Principal's Update

Today is the 1st December. It always amazes me how quickly the school year passes by. We are approaching the busiest two week period in the school calendar.  

2022 has been a long year for staff and students as we adjust back to a full year of face-to-face teaching after COVID. Students have needed to relearn how to maintain their concentration in the classroom, how to initiate and maintain friendships, and how to regulate their emotions, after a very difficult 3 years. Some students have been able to take these adjustments in their stride, adapting quickly and relishing the challenges. Some students have taken longer to settle back into school routines and that is okay!  

What is becoming very apparent at the moment is that our students are exhausted, and their resiliency levels are low. Minor issues that happen in life, such as disagreements or a difference of opinion, are becoming major problems very quickly as students struggle to regulate their emotions. During those moments of heightened emotion, students are using words and actions to hurt others.  

 ‘Resilience is like the keel of a sailboat; it keeps you balanced and moving forward’.                                                           Dr. Rick Hanson

I like this quote about resiliency. It illustrates perfectly how important a person’s resiliency indicates their ability to cope/manage challenges as they are presented.  

Dr Michelle Maidenberg put together this infographic to help families to understand how to help build resiliency in their children. Some of those suggestions include: 

• students getting plenty of sleep and exercise 
• allowing children time to solve their own problems rather than doing it for them
• supporting children to keep ‘having a go’ especially when things are hard.  

We also understand that parents want to help and support their child/ren when issues occur at school. Staff at Dundas PS are extremely proactive in helping students manage problems that occur at school. Lately, I have been hearing a few students saying, ‘that they had a problem and the school did nothing’.  Investigations of major behavioural issues can sometimes take time to complete due to the level of complexity, as well as student or staff absence. What I have learnt over my career is that there is ALWAYS two sides to every situation.  

I can assure the community that issues are managed but they are done so sensitively and privately. Students don’t always know what actions have taken place but there are procedures in place to manage minor and major issues when they present. Our goal is to ensure all students are supported to learn from their mistakes and make appropriate reparations if required.  

Sometimes when dealing with major issues, emotions can run high and, unfortunately, I have had a number of staff in recent weeks verbally abused, either in person or on the phone. I would like to remind everyone of the School Community Charter that outlines the responsibilities of parents, carers, educators and school staff in NSW public schools to ensure our learning environments are collaborative, supportive and cohesive. 

Staff at Dundas Public School work extremely hard for all of our students and their families and we are here to guide our students to grow academically, socially and emotionally. We are here to help solve issues when they arise, but I will not accept any staff member being abused or threatened.  

Farewell Mrs Percincula! 

Mrs Percincula has been successful in gaining a new Assistant Principal position at another school. Families that have been at Dundas Public School longer than I, know of the dedication, commitment and care Mrs Percincula displays towards all children at our school. Her professionalism, exemplary classroom teaching practice and outstanding curriculum knowledge will be sorely missed.  

This move will make a positive difference to Mrs Percincula’s family and I am sure everyone will join with me in wishing her every success as she makes this move in her teaching career. 

On behalf of the staff, I would like to thank Mrs Percincula for everything she has done for our school and students, as well as being an amazing school leader and wonderful support. You will always be an important member of the Dundas Public School family! Best wishes always! 

Message from Mrs Percincula! 

It’s with a heavy heart that I farewell the beautiful Dundas Public School community. 

Dundas is the place where I began casual teaching. It is the place where my pedagogy as a teacher has flourished. It is the place where I have developed my leadership as an Assistant Principal. It is the place where I have formed authentic relationships with students and positive partnerships with the community. 

Dundas has been so much more than a job – the relationships built with students, staff and parents has been more than I could have imagined. The late nights. The early mornings. Your children’s beautiful, smiling faces make it all worth it. Having taught the current Year 6 students in Years 1, 2, 3 and 4, it seems only fitting that I leave with them. 

This difficult decision has been made in the best interests of my family, so I’m closer to my new home and more present in the morning and afternoon routines with my son. 

I’m so grateful to Lee Shipley for being so supportive with my move and to the incredible staff who have become my second family. Thank you to each and every one of you for making my time here so memorable. Dundas Public School will forever hold a very special place in my heart. 

Smart House Competition 

Yesterday our Year 6 students visited Lidcombe Public School to showcase their design contribution of a smart house. Students have collaborated, designed, used coding skills and created their smart home for this event.  

Congratulations to the Year 6 students and teachers for the outstanding learning outcomes for our students! 

DPS World Cup Event this Friday 

This Friday Mr Talevski has organised a wonderful school event called the ‘DPS World Cup Event’. Students in Years 3-6 will be participating in a mini World Cup football tournament this Friday  9:20-11:30am in celebration of the FIFA World Cup. K-2 will be doing rotations in the middle session.  

K-2 students are encouraged to wear colours of the nation allocated to their class. 3-6 students can wear the colours of their team nation or sports uniform. All students will be required to wear sports shoes to participate.  

This initiative is to promote the game of football and for everyone to have fun! We look forward to this exciting event. 

2022 Assembly of Excellence 

Information on our Assembly of Excellence (Presentation Day) was shared with the community on SkoolBag. The assembly is taking place on Wednesday, 14th December in the school hall.  

K-2 Assembly of Excellence will start at 9:15am. 

3-6 Assembly of Excellence will start at 10:15am. 

If you are unable to attend but would like to watch the assemblies, we are livestreaming both assemblies via zoom.  Details are included in the post on SkoolBag. 

End of Year school events 

To assist our families stay informed with Term 4 school events, we have updated the events page on our school website. More events will be added as they are organised.  

When you visit the page, you will need to click on ‘More events’ to see all organised school events. A link to the events page is below. 

https://dundas-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/events.html 

School grounds improvements 

Our 2 new gardens are coming along nicely. The plants are small but will grow relatively quickly. They should be completed in the next week or so. Here are some photos of how they are progressing.  

Kissing Point Road entry garden 

Conversation Pit garden 

The rolls of artificial turf should be laid later today.  

OOSH – Camp Australia 

It has been reported that when registering with Camp Australia, some parents have received a message indicating that spaces are fully booked. I have been in contact with Camp Australia and they have assured me that this is definitely NOT the case.  

If parents have any concerns, there should be some contact details on the app that will be the fastest way to get a reply. 

Picking up children on time 

This is a friendly reminder that students need to be picked up from school at 3pm dismissal. Students are NOT allowed to be left in the school unsupervised if parents or carers are running late. If students are found in the playground unattended after the school bell, staff have been instructed to bring them to the office where staff will attempt to contact the parents. If we are unable to contact the parents, staff will escort the students to OOSH where there will be a cost for child supervision.  

The school office closes Monday to Friday at 3:15pm. It is not the responsibility of school staff to mind children who have not been picked up on time.  

Additional School Development Day 2022 (reminder from previous newsletter) 

Please be advised that the NSW Government has recently advised that students will now finish school on Friday 16th December 2022. This is due to an additional School Development Day being announced for staff across NSW public schools. School Development Days allow our staff to participate in professional Week 4, Term 4 learning that was put on hold due to COVID-19 staffing pressures and plan ahead for 2023 to ensure we meet the needs of our students. With this change, we ask that you arrange alternative care for your child on Monday 19th December. 

2022 Kindergarten returning to school next year 

When Kindergarten students return to school in 2023 to start Year 1, they will be greeted by their 2022 classroom teacher who will spend some time that morning settling them back into school routines.  

They will remain with their 2022 class until the new 2023 classes are formed. These classes will be taught by support and specialist teachers or Year 6 teachers until new classes are formed while the Kindergarten teachers complete Best Start Assessments with our new 2023 Kindergarten students. 

End of year gifts (reminder from previous newsletter) 

We are quickly approaching the time of year when some of our community may be thinking of organising a gift for their child’s teacher or staff member. Every year there is confusion about what is acceptable in relation to gifts of gratitude for DoE employees, so I hope the following information is useful. 

The NSW Department of Education has a policy regarding gifts, benefits and hospitality.  

Generally, DoE employees are able to accept gifts of gratitude that have a value of $50 or less. Any gifts that have a value of more than $50 are required to be declared to the school principal.  

Occasionally, the principal will receive a request for a class to collect money for a combined thank-you gift to the teacher at the end of the year. In many cases these gifts can be retained by the teacher, where the individual contributions were much less than $50 each.  

The policy is very clear that NSW DoE employees cannot accept pre-paid EFTPOS cards as a thank-you gift as the Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Procedures strictly prohibits the acceptance of money in the form of cash or negotiable instrument. 

However, gift cards that must be used at specific retailers are considered non-cash vouchers as they cannot easily be converted to cash. The policy only allows gift cards to be accepted if they are offered as a gift of gratitude. 

Term 4 COVID operations (reminder from previous newsletter) 

Students and staff should continue to stay home when sick 

We will continue to send home students or staff displaying symptoms. 

Anyone who believes they have been exposed to COVID-19 is strongly recommended to monitor for symptoms and test if they have any concerns, as well as wear a mask. We will continue to support our families to use rapid antigen tests (RATs) if symptomatic or if you believe you have been exposed to COVID-19.  

Please continue to notify the school if your child tests positive to COVID-19 as we will continue to notify the school community of any known positive cases to prioritise student and staff safety and wellbeing. 

Kind regards, 

Lee Shipley 

Principal