Mount Ousley Public School News

Welcome back, everyone! It has been wonderful to see so many happy, nervous, but excited students as they arrived at school yesterday and today. 

Our students worked with their teachers yesterday to come up with class names. The theme is, what attributes or dispositions would you need to be able to climb a mountain (this is linked to our wellbeing crews). Our classes are named: K Believe, 1 Explore, 1/2 Progress, 2/3 Courage, 3/4 Hope, 3/4 Aspire, 5/6 Fearless and 5/6 Determination. I cannot wait to see the students demonstrating these attributes throughout their learning and play.

The year is already shaping up to be a very busy one. We begin with the swimming carnival next week and as the term progresses we have the Life Education Van for all classes, FootSteps dance for all students, School photos and parent teacher interviews! It is going to be a wonderfully busy term. 

In the coming weeks we will be holding 'Meet The teacher' afternoon sessions. This will give you a chance to hear from the teacher, meet other parents in your child's class, ask questions and be part of the community.  These will take place on Monday 13 February 2023. 

To ensure you know what your child is learning each term, and class organisation, we will be sending home a class flyer. It will contain all the vital information you need to know for that term. 

At our school we have many ways to communicate whole school, class and individual information with you. Below is a list of all of the communication tools we use and their purpose. Please assist us in reaching you by making sure you have access to each of these platforms. School Bytes: To streamline our communication we will be transitioning to School Bytes for all communication, calendar, finance, roll marking, excursion notes and payments and all administrative purposes. This will be a gradual process as we are currently training in the use of the platform. There is a parent portal that will make life easier for you. The portal details will be shared with you via the class information flyers being sent home on Friday this week. They will also be available at the 'Meet the Teacher' sessions. If you are unable to attend these sessions the QR code will be made available to you through the following newsletters. If you have any trouble using the QR code to connect the teachers will be able to assist you. 

Skoolbag: Newsletters and whole school announcements. 

SeeSaw: Class and individual communication between parents and teachers. It is important that messages to teachers are only sent between the hours of 8am and 5:30pm. This allows our teachers to have time with their families outside of school. We also ask that urgent messages are communicated through the office as teachers are busy teaching and may not check them as soon as you send them. Whole school messages are also duplicated onto this platform. Due to changes in Australian laws regarding data storage, a note was sent home yesterday asking for your permission to have your child use the SeeSaw platform. Please return it this week so we are able to connect with you. 

Office: Our friendly office staff are here to help either in person or on the phone. You can call or drop in to see them between 8:30am and 3:30pm. 

Facebook: A space to celebrate what is happening across our school. It will be updated most days. 

Website: General school information. It also includes a calendar.

This year's swimming carnival will be held on Tuesday 7 February at the Corimal Pool. All students 8yrs and older, received a note outlining the details yesterday. We encourage all students in this age group who can swim 25mtrs or more are to attend. Please return these to the office on or before Monday 6 February to secure your child's place. Notes and money will not be accepted on the morning of the carnival. 

Bell times: 

School beings at 9am and finishes at 3pm - please ensure students are at school prior to the morning bell so they have time to unpack their bags and settle into school for the morning. In the afternoons it is important for them to know how they are getting home and which gate to leave from. If these details change throughout the day, please contact the office.

Lunch: 11:15am - 11:55am (crunch and sip will be at approximately 10am)

Recess: 1:25pm - 1:55pm

Assembly

This year we will be having fortnightly assemblies beginning next week. They will be on Mondays from 2:30pm. We will be introducing a few new awards this year - Assistant Principal, Community and Wellbeing awards, along with Assistant Principal learning awards  which will be given out each fortnight. Principal awards will remain at weeks 5 and 11 (week 9 during 10 week terms). 

Class spotlight - Beginning next week, each class will take it in turns to be showcased in the newsletter. Keep an eye out for your child's class. 

Covid: all school operations have returned to pre-Covid settings. Parents are welcome to be on school grounds for pick up and drop off and to volunteer in classrooms, canteen and uniform shop. We are continuing to encourage students to wash their hands before they eat and after they play. 

Homework:

Reading is an extremely important aspect of every child's schooling and development. The practicing of reading will form the basis for homework in each classroom. Below are the recommended times students should read for each night. 

Kindergarten - 1-2 short, familiar texts

Stage 1 - 10 to 15 minutes

stage 2 - 20 - 25 minutes

Stage 3 - 30 minutes or more

Teacher planning days: Each fortnight teachers will be involved in collaborative planning with their stage teams, this is a continuation of our planning processes from 2021 and 2022. At these times your child will be taught by the same teacher each fortnight. Our Thursday teachers are Mrs Crook, Mrs Harrison, Mrs Shield and Mrs Burrows. These teachers will work with students on their literacy and numeracy as well as other key learning areas that they have planned with the classroom teacher. 

As we head into the new year we are losing some of our existing canteen volunteers. In order to be able to keep our canteen running we are asking for new volunteers to come forward. What do you need to do? To volunteer in the canteen is easy and not as time consuming as you might think. You only need to be at school from 9am - 12 noon once a month to help out. On busy days we need to have 2 people volunteer. If you or a family member/community member are able to help on Monday, Wednesday or Friday please contact Mandy Lawler on amandalawler77@gmail.com or the school office to put your name on the roster. There are many vacant spots that we need to fill to keep the canteen open. 

With volunteers the canteen will reopen on Monday 6 February.

P&C Meeting

We would love to see as many parents as possible join our wonderful P&C. If you are interested in helping our school, connecting with other families and helping with fundraising, we would love to see you at our next meeting! The meeting will be held on Tuesday 14 February at 5:45pm in the library. I hope to see you all there. The AGM will be held on Tuesday March 14th. 

Over the next 2 years we will be embarking on the Anxiety Project journey. The following is an overview of the project.

The Anxiety Project is a project designed by psychologist, Michael Hawton and the NSW Primary Principals’ Association to assist Primary students to manage their anxious behaviour. It is a large-scale, evidence-based project, delivered through a series of cognitive-behavioural lesson plans and through the use of teacher-led and parent-led conversational techniques. These interventions are aimed at helping a child to learn skills to manage their anxiety.

The research on student anxiety shows us that:

1. 70% of child anxiety is learned and that 30% of child anxiety is due to temperament and genetic factors. The good news is that early intervention means that most childhood anxiety can be unlearned.

2. Much of the potential for improvements in child well-being can be achieved through ‘challenging’ students to engage with problems not by avoiding them.

3. The significant adults in a child’s life - including their teachers - can take make an important difference to a student’s ability to manage their anxiety through ‘seemingly modest’ interventions.

This term teachers at our school have been learning how to use cognitive-behavioural techniques including how to ask guiding questions to help children to become a better emotional problem-solver and to help children to reframe the difficulties they are facing.

If as a parent, you are interested in learning some skills to identify and manage your child’s anxiety, please contact the school. As part of The Anxiety Project, parent seminars will be run at the school, as well as access to a self-paced online program Anxiety Coach for a limited number of parents in each participating school. In the meantime, visit: www.parentshop.com.au/for-parents for further parent resources, blogs and articles.

Please see below our list of school events for the upcoming months:

Term 1

Transport for New South Wales has announced a planned upgrade of Mount Ousley Interchange that will make commuting to school safer and more efficient.

The Australian Government and the NSW Government has jointly committed $300 million to build an interchange on the M1 Princes Motorway at the base of Mount Ousley, to bring greater connectivity, safety and efficiency to families who travel through the area.

The new interchange will improve access to the city, improve safety for road users by separating cars and heavy vehicles travelling southbound, and improve travel times for all road users.

A new pedestrian and cyclist bridge, and a widening of an existing pedestrian bridge will make it easier to walk and cycle in the area.

For more information, and to see the concept animation, visit Nswroads.work/MountOusley