Dundurrabin Public School Newsletter Term 1, Week 4, 2024

Principal's Message

A Great Start!

Our school is a hive of learning activity. We are pleased with the positive way in which all students are engaged, learning and mastering new year routines. Whole of school attendance is excellent, which has certainly contributed to our successful start to 2024.

Three-Way Parent Teacher Meetings

It's great to see 100% of families have made a booking for our upcoming parent/student/teacher meetings. We're looking forward to catching up with all families to share learning progress and identify goals for semester one. 

Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Available at School

For the safety of our students and staff, as well as the wider community, we have placed an AED at the COLA/bus entrance of the school. In the event of an emergency, please locate the device and follow its instructions.

Leah Keough

Every Day Counts

Attendance Matters

It’s been great to have our students back in classrooms and settling into the school year. I know our teachers are looking forward to a successful 2024 and are excited to work with you to make this a memorable year for your child.

The evidence is clear that consistent attendance is the essential first step for your child to have a positive experience at school.

Every day matters for your child’s learning. In recent years we’ve seen too many students miss a day of school here and there. Missing school for students means missing learning time, special school events and time with friends. With days missed, years are lost.

Students are required to attend school every day, whether it’s the first or last day of the term, Mondays, Fridays or days dedicated to sports carnivals, school excursions and incursions.

Help us make sure your child is achieving their best and stays ahead in their learning with regular school attendance. The more time your child attends school, the greater their opportunity to learn, make new friends and improve their wellbeing. Together, let’s build positive attendance habits for a lifetime.

If your child is absent from school, please let us know why as soon as possible, even if it’s just a few minutes at the start or end of the school day. Of course, there will be times when your child is unable to be at school (like when they are unwell). 

If your child is feeling anxious about coming to school and you need support, please reach out to us. Our staff are here to work with you and your child to help them attend school each and every day. There are also helpful resources for parents and carers on the Every Day Matters website.

Thank you again for working with our teachers and support staff to make sure your child is at school, on time, every day. We all want to see our students learn, grow and belong in our equitable and outstanding education system.

Please remember to explain all days away from school. This can be done in person, by phoning the school or sending a text to the school mobile: 0411 939 188.

What's on for Term 1

• Tuesday 20 to Thursday 22 February- Three-way Parent/Student/Teacher meetings at school
• Wednesday 28 February - (Yrs 3-6) Dylan Edwards Bellingen Valley Legend 7's Gala Day 
• Thursday 29 February- Preschool Afternoon from 1:30pm
• Friday 1 March- Clean Up Schools Day
• Tuesday5 March - P&C Special Lunch Day
• Wednesday 13 March- Ride2School Day
• Wednesday 13 March to Monday 25 March- NAPLAN Test Window
• Monday 18 March - P&C AGM & Meeting -3.30pm
• Friday 22 March- Harmony Day Lunch at School
• Wednesday 27 March - Easter Hat Parade & Easter Raffle Drawn
• Friday 29 March to Monday 1 April - Easter Holiday Weekend
• Thursday 4 April- Preschool Afternoon from 1:30pm
• Thursday 11 April- Term 1 Assembly

Consent Notes to be Returned

• Year 3-6 Dylan Edwards Bellingen Valley Legend 7's Gala Day Consent
• Years K-2 ELSA STEM Program Consent Note
• Year 6 to Year 7 Expression of Interest Enrolment Form

Fortnightly Awards

K - 2 Class

Amber Baff for impressive expression when reading.

3-6 Class

Hunter McGuire for reading his new chapter book with expression.

STEM Award

Odessa Budd for fantastic work in STEM.

2024 School Captain

Introducing our School Captain for 2024- Nikita. What a wonderful leader she is. Nikita is already demonstrating terrific leadership skills by raising and lowering the flags daily and caring for our younger students. We look forward to watching her grow in this position throughout the year. 

2024 Kindergarten

Smiles all round from our two Kindergarten students- Beth and Lachie.

Small Schools Swimming Carnival

Bailey and Henry  participated at the Small Schools Swimming Carnival on Friday 9 February at Bellingen Pool.  Congratulations to you both on your sportsmanship and representation of our school. You did a wonderful job!

Curriculum Reform Information

We Love Learning!

K-2 are wonderful writers with Mrs Sangster. They are mastering the use of adjectives as they describe animals.

3-6 are champion players of Place Value Mastermind in maths with Ms McNeill.

K-2 Blue Bot explorations to support our digital technologies learning.

K-2 in the great outdoors learning all about measurements with Mr Williamson.

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden News

Week 2 

In gardening this week, we continued creating covers for our gardening groups and naming our group gnomes. Ask your child which garden gnome is their group mascot! We also tied up some tomato plants and weeded garden beds and paths. 

We harvested curly kale, silverbeet, shallots, zucchinis, capsicum, cucumbers, carrots, herbs and eggs.

In the kitchen, 3-6 cooked Korean handmade noodles (Tteokbokki tteok), in two different sauces, soy with shallots and sweet and sour, Korean savoury pancakes with dipping sauce, rice and chocolate zucchini cake with icing.

Cooking Award: Congratulations to Charlie McGuire for great focus and fantastic pack-up skills.

Week 3

The wet weather put a halt to any outside gardening activities so we began working on garden based pastel collage artworks. They're not finished yet, but everyone made a great start drawing fruit and vegetables on black paper. We'll return to work on them on another wet Friday.

We harvested shallots, carrots, eggs, zucchinnis, capsicums, butter beans, bush beans, herbs and a plethora of cucumbers.

In the kitchen, 3-6 cooked rosemary and garlic foccacia bread, baked zucchini stuffed with Mexican style beans and topped with cheese and homemade bread crumbs, Korean rolled omelette, fresh cucumbers from the garden, crispy dehydrated beans, and 'weekend' biscuits for a sweet treat.

Cooking Award: Congratulations to Sunny Baff for incredible rolled omlette skills.

NAPLAN 2024

Students in Years 3 and 5 will complete the NAPLAN assessments later this term between Wednesday 13 March to Monday 25 March. NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through their regular school curriculum with results informing school priorities. Parents are encouraged to contact the school if they have any questions. 

Three Way Parent / Teacher / Student Interviews

Our Parent / Teacher / Students meetings will be starting tomorrow, Tuesday 20 February through to Thursday 22 February. We are looking forward to meeting with each learner and their parents/carers. Meetings usually only take 15 minutes.  Your allocated timeslot was sent home last week or today. If you cannot make this time, please let us know and another time change be arranged. 

Dylan Edwards Bellingen Valley Legend 7's Gala Day

Year 3-6 will be participating in the Dylan Edwards Bellingen Valley League 7's Gala Day at Connell Park, Bellingen on Wednesday 28 February. The Gala Day is non-competitive. Students will play league-tag. Miss McNeill will be the teacher attending.

We will be travelling by Wykes bus to and from Bellingen on the day. There is no cost for students, as the School will be paying all expenses for the day.

We will leave Tyringham Store at 8.00am sharp. Students may wish to catch the morning High School
Bus run if this suits parents/carers, otherwise please have your child/ren at Tyringham Store by 7.50am. Students will be back at school in time for normal afternoon pick-up arrangements.

Children must wear school sports uniform including a hat and appropriate footwear. They will need to
bring their own lunch and recess, and plenty of water to drink. Please pack extra food and water, as
students can get hungry and thirsty while playing. 

Permission notes have been sent home today. Please have then returned by this Thursday, thank you.

Change of Bus Routine for K-2 Students

Due to the Year 3-6 class utilising the bus for the Dylan Edwards League 7's Gala Day at Connell Park, Bellingen on Wednesday 28 February, we ask K-2 students parents to please drive their child/ren to school on this day. Sorry for the inconvenience. The bus will run as per normal for the afternoon run. Thank you.  

Preschool Afternoons

Early Learning in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics : K-2 Students

Our K-2 students have a wonderful opportunity to take part in an exciting STEM program being offered to us throughout the year.

The ELSA K-2 Program seeks to increase the participation of Australian children in STEM education and improve their digital literacy. It will provide the students the opportunity to explore an online, play-based learning environment, delivered through a series of digital tools that are rich in STEM concepts. It will also include classroom activities to support learning. This progrm will run throughout the 2024 year.

Attached is some information and a consent note for K-2 students parents/carers to read and sign. Please return it back to school by Monday 26 February, or sooner.

Year 6 Parents - High School EOI Forms

Our Year 6 student's parent information on Year 7 Enrolment Procedures for Public High Schools is being sent home today. Included is an "Expression of Interest for Placement in Year 7 at a NSW Government
Secondary School in 2025" form which needs to be completed and returned by Monday 26 February. If
you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to phone and ask Mrs Keough. 

Premier's Reading Challenge

The Premier’s Reading Challenge begins this week and is open for student entries until Friday 23 August. The Challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge for each student to read, to read more and to read more widely. The challenge will be completed at school throughout terms 1, 2 and 3. However, if you child would like to register books they are reading at home please let us know.

Stewart House Donation Drive

Stewart House Donation Drive envelopes were sent home today. To enter the draw for the prize there is a $2.00 minimum donation.

The winning entry is for a $4000 family hoilday travel voucher to the destination of your choice. The winner will be contacted by telephone and email.

Please have your money and envelopes (with details filled out) back at school by Monday 18 March, 2024.

School Reminders

Update Driver and Registration Details for 2024

If you are transporting your child/ren or any other students for excursions, sporting events etc.… the principal must sight your current driver licence, vehicle registration details and comprehensive insurance details. If you have not updated this travel information from previous years, please come into school soon and we can record your details for 2024. Under the current working with children requirements, all parents who drive other students or volunteer in any capacity at the school need to fill in a form and provide 100 points of ID, or have a WWCC. See Mrs Keough or Melissa for further information.

2024 Learning Contributions

Learning Contributions for 2024 remain the same

• Voluntary School Contribution - $30.00 for the costs of student items provided by our school
• SAKG Program Fees - $40.00. This goes towards our SAKG program which has ongoing costs each week, such as cooking ingredients for our weekly lunch meal, seeds and seedlings.

Thank you to those families who have already paid.

Bookclub Issue#1

Bookclub Issue#1 was sent home previously. If you wish to place an order from this issue, please have your loop online order completed or your order forms and money (cash) back at school by tomorrow, Tuesday 20 February. 

P&C News and Community News

P&C Easter Raffle

Hippity Hop! It's time for our annual P&C Easter Raffle.

As Easter approaches, our P&C is looking to raise funds via our annual Easter raffle. We are asking if all families could please make a donation to be used as raffle prizes. This can include chocolates or anything Easter themed. Please send your donations into the school office by Monday 25 March.  Thank you.

Tickets will be sent home in the coming weeks, with the draw to take place on Wednesday 27 March at the school Easter Hat Parade. This will allow time for prizes to be delivered before the Easter weekend.

Notice of AGM and P&C Meeting Monday 18 March, 2024 - 3.30pm

Notice of AGM Meeting for Dundurrabin Public School P&C – Monday 18 March - 3.30pm

Our P&C AGM will be held on Monday 18 March at 3.30pm. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend. All positions Vacant. Membership costs $2 and will need to be paid before the AGM to allow you to vote.

This will be followed by our P&C Meeting. We would like to have as many people as possible attend. This is a wonderful opportunity to find out about and get involved with what is happening within the school. Please come along and enjoy a relaxed friendly gathering. 

Clean Up Australia Day 2024

Clean Up Australia Day is on Sunday 3 March.

If you would like to get involved, please meet at the Dundurrabin Community Centre or the Tyringham Shop at 9:30am.

Please call Leonie on 0413158466 with enquiries.