Principal’s Report - Craig Brown

Toongabbie Public School

Friday 6 April 2018

Volume 10

Dates to Remember:

6 Apr—Term 1 Disco 9 Apr—P & C Meeting 13 Apr—Last day of Term 1 30 April—Pupil Free Day 1 May— Students Return for Term 2

P S S A—Summer

Week 11

N Ball V Darcy Yellow @ TPS

Cricket V Darcy Yellow

@ Binalong Oval

AFL @ Binalong Oval Toony White V Darcy Road Toony Red V The Meadows

T –Ball V Toonie West @ Grantham Reserve

Softball V Girra Green @ Grantham Reserve

Notes NO NOTES THIS WEEK

ANZAC DAY

Our school ANZAC Day commemorative services will be held in the school hall

on Friday April 13th. Years 3-6 will take place at 11.40am and the K-2 at 2pm.

Members of the Scouts, Guides, Boys or Girls Brigade and Cadets, are invited

to wear their uniform for the service. Our local member, Mark Taylor, will attend

and present his major award for the ANZAC writing competition at the 3-6 ser-

vice. Parents are welcome to attend our services.

School Development Day – Term 2 – Monday 30 April, 2018 STUDENTS RETURN TUESDAY 1 MAY The first day of Terms 1, 2 & 3 are traditionally set aside as School Development Days (student free days) for all public schools in New South Wales. The next School Development Day will be held on Monday 30 April, the first day of next term. The staff will be participating in professional development activities focusing on the student wellbeing and developing our students’ writing skills. Toongabbie Public School families have always been supportive of such opportunities for staff profes-sional development and we appreciate the cooperation. TEACHER RECOGNITION I would like to congratulate our Assistant Principal, Mrs Thomas who has been selected to speak at a major conference this Wednesday. Mrs Thomas will lead teachers in the use of technology in teach-ing and learning. The Inspire, Innovate Conference is a major event and demonstrates the respect Mrs Thomas commands as an educator. We are very proud of her. PSSA Congratulations to our summer teams on the sportsmanship throughout the term. It has been very pleasing to get reports from both teachers and other schools that our students are demonstrating such high standards. Trials for our winter teams will be held next Friday. X-COUNTRY Our school X-Country will take place this Thursday. Students are invited to participate. Those who find the run difficult are encouraged to cheer for their team mates. We are holding this event on Bi-nalong Oval between 9-11am and parents are welcome to come along and watch. Students who have asthma should follow their action plan and take any preventative medication prior to running. P&C MEETING The last P&C meeting for term one will take place on Monday April 9 at 7.30pm in the staffroom. These meetings are a great way to get involved in the school. Everyone is welcome. On the agenda for this meeting is our a discussion about new way to host our old walkathon. All parents are welcome. INTERELATE 18 JUNE, 2018 Interelate is a program run for families that looks at the topic of sex education. Parents have expressed a desire for the school to host this program. We have arranged for this to take place on Monday June 18th. A note will be sent home to our Year 3-6 families next term. Session 1: Where Did I Come From? Audience: Year 3 and 4 students and their parents/carers Program focus: • Discuss the male and female reproductive systems, foetal development and the birth process • Personal safety and protective behaviours Note: Older students are encouraged to attend if they have not previously seen this program. Session 2: Preparing For Puberty Audience: Year 5 and 6 students and their parents/carers. Program focus:

Discuss the physical changes of puberty, emphasising that it can be different for everyone

• Develop students’ understanding of periods and sperm production, as well as the physical, emotional, social and intellectual changes associated with puberty for both boys and girls • Enhance awareness of children’s personal safety and protective behaviours

Note: Younger students are welcome to attend at the discretion of their parents/carers. Cost: The pricing is $30 per family for one session or $35 per family for attending both sessions.

PBL Focus

Our school will be focusing on making sure all students are wearing hats in the playground at recess and lunch. Students will be reminded by teachers every recess and lunch to wear their hats and this will be reinforced with a discussion at assembly. To assist with this, please ensure that your child has a hat in their bag every day.

P&C and Parent Auxiliary

P&C DATES 2108 06-Apr – Term 1 Disco 9 April—P & C Meeting TPS P&C DISCO Term 1 disco is on tonight. The times for the discos are as follows: K-2 - 5:30pm – 7pm 3-6 – 7:30pm – 9pm Tickets can still be purchased at the door, along with Glo sticks and novelty items.

The theme for this disco is T.P.S. Children can come dressed as anything starting with T, P or S. There will be a prize for best dressed at each disco, however we do not expect parents to go out and spend any money on a cos-tume. This is OPTIONAL. TPS P&C PARENT AUXILIARY Our Mother’s Day stall will be happening in week 2 of Term 2. If you would like to donate towards the raffle or know of any business that would like to support TPS by donating something for the raffle, please contact Brooke Arslan on 0405 356 210 or email toongabbiepublicschool@gmail.com

WHY DO SCHOOLS HAVE UNIFORMS?

School uniforms are a great leveller. When children are dressed in the same way, and their uniform is clean and tidy,

they fit in. They feel like they are part of the school community and a member of our school. Uniforms give the chil-

dren a sense of belonging and that sense of belonging is critical to learning. A child who feels disconnected from

school is not likely to be ready to learn. As well as that school uniforms take away the element of financial competition

that can arise if some children wear brand name items and others wear cheaper clothing. When everyone wears

school uniform the financial status of families isn’t visible and that’s important for students. School uniforms also com-

municate the standards and expectations a school community hold for its students. When other items of clothing start

to creep in to common use, it sends a message that our standards are slipping and it’s not a good look for the school.

At the moment we are seeing some students wearing clothing significantly outside of school dress code. I’ve noticed

lots of different coloured shoes, different styles of hats. The coloured hair ribbons for little ones are also making an

appearance. Ribbons in the hair are fine but they should be either red or white please. We will be addressing this

issue over the next few weeks with the whole school and individual students as well.

GREAT SCHOOL ATTENDANCE = BEST OPPORTUNITY TO BE A GREAT LEARNER.

One of the things that has the greatest impact on a child’s life chances is education. If your child gets a great educa-

tion he or she has the best opportunity for a great well-paid, fulfilling future. The other side of that coin is that poor

attendance has the opposite effect. Poor attendance at school is linked to lower levels of education and also lower

salary levels as adults. Research also tells us that students who develop poor attendance patterns in Kindergarten

are more likely to drop out of high school early. What is poor attendance? Schools are legally obliged to monitor the

attendance of all students. When a student’s attendance falls below 85%, schools start to become concerned and are

obliged to take action to work with parents to improve attendance. To fall below 85% students only have to miss 30

school days across the year - that is less than 1 day a week! I am a parent myself and so have experienced all the

tricks of the trade that children can pull out to get a day off school. It is critical that parents use a bit of tough love

when children are not genuinely sick and get them off to school. The other thing to think about is that if your child is

regularly looking for a day off, there may be something occurring at school that is causing anxiety for the child. Maybe

he/she is having trouble making friends. Perhaps they are finding learning a bit tricky and that is making them unhap-

py. It could be something as simple as that. It’s good to ask some questions and then make contact with the teachers

so that whatever it is can be sorted out.

Deputy Principal’s Report - Bruce Francis

Canteen News - Frances Pellegrino

GOOD NEWS—Sushi orders are increasing so we are pleased to continue to offer this service for the foreseeable future. Remember to place your order through flexischools by noon on Monday. Congratulations to these three lucky winners of our Commonwealth Games Meal deal prize draw. Josh Narisetty 5M, Isabella Prudames 2H and Jack Mcfadgen KS

WHATS HAPPENING @ TPS

DEBATING WORKSHOP Rebut, rebut and rebut!! This is the mantra for a good debating team!!! The 2018 Premiers Debating Challenge starts in term 2 and the Toongabbie Public School teams are ready to argue and rebut their way to success. Westmead Public School hosted a terrific debating workshop last Wednesday and Maddison, Charlotte, Samantha, Snehi, Ayva, Lauren and Emily learned the rules of debating and the manner, matter and methods needed in a good debate. All TPS students argued well and met lots of students from other schools. Well done girls!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR CITIZENSHIP AWARD WINNERS

WHATS HAPPENING @ TPS

RIDE TO SCHOOL DAY— Mrs Matthews & Mr Carruthers

Biker riders wove and ducked their way skilfully through the cones. The smell of sizzling onions wafted through the quad area. The playground was abuzz with the whirr of bikes and scooters as we celebrated Ride to School day. Our special guest Charlene from Addventageous set up some great challenges and Snr Constable Dukic en-joyed riding with the students. Mr John Brown cooked up a delicious sausage sizzle and our bike racks were full to overflowing. Our local bike shop Velocipede at Parramatta (www.velocipede.com.au) donated some drink bottles which were awarded to children wearing helmets correctly. Thanks to all the staff who helped make a successful morning. Remember riding to school is a great way of getting some exercise and enjoyment in your day. Good job Toongabbie!

BIKE SAFETY SIGN COMPETITION A reminder that the entries for the bike safety signs are due this Wednesday. These signs are about ONE aspect of bike safety e.g. "Remember your helmet", "Brains need helmets", "Dismount and walk inside the school", "Walk your bike across the road", "Remember to indicate with your hand". Keep it SIMPLE and CLEAR. It is not about Ride to School day. So read the criteria carefully if you wish to win one of the $50 vouchers from Velocipede. You may enter more than once. The entry form is attached to the newsletter.

On the Easter weekend Kate and Jamie Blanning played in the Under 11 State T-ball Championships representing Cumberland Nepean. Training 2 nights per week since the beginning of the year the teams played in a few gala days leading up the last weekend. The boys team played against some hard teams on the weekend and finished 5th in the State. The girls all played their little hearts out winning all 7 pool games, the major semi and then the grand final - winning the State Title undefeated.

SYDNEY WEST GIRLS FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS This week Audrey Nadaya-Harb, Lilly Soltau, Charli Leafe, Madeleine Brown, Charlize Vella and Tiana Fuller all rep-resented Wenty/Seven Hills at the Sydney West Football Championships. The girls all played outstanding football, winning every game in their group! After defeating the Blue Mountains in the semi final, they eventually finished 2nd overall, going down to Castle Hill in the grand final. What an amazing achievement! Special congratulations to Audrey and Lilly who will now represent Sydney West.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

School holiday events at Penrith Observatory. Date: 14 April Event name: Astronomy Night: Stars, Supernova, & the size of the Universe Event details: Speaker – Dr Luke Bozzetto Come and explore the life-cycle of stars, from their birth all the way to their death. Time: 7pm – 9pm Date: 20 April Event name: Hands On Workshop: Rockets Event details: Speaker – Ms Raelene Sommer Lots of fun for children ages 4 - 12. Build and launch paper rockets using compressed air and watch a demonstration of a model rocket launch. Time: 10am – 12pm Date: 28 April Event name: Astronomy Night: Space Rocks & Cosmic Collisions Event details: Speaker – Ms Raelene Sommer Asteroids, Comets and Meteors, oh my! What are they and what happens when they hit Earth? Time: 7pm – 9pm BOOKINGS VIA OUR WEBSITE ESSENTIAL Venue Address: Penrith Observatory (Building AO), Western Sydney University, Werrington North campus, Great Western Highway, Werrington 2747 Contact phone or website for public enquiries and bookings: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/observatorypenrith/penrith_observatory/whats_on Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1657296901021184/

SCHOOL HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES