19 August: Term 3 - Week 4

Principal's report

2022 Parent Engagement Survey Reminder
 
The 2022 Parent Engagement Survey is now open where parents/caregivers of school-aged children and young people are invited to complete an online questionnaire, which takes less than 10 minutes.  The parent survey is a great opportunity to get valuable insights into parent engagement at our school. 
 
Across South Australia we have had over  16,000 parents respond to the survey – including 129  at Linden Park Primary school.   On behalf of LPPS, can you please check your emails (especially Junk and Clutter folders) for an email from the "Department for Education - no reply" about the 2022 Parent Engagement Survey?    If you are unable to locate the text or email the school's unique link to the survey is below:  https://survey.education.sa.gov.au/sc/Ozys7yEt_0X1742z9Ge14w2

This survey commissioned by the Department for Education, gathers information from parents and schools across South Australia. The survey will give our school feedback to help us understand:

• what we’re doing well
• where we can improve
• what's really important to you as a parent.

Feedback is also used to inform and evaluate the Department’s Parent Engagement Strategy and other key initiatives.

The survey closes Sunday, 28th August and all responses are confidential.  Only collated feedback will be provided to our school.  If you would like to find out more information about the survey please visit www.education.sa.gov.au/parentsurvey

We ask our LPPS parents to please complete this survey at your earliest convenience before 28th August 2022.

COVID Update

The school is still maintaining the recommended measures to keep our site from being impacted greatly by COVID eg. class cohorts being isolated or significant numbers of teachers becoming sick. However, given that the wider community is opening up for events such as the Royal Adelaide Show we are excited to welcome families to attend school based events such as assemblies within the following settings:

COVID safe measures for meetings and events

Schools should make sure the following COVID safe measures are in place for all meetings and events held indoors:

• recommended physical distancing requirements, (1.5 meters), can be met by all attending adults
• masks are strongly recommended for all adults and students in year 3 to 12 when indoors
• appropriate hygiene provisions (for example sanitiser stations) are in place
• attendees are advised that they must not attend if unwell, even mildly.

For assemblies we will be limiting the parents to the students who are presenting, allowing the room density requirements to be met. We are also exploring how we will structure the sharing of Learning Journals and Exhibition in a COVID safe manner.

2023 Reception Enrolments  

Our portal for RECEPTION 2023 enrolments closed on Friday, 12^th August 2022 and we currently have applications for all 130 placements – we are at capacity. 

Over the next few weeks a panel will review each application against the criteria from our Capacity Management Plan.  We will notify parents of the outcome of this process by 9^th September 2022.

Fiona Voigt, Principal

Library news

Students in years 3-6 were thoroughly entertained listening to author R.A. Spratt share stories about her writing and books this week. Not only is she a very talented writer, but quite an entertainer as well.

A few students shared their thoughts about the incursion:

“A natural comedian” (Naomi, Rm. 21)

“She’s not just a normal author. She’s a fantastic author.” (Tinaya, Rm. 33)

“I enjoyed it because it was funny and there were very good personal stories.” (James, Rm. 33)

“I really liked the story about the awards because there was a sudden dramatic part. It was funny and entertaining.” (Michael, Rm. 16)

We are looking forward to Mike Dumbleton visiting our Reception to Year 2 students next week.

Just a reminder that our Book Week Parade is week 5, Friday at 9.00am.  It will be wonderful to have families be able to share this special event with us again.  We are hoping for a dry day so students can parade on the path from near the flag poles to the Year 5 buildings, but if the weather doesn’t cooperate, we will use the COLA.

Andrea Kipperman & Russell Hanson, LPPS Teacher Librarians

Secondary School enrolment offers and support

By now all our families, with students in year 6, would have received their secondary school offers. Families should have received their offer between the dates of 10^th August and 12^th August. 

If you have not received your secondary school offer, please contact Debbie Kennett, Debbie.Kennett231@schools.sa.edu.au

You must follow the enrolment instructions in the allocation pack to secure your child’s place. This includes completing the enrolment form and providing all requested documents. You should do this by the date provided in the offer to make sure your offer does not lapse.

For information on how to accept your enrolment offer please seek support from the link below:-

https://www.education.sa.gov.au/parents-and-families/enrol-school-or-preschool/school-enrolment/complete-online-enrolment-form-start-secondary-school

If you have enquiries about your offer or the process of the offer:-

• Phone: 8226 1000
• Free call: 1800 088 158
• Email: education.customers@sa.gov.au

If your child will be attending a private school and you have not yet informed us, please contact Debbie Kennett ASAP as this will free a position that could be allocated to another child.

Rachel Pontifex (Student Wellbeing Leader)

Students designing their own wellbeing lessons

In March this year all of our Years 4 - 6 students had the opportunity to participate in a state-wide wellbeing survey called the Wellbeing and Engagement Collection (WEC).

The survey asks our students about their wellbeing in four different areas; emotional wellbeing, engagement with school, learning readiness and health and wellbeing outside of school.

Our Student Wellbeing Leader, Rachel Pontifex, has been working with different year levels, exploring the data and generating action to improve student wellbeing across the school. This term a big focus is on the year 4 data. Rachel and some year 4 students from each class meet weekly to design lessons that they present to each class.

During the lessons each student in year 4 will explore the data and reflect on their own wellbeing. The outcome of the lessons is for each student to develop their own ‘Wellbeing Plan’. The Wellbeing Plan is a plan where students choose their own strategies to help them with their wellbeing. Some examples have been;

• Self-regulation strategies when a student feels angry, sad or worried. (Breathing, counting, walking away, etc.);
• Choosing a tone of voice or the right words to explain how they feel. (Improving emotional literacy);
• Getting more exercise, making healthy food choices and reducing their amount of screen time;
• Ways to include others in play. (Social wellbeing).

This term we will also be asking all of our students in Reception to Year 6 to complete an anti-bullying survey. This data set will also be explored with teachers and children to reduce any bullying or harassment within the school.

We hope to provide more information and photos of our lessons and the progress of our Wellbeing Plans.
From:  Year 4 student wellbeing leaders (Annabelle, Jemma, Aaron, Murphy, Danny Sam, Chris) & Rachel Pontifex (Student Wellbeing Leader)

Mark LeMessurier: Q and A on Hay

https://www.marklemessurier.com.au/

On Tuesday 9 August, approximately 90 parents and friends attended a workshop run by Mark LeMessurier.   Not only is Mark our states recipient of the 2022 Senior Australian, he is a counsellor, teacher, author and of course, public speaker. 

Mark has written 18 books but his greatest collection of books would be the ‘What’s the Buzz?’ social and emotional wellbeing child development program. Linden Park Primary School continue to run this program and have seen outstanding results for many years.

Mark spoke very passionately in his very practical presentation titled, “The ART of handling tricky behaviours”.  Mark guided our parents through three stages of supporting children navigate tantrums, poor choices and other social aspects of childhood development.

The following brief dot points are from my own notes from Mark's workshop:-

• Positively redirecting our children’s attention onto something else is a great technique to engage a child’s attention away from inappropriate behaviour.
• Use humour, distraction of another interest of your child’s, offer an alternative activity or involve yourself in their play to model and lead what is going on.
• Holding your child accountable by remaining calm and composed.
• Have very clear expectations of behaviour.
• Offer praise to your child when you see them behave appropriately.
• Ask them to remind you of the expectation when they don’t fulfil your expectation.
• Always speak with your child in a calm and composed voice. Use this voice to explain how a poor choice of behaviour is not acceptable and encourage them to share with you why they think it isn’t.
• Tell your child you know they can behaviour appropriately and that you will be there to support them when they do.
• Apply consequences with strength and kindness.
• Consequences need to be logical. If a child is disrespectful to another person, the consequence or your expectation needs to be that they apologise or change their behaviour so you can see they can show you how to be respectful.

Thank you to those families who attended Mark’s workshop. Thank you also to the Student Wellbeing and Learning Committee for organising this ‘Q and A on Hay’ opportunity to our community.

Rachel Pontifex (Student Wellbeing Leader)

Feedback from our SAC committee “I want grown-ups to know.”

Every year the South Australian Commissioner for children and young people ask South Australian students four key questions.  The purpose of this is so that children and young people can have input into the design and delivery of policies, processes and practises that relate to delivery of services aimed directly at them.

At Linden Park, we invited our Odd Bods Student Action Committee (SAC) to respond to these four questions; ‘The best thing about being a kid is…’, ‘I worry about….’, ‘I want grown-ups to know…’, and ‘The world would be better if…’

The students responded anonymously to the questions on a postcard although they do provide their age and gender.

I thought the responses to “I want grownups to know…” were particularly insightful. These comments have also been shared with all staff at LPPS.  Children were asked to imagine they were responding to adults at school and at home.

• That kids have a lot of power (9 years old)
• That homework is not very good. Homework stresses kids out and it takes away precious family time (10 years old)
• That I like learning because we can always learn new things (6 years old)
• I do more work at school (8 years old)
• Don’t cut down trees (7 years old)
• I don’t know about politics (10 years old)
• I want better grades (9 years old)
• That school is the BEST (6 years old)
• That kids can do anything (8 years old)
• That kids should be allowed to say what’s happening (10 years old)
• That children need to be able to have a say about what is happening to the country (10 years old)
• I’m caring, kind, sweet, respectful and knowledgeable (10 years old)
• Teachers say that making mistakes is OK. (10 years old)
• That people who want to be artists don’t have enough supplies (7 years old)
• How unsafe it is sometimes on the roads with so many cars going fast. Considering a lot of students walk home (12 years)
• I want them to know that sometimes we can do things by ourselves (11 years old)
• Give me a go (7 years old)
• That I am a good drawer and good at writing (6 years old)
• People are worried and scared about some things (8 years old)
• We need to make our own decisions and everything is possible (8 years old)
• That I can make a difference if I had a chance, I’m an A grade student (11 years old)
• That children have a voice. I want them to know that we are smart enough to have a voice in this world (10 years old)
• That sometimes we are not really having fun at school and home (8 years old)
• I want annoying COVID gone (8 years old)
• That making friends is a tiny bit scary (6 years old)
• That we need new books (8 years old)
• That study is not the only important thing (7 years old)
• That plastic pollution is bad. It hurts many animals and wild life. Save our Earth home (12 years old)
• That it is possible to cure COVID ( 7 years old)

Rachel Pontifex (Student Wellbeing Leader)

Student Action Committee (SAC)

• Rm 9:  Victoria A; Bhavan A.
• Rm 10: Nina XS; Tom F. 
• Rm 11: Parth A; Aadhya B.
• Rm 14:  Noah K; Jace N; Shifa M.
• Rm 15:   Alex F; Isabel S.
• Rm 1:  Ari H; Mark S.
• Rm 2: Clara W; Noah H.
• Rm 3:  Tia T; Caiden W.
• Rm 4: Julian Y; Emily L.
• Rm 5:  Patrick F; Davonna S.
• Rm 23:  Sophie H; Aryan S.
• Rm 24:  Sammy G; Alana F.
• Rm 25:  Tobias L; Olivia C.
• Rm 26:  Iris X; Christiano V.
• Rm 27:  Carissa M; Ethan D.
• Year 6 Helpers:   Arlo (34) Indi (36) Mehrad (39) Prathvia (40) Ben (41)

Rachel Pontifex (Student Wellbeing Leader)

Oliphant Science awards

Linden Park School was fortunate to have 58 individual and group entries participate in the Oliphant Science awards this year.   

All categories entered required students to display scientific content in their work.   Having being present on judging day, I was amazed at the standard achieved by so many students throughout the state from both public and private schools.

I would like to congratulate the following students for placing either 1st, 2nd or 3rd in their chosen category:-

• Chengyuan Y. in Programming, Apps & Robitics (Year 5-6) & Science Writing (Year 5-6)
• Ethan D. for his Poster (pictured above); most outstanding entry with a chemistry theme (Year 3-4) 

A number of students also received Highly Commended recognition for their work:-

• Hantao H. in Programming, Apps & Robotics (Year 5-6)
• Avin J. in Scientific Inquiry (Year 5-6)
• Hannah L. for her Poster (R-2)

Congratulations and well done to all who participated.

Jane Allan, Science Teacher

School Sport SA (SAPSASA) - Year 5/6 Soccer

On Friday 5th August, the Year 5/6 Linden Park Primary School Knockout Soccer team had their second-round matchup in the Statewide Knockout Soccer Competition. We were up against Trinity Gardens Primary and Nazareth College and the team needed to win both games to give themselves the best opportunity at progressing to the next round.

The matches were held at Park 17 on Greenhill Road and the forecast predicted 10mm of rain and gusts up to 40km/hr. The team arrived at school bright and early, the umbrellas and marquee were packed and the team was off.

We were scheduled to play Trinity Gardens in the first contest. Luckily, we had blue skies for the kick off. It was an impressive start from Linden Park, the team already had a few matches under their belt and the continued training between the first and second rounds held the team in good stead. It was a real team orientated game, the defense did a tremendous job creating a wall and therefore, almost the entirety of the first half was spent in Linden Park’s front half. Some great individual efforts from Nate T and Massimo B in the opening moments. Myles K got us on the board first with an excellent finish on his lethal left leg to find the back of the net. Donald Z and Patrick L continued their impressive form from the first round matches and the ball use from Lua E was clinical. Linden Park came in at the main break with great momentum and coach Rob Moss was delighted. The great play continued in the second half and we managed to find the back of the net again with a great through ball from Ashley B setting up Oliver S for the score on his non-preferred. Jack W and Saven L made a big impact in the second half providing a spark. Trinity Gardens continued to put in a spirited effort but after another beautiful passage of play from Myles K, Linden Park came out winners with a 3-0 victory.

We had the next match off and luckily, we did because the heavens began to open. Parents, coaches and the whole side tried their best to fit under the marquee and get out of the rain. Poor Trinity Gardens and Nazareth were still playing their match and the Nazareth’s goalkeeper was hardly visible from where we were standing. Both teams had to come off and have a 15-minute break in play due to the poor weather. Thankfully, after the heavy downpour, Nazareth and Trinity were able to get back on the pitch and complete their match.

Our second and final game of the day was up against Nazareth College, who had beaten Trinity Gardens quite convincingly. Linden Park was certainly up for the challenge. Coach Rob Moss went with the same starting XI as the first match. It was a real arm wrestle to begin with, both teams making some great attacking plays and putting serious pressure on each other’s’ Goal Keepers. Something had to give, and unfortunately for our sake Nazareth College were awarded a free kick from outside the box. It was going to take a sensational effort to get one pass Junghyun C as he had been keeping everything out up until that point. The Nazareth player went back and took the free kick. The ball curled around the wall and ended in the top left corner. Nazareth had scored the first goal of the match and put themselves up 1-0. Harry Y played a great game in the first half and pushed Linden Park forward after the kick off, creating a corner opportunity. Myles K took the corner and did the unthinkable. The beautiful cross continued to bend and bend and bend…. The crowd went wild! Myles had scored from the corner to even the score! Linden Park were right back into it and David W and Lua E continued to stay strong in defense. In the dying moments of the first half, Nazareth broke our line and scored another goal. The half time whistle was heard and Linden Park were down 2-1. The team needed a spirited comeback to claim the second round and move into the final of the knockout competition. It was neck and neck in the final 25 minutes. Linden Park did all they could to smother Nazareth’s attacking game but unfortunately the walls couldn’t hold much longer and they found the back of the net for the third time. With under a minute to go Nate T broke away for a nice goal to bring the score back to 3-2 but unfortunately time wasn’t on our side and the game had come to an end. It was the second time in two years our hopes of progressing to the next round was cut short by Nazareth College.

Great work to all the players for making it this far, thank you to coach Rob Moss for holding weekly trainings and for really bringing the best out of the team. A massive thank you to all the parents who assisted and cheered the team on in the torrential rain. Last but not least, a huge shout out to all the players who made up the team. It was a fantastic group of students who tried their very best. There is a lot of exciting times for these individuals and we look forward to their progression in soccer.

Harry Slee, Sports Coordinator

School Sport SA (SAPSASA) Basketball – Year 5/6 Boys & Girls

On Thursday 11th August, Linden Park Primary School had both a girls and a boys knockout basketball team compete in the School Sport SA Statewide Year 5/6 Basketball Carnival held at St Francis de Sales College in Mount Barker.

Both teams had been trialling and training for a number of weeks and 16 players were selected to represent LPPS. The students arrived to school nice and early to make the trip up the hill to Mount Barker on a fresh morning. The girls had the first game of the day, coming up against a competitive Belair Primary School. The girls had a mixture of basketball experience in their side which included students who were at the beginning of the basketball journey. We could not question their efforts as they were hassling the opposition creating some turnovers. Some great defensive play from Lua E and Aanya Y gave the girls a chance but unfortunately Belair shot a high percentage and came away winners.

The boys were up next on court 4 and came up against another team from the hills, Stirling East Primary. The boys had plenty of the play and some attacking drives from Tomas I saw the boys jump out to an early lead. Myles K worked tirelessly on defense but some early foul troubles restricted his playing time. The game spent most of the time in Linden Park’s half of the court but unfortunately the boys could not finish off their hard work, missing some crucial shots. Stirling East made their opportunities count and when the final whistle went, LPPS were on the wrong side of the scoreboard.

Linden Park Girls continued their campaign against Burnside PS. Madeleine S and Charlotte K proved to be great transition players, working hard on the defensive end and then getting into great positions on offense. Burnside PS played a great team game and finished the game in front. The second game for the boys was against Eastern Fleurieu Primary. George P and Alby T dominated play, setting up some great opportunities for their teammates to score. It was a similar result for the boys unfortunately, Eastern Fleurieu made Linden Park take some difficult shots.

It was the second time Linden Park faced Eastern Flueriu PS but this time it was the girls turn to do battle. The girls continued to improve, becoming more familiar with how each other played. We started off with some great opportunities set up by Prisha K and Janhvi S. Eastern Flueriu had a strong group of players who had a bit more height than Linden Park. Some second chances from offensive rebounds allowed Eastern Flueriu to gain a comfortable lead. The last group match for the boys was against a very talented Burnside PS. Linden Park did all they could to stem the flow but some fast break scores and stiff defense from Burnside made it difficult for our boys to get off quality shots. Ishaan D and Will R battled hard on the boards but the skill from Burnside was too much in the end.

It was time for Parkside and Linden Park to face off in the girls fourth game of the carnival. It was a strong effort across the board from Linden Park but some costly turnovers gave Parkside some easy opportunities to gain the lead. Parkside held on for a victory but there was some positive signs for the girls as they were continuing to build confidence in their game. The very next game, our boys team was scheduled to play Belar Primary School who had finished 3rd in their Group games. There seemed to be a lid on the basket at Linden Park’s end, the ball just couldn’t fall in! The boys did all the hard work but just couldn’t finish it off. To Belair’s credit, they shared the ball around and created some nice opportunities for themselves.

The boys’ last match was against Stirling East Primary School, the team we played at the very beginning of the carnival. Yuta N and Ishan R played a pivotal role guarding the opposition’s better players and made some great defensive stops. The boys continued to battle hard, with Tomas I continuing to put his body on the line, diving for loose balls. It was a tough hit out for Linden Park, but unfortunately Stirling East again got the better of Linden Park.

The girls’ final match of the day was against the host school, St Francis de Sales College. Abby R and Aniela K continued their high level of play and outstanding effort as they had all day. It was neck and neck throughout the entirety of the match with Linden Park just in front at the main break. Aniela K spent a lot of time at the free throw line and Abby R continued to set up her teammates. Linden Park went on a golden run to end the last quarter and as the seconds ticked down the girls had accomplished their first win of the day! It was a great reward for their fantastic effort over the five games. 

A massive thank you to all the students for all their hard work and effort at the carnival.  The boys and girls had a great time despite the results and always supported each other. Both teams played the game with terrific sportsmanship and should be really proud of their efforts. Thank you to Year 5 teacher, Henry Nicholson and the tremendous support from the parents who volunteered and assisted on the day.

Harry Slee, Sports Coordinator

Interschool Snow Sport

During the school holidays we had a few students represent Linden Park Primary School and participate in the South Australian and South-West NSW Interschool Snow Sports Competition at Falls Creek in Victoria.   

The students that represented LPPS were William B (Year 5) and Ada S (Year 5). 

Congratulations to both students who competed against students from across South Australia and South-West New South Wales.

Harry Slee, Sports Coordinator

Sporting news

Congratulations to Myles K. who has been selected to represent South Australia as a member of the U14 Boys Athletics South Australia State Cross Country Team.

Myles will complete at the 2022 Australian Cross Country Championships to be held in Adelaide at Oakbank Racecourse 26-29 August.  

LPPS U/11 Soccer

By:  Chris Morrison – LPPS U/11 Soccer Coach

Amazing Comeback!

A sleepy first half saw the Lions 2-0 down and under the pump.   Massi came on and got a goal back before the break.

• Half time:    Norwood 2  - LPRL’s 1

The lions were still facing an uphill battle but a half time pep talk of sheer brilliance fired them up to a second half of utter quality.

Cristiano moved into midfield and ran the show with Ashley and Van pressing every ball. Mateo caused havoc on the right wing and put in some superb corners. Seth and Zach cut out all the Norwood attacks on the flanks and Mark tackled everyone he could. Ben and Diego were amazing in central defence and Nandan played brilliantly in any position he was asked to.  In goal Massi was excellent.

• Full time:     Norwood 3   -  LPRL’s 6

Brilliant team performance!

Book stall

On Friday, 5 August LPPS C&F held a book stall.   Thank you to everyone for your kind donations and a big thank you for our volunteers who assisted on the day.  All funds raised will go towards LPPS court resurfacing.       

Community & Fundraising Committee

Father's day stall

Colour Fun Run

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.