Principal's Update

Staffing

I will be taking leave from Monday 23rd September until Monday 28th October. The period includes Term 3 week 10 until Term 4 week 2 (inclusive). 

My family and I are travelling overseas to see family and attend a wedding. During my leave of absence, Mrs Zalaf will be relieving principal. I would like to thank Mrs Zalaf for stepping into this role over the 3 weeks of school. 

Tell Them From Me Parent survey

Currently, the Tell Them From Me (TTFM) survey is open for teachers and parents to give the school and the DET feedback. Most of the survey is generated by the DET. The school has added 2 simple open-ended questions. 

The first is:

• ‘Can you share with us what things Dundas Public School has been doing well?’ and the second is, 
• ‘In what area can Dundas Public School improve?’ 

The link to complete the survey has been shared with the school community - http://nsw.tellthemfromme.com/dps2024

The survey will close at the end of this term, on Friday 27th September at 3pm. 

New School Improvement Plan in 2025

Next year we will be starting a new School Improvement Plan (SIP). We will have 2 identified Strategic Direction areas which will be:

• Student Growth & Attainment and 
• Continuous Improvement. 

We have identified that Numeracy as an area of focus for our school where we would like to improve. Even though overall, we were very happy with this year’s NAPLAN data, we were disappointed with the lack of uplift from 2023 in numeracy. 

Year 3 numeracy data of students in Strong and Exceeding proficiency levels dropped by 0.5% from 2023 and Year 5 data of 77% had a small uplift of 3.4%, but it was the only NAPLAN test where we were not over 80% in the Strong and Exceeding proficiency levels. We believe we can improve those results over the next 3 years. 

School dismissal at 3pm and students playing on school grounds after school

This is a friendly reminder that school dismissal is at 3pm. Students not attending Camp Australia should be picked up at 3pm. 

Students should not be on the school grounds unsupervised after 3pm. If parents are running late and cannot pick up their children at 3pm dismissal, the students will be taken to the school office until parents can be contacted to arrange their pick-up. 

Students should not be playing on school equipment after school. The play equipment is clearly signed, and we expect that parents and carers, follow the expectations to ensure students are safe. 

If parents are not able to pick up their children on a regular basis, then the children should be registered to attend Camp Australia on those days. 

Students should not be left alone in a school park waiting to be picked up by their parents. These students are often without adult supervision which is unsafe. 

Major school fundraiser this term

As stated previously, every 2 years, Dundas Public School holds a major school fundraiser which helps the school to purchase much-needed items and resources for our students. 

This year, we are holding a Big Show Colour Fun Run on Thursday, 26th September. 

In 2022, the DPS parent community raised $26,000 for our school which enabled us to purchase additional forms of technology for student use. 

Our goal this year is $30,000 as we are hoping to replace some of the old iPads that students are currently using. 

We have just over 2 weeks left until the big day! So far, we have raised $11,744.99 which is a great start!

The amazing thing is that the $6,350.99 funds raised so far has come from only 101 of our students. 

So, if the remaining 224 students of our school also created their profiles and shared them with family and friends, we might get closer to our goal. 

There are lots of different competitions to make the fundraiser fun and engaging. These include:

• The class profile competition (week 1) – congratulations to 3B. 3B students enjoyed their ice block prize on Wednesday which was a perfect day for an ice block.
• Grade colouring competition – finishes on 26th September. The winner from each grade will receive a $5 canteen voucher.
• VIP tent – The K-2 and 3-6 class who raise the amount with the highest student average will get the privilege of sitting in the luxurious VIP tent during the Big Show Fun Run event. The decorated VIP tent will have comfy bean bags, snacks and juices for the students to enjoy. Below is a table showing how the classes are doing so far. The classes at the top have been each taking turns being at the top of the table. It is very close!

• Random draw competition – Every student who raises over $100 will go into a draw to win 1 of 10 $5 canteen vouchers. Have you seen our display of super stars who have raised over 100?

• Teacher drenched – A teacher will be drenched at the Friday afternoon token draw for every $2,000 raised. Friday token draws are starting at 2:40pm for the remainder of the term. 
• If we make it to the $30,000 goal, the overall top 10 student fundraisers will get the chance to dunk Mrs Zalaf.

So let’s get everyone fundraising! 

School Bytes

To plan a school excursion or event, the process is an involved one that usually takes 4-6 weeks to complete. Most events where bus travel and performance companies are booked, need to be paid before the event date. Therefore, the school is required to give them confirmed numbers of students attending/participating on the day. 

This is a friendly reminder that the school is unable to accept last minute permission and payment for most organised activities. 

It would be appreciated by the admin staff and organising teachers, if parents/carers could please complete the permission and payment by the due date. 

If you still need any assistance using this online platform, please reach out to the admin staff (Mrs Piccolo, Mrs Haddock and Mrs Impala) who are very happy to help you set up School Bytes and guide you through the process. The staff are here to assist and hopefully, make this paperless system a much easier way to respond to organised school events and excursions.

Kindy Expo/ Enrol now for Kindergarten 2025

We are still accepting online enrolments for Kindergarten 2025. Your child can start Kindergarten at the beginning of the school year if they turn five on or before 31 July in that year. By law, all children must be enrolled in school by their sixth birthday.

How to Enrol

If you are an Australian or New Zealand citizen or permanent resident and live within our designated intake area, you are eligible to complete the online enrolment application. You will then need to finalise the application at the school.

Click here to access School Finder and check that your address is in our catchment.

Parents will be asked to complete the 100-point residential address check to confirm they live within the school’s designated intake area.

Click here to read about the 100-point residential address check.

Click here to enrol online.

We look forward to meeting you and your child very soon!