Chinese New Year 2015

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1 HURSTVILLE SOUTH PUBLIC SCHOOL Maher Street, Hurstville. NSW 2220 Tel No: Fax No: WARATAH NEWS 19th February, 2015 Chinese New Year 2015 Feb.18, 2015 (Chinese New Year's Eve) to Mar. 5, 2015 (Lantern Festival). Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year, is the most important traditional festival in China. It begins on the first day of the first lunar month (usually in late January or early February) and ends on the 15th day of the first lunar month (Lantern Festival). Chinese New Year is a time for families to be together. Celebrations include having an annual reunion dinner on Chinese New Year's Eve, setting off firecrackers, giving lucky envelopes with money to children, ringing the New Year bell, sending Chinese New Year greetings, dragon and lion dancing, and Niu Yangge (traditional dance in northern China). 中 国 农 历 新 年 2015 年 日 期 :2 月 18 日,2015 年 ( 中 国 除 夕 ) 至 2015 年 3 月 5 日 ( 元 宵 节 ) 春 节, 也 被 称 为 中 国 的 新 年, 是 中 国 最 重 要 的 传 统 节 日 它 开 始 于 农 历 正 月 的 第 一 天 ( 通 常 在 一 月 下 旬 或 二 月 初 ), 结 束 于 正 月 ( 元 宵 节 ) 的 第 15 天 中 国 新 年 是 家 人 团 聚 在 一 起 的 时 间 庆 祝 活 动 包 括 有 中 国 除 夕 年 团 圆 饭, 放 鞭 炮, 给 儿 童 压 岁 钱, 敲 响 新 年 钟 声, 发 送 新 年 问 候, 舞 龙 舞 狮 和 扭 秧 歌 ( 传 统 舞 蹈 在 中 国 北 方 )

2 Principal s Message Absent Notes and Permission to Travel in School Time Towards the end of last year the Department of Education and Communities changed the School Attendance Policy for this year. The days absent for each student now are part of the National Standards for Data Reporting. The new policy is to provide better guidance on what constitutes unsatisfactory patterns of school attendance. The main changes are to do with students/families who are absent taking vacations outside of our holiday periods. We ask all families to notify the school of the proposed absence in writing and provide information (copies of booking information such as flight tickets etc). This is then considered by the principal for a certificate of exemption. If I deem this is not harmful to the child s education then it is granted. The new procedures also outline that parents must advise the school in writing within seven days of the child s absence to explain that absence. In order to track our students better we will trial a Phone Intervention Program where the office will be notified by the class teacher of unexplained absences of two consecutive days or more. Thank you to all families that support their child and our school by making sure that they are at school every day and on time for learning. This is an important aspect in the successful growth and development of all children. Class Numbers for 2015 Last week I had to enter the total student numbers and I am pleased to announce that we have 497 students on our books, which justifies the formation of our 20th class. This certainty will see us resourced appropriately with teachers so that we can continue to deliver an excellent educational experience. I would also like to thank the many parents from Mr Madden and Mrs Morahan s classes that have commented positively on the experience their child is having in these new teachers classes. Commonwealth Banking Comes to School Following two registration days, Commonwealth Banking for students will begin on Friday March, 6th. We have a wonderful group of eager parents who will administer this program each week. On the Friday morning, once banking begins the parents will go to each class and collect up the banking then come to the office and enter the amount banked by the student against their names, this will then be taken to the bank at South Hurstville. The program will not only provide a little fund raising for our P&C but will also give the students some authentic financial literacy experience. 100 Year Anniversary As HOPE is our signature value for this first term, we have asked all classes to talk to their students about what this value means to them. We will also be asking the students to find, with their families help, the oldest photograph of a family member. If it is of someone overseas, they may be able to take a photo of the photograph and it. We will then ask the students to display this in the classroom and talk about the photo- who is in it, where it was taken, what do they see in the photo that is different etc. This exercise will generate lots of good language and will help make history and the past easier to comprehend and will make the link between them and what is happening this year more meaningful. Teachers have been encouraged to do the same. Scripture Classes Scripture began last week and it is running smoothly thanks to the organisation of Mrs Van Gogh and Mrs Smith and the commitment of our wonderful scripture teachers. However, there may be some misunderstanding of some of our providers- Anglican (Church of England) scripture includes other Christian denominations such as Baptist, Methodist & Protestant. If you are not sure please check at the office as we value the scripture lessons for our students. Parent and Teacher Interviews We have planned to hold our first formal Parent and Teacher Interviews in week 8 (week beginning Monday 16th March) to week 9 (week ending Thursday 26th March) on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of these two weeks. Times may start as early as 7:30am and go until 6:00pm in the evening, teachers will identify times before, during and after school that will be available for interviews and these will appear on the website. For the first time we will be using an online booking system which will mean that parents and carers will be able to go to the designated website, locate your child s teacher then look over the available booking times. Once you click on a time it is taken from the system. At this stage we are intending to have our interviews over a two week period so that there is flexibility and choice for families. Information relating to the website will be released shortly.

3 Year 6 Waratah Leaders Assembly We will be presenting our Year 6 students with their very special Waratah Leaders Badge at our morning assembly on Monday March 2nd. We have invited parents, grandparents and other family members to come on that morning and make the event even more special by pinning the badge on their child. All our Year 6 students are currently performing roles to support our great school culture as they are running assemblies, monitoring the canteen, Kindergarten Buddies, implementing our anti-bullying playground program Playground Patrol and the House Captains are about to start our Games Sessions and there will be much more that they will do. Philip Rouland DATES FOR THE DIARY Friday 20/02/2015 PSSA Sport starts Tuesday 24/02/2015 P&C Meeting 7pm Thursday 26/02/2015 District Swimming Carnival Monday 2/03/2015 Waratah Leaders Assembly 9.30am Monday 02/03/2015 Back to HSPS BBQ for our 2014 Year 6 students only 4pm Thursday 03/04/2015 Easter Hat Parade

4 Reminders Uniform Shop The Uniform Shop is open on Friday mornings from 9am till 9.30am Kindergarten From Monday 2nd March 2015 Kindergarten will start school at 9.30am and finish school at 3.30pm Textbooks Please finalise all payments for textbooks ASAP District Swimming Carnival Good luck to all students who will be representing Hurstville South PS in this swimming carnival on Thursday 26th February Please make sure all notes and money are returned to school ASAP.

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