Dear Parents and Caregivers,

In this newsletter Alison Laxon is sharing with you what our Future Problem Solving Gifted and Talented (GATE) are working on.

GATE: Future Problem Solving

This year a team of Year 5 and 6 students are taking part in an international competition called Future Problem Solving. While they are not in the competitive division this year, we hope to aim for that in future years. Future Problem Solving poses authentic, futuristic scenarios for the children to analyse and develop a constructive solution. This is done through a system of brainstorming the challenges, selecting one as your ‘Underlying Problem’, creating solutions, then finding the best solution through a detailed grading process. We have recently looked at the topic of “Space Junk.” The scenario was about the issues faced with clearing the space junk alongside the challenges this generates due to competition and overcrowding in space. We are eagerly waiting for our booklet to be returned from the Evaluator so we can see how we did and improve for the second challenge.

These are our initial thoughts/ comments on being involved in the group in 2017: “ It’s really cool how we can expand our creativity and thinking outside of the box and solve problems.” “ We are very challenged when we have to think about the consequences and solutions of challenges. The fact that they’re futuristic makes it really interesting to see what we come up with.” “It’s been very educational and it’s taught us how to solve real-life problems.” “I really enjoy going on Thursday afternoons; I’ve acquired some new skills and I’m really challenged.” “It’s really fun to come into the Community Room and have a healthy debate.”

Kind Regards
Jane Cameron

PTS Fundraising

Our PTS barometer has been updated with the totals to date. Watch this space as it is always on the up! Thanks again to Nick Lyus, Barfoot and Thompson for his constant support of the school, and of course our hard working PTS who make this all happen.

Give a Kid a Blanket – Friday 2nd June

A very worthwhile cause

As a school we are going to be helping with the ‘Give a Kid a Blanket’ drive. This is the second year the initiative has been run with the help of Public Health Nurses. On Friday 2nd June children can wear mufti and bring a blanket.

We are collecting blankets of all sizes, sleeping bags and duvets for the public health nurses who will distribute them to families in need. These includes families in homes that have no heating, families who are homeless and those living in poor conditions, like camping grounds.  

This is a very worthwhile cause and we are happy to be able to support the initiative.

We will be collecting the following items:

• Blankets
• Sleeping bags
• New pillows (or ones that have been used once but were not right)
• Gogo bags that babies sleep in
• Wheat bags (new so they can be heated by the families)
• Good PJ’s for children of all ages, including teenagers
• Duvets & covers (including king & queen size)
• New socks would also be appreciated.

Farewell to Jenny

Tomorrow is Jenny Hayward’s last day as Uniform Shop Manager. She has been with the school for quite a number of years, first as School Accountant and more recently in the Uniform Shop role. In her time with the School she has made a huge contribution to devising and improving systems and processes as well as the day to day running of these areas. Thank you Jenny, we will miss you!

Welcome to the new Uniform Shop Manager – Kate Wood, also a parent at the school.

School Closing Early – Thursday 15 June

School will close at 2pm on Thursday 15th June so all teachers attend a First Aid in the workplace training.

Travelwise

On 12 May we had a great range of bright outfits on Be Bright Be Seen Day, which was part of Road Safety Week.

And this was a recognition/reward event we held for the Walking School Bus users. Happy Feet the mascot joined us! Such fun…