Prestons Post
Term 2, Week 1
Principal's Message
Dear Parents and Carers
Welcome back to school for another busy and exciting term of learning at Prestons. A special warm welcome to our many new families, I am sure that you will love being a part of the Prestons family.
Our School Vision
I am proud to share our school vision with you. This vision was collaboratively developed with teachers, students and families. We used feedback from various surveys and P&C meetings last year to create this shared vision for our school.
Prestons Public School is driven by a shared
commitment by all members of our school community to develop
life long learners in a caring school culture that is built
and sustained on the values of excellence,
collaboration, inclusivity, trust, respect and determination.
By working together, students, staff and the community aim
to establish a whole school culture that is strongly focused on
wellbeing, learning and improvement for every student,
teacher and leader.
We create innovative educational environments that
effectively meet the needs of future focused learners and
create a legacy of excellence for future generations to follow.
Our intention every day is to improve the learning and wellbeing of every student and we look forward to working with our students and their families as we strive towards this goal. Our strategic improvement plan is based three pillars;
1 - Strategic Direction One, Student Growth and Attainment
2 - Strategic Direction Two, High Performing Teachers
3 - Strategic Direction Three, Connecting, succeeding and thriving.
Visible learning underpins each of these three strategic directions. Our students will be learning what it is to be a learner and our teachers will use formative assessment strategies to help our students to take charge of their own learning.
School Hours
Morning - Please remember that school starts at 9am. All students should be at school ready to start learning by 9am each day. Our gates open and supervision starts at 8.30am each day.
Afternoon - Students are dismissed at 3pm each day. We ask parents and carers who are collecting their children to please wait at a planned meeting spot or at your child's designated gate. Students should remain in their classrooms (or under the supervision of teachers if they are waiting at Gate 1 for Kiss and Ride), we thank you for not putting our teachers in an awkward position by calling your child away before the bell. With the exception of Gate 1, Kiss and Ride, all students leaving class before 3pm will need to have an early leaver slip from the office before being permitted to leave their class.
Thank you for your support with this.
Learning
Our teachers are working together to inquire into the way our students learn in reading. We are building our capacity in explicit teaching of phonological awareness, phonics, reading processing skills and comprehension and fluency. This will help us to improve our practice and ensure that all children are progressing and achieving in reading at Prestons Public School.
Staffing Updates
We have had a few staffing changes over the holiday break:
- K Echidnas - Miss Jabarin is unable to return to Prestons for personal reasons. We are sad to see her go, but wish her well in her future endeavours. We are excited to welcome Miss Macmillan as the new teacher for K Echidnas.
- Miss Chapman will take over teaching K Wallabies on Fridays
- Welcome to Miss Kostoglu who will join us every Monday to cover classes while teachers work together on Spirals of Inquiry.
- Welcome to Mrs Kandil and Mrs Murray who will be working with Mrs Jurinic on our English as an Additional Dialect program. Mrs Kandil will also work with our new arrival students.
- Welcome to Miss Kilzi who will be joining us for the rest of the year in various roles. She will cover classes on Thursdays when teachers engage in data talks, and will be supporting our kindergarten intervention program for the next few weeks. Following this she will take over from Mrs Idiculas when she goes on Maternity leave at the end of May.
- Welcome to Mrs Tijen Clark who is joining us as a new SLSO to work with students in Kindergarten.
We are excited to have these wonderful new staff members join the team at Prestons.
Have a wonderful week and don't forget to ask your child what they are learning at school.
Liz Van Der Meulen
Principal
Attendance with Mrs Lloyd
Welcome back! In this edition I'd like to remind everyone about the importance of attendance. Last term we celebrated those students who reached the attendance goal of 90% or over. These students will receive their award very soon. Some parents have been sharing their difficulties with getting their child to school. Below are some suggestions:
· Won’t get out of bed/Have a set time to be out of bed
· Won’t go to bed/Have a set bedtime
· Can’t find their clothes, books, homework, school bag/Have uniform and school bag ready the night before
· School lunches are not ready/Make lunches the night before
· Slow to eat breakfast/have a set time for starting and ending breakfast. A routine is important.
· Homework not done/Set time for daily homework activities and check that it is done
· Watching television late at night or when they should be getting ready for school/Turn the television on for a set time and only if appropriate
· Test or presentations at school/Provide lots of positive encouragement
· Birthdays/Be firm, a birthday is not a holiday
· Screaming and not letting go/Time arrival at school to coincide with bell time and leave quickly, happily and confidently. You may say something like “I’ll see you this afternoon” to reassure them. If arranged with the teacher beforehand, place your child’s hand into that of the teacher and then leave.
Please remember if you have any concerns with your child attending school you can contact the classroom teacher or Assistant Principal to discuss a plan.
Dates to Remember
27th April - ANZAC Day Assembly
7th May - Winter PSSA Begins
11th May - 21st May - Naplan Testing
20th May - Year 2 Zoo Excursion
ANZAC Day Assembly
Wellbeing update from Mrs Lloyd
Students have been learning about the different parts (animals) of their brain. Today I would like to introduce you to the Sensitive Octopus. The Sensitive Octopus helps us be good friends. The octopus is always aware of its surroundings. It is constantly noticing things around it and changing. Our sensitive octopus can notice when a friend is sad, lonely or frustrated and can respond appropriately. It does this through empathy. This is when you understand how someone else is feeling. At home try talk about these situations and ask what does your sensitive octopus tell you:
* If someone is left out in a game on the playground imagine how they might feel. What can you do to help?
* In the classroom you notice someone is sad, try and imagine things from their point of view, what has made them sad, how can you help
*In the line at the canteen someone is starting to get angry. When you look around you realise it is because someone has pushed in, what can you do to help?
Remember your sensitive octopus can come out in happy and sad times, we just need to make sure we are using it to keep ourselves and others happy and safe.
Opportunity Class Placement for 2022
Year 5 Entry to an Opportunity Class Placement for 2022 (Year 4 Students 2021)
Applications for opportunity classes will open on Tuesday 20th April 2021 and remain open until 5:00pm on Friday 7th May 2021.You must apply before this deadline.
A note has gone home to all Year 4 parents.
Opportunity classes can provide intellectual stimulation by grouping together high potential and gifted students who may otherwise be isolated from a suitable peer group. Successful students will usually have to leave their current school to enrol in a school with an opportunity class for Years 5 and 6.
Testing and assessment
Applications for opportunity class placement are considered on the results of the Opportunity Class Placement Test. Students who wish to be considered for opportunity class placement will sit the Opportunity Class Placement Test on Wednesday 21st July 2021.
How to apply
If you would like to have your child considered for Year 5 opportunity class entry in 2022, you need to apply between Tuesday 20th April 2021 and Friday 7th May 2021. You will need to access the online application at https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year-5 . You must not use the child’s email address.
Important Dates:
Tuesday 20/04/2021 - Application website opens and parents apply online.
Friday 07/05/2021 at 5:00pm - Application website closes. Late applications cannot be accepted.
Wednesday 07/07/2021 - Parents are sent a "Test Authority" letter from the team.
Wednesday 21/07/2021 - Opportunity Class Placement Test.
Friday 1st October 2021- Placement outcome released
Late January 2022 - 'Authority to attend an opportunity class' letters sent to parents of successful students.
PSSA Summer Sport - Payments
Payments can be made by cash or EFTPOS at the front office. Alternatively you can also make your payment online.
Classroom Chat with K Wombats
In K Wombats, we have settled in well to school life. We have made lots of friends and love playing and learning.
Last term we were so excited to do so many big things for the first time. We got to wear our fabulous Easter creations in the Easter hat parade. We absolutely rocked our first whole school morning assembly as well as singing a fantastic song for all kindergarten in our first ever assembly item. We got to run in our very first fun run and we all enjoyed our first ever school holiday after a very full term of learning.
This term, we are sure that we are going to grow so much and learn a lot and we can't wait to do more big and exciting things for the first time.