CRAWFORD PUBLIC SCHOOL

Quality education in an innovative and caring environment.

Safe Respectful Learners

Phone: 9621 7233, Email: crawford-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Term 3 Week 4, 11 August, 2016

Principal’s Report - Richard Ford

Well what a week we've had this week. It was a

great Open Day and Multicultural Day with a

fantastic concert. Our students practiced and

practiced to put on a great show for our parents and

our community members. It was really nice to see

so many parents and grandparents who were able to

hang around in the morning and get to see the great

work happening in the classrooms. Thank you to

everybody who was able to attend this wonderful

event.

At the end of Week 2 we had our disco. It was

another great success and the kids enjoyed

themselves. The P&C raised over $1000 and are

already looking at ways to help improve the school.

Being part of the P&C is a wonderful way to have

your say on how funds are used to support the

students.

Last week our Under 9s represented the school and

the Penrith District in the All Schools Carnival.

They performed brilliantly and made it to the semi

finals. Many of the schools they played had school

teams that played together on the weekends and

they did a great job for only a handful of games

together. They can hold their heads high knowing

that they are one of the top 4 teams in NSW.

Still on sport, we have a number of sports events

going on at the moment. We had touch football

yesterday, Athletics Carnival today and also the

Greg Alexander and Girls Rugby League today. We

will let you know the results soon. Also PSSA is

coming to an end and this should be the last week

of competition unless teams make the finals. Thank

you to all our students who demonstrated great

sportsmanship over the Winter PSSA comp.

The District Athletics Carnival will be held on

Tuesday 23 and Wednesday 24 August. We wish

all our representing students luck and hope they do

their best.

The Dance group will be performing their dance

“Circle of Life’ at the Blacktown Festival of

Performing Arts on Monday 22 August. They will

have a rehearsal in the day and perform at night.

There was a great turnout of our new 2017 Kindy

parents at our Kindy Information meeting on Tues-

day afternoon. There will be other chances to find

out what is happening with Kindy later on through-

out the year. If you have or know of anyone that

has a child starting school next year, please contact

the office to get an enrolment pack so we can keep

you up to date.

Deputy Principal’s Report - D. Taylor

Crawford Cubs, our very successful Kindy

Transition Program, starts again in Week 6 on

Thursday 25 August. This is a great opportunity to

have the students who are attending next year make

some new friendships and get used to the school

environment.

NAPLAN results will be out soon. We always like

to remind parents that this is a one off testing

period, from the start of Term 2, that does not

always give a clear understanding of where a child

is at. The teachers in the school know your child’s

learning needs and what to do to help them to the

next phase in their learning. We track each

individual student every 5 weeks so we know

where to put resources and support. If you have a

concern about your child’s NAPLAN report please

schedule a meeting with your child’s teacher.

Richard Ford

Principal

Education Week/ Multicultural Day

Last Tuesday 9 August Crawford Public School

held a very successful day of celebrations. In the

morning parents were able to visit their children’s

classroom and watch them engaged in learning

activities.

After recess the teachers and students put on a very

entertaining concert consisting of items celebrating

our diverse cultures.

We thank all parents for contributing a taste of

food from their culture. Lunch was very delicious

and enjoyed by everyone. We had a huge selection

of foods to taste.

Thank you,

Mrs Zina Dybac

EAL/D teacher

Crawford Cubs, our transition to school program,

will begin on Thursday 25 August, 2016. It will be

running from 9:10am - 11:00am in our school hall

on the following dates:

Thursday:

25 August

1 September

8 September

15 September

22 September

20 October

27 October

3 November

10 November

Orientation Day will be held Thursday 17

November, 2016 from 9:10am—11:00am.

We are really excited to work alongside you to

make the transition to school process fun and less

daunting. This is a great opportunity for your child

to play with others while developing their school

dispositions, skills and familiarity with our school

environment. It is also a great chance for you to

meet other families and receive insightful

information from early childhood and primary

teachers, as well as health professionals.

Don’t forget to bring along a hat as well as a piece

of fruit and drink for ‘Crunch and Sip’.

We look forward to seeing on Thursday 25 August.

If you have any questions about our Crawford Cubs

transition to school program or school readiness for

your child, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs

Taylor on 9621 7233.

Mrs Deanne Taylor

Deputy Principal

Don’t swerve to avoid animals

As tragic as it is to think of striking and killing an

animal, even the RSPCA and wildlife advocates

agree it is better to hit an animal than swerve and

crash, worse still into an oncoming car. In Canada

last week a driver was jailed for 90 days, ordered to

do 240 hours community service and banned from

the road for 10 years after two motorcyclists died

after running into her car after she stopped to round

up some ducks. It’s hard to go against your

instincts in an emergency but if an animal jumps

out in front of you, hit the brakes by all means, but

whatever you do don’t swerve.

W I T H M R C A M P B E L L NS

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M A T H E M A T I C S I D E A S

Parents Count Too

Through everyday activities and play situations children will naturally use numbers. Young children are very capable of sharing out things such as lollies so that each person has a fair share or adding

a friends’collection to his or her own and finding the total. We need to help children discover quick and easy ways of using numbers. How do children learn to use numbers?

When first learning to use numbers, children will need to have the objects with them in order to add, subtract, multiply or share equally (divide). They will go through a process of needing

to see and count each thing, one at a time. We need to help children learn to start counting from a larger number and add or subtract a se-cond number. We also need to help children build mental images of a group or quantity so they do not always have to rely on seeing the objects. Helping children to mentally “see” groups of things will also help them with understanding multiplication and division before they learn the “tables”.

Helping your child with –Arithmetic: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division

What can you do at home? • Play board games such as Snakes and Ladders with two dice and encourage your child to add the

two numbers rolled. Show themhow to count from the larger number. • Play card games such as 21 or bust. In this game, two cards are dealt to each player who adds the numbers together. Each player may ask for more cards from the “kitty” with the aim of being the person with the highest score that does not go over 21.

• Share fruit such as mandarins with your child and add the number of pips you both have. • Ask your child to help you work out how many more items are needed when you are shopping. I

have six apples here, how many more will I get to make ten? Helping your child with – Arithmetic: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division • Look at house numbers when going for a walk. Ask your child to guess what the next number will be. • Set the table for one person and ask your child to put out enough plates for everyone. Ask them how many more were needed. • Count the number of eggs in a carton, and again after some have

been removed. Ask your child, How many were taken away? • Read a book to your child that has a contents page. Look for a

story or chapter on a certain page and work out how many pages until the next story.

PBL AWARDS

Congratulations to the following students who

received their PBL badges during our last

assembly for being a safe, respectful learner.

3/4B Dante (Green)

3/4G Ethan (Green), Emma & Tamika

(Maroon), Gabrielle (Silver),

3/4M Yasmin, Harrison, Meen, Kahlea and

Jameson (Bronze)

5/6A Jiya (Gold)

5/6H Katherine (Bronze)

5/6N Daniel (Bronze)

5/6T Trae (Green)

SCHOOL CONTRIBUTIONS

Our school contributions for 2016 are now

overdue.

$20.00 per student or

$35 per family

Teachers are collecting money in the

classrooms or the contributions can be given

directly to the office.

These funds are collected from all families

and form a vital part of our school budget. In

order to provide for the quality and variety of

opportunities at Crawford we need families

to continue to support the Contribution

Scheme.

We thank our families for their support.

SCHOOL OFFICE HOURS

The school’s front office will be attended

Monday - Friday from 8:30am - 3:15pm.

BRIGHT FUTURE CHILDCARE CENTRE

Call 8678 4817

Open 7:00am to 6:00pm Monday-Friday

For children aged between 0 to 12 years old

Long Day Care: 0 to 6 years old

Before & After School Care: 6 to 12 years old

Occasional Care: 6 to 12 years old

We encourage your child’s individual potential by

providing the best learning opportunities.

KINDERGARTEN NEWS

Already another busy term is well under way. Kindergarten students and teachers are back into the swing

of teaching and learning. I had the opportunity to visit Kindergarten earlier this week and watched KA

recording Olympic Medal data for countries competing and doing some calendar work. KC were looking

at the hundreds chart and counting forwards and backwards and locating the number before. KD were

drawing their favourite part of a story. Later on, Kindergarten were out getting ready to dance for

Multicultural Day.

I know that students and teachers are counting down the days to visit Golden Ridge Animal Farm at Dural

this week. I am sure it is going to be both a fun and educational experience for all!

In the coming weeks, our ‘2017 Kindergarten Transition to School/CUBS School Readiness’ program

begins. Some students from our current Kindergarten group might be invited to attend, join in CUBS

activities and share their expertise.

To coincide and celebrate the Rio 2016 Olympics, Crawford Public School will be hosting our very own

K-2 Mini Olympics in Week 9 of this term. To encourage teamwork, classes will be wearing country

colours. A note will soon go home with all the details.

A few reminders:

Please clearly label all items of clothing, lunch boxes, drink bottles and other belongings with your child’s

name and class. This really assists us in making sure that any misplaced items are promptly returned to the

rightful owner.

Please encourage your child to complete and regularly read and return their home readers.

We are now taking enrolments for 2017 Kindergarten. So, if you have a child that is turning five on or

before 31 July in 2017, they may enter Kindergarten at the beginning of the school year. If not, you may

know of a family that are looking for a school to enrol their child and can pass on this information.

Enrolment packs can be collected from the front office.

Miss N Parkinson - Rel. Assistant Principal (ES1)

It is easy to forget just what a complex set of skills and judgements adults use to cross roads safely.

We constantly check and recheck what’s happening around us.

All of this goes on inside our mind - invisible to children unless we talk with them about all the

things we do to keep safe.

It takes many years for young children to be able to make safe decisions independently around

traffic. To keep them safe and help them learn, hold their hands and ‘talk traffic’ with them

whenever you’re out and about.

Talking Traffic with Kids - also known as commentary walking is when adults talk with children

about all the things they’re doing together to keep safe while they are in the traffic environment.

The traffic environment is any place where there are - or could be - vehicles of any kind, such as

roads, footpaths, car parks, driveways, bicycle tracks, unfenced yards, parks and farms.

Important things to talk about with children while you’re out walking together:

Why it’s important to keep holding a grown-up’s hand

Why you’re stopping at the edge of the driveway, road, kerb or crossing

When it is safe to cross

What you’re looking and listening for while crossing the driveway, road or car park

Why you have to keep checking until you are safely across the driveway, road or car park.

What’s the best drink to quench a thirst? Water!

Even better, it has none of the sugar, found in fruit drinks, soft drinks, sports drinks and flavoured mineral

waters, which can cause tooth decay.

The fluoride in tap water helps you develop strong teeth and bones. Tap water is also a lot less expensive

than other types of drinks. Plus it’s always available, so no need for a trip to the shop.

Fruit juice, which contains Vitamin C, is often seen as a healthy choice of drink. However, fruit juice is

high in sugar and kilojoules, just like fruit drinks, flavoured mineral water, energy drinks and soft

drinks. For example, a 250ml cup of apple juice or cola contains up to six teaspoons of sugar.

Add it up: just one can of soft drink per day means you’re adding 18 kilos of sugar to your diet each year!

You can have them occasionally, but these drinks are not a necessary part of a healthy diet.

Australian researchers found that children aged between 4 and 12 years who drank 500ml or more

of fruit juice or cordial per day were twice as likely to be overweight or obese as children who

consumed none.

KINDERCARE LEARNING CENTRE

BEFORE and AFTER SCHOOL

CARE SERVICE

Kindercare Learning Centre located in Doonside

is a privately owned centre

offering a variety of services including Long Day,

Before & After School Care

and Vacation Care for ages 0-12 years.

Full Government subsidy and eligibility offered.

Our centre is open 7am to 6pm all year round.

Our Before School Care operates from

7.00am – 8.45am.

Our After School Care operates from

3.00pm to 6.00pm.

For further enquiries, please contact

Jackie De Abreu on

(02) 9622 8214 or visit our website

www.kindercare.com.au

MORE CHORES, FEWER ALLERGIES

A new study suggests that washing dishes by hand

is healthier than using a dishwasher.

Nobody likes doing the dishes, but it turns out that

doing this mundane task might pay off in an

unexpected way. According to a new study

published in the Journal of Paediatrics, washing

dishes by hand instead of using a dishwasher might

prevent the development of allergies.

Researchers in Sweden surveyed the parents of

1,029 children ages 7 and 8. They discovered that

children whose families hand-washed the dishes

instead of using a machine were less likely to have

allergies.

A little bit of dirt Earlier research has shown that dishes washed by

machine are cleaner than those washed by hand. So

why would kids who eat off of slightly dirtier

plates be better off when it comes to preventing

allergies?

One explanation is based on a theory known as the

“hygiene hypothesis,” which says the reason kids

develop allergies is because their surroundings are

actually too clean.

Your immune system keeps you healthy by

fighting germs like bacteria and viruses. But when

you have allergies, it overreacts and tries to fight

ordinary things like pollen or certain foods.

Being exposed to germs, especially early in life, is

good training for the immune system, says the lead

author of the study, Dr. Bill Hesselmar of Queen

Silvia Hospital in Sweden. “You stimulate the

immune system in various ways and it becomes

tolerant.”

This study shows that while using the dishwasher

might be easier, the old-fashioned method of

cleaning up could be better for your health.

Doonside Kindergarten Inc.

Cnr. Hillend Rd & Graham St. Doonside NSW

PH: 9621 2452 Email: doonsidekindy@optusnet.com.au

We offer Highly qualified & experienced staff

Play based programs designed to enhance & support individual skills within a social environment

Inclusive programs with support available for children with additional needs

Priority given to 4-5 year olds

Beautiful garden environments

Open during Public School terms

Fee support available—no fees due for Public or school holidays

School Readiness Program to support children’s transition to school

Regular Parent meetings and opportunities for family involvement

Annual ART SHOW & family activities.

Drop in & visit

Or Call Us Today!

PHONE: 9621 2452

VISIT OUR WEBSITE: doonsidekindy.com

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