Picnic Point Public School Whole School Information UPCOMING EVENTS: WHAT’S DUE NOW Band Committee Meeting 7:00 pm 18 May Stage 3 Dance Program ‘Be Motivated’ launch day+mufti (gold coin) 20 May District Cross Country National Reconciliation Week 27 May-3 Jun Paul Kelly Cup PSSA Winter season starts 4 Jun P&C Dicso (cash only) THANK YOU! Working Bee #2: Just want to sincerely thank all of the parents, students, staff and friends who attended our recent Working Bee on the 8 May. (See below). My apologies if I have missed anyone. We got an incredible amount of work done in Minimbah preparing the area for replanting. We posted photos of the day on our school facebook page. Our gardens are getting ready for our students to plant in. Special thanks to Kylie Bayley and Maria Tsohas who prepared and cooked the BBQ. Tadros family Tang Family Nona Ruddell & Quinn Nerida Ayres Novakovic family Buchanan family Katzakis family Pinna family Carroll family Helen He Bayley family Sonny & family Minh Tran Sirilak Chaisuphakij Karina Beattie Annie Bui Youseff Beau Dredge Cara Hannon Stephanie Lorez Mrs McNamara Mr Robertson Paige Sellick Mr Dwarte Working Bee #3: Our next Working Bee will be on Sunday 12 September from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. Please save the date - would love to see you there, if you can make it. Local Business Help: Thank you once again to Rodger’s Landscaping Supplies, Revesby, who supplied us with heavily discounted mulch and free delivery. Thank you also to Flower Power, Milperra, who gave us 10% off garden soil. Festival of Eid ul Fitr: Muslims across the world wish each other Eid Mubarak as soon as the crescent moon of Eid is visible. Wishing all of our Muslim students and their families Eid Mubarak. New Basketball Hoops: Thank you Glen Williams for assisting Mr Don Dwarte with assembling two of the six new basketball hoops. There are still more to be done, if you are able to assist, please contact the office. NAPLAN and Check In Assessment: Thank you to our Year 3 - 6 students for their concentration and effort in the recent testing. Thank you to Mrs Chatterton and Mr Narris for ensuring all tech went very smoothly. Thank you to all of our Stage 2 and 3 teachers. Thank you to the P&C: Thank you P & C members for their great support with the two Working Bees, the Easter Raffle and the Mother's Day stall and raffle, on top of your usual helping with canteen and banking. With your generous support providing for the food for the Working Bee BBQ, organising the raffle tickets, wrapping and sourcing gifts and prizes, our students and community have benefited greatly! Kalori 7 May 2021
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Picnic Point Public School
Whole School Information UPCOMING EVENTS: WHAT’S DUE NOW Band Committee Meeting 7:00 pm 18 May Stage 3 Dance Program ‘Be Motivated’ launch day+mufti (gold coin) 20 May District Cross Country National Reconciliation Week 27 May-3 Jun Paul Kelly Cup PSSA Winter season starts 4 Jun P&C Dicso (cash only) THANK YOU! Working Bee #2: Just want to sincerely thank all of the parents, students, staff and friends who attended our recent Working Bee on the 8 May. (See below). My apologies if I have missed anyone. We got an incredible amount of work done in Minimbah preparing the area for replanting. We posted photos of the day on our school facebook page. Our gardens are getting ready for our students to plant in. Special thanks to Kylie Bayley and Maria Tsohas who prepared and cooked the BBQ.
Tadros family Tang Family Nona Ruddell & Quinn Nerida Ayres Novakovic family Buchanan family Katzakis family Pinna family Carroll family Helen He Bayley family Sonny & family Minh Tran Sirilak Chaisuphakij Karina Beattie Annie Bui Youseff Beau Dredge Cara Hannon Stephanie Lorez Mrs McNamara Mr Robertson Paige Sellick Mr Dwarte
Working Bee #3: Our next Working Bee will be on Sunday 12 September from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. Please save the date - would love to see you there, if you can make it.
Local Business Help: Thank you once again to Rodger’s Landscaping Supplies, Revesby, who supplied us with heavily discounted mulch and free delivery. Thank you also to Flower Power, Milperra, who gave us 10% off garden soil.
Festival of Eid ul Fitr: Muslims across the world wish each other Eid Mubarak as soon as the crescent moon of Eid is visible. Wishing all of our Muslim students and their families Eid Mubarak.
New Basketball Hoops: Thank you Glen Williams for assisting Mr Don Dwarte with assembling two of the six new basketball hoops. There are still more to be done, if you are able to assist, please contact the office.
NAPLAN and Check In Assessment: Thank you to our Year 3 - 6 students for their concentration and effort in the recent testing. Thank you to Mrs Chatterton and Mr Narris for ensuring all tech went very smoothly. Thank you to all of our Stage 2 and 3 teachers. Thank you to the P&C: Thank you P & C members for their great support with the two Working Bees, the Easter Raffle and the Mother's Day stall and raffle, on top of your usual helping with canteen and banking. With your generous support providing for the food for the Working Bee BBQ, organising the raffle tickets, wrapping and sourcing gifts and prizes, our students and community have benefited greatly!
Kalori 7
May 2021
Save the date: P&C Disco will be on Friday 18 June from 5 to 7pm in the hall. Further details came home yesterday.
Thank you: Thank you to the following who donated a product/service for our recent Mother’s Day Raffle: ● Family Allied Health Services – The Tadros
Family ● Micks Pies & Bakery – The Di Salvatore Family ● Shelley & Co. - Shelley & Melanie Lockhart (for
arranging) ● Buddah’s Bits & Bobs – Charlie Bayley
● Two Little Foxes & Co. – Karen Friend ● Coles / Myer Gift Card – Ivy-Rose Brown ● Handmade Quilt – Mrs Sellick & Family ● The Coffee Point Cafe- Angela Nabulsi Owner ● The Heights Café – Rema Najjarine Owner
MATHS RESOURCES - Can you help make bead strings? We are currently updating maths resources across the school and need parent helpers to make bead strings for our K-2 classes. Each bead string has 100 wooden beads on a single piece of string. We will supply all materials and instructions. Please contact Mrs Hayes, or the office if you are able to help. ATTENDANCE As part of our attendance strategy to improve and promote attendance, we are working hard towards achieving our attendance target. Our target is to have all students attending school more than 95% of the time. As partners in education, we are counting on everyone’s support to improve our students’ attendance. We would like to congratulate the many parents who ensure their children attend school regularly and are therefore benefiting fully from their education.
ROAD SAFETY AROUND OUR SCHOOL TO KEEP OUR CHILDREN SAFE Over the past week, we have received information from a number of concerned parents and staff who have seen vehicles double-parked, parked across driveways, parked in no-stopping areas and making U-turns on double lines on Thomas St at pick-up and drop-off times. The safety of all our children is paramount and we urge everyone to please respect the rules of the road in order to keep our children safe and to also respect our neighbours by parking appropriately and allowing them to enter and exit their driveways as they need to. Thank you to everyone for your cooperation and support when driving around our school to ensure that all our little ones make it to school and back home again safely each and every day. ANTI BULLYING At Picnic Point Public School we aim to ensure a safe and happy learning environment for all members of the school community. We recognise that bullying does occur and we work to promote a culture which rejects bullying and provides support to any members of the school community who are bullied. Bullying behaviour is anti-social and unacceptable. Should any student feel they are being bullied they need to report it to their teacher as soon as possible. We are then able to work with the students to interview and document all students and observers of the incident. We will then work with the students to come to a resolution. Parents will be notified when the incidents are of a serious nature.
The ways that you can help are by encouraging your children to talk to their teacher or a teacher they trust should they feel like they are being bullied. You can always make an appointment with your class teacher to discuss all concerns. This way we can work with all parties concerned to give them the social skills to deal with situations in the future. REPORTS Throughout the course of this term, teachers will be assessing student learning and preparing the Semester 1 student reports. The reports will be going home on Thursday 17 June. Parent/teacher interviews will be held in Week 10 (21 - 25 June) and information of how to book an interview will be in the next Kalori.
Our 2020 Annual School Report which communicates about the achievements and future directions for our school is available on the school website, as is the School Improvement Plan for the next four years. NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WEEK 2021 National Reconciliation Week 2021 is held from Thursday 27 May to Thursday 3 June 2021. “Reconciliation is a journey for all Australians – as individuals, families, communities, organisations and importantly as a nation. At the heart of this journey are the relationships between the broader Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.” (Reconciliation Australia)
As an acknowledgement of Reconciliation Week we will be holding a mufti day on Thursday 27 May where students will be asked to wear the colours red, yellow and black. The proceeds of a gold coin donation will go towards the mural that will be completed during our Aboriginal Belonging Day on Thursday 10 June, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from surrounding schools in our area. Thank you for your support! ‘BE MOTIVATED’ LAUNCH DAY AND MUFTI - 20 MAY We are raising money for Kids Care Flight on our ‘Be Motivated’ Launch day. This worthy charity is responsible for saving many people’s lives every year. Please bring a gold coin donation to come dressed in casual sports clothes and joggers. Students will be participating in fun, planned activities in the afternoon to celebrate the launch of our re-labelled learner bee. REVISED MOBILE PHONE AND SMART DEVICES POLICY - SMART WATCHES TO BE HANDED IN AT THE OFFICE - APPLE WATCHES, SAMSUNG GALAXY ETC. In the digital age we live in, there are so many smart devices in existence and many more in development. At PPPS, we have a BYOD Program for Stage 3, class sets of iPads for K-2 and Chromebooks for Stage 2, a Computer Lab and Lego Robotics. Our students have access to technology on a daily basis and are taught how to use such devices as learning tools. We have recently updated our Mobile Phone Policy as we have noticed Smart Watches (Apple, Samsung etc.) creeping into the school over time and these are very powerful pieces of technology that can do almost everything a mobile phone can do. I have provided a link to our updated Mobile Phone and Smart Devices Policy here: https://picnicpt-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/about-our-school/rules-and-policies.html
On page 3, it states that: “The procedures applying to the inappropriate use and security of mobile phones, apply equally to the inappropriate use and security of portable computer games, iPods and similar devices.” This includes powerful devices such as Smart Watches. We would appreciate your cooperation in maintaining our cybersafe school environment and security of expensive technology by kindly asking that your child hand in their Smart Watch to the front office each day as they would a mobile phone and complete a “Mobile Phone and Smart Device Consent Form” if you haven’t already. This form can be found on page 4 of our Mobile Phone and Smart Device Policy. Many thanks in advance as your support is greatly appreciated.
SCHOOL UNIFORM Picnic Point Public School prides itself as being a strong “uniform school”. Officially, the changeover to winter uniform occurs after the June long weekend, however, if the weather becomes cooler before this time, students are permitted to wear the winter uniform. If this choice is made, it is expected that the full uniform be worn and not parts of the summer uniform mixed in. We are seeing a few bad habits creeping in, please make sure that your child is wearing the correct ankle socks that cover the ankle and jewellery is strongly discouraged due to safety. Plain studs or sleepers only. Religious jewellery can be worn under the uniform.
Karen Sellick Principal
Shared Language of Learning
Be Gritty
“When I look back, the things that define me as a person and make me who I am are the times when the world said ‘you can’t’ and I just stood tall and announced ‘I can’. That is what
grit is and that is who I am”
Definition Being gritty is the ability to face challenges with a self-belief that they are surmountable. It’s being able to set high expectations and meaningful goals and have the fortitude to pursue them with passion and effort; persevering through mistakes and setbacks with gritted teeth and determination until your goals are accomplished. Why Grit? Grit builds resilience and allows our students to set meaningful goals; working towards them with consistent effort and the belief that they can succeed, regardless of setbacks. Studies have shown that having a gritty growth mindset and an innate sense of self-belief are key factors and indicators in the level of success and accomplishment that one is able to achieve. Language of Learning Challenge Think about a task that challenged you at work, school or as a child; one that provided obstacles, setbacks and failures, but through sheer grit (perseverance, passion & effort) you were able to accomplish it. Discuss with your child what it was about this task that stood in the way of you accomplishing it and how you used grit to succeed. Ask your child if they have had any similar experiences in their learning. Student Quote of the Week ~ Lilly Pilly “When you fail at something, push through with gritted teeth and succeed.” Elena Vidanovski “I’ll never stop trying, because I will eventually get there.” Chanelle Merheb “When the going gets tough dig through and succeed with grit.” Suriya Royal
Early Stage & Stage 1 Information MOTHERS DAY We hope all our Mothers and Grandmothers had a wonderful Mother’s Day last Sunday, spending quality family time together and being spoilt by your children! TOYS K - 2 students are not to bring toys to school unless they are for their news including Poppets or Rubiks Cubes. If they do bring them for news then they are to stay in their bags or class news tray.
Stage 2 Information UPCOMING EVENTS: Year 4 Assignments due Mon 17 May MOTHERS DAY We hope all the mums, nannas, aunties and other important women in our students’ lives enjoyed their special day last Sunday and the little gifts and cards the children made for you. They were all made with love and joy. NAPLAN Well done to all our Year 3 students, who completed their NAPLAN challenge this week; also to Year 4, who practised some NAPLAN - style assessment in readiness for next year. All the students conducted themselves calmly and focused on the task at hand. We know everyone tried hard to do their best. YEAR 4 EXPLORER ASSIGNMENT The Year 4 students have their explorer assignment due next week (Week 5). The teachers are looking forward to their presentations, which can be organised in PowerPoint, Slides or on a poster. We encourage parents to talk to their child about their research, help them check that they have covered all the required points and edited their work for spelling and punctuation. SPEECHES All the Stage 2 students have presented their speeches in class and we are very proud of their efforts and quality. Teachers will now select a number of students for the stage finals in Week 6. OC APPLICATIONS The Opportunity Class applications closed last Friday and we have received the list of candidates to process at school level. We wish all the applicants the best of luck for their test. You are all brave, gritty learners and this challenge is a great experience. OC WORKSHOPS The OC workshops will continue for the rest of this term. There is a small number of students regularly late for the class - can I ask that parents try to get them here on time? Not only is it disruptive to the other students already working, but it is unnecessarily stressful for the latecomers as well. It is the largest workshop class I have had for quite a few years - I am very proud of our gritty learners and parent support!
Stage 3 Information GOLD PRINCIPAL’S AWARDS Congratulations to the following student who has received a Gold Principal’s award at assembly.
● Layla Hassan MOTHER’S DAY STALL Thank you to the leadership team for helping with the Mother’s Day Stall. NAPLAN This week had students and teachers ”hitting the ground running” with our NAPLAN implementation. On Tuesday, the students did Language Conventions and Writing, followed by Reading on Wednesday and finishing up with Numeracy on Thursday. NAPLAN gives valuable data on both individual student and school growth and areas for support. Parents and schools will receive comprehensive results in the coming months.
STAGE 3 DANCE PROGRAM This year Stage 3 will be participating in a dance program at school that will enhance and increase our students’ involvement in dance. It will be running for 4 weeks over Term 3 2021. We are fortunate to have Mrs Plush, who is a fully trained professional dance teacher, she will be teaching the elements of making, performing and appreciating dance. She will also be covering some dance moves that the students will be able to use at the Farewell. SENIOR CAMP The Department has become aware of some health and safety issues with the Nepean Camp that was booked for Term 3. Unfortunately we have been unable to secure a booking at any other camps for dates that work with our current obligations. We have therefore decided to organise two excursions that will be able to give the students the unique opportunity to implement some of their leadership skills, learner qualities and independence. So far we have been able to book an excursion to Jamberoo Action Park. The excursion will be on Tuesday 14 September. More information will be coming home early Term 3. The second excursion is still to be finalised. PUBLIC SPEAKING We have our Class finalists. The Stage finals will be in Week 6 on Thursday 27 May. BUSHRANGER PROJECT These are due next week for presentation in class. This is an excellent time management lesson in preparation for high school.
Library 2021 NSW PREMIER’S READING CHALLENGE The Premier’s Reading Challenge is in full swing! This year, all students are encouraged to participate in the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC). The PRC aims to encourage a love of reading in students as they will read a wide variety of books and quality literature throughout the year. The Challenge began on Monday 1 March and will close on Friday 20 August. Students who complete the challenge will each receive a certificate at the end of the year. Students in K-2 will complete the challenge as a class with their teacher. They will need to read 30 books to complete the challenge. Students 3-6 will independently complete the challenge as a part of class and/or home activities. They will need to read 20 books to complete the challenge. For more information, please visit the PRC student website: https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html
Band
UPCOMING EVENTS: Band Committee Meeting Tue 18 May BAND MEETING Our next band meeting is on Tuesday 18 May (next week), at 7:00 pm.
We really need to have AS MANY PARENTS attend as possible. Mrs McIlwaine and myself are discussing some performance opportunities for our bands, one of them being a competition in which substantial sums of money can be won. This involves performances, costumes and some clever film technicians who can capture the various acts and performances and splice them into a video to submit.
Mrs McIlwaine already has some creative ideas, because that is what will separate us from the rest. However, we need your input, your ideas, your thoughts about the feasibility of various costumes and LOTS OF HELP to make this happen.
Please make next Tuesday's meeting a priority in your busy schedule. We start at 7:00 pm, so that parents can finish their evening meal and routines before meeting in G-block.
TEA TOWEL FUNDRAISER Our tea towel fundraiser has again been well organised by Maria Musumeci and all classes are in the process of drawing their faces, with some talented artists also drawing their teacher’s face! We look forward to seeing the finished product, which makes such a lovely, lasting present for grandparents and other family members. It is also a wonderful memento for each child to keep (or mum to keep for their 21st?), while contributing to our school. BAND TIMETABLE The band timetable is working well and is well established. We encourage parents to support their child by having some kind of visual reminder to bring their instrument, particularly for the younger band members. We have big plans for performances - let’s keep practising!
SRC BE MOTIVATED LAUNCH DAY Our Be Motivated launch day is almost here! It will be held next Thursday 20 May and all students will be allowed to wear their mufti clothes for a gold coin donation. All money raised will go to Kids Care Flight. Mr Bowen has created and revealed the poster for our brand new learner quality, Be Motivated during our SRC meetings with students given the opportunity to give feedback on its design. Our SRC members and student leaders have been busily preparing for our launch day planning and discussing the different challenge activities and designing posters to promote this exciting day. All students from K-6 will be participating in various challenges in their peer support groups, working together and collaborating to achieve each activity. We look forward to an exciting, fun-filled afternoon next Thursday!
Gardening Club Our Be Mindful vegetable garden has enjoyed a much needed drink following the recent rainfall. Despite the weather impacting our gardening time, our students have been busy topping up mulch in the garden. They have trimmed back our abundant mint supply and were able to harvest some beetroot this week. The students are continuing to care for the seedlings being raised in our mini greenhouse, and we look forward to being able to plant them in our garden beds.
Sport Report UPCOMING EVENTS: SSW Boys Football Tue 18 May SSW Girls Netball Thur 20 May PSSA Season 1 Semi finals Fri 14 May PSSA Season 1 Finals Fri 21 May SSW OPENS RUGBY LEAGUE Last week Daniel Pevec and Jake Dodd represented East Hills at the Sydney South West Rugby League Championships. East Hills had a strong team and started the day with two solid wins. They came up against a talented Liverpool side for their first loss and then met The Fields in the semi-final. It was a hard fought match and Jake went over to score with 2 mins remaining to level the match. Unfortunately, The Fields managed to score just before the siren sounded. It was an exciting match and Daniel Pevec was recognised for relentless tackling throughout the day with his selection in the SSW team. Congratulations to both boys and we wish Daniel all the best when he competes at the State Rugby League Championships in Tamworth in Week 9.
Opponent Result Score Round 1 Vs Campbelltown won 10-0 Round 2 Vs Bankstown won 18-10 Round 3 Vs Liverpool lost 18-6
Semi Vs The Fields lost 24-18 SSW GIRLS FOOTBALL On Monday, Suriya Royal and Gracie Curtis represented East Hills at the Sydney South West Football Championships. The team competed well throughout the tournament and finished the day with a win and 2 losses. This was a great experience for our girls who are both in Year 5 and Year 4 respectively. Well done, girls!
Opponent Result Score Round 1 Vs Campbelltown lost 5-0 Round 2 Vs The Fields won 2-0 Round 3 Vs Razorback lost 2-1
SSW GIRLS BASKETBALL Congratulations to Emily Fisher, Tilly Fuz, Ava Hounslow and Celine Alawieh for their selection into the Sydney South West Basketball team. We wish them all the best when they participate in the State Championships at Penrith in Week 7. DISTRICT CROSS COUNTRY All students received their code of conduct notes and final information for the District Cross Country Carnival to be held at Padstow North on Tuesday 25 May. Singlets will be given out on Monday 24 May and must be worn to school on Tuesday 25 May. Singlets must be returned to Mrs Hayes after their race, so please bring your sports shirt to change into on the day.
Please note: Only 1 spectator per student is allowed on the day. Training at school will continue next week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 8:10 am. Please bring your school uniform in a bag to change into after training.
STATE BOYS AFL Last week, Ky McKeown represented Sydney South West in the State AFL Championships. The tournament, held in Byron Bay, demonstrated the depth of talent of Australian Football across many areas of NSW. Even though there were many tough games across the week, they finished the championships with a convincing win over Barrier. Ky thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity and played well. We are very proud of his efforts and achievement. Well done, Ky!
BOYS Opponent Result Score Round 1 Vs Riverina lost 76-1 Round 2 Vs Western lost 27-24 Round 3 Vs Sydney West lost 70-25 Round 4 Vs Polding lost 58-3 Round 5 Vs Barrier won 79-10
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is encouraging school students to find the same joy in books that she has had since she was a child.
"It's important for children to discover what books have to offer because we know a passion for learning will set them up for the future," Ms Berejiklian said.
"The great thing about books is they cover just about any issue or story you can imagine."
The challenge is not a competition, but a way to foster a love of reading for pleasure in kindergarten to year 9 students in NSW government, independent, Catholic and home schools.
Premier Berejiklian has previously spoken about how, as a child of Armenian immigrants, her passion for reading books helped her to learn English when she started school.
"I would love to see as many children as possible develop an interest in reading like I did when I was at school," she said.
Students must finish between 20 and 30 books (depending on their age) to complete the challenge before it closes on August 26.
The NSW Premier's Reading Challenge is proudly supported by media partner NewsLocal and supporting partner Dymocks Children's Charities.
