Pelican Post

Term 1 Week 2 2023

Principals Report

Welcome back

I am very much looking forward to this year. We have a good balance of new faces on staff and experienced team members. This will mean there will be some changes but we won't lose that all important Cattai cultural knowledge of how things have been done previously. I hope everyone had a restful but exciting break and are ready to hit the ground running. We have several new families beginning with us this year. If you haven't already done so I recommend:

  • Downloading the Skoolbag app for school notes, event updates and the newsletter.
  • Following the Cattai PS Facebook page for reminders, post event info and photos.
  • Joining the Cattai PS P&C Facebook page for fundraising, events and reminders.

New Syllabus for English and Mathematics

This year a new syllabus will be rolled out to our students. This will mean some slight tweaks in both the content we are teaching but also, some of our Visible Learning Assessments. The Number Assessment, the Writing Assessment and the Oral and Communicative Language Assessment OLC (previously the speaking and listening) have all been reworked to include the new syllabus content. We have already begun assessing students on the new Number Assessment. The OLC now also has a built in listening component. The Writing Assessment looks and feels the same just with different content. Moving forward for us it was super important to uphold the personlised learning mantra driven by the use of specific progress and achievement data. When the first Data Sheet comes out at the end of Term 1, I will endeavor to explain these changes in detail and how these changes may or may not impact your child's data. Overall I'm pleased with how we are approaching the new English/Mathematics syllabus and what it means for our students' learning in the future.

Late Arrivals

Now is a good time to remind parents that any student who arrives after 8:30am (even 1 minute late) will be marked as a partial absence. Ideally, parents are dropping students to school well before 8:30am to avoid this from happening. Staff are on morning duty from 8:00am - 8:30am. This time is great for students to put their bags down at their classroom and catch up with friends before the learning begins. Parents who are running late need to sign their child in at the front office.


Take care

Robert Hawkes

Principal

Cattai Public School

robert.william.hawkes@det.nsw.edu.au

 

Kindergartens First Day

C1 had some new faces today as they welcomed their new Kindergarten friends to Cattai Public School. The day started off well, being reunited with their year 6 buddies and engaging in some developmental play. 

They showed off their Mathematics and Reading skills after recess before ending the day with an exciting trip to the Library.

C1 and Cattai are so lucky to have such great new friends in Kindergarten.

Below are some photos of their first day at Cattai.

Spotlight on C3

2023 has kicked off to a fantastic start! Years 4, 5 and 6 have settled in wonderfully to their C3 classroom. We have been discussing their personal academic goals for 2023.

Ava - I want to achieve at math, writing and spelling.

Reggie - I want to improve my reading.

Chloe S - I want to achieve neater handwriting and presentation. 

Oliver - I want to achieve High School Mathematics. 

Douglass - I want to excel in my writing.

Chloe M - I want to improve my Literacy 

Cattai P&C Update and Dates

We hope you all had a relaxing break and wish you all the best for 2023. We have listed below some information about the P&C and look forward to a great 2023 with your support. 

Our current committee are listed below and our AGM is held in March, when all positions are declared vacant. There are 3 of us that will not be able to return as our kids are in year 6, we will be around to answer any questions you have with the role we are standing down from. Please consider nominating yourself for a role, as the committee will be unable to continue without more members. The P&C are your voice in matters and decisions that affect your children at school. Yes, we fundraise for teachers and school equipment and yes, we try to hold activities for the kids to expand their school experience, but one of our most important roles is to know what is going on in the background and within the decision making processes. The committee meetings can be flexible in times and access (Zoom) and some of the roles do not require attendance at meetings. Please get in touch or come along to our Feb meeting (which has been pushed back a week due to scheduling clashes) to see what its all about. 

President:                   Yana Dennis-Smither

Vice President:            Rebecca Lehrer

Treasurer:                    Linda Hughes

Secretary:                     Kim Smith

Hot Lunches:               Rebecca Lehrer

Uniforms:                     Carly Hawkes

Bookclub:                     Carolyn Miller

Publicity Officer:          Jen Walden

Grant co-ordinator:    TBC


Bingo Night 10 March 2023 

We are holding a Bingo Night for all our families and their friends. This will be a chance for the kids to have an “outing” with their school friends and for families to meet. 

Please save the date. 

More information will come out soon – and bookings will be made via Trybooking and will include dinner and 5 games of Bingo. 


Ice Blocks 

Year 5/6 will be selling Ice Blocks on Mondays, and Fridays, in Term 1 and Term 4 – to coincide with the warmer weather. We purchase from Home Ice Cream or the supermarkets so if your child has dietary requirements please let Kim Smith know. They will sell for 80c each this year. Exact money please as the kids don’t always have change. 

 

Cake days

Cake days are held the first Wednesday of every month. Each family has one turn for the year to supply 12 cup cakes, slices etc – please leave them in the school office on your allocated morning.  The roster is attached so please mark your date on your calendar. 

These sell for 50c each. 

 

Hot Lunch  

We organise a hot lunch for our wonderful students twice a term, these coincide with parent assemblies. These occur mid term and end of term. Order forms come home 2 weeks prior to the date to allow time for ordering. The menu varies each time and if you have dietary requirements or have a suggestion please contact Rebecca Lehrer.  

 

Book Club 

We participate in the Scholastic Book club. Brochures are sent home twice a term, whereby you can place an order and return to the school office. The orders are placed by Carolyn Miller who is the contact if you have any queries. 

The school receives credits to spend on books for the school. Please remember purchases are not compulsory. 

 

School Uniforms 

If you require uniform items, please ask at the office for an order form and return to the office with payment.  The items will then be processed on Thursdays, this can not be done on the spot. If you have any queries please contact Carly Hawkes. 

 

Cattai P&C Facebook Page 

If you haven’t already done so check out our page – it’s handy for reminders etc. 

This page is not run by the dept. and is separate to the Cattai School Facebook page. 

 

Cattai PS Parents & Citizens Assoc. 

Please come and share your talents with us, there are various roles with different workloads and all help is appreciated.  None of the jobs are hard – everything is kept as simple as possible. Our committee currently meet on the last Thursday of every month (excludes school holidays) at 7.00pm in the school office.  Just come along to a meeting or contact Yana Dennis-Smithers with your availability yanads@me.com  or complete a committee nomination form and return it to school. If you can’t make the meetings or require more information on role descriptions please contact Kim Smith or Yana Dennis-Smithers. 

Our next meeting is Thursday 2nd March (Feb meeting -pushed back a week) and our ANNUAL GENERAL meeting is on Thursday 30th March at 7.00pm, where all positions are declared vacant. There is a $2 joining fee to become a voting member and is mandatory by the Federation. 

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