Spring Farm Public School

Dear Parents and Carers,

On behalf of all of the staff at Spring Farm Public School I would like to welcome you and your child or children to the new school year. I would also like to extend this warm welcome to all of the new families of students in Years 1 to 6 and to the Kindergarten students and their families who have joined us from Wednesday 4 February, 2020.

 

Thank you for your support and patience for the first day and for the settling in period these past weeks. The students, staff and community have settled in well and are demonstrating the school’s motto of Inspiring Creative and Resilient Learners!

Recent events

We are working towards a renewed hope and optimism after the catastrophic and devastating fires that have plagued our nation over the past months.

Some of our parents and carers would have family or friends who have lost their homes, or themselves being fire service volunteers. Some families may have been temporarily cut off while on holiday by the south coast fires or had friends or relatives living or holidaying in bush fire affected areas. Our thoughts are with anyone who has been in any way impacted by the bush fires. If your family requires support, please contact the school if you feel your child or children require counselling or you can access support through:  

https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/school-safety

In addition, the school is following all recommendations by NSW Health and Department of Education on addressing the current Coronavirus virus and recent floods. For more information please access the link:

https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/school-safety

School Photos

School Photos will be held on Monday 16 March 2020. All students are to wear full summer uniform. The School Photographer business will be conducting the photos on the day.

More information will be sent out in Week 6. 

 

School Information

If you would like to know more about the school, for example, the daily routine and school times, please go to the school’s website, go to the ‘About our school’ tab and below will be the Information Handbook section. This will contain essential information about the school.

Change of Details/ Medical Conditions

If you have recently changed any details including phone number, emergency contacts, custody documents, address etc. please see the office to update student records. This includes updating the office with any current emergency action plans for any medical conditions. 

 

Resource Contribution Fee

Currently the school and P&C are working on a new voluntary contribution fee that will encourage families to make their contributions. This voluntary contribution fee enhances the educational programs of Spring Farm Public School. The school is building upon its technology equipment for all students to access as well as providing students with online educational subscriptions such as Mathletics and Reading Eggs.

 

Extreme Weather

In the event of extreme weather, students and staff stayed in their air-conditioned classrooms during the breaks. Students will be able to go to the toilet or purchase from the canteen and are encouraged to go straight back into their classrooms. This will be the same arrangement for any extreme weather pattern/s throughout the year.

 

Parent, Students & Teacher Conferences

The school will be conducting a three-way meeting (student, parent and teacher) from 3rd and 4th March after school. This is an opportunity to discuss with the class teacher, your child’s needs and goals for the semester. More information of specific times and locations will be sent to you closer to the dates so you can schedule interview times online. 

Please keep your Skoolbag app updated for the conference information. 

 

Reminder and expectations about Morning Routines

Due to safety concerns, parents and carers are asked to keep the walk ways clear so that teachers can organise their classes from 8:55am. Once the morning bell rings I ask that parents and carers stand behind the witches hats, say their goodbyes and leave as soon as possible as this can minimise separation issues with students.

 

Whole school assembly will be every Monday and Thursday morning. We will give reminders about the week ahead and provide recognition of any achievements especially for our Positive Behaviour for Learning bands. Parents, relatives and friends are welcome to stay and join us in our assembly and celebrate the students and school’s achievements.

 

Please be mindful, when anyone is addressing the assembly that we all display good role modelling by being respectful and courteous in these formal occasions. This includes limiting side talking with each other and being pro- active with our toddlers.

 

For more information, please view the school’s Information Handbook for code of conduct for all members of the local community as well as the Department of Education School Community Charter.

 

http://www.springfarm-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/our-school/information-handbook1

 

https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/going-to-a-public-school/school-community-charter

 

Communicating with Teachers and staff

If you need to communicate with the class teacher or another staff member you can either:

 

• Email the school and the teacher or staff member will contact you via phone and if they are unable to talk to reach you, they will respond via the school email
• See the class teacher in the afternoon at dismissal time
• Contact the office and they will contact the class teacher for them to call back or contact you via the school email to arrange a meeting

 

The school will be using the Dojo and SeaSaw apps to celebrate student’s learning. Due to WHS and privacy laws, the comments and messenger components on these apps will not be activated.  This will also ensure that your messages and any concerns can be addressed in a timely fashion by contacting the office so your messages can be passed on to teachers.

 

Classes for 2020

As we are a new and growing community, it is expected that the school will have increased enrolments. Currently, enrolment numbers at Spring Farm Public School are 590 students which is a big jump from four years ago when we started with only 58 students. 

 

The school has 24 mainstream classes and 4 support classes (two Multi-categorical and two Moderate Intellectual Disabled classes). Class placement is a complex process, especially in a growing community, with class sizes set by the Department of Education and school structures must take these procedures into consideration when forming classes. If student numbers increase we will need to form another class or classes and therefore student movement may happen or a class without a room may need to be in a temporary area such as the school Library until a demountable classroom is established. The school and the Department of Education NSW are working very hard to ensure all the students and staff are catered for. In a few weeks, Spring Farm Public school will have another demountable classroom established.

Welcome to our new staff…..

Mrs Pearce

Ms Tapp

Mr Cameron

Ms Daly

Mrs Assad

Mrs Cary

Mr Coskerie

Ms Malnersic

Mrs Jafri

Mrs Watmore

Mrs Hoban

Mrs Koureas

The next Spring Farm Public School P&C meeting will be on Monday 17th February 2020 at 7pm in Block A of the staffroom.  All parents and carers are welcome to attend.

The AGM is being held in week 8 of Term 1 on Monday 16th March, where all executive positions will be declared open and all financial members are able to nominate and vote in the 2020 P&C for Spring Farm Public School.

The school is working with the P&C on returning lost uniforms. We thank the P&C volunteers who sort out lost uniform on a weekly basis.