Term 3 Week 8 Principal’s Report

Schools are busy places. As this week’s newsletter will testify, there’s always a lot going. While teaching and learning is the core business of a school, students and teachers are regularly engaged in a range of programs which value-add to a child’s educational experience. In many ways, the events at a school are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle which contribute to the big picture of schooling. But what are we trying to achieve? What do we want our school to look like? What is on the puzzle box cover for Floraville Public School? These are the questions I would like to put to the school community, as we reflect on 50 years of quality teaching and seek to establish a vision for the future. Last week I began the conversation with staff at our regular Tuesday afternoon professional learning meeting. Next week, I will continue the conversation with the school P&C at our monthly meeting (6:30pm, Tuesday 13 September), and then will be seeking feedback more broadly from across the community. Now is a good time to ask the questions, What do we most want for our students? And Where would we like our school to be in 50 years from now? Veggie Garden The new school veggie garden is looking tremendous, with seedlings planted, ready to take off. Our Landcare students will officially open the garden on Wednesday afternoon, next week (1pm), with interested community members invited to attend. Later that afternoon volunteers can assist in a working bee. Many thanks to the teachers, parents, students and greater community who have worked tirelessly to complete the project. Special thanks goes to Mr Greg Bottle, who has put in many hours supporting this initiative.

Working Bee Wednesday 14 September 2pm-3pm

We need 10 volunteers who can help clear branches from the gully on Wednesday afternoon. Come to school an hour before pick-up time and help clear the area before snake season commences. Just bring a pair of work gloves.

School Band On Tuesday mornings I enjoy hearing the sounds of our school music students drifting through my window. With an array of brass, woodwind and percussion instruments, we have some talented musicians at Floraville Public School. The school Mini Minors had their first public performance on Monday afternoon, as they played two pieces at the school assembly and did a terrific job. All the best to our band members who are preforming at the combined BandITS concert on Sunday afternoon. Disco Students are looking forward to this week’s discos, planned for Thursday afternoon and evening. All money raised will be used to support students for the School Spectacular performance. Many thanks to the Floraville OOSH who have donated $2000 to support our students. Passtab The new electronic sign-in system is now available in the office. Follow the step-by-step guide and select “Volunteer” when coming in to assist with a school program or event. Staff v Students Soccer Match Teachers having begun their intense physical training regime in preparation for the upcoming Staff v Students Soccer Match. Scheduled for the last day of term, students will look forward to taking on classroom teachers and support staff for bragging rights in this just-for-fun event. The students’ team will be composed of Year 6 PSSA soccer students, while the teachers’ team is yet to be announced. Notification of Absence The school is trialling a new system for notifying parents and carers of a child’s absence. An automated notification, sent as an email or text message, will be sent out when a child is absent from school. Parents are able to provide an electronic response to inform the school of the reason for the child’s absence. Finally It was great to see so many family members present to support students for this year’s Infants Athletics Carnival. With magnificent weather and lots of smiling faces, students engaged with a variety of activities, races and novelty events. Many thanks to Mrs Fox and her team of helpers for organising a terrific carnival. Simon Mulready, Principal

This week’s virtue is MODERATION Moderation is creating a healthy balance in your life between work and play, rest and exercise. You don’t overdo or get swept away by the things you like. You use your self-discipline to take charge of your life and your time. ASSEMBLY CLASS OF THE WEEK – 2J

Term Calendar IMPORTANT DATES Week 8

• 08/09 – Infants’ Assembly 2.20pm • 08/09 – Infants Disco 4.30pm • 08/09 – Primary Disco 6.30pm • 09/09 – Primary Assembly 10.15am • 11/09 – BandITS 10am at Valentine PS

Week 9

• 12/09-13/09 – Year 3 Camp Toukley • 13/09 – P&C Meeting 6.30pm • 14/09 – Vegetable & Bush Tucker Garden opening 1pm/working bee 2-3pm • 15/09 – Year 6 Specialty Group Photos

Week 10

• 19/09 – Seasons For Growth Parent Program 9am • 19/09 – Whole School Assembly 2.20pm • 20/09 – Clued up Kids 9am • 20/09 – Showcase concert 6pm • 21/09 – Kindergarten 2017 Orientation 9.15am • 22/09 – Infants’ Assembly 2.20pm • 23/09 – Primary Assembly 10.15am • 23/09 – LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

TERM 4 –Week 1

• 10/10 – Students return REMINDER OF MONEY DUE

• Year 5 Aussie Bush Camp balance due 13/10 - $162 • Year 4 Morisset Camp balance due 20/10 - $60.00 • Band Fees overdue • Aerobics Fees overdue

News from the Office

Office Hours 8.30am to 3.15pm Please make sure you have the correct money when paying for activities or excursions.

We now have parent online payments through the School’s Website as well as eftpos at the office. You can now pre-pay fees and excursions in advance through our new system.

Please use our School App to notify the school of any absences for your child or any change of details.

Sport Macquarie Cup Netball Macquarie Cup Semi Finals are this Friday. We are pleased that all four of our teams will be playing. These Semi Finals are elimination, therefore, if a team loses they will not proceed on and if a team wins they will play in the Grand Final next week (Friday 16th September). Regardless of the results this week, all teams will still attend the courts on Grand Final day where we will play as per normal. If you are planning to come along and cheer on the girls, Miss Leedham and myself would greatly appreciate it if you could help with the scoring process. Please see us before the game if you are happy to assist. We hope you can make it! Miss Brindley and Miss Leedham. Basketball News Congratulations to Charlie Lentfer on his selection in the D – League Development Squad to play in the basketball State Cup. Charlie is one of 2 players to be selected from the Hunters Representative basketball side in the Under 14’s team. There were only 40 players chosen from all the Representative teams in NSW and 20 of the boys were chosen from the competitive Sydney Metropolitan area. The tournament will be over 4 weekends in October and November and we wish Charlie well. Keep us updated on your team’s progress Charlie! Mrs Hadden Ski Success Congratulations to Darby who represented Floraville at the NSW Interschools Championships at Thredbo last week. His goal was to place in the top half of the State, and he achieved this, placing 25th from 55 competitors in Moguls Skiing. Well done, Darby.

OTHER SCHOOL NEWS Premiers Spelling Bee Final On Monday 15th of August, a group of very nervous Stage 2 and 3 students took part in our school Premier’s Spelling Bee final. The words used were provided by the Premier’s office and were graded into increasingly difficult lists. The final rounds for both stages proved to be particularly exciting and the audience was completely ‘spellbound’! After approximately nine rounds Jye Gibbs (4B) and Cameron Wood (6P) were declared the winners for their respective stages with Aiden Wood (4B) and Jacob Spruce (5B) runners-up. All four boys will now progress to the Regional Finals at Hamilton Public School on Wednesday the 14th of September. We wish them the best of luck!

Book Week and Grandparent Fun Thank you for supporting our Book Week and Grandparent celebrations. A great day was had by all.

State Cricket Team Visit Last Friday on a rainy morning Stage 3 were lucky enough to receive a visit from some of the NSW state cricket team players. After a series of very active skill based activities, the students were then given the opportunity for a meet and greet, Q&A and photo opportunity. Our school boys and girls cricket teams even had the chance for some selfies with some of their idols! School Discos This Thursday 8th September there will be two discos as a fundraiser to assist our students who are representing the school at the Schools Spectacular later this year.

• Infants Disco: 4:30pm – 6:00pm • Primary Disco: 6:30pm – 8:00pm

So far ticket sales have been fantastic. Golden tickets will not be on sale on the night, however regular entry tickets for $5 will be. Extra drinks, chips and glow sticks will be available to purchase on the night.

Bali Experience During Week 9 of Term 2 the Year 5 and 6 students took part in a Bali Experience Day. Miss Freestone, Masters Practicum student, from the University of Newcastle organised eight culturally enriched Balinese activities for the students to participate in. These activities included integrated learning experiences such as literacy, science and technology, music, physical education and mathematics. The tasks involved cooking traditional Balinese sweets, performing Balinese Gamelan (music), learning the Indonesian language, designing kites for the annual Balinese Kite Festival and creating Batik inspired fans, just to name a few. The day concluded with a shadow puppet performance that was prepared by 6P and the audience members shared Klepon (Balinese sweets) served on banana leaves that had been made by the students throughout the day. Mr Carle and Mr Burnett, second year Undergraduate Practicum students, also from the University of Newcastle assisted on the day and ensured a great day was had by all. Thanks to the organisation of Miss Freestone, Stage 3 enjoyed a rich, cultural day.

Mr Carle Miss Freestone Mr Burnett

Year 3 Camp Toukley Next Monday (12th) and Tuesday (13th) of September, Year 3 will head to Camp Toukley for our annual camp. We will meet under the COLA at 8:30am for a 9:00am departure. Students are asked to bring a packed lunch (preferably in a plastic bag) for the first day. All other meals and snacks will be provided by the Camp. Students will be participating in quad bikes, BMX, archery, camp cooking, flying fox and other sporting activities. Students MUST bring long pants to be able to participate in the Quad biking activity. Please check the school website for the ‘Things to Take’ note if you are unsure. PLEASE HAND ALL MEDICATIONS TO YOUR CLASS TEACHER, clearly labelled upon arrival on Monday morning. Whilst there is always a few nerves for students leaving mum and dad for the first time on an over-night camp, students always find Camp Toukley a lot of fun. The Camp is very welcoming and like to ensure all our needs are met (and the food is delicious too). Talk to your child’s teacher if your child is feeling anxious about camp as we are happy to help settle any worriers. Can’t wait! Kids Matter Thank you to all the families that have already returned their orange Kids Matter surveys or completed them online. If you still have your survey please return it to the office, your feedback is important to us. Mrs Naszka Ballardie Showcase concert In week 10 on Tuesday night, September 20th we will be holding our two- yearly ‘Showcase” concert. Beginning at 6:30pm, the audience will be amazed by our students who are talented in the performing arts. Performances will be by the primary choir, junior choir, boys vocal group, mini minors and majors band, as well as solo singing and band performances. There will even be some special guest performances from past students and talented teachers. We encourage everyone to support Performing Arts at Floraville by coming along to watch the “Showcase”. Entry is by gold coin donation and refreshments will be on sale.

NAIDOC Day On Thursday the 11th of August Floraville turned black, red and yellow for our out–of–uniform celebration of NAIDOC Day. Students enjoyed activities with their grade or stage-based teachers and moved rooms to try the many activities offered. Teachers taught lessons with an 8 Ways of Learning focus, following traditional Aboriginal ways of teaching and learning. (See the image below) Thank you to the parents and grandparents who helped out on the day and our dedicated teachers who always create wonderful lessons for our Floraville students.

Kindergarten Father’s Day Celebration In life we have many special moments to be grateful for. On Friday, Kindergarten children were grateful for the special time they shared with dads, granddads, poppies and many other wonderful men. It certainly was a wondrous celebration to remember! As men, over the years, they have no doubt spent hours fixing, building, painting, designing, creating and playing with the kids. On Friday it was very clear that the dads just liked “hanging out” and enjoyed the activities that surrounded them. Children snuggled on laps, cuddled in safe, loving arms, held hands and even perched safely on their hero’s shoulders. The love was tangible and beautiful to witness. All the teachers felt that warm fuzzy feeling and the inclusive play activities certainly supported an emotional bond. All our visitors were comfortable with joining in and did a good job at it. They seized the role with enthusiasm and gusto! One thing we did chuckle about was the following of instructions…as always we did have a few major housing constructions at the hammer and nail activity…dads will be dads! This special celebration of Father’s Day was a snapshot in time that will be cemented in their love banks and hopefully they can dip into it when in need of a happy thought or memory. Many boxes were ticked at our gathering…..confidence, trust, curiosity, problem solving, bonding and many more. We hope all who celebrated on Sunday had a happy day.

Landcare The team has been extremely busy this term with a number of projects ….. Firstly, we created posters to advertise our school’s ‘green day’ in Week 5. Donations were taken on the day for Junior Landcare’s #action4theland campaign. Since then, we have sourced established plants for the garden including lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, snow peas, strawberries, chives and beetroot. The list keeps growing (pun intended). We have learnt about providing nutrition for the plants including sugar cane mulch, daily watering and crushed clean egg shell for calcium. Many thanks to Sarah Clark (Cooper’s Grandma) who has volunteered many hours with the group to share her skills, knowledge and green thumb. Thanks also to Greg Bottle and our General Assistants, Tim and Mark, who have contributed a great deal to the garden. The team are now preparing for our vertical herb garden and management of the new ‘Turn and Go’ composters and watering roster. If any parents and friends want to volunteer on a Tuesday please contact the school and leave your details (you must have a current Working With Children Check). Mrs Melling and Miss Pullman Upcoming Band Events BandITS – to be held at Valentine PS on Sunday September 11th 2016. A combined Floraville band will perform at 12:20pm made up of Mini Minors and any available Majors. Majors who are available to attend are invited to Mini Minor rehearsals for this Wedneday to assist in the combined pieces. If you are not available please see Mrs Blake to receive the music we will play. A massed band will perform at around 1:40pm – ALL students are invited to be a part of this. Students are also invited to attend the band rehearsal of The Lake Macquarie Winds on Wednesday 7th September from 7:30pm – 8:15pm held at Valentine PS to help familiarise themselves with the pieces to be performed in the massed band. This day is FREE for students and audience members and anyone is welcome to attend and watch the wide variety of bands on show. Bandfest – to be held October 17th – 21st (Term 4 Week 2) at Lake Macquarie Performing Arts Centre. Both Floraville bands will participate –The Mini Minors will perform on Monday 17th at 11:40am and the Majors will perform on Wednesday 19th at 12:50pm. This is free for students and ALL band members are expected to attend. For parents or other audience members there is a $5 entry fee to the auditorium. Christmas Celebration performance – Sunday 11th December at The Salvation Army, Eastlakes. We have again been invited to perform at the Community Christmas event held at The Salvation Army in Belmont. An availability note will be sent out in the coming weeks to decide if we are able to accept. Yarn Bombing Can you knit? Crochet? Or make wooly things? We would love your help to ‘Yarn Bomb’ a tree in the playground. We are looking for pieces made from wool scraps (knitted, crochet, woven) any size, colour or texture that can be joined together to ‘dress our tree’. These can also include no longer wanted doilies, scarves, or woollen items which can be joined together to make squares. Squares or wool donations can be returned to 3H’s classroom. Any parent and community members that can offer their time and knitting skills please contact the school or Mrs Naszka Ballardie. With gratitude, Mrs Naszka Ballardie and Mrs Hadden.

COMMUNITY NEWS

School holiday opportunity Do you like watching basketball? Newcastle Basketball is looking for children who are interested in being a ‘floor wiper’ during the National Club Championships. It runs from Monday September 26 to Saturday October 1, during the school holidays. Games will be running between 8:30 – 8:00pm and the helpers will receive food and drinks. Contact 4961 3185 at Newcastle Basketball if you are interested.

P&C NEWS Father’s Day Stall P&C thanks the following people for their help on the Father’s Day Stall, it is much appreciated. Narelle Masson, Sandy Green, Katrina Hall, Amanda Jackson, Kelly Woodger and Deb Shaw. It was another huge success. P&C Meeting Next P&C meeting next Tuesday 13th September at 6.30pm in the school library. All welcome. Banking Banking Champions - KG School Banking is every Friday Uniform Shop Open Wednesday 2.30-3.15pm Canteen News A huge thank you to all our volunteers and to those that donated cakes, slices, etc for Grandparents Day. We had many wonderful comments about how smoothly everything ran & how delicious it all was, again thank you. Coming up Red Day – Sausage Sizzle on a hot dog roll & choice of drink = $5.00 Please have all order forms to the canteen for this special treat by: Friday 16th September. Please complete one form per child as these will go out in classes, extra forms available to print out from the school website! Roster Thursday 8/9 – Renaye Dobb, Cher Blennerhassett, Naomi Loveday Friday 9/9 – Erica Pedonese, Kristina Love, Lisa Booth Monday 12/9 - Renae Picton, Michelle O’Toole, Alison Blanek Tuesday 13/9 – Deb Shaw, Kay Gibson, Jen Miller Wednesday 14/9 – Tash Treveton, Amanda Jackson, Sonia McCumiskey, Sharon Weinert

Learn to Surf Newcastle Operated/owned by Miles Niddrie, Level 2 Surf Coach, since 2004.

Weetbix Surf Groms is back again this September School Holidays. All equipment supplied including winter wetsuits, softboards and rash shirts.

Surf safety education and local beach info taught each lesson. Age groups are 5-12yrs (max 15 kids/3coaches) (4:1 ratio under 9’s)

School holiday 4 x 1.5hr $165pp inc rego fee for the Surfgroms pack value $140. 13yrs-18yrs $150pp welcome too, over 18’s $160pp

Single 1.5hr lessons daily $40pp under 18yrs, $45pp over 18yrs. Weekends and after school starts Oct 8th term 4

For bookings and enquiries please call 4944 9585 or 0404 83 9585. Email at miles@learntosurfnewcastle.com or www.learntosurfnewcastle.com