FDPS Newsletter, Term 4, Week 4, 2024
We Learn on Wangal Country
Principal's Report
We have now reached the end of Week 4 in the term calendar. Week 10 is the last week of school, which sees students attending on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday 18 December is the last day for students, along with our Year 6 Graduation Assembly.
You may have recently heard the announcement that from 2025, teachers will be provided with a total of 8 School development Days; four of these days will occur at the start of the school year. This means that all students K-12, will start school on Thursday 6 February.
For your convenience, here are all of the School Development days for 2025:
- Term 1: Friday 31 January to Wednesday 5 February
- Term 2: Monday 28 April and Tuesday 29 April
- Term 3: Monday 21 July
- Term 4: Monday 13 October
This will mean changes have been made to the administration of Best Start. The Best Start Kindergarten Assessment is a state-wide assessment that helps teachers identify the English literacy and numeracy skills of each student at the beginning of Kindergarten. Parents will no longer be required to book an interview for this assessment. The assessment will be organised in school time during the first five weeks of school.
Public Speaking News
Last week, our school participated in the Iron Cove Public Speaking Competition. One student from each stage represented our school at this competition held at Annandale Public School. The students and their topics are listed below:
Andrea (KR): Why you should like Disney cars
Stella (2K): Why art is a great subject
Sam (3B): Why natural disasters are good for the Earth
Zadie (6E): Children shouldn't be imprisoned
Congratulations to Andrea, who was the successful winner on the day for the Early Stage 1 part of the competition. This is a wonderful win for Five Dock PS and we are very proud of his achievement.
Year 2 Band Expo
Today one of the band tuition coordinators visited our school to showcase some instruments to Year 2 student and encouraged them to consider joining the school band next 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.
Class Planning 2025
The school leadership team have begun the process of planning for 2025. Creating classes is an extremely rigorous process that teachers take very seriously. Our aim is to consider academic, social and emotional needs for all students. You are able to share information that is relevant for this planning process. The school will consider this, but is unable to guarantee that all requests will be considered due to the complexity of the process. Many factors are taken into account when creating classes and decisions are always made in the best interests of students. Most students have the ability to successfully transition into new classes, with new peers and a new teacher.
There are departmental guidelines when schools are forming class groups. Staffing is allocated using a formula. Students in K-2 receive a higher allocation. However, staffing is calculated on the TOTAL number of enrolments in the school, not the number of students in a particular year.
This means that schools with certain enrolment numbers will be unable to create straight classes because the numbers simply do not allow for it. It is likely that for next year, we will have 12 classes, some of which will be composite classes due to the way in which our numbers fall. The formula that informs us how many classes we have to form, means that we work with that figure to structure classes according to the numbers for each grade.
Evidence shows that it is the quality of teaching, combined with student interest, engagement and motivation that has a greater impact on learning than class organisational structures. At Five Dock PS, and indeed at many public schools in NSW, quality teaching is supported by mentoring, instructional leadership, collaborative practices among teachers and professional learning. This has a much greater impact on student learning outcomes than the structure of classes. As mentioned above, the What Works Best document outlines evidence-based practices that we will be committed to implementing as part of our Strategic improvement Plan, which will ultimately have the biggest impact on student learning.
Please use this form to record any important considerations. Requests for specific teachers will not be considered as part of this process. Please complete the form below form by Friday 22 November.
https://forms.gle/qYzToN9d3D1TmKB9A
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
Leaving the School in 2024?
The school executive is currently planning for 2025 and to assist us with structuring our classes for next year we need your assistance. It is vital that we are aware of exactly how many students we will have at the school in 2025. The first day of school for most students next year will be Tuesday 4 February 2025, and new Kindergarten students will be starting on Monday 10 February. It is vital that we know if your child/children will NOT be returning to Five Dock PS or will be returning LATE next year. Some families take extended holidays in January/February and we need to know your return date so that your enrollment can be counted. This information will enable the school to plan for staffing and classing needs. You do not need to complete the form if your child is leaving year 6 to go to high school.This afternoon, you will have received a form to complete on School Bytes. Please complete the form as soon as possible. You do not have to complete the form if you are returning; it is only for families who are not returning, or returning late.
Primary Principal's Conference
Last week, I attended a Principal's Conference for three days. This was an opportunity to collaborate and network with other principals and hear high quality speakers that were inspiring, giving u an opportunity to take things back to our community, supporting our ability to lead with knowledge, empathy and kindness. Over the next few weeks, I will be telling you a little bit about each speaker and their messages. This week, I would like to mention Dean Boxall and Professor Georgina Long.
Dean Boxall was the driving force behind some of Australia's most incredible swimming achievements. His most celebrated success was that of Ariarne Titmus. His coaching style is characterised by intensity and passion. His message was of the importance of resilience and courage to persevere despite challenges and hardships. Dean showed a video of Michael Caine being interviewed, talking about 'using the difficulty'. The video summarises Dean's coaching style and what leads to success. Here is the video: https://youtu.be/GAB89fOdA-I?si=hsbDNE4Db8UQzy-Z
Professor Georgina Long is an Australian of the Year recipient and a co-medical director at the Melanoma Institute. She leads extensive clinical trials and focuses on targeted therapies. She was excited about the research that exists in Australia to improve outcomes for patients, but she stressed the importance of prevention. This means firstly protecting ourselves as much as possible in our younger years - wearing a hat and applying sunscreen regularly. We will be promoting this message to students over the coming weeks as it gets hotter. Please support your child by ensuring they bring a hat to school every day. Here is a video where she shares an important message about sun protection.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/video/australians-of-the-year-urge-better-sun-safety/sucntj5e0
Selective High School and Opportunity Classes
Application period for Year 5 entry to opportunity classes and Year 7 entry to selective high schools in 2026 will be open until 21 February 2025. The online application link for parents and carers is available at Selective high schools and opportunity classes.
We have attached some documents that are relevant if you wish to apply for one of these positions, which include:
1. A Fact Sheet all about applications for Selective High Schools and Opportunity Classes
2. Application guide for Year 7 selective high school entry in 2026
3. A guide to selective high schools and opportunity
classes
4. A guide for Applying for your child to attend an opportunity class or selective high school
If you have any further questions, please contact the school.
Gardening Club/ Planting Seeds Project
This week, Mr Sharp organised for many of our students to participate in a Planting Seeds Project.
PlantingSeeds was born out of a need for change as pollination is often overlooked in sustainability; we are aiming to change that. Not many people know that our major cities can be ‘biodiversity hot spots’,we work to protect and enhance the natural environment by engaging people in urban areas.
Planting and increasing native vegetation and habitats support threatened pollinators. Students had a wonderful day and learnt a lot about the project's initiative and how we as a school can support biodiversity and sustainability. This morning we also presented Mr Sharp and five members of the Gardening Club with a special certificate, acknowledging the mention that Stephanie Di Pasqua made in Parliament when we planted a tree together earlier in the year. Congratulations to Mr Sharp and our Gardening Club. We are very proud of the amazing work that you all do.
P&C Meeting
Next Wednesday 13 November is our P&C Meeting. At this meeting, the school's Teacher's Federation representative, Mr Kaplan will be speaking at the start. Below is a message from Mr Kaplan, inviting you to attend this meeting and hear the message:
Dear parents and carers
You are invited to attend a short meeting to hear an important message from the NSW Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations and NSW Teachers Federation about the unacceptable state of public school funding and what you can do to make a difference for the future of your child’s education.
NSW public schools face a funding gap of $1.9 billion just this year alone. Analysis by the NSW Department of Education shows that over the next four years the federal government will provide $24.2 billion to the state's 970 non-government schools, but only $14.3 billion to the 2216 public schools.
This underfunding of public schools has serious consequences for our school community. Some of the unmet needs of our students and the aspirations we have for our school community will be discussed at the meeting.
We hope you to see you at this important event. For those who can’t attend, please find out more by going to For Every Child and Email the PM –- For Every Child to ensure your voice is heard.
Kind regards
Mr Kaplan
Have a wonderful fortnight.
Suzi Chosid
P&C News
What a Halloween Party :)
Over 470 adults and kids attended the 2024 FDPS P & C Halloween Party. Thank you to everyone in our community that supported this event – we hope you had a great time. We raised funds for the P & C which benefit our kids at the school.
The games area was super busy all night, the hall was full of kids doing their best dance moves (plus a few grown ups) and every child seemed to go up and down that inflatable slide 40+ times. Loads of kids joined in on the Motiv8 Inner West Sports event activation – with the skeleton head (egg) and spoon race my personal favourite!
We’ve received great feedback about the event – it was especially so great to see so many people dress up in their Halloween finest!!!!
Shout out to the following businesses who donated prizes or their time. We’d love FDPS to support them.
- Sophy Robertson from the Drummoyne Wellness Clinic, Nina Gadhia from Nina Gadhia Photography, Jim from Pyrmont Cellars, Alec Danelian from The Burg and Bradley Hansen from Anime for the Best Dressed Prizes.
- It was also great to see Albert Stanciu from A Team Fitness who is one of our Annual Gold Sponsors, at the event and help judge our Best Dressed competition.
- Lastly, HUGE shout out to Motiv8sports Inner West - we had Andrew and his team create an event activation with prize giveaways - the kids loved the different stations!!
And A BIG thanks to the following people who donated their time to help:
- My right-hand wing-women Kristie Seale and Belinda Van Windon who helped with everything and anything all weekend.
- Rhys Tyrell and Angus Hilton who helped set everything up on Saturday and take everything down on Sunday. And Angus for cooking all 260 sausages and 5kg of onions solo.
- To the set-up helpers …. Phil Carbins with Zoe and Blake, Simon Shankland (who was also there for pack down) with Samuel and Sophie plus Andrea Bustamante and Shaun Deacon.
- Karen Munro who set up ‘Halloween’ on QKR!
- Ankur who sorted all the floats and paid all the bills as our Treasurer.
- The bake stall queens which were led by Jade Hsu (who also did all our socials) – Melissa Waters and Shelley Baidjurak. AND BIG thanks to everyone who donated items.
- The Poke a Pumpkin Guru – Beth Collinge who packed all 340 cups and sourced some of the prizes!!!
- To our Games Team … thank you, thank you …. Zara P, Zoe F, Julia F (thanks for the donation of lollies too), Daniel H, Siobhan H. Fiona W, Kate P, Melanie J, Lyndsey F, Josephine M, Kylie Edwards, Kate B, Ash C, Joedy G and Bridget M.
- The Welcome Gate Crew – Amanda W and Elissa F plus Allegra Bivona!
- The Food Crew who did a sensational job – Alex Sheath and Jari Kennedy plus Saskia and Claire Morgan.
- Thank you to Suzi, Kerry, John, Terry and Emily who helped with cleaning, keys, sound system, BBQ’s and provided support.
- To Merissa who manages the Canteen – thank you for allowing us access to use this space.
- Andrew and the OOSH team for printing and laminating!
- Lastly to my kids Georgie and Abbey who packed tickets, wrapped prizes, helped with set up and more – BIG thanks!
Heather Hilton
2024 Halloween Party Event Organiser
P&C Halloween Party
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 or Ms Bakoulis 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.
Support Unit Assembly
This week our Support Unit students led the 3-6 assembly. They did an outstanding job and worked collaboratively, respectfully and diligently to ensure the success of the assembly. Congratulations to all of our students. They did a fabulous job. We acknowledge the hard work that Mr Kaplan and Mr Johnson also put in to support this success.
Deadly Award
Congratulations Jack Palmer on your Deadly Award.
In the classroom - 2T
The students of 2T have enjoyed learning about the importance of trees through reading the Gentle Genius of Trees. This informative and humorous book provided the stimulus for their persuasive writing. Students are learning to use language devices to convince the reader of the vital role trees play in the environment and for our health and well-being. Science has started with a pop this term as the students investigated how a corn kernel changed when heated. They recorded their observations with detailed diagrams of the popping corn. The students are having such fun in Zing Activ dance lessons and are learning the elements of dance through Hip-hop routines. Grandparents Day was a very special occasion and a wonderful opportunity for the students to proudly share their work with their grandparents. As part of our history unit, students interviewed their grandparents about their favourite food and why it was special to them.
Merit Awards
Weeks 3 and 4 Merit award winners.
