Dear parents/carers,

This week we begin our Kindergarten Orientation sessions for students starting school in 2023. It is important for children to attend these sessions to support a smooth transition to school. If you know of neighbours or relatives who live in our drawing area and have a child starting school next year remind them to contact the office if they haven't done so already. Preschool transitions will also occur next week and we look forward to welcoming all our new Kindergarten and preschool students and their families.

We are starting the processes for electing new student captains and vice captains for next year. The roles allow students to take on a leadership position and to have a voice in school organisation. To apply for the roles the expectation is that students will have been good role models and school citizens. This must be verified by staff and eligible students will present the school with a speech after which there will be an election to determine captains and vice captains. I congratulate all of the students who are participating in the process, which also involves some leadership training.

regards

Gabrielle Buczynski

Term 4

10.11.22, 17.11.22, 24.11.22 Kindergarten Orientations

21.11.22 Preschool Orientation

8.12.22 Presentation Day

12.12.22 Year 6 Farewell

15.12.22 Year 6 Graduation Assembly

16.12.22 Last day Term 4

Stage 3 held their Fun Day as their major fundraiser for 2022 on Wednesday, 2nd November 2022. Students from K-6 were able to participate in a variety of activities e.g. lucky dip, face painting, painting nails, hair spray, colouring competition and so much more. There was an excitement around our school as our students enjoyed all the activities.

We would like to give a huge ‘Thank You’ to all the students and families for getting behind this fundraising activity and donating items for the white elephant stall, lolly stall, cake stall, chips and drink stall.

We are please to announce that Stage 3 raised over $1800.

Congratulations to Stage 3. Well done!

On Wednesday 26th October Year 5, Mrs Foley and Mrs Vile attended the Cumberland Council sustainability expo at Merrylands Central Gardens. In our bright lime green and red t-shirts, supplied by Cumberland Council, we headed by bus to the park ready for a busy day of fun and learning.

The aim of the expo was to increase students understanding of environmental and social sustainability, Aboriginal heritage and wildlife conservation.

Station 1 – Sports for everyone. The children took part in adapted and modified games that foster social inclusion and got a bit muddy.

Station 2 – Feature Creatures display introduced the children to our varied and unique local wildlife and focused on the value of biodiversity and conservation.

Station 3 – Students decided whether plastic is fantastic... or not fantastic. The key message was that disposable single-use plastic is not fantastic, but that plastic is nevertheless super useful and important for certain other things.

Station 4 – Aboriginal history and culture. Students learnt about local Aboriginal cultural from a Dharug elder and our connectedness with our environment.

Station 5 – Green Performance. Looked at the effects of landfill and how quickly we are using up the land. The comparison of our Earth to an apple was very visual and made us all stop and think. Reduce, reuse, recycle.

During lunch we had a DJ and lots of great music was pumping out around the park.

We had an amazing day and council staff commented on the respectful behaviour displayed by the students of Pendle Hill. Well done Year 5.

In preschool we value the children's culture and encourage children to share aspects of their culture with their friends and educators.

To celebrate Diwali we had a discussion about ronguli and looked at some photos of Diwali celebrations.

Children were  involved in making ronguli and colouring the flower paper shapes near the preschool. It looked so beautiful. 

Children dressed in their traditional dress and shared photos with their peers of their celebrations at home. 

Regular attendance at school is important for students at our school to reach their full potential. The Learning and Support team are looking very closely at attendance and parents will receive a letter to explain how many days their child has been absent for in the past 10 week period.

Currently we have 137 students whose attendance is below 85%. 85% attendance equals 30 days (6 weeks) of absences across the school year.

Students with more than 95% attendance will receive a Penny Possum ticket with their letter in celebration of their attendance at school. This can be placed in their class Poss Box to contribute to their class reward.

Let's work together to improve school attendance and make a positive difference to education and learning at Pendle Hill Public School. 

Warmest, 

Nicole Hogan

Children must turn 5 before 31.7.23 to start kindergarten next year.

If you are intending to start your child at school next year or know of someone who wishes to enrol their child you can do an online enrolment by going to our school website and clicking on the enrolment tab at the top of the page.

Please contact the office if you have any questions on 02 9631 8253.

Have you changed your Phone Numbers or Address? If so please access the form in the school bag app under the Eforms tab (Click on the school crest to find the eforms  tab) or click on this link:-https://console.skoolbag.com.au/console/form/list

Are you having trouble with Skoolbag or you would like to download it another device? Check out these easy, step by step instructions.

https://www.moqproducts.com.au/skoolbag/installation-instructions/

Do you have a child starting ‘big school’ next year?    

Then check out our NEW ‘How to pack a healthy lunch box’ video to find out more!  

Visit healthylunchbox.com.au/ 

Healthy Lunchbox Examples

Cancer Council’s Healthy Lunch Box website is your one-stop shop for everything you need to know about packing a healthy lunch box, healthy tips and recipes.