfield (Room 27) and Mrs Liz Dawkins (Room 4) are reducing time by a day a fortnight/week respectively and Ms Tricia Millan (Room 8) is increasing time by a day a fortnight.

A focus on Grammar

I had the privilege of visiting three of our Year 6 classes last week and felt like I was back at school myself. All three were focussed on improving sentence structure and teaching students the differences between simple, compound and complex sentences. Teachers highlighted the choices writers make when they construct a sentence through vocabulary, literary tools and tense. Students debated whether sentences were simple, compound or complex and supported their arguments with the use of conjunctions and using meta-language such as subordinate clauses – Impressive!

NAPLAN

NAPLAN tests started Tuesday 10th May.   These tests are online except for Year 3 Writing and will finish by Friday 20 May. We have sent a class schedule to parents however we will need to be flexible and allow for any technical difficulties to reschedule as required.  Make–up tests will be conducted from Monday 17^th- Friday 20^th of May 2022.    For more information, parents can visit the NAPLAN ACARA website.  

A reminder that the Public Demonstration site Public demonstration site (nap.edu.au) is available  for Students, teachers, parents and carers to familiarise themselves with the types of test questions in the online NAPLAN assessment.  Students are encouraged to try all the tests for their year level to practise the complete range of question formats available. 

The demonstration tests cover a sample of possible questions and do not reflect the range of literacy and numeracy content or skills NAPLAN will assess. While it is helpful for students to become familiar and comfortable with the format of the online test, ACARA does not encourage students to study separately for NAPLAN. That is why you will not find answers to the demonstration tests.    

Congratulations

Thank you to our very hardworking Community and Fundraising Committee and parent volunteers for organising the highly successful Mother’s day stall last week and the cake stall at  the end of last term. The children were delighted to select a gift for their special person.  We hope all our LPPS families had a wonderful Mother's day on Sunday and we will update the community on the monies raised for the school in the next newsletter.  The committee are now meeting to organise the Colour Fun Run and to determine where the funds will be committed to value add to our school.

Fiona Voigt, Principal

Remembering Roberta

Vale Roberta Spreadbury

01/12/1952 - 03/05/2022

We are deeply saddened to hear that former Principal Roberta Spreadbury passed away peacefully last Tuesday, with her family by her side. We are thinking of her family during this difficult time.

After spending much of her earlier career teaching in the Spencer Gulf and a long tenure at Flagstaff Hill, Roberta joined the Linden Park Primary School community as Deputy Principal in 2005.  In 2006, she became the much-loved Principal of the Junior Primary until the amalgamation of the two Linden Park Schools at the end of 2012.

There are many people within our community at Linden Park who have had the pleasure of working and learning with Roberta, who continued with us as a contract and relief teacher until 2020. Roberta was a wonderful leader, a caring and creative teacher and an inspirational human being.  She would do anything for the kids and was incredibly passionate about making a difference for each and every child at the school.  She was steadfastly supportive of her staff, always putting the needs of others before her own.     She made us feel like family.

Years ago, I found this quote that Roberta had kept at school.  It reminds me of her as it truly speaks to her humble nature…

Humility

Being humble is considering others as important as yourself.

You are thoughtful of their needs and willing to be of service.

You don’t expect others or yourself to be perfect.

You learn from your mistakes.

When you do great things, humility reminds you to be thankful instead of boastful.

“The Virtues Project”

www.virtuesproject.com

We are planning a gathering to commemorate and celebrate Roberta and her contributions to the Linden Park community.   More details of this to come at a later date.    Heidi Rohrig, Deputy Principal (2011-Current)

Roberta was one of the most nurturing Principal’s that I have had the pleasure of working with. Her love for teaching children was as strong as her love for the colour purple, nothing was ever too much trouble and the wellbeing of staff and students was always a priority. Such a good friend who will be sadly missed.    Sue Gaden, Finance Manager

I fondly remember how Roberta used to buy every staff member a flower for the holidays and how her favourite colour was purple.   Cheryl Wheeler, former SSO

Roberta was an inspirational leader who was highly respected by her staff, students and the community. She built supportive and trusting relationships by always being approachable, encouraging, fair and considerate. With her compassionate and caring nature, she nurtured the potential of every child. She was passionate about the Early Years and believed in the power of education. Her passion, optimism and kindness led to change that will always be remembered at Linden Park and beyond.    Annika van Pelt (Teacher)

Roberta was an incredible leader with a true heart of gold. Her warmth shone through in everything she did. She truly cared about and loved children. I was lucky enough to teach with Roberta and I learned so much from her genuine relatable manner. She gave me my first teaching job here at Linden Park and I will always remember her with admiration.   Hilary Perryman (Teacher)

As the news of Roberta's passing filtered through the LPPS community, a significant number of "older" parents that knew Roberta were both shocked and saddened.  There has been a lot of "chat" about when she was the Principal of the School (EY and prior to the School's amalgamation) at the time their eldest child started, and what a wonderful introduction to schooling she made their and their child's experience.   As a former leader and representative of the School, Roberta's influence on the School and its culture is as important and relevant today, as it was when she was Principal.  She attracted and impacted the enormous talent of teachers, a lot who are still at the school today and remain so highly regarded.  She set the benchmark of exceptional values that I think has continued to filter through the school and impacted standards today.  Her passion and love of teaching, education and the children, particularly in the early years, is also remembered and so highly valued.  Even more recently, some of the LPPS' children were fortunate to have Roberta be part of their learning and school experience.  I know there are a lot of teachers and other staff, including those who were fortunate to work with her back in the day, who would really be feeling the loss of Roberta. Her passing is a sad loss to our entire School community, past, present and future.  Susie Inat, Current Governing Council Chair

My first memory of Linden Park Schools (as it was known then) was Roberta taking us on a tour when Jah was just three years old. We had toured many schools -  private and public – but walked away instantly sold. Roberta’s care, capability and genuine engagement with young students was so evident and we were sure that this was the school for our family.  Her passion for young students and giving them the optimal start to learning through a focussed early years experience was palpable. Her readiness to involve parents, like myself, in school life also reflected her commitment to community. Despite navigating some difficult times with our community many years prior, her openness to work together with parents was refreshing. It was this leadership style that motivated me to continue volunteering in the community for many years on.  Her connection and support for teachers was evident, motivating and reminding them of the important role they played.  Her love and pride for her family was testament that she was also a great Mum and wife.  You will be missed, but certainly not forgotten Roberta!  Kate Hannemann, Former volunteer and Governing Councillor, 2011 - 2021

Roberta the Magic Mermaid.  Roberta Spreadbury was an extraordinary human being who impacted so many, and probably more than she ever realised.  We were one of those family’s lucky to be touched by Roberta the Magic Mermaid. Why Magic Mermaid? During the creative phase of our beautiful Friendship Bench located in the Early Years playground, the artists interviewed many children.  Their quotes and jokes recorded during this process is what you see transcribed on the bench today.  When asked the question, “Are there any people that we should put on the Friendship Bench”, one young girl replied, “Yes, Roberta the Magic Mermaid”.  “Why Magic Mermaid?” the artists enquired.  “Because she sprinkles love and kindness wherever she goes” was the reply and so Roberta became immortalised in our wonderful Friendship Bench, built to remind children that they are never alone.  Roberta is the reason we ended up at Linden Park in 2011.  We lived in an anomaly in the school zones which meant we had the option of either Burnside Primary or Linden Park Primary as our zoned primary school.  At the conclusion of our first meeting with Roberta, we knew that Linden Park was the place we needed to be.  Compassionate, warm, dedicated, authentic, tenacious, committed – Roberta walked the talk!   She made every child feel important and she always made the time to connect.  There wasn’t a child’s name that she didn’t know.  She believed that reading opened up a child’s world and she loved going to the Early Year’s classrooms to read a few books to the children, which she did not matter how busy she was. She was a passionate educator and a formidable leader – I feel blessed that our lives crossed paths and that I had the privilege of calling her my friend. The world has lost a beautiful spark but her legacy lives on through the Linden Park Community, and our children who are the life-long beneficiaries of her loving, genuine excellence.  With sincerest condolences to Howard, the boys and their families and to Roberta’s friends and colleagues at Linden Park.    Kathy Laycock, LPPS Governing Council Chair 2013 - 2016

Staffing news

Happy Retirement Wendy Ogg.

Congratulations on 48 amazing years of service in Education.

The Linden Park Primary School community wish you health, happiness and success on your new journey in life. 

Welcome

We are fortunate to have Sam Fonseka, Teacher (below left) and Gaurav Zinzuwadia, IT (below right) join our dedicated team.

Welcome Sam and Gaurav to the Linden Park Primary School community.

Library News – Introducing Wheelers e-Book Platform

A reminder for all families that information about the Library can be found on http://lindenparkprimaryschoollibrary.weebly.com/.

From this site, students from Year 2 to 6 can access the Wheelers e-Book platform. Through Wheelers, students can search, reserve and borrow fiction texts to read in either an e-book or audio book format. Books are also categorised according to their Premiers Reading Challenge status.

Year 2 students log in to Wheelers using the first four letters of their first name, fullstop, the first four letters of their last name and their password is books. Year 3 to 6 students log in using their normal Chrome Book login. 

Library Lover’s Award

As of this term the Library staff have begun to award classes who have followed the library agreements and have shown responsible and caring library behaviour.  

The award for the Early Years students is two hardback Gruffalo books and a Gruffalo soft toy.

The award for the Primary Years students is a hard cover pop-up “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone book”.

The winning classes have the various awards in their classrooms for two weeks before the awards are given to another deserving class.

Well done to the students of Room 8 (Tricia Millan) and Room 25 (Lesley Kong) who are our first award winners!

Andrea Kipperman & Russell Hanson, LPPS Teacher Librarians

Colour fun run

National Walk Safely to School Day (WSTSD)

National Walk Safely to School Day is on Friday, 20 May (Week 3).

The purpose of this day is to;

• Encourage our parents and students to walk together to school regularly;
• Promote health benefits of walking and creating regular walking habits;
• Help children develop vital road safety skills;
• Reduce traffic congestion, especially around schools.

This is an event that Linden Park Primary School have participated in over the last six years. Students who wish to participate are asked to meet on the carpark side of Miller Reserve (near the playground), Linden Park at 8:30am sharp.

There is parking behind the Linden Park Grocer on Devereux Road. The Linden Park Grocer is our lunch order supplier and they make an exceptional coffee if you want to get there five minutes earlier.    We will leave Miller Reserve at 8:35am and walk to school together.

Students participating will need a parents to supervise them throughout the walk.

If you cannot participate in this event, it would be fantastic to see our families, on any school day walk to school or park a little further than normal so that we are promoting healthy habits and develop road safety awareness.

Rachel Pontifex, Student Wellbeing Leader

eSafety Webinar for parents and carers run by eSafety Commissioner

The internet is embedded into our children’s everyday lives. It is a wonderful place to learn, play games and talk to friends. Unfortunately there are also predators, identity thieves and other people online who may not come from a good place. Keeping our children safe online and teaching them about the dangers and how to recognise dangers is so important.

The eSafety Commissioner is offering webinars for interested parents about how to set up devices and apps to help keep young people safer online.

To register your interest, please click on the link below.

https://register.gotowebinar.com/rt/8442552073867182349?utm_source=swift&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=SWH_newsletter_may_2022

Rachel Pontifex, Student Wellbeing Leader

Athletics & Sports Day at LPPS

At Linden Park we plan our sports carnival to maximise full participation for all students and most importantly to be lots of fun! It is a great opportunity for students to show house spirit, goodspirited rivalry, as well as their skills in particular events.

We split our House Sports Carnival into two separate days – an Athletics half day this term and then the finale, the LPPS Sports Day in Term 4.  Whilst the Term 4 event focuses on competing in class house teams in a range of sporting challenges aligned to our school sports, the Athletics session features the traditional track and field events: Discus, Shot Put, Long Jump, High Jump and Sprints.

This week our Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 students showcased their skills in the Athletic components over at Mariner Oval. Students have been practicing in their PE lessons and are encouraged to give it their all as individual scores are recorded and tallied to convert to House points. These are then added to the LPPS Primary Sports Day scores in Term 4 to determine our Sports Shield Winner – will Waite (Yellow) be able to repeat last year’s success?

The Athletics scores also provides an opportunity to identify students who will be selected to represent LPPS in the District SAPSASA Athletics competition later this year. Time trials for student selection in 200m, 800m and 1500m events will be conducted in the coming weeks and promoted on Szapp Athletics Timetable

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Road Crossing training

The SA Police Road Safety Centre is a leader in road safety education and contributes to a reduction in the frequency and severity of road trauma in South Australia.

Last term, a group of Year 6 children took part in School Crossing Monitor Training. This training is delivered to students aged 10 years or older, teachers and school volunteers who want to operate a school crossing or pedestrian-activated traffic lights.

This training was provided by a member of the South Australia Police Road Safety Centre and educated students on how to safely stop vehicles approaching a school crossing to facilitate the safe crossing of pedestrians. All participants will receive a certificate issued on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, authorising them to be school crossing monitors.

We ask all parents/guardians to take the time to talk to their children about road safety. It is important that all parents/guardians are good road safety role models and we encourage you to discuss with your child what they learnt from the road safety session.

For more information on school crossing monitor training or on road safety please visit www.police.sa.gov.au/road-safety/resources 

Tina Farmassonis, Assistant Principal

Receptions & Year 1

Year 1's and receptions students were educated about why we should pick up our rubbish and where it goes if we litter. 

This was action taken from their Unit Of Inquiry about Sharing The Planet.

The children were very concerned about the amount of rubbish they were finding in the yard and decided that they should educate the younger children about what to do with their rubbish.

Di Blowes (Room 3)

Year 1 Sci-World Stardome Incursion

As part of our unit of inquiry How the World Works, the Year 1s experienced a Sci World science incursion as a provocation on light and sound. We learnt that light travels in a straight line and that sound is caused by vibrations in the air, and had great fun exploring how they both work.

Peter Farmer (Room 7)

Year 2: The Olden Days

On Wednesday 11th May our Year 2 students participated in a re-enactment of an old fashioned school day as part of their Unit of Inquiry “Where we are in place and time." 

Students, teachers and leadership dressed up and began the day with a very stern morning assembly followed by  some marching practice around the early year's yard and having their hands and fingernails inspected.  On reflection, the students all preferred school in the 21st Century!

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Year 3 Sci-World Stardome Incursion

Part of the unit in Science “Day and Night” Year 3 students investigated Earth’s rotation affects life.  Topics covered; day and night, phases of the moon, seasons, stars, planets, solar system, gravity, phases of the moon and constellations. 

Netball - Linden Park White

The year 2 and 3 girls in Linden Park White had their first ever netball game on Saturday 7th May.  Much fun was had by all despite only having a rudimentary understanding of the rules.

The girls worked wonderfully as a team and we vanquished our opponents 2-1.   

Stay tuned for news of netball world domination later in the year!

Georgia Stockham (Volunteer Parent Coach)

Term 1 - Casual day donations update

A big 'thank you' to the LPPS school community for donating to the Salvation Army at the end of term 1. The total money raised was $1,028.15. This money has been donated to families in NSW and QLD who were affected by the recent floods.

For more information about what the Salvation Army will do with our donation, head to the link below.

https://www.salvationarmy.org.au/about-us/news-and-stories/stories/salvos-committed-to-flood-affected-communities-for-the-long-haul/

At the end of Term 2 the Odd Bods and Even Stevens SAC groups voted that our end of term casual clothes day will go towards beautification of our yard.   Some suggestions have been; an Aboriginal walking trail, plantings or art work from the cultures that are represented at LPPS.

Thank you once again,  Odd Bods & Even Stevens SAC

Oliphant Science Competition

Reception - Year 6 Oliphant Science Competition - Registrations close 16 May 2022.

Linden Park Primary School has registered for The Oliphant Science Awards for any student interested in entering this competition. 

This competition gives students an opportunity to develop their interest in science through a range of categories to suit a wide range of abilities and interests.  Please note that entries are an extra-curricular activity and no school time will be allocated to work on them.  

Parents should help guide their children in choosing a category which is suitable for their skill level and capability as the students need to be as independent with their entries as possible.  Please carefully read each Category information page and the Conditions of Entry as there are specific rules and assessments required  https://www.oliphantscienceawards.com.au/participant_information/student_information

If your child would like to submit an entry for the Oliphant Science Awards please complete the registration and submit payment via the Qkr app - under the "Oliphant Science" menu by Monday 16 May 2022 (No late entries accepted).  **Please note - if you register for multiple entries - please contact the front office to confirm categories.

Jane Allan, Science Teacher

School hours - Reminder

Children must not be on school grounds before 8.35am and must be picked up from school before 3.25pm as there is no supervision before 8.35am or after 3.25pm.  

If you would like to drop your child off before 8.35am or pick up your child after 3.25pm OSHC is available. 

OSHC Contact details:

Address: 14 Hay Road, Linden Park 
Email: oshc.lpps66@schools.sa.edu.au
Phone: (08) 8379 4610
Mobile: 0434 609 791

Glenunga International High School Information Evening

Glenunga International High School is hosting an Information Evening for prospective Year 6 parents to hear about the school, programs, values and how they will be supporting students to transition to High School.

The evening will include information from the Principal Wendy Johnson, students and other school leaders.

This is a parent information session, so we ask that students do not attend.

 When: Tuesday, 24 May 2022

Time: 5.45pm for a 6.00pm start (7.00pm finish)

Where: Glenunga International High School New Gym (Enter of Conyngham St)

Bookings can be made via: https://www.trybooking.com/BZJSO

Community notices

Kaurna acknowledgement

Niina Marni. As we feel the earth beneath us, the wind around us and the sun above us, we acknowledge the Kaurna people, the traditional owners of this land. We pay our respects to past Elders and will work with present and emerging Elders to protect and care for this unique land of ours. We also extend this respect to other First Nations peoples.