Principal's Report - Mr Pitt

Dear Parents/ Carers,

WELCOME BACK!

Welcome back to Term 3. A very special welcome to new families who have commenced at Fairvale PS this term. Communication at our school remains very strong as there are so many ways to stay in touch with what is happening in and around the school. Parents/ Carers can stay in touch by downloading the new School App, accessing the school website, checking our school Facebook page, liking our Twitter posts and logging in and checking out your child’s Seesaw account. This term is 10 weeks - with our annual Fairvale Festival occurring in Week 10.

STAFF NEWS

We have commenced the term with some staff changes.

Miss Brooke Williams (Monday, Tuesdays, Fridays) and Mr Matthew Hopkins will be teaching 4I. Miss Ida is still at Fairvale PS, just in an executive support role before she commences maternity leave. Both Miss Williams and Mr Hopkins have been working with 4I so we expect a smooth transition as they commence the term.
Miss Christina Huynh has returned to Fairvale PS one day per week. On Thursdays she will be teaching 6D.
Mrs Kirsty Tannous - from next week, our fabulous Wellbeing teacher mentor will be moving to another school for the rest of 2023. Mrs Tannous will perform in an executive position supporting the needs of the whole community. This is a wonderful opportunity for Mrs Tannous and we know the new school will appreciate her dedication, friendliness and creativity. We will miss her!
Mrs Atra Benjamin (Mondays) and Miss Tamara Marjanac (Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays) will replace Mrs Tannous in the Wellbeing teacher mentor role for the rest of 2023.

BEING COVID-SMART – TERM 3

Our COVID-smart measures continue to be in place to help reduce the risk of transmission for students and staff members and are vital in allowing us to keep our schools operational while prioritising student and staff wellbeing. These measures include:

Staying home if unwell and test for COVID-19 if showing any symptoms
Strongly encouraging masks to be worn by all students, staff and visitors, particularly when indoors, and if exposed to COVID-19
Strongly encouraging up-to-date vaccinations for our staff and students, including COVID-19 booster shots for anyone eligible
Maintaining natural ventilation with windows and doors open whenever possible, including when cooling/heating systems are in use
Continuing to provide RATs and other hygiene products to schools free of charge.

BIKE VISITS WITH MR PITT

This last fortnight I have been very busy visiting our K-2 children who receive additional support during small groups.

K-2 EAL/D – What a great start to the term it has been, visiting many students during EAL/D lessons and activities. EAL/D stands for English as an Additional Language/ Dialect and at Fairvale PS we have experienced EAL/D teachers who work with many children on a daily basis. During my visits I saw lots of engaging interaction from the children whilst they participated in both small group and whole class activities. It is always such a thrill for me to visit these lessons to see and hear the amazing progress being made. Check out some of the photos in this edition of the newsletter.

REPEAT SCHOOL APP CHANGES

We have commenced our transition to the NSW Education Parent App. The app will streamline communication between schools and parents and carers with features such as push notifications to your phone. Besides Fairvale PS information, it will have:

News feed
My schools – you can add other schools
Events
Newsletters
Enrolment
Learning resources – an easy way to located resources to support parents and children.

Download the app in the Apple Store or Google Play. Add Fairvale Public School to your list of schools in the app.

REPEAT: SCHOOL SWIMMING AND WATER SAFETY

All students in Years 2 to 6 have now received the school swimming and water safety information. This year we can take 180 students to Prairiewood Leisure Centre. The program is for students who are non and/or weak swimmers. The program will assist students to obtain confidence whilst in the water as well as focusing on basic survival skills to help keep children and their families stay safe around water. It is a 10-day program, and the school has subsidised the entire daily bus fare. So rather than the program costing $131.11, it will cost $65.00 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. I am hoping we can fill all 180 spaces.

EDUCATION WEEK

Education Week is celebrated across New South Wales next week. The theme this year is ‘175 years of public education in NSW’. We will celebrate Fairvale Public School’s past with a lovely trip down memory lane as well as celebrating the week with some great activities. A flyer has been included in this edition of the newsletter and one was also sent home last Wednesday. It is important that we ask families to finalise science incursion and sausage sizzle costs

SCIENCE WEEK 2023—INNOVATION: POWERING FUTURE INDUSTRIES

This year Science Week will be held from Monday 14 August to Friday 18 August. The theme this year is ‘Innovation: Powering future industries.’ Children received information regarding the Science Week Project last week. This year all projects will be on display in the library throughout Week 5. Everyone will have the opportunity to view the projects as part of our Science Week celebration. We hope that many children and/or families will submit a project. Projects can be individually, or family designed under one of the 3 areas: Artwork, Digital Representation or a 3D model. Classes will also be involved in some fun science experiments early in the week. If you need any more information, check out the flyer in the newsletter or speak to Miss Nak, Miss Tram, Miss Yousif, Mrs Batten, Mrs Buenaventura, Mrs Tannous, Miss Cassady —Science Week Project Team.

NAPLAN 2023

Students in Years 3 and 5 will be receiving their 2023 NAPLAN results today. Inside each envelope will be student’s individual report and information for parents and carers. As communicated to families earlier in the year, there have been some changes to NAPLAN reports this year. Proficiency standards replace bands which are measured against 4 levels of proficiency: Exceeding, Strong, Developing and Needs additional support. More information, including links to translations can be found in this edition of the newsletter. If you need further support and/or have any questions with your child’s results, please contact the classroom teacher.

REPEATED: STAY HOME IF YOU ARE SICK

All adults on site will be healthy and ready to work and we expect the same from our children and their families. If children are unwell at school, you or your nominated emergency contact will need to collect them immediately. Please make sure your contact details are up to date. Check out the link below.

https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/infectious/influenza/Pages/default.aspx

Life in Australia Survey (srcentre.com.au)