Vardys Voice

As outlined in previous communications, 5/6 Indigo’s current teacher, Ms Justine Patterson, is on a working VISA which lapses at the end of September.

The school in response to this inevitability has been exploring succession plan options and has decided that Mr Matthew McDonald will be teaching 5/6 Indigo from the beginning of Term 3 until the end of the year.

As Mr McDonald is a known and well-respected member of the existing Vardys Road staff, the transition to another teacher should be easier and the all-important teacher/student connection is already established.

Ms Patterson has already provided the school with comprehensive hand over notes and Mr McDonald will be part of the Stage 3 planning day this week.

Vardys Road would like to thank Ms Patterson for her tireless efforts, professionalism and her much needed student-centred approach. Her ability to guide 5/6 Indigo through an emotional time has been very much appreciated and we wish her well as she returns home to Ireland and in her future teaching career.

The school's PDHPE Release from Face to Face program will continue and the school is currently finalising arrangements with Mr McDonald's replacement.

Last Friday, due to a student based incident, the students and staff at Vardys Road Public School conducted a lockdown. The safety procedure was initiated to ensure the safety of students. The prompt response enabled staff to manage the incident effectively and as a result, students were safe at all times during the short safety procedure.
Lockdowns are one of a number of safety procedures rehearsed regularly by public schools and last Friday’s lockdown ran well according to rehearsed plans.

The 2019 Education Week Open Day is to be held on Tuesday 6th August and will include the formal assembly, Book Fair, performances and an opportunity to visit your child’s classroom.

Please pencil the date into your diary. It’s a day certainly not to be missed!

Parents and carers are reminded that teacher supervision of students does not commence until 8:30am.

Children who arrive before this time are asked to sit under the kindergarten covered outdoor learning area. Families who require their children to be arriving at school before this time due to work commitments, are encouraged to be utilising our before and after school care centre. Financial assistance for before and after school care costs can be sought through Centrelink. Our friendly OOSH staff are more than happy to provide guidance on how to access this support.

Parents and carers are also reminded that the pedestrian crossing officers do not start their shifts until 8:00am. Parents are asked not to send their children unsupervised across the pedestrian crossing before this time. A recent ‘close call’ has acted as a reminder that children always need supervision when they are crossing roads - especially ones that are as busy as Vardys Road at that time of the day.

Congratulations to Mrs Parkinson and her Public Speaking team who have achieved two wins and one highly commended award at the recent Multicultural Public Speaking competition. While more details are given later in this newsletter, all of the team’s hard work paid off with our competitors reaching a high standard in both the prepared and impromptu speech sections.

We are very lucky to have such passionate teachers and students with such commitment.

Many thanks to Mrs Rachel Bernays and Mrs Belinda Barber who delivered a valuable workshop on student assessment, visible learning and quality student feedback. For those in attendance, our two knowledgeable teachers explained the importance of achievable goal setting and how to develop a growth mindset.

Information that was referenced during the workshop is included in this newsletter.

Thank you to the many parents who contributed to the discussion on the school prayer and pledge either via email or at the recent parent forums. The next step is to hold a workshop where a new proposed pledge will be written by a small group of parents and staff.

If you would like to be part of this workshop, please email me at ian.d.short@det.nsw.edu.au

The outcome of this workshop will be put to a community vote.

As part of our ever expanding community engagement programs, one of our parents is starting a parent fitness group at Vardys Road Public School. More information about this new initiative will be sent home soon.

What a great way to get fit, meet other parents and also support our school!

Parents interested in joining this group are asked to contact Jaron Blackie on 0425257614 or email him at jaron@impactthf.com.au

We still have two vacant positions in our P & C, with the Fundraising and Uniform Vice President roles remaining unfilled.

Please contact me at ian.d.short@det.nsw.edu.au if you would like to explore these opportunities further.

BOYS SOCCER

Game date: 21/6/19

Versus: Bert Oldfield A

Result: Juniors won 10-1, Seniors won 5-1
Sports Awards:   Juniors – Ryan & Leo      Seniors – Kobi & Joel

Game date: 28/6/19

WASH-OUT

GIRLS SOCCER

Game date: 21/6/19

Versus: Caddies Creek Maroon (Juniors), Blacktown North (Seniors)

Result: Juniors lost 3-0, Blacktown North forfeit in Seniors
Sports Awards:   Juniors – Ananya & Helena    Seniors – Eviey & Lilian

On Tuesday 25th June Vardys Road Public School held its annual Athletics Carnival at Blacktown International Sports Park. The weather was kind as students aged 8 and above competed in a variety of track and field events. We were able to complete just about all events on the day and are in the process of finishing the last few field events back at school. We hope to have ribbons presented before the end of term.

Participation and sportsmanship was evident throughout the day and we would like to thank all the students who attended, as well as family who supported and helped out on the day.

Zone participants and new record holders will be announced early next term.

Mr M McDonald
Sports Coordinator

Now that most representative teams have had their championship days I would like to announce the names of those students who have earned representative honours so far this year. If selected to a Zone team students compete at Regional carnivals in the hope of being selected for a Sydney West Regional Team. We at Vardys Road have been lucky enough to have had multiple students selected to both levels of representative duties this year.
They are as follows:

Wentworthville/Seven Hills Zone -
Netball: Abbie
Rugby League: Lachlan, Nathan, Zac and Cooper
Touch Football: Lachlan
Softball: Brock and Deegan
AFL: James
Basketball: James

Regional Teams
Girls Cricket: Mia
Boys Cricket: Riley
Rugby Union: Willie

Mr M McDonald
Sports Coordinator

 

The School is required by law to follow up on any unexplained absences. Students are required to attend school between the designated times (8:55 am and 3:00 pm). Parents must explain any late arrival, early departure or a full day absence with a specific reason.

This requirement is necessary for the safety and welfare of all children. The notes and class roll are legal documents and are scrutinised by a Home Liaison Officer.

Arriving Late

The start of the school day is very important and it is essential that students arrive at school on time so that they can settle quickly and commence the learning program for the day. Further, students entering the room after the day’s lessons have commenced might disturb other students and disrupt class routines.

Students arriving late at school should arrive with a parent or carer. If unaccompanied, policy says that office staff must ask why the student is late and this may be followed up with a phone call to parents to confirm. This is for child safety, ensuring that parents are aware their child is late to school.

Absence explanations

Please contact the school to advise of any absences. You can:

·       Write a note to the teacher with the date/s and the reason/s, signed by a parent or carer. Notes written by children are not accepted.

·       Use the skoolbag app to submit your absence note online. See instructions in the image below.

At Vardys Road we are learners with Values

At the toilets and bubblers

I show RESPECT when:

• I am quiet
• I allow for the privacy of others
• I use the bubblers properly
• I turn off the taps when I have finished

 
I show PRIDE when:

• I put used paper towel in the bin

 
I show SAFTEY when

• I wash my hands with soap and water
• I keep my food away from the toilets and bubblers
• I tell a teacher if there is a problem

Below are the handouts from the recent parent workshop on Visible Learning and Assessment.