Plattsburg Public School Newsletter

I will start this message with a massive thank you to Evie, Poppy, Kiarha, Marli, Mikayla and Nikita for their efforts with the Ronald McDonald House fundraiser. It was their idea and they helped coordinate the school event. Awesome work girls! We sold 60 pairs of socks and a heap of jelly cups.

More socks will be delivered to the school for purchase in the coming days. This is for a wonderful cause, and we never know when someone within the Plattsburg community may need the support of Ronald McDonald House.

Our Year 6 students have been busy with High School Transition and end of year preparation, we thank all families for their involvement in helping prepare the students ready for Year 7 next year.

I have been hearing great reports from our Year 2 students attending Learn to Swim! Thank you to Miss Bailey, Mr McCabe and Mr Harvey for attending the program with Year 2.

Presentation Day and Christmas in the Gully is fast approaching, Wednesday 14th December and all students are welcome to wear a Christmas shirt, Christmas hat or headband and black shorts or pants / tights for their respective performances that evening. Feel free to wear the Christmas clothing all day on 14th December. Classes have been busy rehearsing and we have whole school rehearsals next week. If you have any questions around Christmas in the Gully, please contact the school. We look forward to the annual Plattsburg event!

A reminder to all students to bring their awards in when they receive their next three for acknowledgement of achievements! We are wanting to hand out more awards prior to the end of the school year!

Regards,

Mr Hopson (Relieving Principal, Plattsburg Public School)

Thursday, 1st December 2022

Kindergarten Student Orientation - 9:30am to 10:30am

Friday, 9th December 2022

Everyone Belongs Multi Themed Gala Day

K-2 in the Gully, 3-6 at Federal Park

Wednesday, 14th December 2022

Presentation Day/Christmas in the Gully

Thursday, 15th December 2022

Year 6 Clap-out at 2:30pm. All Welcome.

Thursday, 15th December 2022

Year 6 Graduation from 5pm

Friday, 16th December 2022

Last Day of 2022 for Students

Monday, 19th December 2022

Staff Development Day - No Students

Friday, 27th January 2022

Staff Development Day - No Students

Monday, 30th January 2022

Staff Development Day - No Students

Tuesday, 31st January 2022

Students in Years 1 to 6 return for Term 1

Monday, 6th February 2022

Kindergarten Students First Day of School

This time of year can be challenging for students as we near the end of the year. As always, we do not tolerate bullying or physical violence and we do not condone disrespect. The Department of Education provides us with a Suspension Policy which we implement diligently. We expect that our students will be Safe, Respectful and Engaged Learners throughout the year. With your support we will continue to focus on developing positive behaviours within our students and the ability to make good choices right up until the end of the school year.

Our school has been advised that several members of our school community have recently tested positive to COVID-19.

The school will be sending home RAT tests within the next few days to every family. Contact the school if you require additional tests. 

The safety and wellbeing of our staff and students are paramount at all times. As such, we will continue to ensure that all necessary health advice is closely followed.

Leadership interviews for Year 5 candidates are nearly completed. We are all very proud of their organisation, hard work and commitment in preparing for these interviews. The next step of the Leadership process is for the successful candidate to prepare and deliver a speech which the executives will vote for and we wish all of them the very best of luck. Our successful candidates will be told what position they have been elected to during our Presentation Day assembly on Wednesday 14th December. 

We are all looking forward to our Presentation Day assembly on Wednesday 14th December at 9:30am on the netball courts. The families of those students receiving awards have been sent invitations via email. All are welcome to celebrate the achievements of our students for 2022.

On Wednesday 23rd, Miss Sarah and Mr Hopson accompanied our Children's University students to their graduation ceremony at the University of Newcastle. The students were gowned and invited onto the stage of the Great Hall to receive their certificates of achievement. We are so proud of all the work these students have put in this year. Congratulations!

Our Aboriginal Dance and Yidaki (Didgeridoo) group were invited to perform at the NSW Teaching Quality and Impact Aboriginal Education Conference on the 16th of November. On the day, students performed in front of Aboriginal Education Offers from across the state. Our students were commended for their wonderful performances. They all represented Plattsburg with great pride. Well done to all students involved!

Aboriginal students in Years 4, 5 and 6 were invited to attend a Dolphin cultural excursion at Nelson Bay last Wednesday. We joined the Year 11 and 12 students from CCJC and together we shared stories of the Worimi land and People.The students had a fantastic time, and we were lucky to see many pods of Dolphins across the day! A big thank you to Uncle Alex, Luke Kendall, Mrs Bax and the CCJC team for organising such a memorable experience for the students. 

Students in Kindy, Year 1, 2 and 3 attended the University of Newcastle's Wollotuka institute for their Giyi Para cultural symposium. The event was a chance to get together and share culture between communities and generations. We participated in a day of shared learning, yarning, and making. The students had a fantastic day with smiles all round!

Plattsy kids are so supportive! The school was a sea of red, yellow and white this week for the student initiated fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House. Students purchase an exclusive yellow/red/striped jelly cup and a pair of McDonald's socks with all proceeds going towards Ronald McDonald House. Sock were sold out very quickly and we had extra supplies delivered and will be available for the rest of the week. As of today, the total raised for Ronald McDonald House is.....drum-roll, $534.25! An amazing result. Well done everyone!

2022 has been a difficult year for fundraising after 2 years of COVID lockdowns and restrictions. The P&C, who are also volunteers, often call upon parents and carers to help at school events. This year we have asked for volunteers at our Mother/Father’s Day Stalls, Athletics Carnival, Education Week celebrations, Bunnings BBQ and Christmas in the Gully, stapling raffle tickets, meal deals, canteen and breakfast club just to name a few events and you have never let us down. Many of our parents/carers work full time or have commitments that make them unable to volunteer, however we couldn’t be without you as you always donate to raffle prizes, secure sponsors and buy tickets.

We have developed a Volunteer Sign-Up page where we are currently asking for volunteers for Breakfast Club and Christmas in the Gully Celebrations and will be adding more volunteer opportunities in 2023.

Thank you to all our volunteers, you are appreciated. https://signup.zone/plattsburg-volunteer

As we near the end of the year, and buy gifts for family and friends, it is a timely reminder to think about safety and security, especially with tech gifts. While we may think it is cool to buy a subscription for an online game for our children, it is also important that we know about:  

·      age restrictions 

·      game classification (ratings such as G, PG or M) 

·      personal information security settings 

The eSafety Commissioner’s gift guide is a useful tool to help parents think about the important online safety questions with technologies such as drones, robotic toys and smartphones. 

To keep our children safe in the online world with gadgets such as wearable devices or virtual reality headsets, it is our responsibility as adults to understand how to manage the use of these technologies.  This will help ensure we do not expose our families to: 

·      having our personal information collected  

·      having our location tracked  

·      strangers online 

Check out the more popular online apps to see how safe they are and how you can make them safer. This eSafety guide on games, apps and social media sites can help us understand the use of apps such as TikTok, Snapchat or Instagram. 

It is up to all of us to be cyber safe these holidays. 

Christmas in the Gully will be held on Wednesday 14th December, the same day as Presentation Day. This year our Christmas in the Gully celebrations will be conducted between 2 p.m. and approximately 6 p.m.

Please view the programme below:

TEACHER SUPERVISION BETWEEN 2p.m - 3p.m

2pm – 3pm Students with pre-purchased wristbands enjoy inflatable rides and activities in the Gully. Those students who have not purchased a wristband will enjoy a movie/activities in the library.

PARENT/CARER SUPERVISION REQUIRED FROM 3p.m ONWARDS

2.50pm All students return to the COLA where rolls will be marked. Those students who have a nominated parent/carer to supervise them return to the Gully.

Those students who do not have a nominated parent/carer to supervise them go home as usual.

FAMILIES ARE ABLE TO JOIN THE CELEBRATION AT A TIME CONVENIENT TO THEM

• 4pm – BBQ
• 5pm - Activities and Inflatable rides will be packed up and class performances commence
• 6pm – Pack up

WRISTBANDS

Wristbands for unlimited use of the inflatables are $10 each. Every student and sibling wishing to enjoy the rides will require a wristband. Pre-purchased wristbands will be given out to students by their teachers after lunch. Wristbands may also be purchased by completing the order form and returning to the P&C locked box in the office or online at www.quickcliq.com.au/events. Sausage sizzle and fairy floss may also be pre-ordered via www.quickcliq.com.au/events or with cash on the day.

WHAT TO BRING

• Bring a camp chair and/or picnic blanket to sit and enjoy the performances. 
• Cash for BBQ, snacks, fairy floss. No EFTPOS available, however, sausage sizzle, fairy floss can be pre-ordered via Quickcliq.com.au

This is a family friendly event and no alcohol is permitted on school grounds.

Latest COVID-19 Information from the Department of Education and NSW Health for parents can be found at:

https://education.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/advice-for-families

https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19