Five Dock PS Newsletter Term 1, Week 2, 2024

We learn on Wangal Country

Principal's Message

A very warm welcome back to all of our families. Welcome to 2024 at Five Dock PS! I hope that all of you were able to enjoy some much needed rest and relaxation over the summer holidays, and appreciated quality time with family and friends. 

A warm welcome is also extended to all of our new families from Kindergarten, as well as all of the new families to our school community. I am delighted and proud to begin my first full school year as Principal of this wonderful school; our community is vibrant and energetic and we look forward to working with them in partnership to maximise the learning and wellbeing outcomes of all students. Research shows that students achieve better outcomes when schools, families and the community work together to support learning. Schools and families benefit from strong, respectful family-school relationships and when they share responsibility for student learning. The NSW Department of Education has announced its theme for Education Week this year, which is held annually in early Term 3. This year the theme is "Proud to Belong" and this resonates strongly as I am proud to belong to this community and to public education. Thank you for entrusting your children in our care. 

In visiting all classrooms over the first couple of weeks, I have been extraordinarily  impressed with the way in which all students have settled into their new classroom environments; routines have already been established, students are already working hard and learning goals have begun to be discussed. Our 46 Kindergarten students began this week and have had a very positive start to their schooling life. Students are all getting used to the routines associated with being at school and are being ably supported by Mrs Rago and Mr Wilson. Thank you to the Kindergarten teachers, and to Mr Justic, Early Stage 1 AP,  for their support in transitioning students. 

For your reference, we have attached below the staffing list for 2024. 

Changed Times to the School Day

Last year we made a decision to implement a slight adjustment to the times of the school day. Start times and finish times will not change; these will remain at 9am and 3pm. The changes occur during the day. It will mean students will have a longer break first - which is lunch and a shorter break in the afternoon. The first and most important reason is that the students will be outside for the longer break earlier, when it is not as hot. The second reason is that the school day needs to be 4 hours and 45 mins and we currently have 10 mins less than this. We will be making an even greater effort to have all students with a hat every day. Please support your child to help them be reponsible for bringing a hat to school every day. Upon regular visits in the playground throughout the day, I have witnessed many students without a hat and we will take the time to reinforce this message about sun safety as much as possible to ensure students are protected. We would like to set children up from as early as possible to practise sun safety by wearing sunscreen in the morning and wearing a hat when outdoors. 

The times are as follows: 

Session 1 - 9:00-11:00

Eating time - 11:00 - 11:10 

Lunch 1 - 11:10-11:30 

Lunch 2 - 11:30 - 11:50

Session 2 - 11:50-1:35 

Recess - 1:35 - 2:00

Session 3 - 2:00 - 3:00

Meet the Teacher and Getting to Know You Interviews

This year we are having two events which will enable you to engage with your child's class teacher. The first is a "Meet the Teacher"  event, which will occur next week in Week 3. This will be a combination of stage-based and class-based sessions. Stages will firstly present a 25 minute presentation about the school year, followed by a short 15 minutes with the classroom teacher. These are not individual interviews, but designed for a group about classroom routines. The following week we will have "Getting to Know You" interviews and these will be one to one. The purpose of these is to provide you with an opportunity to let your child's teacher hear information from parents that will support their learning and to share your goals for your child. Teachers will have information about how they have settled in, but not necessarily about their progress or achievement. Please see attached visual for detailed information. 

I would like to welcome new staff to our school; Ms Rose Rassaby, who will be teaching Year 5, Ms Kelly Bakoulis, who will be teaching Year 4, Ms Elizabeth Smith who will be teaching Year 4 and ms Lisa Pivato who will be in the Support Unit. They are extremely excited about their new roles and look forward to being a part of the school community. Please join us in making them feel welcome. 

Teacher Librarian Position 

We are awaiting finalisation of the recruitment process for this position and we will be better placed to provide more information in the next newsletter. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Beth Collinge our P&C Representative and Terry Justic, our staff representative for their time during this process.  

Canteen Update

At this point, the steps for going through a canteen tender process has only just begun. We have submitted the initial paperwork and we are awaiting for details about the next steps, which more than likely will be to form a panel. I have had a conversation with Appetite, where we have requested that they continue to provide canteen services for at least the next three months, which is the approximate time a canteen tender takes to complete. 

We value the relationship and connection we have to this local cafe and we greatly appreciate their generosity over the years. We are grateful that this small business supports our students and school by providing students with lunch on a daily basis. We are conscious that when lunch orders are forgotten, we do not have an immediate on-site alternative in the form of a school canteen. We would like to remind you that if you have forgotten to order your child's lunch, please call the school and we will arrange for your child to have a lunch made up for them via OOSH. Orders from Appetite will now be open until 9:30am to help you in case you do forget. After this time, rather than calling Appetite, please call the school to make arrangements as Appetite are required to have a strict cut-off time to enable them to manage their customers and the orders for Five Dock PS. No order will be taken after 9:30am from Appretite cafe; please call the school after this time. 

From Monday you will be able to order recess and lunch via the Flexischools App. Appetite worked late last night and have it all up and running. Please reach out if you are having any issues with this. 

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Appetite Cafe for all of their support for Five Dock PS. We appreciate the connection and support. We would also like to thank the P&C for supporting us with a solution for when students forget their lunch. 

Mandarin Lessons

As you are probably aware, this year we are only offering Italian lessons. Over the last few years, Mandarin lessons have been provided, but this comes at an additional cost to the school. We have a dedicated Italian teacher (one position shared between Mrs Gatsas and Mrs Lopes) that is funded by the Department of Education. This year we have purchased an additional class to enable us to have 14 straight classes (not composite) and to do this, we needed to finance the class. This was a challenge that required us to priortise funding. While we cannot guarantee this will be possible every year, we have been able to make it work this year. We are currently investigating how we can provide Mandarin lessons outside of school hours on site at school. 

Have a wonderful fortnight. 

Suzi Chosid

Principal

2024 Student Leadership Team

This week Mrs Edwards and I met with the Student Leadership team. We discussed a new responsibility we have given them this year, and that is to host the Monday morning assemblies. The team were guided through their roles and we explained how we would have a roster, where two leaders at a time would lead the assembly. We also asked them to reflect on "What makes a good leader?" and what they hope to achieve as a result of being a student leader at Five Dock in 2024. It was humbling to listen to each of our future leaders talking about the qualities of a good leader, why they applied for leadership, and what they hope to achieve. We are in good hands with this calibre of leaders amongst our students! Attached you will find a copy of their reflections, which they have provided us  permission to publish here. What thoughful and reflective comments. I look forward to working with the team and nurturing and supporting their leadership development. 

P&C Community Breakfast

It was a wonderful turn out at our annual P&C Community breakfast on Friday morning. We had so many parents turn up to make new connections, revisit old ones and observe where their children will be learning for 2024. The event was an enormous success and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the community atmosphere and vibe. Sincere thanks go to Heather Hilton and the P&C for the huge effort in organising the event. We would also like to thank Appetite cafe for the food and to Daniella from Madison Avenue Coffee for the essential coffee orders of the morning. It was a fabulous morning, which then followed with parents visiting 2024 classrooms. A positive start to the school year with community connections. 

P&C Community Breakfast/ In the Classroom

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P&C News

It was lovely to welcome our new kindy parents on Wednesday this week with a free coffee and banana bread as they farewelled their little ones starting 'big school'. I didn't see any of the kids shed a tear but I know a few parents did - it does get easier.

Today we held our Welcome to 2024 Community Breakfast - it was great to see so many people this morning. Thank you to Suzi and your team for their support with the event. 
A BIG shout out to the fabulous OOSH team who helped with set up from 7am ... Tyler, Natasha, Bianca and Claudia. Also a special thank you to our OOSH Director Andrew and P & C VP Daniel Morgan who also assisted this morning.
This community event was funded by the P & C - with thanks to our wonderful suppliers who all delivered on time; Daniela from Madison Avenue Coffee, Phillip, Adrian and the team at Appetite Cafe and then Tamborrino's for the sweet treats! 
Our first P & C meeting for 2024 is our AGM followed by the general meeting commencing at 7pm on Wednesday March 13 in the hub room - in the main office building. We'd love to see you attend. If you wish to receive meeting papers and be eligible to vote please join the P & C via the QKR! app for $2 annually. 
If you have any queries of the P & C please email - fdpspandc@gmail.com
Heather Hilton - President FDPS P & C

P&C Community Events

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Welcome to Five Dock PS, Kindergarten!

Our 46 Kindergarten students have settled in extremely well this week. They have thoroughly enjoyed their first few days at school. Thank you to the enormous efforts of Mr Wilson, Mrs Rago and Mr Justic. Students have been learning new routines, making new friends and particpating in new learning experiences. Thanks to our Year 6 buddies who supported students on their first day. Our P&C started the day off positively with coffee and cake, which was appreciated by all. Welcome to new parents to our Five Dock community!We are looking forward to helping your children learn, grow and develop. 

Kindergarten 2024

Preschool News

Both Amber Amaroo and Blue Buruwang groups have settled in extremely well and enjoying the start of preschool at Five Dock. Miss Jane and Miss Lucia have done a wonderful job transitioning the children and it was lovely to see the children this week happily playing and socialising with new friends. In fact, on chatting to the children, one remarked that her favourite activity was "making new friends". We look forward to watching the children grow and mature, ready for Kindergarten next year. 

Preschool Photos

Swimming Carnival

Carnival Fun

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Our swimming carnival on Tuesday, 6th February, was an absolute hit! All the students did a fantastic job showcasing their swimming skills and sportsmanship. It was amazing to see the enthusiasm of participants from Years 3-6, Support Unit, and Year 2 (8-year-olds) who came together for this event held at Ashfield Aquatic Centre. We could not have made it a success without the hard work and dedication of all the teachers and parent helpers including Mr and Mrs Munro, Mrs Hamill, Mr and Mrs Rossi. Thank you! We are looking forward to the IWPSSA Swimming Carnival, which is scheduled for Tuesday, March 5, at Ashfield Aquatic Centre. We will be sending out information shortly regarding which students will be participating based on their timing.

Ms Tay

Dates for Term 1 and 2024

Below you will find two visuals; one for Term 1 dates, as well as one for significant dates throughout the year. We have made an effort to include the major days, but as you would expect there are many other events that do not have a definitive date yet. 

Our Sentral calendar, which can be accessed via the Sentral for parents app and our school's website lists the events on an ongoing basis and is updated regularly throughout the year. We use the Facebook page, as well the Sentral feed to remind everyone about upcoming events. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school office. 

Class Parents at Five Dock PS

This year, we are introducing the role of a class parent. This role involves a parent volunteer from each class to be a 'Class Parent.' Class parents will play an important communication role in our school and are used to help with the flow of communication between class parents, the teacher, the school and the P&C.

The Class Parent Network is managed by the P&C in conjunction with the school. Each year, we will compile a list of Class Parent contacts, which will be used to facilitate communications at the school.

The types of activities a Class Parent may be involved in include:

• Help with communication between the families of children in the class, with the teacher, school and P&C
• Help to make families feel part of our school community
• Make a list of names and contact details of class families
• Support your class teacher as required
• Email important information to class families from the school or P&C
• Organise social activities for class families
• OPTIONAL- Attend P&C meetings

The role is NOT: To give advice or be a point of contact for parent issues/concerns associated with the students, class or school. These matters are managed by the classroom teacher, the Assistant Principals, or the Principal.

Please see the attached image for further information. If you're interested in nominating yourself as class parent, please fill in the Google form. 

https://forms.gle/JK9eumM2NQsxg2f29

* Please note: This link is now accessible. 

Library News

Library Organisation Term 1

Welcome back to another year of reading fun! Hoping that you all had enjoyable holidays and are now getting back into the swing of things. Here is a reminder of the library’s borrowing procedures for Term 1.

Regular borrowing from the library is a valuable and positive lifelong habit to develop as it effects your child’s attitude towards books, reading and learning. Books borrowed through the library are meant to help provide an enjoyable experience for both you and your child to share, as well as the opportunity for independent readers to view reading as a leisure activity.

The borrowing of our school library books has begun this week for all children through Kindergarten to Year 6.

Kindergartens through to Year 4 need to have a library bag in order to take home their chosen book. Would you please make sure your child has an appropriate bag on the day he/she visits the library. Waterproof library bags with our school logo are available from the uniform shop. While it is the preferred library bag, it is not compulsory. Any tote bag or waterproof bags are suitable for use, as leaking drink bottles cause the most damage to books.

The borrowing period is 2 weeks but many children prefer to exchange their book after 1 week. A reminder note may be sent home if books are late being returned. I am encouraging the children to let me know if a book is damaged. In that way I can try to repair it as soon as possible. I would appreciate it if parents did not attempt to mend any damage as specialised tapes and glues are often needed.

As with all libraries, you are responsible for all books borrowed from the school and will be asked to reimburse the school if the book is irreparably damaged or lost.

Thank-you for your co-operation

Mrs. Christopoulos

Borrowing Times

Monday - Support Unit and KW

Tuesday – 3B, 3K, 6M, 1FC, 5B

Wednesday – 5R, 1LC, 2K

Thursday – 4M, 4S, 2T, KR, 6E

Five Dock School Band

It is still not too late to be a part of the school band. 

Last year we held a Band expo fo Year 2 students and we would still like to encourage as many children as possible to consider joining the school band this year. Learning an instrument is an extremely valuable extra-curricular activity and supports learning in other areas as well. 

This blog will provide you with 10 benefits to learning an instrument: https://moderntonestudios.com/blog/10-reasons-every-child-should-play-musical-instrument/#:~:text=Learning%20to%20play%20an%20instrument%20stimulates%20the%20brain%20cells%2C%20improving,for%20creativity%20and%20their%20emotions.

Please consider enrolling your child in the band for 2024. 

Lunchtime Hip Hop

At Five Dock Public School, we're always seeking innovative ways to enrich our students' experiences. That's why in 2024, we're thrilled to announce a potential collaboration with Elevate Performance Arts Studio to bring engaging and quality dance programs during lunchtime for K-2 and 3-6.

We believe that offering diverse opportunities for our students to explore their interests is essential to their holistic development. If your child has an interest in dance and would love to be part of this exciting program, we encourage you to express your interest by filling out the Google Form linked below:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSekO7flmFKuG1IYYdXTxf-NeiX4SBEdWHzRZ9iqOd_PpUAM6g/viewform

Pulse Alive

Audience tickets are now available for Pulse Alive. Please see information below in the flyer for how to book. This year we are thrilled to announce that our school choir will once again be taking the stage at Pulse Alive. This event, which brings together talented students and educators from various NSW Public Schools in Greater Sydney and beyond, provides invaluable opportunities in the performing arts for young individuals from Year 3 to Year 12. We are very proud of our choir and we are are extremely grateful to the P&C who will generously support this event by providing funds for transportation and provision for dinner. 

While the participation fee of $52.00 per student will be covered by families, the P&C will provide support to cover the transportation costs and providing dinner for the children on the event night. We look forward to this exciting event on the calendar for 2024. 

Zone Representative Trials

Please complete this form if your child would like to be considerd for Zone representative trials.  This will enable us to contact students when trials are available.

The Lab Program @ Five Dock Library

Briars Road Hockey Open Day