Dear Parents, Carers and Community,

These last few weeks have seen some great experiential learning experiences for our students. Our Year 5 students visited Killalea State Park with an excursion facilitated by The Department of Education’s Environmental Education Centre and our Stage 1 students visited Oak Flats High School, learning from their agriculture department. In addition, we had Kinder visit our local zoo and we had 120 students take advantage of the free swimming and water safety program provided by the DoE, with families only required to pay for pool entry. What great resources we have that we can take advantage of to support the learning of our students.

Congratulations to all our students who have represented our school and themselves proudly. It’s always a highlight to receive positive feedback from staff, local community and excursion facilitators.

Of course, these excursions don’t happen without all the work behind the scenes from teachers and admin staff. With the added responsibility of caring for your children outside our school grounds, planning, administration and risk management processes means our staff do much of this in their own time.

School Bytes

Thank you to our families who have downloaded and made payments via our new School Bytes system. If you are having difficulty or need support, please don’t hesitate to contact our office. The app will allow for parents and carers to easily make payments, download receipts and conveniently complete digital permission notes.

Planning for 2024 & Class Structures

Planning for 2024 classes and staffing requires a clear understanding of the number of anticipated students. If you and your family will be relocating and moving schools for 2024, please contact the office so it can be noted.

Teachers will begin to look at class structures and groupings. The configuration of classes is mostly due to the number of students enrolled in each grade, however within the constraints of class ratios, we can make decisions that best meet our students’ needs. A lot of time and thought goes into creating class groups that will best meet the needs of all students. This sometimes means that we may need to create more composite classes (e.g. 1/2 or 3/4). Creating stage-based classes, rather than grade classes allows us to be more flexible in meeting the social, emotional and wellbeing needs of our students. We know students’ learning can be heavily impacted by both positive and challenging peers relationships, which can impact on learning. We also know our teachers are skilled at what they do and can competently meet the learning needs of stage-based classes and differentiate the learning needs for all.

COVID

You may be aware that there has been an increase in the community of people testing positive to COVID. We have we had some students test positive and I have also tested positive, after managing to escape this virus for the last 4 years.

If you believe you or your child has been exposed to COVID-19, it is strongly recommended to monitor for symptoms and consider RAT testing, as well as follow the NSW Health guidelines if you receive a positive result.

We still have RAT kits available if you are in need. Please see the office and they can assist.

I will also take this opportunity to thank Mrs Wigny for relieving while I am on sick leave. I feel extremely fortunate to be able to leave our school having complete confidence in Mrs Wigny’s and our executive team’s leadership and management.

BYOD Parent Information Session

Next week, Mr McGee will be holding a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) parent information session on Wednesday, 22 November for our Year 2 parents. This session will provide information on our BYOD policy for students moving into Year 3, as well as provide an opportunity to ask questions. This session will take place in the Computer Lab, commencing at 3:10pm.

Road Safety

We have had a number of reports from some community members, as well as a crossing supervisor about students running across the road, resulting in cars having to break quickly. This is happening at the crossing, with students not waiting for the crossing supervisor to stop the cars first before proceeding, as well as students crossing near roundabouts.

Our staff will reinforce road safety messages with students in classes and if we are aware of individuals we will inform parents. We also ask that if your child walks to school independently that you also reinforce these messages of how to cross safely at a crossing and safe places to cross, if unable to access a crossing.

These behaviours are putting students at great risk as well as causing distress for drivers and community members. Let’s work together to ensure our children get to school and return home safely.

AECG

The next AECG meeting will be held at Dapto High School on Thursday 30 November, starting at 4pm.

Grandparents Day

Thank you to all the wonderful grandparents, family members and friends who joined us for our Grandparents Day celebrations and book character parade. Thank you also to Mrs Guinery and a team of teachers who organised this event, and to Sarah Blaker and our canteen staff for providing the meal deal and tasty treats.

Presentation Assembly

Our annual Presentation Assembly will be held in the Primary COLA on Monday, 11 December, commencing at 9.30am. This is a time when teachers present class awards and some very special individual awards. Student leaders for 2024 will also be announced. Please come along and join us as we celebrate some of the wonderful student and school achievements of this year.

P&C Discos – Save the Date

Our wonderful P&C have again planned to host our Term 4 discos. Please keep your eye out for further information.

· Years K - 2 – Tuesday 5 December, 4 - 5pm

· Years 3 - 6 – Thursday 7 December, 4 - 5.15pm

Tell Them From Me – Parent Survey

Thank you to the 66 parents and carers who completed the TTFM survey. This is more than we have received in previous years. Once we can access these results and analyse them, we will share some key findings with you.

Selective High School 2025

Applications for Selective High School for Year 7 in 2025 will close on 20 November 2023. Parents must apply online via the link at the Selective High Schools and Opportunity Classes – Application Process website. If you would like to speak to your child’s teacher about your child’s suitability or need support, please make an appointment as soon as possible.

Last Day for 2023

The last day for students this year is Friday 15 December. Our staff will be at school the morning of Monday 18 Decemb completing some professional learning but will then finish early, having completed the professional learning hours during twilight sessions after school.

Kind regards

Jodi Niedermayer

Scholastic Book Club