Five Dock PS Newsletter Term 4, Week 4, 2023
Principal's Report
Thank you to the Five Dock PS community for their kind messages of congratulations upon the announcment about the substantive principal's position at the school. I am extremely proud to lead this enthusiastic and active community and look forward to leading the growth of each student and its school improvement plan. As your child's primary carer, you are your child's first educator and therefore have a key influence on their learning and development. It is my goal to facilitate a partnership to support the academic and wellebing needs of students and maximise their learning potential, along with the teaching staff. In education, we often use a term called, "Collective teacher efficacuy". What this means is that if all teachers believe they can improve learning outcomes, this will be reflected in their results by way of improvement and growth. By the same token, by working collectively with the community, we can improve learning even further. I am excited by this challenge and look forward to working with students, staff and the community to achieve this.
Selective High School Applications 2025
A reminder about Selective High School applications for Year 7 entry in 2025 are now open Students in Year 5 who would like to apply need to follow the process, where applications close on Monday 20 November. Please find as part of this newsletter two documents:
1. Information for applicants who wish to apply
2. An "Intention to apply for Year 7 placement in a selective high school in 2025" letter. This tear-off slip should be returned to the school, but it is only notifying the school and not the application itself. The application itself needs to be completed by parents/ carers. The Selective High School Placement Test is NOT expected to be held in primary schools in 2024.
Key dates:
- Applications for Year 7 entry to selective high schools in 2025 open on 9 October 2023 and close on 20 November 2023 at the Selective High Schools and Opportunity Classes Year 7 website.
- All candidates are required to sit the Selective High School Placement Test on Thursday 9 May 2023.
Please visit the Selective High Schools and Opportunity Classes website for updates and complete information about the placement process.
Please contact the school if you have any further questions.
Good News Story
We would like to share with you some exciting news about Zoe Wright from 1/2 Bunul.Last week, Zoe met Stephanie Di Pasqua, the NSW Legislative Assembly member for Drummoyne, who presented her with a framed community award and prize for her winning entry in the 2023 Ferragosto Colouring Competition. She was also given a copy of a statement Stephanie made in parliament where she spoke about Zoe and her artwork, which is now permanently part of the parliamentary record. Zoe’s winning artwork will be displayed in Stephanie’s office and on her Facebook page as well as being in the latest Drummoyne electorate community newsletter.We have included a photo below of Zoe being presented with her award. Congratulations, Zoe!
P&C Halloween Event
Last Saturday the P&C held an amazing Halloween event. An incredible number of community members supported this event, so thank you to all for coming and being part of this event. The P&C, particularly the P&C President Heather Hilton, worked extremely hard on this event and we thank them for the many hours of organisation undertaken in order to raise funds to suppoirt the school with teaching and learning resources and the school grounds. We appreciate this huge effort and hope that future events are equally supported.
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 have a discussion with your child about this and we encourage as many students as possible to join the band in 2024.
Canada Bay Parking
Please see information in images below regarding road safety and parking rules and regulations from Canada Bay.
Parent Sideline Behaviour
Last week I received a phone call regarding parent sideline behaviour at PSSA. We support parents' encouragement of their children during PSSA and understand their enthusiasm. We also appreciate the financial, social and work sacrifices made by parents to ensure that their children have the opportunities to participate in sport. Unfortunately, at times, this results in inappropriatre behaviour due to high emotions. We all want our children to succeed on the field, however, poor parent sideline behaviour can actually have a negative impact on a child's performnace. This behaviour may include but is not limited to:
* Inappropropriate language towards coaches, parents, teachers or even other children.
* Providing excessive instruction or coaching from the sidelines, often in contrast to what the coach has instructed.
Please ensure that if you are attending PSSA you refrain from interfering with coaches' decisions and actions and certainly refrain from speaking with any child, other than your own. This is part of the PSSA parent code of conduct. These include:
Encourage your child to always play by the rules.
If children are interested in sport, encourage them to participate. Refrain from forcing an unwilling child to participate.
Remember that children participate in organised school sports for their enjoyment and fulfilment, not yours.
Teach your child that honest effort is as important as winning so that the result of each game is accepted without undue disappointment.
Encourage your child to work towards skill improvement. Never ridicule your child for making a mistake or losing a competition.
Always encourage the principle of good sportsmanship.
Children learn best by example. Applaud good play by all individuals and all teams.
Do not publicly question the officials’ judgement and never their honesty.
Appreciate the contribution and commitment of teachers in coaching positions. They give their time and resources to provide sporting activities for your child and deserve your support.
Have realistic expectations for your child and her or his team. Do not expect more than they can give.
Support all efforts to remove verbal and physical abuse from sporting activities. Condemn the use of violence in any form.
School Development Day Notice of Variation
Next Tuesday afternoon, the staff at Five Dock PS will be participating in a twilight professional learning session to replace the last School Development Day on Tuesday 19 December. From 3-6, we will have three different groups, which enables teachers to participate in professional learning that is based on their needs and the needs of the school. One group will be focused on the evidence-informed research that relates to our future directions in literacy and numeracy. This includes the science of reading and mathematics, big ideas in number and Rosenshine's principles of instruction. All of these will inform our new Strategic Improvement Plan. The second group will focus on supporting students to regulate their emotions and out preschool staff will undergo professional learning related to regulations and compliance.
OOSH News
This week we farewelled another long-standing OOSH educator. We said goodbye to Lauren Edwards who has been with the FDPS OOSH for seven years as Assistant Director. Lauren leaves us for a new adventure - both in work and family, where she is preparing to have her first baby. We wish her all the very best as she embarks on this new phase of her career and life. Thank you, Lauren for supporting the families at FDPS over the last seven years. We will remember everything you have done, as well as your enthusiasm and dedication to your job. All the very bestwith your new adventure!
As you might now be aware, my time at Five Dock Public School P&C Association OOSH is coming to an end, as I have resigned from my position as Assistant Director and Educational Leader here at the service.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for being a part of my Five Dock Public School and OOSH journey, and helping me find a career that I love and have a passion for. My journey with Five Dock started in 2002 when I started my education at Five Dock Pre-School and then onto Five Dock Public School, where some of you were my teachers who I have such fond memories of being in your classes and even growing up with your children to now working alongside you.
The OOSH service has been a part of my life since I was in year 2, as I too attended Five Dock OOSH and had the pleasure of having incredible educators, who I grew up to work alongside with. It’s safe to say that this community has become like another family to me, which makes it so much harder to say goodbye to the whole school and OOSH community.
Over the past seven years, now working as an educator, I have met so many incredible families, children, educators, teaching professionals and community members who have taught and have helped shape me into who I am today, both a professional and as an individual.
My last day of work at the service will be Friday the 3rd of November 2023.
This isn’t goodbye, rather a catcha later and a see you soon.
Missing you all already,
Lauren
Student Leadership Nominations
At last Monday's assembly, we announced the nominations for the Student Leadership team for 2024. The candidates were introduced to everyone and given badges so that they can be identified around the school. All candidates will now prepare their 1-2 minute speeches (at home) outlining why they should be a school captain/ prefect for 2024. In week 7 on Monday 20 November all candidates will present their speeches at a whole school assembly in the hall. Parents of the candidates will be invited and voting will be conducted immediately after the assembly; students from Years 1-5 will be able to vote. The student leadership team will be announced to the community after the candidates have been informed on Wednesday 22 November. Captains and prefects will not be revealed until the presentation day assembly on Friday 1 December. We have attached a photo of the students who are nominating for a student leadership position. We congratulate all students on putting themselves forward and we wish them all the very best.
2024 Class Planning
The school leadership team have begun the process of planning for 2024. 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 toi create straight classes because the numbers simply do not allow for it.
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 amongst 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 this form by Friday 17 November.
https://forms.gle/S4e9G6KtkVXmLWbA8
Students Not Returning in 2024
If your child will not be returning in 2024 could you please complete the google link below. This information is very important because it has an impact on our class structures and staffing of the school.
https://forms.gle/HoqTpysQGNCgKzFx6
YSafe Cyber Safety Session
Students participated in these online cyber safety sessions on Wednesday 24 October. That evening, a parent information session was held online. These sessions were not recorded, however, parents are able to sumbit further questions or comments using this address: information@ysafe.com.au. FDPS will receive access to ceive access to a cyber safety resource hub. This hub hosts a rich library of information including app and game reviews, how to guides, the lates research on hot cyber safety topics, instructions on how to secure devices and access to parental control tool information. More information will follow via a sentral notification.
Have a wonderful fortnight.
Suzi Chosid
Principal
In the Classroom
This week Kindy and the Support unit had a wonderful trip to Calmsley Hill farm and we are sharing photos of the wonderful experience they had.
Yarra are pictured using paper cups to explore arrays to help them understand multiplication and division.
Support Unit
Early Stage 1
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
P&C News
HUGE THANKS
Thank you, thank you to the 550+ people who attended the P & C’s Halloween Party on Saturday night. It was the first time we have been able to hold a Halloween celebration since before Covid days and it was so good to be back with a spooky night!
The outfits and the smiles on the kids (and adults) faces said it all – FDPS love Halloween. We plan to be back bigger and spookier in 2024!
I’d like to thank our sponsors – Club Five Dock and the boys from Appetite – who were both so generous with our request! Also to the team from ZING Activ! who ran a great series of events on the night to keep our little ones entertained.
An event like this is a huge team effort – thank you to all of our fabulous bakers and each and every person on the list below – I simply could not have done it without you.
o Prize shopper extraordinaire and expert advisor on all things Halloween… Beth Collinge
o My right-hand wing woman over the weekend who did whatever I asked … Kristie Seale
o Hot Dog & Jelly Cup guru + morale support … Jess Crause
o Our expert lead baking authority … Amanda Watts
o Food supply shopping queen and canteen organiser … Bek Ryburn
o The sorcerer of extra supplies – venturing to Coles in full costume (twice) … Belinda van winden
And to the people who helped with everything from QKR! to the event set up to pack down to selling sweet treats to being on the gate to collecting tokens to running the games and more!
o Bobby McLachlan
o Jade Hsu
o Alison Sinclair-Kydd
o Yvon Van Kesteren
o Win Tran
o Phil Carbins
o Simon Shankland
o Ankur Chakore
o Daniel Morgan
o Karen Munro
o Angus Hilton
o Rhys Tyrrell
o The OOSH team - Susana, Tyler, Aaliyah, Hannah, Claudia plus the team who helped print and laminate all the signs beforehand.
o The school staff - Michelle Holmes who was a Rockstar on Saturday, all the school admin team plus Suzi Chosid for the support and Miss Alessi for the FaceBook posts.
Lastly to the team of kids that helped their parents and with various jobs … Toby & Leo Collinge, Ruby & Lily Tyrrell, Olive & Lola Crause-McLachlan, Oscar & Toby Uematsu, Daisy & Noah Ryburn, Kody & Chloe van winden, Charlotte & Ethan Hsu, Fergus & Morgan Sinclair-Kydd, Zoe & Blake Munro, Samuel Shankland and especially my two who helped with packing all the tickets, to speaking at an assembly to poster design + set up and pack down – Abbey & Georgie Hilton.
We are just calculating the final receipts but thanks to all of your generous support we have made a profit and will be in a position to refurbish the all-purpose court through our various fundraising efforts in 2023 – woohoo! Quotes have been received and will be presented at next week’s P & C meeting for review. Stay tune for more.
Heather Hilton – P & C President
Below you will see some pictures from the event:
NEXT P & C MEETING
Our last meeting of 2023 will be held on Wednesday November 8 from 7:30pm in The Hub at the school. All are welcome – please come along to have your say on what we should do in 2024 … to further build the community spirit of Five Dock Public School and support our kids as they learn and grow!
Halloween
Iron Cove Cultural Day
On Friday we went to Orange Grove Public School to represent our school at Cultures Day. If you’re thinking “What is cultures day?” then keep reading!
It’s a time for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, teachers and families from the Iron Cove Network to come together and learn about our culture.
We started by meeting and adding our Mobs an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language map. Schools were then placed in groups and rotated around 3 activities- Art, Yarning with Elders, and Dance.
We learnt to make art from our Elders. We got to collaborate and create our own piece of artwork that other students and teachers from different schools had already added to. We used many different traditional symbols like journey tracks, yarning circles, handprints, and river in our artwork. We got to bring back our own choice of artwork that all of us Five Dock Public School students participated in. We also got to make our own journey stones that were decorated with an important meaning to us.
A little after Art, we got to participate in a yarning circle where we listened to our Elders about traditional tools and weapons. We got to hold the tools and weapons to help us learn about how our Elders used them in the past and present.
During the dance workshop Nathan, our instructor, taught us how to dance in a very special cultural way. The dance was created to teach us young ones how to make Ochre for ceremony. The girls danced in one group and the boys in another. At the end of the day, all students joined together to perform the dance.
It was a fantastic day at Orange Grove Public School learning about our culture!
Blake and Echo Kennedy- Proud Palyku students
Iron Cove Cultural Day
Merit Award Winners
Library News
It’s been an exciting couple of weeks in the library. The students have been encouraged to keep borrowing, with a focus on a” Spooky Read” to coincide with Halloween celebrations. Early Stage 1 and the Support Unit have been reading Fairy Tales and have taken part in drama and craft activities. Stage 1 has been listening to some quality literature from the new K-2 syllabus, such as “The Mess We Made” “How to catch a Star” and “The Imagineer”. All are beautifully illustrated and share messages of hope, persistence, and imagination. Stage 2 students have been writing their own poetry and Stage 3 are working in small groups, creating their own picture books that will be shared with K-2 students later this term. It’s also lovely to see so many students coming to the library during the second half of lunch each day. The library is a cool and quiet space where lots of drawing, constructing, colouring, reading and playing games takes place. I am particularly impressed by the new friendships being made across different grades. Next week is the last week of borrowing for most students and I gently remind everyone once again to return all overdue books as we fast approach the end of the year. Your assistance with this at home would be appreciated. Library lessons will continue until the end of week 7 for most classes. Class borrowing will continue until week 9. This means that students can still borrow books, but these books will remain at school and read during DEAR time. Weeks 8-10 will be dedicated to stock take and preparing library resources for Term 1 next year. Thank you for your continued support and understanding at this busy time of the year.
Robyn Christopoulos
Teacher Librarian
Library Photos
Russell Lea PS Fete 2023
