COLEDALE NEWSLETTER

It was another great night last week with our Fathering project ‘Soccer and sausages’ event, a huge turn out with Dads, older brothers and family members coming into the school. We have joined The Fathering Project as a school to encourage more engagement from families with the school. It is not just for Fathers but also brothers, grandfathers and any significant male in children's lives.

Our goals for participating in the Fathering project are to encourage the males in children's lives to attend a school event to show children that they value education and to be part of our school community.

The sporting themes have been chosen because we want the children to see men displaying good sportsmanship and working together. We also want to encourage the male figures in families to feel welcome in our school. Many events and meetings are attended by just 'Mums' or the female in the family.

We know that many children do not have a 'dad' living with them for all sorts of reasons and our intention is not to make them feel they are not part of this. Children who have not had someone to bring along in the past have still come along and females (mums, Grandmother, older sister etc) are most welcome.

You can get more information here: https://thefatheringproject.org/

As we wind up for term 3, I’d like to thank the whole Coledale community for your support for our Grandparents morning tea and the election BBQ, supplying us with delicious treats.

Our school playground is having some work done during the school holidays and a mulch fill up. As always Wild Care is offering lots of great activities during the school holidays and there is a free Bike Skills course on Sunday October 13.

We wish you a great break and will see all children back to school on Monday October 14. Term 4 starts with Stage 3 heading off to camp and the beginning of our Kindergarten 2025 transition sessions.

Enrolments 2025

We are looking for your help to spread the word about our wonderful school! If you know any families moving to Coledale or who have a child who is due to start school next year, please encourage them to enrol online as soon as possible!

Bernadette Stephens

Principal

The children’s picture book, The Peasant Prince, is based on the book and movie, Mao’s Last Dancer, which is a true story. It follows the life of Li Cunxin, the second youngest of seven sons, during the cultural revolution. He is from a very poor village, suffering through disease and famine. One day during school, a man representing Madame Mao’s Academy of dance visits. Li expresses incredible flexibility, and is chosen to study in Beijing. At first, he struggles, but gradually goes on to become better and better. He is chosen to do a transfer to America. The story follows his adventures and displays the importance of believing and doing what you love.

On Wednesday the 4th of September Year 5 and 6 embarked on a journey to watch the spectacular production of Peasant Prince, performed by the Monkey Baa Theatre Group. We walked to Coledale train station from school and awaited our train’s arrival. The trip down to Wollongong was filled with excited chatter about the performance that awaited us. From the station we walked to Illawarra Performing Arts Centre and rested on the nearby grass to finish off our lunches.

Soon enough, it was time for us to go into the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre (IPAC) to watch the Peasant Prince. It was efficient, because students were starting to get restless, having finished their lunch on the grass. Once inside, we were met by the cooling air conditioner and a cheerful guide, who briskly led us to our seats. The show started with a greeting in both Chinese and English, and when the lights dimmed the chatter ceased and a silence pierced through the crowd and the actors came on stage for the first scene. Students watched on the edge of their seats as the actors filled each scene with action, joy and wonder. At the end, they announced they would be bringing the rest of the cast onstage for a question and answer session. We watched with bated breath as the cast entered stage. We were all flabbergasted that there were only 4 actors in the production. The cast came out to bow ready for a quick Q & A. Students eagerly raised their hands, ready for their question to be answered.

We all thoroughly enjoyed the performance. It was thought provoking and beautifully produced. We hope we have more opportunities like this in the near future.

By Alice, Ada, and Yolanda

Years 5 and 6 are busy rehearsing for our upcoming end-of-year production, Alice the Musical. All students will have the opportunity to enjoy the matinee performance on Thursday, 5th December. Families, including parents, grandparents, neighbors, and close friends, are warmly invited to the evening performance, also on Thursday, 5th December, at Austinmer School. More details on ticket prices and timing will be shared soon!

The garden loves this warmer weather, everything is thriving. Our winter crops are finally growing, and we are starting to cook with them. 5/6 have enjoyed making crunchy noodle salad with the cabbages, 2/3 made a lovely leafy green stir fry with the bok choy, silver beet, spring onions and cabbages. 3 & 4 have made broad bean dip and silver beet and leek pizza. They have all enjoyed their cooking and trying new foods.

We are rebuilding our garden beds for our next crops. While doing this 5/6 students have been learning about the importance of healthy soil and how healthy soil will produce healthy plants. We planted zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, beetroot, mixed lettuce, beans, capsicums and various herbs.

Years 3 and 4 have continued learning about mushrooms as they watch them grow in class. They are also learning about the interconnected relationship between invertebrates and plants. Thank you to the Years 3 and 4 families that have volunteered to care for the chickens and garden over the school holidays.

K-2 have also been busy helping in the garden, watering, mulching, going on treasure hunts, feeding the chickens, and weeding.

Thank you to all the families that brought vegetable boxes and eggs. Money raised from these sales goes back into our garden program. Just a reminder there are still eggs for sale. If you want to buy some, please send $4 to the office, and the 6 eggs will be sent home with your child.

Parent volunteers are still needed to care for the chickens and the garden over the coming school holidays.

Our recent 'Sausages and Soccer' event involved parents and kids grabbing their passports and going on an adventure around the world! Together, they completed an activity at each 'country' to earn a passport stamp. Afterward, everyone enjoyed a classic sausage sandwich. The event concluded with a highly anticipated and, by overwhelming demand from our students, what will now be remembered as the kids vs parents soccer match! It was the epitome of 'organised chaos,' with the kids emerging victorious thanks to an incredible goal. Credit to the parents, who wore their hearts on their sleeves and gave it their all, but the countless bodies in the box hindered any chance of them scoring. Thank you to our awesome community for supporting this event!

On the 17th Of September, Coledale Public School set out to dominate the competition at our annual Gala Day. We all competed against many hard teams including: Thirroul, Austinmer, Helensburgh and Stanwell Park! Some of us did AFL, some of us did Ultimate Frisbee, but I have to say, Ultimate Frisbee was definitely the most fun. Even though nobody had any experience, we all dominated on the field. The senior team (yes, I said team, as there was only one) won every single game and had an absolute blast in between games and on the field. One of the junior teams also went undefeated but the other junior team lost 1 game!!! Overall the Coledale Ultimate Frisbee teams went super well and we’re proud that everybody on the teams gave it a go. We all smashed it!

Written by Indigo and Zoe 😀 ( Nharrawangay House Captains )

Playgroup is starting again Next term! Each Thursday morning all children aged 0-5 years and their parents or carers are invited to join us in Garawa.

Being part of a playgroup is a wonderful opportunity to meet other people in a similar situation. It gives parents the chance to make new friends, learn from one another and develop a supportive local network for you and your family.

At playgroups parents and carers get together with their young children to connect, learn through play and most importantly, have fun. Playgroup is for babies, toddlers and pre-school aged children. They can be accompanied by mothers, fathers, grandparents, nannies or other carers.

Join us on the beautiful school grounds of Coledale Public School in our Kitchen Garden room ‘Garawa’. Bring a plate to share, and we will provide tea and coffee. Activities will include, playdough, painting, mobilo, playing outside and visiting the garden and chickens, a visit to Kindergarten and reading with older students.

See you there!

Attendance - Please ensure that you are using the School Bytes Parent Portal to report all absences. The office staff need to be made award of absences so the class roll can be marked accordingly.

Seesaw alone is not to be used to communicate with teachers in regard to absences. You can mention to the teacher that your child will be absent however this is not a formal means of communication.

Alternatively, a phone call or email to the office can be made.

Late arrivals - All students need to report to the office when late so the roll can be updated. A parent should attend with their child.

As we near the end of the year students are running low in classroom essentials. Please make sure that pencil cases are stocked and ready for Term 4.

Thank You,

Coledale Office Staff.

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Week 1

Monday 14 October - First day of Term 4, Teachers and Students.

Wednesday 16 - Friday 18 October - Years 5/6 Berry Camp

Thursday 17 October - Kinder Orientation

Week 2

Monday 21 October - Talent Show Auditions

Tuesday 22 October - Dragons Visit

Thursday 24 October - Kinder Orientation

Friday 25 October - NRL Clinic

Week 3

Thursday 31 October - Kinder Orientation

Week 4

Thursday 7 October - Kinder Orientation

Email: coledale-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Website: https://coledale-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/
Location: 699 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Coledale NSW, Australia
Phone: 4267 1885
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColedalePS