Prestons Post
Term 4, Week 8
Principal's Message
Kindergarten Transition
Mrs Jurinic, who will be our Kindergarten Assistant Principal and classroom teacher next year has done a wonderful job coordinating our Kindergarten Transition. It was wonderful to see all of the smiling faces of our incoming Kindergarten students today. We were able to connect with our new students, learn more about them and make them feel welcome and excited about starting Big School next year. We have another transition day planned so if you know of any student who will be starting at Prestons next year, please let their family know to contact the office and start the enrolment process.
Updated Communication from the Department of Education
In order to minimise disruptions caused to schools by COVID-19 cases, and to maximise the time our students have learning in the classrooms a number of changes to operations for schools will be introduced from Monday 29 November for the remainder of Term 4.
Rapid antigen 'test-to-stay' program
A rapid antigen home testing (RAHT) ‘test-to-stay’ program will be available to any student who is a close contact of a COVID-19 case in a school setting. This will enable them to get back to school immediately following a negative PCR test and on the basis they do daily RAHTs before attending school across 7 consecutive days. This means that our students' learning is able to continue with minimal interruptions following a positive COVID-19 case. Full support will be available to help you implement this should it be required at our school and many other schools and students are already using RAHTs successfully.
Singing, chanting and instruments that rely on breath allowed outdoors
In line with community settings, instruments that rely on breath and singing and chanting will now be permitted if held outdoors, within cohorts, with distancing in place and where there is no sharing of instruments. Under these same conditions music classes, bands, ensembles, group repetition and choirs within cohorts can also resume.
An update to our cleaning protocols
NSW public schools are cleaned by professional cleaners each day, guided by expert advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), the National Health and Medical Research Council and NSW Health. As we have already seen in many schools, cohorting and our other COVID-safe layers of protection have been effective at minimising disruption. NSW Heath has provided clear advice, based on evidence that the department's regular clean, day clean and enhanced clean provides a more than sufficient layer of protection in schools for students and staff. NSW Health have advised there is no health and safety benefit to undertaking an environmental clean which is highly disruptive to a school’s ongoing operations and can close a school for up to 2 days. This is another important change that will get students back into classrooms faster in parallel with the ‘test-to-stay’ program. You can read more on the department's website about the different levels of cleaning in place in our schools.
Please continue to refer to the department's Advice for families page for the latest information on settings in our schools.
Student vaccinations
COVID-19 vaccination is the best protection against severe illness and also reduces the risk of spreading COVID-19 to others. Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 now will help to protect both you, your family and our school community.
NSW Health are urging all students 12 and over to get vaccinated with the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible before returning to school.
There is currently sufficient supply of the Moderna vaccine to community pharmacies and the Pfizer vaccine to General Practitioners. Bookings can be made via the Vaccine Clinic FinderExternal link. Depending on location, bookings are available within the next few days.
Thank you again for your continued support during this school term.
Have a wonderful weekend and don't forget to ask your child what they are learning at school.
Liz Van Der Meulen
Principal
Dates To Remember
Friday 26th November
- Tell Them From Me Survey Due
Wednesday 1st December
- Student Parliament 2022 Speeches
Thursday 2nd December
- Kindergarten 2022 Transition
Friday 3rd December
- Fun Friday - Fun and Fancy
Monday 6th December
- Presentation Day Kindergarten to Year 2
Tuesday 7th December
- Presentation Day Year 3 to Year 6
Wednesday 8th December
- Year 6 Farewell & Graduation Night
Friday 10th December
- Fun Friday Fluoro & Flash
Thursday 16th December
- Last day of school
Principal & Gold Awards
Principal Awards
- Aarleen - K Wombats
- Armani - 1 Treefrogs
- Amalie - 1 Tigers
- Alvin - 1 Flamingos
- Jacob - 2 Leopards
- Demi - 2 Toucans
- Waima - 3 Dolphins
- Kate - 6 Pelicans
- Charmaine - 6 Magpies
- Jaiden - 6 Eagles
- Pavlos - 6 Eagles
Gold Awards
- Adira - 6 Eagles
- Elma - 3 Dolphins
Learning and Caring with Pride - Mrs Whittles
This term, Prestons Public School, like many other public schools in the state, will participate in a Department of Education initiative: the Tell Them From Me Survey.
All members of our school community are invited to have their say, this includes students, parents and staff.
The parent and student survey windows are now open. The focus of this NSW-wide survey is on student wellbeing, engagement and effective teaching practices. This is a great opportunity for parents and students to provide valuable feedback about their engagement with our school. This feedback will be used by our school to inform future planning to support strong community partnerships
More than 6, 300 schools in Australia and around the world have used the Tell them From Me Survey to survey more than 5.4 million people. More information about the survey is available at: http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au/
The survey is confidential. It is conducted online and can be accessed by clicking on the following link: http://nsw.tellthemfromme.com/prestons
Students in Year 4 to 6 will have the opportunity to participate in the survey with their class in week 8 of this term. The survey is anonymous and will provide valuable student feedback on wellbeing, engagement and learning.
I understand that given the current situation, the survey questions may not seem applicable. There may be some questions around participation in school events that are not applicable due to current restrictions. I ask that you consider the questions carefully and answer them based on your overall experiences with Prestons Public School during face-to-face teaching and remote learning.
We appreciate your support and look forward to receiving your feedback about our wonderful Prestons Public School Community.
Lisa Whittles
Tell Them From Me Survey is open till Friday 26th November 2021
Kindergarten 2022 - Transition
Fun Fridays!
Friday 3rd December - Fun & Fancy: You are encouraged to wear your favourite mufti outfit choices and feel free to get a little fancy with your choices too!
Friday 10th December - Fluoro & Flash: You are encouraged to wear your brightest fluoro clothes or superhero attire on the final Friday for Term 4!
Year 6 Farewell & Graduation Night
Prestons Public School would like to farewell Year 6 students at a special graduation and celebration at the end of Term 4. Details of this significant occasion follow:
DATE: Wednesday 8th December, 2021
VENUE: Prestons Public School Hall
COST: $35
DRESS CODE: Smart casual
TRANSPORT: Private transport to be arranged. Due to COVID Parents must remain off site and maintain 1.5 social distancing, and will need to drop off and pick up students at Gate 1 (Kiss and Drop Zone).
PROGRAM: 5:45pm - Arrive at school by car
6:00pm – Farewell commences
6.30pm - Dinner
8.00pm - Graduation live stream on ZOOM
9.00pm – Pick up commences
Presentation Day
6th December
9:20am - Kindergarten
10:00am - Year 1
11:45am - Year 2
7th December
9:15am - Year 5
10:00am - Year 6
11:45am - Year 4
12:30am - Year 3
Kindergarten 2022
Please help us to spread the word to families in the local area. We are now accepting enrolments for Kindergarten 2022
Children who turn 5 by the 31 July 2022 are eligible to enrol for 2022.
Enrolments can be accepted via our school website www.prestons-p.schools.nsw.gov.au simply click on the enrolment link below to start your enrolment.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the office on 9602 7435.
Update of Information
At times the school may need to contact you regarding your child. It is important that you notify the school of any changes to your contact details. This includes address, telephone numbers and contact details for those you have nominated as emergency contacts.
2022 Organisation
If your child is NOT returning to Prestons Public School in 2022 it is requested that you notify us by completing the google form via the below link or by emailing the school with your child’s name, current class and the name of the school they will be attending in 2022.
School Travel for 2022
Classroom Chat with 2 Toucans
Classroom Chat with 5 Falcons
Our Year in a Nutshell – by 5 Falcons
5 Falcons have been working extremely hard and at the same time enjoying being back in the classroom. They are very delighted to be able to share their stories and pictures of their learning.
I have enjoyed lots of activities like reading, Maths and sports. My favourite has been reading The Boy in Striped Pyjamas. I liked patterns and algebra in Maths and playing dodge ball. I believe this part is the best. Hugo
I look forward coming to school everyday because I have good friends and kind teachers, like Miss Kylie, Mrs Prakesh and Mrs Kane and the office ladies including our Principal Mrs Van Der Meulen. Tolen
I have really enjoyed Prestons Public School. I have lots of fun with doing all the work like writing, Maths and reading. I have particularly enjoyed reading the Butterfly Lion. It is very interesting. There are lots of teachers I like. My two most favourite are Mrs Prakesh and Miss Kylie. Samar
This year in 5 Falcons I have enjoyed Maths. Maths is my favourite subject because there is only one answer. My teacher, Mrs Prakesh is very smart and straight forward. My favourite is extension work that I enjoy working with my friends. Bishr
I enjoy coming to school and learning and having fun with my friends and making my teacher laugh. Christina
This year in 5 Falcons we have been learning about writing, it is one of my favourite subjects. I also love guided reading because we read about this interesting story about a girl named Malala who stood up for the rights of girls education. There were people who did not believe in the education of girls and were threatened but Malala stood up and fought against them. She was very brave. Raihana
In 5 falcons I have enjoyed Maths particularly subtraction and division. William
I have enjoyed being in 5 Falcons. Our classroom is nice and clean. My teacher is nice. Samer
I like coming to school because I enjoy doing art and I like my class. Jamie Lee
In 5 Falcons I have enjoyed reading and learning about The Boy in Striped pyjamas. Aiden
This year in 5 Falcons we have been reading about Malala. She is a young woman who stood up for the rights of the girls. Linda
In 5 Falcons I have enjoyed doing Maths. Little bit of writing as I am not so good at it but I still try. I got better at times tables. Darell
This year in 5 Falcons I have enjoyed writing and I am currently learning about The Boy in Striped Pyjamas. I really love my teacher as she cares about our education and is really funny. Jesminey
This year in 5 Falcons I believe that I have achieved all my goals such as learning how to add and subtract decimals in Maths. I learnt how to use onomatopoeia in my writing and loads more. I have had so much fun in 5 Falcons. Emily
In 5 Falcons we have learnt to be respectful, be a learner and be safe. We have learnt many things. Maryam
In 5 Falcons I enjoyed the challenges that my teacher has given me. I like all my classmates but not in a weird way. Jason
In 5 Falcons I enjoyed being in class because I love learning new stuff and seeing my friends. Dakota
Hi I am in 5 Falcons and I have enjoyed being in this class. I have learnt about new things in Maths, spelling and more. I like coming to school because I love learning and being with my friends. Lara
I have really liked 5 Falcons because our teacher is Mrs Prakesh and have some of my friends in my class. It is really good classroom and come to school everyday. Rostam
This year in 5 Falcons I have really liked doing English and writing the most. I like writing stories about different types of images. I have had lots of fun in 5 Falcons. Nouha
In 5 Falcons I have achieved my goals in my writing. We wrote horror stories. I enjoy reading The Boy in Striped Pyjamas. I also enjoy Maths and have particularly enjoyed patterns and algebra. Aram
Brooke's Canteen
Kids Helpline
Kids Helpline is Australia’s only free (even from a mobile), confidential 24/7 online and phone counselling service for young people aged 5 to 25.
Qualified counsellors at Kids Helpline are available via WebChat, phone or email anytime and for any reason. It does not matter who you are, where you live or what you want to talk about. Kids Helpline has been a life-saving experience, while for others it’s about practical help and emotional support at the critical moment they need someone to listen.
Kids Helpline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 1800 55 1800
Parent Line
Parenting can be a tough job but also really rewarding. Parent Line is a free telephone counselling and support service for parents and carers with children aged 0 to 18 who live in NSW.
Talking to a Parent Line counsellor can help you navigate difficult parenting dilemmas.
Parent Line NSW: 1300 1300 52 (cost of a local call)
9am to 9pm Weekdays
4pm to 9pm Weekends