Five Dock PS Newsletter, Term 4, Week 2, 2024
We Learn on Wangal Country
Term 4 Calendar
Principal's Report
Welcome back to Term 4 where we find ourselves working our way towards the end of the year. There is a lot planned for this term and before we know it we will be planning for the school holidays. We have included these in our Term 4 calendar so that you can get organised for what is happening and when. We have many opportunities for our students to experience a wide range of enriching and engaging activities, including, a planting seeds project for our Gardening Club, Kindergarten orientation, intensive swimming program, Concord Cup, a wheelchair basket ball excursion, Kindy Farm excursion, and Five Dock's Got Talent.
Senior Morning Tea
On Tuesday 10 December, our school will be hosting one of Sal;y Sitou's Seniors Morning Teas. It will be held from 8:30am - 11am in the school hall and we will be expecting close to 100 seniors on the morning. Years 5 and 6 students will be hosting, interviewing the seniors, our choir will perform and we will have a speech from a Year 6 student. We are looking forward to hosting this special event and we are sure that students will benefit from the experience and interaction with local seniors.
Grandparents Day
On Wednesday of this week we hosted Grandparents Day. We had a wonderful day warmly welcoming them into our school and classroom. We appreciate all of the grandparents making time to join us and we thank the teachers who created this opportunity for students to connect and make memories with these significant people in their lives.
Sunday October 27 is the official Grandparents Day that celebrates the contributions grandparents make to their families and communities. It recognises the diversity of grandparent relationships and the roles of older people in our community. It aims to foster inter-generational learning and offers older people opportunities to participate in their local communities. Our Seniors Morning Tea will also provide our students opportunities to engage in inter-generational interactions, that will support empathy and understanding of different groups within our society.
World Teachers' Day
Today is World Teachers' Day, a day in which we celebrate our teachers and thank them for all the work they do to educate, inspire and empower learners across Australia. We thank all of our teachers for the significant contribution and difference they make every day to the lives of the students in their care, not just for while they at our school, but for their lifetime. Teachers make a significant contribution to our society There is a reason why many believe they have the most important job in the world; they are the educators of all professions, including doctors and lawyers. Teachers educate the hearts and minds of students and deserve this celebration and recognition. I feel proud to lead this group of teachers and proud of serving students in public education. I encourage all in our community to take the time to acknowledge and appreciate this contribution from teachers. A huge thanks to our P&C who have done this today, by organising coffee, a sweet treat and inspiring messages for all of our teachers. Teachers enjoyed this acknowledgement and special care.
Halloween Party - Saturday 26 October
The P&C have worked extremely hard to organise this special event and I know that there are many fabulous activities and stalls planned for this party. Please support the P&C by attending. This event is not just for raising funds for the school, but also contributes to the feeling of community, builds relationships between families and connects school and home for students. On behalf of the school, we would like to thank Heather Hilton, principal organiser and the rest of the team who have worked very hard to make this event exciting and fun for students. Thank you for donating your time and energy into creating this opportunity. It is going to be a great night, so do not miss out! Tickets are still available at the door.
School Bytes
Next year, we will be moving away from Sentral for our communication and move solely to School Bytes. This should not be a huge transition for families as almost 100% of our families are registered with School Bytes. School Bytes has an app for your phone, to make it easier to access permission note requirements and payments for events.
Tell Them From Me Survey
Our annual Tell Them From Me Survey is now ready for parents to complete in order to provide feedback to the school. The survey link has been provided to class parents, and we are including it in this letter as well.
We would greatly appreciate it if parents could take 10-15 minutes to complete this survey as the more parents that complete it, the more reliable to data becomes that will enable us to see trends and common beliefs within the community. Your input into this survey would be greatly appreciated and is designed to provide feedback that will improve the learning outcomes for students.
Thank you for your time in supporting the school with this feedback. We appreciate your continued support as part of a key stakeholder in our school community.
http://nsw.tellthemfromme.com/24fdp
Leadership 2025
We have begun the process of selecting the Student Leadership Team for 2025. Today, all students will receive a hard copy of a note which provides information about this process and details some of the changes we are making this year. The note is attached to this message.
This week Mrs Edwards and myself met with Year 5 students to discuss the candidate suitability criteria. For your information, we have included the note that went home with students last Friday afternoon. As you will see from the note, this year we have made some changes to the process of selecting the Student Leadership Team, which attempts to bring rigour to the role, along with high expectations for any student who aspires to be a school leader. An extra step has been included, where a panel comprising of the Principal, Assistant Principals and Year 5 teachers, will review the merit and suitability of the student nominations. The merit and suitability of the nominations will be based on the School Rules and Responsibilities and Suitability Criteria. We look forward to this process this year and to seeing students articulate their reasons for why they would make a great school leader.
Good News Story
Congratulations to Olive Milner in Year 5 who has been offered a position as a Principal Vocalist in Pulse Alive 2025! Well done, Olive! We look forward to seeing her represent Five Dock PS!
Have a wonderful fortnight.
Suzi Chosid
Kindergarten Orientation
In the Classroom - 3K
In the Classroom - 4M
In 4M, students have been working diligently to enhance their skills across subjects. One of the key areas of focus has been numeracy, where we have been tackling multiplication strategies to solve a range of problems. 4M have been learning to describe the chance of everyday events and have thoroughly enjoyed playing card games. We have been working on identifying angles and are working on applying our knowledge of angles, as well as forces, to design and build a bridge this term in science. We are looking forward to a productive term filled with learning, creativity, and growth. We can’t wait to see what they will achieve next!
Five Dock's Got Talent
Five Dock’s Got Talent is an opportunity for students to display their performance talents. Auditions will be held in Week 7 and students who are successful in gaining a place will be informed by the end of Week 8.
All rehearsals for performances must be done at home or during break times at school. Any music required will need to be placed on a USB and given to Mr Pigott by Wednesday, 11 December.
The performance date for Five Dock’s Got Talent will be Friday, 13 December. We all look forward to seeing the extraordinary talent of Five Dock Public School students.
FDPS Tennis Club
After School Coding
