Prestons Post
Term 4, Week 6
Principal's Message
Welcome to our Week 6 newsletter.
Hot Weather
We have had a very hot week and this is an important time to remind our families that due to COVID restrictions, our bubblers are turned off. Please ensure that you send your child to school with a bottle of fresh, cold water. Of course students are able to refill their bottles from the taps in our classrooms. We also have a no hat, play in the shade policy at Prestons so please remember to send your child to school each day with a Prestons hat. Hats are available for sale in the front office.
Learning at Prestons
Students at Prestons are always learning. This week I loved walking through classrooms and seeing some fantastic STEM learning taking place in Stage 2. Stage 1 students impressed me very much with their writing and use of learning goals to improve their writing. When I walk up to our bushland area at lunch and recess, I see more learning and fun. Our students are using their imagination and creativity to learn and play through nature. We are very fortunate at Prestons to have such amazing and dedicated teachers.
Year 6 Fundraising
Thank you to everyone who supported our Year 6 students with their State of Origin fundraising day. All money raised will go towards the Year 6 Farewell at the end of this term.
Prestons Patch
We are so lucky at Prestons to have the most dedicated staff. Our Prestons Patch vegetable garden is growing so well thanks to our amazing teachers and the students who join in at lunch times to tend to our garden. The bumper crops are growing well and we loved the Prestons Patch to Plate market stall this week. Students lined up to purchase a delicious salad snack and fresh water with mint and cucumber made from our very own fresh produce. A very big thank you also to Mr Tony Clark, one of our GAs, who made our super new market stall for us.
Have a wonderful week and don't forget to ask your child what they are learning.
Liz Van Der Meulen
Principal
Learning and playing in bushland
Writing and using learning goals in Stage 1
STEM in Stage 2
Introducing our Grow Your Mind animals
Dates to Remember
3/12/2020 - Casula High School Orientation 2020
8/12/2020 - Presentation Day
9/12/2020 - Yr 6 Farewell
16/12/2020 - Last day for students
17/12/2020 - Staff Development Day
18/12/2020 - Staff Development Day
State of Origin Colouring competition
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 9th December, 2020
VENUE: Prestons Public School Hall
COST: $35
DRESS CODE: Smart casual
TRANSPORT: Private transport to be arranged. Due to COVID Parents will need to drop off and pick up students at Gate 1 (Kiss and Drop Zone). Parents must remain in their vehicle.
PROGRAM:
5:45pm - Arrive at school by car
6:00pm – Farewell commences
6.30pm - Dinner
8.00pm - Graduation live stream on facebook
9.00pm – Pick up commences
Please return the permission note to the office with payment enclosed. If paying online, use the “make a Payment tab”at www.prestons-p.school.nsw.edu.au. Please indicate this on the permission note and include the receipt number. The payment description to use online is Year 6 farewell. Notes and payment should be sent to OFFICE by Wednesday 2nd December, 2020. No late permission will be accepted.
2021 Organisation
If your child is not returning to Prestons Public School in 2021 it is requested that you notify the office in writing advising which school your child will be transferring to.
If your child will be late starting back to school for 2021 due to an extended holiday, please notify the office in writing with the expected return date.
Orientation Day Information for 2020
Dear Parents/Caregivers,
All prospective Casula High School students are welcome to attend and take this opportunity to orient themselves to our school, meet some of our staff and other Year 7 students.
Orientation day will take place on Thursday 3rd December, 2020. Students will be at Casula High School from 9.45am to 1.45pm, engaging in structured activities and meeting many of the important faces that will support their transition into High School.
Families will soon receive and information package with information regarding the high school experience for students and some important forms that need to be completed and returned. Forms can be returned on Orientation Day
The most current version of COVID-19 guidelines do require the following steps to be taken:
- All students attending Orientation Day need to have completed the enrolment form
- Students will be kept within school groups where possible and have strategies in place to avoid large groups of other students
- Students need to arrive and depart promptly on the day. Parents will not be invited into the school on this day.
- Students who are suffering from flu-like symptoms should not be in attendance on the day.
Whilst parents will not be invited to attend for an information session this year, we will create additional resources, including an Orientation Day website. The site will give you all of the necessary information regarding your child's transition into high school and an opportunity to ask questions you may have.
We look forward to meeting you on Orientation Day and welcome you and your child to our school community at Casula High School.
Please contact the school immediately if your circumstances change and you need to alter your enrolment.
Yours sincerely,
Mr. Gareth Smith, Principal, Casula High School.
Student Absent Notes
Parents are requested to notify the school of their child's absence on the first day they return to school after their absence.
Notification can be made by sending a signed note to the office, medical certificate, submitting a notification via the Skoolbag App or by telephoning the office.
Absent notification via seesaw will not be accepted.
Kindergarten 2021
We are now accepting enrolments for Kindergarten 2021.
Children who turn 5 by the 31st July 2021 are eligible to enrol for Kindergarten 2021.
Enrolment forms can be collected from the administration office.
Classroom Chat with 2 Monkeys
2 Monkeys have enjoyed an amazing year together with 2 Leopards. We have established a caring and supportive family who work together to achieve individual learning goals.
We have enjoyed strengthening our knowledge of concepts by mentoring our peers in a range of key learning areas. Throughout this process, we have become feedback experts, providing and receiving a ‘glow’ and a ‘grow’ to inform our future learning goals.
Our class have been expressing our creativity through writing, following the writing process to create engaging, quality texts.
Check out this week’s featured author…
The Forbidden Tower
By Shekinah Lim
As the girl gazed at the forbidden tower she wondered if it was safe to battle monsters by herself, or rather be surrounded by monsters. Her heart thumped heavily like an extremely fast leopard.
We are excited to accept our next learning challenges and celebrate our success.
It has been a pleasure teaching 2 Monkeys and 2 Leopards with Mrs Maric this year. We have many so many fond memories that we will treasure forever!
Classroom Chat with 2 Toucans
Wow! Week 6 Term 4 is here! And only 4 weeks left as Year 2 students. It has been a year which we will never forget. But I am so very proud of how each and every Toucan student has adapted and continued to become independent learners this year.
This term, we have been busy focusing on and achieving our individual learning goals in all areas, including Phonics, Reading, Writing and Number Work. Each student has shown great commitment and a positive growth mindset towards their learning and have thoroughly enjoyed working on their achieving their goals with Miss Rigas and myself.
This term in English, we have been learning how to write quality imaginative texts using a range of text features and structures such as onomatopoeia, smiles, puns, alliteration, speech marks, adverbs, interesting adjectives as well as character dialogue and paragraphs. The Toucans have also shown dedication towards increasing their reading fluency during our read to self and read to someone activities.
We have been learning how to provide quality feedback to our peers by providing them with a ‘glow’ and a ‘grow’ comment relating to a piece of work. The Toucans have been working on effectively using a range of positive sentence starters such as ‘I love the way you have…’ for our glow and ‘Next time, you can always add …..’ for our grow. We love celebrating the achievements of our peers through our kind comments.
We have thoroughly enjoyed having Miss Rigas as our co-teacher along with the Elephants as part of our class. The students have learned how to effectively collaborate, communicate and work as part of a team within our amazing new building.
Thank you for an amazing year Toucans. It has been an absolute pleasure teaching you all and to have witnessed you become amazing independent learners.
Mrs Quinn
School Travel 2021
2021 school travel applications are now open
Applications for student travel in 2021 opened on Monday 12 October 2020.
Students who require a School Opal card or travel pass for 2021 can now apply online. A new application should be submitted if a student is applying for a school travel pass for the first time or requesting an additional pass as a result of a new shared parental responsibility situation (e.g. joint custody).
Students who have changed school/campus, changed address, repeated a year or received an expiry notification from Transport for NSW for their school travel entitlement should re-apply or update their details.
*Applications must be completed by the student's parent or legal guardian if the student is aged under 16 years. Students 16 years and over must complete the application form themselves.
Where there is a change of distance eligibility based on a student’s grade, the system will automatically update a student’s entitlement if they meet the new criteria. If they do not meet the new eligibility criteria, they will receive an expiry notification via email.
Students who have an entitlement approved under a medical condition which is due to expire will receive a notification advising them to re-apply.
Term Bus Pass holders will receive a notification to re-apply.
If a student needs to update their information or re-apply, they should go online to https://apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts/updateDetails
Applications need to be submitted before 31 December 2020 to ensure that current student entitlements are updated and their current entitlement/card remains valid. If their application is submitted after 31 December 2020, the system will automatically cancel an entitlement/card and a new one will need to be issued.
Students in the Opal network applying for a SSTS or Term Bus Pass entitlement for the first time will receive their card at their nominated postal address. Cards will be mailed out from January 2021.
Students residing in Rural and Regional (R&R) areas should receive their travel pass at the commencement of the new school year from their nominated operator, this may be distributed via the school or sent direct to their address. Note: some R&R operators do not issue travel passes. Students/Parents should confirm with their nominated operator if they do not receive a pass.