The Punchbowl Press

2021 Term 3 Week 10

Important Dates

Wednesday 15 September - Parent and Community Zoom 9:30am via Zoom 

Friday 17 September - End of Term 3

Tuesday 5 October - Term 4 begins

Acting Principal's Message

We have come to the end of one of the most difficult periods the school has faced.  We continue to work in partnership with our families to maintain the learning and wellbeing of all our students. We have continued to adapt and change our teaching to support the engagement of our students and for them to continue to feel connected to school life.  Below is data related to the communication between home and school. 

  • Class Dojo – over 5000 messages, photos and videos shared each week 
  • Seesaw – over 3000 messages, photos and videos shared each week 
  • Communication with parents – 3,800 phone calls made home to check in on learning and wellbeing. 

These numbers are simply amazing and demonstrate strongly the continuation of connection by our teachers and parents.  Thank you to all our school staff and our wonderful families. 

We have our second community Zoom this Wednesday.  I am really looking forward to touching base with our families before the school holidays. We welcome your feedback and encouragement during learning from home. 

I reinforced again the message that the teachers are always available to support families and can be contacted through SeeSaw or Class Dojo or by calling the school on 9750 5055 and leaving a message for the teacher. 

Please remember, should anyone in your home be impacted by a positive COVID-19 result, please let the school know. We want to support you and your children and keep our school community safe and well.  

School resumes on Tuesday 5 October. Our students will continue to learning from home and our teachers will be working from home.  As  Punchbowl Public School continues to be in an area of concern parents must keep children – of all ages, across primary school, secondary school and early childhood education or care – at home unless they cannot be cared for or educated at home. 

We are hopeful for a return to school on the 25 October next term.  If stay at home orders are lifted in our LGA, all students living or learning in that area will return to face to face learning under the Department’s COVID-safe schools framework. This is a staggered return for prioritised cohorts, with no mingling or on-site activities.  

  • From 25 October – Kindergarten and Year 1   
  • From 1 November – Year 2, 6 and 11   
  • From 8 November – Year 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10   

It is important that parents refer to the Department of Education - Advice for families website for the most current information throughout this time.   

Enjoy your break from learning from home. We look forward to welcoming everyone back through ClassDojo and Seesaw on Tuesday 5 October. 

Stay home and stay safe. 

Mrs McGeary 

Acting Principal 

 

Parent and Community Zoom

Parent and Community Zoom

Date and Time

From Wednesday, September. 15th, 9:30 am to Wednesday, September. 15th, 10:30 pm

Information

The P&C, Mrs McGeary and the Leadership Team will be available to answer any questions and provide end of term updates.

Topic: Punchbowl Public School - Parent and Community Zoom

Time: Sep 15, 2021 09:30 AM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

Join Zoom Meeting https://nsweducation.zoom.us/j/69000192324?pwd=cXY2Q0FpMnFFTmZtTGZFaEYxbXdFdz09

Meeting ID: 690 0019 2324

Passcode: 329929

Aussie of the Month

Our school is participating in an exciting initiative to recognise students from Preschool to Year 6 called 'Aussie of the Month'. The program recognises personal endeavour, achievement and contribution to the community and reflects some of the values we share as Australians. 

Each month one student from Preschool to Year 2 and one student from Year 3 to 6 will be nominated by the relevant team to receive the Aussie of the Month Award. This Award acknowledges outstanding performance in such areas as:  

  • Mateship - Displaying a spirit of generosity and compassion 

  • Respect - Showing respect to self, others or the environment at school and/or in the community 

  • Inclusion -  Including others and celebrating the differences and uniqueness in all of us 

  • Work Ethic - Dedicated to trying their best and always putting in a great effort 

    Congratulations to Mercy and Kevin who are our Aussie's of the Month for August. 

Dalia is the September Aussie of the Month (Preschool to Year 2)

Dalia is a happy, kind and caring natured student in the Preschool Koalas. She is helpful to her educators and her peers. Dalia knows how to make a frown turn upside down. She is enthusiastic and always gives things a go. Dalia follows the school values at preschool and continues her dedication to the values at home. She has been actively engaging and sharing her learning from home.  

 Congratulations to Dalia. 

Sarah is the September Aussie of the Month (Year 3 to Year 6)

Sarah is an enthusiastic, vibrant and kind-hearted student. She has displayed an enormous growth in responsibility throughout this year, taking the role of a senior school leader seriously. Sarah comes to school each day with a beaming smile of positivity and is an excellent role model both in the classroom and during remote learning. She has been a shining example of taking responsibility for yourself and becoming a self-regulated learner. Sarah attends and submits all class and group meetings punctually, actively participating in all learning activities and discussions, completes all assigned tasks to a level expected of her and assists others in understanding tasks and expectations where possible. She shows admirable care and empathy towards students and teachers of the school community. Sarah, your vibrancy and persistent dedication towards learning does not go unnoticed. I cannot commend Sarah any more highly to be awarded the Aussie of the Month, with her can do and will do attitude. Congratulations Sarah!

Kindergarten 2022 - Enrol Now

https://enrol.education.nsw.gov.au/#/?schoolCode=2910

Enrolments for Kindergarten 2022 are now open.

 -All children must be in compulsory schooling by their 6th birthday.

-Children can start kindergarten at the beginning of 2022 if they turn 5 on or before 31 July 2022.

-Students should start school at the beginning of the school year.You can enrol using the online application form  or contact the office on 97505055 if you would prefer a paper form.

Enrolment forms are also available in other languages.

https://enrol.education.nsw.gov.au/#/?schoolCode=2910

Tell Them From Me - Parent Survey

We would like to invite all parents to complete the Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Partners in Learning survey.

We value the role of parents and carers within our school community and would greatly appreciate your feedback. The information you provide will be used to maintain our commitment to working together in partnership to further improve student learning and wellbeing at Punchbowl Public School.The survey is anonymous and will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. The surveys are an important part of our whole school evaluation and planning process. The survey can be completed in your home language if you prefer. Please select the language option from the drop down menu after clicking on the link. You are able to access the parent survey on your computer or mobile device by using the URL below:

http://nsw.tellthemfromme.com/zczqd

Thank you for taking the time to provide us with this valuable feedback.

Schools as Community Centre (SaCC)

Our SaCC playgroups have continued online this term and it has been wonderful to see our littlest learners engaging and sending in photos and videos on the Punchbowl Public School School as Community Centre Facebook page

On Friday 10 September, the SaCC Playgroup was held over Zoom and Mrs Mareko read the story Jeremy by Chris Faille & Danny Snell and Miss Sherin and Mrs Kontakos joined in the fun too. 

Thank you to all the parents who have embraced this new platform of learning with such enthusiasm. We continue to look forward to seeing you all in the virtual world. 

There are many support organisations in our local community that offer low cost or free meals. Follow the link to access the directory for the Bankstown local area. https://www.swsphn.com.au/client_images/2246351.pdf

Remember that the Punchbowl School as Community Centre (SaCC) is still available to support you. Please contact Asenati Mareko directly on 0439487865 or email asenati.mareko@det.nsw.edu.au

Early Intervention

The children in Early Intervention have enjoyed completing their online activities as well as having lots of fun with their learning from home packs. Whilst learning from home they are working on packing & unpacking their bags, following routines and helping around the house. Thank you so much to all the mums, dads and family members who are helping them out with their learning. Great work everyone. 

From all the Early Intervention Team

Preschool

As we continue learning from home, the Preschool children have been engaging in many exciting experiences through Seesaw. Children were very excited to receive their Learning from Home packs and shared photos with their educators. Some of the exciting things found in the packs were lots of craft things especially for Father’s Day and numeracy and literacy activities. Children share photos and videos of themselves engaging in these activities. They were very excited to make a toolbox and tie for their dads.  

Book Week looked different this year, as we dressed up in character from our homes. Educators created short movies to engage the children in the experience. The children were excited to share their photos and their favourite book.  

During Learning from Home, the children are continuing to show the PBL values of we are learners, we are respectful and we are safe.  

Preschoolers have been keeping fit and healthy through a variety of music and movement experiences.  

Preschool 2022 Enrolments - Now OPEN

Children are eligible to enrol in NSW public preschools if they turn four on or before 31 July of that year.

Applications for 2022 are now open. 

More information regarding preschool enrolment as well at the application form are available on the website. You can also contact the office on 9750 5055 for a copy on the enrolment form. 

Early Stage 1

During this term students have been producing brilliant work whilst learning from home. Students have been working on developing their mathematical skills through lots of fun and creative tasks. Some of the topics kindergarten students have been learning about include patterns, capacity, whole number, length, addition and subtraction. Have a look at some of our student's fantastic work! 

Well done to all of our amazing kindergarten students and parents for all of your hard work this term! We hope you all have a safe and relaxing holiday break, and we are looking forward to seeing you in Term 4  

K/6O & K/6K

It has been excellent seeing all the wonderful learning Kookaburras and Owls have achieved during home learning for Term 3. Over the last 5 weeks we have been collecting and interpreting Data for Mathematics, Procedure Writing for English and have enjoyed celebrating NAIDOC Week and Book Week where we completed activities and dressed up. We have also enjoyed our Zoom class sessions which are a great way to catch up with each other and complete fun lessons as a class.  

We wish everyone a relaxing holiday break.  

Stage 1

Stage 1 have been extremely busy working from home. Parents have been doing an astounding job supporting their children and students have been doing an astonishing job completing home learning tasks. Have a look at the broad range of activities that the children have been participating in. The teachers are extremely proud of the fantastic work that the children are posting. Well done Stage 1! 

Stage 2

This term Stage 2 have been writing informative texts. Students conducted research on a famous landmark of their choice and wrote an informative text about it. Students used their information and creative skills to create a poster of the landmark they chose. Have a look at our wonderful posters and learn about some wonderful landmarks from around the world! 

Stage 3

Stage 3 have been extremely busy completing activities from their learning grid. Have a look at all the wonderful work which includes aluminium foil sculptures, Minecraft gardens, measurement and fraction work, projects on Indonesia and some wonderful costumes from Book Week. 

Stage 3 you are amazing. Enjoy your bread and we are all looking forward to seeing you for an awesome Term 4. 

Community Language

It has been a roller coaster ride this term for students, families and teachers. During the term, we have had many successes working together as a team to make sure our kids had a positive outcome at all times. Community language teachers worked extra hard to put together fun-filled Arabic lessons for students to complete. Students across all stages uploaded work into class dojo showcasing their Arabic reading and writing skills. All of the Community Language students fervently participated in our Friday Arabic Kahoot games. Finally, Community Language teachers would like to thank our committed families who supported us in making this online learning more manageable. 

Library

Book Week 2021 - Old Worlds New Worlds, Other Worlds 

A very different, yet exciting, Book Week was thoroughly enjoyed by our school community. Our students were immersed in daily story teasers read to them by enthusiastic staff. In addition to that students shared their favourite books, book characters and some things from Old Worlds. The highlight to the week was undoubtedly the sea of colourful and creative Book Character costumes. It was an absolute delight to see the efforts invested by our students, parents and teachers in the Zoom Book Character Parade, etching wonderful memories for us all. 

myON Update 

Student reading habits on myON are improving steadily. Many students have established daily reading habits. For those yet to establish a daily habit it is never to late to start. Train yourself daily by reading five minutes a day and gradually increasing your time spent reading. You’ll never regret reading a good book. 

It goes without saying of course, Read, Read, Read and Read More. 

STEM

It’s been a bit tough not being able to fiddle with our robots at school, but you’re doing a great job creating and testing with paper at home. Who could have imagined that so much could be done with a simple sheet of paper; making paper planes, paper string that could hold a weight, paper holding back a glass of water, marbled paper and so much more! Not forgetting our bubbles experiment, can bubbles be any shape other than a sphere?! 

Check out this video of Ismaeel blowing his bubbles!

https://youtu.be/UBTIe4mgzSk

The Punchbowl Public School community created artworks for the staff and residents at Leigh Place Aged Care in Roselands. Many of our students are also missing their own grandparents during this time. We hope these artworks bring cheer and happiness to our friends and we look forward to further intergenerational interactions in the future. 

Thank you to all the students who sent through their artwork. If your artwork wasn't sent in on time for this video don' worry, we will be sending another video across to our friends at Leigh Place next term. So keep sending your work to your teacher on See Saw or Class Dojo. 

- Mrs Kontakos 

Free Counselling Support is available

Shumaila Khan is a Learning Links provisional psychologist. She supports Punchbowl Public School on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to provide FREE counselling services to students. During this period of Learning from home parents are able to access this service directly by contacting Shumaila on Tuesday and Wednesday, 9am - 3pm on phone 0433 822 836. 

Shumaila will be available for drop-in group counselling sessions via Zoom on Wednesdays.

Time: Wednesday, 11am - 12pm

Link: https://zoom.us/j/7698529591?pwd=NnhqZ3VqcCs4O

GhSeXZhOFFNWTZrQT09 

Download the flyer attached for more details

Download

Please answer our call

While we are Learning from home our teachers are also working from home. Please remember that teachers will be calling to check in and offer support and will be calling from a 'Private or Unknown Number'. Please take the call.If you miss a call please call the school on 9750 5055 and the teacher will call you back.

Time Expectations - Learning from home

The NSW Department of Education has put together the following information to support families with time expectations while Learning from home.Remember, that Learning from home won't look the same as Learning at school and that is okay. During this period, it is important to enjoy time together as a family, make sure you have plenty of breaks and remember to get some fresh air. Thank you for your continued support.

'Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.' - (Helen Keller)

Mrs Kontakos - Deputy Principal Student and Community Engagement

This page provides the latest advice for parents and carers on the department’s response to the pandemic. This guide is updated regularly based on advice from NSW Health. Please check this regularly. 

Did you know that the newsletter can be translated to many different languages?

- Scroll all the way to the bottom until you see the ‘Select Language’ option. Select your preferences language

You can now read the news in your chosen language.

Please make sure you are checking the NSW Health website regularly for the latest COVID-19 case locations and alerts in NSW.