Newsletter Week 10 Term 2 2024

Principal's Message

Congratulations and Farewells

Please join me in congratulating Deputy Principal Ms Hayley Singh who has won the Deputy position at Hughes Primary School following a recent recruitment process.

Hayley has made a huge contribution to Forrest during her time here and I am sure you will agree that Hughes is a very lucky school to have her joining the team there.

Hayley will start at Hughes on the first day of next term.

Ms Molly Pierra will be on leave from the first day of Term 3 for the rest of the year. We thank Ms Pierra for her contribution to 6P and I am sure you will join me in sending her our best wishes as she awaits the birth of her baby. 

Ms Jessica Duffey will be on leave from the start of Term 3. We thank Ms Duffey for her contribution to Forrest and for the students in 5KD this year. Ms Endillion Kenyon will teach 5KD full time from the start of Term 3, for the rest of the year.

Ms Amber Piper will now be on leave for the rest of the year.

And finally, we will say goodbye to Ms Katherine Atkins at the end of this term.  Ms Atkins has made a huge contribution to the Arts program at Forrest, especially the amazing musical gala last year.  Family commitments are now calling Katherine interstate and we wish her well with her move.

Pupil Free Days

A friendly reminder to all parents and carers that there are two remaining student-free days for ACT public schools in 2024. These are the first day of each school term:

Term 3 – Monday 22 July 2024

Term 4 – Monday 14 October 2024

Student-free days are for staff development, enabling teachers and schools to plan in a student-free environment. The increase in student-free planning days from 2024 is part of our Teaching Staff Enterprise Agreement, which prioritises better teacher workloads for educational leadership, teaching and learning.

Introducing Strong Foundations

The ACT Government announced a $24.9 million investment over the next four years to improve literacy and numeracy outcomes for students in ACT public schools.

This means a new suite of system-wide initiatives, called Strong Foundations, that will support all students at ACT public schools to have access to consistent, high-quality literacy and numeracy education.

Under Strong Foundations, your family will have access to:

• evidence-informed and consistent teaching practices in every classroom
• common assessments, including a year 1 phonics test
• advice and resources for parents, to support their children with literacy and numeracy, and
• multi-tiered systems of support for students in every public school

From the start of 2025, our Kindergarten to Year 2 classes will receive additional funding to purchase new literacy and numeracy teaching materials and equipment, including decodable readers and mathematical resources.

The Education Directorate is currently planning supports for every ACT public school to adopt a more consistent approach to literacy and numeracy education.

To read more about the recent independent inquiry into literacy and numeracy in ACT public schools visit the Education Directorate website: Inquiry into literacy and numeracy in ACT public schools - Education.

You will be kept updated as this important program is designed and rolled out.

Have a wonderful school holiday.

Kind Regards

Laurel

Big Action Week Report

During week 8, the members of Earlyact Club held the first Big Action Week of the year. The dedicated members of Earlyact created five teams that each held an event for one day of the working week.

On Monday Nate, Christian, Flynn E, Shyaan, Ibrahim, Mallee and Aabi provided a bake sale as a fundraiser for Story Dogs. Story Dogs is an organisation that helps children in Australia who struggle with reading. This helps to improve literacy skills and wellbeing in young people by developing their confidence, interest and enjoyment in reading.

On Tuesday, Mimi and Liv hosted a fun disco that raised money for Roundabout.  Roundabout helps children and families in Canberra by providing clothes to families in Canberra who don't have access to them. Roundabout Canberra believes that every child deserves a safe start, and every family deserves dignity. They provide safe, high-quality essentials like clothes for families in need.

On Wednesday, Callie, Frankie, Elsie, Jewel, Sophia and Evie had a mufti day for Hope for Soap. Hope for Soap raised money to provide new soap dispensers for the school.

On Thursday, Mia, Linda and Zoe hosted a crazy hair day with prizes to raise money for Plastic Oceans. Plastic Oceans raises money for ocean cleanup, which gets rid of pollution which can hurt marine animals.

On Friday, Mimi, Liv, Mia, Linda, Zoe, Nate and Flynn E had a stall with face paint, hairspray, a lucky dip and blueberry danish pastries for Do it For Dolly. Do it For Dolly is an organisation that prevents bullying. The pastries were generously donated by Three Mills Bakery. A big thank you to our parent volunteer, Daniel C who helped us source them and organise the whole event.

Thank you to everyone who supported our events and helped us to raise this impressive amount of money for the five worthy causes.

By Mimi, Zoe and Mia

Year 5&6 Netball Gala Day

The Year 5/6 Netball Gala Day was held on the 25th of June. At the Netball Gala Day we had five teams with a mix of year 6 and year 5. Each team played six games against teams from other primary schools. We played on grass courts and hard courts. We all had lots of fun playing netball against other schools, especially when we won!

By Nate

Visit by Author Jack Heath

On Tuesday the 2nd of July we got to spend some time with Canberran author Jack Heath and ask questions about what he does. We learned about how long it takes him to write and edit books, he says it would usually take him around 6 months to write, edit and publish a book. In a year he can publish one children's book and one adult book.

Jack also talked about how he started and what made him want to be an author. He said when he was in year 5, he had a bad ear infection he had to miss most of the year so while his class was learning, he was at home lying down in bed. While he was at home, he went to school one day and his librarian gave him a book and told him to read it so she could see if it is good to recommend to other students. Jack thought that this was an important task but the librarian just did it so he could do some learning while he is at home. Over the year the librarian kept giving him more and more books and in the course of the year he had learned exactly how to write and analyse books, so he got really good at writing. After that he decided to become an author.

By Nate and Flynn

Your Donations

Roundabout Canberra came to get the first load of many to come last week. We are all so thankful that the bin got so full so quickly, but don’t forget the bin will be there all year round and please keep donating to help our school community support a well deserving charity.

Saint John’s Care is another organisation that helps our community and donates items like toiletries and food to people in need. They are about to collect Forrest Primary school’s first load of items this week. If each family added one item of food or toiletries to their weekly shopping, we can really help make a huge difference to the lives of many struggling Canberra families.

Mal from Rotary also came in last week to collect a massive amount of school stationery supplies which he will drop off to the Papua New Guinea High Commission so that they can send them over to schools in need.

We would love it if you could continue donating to our donation hub which is located in the library.

Thank you from the Earlyact Club 2024.

The Biggest Morning Tea

Last week on Friday, our school hosted The Biggest Morning Tea in hopes of raising money for the cancer-affected people of Canberra. This not-for-profit organisation is the biggest non-government-funded community operation that aims to promote a healthier community by reducing the effects and incidence of cancer.

The Year 6 Earlyact Club arranged a cake stall, as well as raffles and a jellybean guessing competition. The raffle and jellybean guessing table was manned by Allie W and Evie W. The raffle prizes were supplied to us by local shops and included products such as T2 cups and plates, a Blue Hummingbird pearl vase valued at $140, a Bunnings voucher, and the top prize - a night's accommodation at the Forrest Hotel (with breakfast included).

We also hosted a bake sale for senior and junior ends of the school, we split up into groups. The senior end was managed by Jianuo, Maryna, and Sasha, while the junior end was upheld by Anouk and Sarah. At our bake sale, numerous volunteers contributed a variety of delightful pastries and dessert selections, creating an enticing array for children visiting our stalls. Every item was sold, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the event.

We must also give thanks to the parents, carers and volunteers who came along and helped us on the day.

Our fundraiser has been a huge success, raising an impressive $930 for the Cancer Council. This dedicated organisation is committed to making a difference in the fight against cancer. If you're interested in contributing to this important cause, you can find more information on their website at www.actcancer.org. Let's continue to support and promote efforts in the battle against cancer.

By Jianuo and Maryna

P&C Fundraiser

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