Term 1 Week 4

Padstow North Public School ”A Quality Education in a Caring Environment”

Gold! Gold! Gold! Congratulations to the following students who have qualified for Gold and will be awarded their

certificates at our Gold assembly on Thursday 27th February, 2020.

Kindergarten to Year 2Zainab A

Christian SIsabella SNoah H

Jeffrey H

Year 3-6Zain E

Ethan CLily H

Kenzy KAndrew PDeekin CPrisha GRachel B

Dear Padstow North Families,Welcome Back! I hope you had a wonderful break and enjoyed some quality family time. I also hope you are relaxed, recharged and ready to start a new school year. I welcome our new families and students and look forward to working with you and your children.

Each year brings positive change, this includes a few additions to our staff. We are delighted to welcome Mikaela Carr, teaching on stage 1. Rebecca McDonald and Kate King also re-join us on a part time basis teaching RFF across the school. Belinda Adams is returning to us after taking maternity leave, supervising and teaching stage 3, Monday Tuesday and Wednesday. Vicky Papagianopoulos is new to our office staff and working in the south office Wednesday and Thursday. I am very proud of the high calibre of staff we have at Padstow North, very dedicated professionals who are focused on supporting our students in every way possible.

A major initiative at our school this year is reading. We want all of our students to enjoy reading and to read for meaning. Reading is one of the most important foundations for success in school and life. It is well documented that an individual’s literacy and in particular reading abilities affect their opportunities in life for education, employment, income and wellbeing. As a school, we have implemented several initiatives to support and improve all of our students reading in 2020. Every class K-6, will receive reading support for three hours per week. This consists of a specialist teacher working closely with students to improve their reading skills, also allowing the classroom teacher to give greater one-to-one reading support in the classroom. We are also in the process of setting up a primary reading room to store all of our reading resources and to evaluate where resource gaps exist. Last year the school spent $8000 on K-2 readers and added these to the K-2 reading room. This year we will purchase $8000 worth of quality levelled texts and novel packs for stage 2 and 3. Additionally, all stage 2 and stage 3 students will receive regular school magazines and use these as part of their learning. We aim to have a rich supply of reading materials to spark student interest and engagement with reading. Our proud school captains and vice captains are holding up issue 1, 2020 school magazines.

We would like your help with improving reading abilities in all of our children by ensuring your child reads at home most nights for 20 minutes. This can be a home reader and then reading a story to your child or an older child reading for 20 minutes on their own. The table below highlights all the benefits of reading at home. Kids who read are kids who succeed!!’

Dates to Remember

24 & 25 FebruaryWheelchair Sport NSWRoad Safety Incursion

27th FebruaryGold Assembly

9 AprilEaster Hat Parade

Birthdays at school. We are more than happy to help your child celebrate their birthday throughout the year. We ask that if you wish for your child to celebrate their birthday at school, you provide cupcakes only. Students particularly enjoy cupcakes as they are easy to eat and are easily shared. There is strictly to be NO NUTS in, on or near the cake. No lolly bags with gifts/toys are to be given out. We are teaching our students about healthy eating and living and wish to promote this; this is a curriculum and department requirement K-12. Please let your child’s teacher know in advance if you are bringing in birthday cupcakes for the class.

We are a healthy school canteen. All NSW school canteens have had to go through a rigorous process to ensure the food provided is healthy and supports students to make healthy choices. If canteens did not meet the Department of Education requirements, they would be unable to continue to operate. I have also included in this newsletter information around our healthy canteen.

Thank you for taking the time to read the Padstow North Newsletter, we are very excited to report what our students have been doing. For day to day updates and reminders please use the Dojo app.Warmest Regards,

Genevieve Dennis Principal

Kindy K and Kindy W have had such a lovely start to the year! Our Kindy students have settled well into school life, and have been working very hard to learn the new routines of ‘Big School’. We have been enjoying using the online learning platform Sound Waves to introduce and practise letter sounds. The activities we can access using this platform are highly engaging and fun for students! Kindergarten are also using familiar nursery rhymes, such as Humpty Dumpty, Incy Wincy Spider to practise their speaking and listening during literacy sessions. During Mathematics, we have been playing a variety of games using dice, cards and number lines, which help develop students’ early numeracy skills.Last week, we started our Science topic linked to the ‘Living World’. In this unit, students will have the opportunity to explore the characteristics, needs and uses of living things. We are excited to look around the school and find all the living and nonliving things around us! In Geography, students are learning about the topic ‘Special Places’, where they will have the opportunity to explore the places they live in and belong to. Kindergarten also participates in developmental play, which helps students to get to know their peers and develop their social interaction skills. Students are excited about the Class Dojo points system and are working hard towards earning twenty points, for which they receive a Bronze Award.This term we’re all excited to learn new things, make new friends and have fun throughout our school day! Keep up the fantastic effort Kindergarten, Miss Wortz and Miss K are looking forward to the year ahead with each and every one of you!

News from the Kindergarten Classrooms

News from the Stage 1 Classrooms1/2BWe have had a great start to the year in 1/2 B! Thank you parents and students for coming back settled, excited and ready to learn! We are starting to establish most of our classroom routines with reading group rotations, spelling activities linked to our online learning tool Soundwaves, and Mathematics activities and games happening daily. We are excited to have Mrs Cope supporting our reading groups four times a week, with our students growth and success in reading being a focus for term 1. Mrs King and I are looking forward to a great 2020 with 1/2 B, and look forward to supporting you and your children in any way we can.

1/2NWhat a fantastic start to the New Year! Welcoming back our energetic and excited students in 1/2 N. This year we have welcomed three new students into 1/2 N. All students have settled in well, learning about classroom routines, access to devices and all other learning equipment. They have been enthusiastically participating in social and learning activities whilst developing great friendships inside and outside the classroom. Students have had opportunities to learn about one another’s likes and dislikes, hobbies and interests through circle time talking and listening activities.

During our first few weeks of school, students in 1/2 N have been learning about 2 and 3 digit numbers. Counting forwards and backwards, filling in missing numbers and skip counting. Students also shared their holiday experiences with fellow classmates by writing interesting recounts during our writing

sessions. I am looking forward to a great productive learning year with all the students in 1/2 N.

1/2CWith our routines and familiarity beginning to become prevalent, we’ve had a wonderful third week. Each student has established different learning and social goals to ensure we achieve a little success every day. We have been writing recounts, in which we’ve begun to have clear structures, check our own work and read each other’s writing to improve our confidence in giving feedback.

We have become more settled as our year ones and two’s who have only known each other as a familiar face, are now beginning to share ideas and become comfortable and confident in working as a team. It’s been an exciting start to the term getting to know all of these individual personalities and I’m looking forward to watching our growth as individuals and as a class throughout the year!

It was lovely to meet those of you who could make it to meet the teacher on Tuesday and I look forward to meeting everyone else during the course of the term!

News from the Stage 1 Classrooms1/2A1/2 A have had an amazing start to the year! The students have settled into their new learning routines and show excitement towards their learning. We have started the year full of learning and hard work and have created some great work to prove it!

We have jumped into the new year with some impressive recount writing. Students have enjoyed sharing their personal recounts with each other and have learnt about using time connectives to improve their writing. They have even begun to write recounts using characters from story books! In Mathematics we have been using charts and number lines to count and order our numbers and have explored the importance of place value. Science has also sparked an abundance of interest in our exploration of living things. We have started to look at different types of habitats and the animals that live there, and of course the students have started making some wonderful artworks to show what they know!

Keep up the fantastic work 1/2A I am looking forward to spending the year with all of you!

2/6CS

With the start of a new school year it is great to be learning how as a class we can be positive in the classroom and support each other with our learning. We have been praising our friends when they have been trying hard with their work, telling the class a good answer during our discussion or seeing our friend working independently and getting tricky questions right.

This term we are exploring the importance of living things to the way we live. It will be great to learn how plants and animals can help us make things we need and use. We will also get to explore Australia’s neighbouring countries to see how they are the same and different. It will be great to discover what other countries are like.

3/4HWhat a great start to 2020! I am very excited to be teaching a lovely group of students this year. We have already started our year full of learning, showing our hard work and growth mindset. Students have settled well into their new classroom and routines, and it has been lovely to see friendships form with new and familiar faces.

We began the year setting new learning goals in reading, writing and mathematics, and students have been working hard to achieve them. In Science we have started learning about forces of push and pull, our discussions have been very interesting! We have also created kaleidoscope artworks to show our names using the skills of symmetry and contrasting colours.

Keep up the fantastic effort 3/4H, I am looking forward to the year ahead with each and every one of you!

3/4GWelcome to 3/4G. It has been wonderful to see students come back to school with such great enthusiasm. We began the year creating class rules which would make our classroom a place for successful learners. We have settled into class routines well and welcomed new friends to our school.

In Maths, we have been learning about the place value of numbers with up to 5 digits and using games to enhance our understanding. We have also enjoyed learning about road safety and creating our own educational posters to explain the responsibilities of everyone to keep road users safe.

I’m looking forward to what will be an exciting year ahead with each of these lovely students!

3/4C3/4 C have had a fantastic start to the year. We have been working hard in Maths to understand whole numbers and place value. One of our favourite ways to learn is through playing games. Our favourites have been Place Value Bingo and The Mean Game.

In reading we have been learning about visualising, which is when we make a picture in our head while we are reading. In writing we have been learning about how to plan our arguments for persuasive texts. One of the most exciting things we are working on is our Science projects. We have been learning about gravity and are designing our very own Marble Runs. We can’t wait to build them in week 4!

We are really looking forward to a fantastic year together!

3/4BWelcome back to the wonderful students in 3/4 Britton. It has been a pleasure to get to know the students in the first few weeks. We have been making new friends, learning new routines and getting to know our class pet ‘Drax’.

In literacy, we have been working hard on our persuasive writing. Students are focusing on how to convince the reader by using strong language and identifying what reasons are the most important. Reading has also been an important focus, we are learning what good readers do by using the super six comprehension strategies. Our first strategy was visualising, we do this by making a movie in our minds whilst reading.

The students are very excited about science this term, we are looking at our physical world and how we can use forces and energy in products and systems. Students will be designing their very own marble run to demonstrate their understanding of friction and gravity. I can’t wait to see their designs in action.

We are all looking forward to a fantastic year in 2020.

News from the Stage 2 Classrooms

News from the Stage 3 Classrooms Elissa - I have enjoyed working out what the pattern is in maths.Hassan - I think writing because I write neat and I like the words I have been learning.

5/6S student comments:

Mia, Kai, Zain, Hussein, Lachlan – We learnt about patterns using decimals and fractions. Since students in 5/6S are so smart, we tried independently to complete fraction patterns.

Maddie, Maddy, Harshini, Zoey, Zak – Over the past two weeks we were overjoyed to learn about place value. We had fun writing numbers with 4-9 digits and using expanded notation.

Vicky, Fajr, Elyse, Mireya, Seb – We started to learn about different types of persuasive texts, such as debates and advertisements. We designed cereal boxes and wrote a persuasive text on the back to convince people to buy it.

Khodr, Josh, Amour, Omar, Aidan, Kostas – We really enjoy playing dodgeball in fitness because of how competitive we are against 5/6L!

Noah, Raya, Ryley, Alex, Malak – In Science, we have been learning about user interfaces. This helps a person interact with devices and board games.

5/6AL student comments:Manahal - The beginning of the year has been great. Lucy - 5/6L has enjoyed participating in whole number activities. Genting - We have fun playing dodge ball with the other Stage 3 classes. Angel - This year is going to be the best year ever.

Stage 3 has had a wonderful start to the Term. We have been practising our persuasive writing to convince the reader of our opinion on various topics. In Mathematics, students have been learning about place value and patterns and algebra. Students have also been demonstrating their understanding of prime and composite numbers as well as square and triangular numbers. We are looking forward to our Wheelchair Sports NSW Roadshow incursion in Week 5. Stage 3 students and teachers look forward to an exciting term ahead!

5/6AG student comments:

Charlize, Des, Jess, Hannah and Farhat - This term we have been reading a book called ‘Boy Overboard. This book is exciting and holds plenty of suspense.

Sophia, Kiara, Yvonne and Chloe - We have really enjoyed completing our artworks using tessellation cubes.

Jesse, Thomas and Jeremy - We have been creating persuasive texts on various topics. We have been working collaboratively in class to enhance our vocabulary to improve our writing.

Andrew, Tyler and Deekin - We have thoroughly enjoyed reading Boy Overboard because the main character Bibi is stubborn, funny and humorous. Her sarcastic comments in the text always make us laugh.

Eva, Jewel, Omayma, Bella and Lujayn - We have learnt how to design and create cubes using tesselating shapes and have found this quite challenging.

Farris - I have absolutely loved reading our new novel ‘Boy Overboard’ because it’s extremely interesting.

5/6CT student comments:Isabeau - I liked in math measuring and finding the area of the back wall.Summer - I have liked reading and learning the Super Six.Nazih - I like writing persuasive text and learning better words rather than basic words.Mataea - I am liking maths, the patterns are fun and enjoyable.Katelyn - I have enjoyed writing because I get to learn more words.Jayden - I have enjoyed math mostly because it is fun to learn about triangular and square numbers.

East Hills

Please like and follow the East Hills PSSA page on Facebook for regular updates. The Facebook site will be used to assist with communicating important information to parents and carers regarding competitions, carnivals, wet weather, dates and trials.

District Selection

Each year Padstow North Public School is invited to send students to sporting trials, to be considered for selection in District Teams to play at Regional Carnivals. Trials are open to the 11 schools that make up the East Hills District PSSA. We are limited to sending a select amount of senior students as the competition for selection is of a high standard and these numbers vary depending on the sport. Dates of trials will be advised closer to the specific team selection dates.

Library News

Library borrowing and lessons have commenced. We have revised care of our books, borrowing procedures and The Five Finger Test, which is a simple test to help students choose a book that is at their reading level.

Each class has a designated library session every week and students are encouraged to bring their book(s) each week to return and borrow. Please check your child’s library day with their class teacher. To borrow, students need to remember a library bag. A school library bag offers the best protection for our books.

A number of Year 5 students have applied to be Library Monitors for this year. Students will be coming to the library during lunchtime to learn the role.

Sport UpdateSports Captains

It has been a very busy start to sport this year, starting with the voting of Sport Captains and Vice Captains. Each house voted for 2 Captains and 2 Vice Captains to represent the sporting needs and requirements of the school. Students responsibilities include attending regular SRC meetings, supporting their peers in PSSA and sporting carnivals, representing Padstow North at our District Cross Country event and leading their houses at our school carnivals. Students will also regularly lead our school assemblies to congratulate their peers and celebrate their achievements in Swimming, Athletics and Cross Country carnivals. A huge congratulations to the following students who were voted by their peers to represent their sporting houses in 2020:

Brolgas Captains: Mataea and ZakariahVice Captains: Evangelina and Udayveer

Kookas Captains: Tahlia and JesseVice Captains: Georgia and Ethan C

Emus Captains: Isabeau and SebastianVice Captains: Jenin and Khodr

HawksCaptains: Mia and TylerVice Captains: Saraya and Fares

Trials

Season 1 of PSSA begins in Week 5 and it has been encouraging to see so many students trying out for a team. The amount of students attending trials is making coaches’ decisions extremely hard. The sports being offered this season include Newcombe Ball (non-competitive), Netball and Boys Touch Football. We are looking forward to another successful season of PSSA, and wish our teams the best of luck in working towards the Grand Finals.

The NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge will officially commence from Monday March 2 and all students need to have their ‘Challenge’ completed by August 31. If you have any queries about the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge or other matters related to the library please contact me.

Susan HarrisTeacher Librarian

P&C ReportMeet the P&C executive team elected in the November 2019 Annual General Meeting:

Amy Hall – Vice President and Fundraising Co-ordinator

Lisa Harris – Junior Vice President

Julia de Villiers – Treasurer

Jennifer Bracken – Secretary

We are looking forward to another super year of fundraising and supporting the school community.

We warmly welcomed new and returning families to the school last week at the welcome morning tea followed by our first P&C meeting of the year, a very productive meeting. Thank you to those who attended.

The Snack Shed, our healthy canteen, is excited to include sushi on the menu, available on Wednesday’s. Orders for sushi need to be placed on Monday by 8.45am.

We had a record Loose Change Friday last week, raising over $500, good work everyone! That money is going towards our new playground in the north which is planned for the first half of 2020.

The first disco of the year will be held this term. Keep your eye out for details.

Unfortunately, school banking is no longer available at Padstow North, this was a difficult decision made last year due to lack of volunteers.

The new PSSA sports shirts are in and they look fantastic! The sports shirts were purchased with a grant from Revesby Workers Club combined with money donated from the P&C. Our teams will look very smart in the new uniform.

Finally, the uniform shop is open on Tuesday mornings 8.45am to 9.15am on EVEN weeks and Thursday afternoons from 2.45pm to 3.15pm on ODD weeks. However you can order online anytime on Munch Monitor and your items will be delivered to your child in class.

Next P&C meeting will be held in the north staffroom at 6.30pm on March 10th, all welcome.

NO STOPPING

What does it mean? Under no circumstances are you permitted to stop in this area.

Why is it there? To keep sight line clear for drivers AND Children so both have more time to avoid crashes.

Penalty $344 2 demerit points

NO PARKING

What does it mean? You are permitted to park for no more than 2 minutes to drop-off/pick-up and you must stay within 3 metres of your vehicle.

Why is it there? To provide a safe place for children to be set down and picked up without endangering other children.

Penalty $191

2 demerit points

BUS ZONE

What does it mean? You must not stop your vehicle in the indicated zone unless you are driving a public bus.

Why is it there? To provide a safe place for large buses to set down and pick up school children.

Penalty $344

2 demerit points

PEDESTRIAN CROSSING (INCLUDING CHILDREN’S CROSSING)

You must stop within 20 metres before or 10 metres after a Pedestrian Crossing.

Why is it there? To ensure children can be clearly seen by vehicles approaching the crossing.

Penalty $457

2 demerit points

DOUBLE PARKING

You must not stop your vehicle or park in the middle of the road to drop off and pick up.

Why is it there? Double parking forces cars to go around you causing traffic congestion and reduces the view of drivers and children crossing the road.

Penalty $344

2 demerit points

Mobile Phone Use

Do not use a hand held mobile phone while driving

Penalty $457

5 demerit points

Please note – fines are subject to change without notice. Penalties apply to offences in school zones during posted school hours on gazetted school days. For a complete list of

school zone offences and gazetted school days please refer to Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) website at www.rms.nsw.gov.au

Penalties that apply in School Zones - Parking and Traffic Rules Choosing Safety over convenience

Learn Music on Keyboard at School Enrolment for Term 1

Convenient at-school venue Small group, 45 min weekly lesson Competitive rate Instrument not required initially

Creative Kids voucher accepted (02) 9411 3122

www.learnmusicatschool.com.au

VIP Music est. 1984

Great songs! Musical activities! Cool music knowledge!

CALL TODAY FOR A FREE ASSESSMENT

English Math

Writinng General Ability

BGHS PRINCIPAL'S HIGH TEAT H U R S D A Y 5 T H M A R C H , 2 0 2 0

4 : 3 0 P MB A N K S T O W N G I R L S H I G H S C H O O L L I B R A R Y

Join Padstow Physie in 2020Classes commence 17 February

Physie (also known as Physical Culture) is the perfect combination of movements designed to increase strength, fitness and flexibility.

Physie is an excellent low impact dance and aerobic activity suitable for girls (3+) and ladies. No experience necessary.

Designed with families in mind, our classes, uniforms, registration and competition fees are affordable. Physie is a low-cost way to learn to dance and keep fit with a touch of glamour and a lot of fun!

At Padstow Physie, we believe inFUN - FRIENDSHIP - FITNESSThese simple ideas empower girls for life.

Class times

... 5 - 8 years

... 9 - 12 years

... 13 - 1st Yr Seniors

... Open Seniors

... Nov / Int Ladies

... Open Ladies

Monday4.00 - 4.45pm 4.45 - 5.30pm5.30 - 6.15pm6.15 - 7.00pm7.00 - 8.00pm8.00 - 9.00pm

Interested in joining? Contact our teacher Jill on 0408 814 005

Padstow Physical Culture Club

... Toddlers

... 5 - 6 years

... 7 - 8 years

... 9 - 10 years

... 11 - 12 years

... 13 - 1st Yr Seniors

Wednesday4.00 - 4.30pm4.30 - 5.15pm5.15 - 6.00pm6.00 - 6.45pm6.45 - 7.30pm7.30 - 8.30pm

... Nov / Int Ladies

... Open Ladies

... Open Seniors

Saturday (commencing in March)1.30 - 2.30pm 2.30 - 3.30pm3.30 - 4.30pm

Practice venues tbc

Information and

Registration Night

12 February 2020 Padstow RSL6.30 - 8.00pm

School CalendarMonday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Sat & Sun

24/02

Wheelchair Sport Roadshow Stage 2

WEEK 5

25/02

Wheelchair Sport Roadshow Stage 3

26/02 27/02

Gold Assembly

Uniform Shop Open2:45-3:15pm

(located north)

28/02

PSSA

29/02-1/03

02/03

WEEK 6

03/03

Uniform Shop Open8:45-9:15am

04/03 05/03

Assembly

06/03

PSSA

07-08/03

09/03

WEEK 7

10/03 11/03 12/03

Assembly

Uniform Shop Open2:45-3:15pm

13/03

PSSA

14-15/03

16/03

WEEK 8

17/03

Uniform Shop Open8:45-9:15am

18/03 19/03

Assembly

20/03

PSSA

21-22/03

23/03

WEEK 9

24/03 25/03 26/03

Assembly

Uniform Shop Open2:45-3:15pm

27/03

PSSA

28-29/03

30/03

WEEK 10

31/03

Cross Country

Uniform Shop Open8:45-9:15am

01/04 02/04

Gold Assembly

03/04

PSSA

04-05/04

06/04

WEEK 11

07/04 08/04 09/04

Uniform Shop Open2:45-3:15pm

Easter Hat Parade

Last day of term 1

10/04

Public Holiday

Good Friday

11-12/04

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS 13/04 -27/04