Dear parents,

You may have noticed that Mrs Haran, our Deputy Principal, has returned to our school – and we are absolutely delighted to have her back! Mrs Haran has been doing a sensational job as relieving principal at Penrith South Public School since the start of this year, but we have really missed her here. I am sure you are just as happy as we are to have her back!

With just 12 days of the term left, we are getting ready to fill up our days with “sweaty brain” learning and fun-filled and meaningful social and cultural activities.

Next week, our band students will be busy practising with their fellow band members at York Public School with Mr Bamford. Our Stage 3 students will be cooking up a storm ready for their cake stall and our Aboriginal students will be participating in a variety of NAIDOC cultural and sporting activities at the Hunter Fields in Emu Plains, under the supervision of Miss Cavanagh and Miss Tsiattalos. In the last week of school, we will be holding our Pride Day, organised by Miss Kidd.

What a fun and educational time it is for our students. Thank you to our staff who invest so much personal time to make sure these events are available for our students.

Debating

Our Year 5 and Year 6 debating team have enjoyed a successful start to the debating season, under the excellent guidance of Mrs McLoon and ably supported by Miss Kidd. Our next 2 debates will be held next week. Good luck to our teams as they convincingly debate against Kingswood South Public School and Wallacia Public School!

Gold and Silver Assemblies

Our Term 2 Gold and Silver award assemblies will be held on Friday 18th June.

One parent per award recipient will be able to attend the assembly. Parents will be notified if their child is receiving an award.

To assist with our COVID-safety plan, we are restricting the time that parents may enter the school for these assemblies. This is to ensure that the playground is clear of students and staff following our play times, before visitors walk through the playground.

The K-2 assembly starts at 11.30am. Please do not enter the school grounds until 11.25am.

The 3-6 assembly starts at 2.10pm. Please do not enter the school grounds until 2.05pm.

Parents attending the assembly must be well and free of any flu-like symptoms and must adhere to the 1.5-metre safe distancing requirements. Parents must remain seated for the duration of the assembly and leave the school grounds promptly afterwards.

It is a Departmental requirement that parents sign the school sign-in sheet where they acknowledge that they will comply with the COVID-19 restrictions and must also check in using the Service NSW QR code. Both these will be available at the hall.

COVID Restrictions

Whilst the easing of restrictions has certainly been welcome and have enabled parents to be onsite, there are still some restrictions that need to be adhered to. Most of these restrictions are about limiting the number of adults onsite and limiting the length of time they remain onsite.

All parents and visitors to our school site must sign on at the office and scan the QR code. This is not required for parents who are dropping off or picking up their child before or after school.

Parents may drop their child to the supervised area between the hall and the canteen in the morning. Access to the classrooms is not permitted. Please leave the school promptly after dropping off your child.

As can be seen in recent weeks, the COVID situation can change rapidly. If we all do our bit and adhere to the restrictions, we may avoid the need for the tightening of restrictions in our schools. Let’s all stay COVID-safe!!

Penrith Valley Performing Arts Festival

Tickets go on sale directly from Joan Sutherland’s online booking platform from Monday 21st June. Don’t miss out on your tickets, as they traditionally sell very quickly.

Casual Teacher Availability

There continues to be a shortage of available casual teachers to replace staff when they are absent due to illness or other leave. We will do our best, but sometimes classes will need to be split. This situation is widespread across most schools in NSW, as reported in the media.

School Facebook Page

Our school/Department of Education Facebook page is not monitored regularly by our staff. The best way for parents to get timely answers to their questions is by emailing or phoning the school.

Pride Day

Miss Kidd and the Social Justice Club are coordinating Pride Day in the last week of term. This is a day to recognise the diversity of people who make up our community and for everybody to feel proud of who they are. Students and staff are encouraged to wear rainbow colours (or rainbows!) on Wednesday 23rd June in recognition of this day.

I will be taking leave for the last week of this term, returning on the first day back in Term 3. Thank you for your support of our school and our students over this past term. Have a wonderful remainder of the term and a restful and peaceful holiday break.

Best wishes,

Mrs Thompson

Principal

• Overall attendance rate is 92.7%. State average is 88.1%.
• 76.3% of students (495 students) have an attendance rate of 90% or above. State average is 59.7%.
• 13.3% (86 students) have an attendance rate below 85%.

We are aiming for 80% of our students to be at school 90% or more of the time.

In order to keep our rolls up to date as legal documents, we require an explanation for all student absences. The easiest way to do this is send a note in on the return day or complete the section on Skoolbag app.

Teachers will send home reminders for outstanding notes and, if needed, contact will be made by senior executive staff to discuss attendance issues.

The students across the Stages 1,2 and 3 were recently involved in a poetry competition where they recited a poem they like written by someone else or a poem that that wrote.

This is part of the public speaking component and it gives students the opportunity to experience the thrill and the nerves of speaking in front of a group.

Congratulations to the following students:-

Brookyln Year 1

Charelene and Lucas Year 2

Lincoln, Quinn and Ilariya Year 3

Alice, Holly, Mila Year 4

Jack Year 5

Jake Year 6

We would like to officially thank the NSW Government for the community grant that provided the funds for our fantastic playground equipment in the grove area. This equipment will provide the children in our community the opportunity to climb and explore in a safe, child-centred environment.

We are sure that the new 2021 Kindergarten students will enjoy spending time utilising this great resource.

The second fundraiser of the year by Stage 3 students.

Tickets purchased for Thursday 22 July for band, junior choir and dance group.

Tickets purchased from Joan Sutherland Centre.

Tickets cost $25.

The school does not have access to tickets for this event.

Be quick to avoid missing out!

Can you take a few minutes to check that your child has a current and up to date health profile. We use the Operoo system to ensure that all students health issues are accessible to staff members in the case of an emergency.

Even if your child has no health issues, it helps us to make quick contact with you if needed.

If you need help with this, please contact the office for some assistance.

It is a legal requirement for schools to keep accurate rolls. In order to do this we need to receive a note or phone call from parents for student absences, within three days of the absence starting stating the nature of the absence ie. sickness, family business, short leave. The Skoolbag app has an easy to use function that allows you to generate an online note we print off  to give to teachers.

The new Regentville PS caps have arrived and can be purchased through the front office for $12.