This week we will celebrate Harmony Day, which is always a highlight in our school calendar. By celebrating the event and the message of living together happily in our diverse community we reinforce the importance of developing understanding and appreciation of the diversity which makes our school and our country a great place to live. Teaching our children to be respectful and embracing of all cultures is why we make a point of having a strong and vibrant celebration of Harmony Day every year. I am proud to see the way our community always embraces the celebration. Thank you to our staff members who have put together activities for the day.
Our P&C held their AGM this week and committee members were elected for the year. Congratulations to Erika Pitt (President), Kathleen Rollins (Treasurer and Uniform Shop Coordinator) and Jamila Adams Critchley (Secretary). Thank you to the committee members who have volunteered their time in support of the school and to assist other parents and students with the variety of activities they organise throughout the year.
Parent Teacher meetings will be held at the end of the term for parents to meet and discuss their child’s progress with teachers. In the past we have provided parents with the PLAN parent report which detailed how parents could support their child’s literacy and numeracy development. The report was generated after teachers entered each student’s level of literacy and numeracy achievement on a learning continuum using the Department of Education PLAN software. The continuum’s have been replaced with a much more detailed learning progression and it is no longer possible to generate a student report from these progressions. We have replaced the report with a feedback questionnaire for parents to provide information prior to the interview. A copy of this questionnaire will be sent home to families to complete and it is also attached as a file in this edition of the newsletter.
Last week we conducted interviews for the assistant principal support position, Francesca Faorlin currently relieving assistant principal Girraween Public School was successful. We look forward to welcoming Francesca next term. Francesca will replace Mrs Wierzbicki as class teacher for KW students. Mrs Wierzbicki will return to her role as learning support teacher.The launch of our eNewsletter has proven to be a great success. Over the past 2 weeks there have been over 280 visits to the eNewsletter. Let us know your thoughts on the eNewsletter. You can contact us through the school email address.
pendlehill-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Happy Reading!
Dates for the Diary
Week 8 Thursday 21/3 Harmony Day - please join us for a family picnic from 1pm followed by a lunch time activity for parents and children, 'Making a Harmony Garden"
Week 7 Friday 15/3 AFL Clinic for Stage 2 and 3 students participating in school sport
Week 8 Friday 22/3 AFL Clinic for Stage 2 and 3 students participating in school sport
Week 9 Friday 29/3 AFL Clinic for Stage 2 and 3 students participating in school sport
Week 10 Friday 5/4 AFL Clinic for Stage 2 and 3 students participating in school sport
Week 11 Monday 8/4 Cross Country
Tuesday 9/4 PLAN Parent/Teacher Interviews
Thursday 11/4 Easter Activity
Friday 12/4 Last Day of Term
Term 2
Week 1 Monday 29/4 Staff Development Day
Tuesday 30/4 First Day of Term 2
National Young Leaders Day Sydney 2019
Stage 3 SRC and school captains went to the National Young Leaders Day Sydney, held at Darling Harbour. We travelled from Pendle Hill train station to Town Hall station by train. We left Pendle Hill station at 7:30am and we travelled for about 1 hour. After that we walked from Town Hall to the convention centre which was the ICC Sydney (International Convention Centre.). There were thousands of people present and many came from far away. When we entered the hall, it was blasting with music which was tuned by a DJ called DJ Raf. It turned out that he was one of the hosts for the show. The other host was a former ABC ME/3 host called Liv Phyland. The first person that came was a hip-hop dancer who taught us how to do a few dance moves. Next came Tim Diamond, General Manager of Cotton-On Foundation. Tim Diamond had came and gave a speech about his charity’s work in Mannya, Uganda, a highly HIV-AIDs affected area and the birthplace of HIV-AIDs. Third came Tamsin Janu, author of the “Figgy” series and the book “Blossom”. Fourth was Australian swimmer Cate Campbell, Owner of world record, Fastest Short Course 100 metres Freestyle. Fifth was Holly Ferling who currently plays for Melbourne stars and Queensland cricket. We then ended it off by dancing to Baby Shark. After that we walked back to Town Hall station and we caught the train back to Pendle Hill station and reached there at about 3:45pm. We had a great time at the National Young Leaders Day and we got inspired by leaders and had a memorable experience. Thank you to Mrs Constantinides, who organised this event for us to attend. We appreciate it!
By: School Captains and SRC
On the 26th of February, Year 6 students went on an open day at Greystanes High School.
We left school at 11:00 and reached Greystanes High school at 11:15.
We spent the day having an insight of what we would do at high school. We went to 3 different classes: food economics ( cooking ), drama and japanese. First, we went to an assembly where Mrs Farnham, the year 6-7 coordinator gave a speech about Greystanes High School and the SRC of different years told us stories and answered some questions. Then the SRC students took us to our first class which was food economics where the food economics teacher taught us how to make pancakes. Then we had a sausage sizzle for lunch. After lunch we did a drama class where the drama teacher taught us how to act out objects like a baby shark, a plant and a triangle. Our last lesson was Japanese where Mrs Roy taught us how to say: Hajimemashite. Watashi wa des. Juuissai des. Dozo Hiroshiku. Meaning: My name is ________. I am ________ years old. Then we packed our bags and headed back to school. We had a great time and had a memorable experience at Greystanes High.
By Marielle, Devarsh, Evie and Kaaviyaan
Read some of the thoughts and fun times that Kindergarten are having in their first few weeks of school.
My favourite thing about school is drawing. Moussa
In my lunch box I have carrots, grapes, chips and a ham sandwich. Leilani
I like to listen to the teacher. Alice
My favourite thing about school is eating. Nugal
I have made some friends at school, I play hide and seek with them. Thipa
I have a Year 6 buddy. She played with me and read me a story. She is kind. Yogi
Today we played clocks and duck, duck, goose during Peer Play. Hashir
I can play outside and I can play with my friends. Rayne
I like to do art at school, especially drawing. Krathik
Mrs Rich is one of our three Kindergarten teachers in 2019. She has been teaching Kindergarten for many years and builds strong connections with her students and their families. Last year, Mrs Rich was one of the first teachers to trial the See Saw application. This app is used to communicate with parents about their children's learning. Mrs Rich posted pictures and commented on student learning throughout the year. The feedback for this application was very positive and we are looking forward to continuing to explore it.
FAST FACTS:
Name one thing on your bucket list?
Travel
If you could invite anyone in the world to lunch, who would it be?
My sister
The last book you read?
The Big Red Hen
If you could choose a superpower, what would it be?
Invisibility
Do you have a sweet tooth or do you prefer savoury food?
Mrs Rich loves baking sweet treats but prefers to eat savoury food (lucky for us because we get to eat the baked treats!)
On Thursday March 7th, Mrs Russell and Mr Stone took 7 of our swimmers to the Zone Swimming Carnival. Everyone swam very well and there were a number of personal bests achieved, which was amazing to watch. Our Senior Boys were invited to participate in the relay at the end of the day and they came 10th in the Zone. Congratulations to all of the students who participated, you showed great sportsmanship and represented our school proudly. Thank you to Mrs Russell and Mr Stone for your work in making the day a success.
It is important for students to be on time and at school every day, every possible day. Being at school is vital for your child's understanding of concepts and learning new skills. Have you ever thought about what happens if your child is often late, or absent, without an adequate reason?
Have a look at the tables below, they may surprise you!
Remember, the school needs to be notified of any absences. You can do this by:
Writing a note
Calling the school
Sending a message through Skoolbag
Speaking to your child's teacher
On Friday 15th March, students across the school participated in activities that had the message "BULLYING. NO WAY!". The SRC also displayed posters and discussed the National Day of Action Against Bullying. A link to the website is below if you would like to explore this further yourself or with your children.
Students in Year 3 and 5 will participate in the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy or NAPLAN. This will take place in Term 2, from Tuesday 14th May to Thursday 16th May. NAPLAN tests skills in literacy and numeracy that are developed over time through the school curriculum. In addition to the knowledge and skills students are developing in class, teachers will familiarise students with the test by looking at past NAPLAN tests and practising the skills needed in answering questions.
The link below (NAP - Home) is the NAPLAN website. It answers questions you may have about the test and some sample questions, should you wish to look at these with your child.
 |
Harmony Day Event 2019 Download |
Parent and Teacher interviews will be held at the end of Term 1.
We would like to know more about your child and welcome you to fill out some questions on the attached note. This note will also be sent out this week. Please complete the note and hand back to your child's teacher, before Week 10. By handing the note in before the interview, it allows teachers to plan for the interview. This way, we can work together to best meet the needs of your child.
The questionnaire and some information has been translated into Hindi and Tamil. If you require an interpreter on the day of the interviews, this can be arranged. Please speak with your child's class teacher.
|
Getting to Know Your Child - Parent Survey Download |
Chatspace is a place for parents with language backgrounds other than English to get to know other parents and practice English skills.
All parents, grandparents and young children (0-5) are welcome. There will no enrolment forms or weekly commitments.
CMRC will run Chatspace every Tuesday from 9.15-10.30am. It will be held in the old school hall (near the year 2 rooms).
We hope to see you there
A soccer clinic was held for Stage 3 students last week participating in school sport. It was lead by Ellie Brush. Ellie is an Australian sportswoman who plays soccer for Western Sydney Wanderers in the Australian W-League and plays Australian rules football for Greater Western Sydney in the AFL Women's.
All of the students who participated had a great time and learnt new skills. Thank you to Mrs Concha for organising this event to celebrate International Womens Day.
Home sport has already begun this year and we are lucky enough to have AFL clinics running for 4 weeks, until the end of this term. These clinics are run by AFL Australia and teach children skills and knowledge of the game. Teachers are also actively participating in these clinics and learning new skills.
PSSA commenced in Week 6 and we look forward to some sport reports in the next newsletter! Students involved in PSSA will need to remember to be at school on time, as they may be travelling by bus on Friday morning.
Please REMEMBER to bring:
Hat
Sunscreen
Water Bottle
Mouthguard (AFL PSSA players only)
With our Google Translation integration, your community can access your newsletter in ANY language. Simply scroll to the bottom of the newsletter preview to give it a try.
Striving to Achieve