Dundurrabin Public School Newsletter Term 1, Week 6, 2024

Principal's Message

Welcome to week 6. We've hit the mid-point of term 1 and our students are in the full swing of school life.

This week's newsletter demonstrates a snippet of the wonderful learning opportunities taking place here at Dundurrabin. Preschool visits, cultural days, Ride at School Day, language lessons, league gala day and not to forget our daily curriculum delivery explicitly tailored to the learning needs of all students. What a great place to be - we love where we learn!

This week I extend my appreciation to our parents and carers for attending our recent parent teacher meetings. We value the opportunity to discuss student learning with each family and share any school information to support your child's learning.

It's time to celebrate! I'm pleased to report that our overall student attendance rate is currently sitting at 93%. This is above the state average and is the best attendance we have had for some time. Our students have been tracking their daily attendance on a large calendar displayed in the COLA. It's an impressive array of colour coded stickers and the small, sweet treats have been flowing.  School attendance is the key - Thank you!

Be sure to save the date for our Harmony Day lunch- Friday 22 March at 1:30pm. We'd love for you to join us!

Leah Keough

Every Day Matters

Attendance Matters

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 5 March - P&C Special Lunch Day - TOMORROW
• Wednesday 13 March- Ride2School Day
• Wednesday 13 March to Monday 25 March- NAPLAN Test Window
• Monday 18 March - P&C AGM & Meeting -3.30pm
• Thursday 21 March - Big Vegie Crunch - 10am
• Friday 22 March- Harmony Day Lunch at School - 1.30pm
• Wednesday 27 March - Easter Hat Parade & Easter Raffle Drawn - 2.30pm
• Friday 29 March to Monday 1 April - Easter Holiday Weekend
• Thursday 4 April- Preschool Afternoon from 1:30pm
• Thursday 11 April- Term 1 Assembly & Parents V Students Sports - 2.00pm

Fortnightly Awards

K - 2 Class

Searle (Beth) Green for her contributions in Maths.

3-6 Class

Sunny Baff for challenging herself in Spelling.

P&C Special Lunch Day

Tomorrow is our P&C special lunch day. Thank you to everyone for getting their orders in on time last week, it makes organising catering so much easier.

A big thank you to Luk Budd, Liying You and Cassie Sharman who are cooking our wonderful lunch tomorrow. It will be very much appreciated and enjoyed!

Curriculum Reform Information

Clean Up Schools Day

On Friday 1 March we participated in Schools Clean Up Day.

We cleaned up in the school grounds as well as out the front of the school.

A lot of rubbish was collected and sorted by a very busy army of students!

Gumbaynggirr Language Learning

Our language lessons have commenced. Thank you Lesley for sharing your skills and stories with us.

NRL Development Clinic

We were pleased to welcome Garry Stevenson, NRL Development Officer, to our school last week. Garry worked with our students to hone our league tag skills in preparation for the tag gala day.

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden News

Week 4 

What great weather to spend some time in the garden. Each group was very productive this week, preparing garden beds and planting shallot and beetroot seedlings as well as seeds of both broad beans and snow peas. Looking forward to harvesting these crops over winter. 

We harvested silverbeet, shallots, zucchinis, capsicums, cucumbers, carrots, herbs, butterbeans, green beans and eggs.

In the kitchen, 3-6 cooked vegetable lasagne with hand made, fresh pasta sheets and home made cheesy bechamel, build your own salad and chocolate cake for dessert.

Cooking Award: Congratulations to Kai Chambeyron for amazing Bechamel!

Week 5

Clean Up Schools Day. Everyone keenly patrolled the school grounds and outside the front fence for any litter. We are happy to report that generally our grounds are mostly litter free. In future, we do need to ensure that food packaging, especially the little bits that are ripped off are placed in the bins. Bailey's group even found 2 old bottles and the base of an old iron! We even had time to continue working on our garden based pastel collage artworks.

We harvested eggs, zucchinis, tomatoes, butter beans, bush beans, herbs, cucumbers and a few berries.

In the kitchen, K-2 enthusiastically approached every aspect of cooking, cleaning up and setting the tables. They were all amazing! We cooked cheesy zucchini waffles with a home-made tomato sauce, scrambled eggs, spiced carrot cake pancakes and a homemade toasted honey muesli. To celebrate Flo's birthday, Luk treated us to home grown sticky corn and crispy rice cakes. Yummy!!

Cooking Award: Congratulations to Nash Chambeyron for precision and dedication in flipping pancakes.

Dylan Edwards Bellingen Valley Legend 7's Gala Day

Years 3-6 participated in the Dylan Edwards Bellingen Valley League 7's Gala Day at Connell Park, Bellingen on Wednesday 28 February. Our students demonstrated impressive skill, determination and grit. Their sportsmanship is to be noted. Our thanks to Dorrigo Public School for sharing travel and combining to make the teams. 

Ride2School Day

We will be participating in Ride2School Day on Wednesday 13 March. All students are encouraged to bring a push bike or scooter and helmet to school ready to participate in our planned activities. The aim of the
day is to promote physical activity among children. Our students can begin to bring their push bikes or
scooters to school this week. We'll store them securely at school ready for the big event. Please contact the school if you do not have a bike or scooter - we may be able to organise some to spare.

NAPLAN 2024

Students in Years 3 and 5 will complete the NAPLAN assessments, starting next week 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. 

The Big Vegie Crunch

Get ready to crunch! On Thursday 21 march at 10am will we be participating the The Big Vegie Crunch. The Big Vegie Crunch helps promote vegies in schools and also healthy eating. 

The Big Vegie Crunch is an annual event aimed at promoting healthy eating in NSW primary schools. It involves students across NSW crunching together on vegetables simultaneously to help build healthy eating habits. We'll help try to break the record for most kids eating vegies at the same time!

The Big Vegie Crunch & Vegie Week is for everyone! Join the fun from home as we build healthy eating habits. 

Here’s how your family can enjoy more vegies this week:

🥕 Try a delicious new recipe featuring vegies

🌽 Add vegies to your child’s lunchbox

🥬 Talk about the vegies you enjoy

🎍 Use our Vegie Crunch at home resource  

Useful and fun resources are on the Healthy Kids Association website. There’s even a theme song by 'The Vegetable Plot!'

Harmony Day

We will be holding a South American Feast here at school on Friday 22 March to celebrate Harmony Day. We invite all parents, carers, families, and community members to come along and join us by sitting down and enjoying a feast that the students will be preparing on the day.

The luncheon will begin at 1.30pm and conclude approximately 2.30pm. Please RSVP attending numbers by Wednesday 13 March. 

Students can come to school on the day dressed in mufti (non-uniform) in orange clothes - the official
colour for Harmony Day. 

We Love Learning!

Our K-2 students painted their own illustrations to complement their written texts. Clever artists!

Easter Hat Parade

Please join us for our Easter Hat Parade and P&C Easter Raffle draw on Wednesday 27 March at 2:30pm. 

Preschool Afternoon

We welcomed Tahn, Natasha and Harvey for our preschool afternoon last Thursday. Big smiles all round as they enjoyed finger painting and tiger making.  

Please come along and join us for our next preschool afternoon on Thursday 4 April from 1.30pm to 3.15pm. 

Term 1 Assembly & Adults V Students Sport

Please join us for our Term 1 Assembly on Thursday 11 April at 2pm. Parents and friends are invited
to stay on after the assembly for a student V parent sporting event. Don't miss out, it's sure to be a hotly contested game!

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

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.

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.

Yoga & Relaxation Classes with Shakti

4 weeks from 5th to 26th March 2024

Tuesdays 5.15 to 6.30pm at Dundurrabin Public School

Please Book:  0448 879 642 or E:  shakti.mudra@gmail.com

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. 

Made In Dorrigo Markets

Made in Dorrigo Markets will be held on Saturday 30 March. If you would like to book a stall, please go online - https://madeindorrigo.com.au/product/easter-markets/   or email info@madeindorrigo.com.au

Online Safety & Social Media Webinar

This webinar is suitable for parents and carers of children and young people in primary and early secondary school.

Parents and carers will gain valuable insights into keeping kids safe on social media during the webinar. They will receive an overview of managing different social media platforms, including chat and privacy settings. Additionally, the webinar will cover fostering positive conversations about social media use, managing content, and addressing negative online experiences.

Please register on this link: https://bit.ly/3OUmGkD