Dundurrabin Public School Newsletter Term 2, Week 8, 2025

Principal's Message

Welcome to week 8

Staffing Changes until End of Term 3

As we near the end of this term, I want to take a moment to reflect on the recent transitions within our school community. Last week brought about significant changes, with new staff and my own appointment as relieving principal. I am pleased to report that despite these shifts, our K-6 students have continued to thrive, and the transition has been very smooth.

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to our dedicated team of teachers and support staff who have worked tirelessly to ensure that our students' learning experiences remain uninterrupted and engaging. Their professionalism and teamwork have played a crucial role in maintaining a consistent and supportive environment for all our students. We welcome Ms Jasmine Galletly who will teach K-2 each Monday until lunch and then 3-6 for the afternoon.

To our families, thank you for your understanding and support during this time of change. Your trust and engagement have been invaluable as we navigate these transitions together. I encourage you to continue to communicate with us, as your feedback and involvement are vital in fostering a strong school community.

Looking ahead, I am excited about the opportunities that this term and next, will bring. Together, we will build on our successes and continue to provide a nurturing and inspiring environment for our children to learn and grow.

Thank you for your continued support.

Exciting News:  Award from Our Executive Director

I very proudly accepted this award from our Director Educational Leadership, Daffyd Thomas on Friday when he visited. This award  from our Executive Director, Lisa Muir recognises our school’s "exceptional commitment to equity and excellence, supporting every student to learn, grow and belong."

This achievement underscores our school community's collective efforts and exemplifies our commitment to fostering excellence within our school. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who contributed to this Certificate of Excellence and look forward to building on this momentum in the future.

Supporting Gabi Gabun Preschool: A Commitment to Early Learning

At Dundurrabin Public School, we believe in the importance of nurturing our youngest learners. That's why we are excited to highlight our ongoing support for Gubi Gabun Preschool, where a strong foundation for lifelong learning is established.

Gubi Gabun Preschool is dedicated to providing a safe, inclusive, and stimulating environment for children aged 1-5. The preschool focuses on fostering creativity, critical thinking, and social skills through play-based learning and engaging activities.

Our partnership with Gubi Gabun Preschool occurs once a fortnight and to continue this valuable service visiting our school, we need more children attending each session. We invite everyone with young children to get involved! 

Together, let’s continue to champion early education and ensure that every child has the opportunity to thrive. Next session is this Wednesday, 18 June, from 10am.

Have a great week!

Katrina Sangster

Every Day Matters

Please remember to explain all days your child is away from school. You can do this in person, by phoning the school, or by sending a text to the school mobile at 0411 939 188. Thank you for your cooperation!

What's on for Term 2

• Monday 16 June - P&C Meeting - 4pm
• Wednesday 18 June - Gubi Gabun Playgroup - 10am to 12 noon
• Thursday 19 June - P&C Pizza Night
• Tuesday 24 June - P&C Special Lunch Day
• Wednesday 25 June - Kindergarten Transition Program - 1.30pm to 3.15pm
• Tuesday 1 July - Small Schools Athletic Carnival - Bellingen HS - All day (Student 8 years & above)
• Wednesday 2 July - Gubi Gabun Playgroup - 10am to 12 noon                                                                                                                                           & Term 2 Assembly & Adults V Students Sport Game - 2.00pm
• Friday 4 July - Last day of term 

Term 3

• Monday 21 July - Staff Development Day
• Tuesday 22 July - Students return to school
• Wednesday 30 July - NAIDOC on the Plateau
• Tuesday 5 August - District Athletics - Urunga Recreational Sports Grounds

Consent Notes to be Returned

• Special Students Pizza Lunch Order - By TOMORROW
• Small Schools Athletic Consent Note & Lunch Order & Money - By Monday 23 June

Fortnightly Awards

Term 2 - Week 8

K-2 Class

Tom Duckett for speed and accuracy using number bonds of 10 to add 3 numbers!

3-6 Class

Jack Duckett for his outstanding knowledge of multiplication and division facts.

School Bytes Parent Portal

What is the School Bytes Parent Portal?

The School Bytes Parent Portal offers convenience and flexibility, allowing you to: 

• Make online school payments, including payments for multiple siblings, simultaneously.
• Use a family credit to pay for an activity or school contributions.
• Download payment receipts.
• View all historical payments in one place.
• Complete and submit digital permission notes.
• View the status of all permission notes.
• Request a refund if necessary.

This service can be accessible at your convenience at any time, day or night.

Through the Parent Portal, you can easily download a receipt once a payment has been made and have access to view all historical payments when needed. Online payments are processed in real time and can be viewed by school staff immediately.

While our preference is for payments to be made via the portal, we will still accept payment via cash and cheque.

School Bytes – If you haven’t already done so, please see the Parent Portal information below  to connect to these new features. An email was sent home on Thursday 5 June with the link.

Attendance – The simplest way to explain your child’s absence from school will be through the Parent Portal of School Bytes. Once our SMS has been sent, please respond using either option provided so we can make sure all records are up to date. As always, if you’d like any support with attendance, we’re only a phone call, email or visit away.

An email was sent home previously. Please check your emails and follow the links so that we can get this up and running at Dundurrabin.

Term 2 Student Reports

This term we are sending student reports home via email. Please ensure your email address is correct with school.

Reports will be email on Wednesday 2 July. Please let us know if you would still like a paper copy. 

Deaf Camp Adventures!

Last week, Hunter and Mr. Williamson went to DEAF Camp at Coffs Coast Adventure Centre. Hunter took part in a variety of outdoor activities, such as the big swing, archery, and a fun challenge called 'Survivor'. It was a fantastic day filled with the opportunity to make new friends and enjoy a fun learning environment. The highlight of the day was the Survivor activity, where our team faced several challenges. We worked together to complete a giant jigsaw puzzle, moved a bucket using ropes while catching tennis balls, built a spider web with ropes strong enough to hold the whole team, and balanced on logs while trying not to spill water from a cup! The food was delicious, with meat pies and chips for lunch, along with plenty of juicy fruit. We had an amazing time and can’t wait to return next year! Mr Williamson.

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden News

Week 6

This week we very enthusiastically weeded part of our netted garden and our larger garden beds near the classroom in preparation for planting in the coming weeks.

We harvested eggs, garlic chives, parsley, capsicum, kale, silverbeet, leeks, celery, lemons and rhubarb.

This week in the kitchen we cooked okonomiyaki (Japanese cabbage pancakes) with a variety of toppings; including kewpie mayo, sweet soy sauce drizzle,  crispy nori, toasted sesame seeds, and our Dorrigo Show award winning pickled ginger. We also made some egg fried rice, vegetable pot-sticker dumplings and a lemon and rhubarb streusal muffins with a yogurt drizzle.

This week the cooking award goes to Amber Baff, for incredible egg flipping abilities! 

Week 7

This week we continued with weeding our netted garden and worked hard raking up some of the fallen leaves and wood chip down on the bottom field. Some great Winter garden chores to get the blood pumping on a cool day!

We harvested chives, lemons, eggs and pumpkin (from Mrs Sangster).

In the kitchen we made a classic pumpkin soup, but with two flavour add-ins, to custoise our lunch! We made a Mexican spiced tomato add in, and a mily yellow Thai coconut curry add in. To go with our custom soup we had creatively shaped wholemeal bread rolls with lots of seeds, and delicious lemon bars for dessert.  

This week the cooking award goes to Lachie Bergs, for his amazing whisking skills! 

2026 Kindergarten Transition - Exciting Times Ahead!

Wednesday last week marked our first kindergarten transition experience, and we couldn't be more thrilled! Watching these young learners embark on this new adventure filled our hearts with joy and pride. From meeting new friends to exploring their classroom, every moment was a treasure. It's amazing to see them embrace this important step in their learning journey. A huge thank you to Mrs Sangster and our SLSO Suzie for making this transition so smooth and welcoming! We are looking forward to all the wonderful experiences that lie ahead.

Next transition date is Wednesday 25 June at 1.30pm.

Gubi Gabun - This Wednesday 18 June.

P&C Special Pizza Lunch Day

We will have a special "pizza and ice-cream" lunch day on Tuesday 24 June.  Lunch orders were sent home previously. Please return them with money by tomorrow, if you have not already. Thank you.

Small Schools Athletic Carnival

Our annual School’s Small Athletics Carnival will be held on Tuesday 1st of July at Bellingen High School Sports Oval starting at 9.15am and finishing at approximately 2.30pm.

Parental transport is needed for this event. Mr Williamson and Ms Galletly will be attending on the day. They will be there from 8.40am.

Due to limited space at Bellingen High School, only competitive students aged 8 years and above will be eligible to compete.

K-2 students will remain here at school with Mrs Sangster as normal.

If your child/ren are interested in competing in the 1500m events, these races will be ran from 8.45am before the main carnival. Please let us know if your child is competing in this event.

Bellingen High School canteen will be running on the day selling food and drinks which will need to be pre-ordered.  A copy of the lunch order form will be sent home tomorrow. Individual orders need to be in a zip lock bag with the correct money for the entire order and returned to our school by Monday 23 June.

Consent notes will be sent home tomorrow with the canteen order form. 

Term 2 Assembly & Sport Afternoon

We are excited to invite you to our Term 2 Assembly on Wednesday, July 2, at 2pm. Join us for an afternoon of celebration and fun as we showcase student achievements, present awards, and share some wonderful student work.

This assembly will also feature a friendly "Parents vs. Students" mini athletics carnival, where everyone can get involved and enjoy some light-hearted competition.

Year 6 Sydney Excursion

Our Year 6 students have been invited to join with Dorrigo, Hernani and Chandler Public School on an excursion to Sydney from October 20 to October 24, 2025 (Week 2 - Term 4).  

An expression of interest is being sent home today and must be returned by Friday 27 June, to ensure a spot for your child. The total cost of the excursion will be $650-$700 per student. The school will contribute $100 towards the cost per student, reducing the remaining cost per student to $550-$600. There will be some fundraising opportunities that can be utilised to help reduce your child's cost.

Please return your expression of interest and $50.00 deposit to school by Friday 27 June. More fundraising details and consent notes as they arrive.  

2025 Learning Contributions - SAKG Fees

Student invoices / Statement of Accounts are being sent home today with your child/ren.  Thank you to our families that have already paid theirs.

Book Club Issue 4

Book Club Issue#4 brochure will be sent home shortly. 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 Monday 23 June.

P&C News and Community News

P&C Meeting - Today Monday 16 June

Our next P&C meeting will be held on today, Monday 16 June at 4pm. It would be wonderful if we could have as many people as possible attend. This is a great opportunity to find out about and get involved with what is happening within the school. Please come along, share a cuppa and enjoy a relaxed and friendly gathering. We’d love to see more faces for new ideas and support.

P&C Catering - Bull Sale - Cooking Donations Needed

This Saturday, 21 June, our P&C is catering for a local bull sale. We are asking all families to kindly bake or donate some cakes, slices and biscuits to be sold on the day. All goodies can be dropped into the school on Friday ready for collection by our P&C. All contributions greatly appreciated - thank you. 

Positive Partnerships Autism Workshop- 25 June in Coffs Harbour

Positive Partnerships is a government funded program that offers free neuro-affirming workshops to parents/carers of autistic young people, including those on the pathway to identification. A one day workshop is coming up in Coffs Harbour.