The Punchbowl Press

We have come to the end of the term with many of our onsite activities returning. The school have started our regular Monday morning assembly for the first time since 2020 which is so wonderful to see.  We have welcomed back our parents for drop off and pick up and our recess and lunch breaks are happening at the same time across the school.  It certainly brings the harmony and connectedness of our community back, which has always been one of our strengths. 

I was fortunate to attend our chess club last Thursday which is coordinated by Mr Potten.  We had a lot of fun problem solving and visualising the chess pieces as we tried to create a checkmate.  I even got one of the moves correct which brought a huge cheer.  

This term we have started our teacher professional learning within Enriched Learning.  The leadership team along with classroom teachers are learning side by side supported by 4C Transformative Learning.  We are at the beginning of the journey to embedded creativity, collaboration, communication and critical reflection into or teaching and learning programs. The goals are to increase engagement and create students who are self-regulated, determined and who are able to think why and how while interacting with a learning challenge.

I wish everyone a safe, relaxing holiday. All students return to school on Wednesday 27 April.

Donna McGeary

Principal

A new system has been introduced and you will now receive your Statement of Account for the School Voluntary Contribution and other school fees via the email contact address you have registered with the school.

The email contains a link to the online payment system where you can make secure payments via debit or credit card.

Contact the school should you have any questions. 

We are delighted to be hosting an annual Iftar dinner for Punchbowl Public School on Wednesday 6 April 2022. It is a great opportunity to bring together our students, parents, and the community in the special month of Ramadan. The Iftar dinner will be at approximately 5.45pm in our school hall.

Unfortunately we have had to cap tickets numbers and tickets have now all been reserved. 

Only ticket holders will be able to attend this event. These will be given out to children later this week. 

When: Thursday 7 April, 2022

Time: 9:00am

Where: Punchbowl Public School Infants Playground

All students from P-6, including our playgroups, are invited to bring a decorated Easter hat for the parade. Parents are invited to come along and join the fun.An Easter raffle will also be drawn at this event. Tickets can be purchased during Week 10 & Week 11. Tickets are $1 each or 3 for $2

Thank you to parents who have already started to send in their Easter items to donate to the raffle. Please keep sending these in with your child.

We can’t wait to see you all

Let me introduce you to Huey the Bookbot. 

Huey is a brand-new way for children to find books they love. It’s like a chatbot. Huey was created by two inspiring women, Meena Tharmarajah and Caroline Kinny-Lewis, that wanted to bring great reading experiences to children. They created Huey so that it could help children find a book that matched their reading ability. Meena and Caroline both worked with The ABC and created some other awesome apps such as ABC Play School Art Maker, Bananas in Pyjamas and iView. 

Huey has been integrated to our school’s library catalogue and is ready for students to use. It will now be much easier for our students to find books that they will love reading! Click HERE to see how Huey can assist, remember to give Huey a few moments to load. Alternatively, you may scan the QR Code. With Huey’s book suggestions your child can search for a book at home and be ready to request it once they attend their library session. Students may also borrow during recess daily EXCEPT on Fridays. 

Carnival Book Fair

We thank our school community for their support of yet another successful Book Carnival. Over three hundred books were sold in one week! That means more books in the hands of our students, a FANTASTIC outcome indeed. The benefits of hosting a Book Fair also meant that hundreds of dollars’ worth of books were added to our school library collection. Thank you once again to all our parents and staff. 

Coming out of our “bubbles” has meant that Chess Club can resume. And so it did, with much enthusiasm and excitement. Many beginners are giving it a go and are learning just how much fun a game of chess can be. A huge thank you to Nathan from Sydney Chess for his expert tutoring of our budding champions. 

Everyone one’s a winner as long as they put in some effort! 

All our students have access to over 5000 fascinating eBooks covering a variety of interests. There are many titles that will spark student curiosity. 

Students have been issued with their login details. Please provide your child with the opportunity to access the MyON online library daily. Click on the link to visit the site. https://www.myon.com/login/ 

NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge:

The Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC) aims to encourage a lifelong love of reading for pleasure. The chosen titles allow students to experience quality literature. It is open to all students in NSW from kindergarten to Year 9. 

In recent years most of our students completed the challenge and were awarded a certificate from the NSW Premier’s office acknowledging their efforts. Let’s work together to ensure all our students complete this year’s challenge. Students may borrower PRC books from the school library or your local library. For more information about libraries in the Canterbury Bankstown area click on the link. 

https://www.cbcity.nsw.gov.au/community/library-knowledge-centres/locations-memberships 

School hats are available at the front office for $19. These are the new style bucket hats. Caps are no longer available to purchase from the school. 

Payments can be made online by visiting the school website and selecting 'Make a Payment'. Enter your details and include a note in the 'Payment Description' school hat.

Alternatively place $19 in an envelope labeled with your child's name and class and mark it with 'School Hat'. Please note the office does not keep change. Please include the correct money!

The office will make sure your child receives their hat. 

It has come to the attention of the school that members of our school community are parking in and across the driveways of our neighbours on Rossmore Ave and Viola St. This also includes the school driveway on Rossmore Ave.

Please be respectful of one another, park sensibly and do not block or park in driveways.The police and council parking rangers routinely patrol schools in the area. Fines will be issued to anyone not following the rules.

- Scroll all the way to the bottom until you see the ‘Select Language’ option. Select your preferences language

You can now read the news in your chosen language.

Join us for a short 30-minute webinar for parents, 'Pre Reading - Early Literacy Development', to learn about children’s early literacy development and pre-reading skills. 

You'll learn some simple ideas and strategies for literacy play and learning through talking, singing and reading and symbol recognition.

Date: Tuesday 5 April

Time: 12.30pm - 1:00pm (AEST) 

Register online