Principal's Update

It is incredible to think that next week marks week 5 of Term 3! 2022 feels like it is flying by! 

Staffing classes continues to be a major challenge with an average of 3 staff off sick most days. We continue to try our best to employ day-to-day casual teachers to cover classes and I thank the flexibility and generosity of our support teaching staff who regularly step in to teach our students when we are unable to book a casual teacher. 

The school is holding the School Fun Run’s Splash & Dash as the major school fundraising event this year!  The event will be held on Thursday, 15th September. We are really hoping to raise a minimum of $20,000 which will pay for new student laptops and iPads. 

Keep your eyes peeled for the sponsorship forms which will be sent home with your child on Monday. Once you have the form, you should sign up for a Student Profile Page at schoolfunrun.com.au. You’ll be able to access online fundraising and can win a $20,000 Ultimate Family Package!

Students who raise $10 or more will receive a reward, and the more money you raise the better the reward, and the more you help the school!

The great thing about online fundraising is that once a profile has been created for your child, you can easily share the link to your child’s profile with friends and family via email, SMS and social media.

We’re looking for all students to participate and we’re organising a great day for our community, so we’d love everyone to come down to support the kids.

We will be holding an assembly on Monday to launch the fun fundraising event.

We will also be holding some fun competitions along the way and maybe a teacher or two might be volunteer to get drenched when we reach certain fundraising milestones!

So save the date!!  The event will be held on Thursday, 15th September and we’d love as many people on the day to cheer the kids on as possible! We’re also looking for some helpers, so if you’re available please email the school.

Thanks for supporting the school and we hope to see you at the event!

Education Week – Open Day

A reminder that all parents and carers are invited to attend our Open Day on 

Tuesday, 23rd August.

9:30am – 11am 

Open Classrooms

11am – 11:20am 

Recess with your children

11:30am – 12:20pm 

Open Day Assembly under the COLA

12:20pm – 1:20pm

 Picnic Lunch on the Village Green

Canberra excursion

This week, our Year 6 students visited Canberra for their much-awaited overnight excursion. I have organized many overnight camps in my career and I have to admit, that organising this excursion during a spike in COVID cases, was particularly challenging!

Firstly, I need to acknowledge the strength and leadership shown by Ms Edwards and Mr Dean in planning for all of the necessary considerations that we need to be prepared for with this excursion. Every possible scenario was considered and a plan for each was devised. It would have been much easier postponing or cancelling the excursion but both were determined that their students would not miss out on this opportunity. Lifelong memories were made this week and I am grateful that we were able to proceed with such a wonderful learning opportunity.

Thank you to the staff who attended the excursion. Mr Dean, 

Ms Edwards, Mrs Dinsdale and Mr Talevski volunteered their time over the 3 days and 2 nights. As a principal, you understand the tremendous responsibility that comes with these overnight excursions and it was lovely to know that our students could not be in better hands. 

Finally, our students did their families and our school proud. The bus driver as well as staff from many venues commented to our staff that the Year 6 students were beautifully behaved, respectful and well-mannered. 

Demountable classroom upgrade

We received good news yesterday that our 6 demountable classrooms will have new carpet laid and be freshly painted internally and externally. This scope of works will be quite disruptive to these classes but it is unavoidable. 

These classrooms include 2B, 2M, 3W, 3/4B, 4D and the Fun Club room. The double demountable classroom of 2B and 2M will also receive a new roof. 

The scope of works will start in week 6 (Monday, 22nd August) and continue for the rest of the term. Most classes will be displaced from their classroom for 3-4 days while the work takes place. It is estimated that 2B and 2M will be displaced for a 2 week period to enable the new roof to be installed. 

More information on where classes will be moved to while the work is taking place will be shared on a weekly basis from week 6.

School PSSA cancellations

Unfortunately, PSSA was cancelled again this week. I wanted to ensure that the community understands that the local council makes the decision to close council grounds and notifies the affected PSSA associations once the decision is made.  We hope that in the coming weeks we will be able to resume having our regular PSSA competitions on Friday mornings.

Improvements to Boys toilet block 

In the previous school holiday period, Assets in the Department of Education organised for the boys toilet block to be cleaned and freshly painted. In the next few weeks we hope to organise positive messages to be painted onto the cubicle doors. 

I have been assured that the girls toilet block will also be painted later in the year.

School Bytes

As you are already aware, we have introduced an online platform that we will be using to share permission notes with our families. The platform is called 'School Bytes' and is a quick and efficient method of receiving and processing permission notes. 

Families will receive an email (from Dundas Public School) with the online permission note. Parents and carers will be able to easily open the email, read the information in the note, give permission and sign the document straight away on any device. Permission notes that require payment will have a link straight to our payment tab on the school website. 

As stated previously, our intention is to not send home paper information/permission notes starting this term. Please contact the school is you have recently changed your email address so your contact information can be updated. 

** We currently have many outstanding permission notes for upcoming school events. It would be appreciated if parents and carers could please complete the approval process on School Bytes as soon as possible.

3-6 Athletics Carnival

A reminder that our 3-6 Athletics Carnival is now being held on Tuesday, 26th August at Barton Park. Students in Year 2 who are turning 8 this year are also able to attend and compete. 

A new permission note was emailed to families and should have been signed electronically by yesterday. We ask parents and carers to sign the permission note today so we can accurately cater for buses and teacher supervision on Tuesday. 

2023 Kindergarten enrolments

We are currently accepting enrolments for 2023. We invite families to visit the school website and select ‘Enrolment’ to start the Kindergarten enrolment process. A link to the 2023 DPS Kindergarten Transition website is below. It contains lots of information that will be very useful to new DPS families. 

2023 DPS Kindergarten Transition website

We will be offering Orientation visits for new Kindy students and their parents/carers in Term 4 which will include classroom visits, school information/tour and the Dundas Expo!

We are excited to announce that we will also be offering Big School Visits on selected Friday afternoons from 2-3pm which will focus on school readiness and include a school tour for new families. 

We have organised a Kindergarten 2023 postcard that will be dropped off at neighbouring preschools over the coming weeks. There is a handy QR code on the postcard to meet it easy for families to book a big school visit.

Dogs on school grounds

A reminder that families are not able to bring their dogs onto the school site. Under the Companion Animals Act 1998 (NSW), Section 14, dogs are prohibited on school grounds unless the Principal grants permission.

Reasons why the Principal may grant permission for a dog to be in a school include:

1. Assistance or Service dogs – are accredited and specially trained to assist an individual person with a disability. 
2. Farm working dogs – may be used on school farms and must be under the control of the teacher, farm assistant or person in charge of the activity at all times.
3. Visits by organised groups or programs for school incursions – includes such programs as Responsible Pet Ownership Education Program offered by the Office of Local Government.
4. School support dogs – are used in schools to provide emotional support, companionship or well-being support. They are often known as therapy, emotional support or companion dogs. 

Occasionally a community member may request a visit to the school with their dog, including a family dog or puppy for a news item. These should be considered on a case by case basis, be well managed and only for a limited time where the adult brings the dog to the school for the item. 

The Principal must grant permission and be supported by a risk assessment.

COVID Update (reminder from previous newsletter)

What’s new in Term 3?

As winter continues, our COVID-smart measures have been updated in consultation with NSW Health to provide appropriate protection to our school community.

Vaccinations

The department has updated its policy regarding COVID-19 vaccination for employees following an independent risk assessment of school (and corporate) settings and consultation with unions and relevant stakeholders. While vaccination is no longer be a requirement for our staff from 1 August 2022, it is pleasing to see that a recent survey highlighted that more than 99% of the department’s active school-based workforce have had at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. We will continue to strongly encourage all our staff to keep up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations as a way of protecting themselves, students, and our school community.]

Boosted day cleaning 

The department has made a slight change to its cleaning process. Cleaning of school sites will now be more concentrated during the day, with an increase in cleaning in school hours, and a subsequent reduction out of hours. Boosted day cleaning will continue to focus on high-touch areas and other hard surfaces, door handles, lockers, light switches and handrails in stairways and movement areas.

What’s continuing for Term 3?

Masks 

Masks are an effective way of minimising the transmission of respiratory viruses and infections, and protecting our community, especially those who are at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and flu. We strongly encourage all students and staff wear a mask for the first 4 weeks of Term 3, particularly in indoor settings or when distancing is not possible. The latest NSW Health advice also recommends wearing a mask for people who have recovered from COVID-19 and recently completed their 7-day isolation period for an additional 3 days (from days 8 to 10 after receiving a positive COVID-19 result). Additionally, as outlined in the below section on household contacts, mask wearing is mandatory for staff and high school students returning to school as household contacts for 5 school days and strongly recommended for primary school students returning to school as household contacts for 5 school days. Students or staff identified as household contacts who are unable to wear a mask will be supported to learn or work remotely.

Rapid antigen tests (RATs) 

If you require additional RATs let the school know that you need more and we will try and assist. Additionally, our school will be maintaining a reserve stock of RATs onsite to support symptomatic testing in the event of an outbreak in our school community. Please also remember that positive RAT results must be registered with ServiceNSW, and students who test positive to COVID-19 must not attend school until their isolation period ends and they are symptom free.

Household contacts 

Students identified as household contacts remain able to attend school providing they are symptom free, notify the school and return a negative COVID-19 test result daily for 5 consecutive school days. Primary students, while not required, are strongly encouraged to wear a mask for 5 consecutive school days (except when eating/drinking or exercising).

Responding to our local situation 

We will continue to liaise with NSW Health and the department’s Health, Safety and Staff Wellbeing Case Management team to ensure our COVID-smart settings keep up with the latest developments. If local conditions require it, this may mean reintroducing temporary additional COVID-smart measures to act as a ‘circuit breaker’, including:

• mandating mask wearing for all staff and students in Year 7 and above (high school settings)
• mandating mask wearing for all staff (primary school settings)
• postponing or limiting non-essential activities like excursions, indoor assemblies and visitors to the school
• directing cohorts to learn remotely for short periods of time.
• Maximising natural ventilation. The department has reviewed environmental differences across NSW as part of their winter ventilation planning to ensure that local climatic conditions at each school are considered. The department will continue to provide local guidance to schools, including advice on maximising natural ventilation while balancing thermal comfort and the use of indoor and outdoor learning areas for school activities to support schools to adapt to local climate conditions throughout the winter months.

Reducing the risk of illness this winter

Finally, it is important to note NSW Health’s advice to reduce our risk of not only COVID-19, but other illnesses that may affect our school at this time of year such as the flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) both of which can be serious in younger people. We can all protect our loved ones and our community by:

• staying home and getting tested if unwell or displaying any symptoms
• keeping up to date with our vaccinations – including the flu vaccine, which is available from your local GP, pharmacy or Aboriginal Medical Service now. Flu vaccines are free for all children aged 6 months to under 5 years, or for a small charge for those aged 5 years and older
• getting tested immediately for COVID-19 if you become symptomatic and isolating until you receive a negative result and are symptom free
• practicing good hand hygiene by washing regularly with soap and water

DPS P&C News 

 Earlier in the year the Dundas P&C made a decision to move forward with tendering the OOSH licence to an external provider. The Dundas P&C recognise how important the OOSH centre is for our school community.  The reasons for their decision discussed at the meeting were primarily, as volunteers, members of the P&C were not comfortable being legally responsible for running an OOSH business. The motion was discussed at length and voted upon.  

The Department has released a tender for the provision of before and after school care for Dundas Public School. The tender period will close on 19 August 2022 and is publicly available on the NSW Government's E-tendering site. 

The August P&C meeting is being held on Tuesday, 16th August at 7pm on school grounds. The meeting will be held in the school library. 

Kind regards,

Lee Shipley

Principal