Principal Message

It has been a fun, busy and productive couple of weeks at Strathfield South PS. Our students have engaged in enriching academic and creative and physical learning experiences ranging from the athletics carnival, 100 days of Kindy, Festival of Choral Music, Korean Immersion Day excursion, Book Week celebrations and Musica Viva. We thank our dedicated and passionate teachers for organising these amazing experiences for our Strathfield South students and our parent community for your ongoing support.

Earlier this term, our school celebrated Public Education Week. The theme for 2024 was: Proud to belong. Public Education Week is a time for all of us to feel "proud to belong", sharing our pride in being part of NSW public education, our Strathfield South community, and pride in the achievements of our students and staff. It is a reminder of the strength and unity we build when everyone in our school community comes together in support of our common cause - providing the very best for our children. This statewide event coincided with the Chinese Cultural Exchange Study Tour. We were honoured to host a group of 12 students and 3 staff from schools across China across the week. This visit was a vibrant celebration of culture, friendship, and learning. Across the week, our Strathfield South students had the opportunity to build lasting relationships with their peers from another country.

Our week began with the BE SKILLED BE FIT Olympic Day where all students K-6 represented a country and had fun experiencing the events and events of the real Olympics such as the Opening Ceremony, track and field events and closing ceremony. It was an engaging way for our students to learn the Olympic values of respect and friendship and how we can demonstrate these within our school context.

Across the week, through shared lessons, creative performances and structured play, students learned about each other’s cultures. A highlight of the visit was our Public Education Open Day Concert which featured performances from SSPS students. Performances included the School Orchestra, Junior Choir, the Advanced Recorders, Beginner Strings, Junior and Senior dance. With over 120 parents in the audience, our students were beaming with pride. Our Open Day activities then included classroom visits for parents, hotdog lunch and the P&C bake sale.

To say farewell to our guests, we hosted an assembly, and we were treated to student performances, including a traditional Chinese song and some solo items.

Hosting the Cultural Exchange Chinese Study Tour has reminded us of the value of cultural exchange. We commend our Stage 3 students who took the time to engage with our visitors. Some supported translating and helping with transitions and organisation. We are most proud of these students, and we look forward to continuing these international exchanges in the future.

We deeply thank Mrs Larkin and the Stage 3 team, Ms Zhou and our community language teachers, Mrs Hamilton, Mr Murphy and the Education Week Team for the incredible planning, support and for facilitating this wonderful week of learning and engagement for our community.

We encourage you to join our Strathfield South PS Facebook page to stay up to date with the amazing learning that occurs every day at our amazing school.

Ms Fay Papadis