- Ironbark Ridge PS Cnr. Ironbark Ridge Road and Withers Road, Rouse Hill, 2155 Ph: 8814 5687 Fax: 8814 5698 Email: ironbarkrg-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au Webpage: www.ironbarkrg-p.schools.nsw.gov.au Nurturing personal growth through inspired learning…

Newsletter 2018

Term 4 Week 3 2nd November, 2018 Be Safe, Be Responsible, Be Respectful

DATES FOR THE DIARY NOVEMBER 7th – Diwali, Kindergarten Orientation Session 2, Star Award Assembly – 5/4W & 1F,

5.30pm – Police Presentation on Cyber Safety, 7.00pm – P & C Meeting 8th – Debating competition finals 9th – Summer PSSA 10th – IRPS Band Camp

** Subscribe to our ‘Ironbark Ridge – Events’ Google calendar (see the app or the school website)

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Today’s heat is a reminder that we’ve enjoyed quite a long, mild start to the usually warmer months of the year… and that we face many hot school days ahead of us this term As teachers begin the crucial task of writing student progress reports based on the growth that their students have made in class this year, it’s nice to know they are all working in air-conditioned classrooms, partly thanks to the generous work of our P&C and learning community over 5 years ago, and partly because our demountable classrooms all have two air-conditioners as standard. Fete Last Saturday’s Ridgy Didge Fete was a wonderful success, with well over 2 000 people on our site together enjoying a range of fun activities. Ridgy the Frog himself put in a few appearances during the evening as did almost all of our student performing groups and a huge army of parent volunteers. The ‘vibe’ of the school was a pleasant mix of excitement and togetherness. It really is a great feeling being part of such a welcoming, generous community. North Kellyville PS “Wow!” That’s pretty much all I had to say during my tour today of the new, rapidly finishing primary school on Hezlett Road, North Kellyville. It’s such an impressive, innovative and exciting building. Learning spaces for their new students will be state-of-the-art, and judging by conversations with Mr Moth, the new Principal of Kellyville North PS, and his new Assistant Principal, Ms McGill, the teaching style and effect on student learning is going to be amazingly positive. To name just a few points: 40 classrooms, all arranged indoors joined by large flexible open space corridors (that are wider than

the classrooms themselves) for collaborative learning and a multitude of innovative activities from art and drama to STEM and ‘Maker Spaces’, with each pair of rooms also connected internally by large movable walls, each room with multiple display screens and panels for both whole-class and small group learning activities.

a huge internal playground area with synthetic grass and raised gardens, plenty of undercover and outdoor/indoor play possibilities.

a large under-cover yet outdoor amphitheatre seating area with outdoor screens for display of teaching/learning content for the class/es using the space

large Hall with opening walls on three sides to undercover space allowing easily 1000 students and their parents to watch the stage for assemblies.

A lengthy planned ‘kiss and drop’ zone plus bus stop across the school frontage on Hezlett Road to facilitate morning and afternoon arrival and departure for students and their families.

North Kellyville Public School will without doubt be ready for the January 15th ‘handover’ to Mr Moth and his staff, and the teaching team will be ready and raring to go with all of the ‘foundation year’ students who choose to move over from Ironbark Ridge PS into their new local school. It truly looks like being a sensational place of learning in the making… and who wouldn’t want to simply walk down the street to their local public school when it’s of that quality! Happy Diwali

This coming week many members of our Australian community will recognise Diwali, the Festival of Lights, celebrating the triumph of light over darkness in all aspects of life, and welcoming in the new year. I wish you all the best for this important time. We will learn more about this event at Ironbark Ridge next Tuesday with our parent community decorating a section of our pathways with rangoli designs, and students being able to practice some art during their lunchtimes. I will personally be visiting a temple in Rosehill next Thursday to witness the remarkable Diwali decorative display offering of vegetarian feast food called Annakut.

School Communication Our school uses a range of official methods to communicate with you, our learning community.

• this fortnightly newsletter, • the school app, • the Class Contact email lists • and our Facebook page.

We are aware that there also exists a range of other ‘unofficial’ discussion groups, social media chats and noticeboard-style hubs. It’s important to remember that all school event details, reminders, routine changes, and official notifications will be sent through the official channels. Please do not rely on other means to broadcast what may in fact be mis-information, nor take for granted the information provided through unofficial communication channels. It’s easy to give our office a call to check… or assume that no official news means no change to normal routines. P&C Meeting Reminder At next Wednesday evening’s P&C meeting (7pm on 7/11) as part of the school presentation section of the meeting we will be discussing both the 2018 school NAPLAN results & the ongoing development of our school Student Leadership framework. Please join us after the ‘CyberSafety’ talk in the Library. 123 Magic – Parenting Program Unfortunately we have not gained enough enrolments to run the ‘Learning Links’ 123 Magic parenting course mentioned in a newsletter and Class Contacts email late last term. We will gauge interest again sometime during next year. This week I spoke to our assembly about co-operation. There are a complex set of skills that make up co-operative behaviour, including listening with empathy and taking responsibility for our own role. Have a talk to your children about co-operation and how it might help around your household. Talk to you again soon, Nick Thomson Principal

DEPUTY PRINCIPALS’ REPORT Developing a fantastic culture at Ironbark At Ironbark Ridge we are focused on building and developing a culture of growth within our school. As learners, we are continually seeking knowledge and skills which support our developing attitudes, behaviours, and ‘a way of being’ that represents who we are as a learning community. To be successful, we will continue to embed key elements based on extensive research to equip both students and teachers and build the greatest capacity to support learning being effective. You will begin to hear a lot about high impact practices such as ‘feedback’. This is particularly important to the work we do as it has a statistically high impact on learning and informs a student how they can improve and achieve their learning goals. What we are working towards is that students constantly understand what is expected of their learning, how they can be successful and how to look for evidence of success. As learners, we will need to celebrate effort and not just achievements. We will need to normalise and celebrate errors as a key to new learning. We will need to privilege the desire to learn through being motivated, curious and willing to learn and deepen understanding. We will talk about the challenge as a good thing and not a bad thing. We will have a positive vocabulary wherever possible that is reflective of our mindset and underpins our learner qualities. Ironbark P&C School Fete Running a successful school fete is a significant task that requires a dedicated team with boundless energy and precise organisation. Dee, Emma and Mishelle led this massive task along with their dedicated P&C team. Their selfless pursuit and success translate into much-needed resources for the school. Mrs Ormsby did another great responsibility of taking photos and capturing our special memories that can be seen on our Facebook page. A big thank you to everyone who contributed to the success of the school fete. As a school, we are eternally grateful that our fantastic school community supports us. We could not do it without you! Don’t forget our P&C will hold a meeting at 7 pm on Wednesday 7th November. Everyone is welcome. Kindergarten Orientation Our Kindergarten students for 2019 completed their first orientation session on Tuesday. It was beautiful to see so many happy and enthusiastic students ready to begin their educational journey. Meeting our new families and developing a rapport with members of our community is a privilege and we look forward to working with you in the future. Please don’t forget that we have our next sessions coming up soon. Session 2: Wednesday 7th November (9.30am – 10.30am) Session 3: Thursday 15th November (10am-11am) We look forward to welcoming all our new families over the coming weeks. Selective High School Entry - 2020 Applications for placement in Year 7 in selective high schools in 2020 opened on 9 October 2018 and close on 12 November 2018. Current Year 5 students and their families are encouraged to check the Department of Education’s Selective High School website for updates: https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year-7 Parents should check this website for updates all the way through the application and placement process. Please check the website for information before you contact the Unit. Please see the attached intention to apply form in this newsletter and return to school by next Friday, 26th October. Please note that this is not the application – all applications must be made online. A comprehensive information booklet about the selective high school application process can be found by accessing the link above. Cybersafety – Parent Information Session We have scheduled a Cybersafety presentation for parents which will be delivered by Constable Rob Patterson on Wednesday 7th November from 5:30-7:00pm. This is a great opportunity to hear about this important issue and to have any questions answered. We encourage all parents to attend this important information session, which will be held in the library, and will be followed by our P&C meeting, where we will discuss our updated Student Leadership policy and NAPLAN results. Wishing you a wonderful weekend, Kerrie Pho and Kerry De Jager Deputy Principals

Ironbark Ridge Public School Parent Planner Term 4, 2018

** Note: All dates on this planner are subject to change at the discretion of the school. Updated 1.11.18

Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Sat/Sun

4 Nov

5 6 School Diwali Celebrations

7 DIWALI Kindergarten Orientation Session 2 Star Award Assembly – 5/4W & 1F 5.30pm Police Presentation on Cyber Safety 7pm P&C Meeting

8

Debating competition finals

9 Summer PSSA

10/11

IRPS Band Camp

5

Nov

12 13 14

Star Award Assembly – 6M & 2A

15 Kindergarten Orientation Session 3

16 Summer PSSA

17/18

6

Nov

19 20

SRC Disco

21 NKPS Kindy Orientation: 9.30- 11am

Last Scripture lesson 1D & 4/3B Assembly

22 23 Summer PSSA

24/25

7

Nov/Dec

26 Swim School begins

27 Swim School

28 Swim School

Student Leaders

Assembly

29 Swim School

Awards of Excellence Morning Tea

30 Swim School Summer PSSA

1/2

8 Dec

3 Swim School

4 Swim School

OC 2019 Orientation

Year 6 Farewell

5 Swim School

KT & KCB Assembly

6 Swim School

7 Swim School

8/9

9 Dec

10 11 Celebration Day 9.30am – 3-6 11.30am – K-2

12

No Assembly

13 14 15/16

10 Dec

17 Party Day for Stage 2 and 3 (TBC) Party Day for Kindy and Stage 1 (TBC)

18 19 Year 6 Leaving Assembly

Last day for students

20 Staff Development Day

21

Staff Development Day

22/23

ADMINISTRATION Just a reminder, if you already have a student at school, and have a sibling who will be commencing Kindergarten in 2019, and have not submitted an enrolment form, could you please do so as soon as possible, as our Kindergarten Orientation days will be starting very soon. Also, if you ae planning on leaving the school at the end of the year, could you please advise the school by the returning the End of Year School Leavers note to the office, which is attached at the end of the newsletter, as soon as possible.

KINDY CAPERS It was wonderful to see so many parents at Wednesday afternoon assembly the last 2 weeks as our kindergarten students were the stars of the show! They did a wonderful job performing, reading their parts and showing the audience their respectful behaviour. Great job KB, KM, KS and KP. Our 2019 Kindergarten Orientation program started this week. Our kindergarten students got to visit other grades during this time and did a great job of finding their way around and completing their set tasks. Our next session will be Wednesday 7th November 9.30 – 10.30. Information has been sent out via email as part of your term invoice regarding our end of year movie day. It is a great way to celebrate a wonderful year together. Please ensure payment is before the cut-off date, as it would be very disappointing for students to miss out. A big thank you to all the parents sending in recyclables for kindergarten to use for their STEM lessons. The students have been enjoying the chance to design and make to find a solution. Photos below show KT with parachutes to assist Rapunzel to escape, KW with boats to keep the Gingerbread Man safe from the fox, KB with stronger homes for the Three Little Pigs which they tested with a blow dryer and KCB with catapults to help Little Red Riding Hood get the cookies safely to grandma. More to come in the following weeks!

ES1 Teachers

STAGE 1 SNIPPETS Wow! We are already at the end of week 3 of Term 4! The year seems to be going by so quickly. On Monday, 5th November, grading notes for swim scheme will be sent home with those students participating. The notes will need to be returned to school as soon as possible, but no later than Friday, 9th November.

Stage 1 have our exciting movie day coming up on the Monday, 17th December, where will be going to see “The Grinch”. The required consent form can be found on the school website. Please ensure that payment is made and the note returned to school by Friday, 16th November.

The hot weather has certainly arrived! It is important that your child has a hat and plenty of water to drink throughout the day.

School stationary is a necessity for all students. Could you please ensure that your child’s pencil case is adequately stocked with their supplies, particularly glue. On Monday students attended and enjoyed a traditional Aboriginal opening and closing ceremony

which included Aboriginal dances, a smoking ceremony and storytelling. Stage 1 teachers are looking forward to the remaining few weeks of the year with your child. Stage One Teachers STAGE 2 SNIPPETS The last couple of weeks have seen Stage 2 tackling new learning in a positive and productive manner. Students have taken on the challenge of using Google Classroom for homework which includes opportunities to upload their tasks, polish their typing speed and improve time management skills. We continue with our Performing Arts rotations and it has been so much fun working with students showing off their hip-hop skills, using freeze-frames in drama and utilising Garage Band to compose their own piece of music. Stage 2 were represented at the Ironbark Ridge Fete in a big way with our Year 3 and 4 students showcasing their amazing dance routines once again to an audience. It was great to see so many of our students enjoying the school community fete. As they say – a picture tells a thousand words!

Stage 2 students had the opportunity on Monday to be part of the Indigenous Opening and Closing Ceremony. The performers were excellent and we all enjoyed listening to the music, watching the dancing and appreciating the traditional smoking ceremonies. The Term 4 invoice has been emailed to all families and included is the note regarding our End of Year Party. Please return this note as soon as possible as planning needs to be done to ensure that everything runs as smoothly as it can. For families who will not be at school during the last week please let your teacher know as this will also be helpful in the planning. Seven more weeks of Year 3 or 4 left! Stage 2 Teachers STAGE 3 SNIPPETS It’s hard to believe that we are already heading into Week 4, Term 4 at Ironbark Ridge PS. Stage 3 teachers have been extremely impressed with how students have settled into their final term for 2018. Students had an absolute ball at our fete last weekend. Congratulations to our Year 5 Dance Group who performed beautifully. As part of our Geography unit, Stage 3 attended our ‘Indigenous Incursion’ last Monday. Students enjoyed participating in a variety of rotations including Aboriginal art, dance and boomerang throwing. Maths Olympiad and Maths Games results are out – and once again, Ironbark has excelled. Riya G achieved a perfect score in the Olympiad, one of only 48 students in Australasia to do so! We also had 10 students who scored in the top 2% and another 19 students scoring within the top 10%. It is pleasing to see how our results in Maths Games have gone from strength to strength as a result of the focus on teaching specific strategies. Students will receive their awards and certificates next week. Term 4 is an incredibly busy time of year for our Stage 3 students. You can keep yourself up to date by regularly visiting the school app, website and Facebook page.

Stage 3 Teachers

Dear Parents / Carers, Could you please start looking in your bookshelves at home for all Ironbark Ridge School Library Books that have not been returned and send them back to school. We need to start preparing for end of year stocktake. Thank you. Many thanks

Judy Paton Rachel Bryce Alison Brewster Amelia Weekley

WEEK 1

KG Luca, Whyad, Savanna KP Aaradhya, Shakiya, Gurik KS Lukas, Zichen, Elif, Smyan KW Albert, Max, Lucas 1I Emir, Emaan, Aska 1R Amelia, Sahas, Nethuki 1S Jack, Jayden, Zara 2A Luke, Joshua, Arshata, Anika 2M Aarav, Jasmin, Shaylee 2TL Elliot, Mikayla, Talia, Jaes 3BFG Harrison, Nika,T’miah, Zacary 4S Harrison, Mackenzie, Kahu, Austin 4T Rochelle, Narpreet, Rafay 5B Macayla, Freya, Gurkirat, Jahno, Sienna, Cooper 5S 5W Stephan, Joshua, Namood, Alex 6M Taylor W, Sienna P, Ella A, Carter J, Charlotte P PRINCIPAL S3 Teachers CHINESE 5B, Giovanni (5B), KS

WEEK 2 KBB Arnav, Nishika, Eugene KCB Rameya, Yash, Nate, Cindy KM Tayaa, Quentin, Jeeyaa, Aribah KT Cameron, Kitty, Anobelle, Lukas 1D Laura, Alison, Autumn, Yusuf 1F Ibrahim, Emily, Luke, Enara 1J Hayden, Charlotte, Niansh, Lacey 1D Chloe, Madena, Paige, Yusuf 2/1C Nikita, Olivia, Annie, Sophie 2D Amy, Yaseen, Arav, Bianca 2W Logan, Samantha, Levi, Ken 3H Bowen, Xzyra, Caitin 4/3B Chelsea, Marvin, Thanishka, Hannah 4F Prisha, Veer, Tailor, Vansh, Mia 5F Taranveer, Ivanka, Henry, Lexis 5P Patrick, Ethan, Ryan, Tamoghna 6A Adrian, Liyana, Daniel, Brodie 6C Chloe,nLaveshaya, Felicity, Jayden, Ashlon 6H Kai, Lucas, Anthony, Richard Library 5P, 1F Chinese 6A, 2W

WEEK 3

KG JAYED, Ibrar, Emma KP Kiah, Gunita, Miles KS Chelsea, Laurence, Aradhya, Danish KW Tiana, Daniel, Savannah 1I Vaishnavi, Sofia, Sienna 1R Riley, Alannah, Parnia 1S Aysin, Lucy, Maadhur 2A Selina, Daniel 2M Holly, Rihaan, Vipra 2TL Danya, Laila, Myran 3BFG Loki, Yash, Melinda, Emmeline 3HM Bailey, Adeel, Nadia 4S Brooklyn, Mel, Miya, Meer 4T Giselle, Milly, Jeewoo, Julia 5B Ekam, Christian, Sahil, Kylie, Dylan, Aanan 5S Jordan, Leah, Ava, Olivia, Harrison 5W Judy, Kyra, Arnav, Soham 6M Haya, Ryan, Josh, Teagan, Tom PRINCIPAL PSSA AFL Teams CHINESE 2TL, 4S, KW LIBRARY 4S, 6M, 2TL, KG

PSSA SPORT – TERM 3 STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN PSSA TEAMS ARE REQUIRED TO BE AT SCHOOL ON FRIDAY MORNINGS IN TERM 4 AT 8.45AM FOR AN

8.50AM SHARP DEPARTURE. IF STUDENTS DO NOT ARRIVE ON TIME THE BUS WILL NOT WAIT AND YOUR CHILD WILL NOT BE

PARTICIPATING IN PSSA ON THAT FRIDAY. WEEK 4 9th November AFL Wrights Reserve, Pyes Road Quakers Hill SOFTBALL/T-BALL Hills Centenary CRICKET Hills Centenary NRL TAG Russell Reserve – Field 6 (Withers Rd, Rouse Hill (ex Second Ponds) WEEK 5 16th November AFL Wrights Reserve, Pyes Road Quakers Hill SOFTBALL/T-BALL BYE CRICKET Hills Centenary Oval NRL TAG Russell Reserve – Field 3 (Withers Rd, Rouse Hill (ex Second Ponds) Reserve – Field 5 (Withers Rd, Rouse Hill (ex Second Ponds) WEEK 6 23rd November AFL Wrights Reserve, Pyes Road Quakers Hill SOFTBALL/T-BALL Hills Centenary CRICKET Hills Centenary NRL TAG Russell Reserve – Field 2 (Withers Rd, Rouse Hill (ex Second Ponds) WEEK 7 30th November AFL Wrights Reserve, Pyes Road Quakers Hill SOFTBALL/T-BALL Jonas Bradley Oval, 165 The Ponds Blvd, The Ponds CRICKET Jonas Bradley Oval, 165 The Ponds Blvd, The Ponds NRL TAG Russell Reserve – Field 1 (Withers Rd, Rouse Hill (ex Second Ponds)

Garden Club News

The Ironbark Garden Club is going from strength to strength after all the glorious rain of recent weeks. In the vegetable garden we have been continually harvesting (and snacking on) an abundant crop of garden peas, snow peas, radishes and strawberries. Our potato bags are thriving and we are excited and curious about how many potatoes they will produce. We have also grown some very amusing carrots lately. Harvesting the fruits of our labour is by far the favourite part of Garden Club for most of our gardeners.

The ANZAC Garden With help from our friends at Rouse Hill Bunnings, work will begin next week to tidy up the ANZAC Garden in preparation for Remembrance Day. Garden Club will be involved in the tidy up and also will be planting some real Flanders Poppies in the garden. The ANZAC Garden will also host a display of paper poppies made by various classes across the school to commemorate this special day.

Miss Taylor’s Friday Garden Club continue to work on the flower garden along the high school fence and are seeing some lovely results. After battling some very bold crows for several months, they erected a scarecrow of their own. It seems like she is doing her job as the crows are leaving the flowers alone and it’s looking beautiful.

Join the Band! Is your child interested in joining the school band? The school band is now taking enrolments for 2019 and is open to all students currently in years 2-5. No prior experience is required. In Term 4 students will see a demonstration concert at school that highlights the different instruments available for tuition. They will receive a green School Band Program note providing introductory information. What do you need to do? Return the expression of interest from the bottom of the green note to try a variety of instruments with trained music tutors, to help your child find the instrument to which they are best suited. The results of this instrument trial will be sent home with comprehensive enrolment information. Learning an instrument in an ensemble is a great way to experience the social, educational and personal benefits that music and the arts have to offer! TSA provides a quality instrumental program, with full ensemble rehearsals, great value tuition and rent-to-buy instrument hire. For more information on your school instrumental program, please contact TSA below.

KINDERGARTEN TO YEAR 5

We are starting to plan classes for 2019. If you know that your child/ren will definitely not be

returning to Ironbark Ridge next year or will be returning late at the commencement of the 2019

school year, please complete the slip below and return it to the school office as soon as possible.

Please disregard this letter if your child/ren are continuing at Ironbark in 2019.

Nick Thomson Principal ________________________________________________________________________

END OF YEAR STUDENT LEAVERS – KINDERGARTEN TO YEAR 5 OR LATE RETURNERS

My child _____________________________________________ Class ______________ My child _____________________________________________ Class ______________ My child _____________________________________________ Class ______________ Will not be returning to Ironbark Ridge PS next year. Destination School __________________________________________________ Will be returning late. Date returning ____________________________________ Parent or Caregiver Signature: ______________________________________________

COMMUNITY NOTICES 're a Parenting Ideas school parentingideas.com.au/

Wednesday 7th November 20185:30pm to 6:30pm

Ironbark Ridge Public School ‘Digital Security’ is a Police presentation covering privacy / reputation management and cyber bullying prevention. Cyber safety is one of the primary non-academic issues that schools and young people experience today. Parents and carers must know how to use technology and should know what to avoid, where to seek help and what their children are doing online.

Presented by Senior Constable Rob

Paterson, Youth Liaison Officer at The Hills Local Area Command. As YLO for the last 11 years, Rob works with Young Offenders, at-risk children and delivers educational programs and safety

information to 65 schools in The Hills PAC.

WESLEY GIANT GARAGE SALE

Where: In the Wesley Uniting Church grounds at 32 Showground Road, Castle Hill. Dates/Times: Friday November 2nd 2018 (operating from 8:00am to 1:00pm) and Saturday November 3rd 2018 (also operating from 8:00am to 1:00pm) Sale items/Stalls will include Books, Records, CDs, DVDs, Christmas, Clothing, Electrical, Furniture, Manchester, Plants, Toys, White Elephant, Jewellery, Fine Art and China etc. We will also be providing refreshments (tea, coffee and cake) during sale hours, together with a Sausage Sizzle for lunch on both days, and Bacon and Egg rolls for breakfast on Saturday morning. Enjoy the friendly atmosphere, and pick up a bargain (or two) knowing you are helping those families who need our assistance within the Hills area.