I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our class pre-service teacher Miss Rebecca Looper. Bec will be with us for four weeks and has already developed rapport with the children. It was a sad day yesterday with Finn leaving to move to NSW to live. We gave him a bit of a send off and hopefully we will find time to write to him when he is settled.

This term with Spelling, we are trialling something new. We are introducing Spelling booklets which will be given out each Monday. The children will keep them at home practising until Friday when they will need to return them to school for checking. The children's words will be tested on Friday. It would be a good idea for the children to keep the booklets in their Reading bag so they come back to school for the following week. If this is a cause for concern please contact me so we can chat about it.

See you at the parent fest,
Michelle Bird

Welcome to Term 2. I trust the children had a great break and they are rested and ready to start this term's work. There have been a few changes to the timetable. On Tuesday the children will have Phys Ed and Music and on Wednesday the children will have Italian and Library. I will get them to bring a new timetable home this week so you can all keep track. Spelling homework will begin this term and the children are encouraged to practise these words at home. The words will incorporate both Thrass and M100 words and I will test these words every Friday. Thankyou to all the parents who have signed up to help with the Literacy Program. I still have a few vacancies for anyone who has missed out (especially Fridays).
Don't forget to fill out the Parent Fest form if you are interested in attending next Wednesday night.
Michelle Bird

Jenaya's Story

I would like to share this story with you with Jenaya's permission. We are learning in class that our families have diverse cultural backgrounds and this story is a rich example of this.

My great nana lived in a country called Sri Lanka. She lived on a tea plantation. Tea grows on the side of hills. People pick the top leaves to make tea. My great nan had 12 brothers and sisters. Her Dad was a doctor who looked after everyone there. My great-nan had lots of pets. She had 12 dogs, 6 cats and a monkey. Lots of elephants lived near my great nan's house. By Jenaya

Well, Show Day has come and gone and I predict another successful fundraiser for our school. A huge thank you to those parents and students who worked tirelessly on our very busy drinks stall. The children were very keen to work their rostered duty and the parents were so great that I even had time this year to check out the Haunted House - I didn't stay long because it was very, very ,very, very scary!!!
I would like to make a special thank you to Noah's Mum and Dad Samantha and Craig who donated several boxes of juice to our stall which will assist with our profits immensely. Once again thank you to everyone who assisted in making this a great day!
Michelle Bird

I trust you all had a restful weekend and enjoyed the extra day as I did. We had a jam packed week last week so the extra day came at a good time. We have had a number of guest speakers over the past two weeks talking about the country of their birth so the children were able to compare customs with how they do things here. We have looked at 'What is an Australian?' and the influences of other cultures in our everyday lives. Our mascots will be coming home this week. Each child will have it for one night or over the weekend and they will be required to write about what they did with their mascot for that evening.
Show Day is next Wednesday 17th March and JSB will be selling drinks. If you are able to be rostered on to help could you please let me know ASAP. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Thank you Michelle Bird

We have been busy this week with our Place Value scrolls in Maths and seeing how far we can get up to. Many students have made it to 100 and some students have been counting by 10's to 1000 from a non-zero starting point. Junior School has been continuing to emphasise 5 Star Work and JSB's handwriting is becoming beautiful with correct letter formation and the correct use of lines. We are continuing to strive for correct pen grip and we are practising daily on this.
Next week is a busy week with School Photos on Monday and Junior School is having an incursion on Monday also with Yarn Strong Sista Visit. On Tuesday Danielle Green is visiting Junior School to launch the Premier's Reading Challenge and of course our 3 Way Conferences are on Tuesday and Wednesday.

This Week in JSB

We have been working hard and producing wonderful work. We have been looking at the Rejection of Bullying in Personal Development and we all designed and made badges which we have been wearing every day. They look terrific and are very colourful with a clear message. Today saw us celebrating Mr Bennett's 50th birthday and we assembled as a whole school at recess and sang 'Happy Birthday' to Mr Bennetts whilst he wore a party hat and a flashing badge!!!