Drummoyne Public School

Full School Uniform

I would like to thank all families who ensure that children are in full school uniform every day, especially during the colder weather. Students are asked to limit the wearing of sports tops to sporting events. Your commitment to maintain the high standards of uniform and behaviour at the school reinforces that Drummoyne PS is a very special place to learn.

Kiss and Drop Zones

Thank you to the parents who take great care each day to drive and park safely around the school. Your diligence contributes greatly to the safe arrival and pickup of our students. In the interest of the continued safety of our children and courtesy to other families, parents are asked not to park in the ‘NO PARKING’ areas at the side of the school. These are areas to drop off and pick up children with a 1-2 minute limit. Drivers are not permitted to leave their vehicles. Please use this area as a ‘Kiss and Drop’ zone. Your help in maintaining safety around our school is greatly appreciated.

Family Law 

Sadly sometimes relationships break down and a court makes orders that change the contact parents can have with their children or the role they play in making decisions about their children’s education. These can be Family Court Orders or Apprehended Violence Orders. Parents can also reach agreement about issues such as contact in a parenting plan.

If this happens it is important that you provide the school with a copy of any court orders or plan that could impact on your child’s education.

In the absence of any notification to the contrary, the school will assume that both parents continue to retain a shared and equal parental responsibility for their children and should be involved in making any decisions regarding their children’s education.

This means that the school will recognise that each parent has equal duties, obligations, responsibilities and opportunities in relation to matters involving the school.

If any changes occur in your family relationships which have the potential to impact on the relationship between the school and your family, please advise the school immediately and provide a copy of any court orders that may be obtained.

These orders will be stored securely and only accessed by staff who need to see them in order to plan for your children’s learning and support and related issues.

2023 Kindergarten Places Now Limited

Applications are now being finalised for Kindergarten 2023. If your child turns 5 before July 31, 2023 they are eligible to start school next year. We would appreciate if families in our local area would submit their applications as soon as possible. This will allow us to determine if we have any out of area places available.

Please let your friends and neighbours know that the process for enrolment next year is being finalised. 

VALE Geoff Flemming

We send our condolences to all his family and friends.

Regular school attendance is a priority in all schools and ensures the best chance for children to achieve their full potential. At Drummoyne PS we have enjoyed high levels of attendance over many years and this reflects the high level of support from our parent community.

The Department of Education has reminded the school of procedures that are to be followed when a student is late to arrive or absent from school. Attached to the newsletter is the Department of Education’s parent information pamphlet with detailed information on all aspects of student attendance.

Whole Day Absence

• If a student is absent from school for the whole day, a note is to be returned with the student on the first day of the students’ return to school for recording on the class roll. This change to current practice is in keeping with the Department of Education’s policy.
• A verbal notification by phone or email to the school on the day of absence/or prior is also supported and will be forwarded to the class teacher.

 Partial Day Absence

• Students arriving after the bell are expected to go to the school office to be marked as late to school and the reason will be recorded. They are given a late notice and this is handed in to the teacher on arrival to class.
• Students requiring an early pickup are called to the office after the parents have notified the office staff. The reason for the absence is entered on the roll and recorded as an absence.

If you have not let the school know the reason why your child has not attended school, we will send a daily SMS to alert you. If a response is not received, a letter will then be sent home requesting an explanation. Your child’s teacher may also contact you to ask for a medical certificate if the absence has been longer than 3 days due to illness.

If you have any questions in relation to our procedures for monitoring student attendance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Dianne Colb

Deputy Principal

This semester in History, kindergarten have been learning about personal and family histories and that this may include stories from a range of cultures and other parts of the world. Students have engaged and responded to stories that display a range of images of families, discussed what family means to them and thought about some similarities and differences among families. They have explored what family means to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and that a person’s identity and values demonstrate how they belong in their family and how those learnings are passed through generations.

In particular, they looked at the text Family by Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson and recognised the importance for Aboriginal people of their connection between family and country and the similarities we share with our own families. Students have drawn a picture of their family using watercolour textas and chosen an Aboriginal family symbol that resonates with them.

Any student who is unwell and/or displays symptoms of COVID-19 will be asked to go home and remain at home until they can complete a RAT or PCR test.

• If symptoms continue, they should stay at home and take another RAT in 24 hours or have a PCR test.

• If the second RAT or initial PCR test result is negative, the student can return to school.

• In NSW, positive COVID-19 cases are provided a Medical Clearance Notice after 7 days and allowed to leave self-isolation as long as they do not have COVID-19 symptoms.

• Year 6 - Full School Uniform
• Zone Cross Country - Sports Uniform 
• Zone Swimming - Sports Uniform 
• House Captains - Sports Uniform 
• Junior Band - Instruments & Full School Uniform
• Senior Band - Instruments & Full School Uniform
• Strings - Instruments & Full School Uniform 
• Librarians - Full School Uniform
• Technology Team - Full School Uniform 
• Stage Choirs - Full School Uniform 
• Chess (Friday Tournament Team) - Full School Uniform 
• Debating - Full School Uniform 
• Public Speaking - Full School Uniform 
• SRC Semester One - Full School Uniform 
• Prefects - Full School Uniform

Where students are involved in photos with both sports uniform and full school uniform, please wear full school uniform and bring sports uniform. 

Kathy Xenos

Classroom Teacher

Respect awards - Rawson says congratulations to:

• Miles Abu-Shaheen - 1A
• Joseph Zagarella - 1A
• Zoe Fazah - 2D

Resilience awards - Bretty says congratulations to:

• Eilidh McGlynn - 2L

Responsibility awards - Monty says congratulations to:

• Luke Luciano - 1C

June 6th 2022 -  Day 1 by Lara Sangster

This week, Year 5  went on an overnight excursion to Bathurst and Hill End. We spent the first day getting to Bathurst with stops at the Three Sisters at Katoomba, Govetts Leap Lookout and the historical village of Hartley.  We were taken around Hartley by a National Parks Rangers who showed us around the Jail, the Courthouse and Church. We learned all about the history of Hartley and how it was a thriving town.

On route to our accommodation in Bathurst we did a lap of the Bathurst 1000 race track. This is located on Mount Panorama and the views of Bathurst and its surrounds were fantastic. We only did one lap out of the 161 laps that happen on race day each year.

When we arrived at our accommodation. Bathurst Goldfields, we were allocated to our rooms and unpacked.

After dinner we assembled at the campfire and listened to Jason tell us the local indigneous story about Wahluu and Gunnabulla, and the creation of Mount Panorama. Unfortunately it started raining, so we relocated inside and learned some bush songs, and listened to Jason tell us the story of the Man From Snowy River. 

Lights out at 9.30pm!

June 7th 2022 -  Day 2 by Amber Worden

The next day we were off early to Hill End! At Hill End, students enjoyed a Village scavenger hunt, gold panning at Tambaroora Creek and a visit to the Bald Hill underground mine.

While we were doing the scavenger hunt, we had to find clues and answers to questions on a sheet of paper. All the teams searched for the answers along the streets and looked in unusual places like looking in windows. Most of the village was still there but some things were taken down. The demolished buildings had signs showing what the place was and information about it.

All of the students enjoyed a wonderful experience of gold panning at Tambaroora Creek. They searched for gold using the technique of panning. Everyone learned that if you found gold from the creek it was called ‘alluvial’ gold. One student found seven specks of gold in one pan! Although having a great time, some of the students got very numb fingers from the chilly water. Despite the coldness of the water, panning was still fun.           

The last stop was the Bald Hill underground mine. Safety helmets were put on and students started walking through the mine. As everyone  wandered through, students saw lots and lots of quartz! Everyone stopped in a little caved–in area and the instructor told the students about how two miners used a hammer and tap to try to dig out quartz to investigate and see if there was any gold in there.

Next everyone saw and talked about the entrances and exits of the mine. They used ‘kibbles’ to get in and out of the mine whilst another man or woman would reel them up from the surface. Also, when students were underground they saw heaps of condensation coming from the rocks. It was a pretty cold day and while the temperature was 3 degrees, it felt like -2 degrees. In fact, it started sleeting as we drove out of Hill End at the end of the day.

After dinner, the teachers ran a trivia night which was great fun! Lights out 9pm! 

June 8th 2022 - Day 3 by Triet Nguyen

The last day was one of the best. We experienced so many things including cooking damper, visiting the museum, going to the blacksmith’s shop and making mud bricks

Did you know that damper is the simplest type of bread to make? It consists of only flour and water. It is usually roasted over a fire and eaten with golden syrup, honey, maple syrup, and butter. We roasted it above a hot fire, on a stick. After 5 minutes, it was ready to eat. Yum!

We had a tour through a museum where we learned about miners’ tools underground and their safety precautions.  The room we were sitting in was a model of a ‘platt’, a room reinforced the most in a mine. It was for safety reasons, such as when something bad happened, the miners would meet inside the ‘platt’ to discuss their way out. We also learnt about miners’ source of light down in the mines, which would be candles made out of animal fat. Mutton would be boiled inside a large pot to separate the fat from the meat. The fat would then be collected, and put into moulds to harden. The miners also used candles to tell time.

Later, we had the experience of visiting a blacksmith’s shop. There were three main things a blacksmith would always need: a bellows, a forge, and an anvil. A bellow’s purpose was to pump oxygen into a small flame in order to feed the fire and make it bigger (a thing a chemistry teacher would know). A forge is where the flame was, and was a sort of furnace, where you would smelt a stick of soft steel so you could shape it. An anvil is a huge block of iron, which would hold the stick of soft steel when you were shaping it with a hammer. After the whole process, the stick of steel would be dipped into a bucket of water, which would make a sizzling sound, to temper it. Tempering is a process used in many things to make it harder - tempered steel, tempered glass, and tempered chocolate.

The group also had the opportunity to build mud bricks, which was a common material to build with in the olden times. It was exactly what it sounds like - bricks made out of mud. There was a mould, and shovellers would scoop wet mud into the mould and let it harden.

Drummoyne Public School has a 'Drop off and Pick up Zone' on Thompson Street for your convenience and for your child’s safety.

Designed for quick entry and exit, the zone minimises congestion and risk when used properly by all parents and carers. The zone operates under the same conditions as no parking zones, which means you may stop to drop off or pick up children for a maximum of 2 minutes. You are required to remain in, or within 3 metres of, your vehicle.

The zone operates between 8.00am – 9.30am and 2.30pm - 4.00pm. Please remain with your vehicle during these times and stay no longer than 2 minutes so other parents may also safely drop off or pick up their children.

DPS offers Scholastic Book Club for you to purchase books for your children whilst also supporting the library to obtain new library books and classroom resources.

Parents can order and pay online for their child’s Book Club purchase via LOOP (Linked Online Ordering Payment).

Please click on the link below for detailed instructions.

Book club issue 4 closes soon. Please place your orders online by 15th June. 

https://scholastic.com.au/media/7123/aus-bc4-final-web.pdf 

Please apply online at:  https://drummoyne-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/about-our-school/enrolment.html

The Online Enrolment System is designed to provide flexibility for parents to submit an enrolment application online and at the time that best suits you.

The application can be accessed on all browsers and mobile devices including iOS and Android. The online application process is currently restricted to:

• Enrolments into local schools
• Children who are Australian citizens, New Zealand citizens or permanent residents
• Children who live in NSW.

We offer our support and encourage you to complete your application to enrol online. If, however, you do not feel comfortable completing an application online, a paper copy will be available for collection from the front office or can be downloaded from the Department’s Going to a Public School site.

This week we sent home our first digital (paperless) consent form for the whole school Athletics Carnival. 

• The consent form was sent directly to your nominated family email address.
• Signatures for permission notes are legally accepted via an online e-signature
• All notes are printable, however we will have some hard copies available at the front office wall.

By using online permission notes, we hope to provide another efficient way for families to communicate with the school.

You can read more by clicking on the link below.

P&C Meeting

The next P&C meeting will be held on 21 June 2022 from 7.30pm in the school library.  All are welcome to attend. 

DPS P&C

Please order uniforms online. The P&C will process orders and the school office staff will distribute them.

 Please use our school Registration ID: 2572963 to create an account if you don’t already have one for canteen orders.

To register:

Log in to your school24 account.

To the right of screen...click on Volunteer Roster (writing in purple).

Follow the prompts.

Canteen and P&C Committee

Contact Rekkha for more information on 0436 616 744.

To book Gowrie NSW enrolment forms can be found on the Gowrie website:

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