Toongabbie West Public School
Term 2, Week 2 2024
Term 2 Calendar
2024
Parent / Teacher interviews
3/4K, 3/4Z, 4/5S, 5/6K and 5/6N - Tuesday 7 May
Mother's Day Stall - Thursday 9 May
Mother's Day Breakfast - Friday 10 May, 8:15am to 8:55am in the hall
SRC Movie Night - Wednesday 15 May
K-2 - 3:30pm to 5:30pm
3-6 - 6pm to 8pm
Zone Cross Country Carnival - Friday 17 May
Principal Report
Welcome back to Term 2. I hope all our families had a restful holiday break and are ready for a busy term ahead.
Staff Development Day
On Monday 29 April, teachers and SLSOs (School Learning and Support Officers) at Toongabbie West Public School participated in professional learning to deepen our collective understanding of explicit teaching in NSW public schools. Professional learning sessions covered on this day were:
Purposeful assessment
Mathematics K–6: Effective teaching approaches
Supporting writing across the curriculum
Anzac Day Ceremony
Thank you to our School Leaders and Mrs Zabolotny for our commemorative K-6 ANZAC Ceremony. It was an honour to have Mr Greg Fleming as our guest speaker from Seven Hills/ Toongabbie RSL, who shared stories about his generation of medals with our students and school leaders. The ANZAC Ceremony was an opportunity for the students to acknowledge, honour and understand the sacrifices made during the war of our servicemen and women.
Opportunity Class Year 5 2025
Applications for placement in a Year 5 Opportunity Class (OC) in 2025 are now open. Applications close 20 May 2024.
Application information can be found here: Opportunity classes – Year 5.
Parent/Teacher Interviews
Year 1 to Year 6 parent/teacher interviews have started yesterday and continuing today.
Thank you to the parents/carers who booked in a time to speak to the classroom teacher. If you were unable to attend the Parent/Teacher interviews, please contact the school on 9631 3610 to arrange for an appointment at a later date.
Parent/Carer Survey Results
Early last term, I invited parents/carers to complete a short survey about our school. The purpose of this survey was to hear your feedback and use this useful information to implement improvements or refine our practices, to make Toongabbie West PS even a better place for your child/ren to learn and grow.
Thank you to all the parents/carers who completed the survey. We had an impressive 92 responses to the survey.
Below is a summary of your responses from the survey:
What we have done with your feedback so far…
Several parents/carers asked for supervision at the gates.
I am at the front gate most mornings when I do not have a meeting, while Mrs Banning is at the back gate. You may also see Mrs Anandaraj at the front gate on Thursday and Friday mornings.
We have Executive teachers (Mrs Banning, Mrs Ellis, Mr Stares, Mrs Sangalang and Mrs Zabolotny) in their hi-vis vests at the gates every afternoon.
A few parents/carers wanted an information session to know more about the new curriculum.
A parent information session was delivered by Mrs Banning - our Assistant Principal Curriculum and Instruction, during the P&C meeting on Tuesday 19 March. This was an opportunity for parents to gain an insight on what is taught and how it is taught in schools and ask any questions regarding the new curriculum.
Our next session is about how mathematics is taught in the new curriculum also presented by Mrs Banning. This session will be on Wednesday 22 May at 2:30pm in the school library.
Some parents/carers requested an overview of what their child/ren is learning throughout the term.
Included in this newsletter and in the first newsletter of every term in the future, will be a Learning Overview for each grade. This is a summary of skills, concepts and knowledge that will be covered throughout the current term.
The Learning Overviews can be viewed below:
Winter Uniform
In Term 2 and 3, students wear their winter uniform. Uniforms give students a sense of belonging and enhance pride in our school. Wearing a uniform builds a sense of community. It is pleasing to see the students wearing full school uniform with the school emblem and expect it to continue in the colder months, with the winter uniform.
Girls winter uniform consists of:
• Winter tunic
• White long sleeve blouse/shirt
• Bottle green stockings
• Black shoes
• School bottle green hat
• School bottle green V-neck jumper or jacket
Boys winter uniform consists of:
• School white short sleeve polo top
• Bottle green trousers
• White socks that are above the ankle
• Black shoes
• School bottle green hat
• School bottle green V-neck jumper or jacket
Girls and boys sport uniform for Fridays consists of:
• House coloured sport polo top (red, blue or yellow)
• Sport track pants (to be worn on Fridays only)
• White socks that are above the ankle
• Sport shoes
Please make sure hats and jackets are clearly labelled with your child’s full name.
A reminder that students should not wear nail polish or, for safety reasons, jewellery to school (except for sleepers or studs in pierced ears).
The uniform shop is opened at 8:45am every Thursday for parents/carers to come in and purchase uniforms.
Wonderful Work By The Students
It is my absolute pleasure to see students achieving their learning goals.
I love having them visit me in my office.
Look at the amazing work that the students have shared with me this fortnight.
Mother’s day Breakfast Muffins with Mum
Staff and students at Toongabbie West Public School would like to invite all mums, step-mums, grandmothers and female carers to come and enjoy a delicious muffin and a hot beverage with your child/ren.
Date: Friday 10 May 2024
Time: 8:15am – 8:55am
Location: School Hall
Please complete the RSVP on SchoolBytes by Wednesday 8 May, 2024.
We are looking forward to welcoming you to our school for this special event and celebrating all the great things you do!
Wendy Kayello
Principal
PBL
Welcome back to Term 2! Before we celebrate all the success from Term 1, please familiarise yourself or refamiliarize yourself with our PBL Reward system.
Remember to hold onto those awards as the students move up the pyramid.
In Week 10 of Term 1, we congratulated these students for receiving a Bronze award. These students are now on their way to earning a Silver award. A fabulous effort, well done!
At the end of Term 1, we also held our first Celebration of Learning Assembly. This will occur at the end of each term, so please check SchoolBytes if your child is being awarded as you will be invited. At the Term 1 assembly, we congratulated many students who had earned a Silver award during the term. These students were invited to a morning tea with Ms Kayello, which was thoroughly enjoyed. Congratulations to these students! Keep up the good work!
Our winning house, with the most earned Tassie Tokens in term 1 was Fraser!! Fraser were congratulated for all of their efforts with a mufti day, and extra play time. It is safe to say that all the students enjoyed leaving class early to play with their winning housemates.
If you come across a Tassie Token at home, please bring it back to school and ask your child to put it in their house letterbox.
Congratulations to all students on their PBL accomplishments in Term 1.
The fortnightly PBL focus is to be resilient and try your best, Keep up the exceptional work!
CHAPLAIN'S CORNER
Helping our Children cope with… FEAR
Just as your children grow and change, so do their fears. While our infant children may be scared of the dark, monsters under the bed, thunderstorms or loud noises, our fourth and fifth grader's most common anxieties are being kidnapped, parents divorcing, someone dying, fires, burglars, school failure and being a social outcast.
Psychologists have discovered that distinguishing between fear and anxiety is often difficult in children. Fear is a response to a situation (a neighbour's dog), while anxiety is being worried about something that hasn't happened yet (a needle at the doctor's office). Once parents realise this difference, they can better help their child cope.
- Believe your child's fear. Talking and affirming it helps, but don't overtalk it or express your own fears. Encourage them to write a story or draw a picture if they don't want to discuss it.
- Empower your child and help them reason through their fears by making a plan of action and talking about the worst-case scenario. The more independent and accepted your child feels, the smaller their fears become.
- Try to identify if the fear is linked to a movie or computer game they are playing and eliminate this visual stimulation for an extended period of time, explaining that what we see affects how we think, and we need to protect our minds.
- It's important to recognise signs of anxiety in children, such as introverted behaviour, misbehavior, sleeping problems, headaches or stomach aches, in order to provide prompt help.
- Parents should understand the difference between being protective and overprotective. Children need to learn from their experiences and mistakes, but it is a parent's job to shield them from unpleasant situations. A balance between ensuring safety and giving independence is crucial. Overprotective behavior can make children feel insecure and unable to deal with life's challenges.
If your child's anxiety repeatedly interrupts their daily life, consider consulting a counsellor, or doctor for advice on minimising these heart-pounding fears. (Adapted from https://families.org.au/)
If you’d like for your child to be part of the chaplain run programs or need support, please contact the school office on 9631 3610. I am available on Thursday and Friday at school and appointments can be made though the office.
Kind regards,
Agnes Anandaraj
(School Chaplain)