Doolooboorah

Miss Dalgleish and students are all thrilled to be back in the newly relocated music room this term. Students have been exploring some exciting new repertoire using Orff instruments and enjoying the perfect space for lots of creative movement activities!

Kindergarten has been working hard on their mallet technique in the fun-filled Pudding on the Hill.

 Year 1 has been trying their hands at ‘Question and Answer’ improvisation on the C pentatonic scale.

 Year 3 has been exploring body percussion sounds using the Rhythm Blocks and transferring these patterns onto xylophones and boom whackers.

 Year 4 has been on an imaginative adventure to the moon, performing Carmina Burana with percussion instruments and scarves.

Year 5 has been working in groups on a grade competition – a creative movement composition and a xylophone arrangement of Dance Piece.

 Year 6 has been exploring some advanced mallet techniques – including using three mallets at once! They have been working in groups to create original arrangements of Malaguena. 

Last Friday marked Word Teachers Day and I want to thank our Harbord teachers for their compassion and professionalism in all that teaching staff do each and every day to make  a positive impact on the lives of children, making them feel connected and supported, especially in times of adversity.

This year has been an extraordinary year and teachers have supported children from both academic and emotional perspectives.

I know that many of you also recognise their commitment and are grateful for their extraordinary efforts this year.  I have included some lovely general words of thanks from parents, whose messages I am sure resonate with you. I have not included messages to individual teachers here.

If I had to hand out a prize to the best teacher at Harbord, I wouldn’t be able to decide who to give it to. Just like in previous years, my 3 boys each have (an) AMAZING teacher(s).  The Harbord crew is such a talented, organised, enthusiastic, connected, friendly, motivated and caring team. THANK YOU, DEAR TEACHERS!  In gratitude and appreciation...

I didn't know it was World Teachers Day today.  I would have sent a gift to say thank you.  Both my boys love their teachers and are both learning so much.  When kids are happy and learning you know you have great teachers in the classroom.  Every lesson helps shape them into the well-rounded men I hope them to be one day!  Forever grateful!

Thank you to all the kindy teachers of 2020. Our children have been nurtured through an extraordinarily unusual time. And my child has blossomed as a result. The kindy teachers are committed, loving, fun, intelligent and want the best in education for our children. For such a large school, the community is small and connected. It has been a wonderful start with Harbord PS for our family. Thank you.

The teachers we have had so far in our two years at HPS always impress me with how they care above and beyond the job. They’re encouraging, creative, really connect with the age group and you can tell they genuinely care about teaching.  This challenging year has obviously tested all, and I would like to thank the teachers and staff at HPS for their amazing effort in being so adaptable so quickly and delivering so seamlessly the learning programs during the homeschool days.  I'm so very thankful (and lucky) for the positive and happy start to our Son’s school life at Harbord.  

Thankyou to all the amaaaazing teachers at Harbord. You've been absolute gold during the craziness of 2020. Adapting to this new way of being and supporting our kids to learn resilience and flexibility.

We, the students of Harbord Public School, are the luckiest students in the world because we have the greatest teachers!

Most of all because they are all funny and have a great sense of humour, they are good fun and make us so fun work, like jacka lanterns; they are all smart; kind and caring.

 Thank you for being amazing and dedicating so much time to helping us learn,

THANK YOU HARBORD TEACHERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just wanted to say we are all extremely thankful for the wonderful teachers we have at Harbord. It’s been such a challenging year, but they’ve all made the most of it.  There has been so much extra work to keep our kids safe & educated.  Just know, we really appreciate it.

To all the Staff at Harbord Primary School,

Thanks so much for facilitating an inspiring learning community and environment for our daughters (and the whole community) to learn, grow and be their best in.  I particularly love hearing from our daughters about all the interesting opportunities they are able to participate in.  I am also happy that the school takes the education of our first nations culture seriously and is not tokenistic in this respect.  Also thank you to the band committee and band program and  Mrs Sandie Rose Castle. Thank you to the administration staff, the Principal, Assistant Principal and library staff - you are all stars.

Congratulations to all the staff, teaching and support at Harbord Public. What an outstanding effort, commitment and caring approach you have displayed to the children throughout 2020.  We really appreciate how you have gone above and beyond in responding to the pandemic and rapidly putting in place solutions that have kept the students engaged and on track and not fearful of what has been happening around them. This would have been at times when many of you would have been fearful for your own family's health, particularly during the initial lockdown”.

Thanks so much to our staff wellbeing team Mrs Jo Fazzolari, Miss Emma Nixon, Ms Katie Norwood and Mrs Jen Berry for encouraging staff wellbeing through pairing up our teachers to share ‘random acts of kindness’ last week. The team also gave us wellbeing cards which we could use and give to each other.

We met students from our incoming 2021 Kindergarten cohort on Tuesday and it was great to see them have their first 'Taste of Kindy', meet teachers and have a chance to familiarise themselves with their new surroundings at 'big school'. Unfortunately, due to continuing COVID restrictions, parents weren’t able to attend the usual information sessions and school tours.  Nevertheless, Mrs Jeanette Iacovitti, Mrs Lisa Miller and our kindergarten teachers developed a great orientation visit ensuring that our new families could experience a smooth and positive transition to Kindergarten.  We look forward to seeing our prospective kindergarten students in two weeks' time for their second visit. 

Thank you for supporting Book Week and a love of literacy in our students. Thanks to the Book Week team of Mrs Deb Lowe, Mrs Jo Fazzolari, Ms Belinda Ings, Mrs Kylie Hall, Mr Ben Wiggins, Mrs Tara Hedin and Ms Bronwyn Howard for organising and bringing smiles to our students' faces. As you can see from the photos, the teachers had as much fun as the students did.

Year 5 students have been lucky enough to be able to attend a bike safety program with the police, youth liaison officers. Sam T in 5D has shared his account of the excursion below.

In week two, all of year 5 went to C.A.R.E.S. C.A.R.E.S is a bike safety place that Year 5 goes to every year. Two classes go per day over three days. First, we check our helmets and if they fit and if they are Australian Standard (there is a little sticker in every helmet), then we get split up into two groups, blue and red.

One group went into the classroom to watch a few videos about bike safety and the another group did a little bike riding obstacle course. In the obstacle course there are cones that you weave in and out of, then a line that you try to stay on. You stay at a stop sign, look both ways and then there is another line. You turn around at the end and ride slowly up to the top. The next bit in the obstacle course is my favourite. We get into lines and go up our line as straight and as slowly as possible.

Then it was time for recess and after recess we were able to swap over. Lunch was quite quick and we had our food and a small game of handball and then back on the bikes. This time though we get to go on the mini road.

There are traffic lights, stop signs and everything else that is on a normal road on this smaller version. We had little licenses that we had to keep, if we broke a rule like riding through a red light or jumping over a speed bump, you would get a demerit point taken off your license. You have 7 demerit points until you lose your license and can’t ride your bike anymore.

Finally the day was finished. We handed all of our bikes back and went back to school on the bus. It was the best!

 From Sam T, 5D     

Next week marks NAIDOC Week and we wanted to share all the special activities we have been involved in to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and histories at Harbord. 

Elodie (6Y) has been selected for the 2021 NSW Basketball U14 Development Squad. She is one of just 40 girls selected from all over Sydney for training to play at State level – and she is only 12 years old! Congratulations Elodie, his is a great sporting achievement. https://www.bnsw.com.au/news_notices/dap-2021-u14-metro-squad-announcement/

Susan Tickle

Principal

Any excuse for a dress-up! There was a lot of fun and frivolity on Wednesday as teachers and students celebrated Book Week with their creative interpretations of their favourite book characters.

Year four teachers got my vote with their group effort!

We would like to acknowledge Taya’s contribution to cancer research through her participation in the Cancer Council’s Ponytail Project.  About 4 weeks ago, Taya of 4M decided to donate her ponytail to help make wigs for children who are having cancer treatment. She wasn’t going to do any fundraising at all, she just wanted to donate it to help sick kids. However, when a family friend heard about what she was planning to do she was encouraged to raise money as well.  She raised $1200 in just over one week for the Cancer Council as part of their Ponytail Project.

Last term, the P&C joined with me to view the Harbord PS bicycle policy.  Thank you to the parents who engaged in the discussion and provided feedback on behalf of the P&C.  This policy has also been shared with the school executive team and teachers.  Our expectation is that all students riding a bicycle to school and wheeling their bicycle through school grounds are familiar with this policy after parents have reviewed this document with their child/ren.

You can find a copy of the Harbord Public School Bicycle Policy here:

Follow these links for useful resources from the NSW Department of Education:

·         Department of Education

https://education.nsw.gov.au/parents-and-carers/wellbeing/health-and-safety/safe-travel/travelling-safely-to-and-from-school-on-a-bike-or-scooter

·         Centre for Road Safety

https://roadsafety.transport.nsw.gov.au/stayingsafe/bicycle-riders/helmets-gear.html 

·         Safety Town

https://www.safetytown.com.au/parents/#riding-safely

Selective high schools cater for academically gifted students with high potential who may otherwise be without sufficient classmates at their own academic standard. Selective high schools help these students to learn by grouping them with students of similar ability, and by using specialised teaching methods.

Applications for selective high school placement are considered mainly on the basis of the Selective High School Placement Test results and school assessment scores. The Selective High School Placement Test will be held on Thursday 11 March 2021.

If you would like to have your child considered for Year 7 selective high school entry in 2022, you need to apply on the internet using a valid email address (not the student’s email address).

Detailed instructions on how to apply online will be available in late September 2020 at https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year-7.

The application website opens at that link on 6 October 2020 and closes on 9 November 2020. You must apply before the closing date.

To maintain the health, safety and wellbeing of students, the 2020 Opportunity Class Placement Test has been rescheduled to Wednesday 18 November 2020.

Parents will receive ‘Test Authority’ advice by Wednesday 4 November 2020 to confirm their child’s test centre location.

Danielle Yates

Deputy Principal

Yesterday we had our first Kindergarten 2021 orientation session. It was wonderful to meet all the students who will be coming to school next year. All of the groups were extremely settled and they had a great time colouring and cutting their “Sammy Snake’”.

Thank you to all of the Kindergarten team and the additional teachers and support staff for helping to ensure that the sessions ran smoothly and the students had a great time. A special thank you to Mrs Iacovitti (Kindergarten AP) and Mrs Johnson (Office Staff Member) for their huge efforts in organisation and all the behind the scenes work that took place.

We look forward to welcoming our Kindy 2021 students back on the Tuesday 17th November for their second orientation session. 

Last Wednesday we had our Book Week Parade. It was a wonderful day for both students and staff. It was amazing the effort and creativity that went into the costumes. Seeing each class parade around was a big highlight of the week. Any chance we can get students talking about books is fantastic!

This week I was able to visit KW to see some of the wonderful work they have been doing in maths lessons. The students were learning about sharing and reflected on whether collections are able to be shared into equal groups. It was wonderful to see their confidence in discussing what they were learning about.  

Congratulations to Sam for his refection on why he likes a particular book. Kindergarten has been focussing on explaining why they like or dislike text this term. Keep up the great work Sam!

The Banner is to acknowledge the students at Harbord who have achieved five gold awards.  Students who have presented their five gold awards to the Deputy Principals will be invited to attend the Term 4 assemblies.  If a student misses out on receiving a banner this year, there will be another opportunity in Term 2, 2021.

The Term 4 Banner Assembly will be upon us soon, so keep collecting Goldies and keeping them safe. 

Cut-off dates for awards to Deputy Principals:

Years 3-6    Wednesday 11 November (Week 5)

Years K-2    Wednesday 18th November (Week 6)

We will make a decision regarding the parent audience closer to the event in line with the Department’s advice at the time.

Lisa Miller

Deputy Principal

The Young Writers Competition took place in Term 3. All classes completed these writing tasks to a high standard. The winners will be awarded their trophies and certificates at a special assembly on:

Years 3-6    Wednesday, 25th November (week 7)

Years K-2    Wednesday, 2nd December (week 8)

These assemblies will also be for banner recipients.

Due to COVID restrictions parents are unable to attend. We will film and email a link to the parents of winners.

The grade finalists will be awarded their certificates in their grade assemblies. Congratulations to the following winners and finalists:

Years K-2 winners writing pieces are displayed below. Congratulations!

Years 3-6 winners will be in the following newsletter.

Fiona Groves

Co-ordinator

The NSW Department of Education has released the Everyday Maths Hub.

The Everyday Maths Hub is:

•  an engaging and dynamic online platform for parents and carers of children in Kindy through to Year 10

• aims to support and encourage family conversations about the relevance and usefulness of mathematics in everyday life
• is part of the NSW Mathematics Strategy to achieve the Premier’s vision, 'for all NSW students to develop the mathematical skills they need to succeed in life'
• was designed in consultation with our teachers, parents and carers
• can support parents and carers in empowering their children to think critically and creatively, find and solve problems, and notice and wonder about the mathematics in the world around them
• helps parents and carers connect with their children through mathematics.

You can find the Everyday Maths Hub at education.nsw.gov.au/everyday-maths

Last week Miss Wright and I visited the Year 2 students during their differentiated Mathematics lessons. The focus of each lesson was additive strategies. Students were applying flexible mental strategies using the jump and split method to add and subtract. It was wonderful to see the improvement the students are demonstrating on the Numeracy Progression.

Mrs Scicluna

Instructional Leader

The Jolly Soles Sock fundraiser is now live on Flexischools!  Families can now order a $70 box of Jolly Soles fun socks, with $25 coming back towards the Year 6 Farewell. If you sell all 14 pairs of socks for $5 a pair you get your money back, and you will have contributed $25 to the Year 6 Farewell. The Captains and Seniors have been very busy creating posters promoting this fundraiser and our aim is to sell 150 boxes of socks. We will greatly appreciate any support.

Paul Kelly 6K

Assistant Principal & Year 6 Supervisor

and the whole of Year 6 Students and Teachers

The office staff will sort any lost property once a week. If clothing is labelled the item will be returned to the student's classroom. If items are not labelled they will eventually end up in the secondhand clothing pool.

IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO LABEL ALL SCHOOL BELONGINGS

Children will be returning to school in term 4 in their Summer uniforms so now is the time to get your orders in.

The uniform shop hours are (school term only):

Tuesday 2:30 - 4pm

Thursday 8:30 - 10:30am

We encourage you to only visit the shop if your child needs to try on items. Due to restrictions we would prefer you use the class delivery option. 

All orders are placed online at www.harborduniforms.com.au

When you purchase your uniform accessories (socks, hat etc) at our Uniform Shop, all profits go back to the school through the P&C and are used to help your children directly.

Some examples of the projects funded by the P&C are the amazing new playground in the Kindy area, an extensive range of new IT products including Laptops, iPads, electronic whiteboards along with upcoming projects such as new classroom furniture, COLA over the Year 1 play area and Garden of Tranquility.

All these projects have been fully funded by our P&C, so let’s keep supporting them by purchasing all uniform shop items through our onsite store.

With delivery straight to your child’s classroom, it’s the most convenient option!

Please be advised that the second hand uniform shop became cashless on September 1st 2020.  EFTPOS payments only are accepted.

Secondhand Uniform Shop

Tuesday 2.30 - 3.15pm

Thursday 8.30 - 9.15am

useduniforms@harbordpandc.com.au

Social distancing applies so please wait outside the shops if we are already helping others.

 What you get in the year:

• Unlimited classes & gym access
• Weekly check in’s for support and guidance
• Unlimited access to Inbody scanner
• Nutritional guidance & access to meal plans
• Joining a friendly & supportive community

Simply enter the draw via the link below to go in the draw:

https://www.code5.com.au/join-the-draw-now/