Canterbury South Public School

We are very excited about our upcoming concert ‘And the Winner is…’

Our students have been working so hard to practise their items and perfect their moves and can't wait to perform them for you all.

Many families have commitments outside of school hours, so it is for this reason these events are during the day only. We want to ensure that EVERY child can be part of this fabulous opportunity.

In order to ensure all families can attend over the two days, we have limited tickets to 3 per family. Ticketebo is now live for families to secure their seats.

This is a FREE event, however, a donation at the door would be welcomed.

To secure your allocated seat/s, please follow the link below.

Remember to check your email for the tickets so you can be scanned in at the door and seated. You can present either the digital barcode or alternatively if you wish you can print your ticket and present it at the door.

https://www.ticketebo.com.au/andthewinneris

Our school is still in the process of consulting with the NSW Department of Education Learning and Wellbeing Team regarding the establishment of a support class for students with diagnosed special needs.

The class will provide inclusive education at Canterbury South Public School for students in the Canterbury Network who are currently unable to access a support class setting as their preferred educational setting due to low availability of placements.

It was discussed at the P&C meeting, that a class would be established in 2025 with the intention of growing to 3 classes over time. This has now changed due to the timeframe.

My understanding is that we will engage staff through the merit selection process in Term 1 2025 with the hope to start one class in Term 2 of 2025. Once we evaluate this step, we will continue to staff for a second and third class to begin in due course.

There is much to do, so we will move slowly and strategically to ensure the inclusion of these classes is a success and a smooth transition for students, families and staff is experienced.

I will continue to keep you updated with where we are at.

Let's finish the term strong Canterbury South!

We need your help to reach our attendance goal. Our goal this term is to encourage as many students as possible to attend 90% of the school days.

We often get asked, 'what if my child is sick?' It is important to stay home from school when unwell to stop the spread of infection and to allow the body to rest. If you calculate 10% of the number of school days this term it does allow for designated sick days.

If your child is sick for more than three days we require the presentation of a medical certificate.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Read and Feed program. Well done to our volunteers, to staff and to the students who regularly turned up before school.

This Friday will be our last Read and Feed for the year. We look forward to continuing the program into 2025.

Selective high school and opportunity class applications are open from 7 November 2024 to 21 February 2025.

Selective high school Year 7 entry in 2026: Apply when your child is at the end of Year 5 or the beginning of Year 6.

Opportunity class Year 5 entry in 2026: Apply when your child is at the end of Year 3 or the beginning of Year 4.

Selective high schools and opportunity classes are 2 of the ways the NSW Department of Education supports high potential and gifted students.

What are their benefits?

· Students learn alongside, and form friendships with, other high potential and gifted classmates.

· Special teaching methods allow students to learn at a quicker pace and in more detail.

· Research shows that students benefit both academically and socially when learning with classmates who have similar abilities.

Selective high schools and opportunity classes are not zoned so you can apply to ones outside your local enrolment area.

Is a selective high school or opportunity class the right fit for my child?

A selective high school or opportunity class might be a great fit if your child:

· learns quickly

· asks complex questions

· is highly motivated

· has a good memory

· is intensely focused in their area of interest

Where are selective high schools (Year 7-12) located?

There are 4 types of selective high schools:

· fully selective high schools, where all students attending the school have high potential or are gifted

· partially selective high schools, where there is a mix of students who have high potential or are gifted and local area students

· 4 agricultural selective high schools, including 3 boarding schools

· Aurora College, which provides online selective classes for rural and remote students in their local host schools.

Where are opportunity classes (Year 5-6) located?

There are 2 types of opportunity classes:

· full-time opportunity classes in selected primary schools

· Aurora College, which provides online opportunity classes for rural and remote students in their local authorised host schools. Search for an opportunity class near you at Find an opportunity class.

Students successfully placed attend the opportunity class full-time in Years 5 and 6. In most cases, students who have accepted a place in an opportunity class will leave their current school to attend the school with the opportunity class.

Discuss the opportunity with your child and look through the information together on the Selective high schools and opportunity classes website and in the student resource hub:

· Applying for a selective high school: Student resource hub

· Applying for an opportunity class: Student resource hub

Fair and equitable access The Equity Placement Model helps make access fairer for more high potential students in our community.

We know that some students may be missing out because they experience educational disadvantage.

Under the model, up to 20% of places in each selective high school and opportunity class are held for:

· students from low socio-educational advantage backgrounds

· Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students

· students from rural and remote locations

· students with disability.

These students still receive offers based on their performance in the placement test. Learn more at Fair access.

The application process Complete the online application.

Applications close on 21 February 2025.

Once your application has been submitted and processed, your child will need to sit a computer-based placement test. Learn more at Application process.

Ready to apply? Apply online at shsoc.education.nsw.gov.au

Further information Visit Selective high schools and opportunity classes.

In line with the new staffing Agreement 2025 - 2027, an additional four (4) Staff Development Days have been added to the school calendar.

Students will now start school on Thursday 6 February 2025.

Until nex time....

Mrs D Frasca

Principal

We are always looking for donations of second-hand uniforms to pass onto others in our community.

If your child has outgrown their uniform and it is still in good condition, please bring it to the office washed, so that the P&C can start to support the redistribution of uniforms through a second hand uniform stall.

Due to the CSPS concert occurring in Week 8, we have changed the date of our last assmebly for the year.

Please note that Kindergarten will be hosting our assembly on Friday 29 Nov and that there will no longer be an assembly scheduled for Friday 6 Dec.

In Week 2, the School Captains and prefects attended the Bankstown Council Youth Summit which was held at the University of Western Sydney Bankstown Campus. They were involved in various workshops which were focussed on student voice and opinions regarding key events and facilities in the Canterbury Bankstown Council. The leaders were joined by other schools in the council region as well as the National Youth Commissioner.'

On Monday in Week 2, our school leaders Heleni T and Stefan M attended the Rotatry Club of Burwood Primary School Citizenship Awards (PRISCA) Ceremony where they were both recipients of the Leadership Award for showing excellent leadership skills at school.

In addition to this, Heleni will also be receiving an award for excellent leadership in her school and community tonight at Canterbury Bankstown Council Children and Youth Awards Ceremony.

These awards are well deserved and represent the tireless effort both students demonstrate in ensuring they are fulfilling their leadership duties by going above and beyond for their school and community.

Citiations sent to the panel....

Heleni is part of the 2024 leadership team at Canterbury South PS. Her leadership skills have been outstanding as she displays our motto “Together We Can” on a daily basis. Heleni’s positive and caring nature is also displayed through her ability to show compassion, empathy and gratitude towards others. During her enrolment at Canterbury South PS she has been actively involved in events where she represents our school with pride.

Stefan is part of the 2024 leadership team at Canterbury South PS. He displays our school motto “Together We Can” on a daily basis by encouraging others to do their best. Stefan’s ability to work alongside his peers and teachers is outstanding as he can be depended to carry out all tasks with enthusiasm and passion. Stefan has attended community events in his own time outside of school hours.

Amali recently attended the PSSA Sydney East Girls Cricket tournament. After the match we received an email from the coach, Matthew. Congratulations to Amali, we are so proud.

Hi,

I am hoping this e-mail can be passed onto Amali's Principal and classroom Teacher.

My name is Matthew and I have just come back from coaching the Sydney East Girls cricket team. Amali was a part of the team, and I would just like to pass on some messages.

Amali has represented herself, her family and her school in the most amazing, thoughtful and kind way possible. She was the ultimate team player and not only played great herself, but it was attitude towards the game, her teammates and myself as the coach I was most proud of. I was taken away by Amali and the way she conducts herself at all times, as I am sure you are.

Please pass this message onto Amali form me as she has represented your school with the highest level of sportsmanship and integrity.

Matthew

We have had numerous parent complaints regarding Head Lice within the school.

Please check your child's/children's hair for lice/nits using the methods recommended in the inofmration below provided from NSW Health.

What is the comb and conditioner method?

Head lice breathe through small openings along their abdomens called spiracles. By coating the hair and therefore the louse in something thick and slimy, these openings close over, shutting down the louse's breathing for about 20 minutes.

Head lice can move very fast across the scalp. Using a head lice comb on a dry scalp will often miss many lice as they are very clever at avoiding being caught. While unfortunately the louse doesn't die with this method, it does slow it down so that you can catch them.

Any thick and slimy substance applied to the hair will have the same effect. Some parents swear by mayonnaise or olive oil, though it does seem logical to use simple hair conditioner. It can be difficult to wash out oils easily and using mayonnaise does seem a waste! Nevertheless, the principle is the same; the lice will be slowed down so that you can comb them out.

Applying conditioner, or any other slimy product, will not kill nor remove eggs, although some good quality lice combs will remove them.

Nit busting at home

Nit busting can be a time-consuming task. If Nit busting at home with your child, do the following:

1. Try sitting the child between your legs on a low stool and putting on a video for an hour while you work.

2. Wrap a towel or kitchen paper around the child's shoulders to catch conditioner spill.

3. Remove any scrunches, ribbons clasps, etc. from the child's head and comb out plaits and braids.

4. Apply liberal amounts of conditioner to the scalp and massage it through all the hair shafts. You will use a lot of conditioner. Every hair has to be coated to ensure it reaches the lice.

5. Lice live close to the scalp, so make sure that you cover the hair shaft close to the scalp. You don't have to work the conditioner onto the whole length of the hair. Combing will spread it well enough. The idea of the application is to restrict the movement of the head lice long enough for you to catch them with a comb.

6. After you've applied the conditioner, use a large comb to part small sections of the hair starting from the nape and working upwards toward the crown. Eggs are often found behind the ears and toward the back of the head. By using this method, you are more likely to find the head lice on top of and toward the front of the head.

7. When the hair is detangled and manageable, use a fine lice comb to comb out each section several times.

8. After each comb out, wipe the conditioner on the paper towel. If the child has head lice, you will see them on the towel.

9. Keep combing each section of hair until no further lice, nymphs or eggs appear on the paper towel. Often you will see lots of old egg casings that may take a while to remove.

Once you have combed and re-combed each section of hair, either replait or tie it back. If it is very short, suggest to the child some interesting styling! Young boys often like their hair spiked up or Mohawk-like!

Treating long hair

Depending on the hair length and type, it is often easier to neatly section long and thick hair before applying conditioner to avoid getting the hair into a terrible tangle.

1. Part long hair once from forehead to scalp, and use hair clips to keep the part in place.

2. Apply conditioner along the part line and massage in with the comb. This is to stop lice from crossing from one side of the head to the other.

3. Part the hair in a straight line from ear around scalp to centre part and clip or pin top section to crown of scalp.

4. Apply conditioner again to the part and massage in.

5. Apply more conditioner to loose hair down to nape of neck.

6. Use the head lice comb to comb out the conditioner. Start at the base of the hair shaft and comb down the length of the hair in one stroke.

7. Wipe the comb on a paper towel and check for lice. Lice are easily identified on the paper towel. Continue combing this section until you are certain you have covered the area several times.

8. Repeat the sectioning on the other side of the part towards the other ear.

9. After you've done these two sections, continue parting horizontally from the centre part sections of hair and apply conditioner and comb out as before.

Other things you should know

Head lice often congregate on the crown of the head, so that it is not until you reach these last sections of hair that you find adult lice. However, heads that are severely infected will have adult lice everywhere.

A good head lice comb should also remove nymphs, the stage between egg and adult louse -teenagers. These can be difficult to identify with the naked eye, but appear as small insects on the paper towel.

Students in the Opal network applying for an Opal card (including a Term Bus Pass) for the first time will receive their School Opal card at their nominated postal address from mid-January 2025.

• are continuing at the same school, and
• are residing at the same address, and
• have not been sent an expiry notification from Transport for NSW.

Where a student meets the new distance eligibility, the system will automatically update their entitlement. If they do not meet the new eligibility, they will receive an expiry notification.

Students who change address, school, campus location, have repeated a year or received an expiry notification for their school travel entitlement need to renew or update their details before the end of term 4. This will ensure that schools can endorse applications, so their travel entitlement can remain valid for the start of the 2025 school year.

Students who have an entitlement approved under a medical condition that is due to expire will receive a notification advising them to re-apply.

Term Bus Pass holders will receive a notification to re-apply.

As part of our whole school Resilience Project, the students have been learning about empathy and the many effects this has on our wellbeing.

Click on the link below to explore easy activities that you can do with your child at home.

https://theresilienceproject.com.au/2023-parent-carer-hub-inspire-hugh/

Don't forget to give consent via the Events tab before you try to make a payment in School Bytes.

If you have a small yellow triangle next to your child's name when you go into your Statement of Account, that means you have not given consent.

This MUST be done before attempting to pay otherwise you wll be sent back sign in.

If your having trouble, please come in and see the ladies in the office who will help you.

We’re so excited for Term 4 fun! Please also find attached an asset with an overview of all the awesome activities available at TeamKids this term. Please share the fun with your families via your newsletter or any other digital communications portal.

EPIC Gingerbread Village Competition

It's time to pop on those CREATIVE hats...💡

TeamKids is bringing back our Gingerbread Village Building Competition!

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Who'll make the SWEETEST village? Let the gingerbread MAGIC begin! 🌟

Join in the FUN – www.teamkids.com.au/venues

We’re celebrating the last term of the year, in true TeamKids style! 🤩

Get ready for non-stop FUN with the most EPIC events and activities.

Join the adventure TODAY! Book NOW - www.teamkids.com.au/venues