Principal's Report
Mr Pitt

Dear Parents/ Carers,

We are getting closer to the end of term. The last day of Term 1 is Friday 12 April, 2024. This will be the last newsletter for Term 1.

NEW CLASS - K SIMON

During Term 1 we have had a steady increase in student enrolments, heading towards 510 students. Due to the increase, we have been able to form a new class and after reviewing classes across the school, we have decided to form an additional kindergarten class. This will mean that all kindergarten classes will have between 14 to 17 children (much better than 22 or 23 children). The new class was formed last week, meeting their teacher and visiting their new classroom. The class officially commenced this week with Miss Sarah Chmaisse as the classroom teacher of K Simon. As many of you would know, Miss Chmaisse is an experienced teacher and was super-excited when I asked her to take on the new class. The children have settled in well and are extremely happy. I would also like to thank the parents for trusting us in the decisions that we make - working together is so important and has great outcomes for your children.

STAFF NEWS

With this change, brings a new teacher to Fairvale PS. We welcome Miss Danielle Mehanna to our school who will replace Miss Chmaisse’s specialist support teacher role. Lucky for us, Miss Mehanna is no stranger to our school, as she completed one of her practicum placements here. I am sure Miss Mehanna will love her new job! We also said farewell to one of our school counsellors last week - Mrs Jessica Ratcliffe, who has commenced maternity leave. We wish Mrs Ratcliffe best wishes for the safe arrival of her first baby. At this stage, Mrs Ratcliffe will not be replaced on Mondays, however, Miss Fletcher will strategically cover the day with some of the specialist teachers at our school.

BIKE VISITS WITH MR PITT

This week I visited some of our primary EAL/D sessions. EAL/D stands for English as an additional Language and/or dialect. As you are aware, many of our community members come from an EAL/D background and our school receives additional funding to support these students as well as newly arrived students to our country. I visited 2 sessions:

Miss Kopec’s EAL/D group were writing sentences using correct punctuation. Children were able to share the ‘who’, ‘when’ and ‘where’ from each sentence and use the verb correctly. Children then transferred their sentences to a Seesaw activity; this is including saying, reading and writing each sentence. When completed, everyone started to record their sentences on Seesaw. I had a great time visiting the group last Thursday,

Miss Chmaisse’s NAP group were learning all about compound sentences. Children were able to identify each conjunction and independent clauses and read the sentence with confidence. During the activity, children tried really hard to use the correct conjunction to complete each sentence. This was also Miss Chmaisse’s last lesson with the NAP group.

Check out some of the photos in this edition of the newsletter.

K-6 EASTER HAT PARADE/ EASTER RAFFLE

Our annual K-6 Easter Hat Parade was held last Thursday. Unfortunately, Miss Fletcher and I were unable to attend but we were very happy to see lots of creative hats before we left for our special meeting. Thank you to our community for attending, our teaching staff for their work leading up to the day and Miss Kopec and Miss S Huynh for organising the event. I would also like to thank our Parent Group, led by Miss Michelle and Miss Samira for coordinating the Easter raffle - raising over $1200. Frankie and the Easter Bunny phoned Miss Fletcher to say that they had a great time at the parade.

SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT DAY (SDD) TERM 2.

On Monday 29 April, 2024, staff will participate in a school development day (SDD). The focus will be assessment, writing and differentiation. This professional learning is a key priority for the Department. Students return to school on Tuesday 30 April, 2024.

TERM 1 REVIEW

As Term 1 ends, it is time to mention some of the highlights. It has been a very busy term! Check it out.

Sixty-four Kindergarten students successfully completed the Best Start Assessment and settled in well to school at Fairvale
Years 1 to 6 settled quickly into new classes, this year named after Female Australian Olympians – past and present
This year, our competent swimmers in Years 3-6 attended the School Swimming Carnival. Many students went on to represent the school at the Zone Carnival, with two students successfully representing our school and zone at the Regional Carnival
Many students from across the school had their eyes tested with Straight Sight Vision
Stage 3 Leaders attended the GRIP Leadership Conference with Miss Duong
Playgroup with Miss Atra, Miss Michelle and Miss Samira commenced
PSSA Session 1 commenced and Stage 3 participated in soccer workshops
Parent Café hosted some parent workshops coordinated by Miss Michelle and Miss Samira
Students in Year 3 and Year 5 participated in NAPLAN assessment week
Stage 3 participated in soccer workshops on Fridays with Western Sydney Wanderers
We have held special days – Induction Assembly, Clean Up Fairvale Day, Harmony Day, Easter Hat Parade and Frankie Fun Day
Stage 2 attended the Bring Back the Bush excursion
Stage 3 attended an author visit from Oliver Phommavanh today
We end the term next week with my Principal’s Morning Tea and a special visit from an Olympian on Thursday!

HEALTHY FAMILY BULLETIN – APRIL EDITION

Click on the link below to learn more about boosting your food budget, flu shots, flip out fun, bike riding, building a healthy lunchbox and a yummy quick and easy recipe!

Click here >>> https://rb.gy/njq9r0

Have a great fortnight. Wishing everyone a wonderful vacation period at the end of next week. Be safe, be active and have plenty of fun. Term 2 kicks off for children on Tuesday 30 April, 2024.

Anthony Pitt

Principal

I respect and acknowledge First Nations people as the traditional owners of the land on which I work, live and visit.

https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/active-and-creative-kids-voucher

NEWSFLASH

Jasmine Locke will be connecting with Years 4 - 6 students on Thursday 11 April, 2024 at 11.45am, as part of Olympics Unleashed.

The students will learn from Jasmine Locke's Olympic journey how to build resilience, the importance of setting goals and how to find what you are passionate about.

Students will hear firsthand from Jasmine Locke about how she overcame challenges to compete in her chosen sport at the very highest level, and how some lessons they’ve learned in sport can help students to be the best they can be – whether that’s in school, at home, on the sporting field or with friends.

For more information on Olympics Unleashed visit www.olympicsunleashed.com.au