Principal's Report
Mr Pitt

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome to the Week 8 edition of the newsletter. We have less than 3 weeks to go before the school holidays and there is so much going on! I would like to start the newsletter by saying a big thank you to our Year 6 teachers – Miss David, Miss Diep and Mr Ly for attending the Stage 3 Camp to ‘The Tops’. It was a great camp with lots on offer for the children to do. Experiences like this only happen because our teachers volunteer their time to attend – thank you teachers, it is appreciated by us all!

FAIRVALE FESTIVAL

Everyone is getting excited about the Fairvale Festival. We have dancing, drama, Olympic themed class videos and the choir performing. Tickets have been on sale for parents to purchase from the office verandah. From Monday 16 September, all parents and friends can purchase additional tickets to the matinee and/or night show on Wednesday 25 September, 2024. As a special treat, all non-performers in Years K to 6 are invited to attend the matinee performance for free, only having to pay $5 to cover bus costs.

BOOK WEEK DOOR DISPLAYS

As you know this year’s Book Week theme was ‘Reading is Magic’. Over the last few weeks classes have been creating door displays, completing related activities during library lessons as well as having opportunities to enter guessing and drawing competitions. It has been a wonderful time, always focusing on the importance of reading for everyone – mum, dad, aunty, big brother . . . everyone! Check out all the door displays and pictures of our competition winners in this edition of the newsletter. Thank you to Mrs Bawa and Library Project Team for coordinating such wonderful activities this year.

BIKE VISITS WITH MR PITT

This last fortnight I visited KO and 4T. Read my reports below and check out some of the photos in this edition of the newsletter. 

K O’NEILL – I visited KO last Monday during a writing lesson. It was so pleasing to see everyone helping Mrs Occhiuto write her recount about the weekend. KO remembered to use finger spaces and tried hard sounding out new words and writing other words they use every day. During the lesson, I was able to spend time assisting some of the children and was excited to see everyone read their own work to me and talk about their drawings too. When finished, the children had time to read with their friends over at the reading corner. It was a fantastic bike visit!

4 TRICKETT – I had a great visit to 4T on Wednesday morning during a spelling lesson. The day’s focus was on spelling combinations for /oi/. There were opportunities for everyone to participate and use their sound knowledge by recording /oi/ sounds on their mini whiteboard. It was evident that students in 4T were using their knowledge of syllables to assist them with a few trickier words like asteroid and disappointment. Thank you 4T, I enjoyed visiting your classroom – keep it up! Check out my pics in this edition of the newsletter.

SCHOOL SWIMMING AND WATER SAFETY

We have had a great response so far to this year’s school swimming and water safety program with 130 students already registered to attend. We can take 180 students from Years 2-6 to the Whitlam Leisure Centre. The program is for students who are non and/or weak swimmers. The program will assist students to sustain confidence whilst in the water as well as focus on basic survival skills to help keep children and their families stay safe around water.

This year the program will operate in Term 4 – Week 2 for 5 days, with the children travelling by bus to the venue every day. The total cost for the 5-day program was going to be $60.00 per student (daily pool entry and bus fare), however, the school will subsidise $10 per student; therefore, the total cost will be $50 per student.

If your child is in Year 2 to Year 6, and fits the criteria outlined above, I would strongly encourage you to allow your child to participate and pay as soon as you can. Once the student numbers reach 180, the program will be closed.

PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – WHOOPING COUGH (PERTUSSIS)

NSW Health advises that whooping cough (sometimes called pertussis) is circulating at high levels in NSW and affecting school aged children, with incidence highest among children aged 10 to 14 years old, followed by 5 to 9 year olds. Whooping cough is a serious respiratory illness. It is highly contagious and spreads easily between kids and families. Children who are sick (including those with cold and flu symptoms) stay home and away from other children until their symptoms have resolved or as directed by their doctor.

HEALTHY FAMILY BULLETIN – SEPTEMBER EDITION

Click on the link below to read about heart health, getting the most out of screen time and easy lunchbox recipes. Click on the link below. > https://rb.gy/81dof7