Five Dock PS Newsletter Term 1, Week 10 2024

We learn on Wangal Country

Principal's Report

We have almost reached the end of Term 1, 2024. We have had such a successful term and I have been extremely proud of all students' engagement, effort and attendance over the last ten weeks. The teaching staff have worked very hard to set students up for this success and strived to achieve consistency in terms of high expectations for learning and behaviour. Students have responded to this and as I walk around the school visiting classrooms, it is wonderful to see students engaged and focused on their learning. All students have worked hard this term and have had many opportunities to engage in new learning and participate in new experiences. 

As we are now about to embark on the implementation of our new Strategic Improvement Plan, which will be published on our website at the end of this term (along with our Annual Report), it is pleasing to see some of its contents already being enacted on a day to day basis at our school. We have included a visual about this new plan as part of this newsletter, but we will provide a more detailed one early next term. Our three Strategic Directions are: 

1. Student Growth and Attainment 
2. Explicit Teaching 
3. Collaborative Community Connections

It has been fabulous to have so many successful  community events this term - the P&C Welcome Breakfast, Kindy welcome, getting to know you interviews, parent literacy session, Harmony Day and the Easter Hat Parade. As you can see from Strategic Direction 3, we are looking forward to promoting and nurturing strong, collaborative community connections. When educators and staff form a partnership with parents and carers, everyone benefits from a diversity of views and experiences. Through partnership and collaboration, families and educators gain vital information that helps our children succeed. We look forward to seeing this come to fruition over the next four years. 

I would like to thank the P&C for all of their support throughout Term 1 and for helping to make this term a successful one for all. It is your support of the school and your children that can help us to ensure that each student reaches their potential. 

I would also like to thank the teaching staff for their hard work throughout the term. All staff are working with new curriculum documents, carefully planning new units of work, tailoring them to meet individual needs. Students have settled into their new classes and working hard on learning goals that are being set. This success is also due to the teachers' decication and commitment to knowing their students, planning for teaching and learning through a supportive and safe learning environment. 

Good News Story 

Congratulations to Olive Milner, Year 5, who has successfully reached a second round audition as a soloist in this year's School Spectuacular. We wish her all the best for the audition next week. Well done, Olive! We are proud of you regardless of the result. 

Staffing News 

At the end of this term, Mrs Robyn Christopoulos will finish her tenure as our Teacher-Librarian. Mrs Christopoulos has been with Five Dock PS for 18 months and in that time she has done exceptionally well in a position that was largely unfamiliar to her. We extend our deep gratitude for everything she has done over that time and for how she has maintained the library to be an open, engaging and welcoming space. Mrs Christopoulos will continue to work casually at our school. 

This means that from Term 2, we welcome Mrs Kristi Davies-Weir to the Five Dock PS teaching staff. She has already been at our school for the past few Thursdays and is familiar with the school. Mrs Davies-Weir is extremely excited to be a part of our staff and is looking forward to her new role. One of the criteria for becoming a permanent Teacher-Librarian in NSW is to study a Masters of Teacher Librarianship, which she is currently in the process of completing. It is a huge undertaking, and shows the level of commitment required for the role. We look forward to having her as part of our school. 

We would also like to inform our community that Mrs Cathryn Alessi has been successful in securing a permanent Assistant Principal position at Lindfield East PS. This means that she will remain there and therefore vacates her permanent position at Five Dock PS. We would like to sincerely thank Cathryn Alessi for everything she has done for the students, staff and community at Five Dock. She will be incredibly missed and will leave many gaps that will need to be filled. We thank her for her hard work and commitment to our Five Dock PS community and wish her all the very best for this well-deserved promotion. We will await advice from the Department of Education as to how her position will be filled. Mrs Alessi is planning a visit to the school to formally say goodbye to our community. 

Next term, the Small Group Tuition program will start up again. This program was formally known as the Covid Intensive Learning Program. 

The Small Group Tuition program (SGT) provides literacy and numeracy support for students needing additional support in NSW primary, secondary and specialist schools. ​

Small group tuition involves supplementary teaching and learning support for groups of 2-5 students. Students are taught consistently for a predetermined amount of time with the intention to reinforce classroom instruction. From next term, this program will be implemented by Mr Tony Pigott, Mrs Sue Pigott and Ms Michelle Lenn. 

World Autism Day 

Last Tuesday (April 2) was World Autism Day and the month of April is Autism Acceptance/ Awareness month. 

World Autism Awareness Day is a moment to recognise and celebrate the important contributions of autistic people in every country and community. Around the world, they continue to confront barriers to their fundamental rights to education, employment and social inclusion — as called for by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As an inclusive school, with many students that have Autism, we would like to acknowledge the important contribution they all make to our school and the lessons that we can learn from them. This month and every day, let’s unite to realise their rights, and ensure an inclusive and accessible world for all. 

Under the Disability Strategy 2019, "...inclusive education in NSW is defined as all students, regardless of disability, ethnicity, socio-economic status, nationality, language, gender, sexual orientation or faith, can access and fully participate in learning, alongside their similar aged peers, supported by reasonable adjustments and teaching strategies tailored to meet their individual needs. Inclusion is embedded in all aspects of school life, and is supported by culture, policies and everyday practices.” 

Inclusive Education Statement for students with disability

Please take 5-10 minutes to read through the social story we have attached below. 

The importance of sleep

Two weeks ago I attended a Principal's conference where various experts talked about the wellbeing needs of children. Starting from today and over the next term, I will be sharing information about my learnings. The first topic is on the importance of sleep. We heard from Dr Carmel Harrington who has been working in the world of sleep for nearly 20 years. A former lawyer and educator she has a PHD in Sleep Medicine from Sydney University and consults with companies and educational institutions both here and overseas on sleep health. Her webiste is: http://www.sleepforhealth.com.au/index.php

In the newsletter below, we have included some information about the importance of sleep for children, however, Dr Carmel Harrington points to how lack of sleep affects all of us and that sleep is essential to our mental and physical wellbeing - so important in fact that it should be thought of as our third pillar of health. Along with food and exercise, good, quality sleep enables us to be the best we can be. Something for all families to ponder on as we head into the holidays when sleep schedules tend to fall apart. I hope you find it useful. 

Week 10 Class Photos

Twice each term you will receive some photos and a brief description of what is happening in learning for your child's class. This will be distributed in Week 11 for this term. 

Junior band Open Morning

I had the pleasure of watching the Junior band Open Morning today and I was so impressed by how far they have come in such a short time. Congratulations to the students and well done with all of your hard work. As mentioned before, learning to play an instrument assists our brain development and supports student learning in many ways. Thank you to the parents who came to support their child today. I am sure you enjoyed the performance and are proud of their hard work. 

Canteen Update

We have started the process for the canteen tender. The advertisement will go live on 'Buy Search Sell' at the start of next term for a period of three weeks. We will also advertise via Facebook. Following this, a panel will meet to discuss the applications. We hope to finalise this by the end of the term. The panel will include our School Administration Manager, Ms Carla Fabri, Ms Michelle Holmes and a Community Representative. We will provide further updates during the process.

Have a wonderful holiday, spending quality time with family and friends. Below you can explore some options for how you can do this during these April School holidays using the links we have provided. 

Suzi Chosid 

Semester 2 Calendar

Communication/ Permission To Switch Off

As a parent or carer, you are an important part of our school community. We know that you play a crucial role in helping your child become a motivated learner. Communication between our school and our community is critical for us to partner together.

Recently the Department of Education introduced new guidelines for communication amongst staff in schools and between staff and parents.

Why did the department do this? To give our teachers the opportunity to recharge, spend time with their families and bring their best creative selves to work. Schools have been encouraged to set clear expectations for when and how we respond to communication outside school operating hours. This means teachers may not reply to non-emergency messages or emails outside of school operating hours. Further reasons include: 

• To prioritise staff wellbeing:
  • In the 2023 People Matter Employee Survey results, 75% of teaching staff responded to feeling burned out by their work. Providing clear communication boundaries to assist staff to ‘switch off’ is a strategy which is crucial to reducing burnout.
  • It is central to the outcomes of Our Plan for NSW Public Education.
  • Establishing clear expectations for communication may also work to reduce psychosocial hazards and occupational violence for staff.
• Working toward addressing teacher shortage. We have historic high rates of teachers leaving the profession, due to the increasing workload, pressures and the demands of teaching. Almost every school has felt the impact of teaching shortages.
• Attraction and retention is a key priority of the NSW Government and reflects recent agreements with the NSW Teachers Federation.
• Make it clear to the community that after school operating hours, the remainder of the day is prioritised for teachers to manage their rest and family time. If parents and carers send communication after this time, it will not be looked at immediately.
  
• Setting expectations for digital communication will help address staff shortages by protecting staff against burnout and promote staff wellbeing.
  

In line with these new guidelines, we have published the school's Communication Guidelines  which outline a number of things: 

* the importance of establishing clear communication guidelines that support all sectors of the community

* outlining clear procedures for the community to be able to communicate openly with the school 

* providing detailed information about how the school communicates with the community, the various channels and their purposes

* providing a guide for who to contact for specific issues (this of course is not an exhaustive list, but provides many of the concerns/ questions parents and carers often have)

As has already been established, in line with advice from the Department of Education, we ask that all parents and carers please use the school’s email address for non-emergencies in the first instance. For emergencies, please phone the school. Emergencies include serious student health, safety and wellbeing issues. As outlined in our guidelines published below, our staff will respond to your queries within 2 school days under normal circumstances. The teaching staff are always willing to meet with you/ phone you to discuss how your child is progressing with an organised meeting. We will have another formal interview in June of this year, organised in the same way as our 'getting to know you' interviews were. 

For longer discussions or complex matters, we ask parents and carers to make an appointment to speak to teachers directly, at a time that works best for everyone.

Our staff will always stay in touch because open communication is what’s best for your child and their education. We don't want you to stop communicating with your teachers – we still want to hear from you if you have any questions or need to discuss a matter about your child. 

Our dedicated teachers want to help our students achieve their best – we’re on the same team.

Thank you for treating our staff with kindness and respect. We look forward to continuing the positive partnerships that have already been established this year. As with classroom teachers, the executive staff and myself are always happy to meet with you or phone you to discuss concerns you have. We know that your engagement is critical to your child's learning journey and education outcomes. 

Assembly Awards

P&C News

What a fantastic Easter Hat Parade we had last week! Thank you to everyone who donated and supported the FDPS P&C's Bake Stall, Raffle and Hot Cross Bun orders.
We raised an incredible $2,250!
A huge thank you to the following parents for their incredible help on the day.
Ashley Lee - Jay (Kindy) & Eden (Year 2)
Beth Collinge - Leo (Year 5)
Jade Hsu - Ethan (Year 6)Josie Murphy - Josh (Kindergarten)Kate Brandon - Phoebe (Year 5)Mel Waters - Elise (Year 2) & Lily (Year 6) Siobhan Hady - Sabina (Kindergarten) Tania Tenyo - Drew (Year 4)

Amanda Watts, FDPS P&C Vice President

What's hapenning in Italian this term?

In the classroom - SUJ

SUJ

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In the classroom - SURG

SURG

Year 5 Opportunity Class Placements

Applications for Year 5 Opportunity Class placement in 2025 open 4 April and close 20 May 2024. 

The tests will be held in designated Government high school test centres or other facilities.  

Key Dates: 

• Thursday 4 April to Monday 20 May 2024 - Applications open for Year 5 entry to opportunity classes in 2025. The application link will be published via this link on 4 April: https://education.nsw.gov.au/s...
• Thursday 1 August 2024 - Candidates sit the Opportunity Class Placement Test.

Attached you will find four documents. The first provides information for applicants and the second is a form that we request all parents/ carers to complete if they wish to apply for a place in an OC class. The third document supports you to make a decision as to whether this process is right for your child. The final document provides clear details for how to apply. 

We have included information that details this process in a visual timeline. 

Selective High School Applications

You may have heard that the selective high school and opportunity class placement tests will become computer-based tests in 2025.

The Department of Education is calling for students to participate in a pilot of the computer-based placement tests to help them prepare for this change.

It's free and open to students in Year 3 to sit the pilot opportunity class placement test and students in Year 5 to sit the pilot selective high school placement test.

The pilot will be held on Saturday 22 June 2024 at test centres in Sydney, Newcastle and Bathurst. Parents of eligible students are invited to submit an expression of interest for their child to participate in the pilot at International Convention Centre, Sydney.

Expressions of interest are open between 26 March - 12 April 2024.

This is a good opportunity for students to take a practice test ahead of the computer-based placement tests in 2025.

Computers will be provided at the pilot test venues for all participating students. Students cannot use their own personal computers.

As this is a pilot of the computer-based tests participating will not result in placement in a selective high school or opportunity class.

For more information contact the department's Selective Education team by email to SEpilotsupport@det.nsw.edu.au

Library News

As we come to the end of the term, I am encouraging students to borrow extra books this week for the upcoming holidays. The Autumn break is once again an opportune time to read, read, read! 

Thank you to all the families who are following up with overdue books, with many students returning books in the past few weeks.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

Congratulations to the following students who have completed the challenge recently. 

Year 1 - Lucy Bitmanis

Year 2 - Eden Cho, Ingrid McEachen

Year 3 - Angela Brodie

Year 4 - Ruby Carter

Year 5 - Phoebe Brandon

School Holiday Fun

Books come to life on stage during these school holidays. 

See the links below for tickets to some of the students’ favourites.

https://www.cdp.com.au/roomonthebroom.html#nsw

https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/kids-families/school-holidays-survival-guide

A final word..

All good things must come to an end..these words ring true for me, as my time as the teacher librarian in the Five Dock Public School library comes to an end next Friday.

Mrs Davies will take over in Term 2.

I can honestly say it has been the best year of teaching in my entire career, and I have learned so much.

I just wanted to thank you all for your continued support of the library and encouraging your children to develop not only a life long skill, but a real love of reading.

I would also like to thank the wonderful parent helpers who have spent countless hours in the library over the last 12 months covering new books, sorting home readers and mending books.

Tania Tenoyo, Kate Beazley, Ana Brito, Kate Marcus, Cristine Paes, Millie Read and Marlene Streater. I could not have done it without you.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday.

Robyn Christopoulos

Teacher Librarian

ANZAC Day March

Riverside Girls High School