| Event | Date |
| Y3-6 School swimming carnival - Notes and money due | Friday, 3 February |
| Y6 Peer Support training days - Notes due | Friday, 3 February |
| K-6 Start of Year permission notes | Friday, 3 February |
| K-6 School Photos - Students to wear full summer uniform | Tuesday, 7 February |
| K-6 Book Club, Issue 1, 2023 - due | Monday, 13 February |
I want to take the opportunity to welcome you all back to a new academic year and wish our students all the very best for their learning and your association with our wonderful school. I, too, am excited to return after the holiday break and I very much look forward to building valuable connections with all our Holbrook Public School families.
Over the past few days, the staff has been working tirelessly to set up the school as in the holidays we had building works and carpet removal and installation in most classrooms. I want to thank all the staff for taking the time out of their holiday and family time to come in and have the classrooms and learning spaces ready for our students on their first day back.
This year, we welcome new students and staff to Holbrook Public School. I would like to welcome our new families in Years 1-6 and all our new Kindergarten students and their families.
On staff, I would like to welcome Mrs Kerrie Munday, Mr Sam Ross, Miss Anna McGown, Miss Isabella Minall, Mrs Karen Pontt, and Mrs Carin Braines. I look forward to working with our new and current staff to reach our school goals for 2023.
This year we will have seven mainstream classes across the school. Acknowledging current best practices and evidence-based research this year we will have stage-based classes.
In line with our NSW Department of Education syllabus and curriculum, students work towards gaining knowledge and understanding in stages.
Schooling in NSW is organised into seven stages of learning across primary and secondary schools.
Primary school from Kindergarten to Year 6 (K-6) encompasses four stages of learning:
Early Stage 1 – Kindergarten
Stage 1 – Year 1 and Year 2
Stage 2 – Year 3 and Year 4
Stage 3 – Year 4 and 5
Source: NSW Education Standards Authority https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/parents/parent-guide/schooling-in-nsw
Our 2023 classes:
Kindergarten Koalas – Ashleigh Hemphill (Mon/Wed/Thu/Fri) and Carin Braines (Tue)
Year 1/2 Echidnas – Megan Young and Kimberly Ross (Term 1 only)
Year 1/2 Kangaroos – Kerrie Munday (Tue/Wed/Thu) and Jess Trethowen (Mon/Fri)
Year 3/4 Possums – Anna McGown
Year 3/4 Kookaburras – Jo McEwan
Year 5/6 Quokkas – Sam Ross (Mon/Tue/Wed) and Isabella Minall (Thu/Fri)
Year 5/6 Magpies – Chrissy Lavis (Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri) and Kate Wedgwood (Wed)
There has been careful consideration of academic, social, emotional, and behavioural aspects of all students when placing students into classes. Learning for students will be differentiated (targeted to the point of need for individual students) in their stage of learning. Stage-based classes will also give our staff a greater opportunity to work more collaboratively when preparing explicit teaching and learning opportunities and assessments for all students.
Students throughout the year will also have the opportunity to work in year groups for example Peer Support for Year 6, NAPLAN preparation for Years 3 and 5, etc.
I hope this is clear to you and thank you for working with us. Should there be any unanswered questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me to discuss further.
Regards
Louise Purss-Semple
Principal
