Normanhurst Public School

Normanhurst Public School is an inclusive and collaborative community dedicated to meeting student needs. We seek to prepare our students to adapt and thrive in a dynamic society by providing diverse and innovative experiences.

Term 4 

• Week 2

     Tuesday 18 November - Band Information Night 5:30pm - Library

     Friday 21 November - Basketball Knockout Year 6

• Week 3 
  Thursday 27 October - Pancake Day

A warm welcome back is extended to all NPS families. We hope you enjoyed the break with your children.  

We are looking forward to our Class Dance Showcase in week 4. The bands as well as our senior and junior dance groups will be performing.

Normanhurst is 150 years old this year. We will be celebrating this incredible milestone.  Thank you to Ms Blair and Ms Taylor for working on this project. More information will be sent to families in the weeks to come.

For the Love of Reading

Well done NPS, you read over 10 000 hours in Term 3. What an amazing achievement, especially since we set our goal to read 9 000 hours collectively.  I am so proud of the way the students and staff have embraced this reading challenge. Ms Spender is thrilled with the huge increase in borrowing and I am delighted to announce that 6M have read the most hours.  6M as well as the students who read the most hours from each class will be joining me for a Pizza Party on Wednesday. Wednesday lunch will be extended by 20 minutes for all students as a reward for all their hard work. We will be continuing For the Love of Reading this term. Thank you parents for your ongoing support. 

This week Ms Dayhew with the support of Ms Spender have set up a Reading Club in the library from 8:30am. Our year 5 and 6 students are spending time reading with younger students. Thank you Ms Dayhew for creating this leadership opportunity for our year 5 and 6 students. 

COVID Safe Measures

The National Cabinet announced their decision to remove the isolation requirements for COVID-19 positive cases. The NSW Department of Education is working to make sure our COVID-smart settings are aligned with this change.  A combination of layered safety measures including mask-wearing where necessary, symptomatic rapid antigen testing (RAT) and vaccinations are still being strongly encouraged. Unwell students should always remain at home.  The main focus will continue to be on adequate ventilation in all classrooms and concentrated  hygiene practices. Enhanced cleaning will continue daily which will allow us to keep schools operational in a safe manner. 

Selective High School 2024 

Applications for Selective High School 2024 will open on 18 October and close on 16 November. All applications must be completed online at: https://shsoc.education.nsw.gov.au/ Detailed information has been emailed to Year 5 parents.

Changed end of School Date 16/12/2022

The Dept of Education has announced that an additional School Development Day will be provided on 19 December for staff across NSW public schools. This means students will now  finish school on Friday 16 December 2022.  

Cyber Safety Awareness Month

The Department of Education has a series of webinars that I encourage you to attend. 

Learn how games, apps and social media can influence young people’s mental wellbeing. 

This webinar is designed for parents and carers of young people aged 10 to 18.

It will cover:

• current research on young people, time online and mental health
• what to do about accidental exposure to content about suicide, self-harm or eating disorders 
• using games, apps and social media to support mental wellbeing 
• the pros and cons of digital mental health platforms
• strategies for young people to support friends online.

Monday 17 October 12.30 to 1.30 pm

Thursday 27 October 12.30 to 1.30 pm

REGISTER NOW

http://esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars

Festival of Children's Music

Last Thursday our Choir participated in the Festival of Children's Music at the Chatswood Concourse. They were part of a 200-strong combined choir made up of students from 7 local primary schools. It was a magical evening. Our senior dance groups performed. Zac and Serafina performed a duo, Zac played the cello and Seraphina the violin. Well done Kara and Max who were the compares for the evening, they were outstanding and represented our school with pride. Thank you Ms Layton for supporting our students and ensuring they were prepared for this event.

Planning for 2023

If there are families not retuning in 2023, please let the office know as soon as possible. This helps us with our planning for 2023.

Have a good week.

Warm regards

Jacqui Gordon

Last Thursday our school was involved in the Festival of Children's Music. Over 200 students from 7 local primary schools formed a large combined choir. They learned 8 songs at choir rehearsals at school, some of them were even in 2 parts, and they all joined together to rehearse and perform them at the Chatswood Concourse.

It was an amazing experience to work with other schools, conductors and pianists, and we even met a composer of one of the songs we sang! Choir students from Normanhurst were exceptionally behaved and managed to remember all the songs!Along with the choir we also had Kara and Max run the show as comperes for the evening. They did a great job keeping everything running and pronouncing some tricky names! Normanhurst also had some items perform in the concert.

Zac and Serafina performed beautifully as a string duo, with their mother as accompanist. Our Senior Dance Group also performed their Lion King dance. All of our items were a very high standard, and it was a great opportunity for everyone to perform in such an amazing auditorium. We were very proud of all of the students who were involved, for their commitment, punctuality and behaviour, as well as their talents. Our students would not have been able to perform without the support of Mrs Gordon (who is also the president of the FOCM committee), Mrs See (who is the festival treasurer), Ms Layton and Mrs Enever. Thank you to those teachers for giving up their time to make the festival a success.

Bronwyn Layton
Music Teacher

What an amazing effort by Normanhurst students in Term 3. Our collective goal was to read 9000 hours and we read a total of 10,116 hours. An absolutely sensational effort by all students. Last Friday, we had a celebratory gathering to announce and award the students in each class who read the most, reveal the winning class and share the whole-school reward.

The top classes were:

1st – 6M

2nd – 4D

3rd – 5W

Congratulations to 6M students who read a total of 1528 hours as a class. They will enjoy a pizza lunch with Mrs Gordon this Wednesday. The winning students in each class received a book voucher and will also attend the pizza lunch.

KE Max L             3K Eleanor D

KT Ethan H         3S Luella W

1KH Louis M      4D Aidan H

1N Dityaa V        4T Arielle G

1W George D     5F Leo M

2D Jason T         5W Natalie R

2F Reija J             6M Chris Z

2/3H George S   6P Matthew H

Normanhurst could not have reached the total goal without the contribution of each and every student. To celebrate our shared success, we will also be having an extended lunch for all students this Wednesday.

We will begin a new ‘For the Love of Reading’ challenge this term. Booklets were sent home on Monday.

Our goal will remain at 9000 hours but this time we will only have 8 weeks to reach our goal. We can do it!

This term we will also award a winning K-2 class and a winning 3-6 class.

Happy Reading!

At the start of Week 2, our Peer Reading Program (Buddy Reading) has started. This program involves selected Stage 3 students, who have been trained in supporting students to develop their reading skills, working with selected Stage 1 students before school in the library.

The program will run before school in the library from 8:30am. Students will meet the peer tutors in the library. Peer tutors will spend approximately ten-fifteen minutes assisting students with their reading skills and will be supervised by a Normanhurst teacher.

This peer reading program has been run in previous years and has been successful in developing leadership and social responsibility for the Year 5 & 6 students, improving reading skills for the younger students, and building connections across the school.

If you have any further questions about this program, please see your child’s teacher.

Students revised what they have learned about resilience and discussed the people who show them support. Through a story the students identified where the character had used their personal qualities, strengths and skills to help overcome challenges. They identified times when the character needed support to continue. The students discussed a range of challenges and determined the best person to approach for support. The students consolidated the protective factors for resilience by revising their own strengths and skills and identifying 5 people they can go to for support.

During the week we encourage you to…

Remind your child of their qualities and skills and encourage them to ask for help in challenging situations.

This week in Peer Support…

A 3 step model is introduced to encourage resilient responses: Pause, Plan, Proceed. The students take part in an activity to identify their feelings and the immediate effects on their bodies, for example, butterflies in their stomach. The normalcy of feelings is acknowledged and the importance of being proactive is stressed. The students learn that pausing when they are emotional is helpful. They can do this by being still. taking a deep breath or counting to ten. Pausing gives students space to see a situation more accurately before planning a response.

During the week we encourage you to…

Ask your child to describe the 3 steps of the model and what is involved in each one.

With the Year 6 Mini Fete coming up later in the term we are seeking donations for the White Elephant stall. Please have a look for any toys, games, books etc. that you no longer need and may like to donate. Any items you wish to donate to the White Elephant stall can be sent to Ms Moore (6M) by Friday 25 November. All profits from the White Elephant Stall go towards the Year 6 gift to the school. Thank you for your support.

Thank you very much to our wonderful school community for supporting our school’s Book Fair last term. We raised just over $1000.00 in commission for our school, which will go towards buying new resources for our students.

This term, we will be completing a partial stocktake of the library. Please assist us by checking for library books at home and returning them to the library.

Thank you

NPS Bands update

Band Festival Training and Concert Bands are participating in Hornsby North Band Festival on Sunday 30th October. An email has been sent to all band families with full information on the event. Please let us know if you have not received it.

Fundraiser

This term, NPS Bands are fundraising for new band uniforms and instrument upgrades. We are undertaking this by selling Billy G's Gourmet Cookie Dough. There are 10 delicious flavours, so there's sure to be one (or more!) flavour that your family cannot resist! Why not buy some to make and bake for family and friends as Christmas presents?

Billy G’s is a completely cashless fundraiser.  All orders must be placed online and paid by credit card, so make sure you create your online fundraising page at www.australianfundraising.com.au today!

How do we create a Fundraising Page? Creating a fundraising page is easy!
1.    Visit www.australianfundraising.com.au and click the “Cookie Dough Login” button on the home page.
Then click the register button to fundraise on the cybersafe, Billy G’s Cookie Dough platform.

2.   Choose your goals and create a unique avatar!

3.   Place your order using the “Order Now” button and share your fundraising page with your family and friends via the “Share” section so they can start buying some yummy cookie dough. Easy!

Thanks,

Caroline

Welcome

Hoping that you all had a restful school term break and our children are raring to go for Term 4!! Welcome Back!

Social and informal P&C meeting - this Wednesday Night (week 2, term 4)

We are gathering for an informal and “social” meeting on THIS Wednesday night the 19th October, from 6pm at the Blue Gum Hotel, eat first, chat later…! This was a suggestion to encourage the parents to mingle a bit more and get to properly share ideas in between formal meetings… so Please join us (especially those who missed out last term), and text me on 0414 505 800. We’d like to see as many New faces as we can, before we head into the next AGM!

Our next formal meeting for the General P&C Meeting is the AGM on Monday 31 October 2022 (week 4, term 4)

Please see attached Agenda in this Newsletter

At the AGM all positions will vacate and be open for new nominations (or re-election)… if you are interested in being elected for a position on the 2023 Committee, please make contact with me and express your interest.

In particular the Treasurer, Canteen Convenor, Uniform shop Convenor roles will require new nominations, these positions are integral to the functioning of the P&C, school canteen, uniform shop. Handovers will be provided and the entire team is extremely supportive. Please contact me if you would like some more information about it.

We will elect in the next AGM, these Committee positions:

OFFICEBEARERS (4 positions):

~ P&C President

~ Vice President (1-2)

~ Treasurer

~ Secretary

COMMITTEE (6 positions):

~ Band President

~ Fundraising / Social Co-ordinator

~ Building Fund Co-ordinator

~ Grounds Co-ordinator

~ Canteen Convenor

~ Uniform Shop Convenor

NOOSH transition

There has been an extension to the deadline for the NOOSH to transition to the P&C, so the process has been delayed. Updates will follow as required.

Joining or renewing P&C Membership fees - please pay $2 fee

Please ensure you are a paid up Member AFTER October 1, but before the AGM on Oct 31, so that you can vote-in the next leadership team for 2023.

Name: Normanhurst Public School P&C Assn
BSB: 032-084
Account: 691 588
Reference: {Full Name} and PC Fee

Bonita Chan
NPS P&C Association President
president@npspandc.com

Volunteers needed!

Can you spare an hour on Friday morning to pack orders and organise our pre-loved donations? We’d love your help! Please sign up at https://signup.com/go/jXXPXuT or email me at uniformshop@npspandc.com

Summer uniform orders and appointments

If you would like to try on summer items for size or access the pre-loved clothing pool, please book an appointment to visit the Uniform Shop on a Friday morning at - https://signup.com/go/cmDYUyW

If you know what size you need, please place an order via our online shop at - https://www.npspandc.com/uniform/. Orders are delivered to your child’s classroom on Friday each week.

Pre-loved stock

We are well-stocked with pre-loved summer dresses and short-sleeve shirts, especially in smaller sizes. Pre-loved dresses cost $10.00 and short-sleeve shirts $5.00. Book an appointment to see what we have at - https://signup.com/go/cmDYUyW.

If you have any summer items your child has outgrown, please donate them by delivering them to the Uniform Shop on a Friday morning. We are particularly in need of larger sizes.

**NEW** Hair accessories in our school colours

Hair accessories in our school colours (navy and red) are now available to purchase through School Ponytails. Our P&C earns 20% from your purchases! Click on the following link and make sure our school code is entered at the checkout - NORMANHURST PS.

https://www.ponytailsandfairytales.com.au/discount/NORMANHURST%2520PS?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fnormanhurst-public-school-normanhurst-nsw-2076

Any questions? Please email me at uniformshop@npspandc.com if you have any questions or can’t find what you are looking for on our online shop.

Kristie Whitehead
Uniform Shop Manager

Pancake Day Thursday 27 October
Orders Close 8.30am Thursday 20th October

The much loved NPS tradition is returning!!

For this day McDonald’s Hornsby support us supplying their Hotcakes for lunch orders. Orders are now open and close 8.30am Thursday 20 October. Late orders cannot be accepted as we need to pre order these. Drinks, frozen treats and snacks are also available to order and counter sales will be as usual on the day although there are no other lunch options available. Please order through the Events tab on School24

Help Needed to make the day run smoothly we need some parents to assist

1 person @ 8.30/9am to help pack drinks into class bags for no more than 1 hour

2 people (cars) to collect Pancakes from McDonalds Westfield at 10.30am and return to school.

3 People @ 11.30am to pack the pancakes/syrup/cutlery into class bags Please email canteen@npspandc.com if you can help

NSW Plastics Ban Starts November 1

There will be some changes for the canteen, mainly that plastic sporks/ spoons will be replaced by Bamboo. Plastics straws for plain milk will be replaced by paper (please note if your child has a disability and needs a plastic straw they just need to ask at the counter for a plastic straw as we will have some for those who need them, no questions asked)

They will be additional changes in the future. Please encourage your children to support these changes.

Volunteer Roster is on School24, please consider helping in the canteen for an hour or more, it is easy and fun and the children love seeing you in the canteen !

https://www.school24.net.au/canteenorder/dashboard/roster

Any questions please email canteen@npspandc.com

Lisa Pang
Canteen Manager
NORMANHURST PUBLIC SCHOOL

Please pop up and check if we have your children's lost property, we do our best to return lost property.

Please ensure that all your items are labelled with both their first and last name clearly - otherwise it won't find it's way back home!   

Thank you! 

Office Staff

Sue from the Uniform Exchanged reached out to us, see her message below! 

We are eager to help your Year 6 parents by letting them know where they can find good quality, second hand uniforms for many North Shore High schools.

The Uniform Exchange in Pymble was created to help support parents financially and to encourage environmental sustainability.  This is achieved by selling preloved uniforms and text books for people within the school community.   The shop is open 6 days a week throughout the year, and we have over 13,000 quality second hand uniforms and text books in store, which cater to:

Abbotsleigh  -  Brigidine College  -  Barker  -  Knox  -  Loreto Normanhurst  -  NBCS  -  Pymble Ladies College  -  Ravenswood   -  Roseville College  -  St Leos  - The Kings School

The Uniform Exchange is dedicated to sustainability.  Our zero waste policy means we have saved over a quarter of a million uniforms and books from landfill, and benefitted underprivileged children in Africa, PNG, Cambodia, Fiji, Tonga and Vietnam.

Thank you for your help in forwarding our details to your Year 6 parents.

Ph: 9988 3374

1/993 Pacific Highway, Pymble
(just opposite Pymble Train Station)