the galston gumnut

P&C Meeting THURSDAY 12th November 7:00pm – via Zoom

Respect Responsibility Personal Best

The Galston Gumnut Galston Public School Newsletter

Wednesday 4th November 2020 Phone: 9653 2062 Fax: 9653 1980

Email: [email protected] Website: www.galston-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Calendar Dates

Week 4 Term 4 Friday 6th November No Assembly this week Week 5 Term 4 Monday 9th November Kindergarten Orientation session 1 Wednesday 11th November Bushfire Drill

Thursday 12th November SRC Fundraiser – Mufti day and gold coin donation for Westmead Children’s Hospital

Thursday 12th November P&C Meeting 7pm via Zoom Friday 13th November Honour Assembly @ 2:05pm – English

Note Due Date

Stage 2 Crusaders Experience Friday 6th November

From the Principal Book Character Dress Up day Last Friday, our students and staff enjoyed a fantastic day dressing up as their favourite book characters with the theme “Curious Creatures, Wild Minds!” I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the following people who made this day a resounding success: • Farah Miles and the fundraising committee of our P&C. The ideas and inspiration being generated are

amazing, so keep up the great work! • Pam Ferris and all of our Canteen volunteers. The treats sold on the day were outstanding, with a high level

of preparation and care taken to create fun, tasty snacks for the children. The canteen lines were long, but the smiles were wide!

• All of our dedicated staff for getting into the spirit of the day, dressing up and having fun with the children. With Friday also being World Teacher’s Day, I left our staff with the following quote, which we see them demonstrate at Galston every day, but particularly on days like Friday: “A Good Teacher is the one who only teaches. A Great Teacher is the one who learns and teaches. A Good Teacher is the one who explains once. A Great Teacher forms strong relationships with students and shows that they care about them as people.”

• Finally, each of our families for taking the time to help the children dress up and enjoy their love of books. Quite often, these are the days our children cherish at school and the strongest in developing a genuine love of literature.

Week 4, Term 4

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.galston-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/


Staffing changes for 2021 Over the past week, news has come to hand that Rebecca Wallace has been successful in securing the permanent position of Deputy Principal at Rouse Hill Public School. As you would be aware, Ms Wallace has been away from Galston in 2020 relieving at Rouse Hill PS. Over the years, she has been a wonderful asset to our school, and while we are very pleased to see her progressing in her leadership career with the Department of Education, she will be missed by the staff, students and families she has supported in her time with us. Next Friday, Ms Wallace will be attending our Honour Assembly as she bids farewell to the children of Galston PS. I am sure she will then make time to speak with many of our families at afternoon pickup. Moving into 2021, we will look to have one of our very capable staff relieving in the role of Assistant Principal. 2021 Classes Planning for 2021 classes will commence later this term. The number of classes in our school is determined according to the Department of Education’s staffing formula. Class groupings are constructed based on this allocation, the number of students in each grade and the needs of all students across the school. Our best laid plans often need to be amended if our numbers change at the beginning of the year. Teachers will be collaboratively placing students in classes, taking many factors into consideration such as academic ability, attitude and commitment towards learning, as well as emotional and social needs. Student friendship groups are one of many considerations. As you would be aware, class time is learning time and our teachers want the best possible learning environment for your child and all of the children in each class. Forming classes is a thorough process that involves considerable time, sensitivity and care. It is not a process about one child; every child is important. Every child is placed in reference to a bigger plan of how students, classes and teachers come together for optimal learning, all bound by the Department’s staffing allocation and the number of classes in our school. I know that many of you value the hard work and time that goes into this process. Please be aware that requesting a particular teacher that you would like your child to have, or not have, will not be necessary. We are yet to finalise the classes/grades that teachers will be taking next year, and teachers will not necessarily be teaching the same grade/s as they are currently teaching. All of our teachers work very well together, undertake extensive professional learning each year and collaborate with one another to develop effective and differentiated teaching and learning programs for our students. With this in mind, we would like to know of any factors that may affect the placement of your child in our 2021 classes. Whilst I cannot guarantee that we will be able to meet your requests, we will consider the information provided and, if possible, find a satisfactory solution. Please write a note to the Principal via the school office. Notes will be accepted up until Friday 27th November. Now is the time to let us know any relevant information, rather than at the beginning of next year when balanced classes have formed across the school. To minimise disruption and to retain balanced numbers, changes will not be made to classes once they have been formed in 2021. Community Consultation – Situational Analysis Throughout Term 3 and Term 4, all schools in NSW are engaged in a situational analysis as they look to develop their School Improvement Plan (SIP) to be implemented over the next four years. So, what is a situational analysis? A situational analysis is an authentic and rigorous assessment of our school’s current state and is used to inform our school’s improvement journey in learning, teaching and leading as measured against the School Excellence Framework (SEF). The situational analysis is a key component of the School Excellence cycle and is an essential step in the development of a Strategic Improvement Plan (SIP) that will effectively prioritise our school’s identified areas for growth. Conducting a situational analysis allows our school to develop a rich and highly contextualised understanding of our school’s current situation. As part of this situational analysis, every school collects qualitative and quantitative data, collates evidence, collaborates widely, and engages with research. Through a process of ‘looking inward’, ‘looking outward’ and ‘looking forward’, a situational analysis answers the questions: • ‘Where are we now?’ • ‘Where do we want to be?' • 'How good can we be?


As part of developing our SIP, we are dedicated to engaging in community consultation. At our next P&C meeting on Thursday 12th November at 7pm, our executive team will be presenting our situational analysis for discussion and input from our parents and caregivers. I encourage as many people as possible to engage in this meeting, as your input is highly valued! If, however, any families are unable to attend, please know that your input and our children’s input from our recent Tell Them From Me surveys has been used in the development of our situational analysis.

Allan Ison

Week 3 PBL Awards Gold Pins

Respect

Responsibility

Personal Best

Silver Award Galston Gotcha Prize Draw Winners

Mufti Day Fundraiser for Westmead Children’s Hospital: Thursday 12 November The Children’s Hospital at Westmead treats many thousands of sick children each year. In fact, around 32,000 children are admitted to the hospital each year for specialist treatment, and over half a million patient visits occur at the outpatient clinics. The specialist care provided by The Children’s Hospital at Westmead is world-renowned and children travel from all over Australia and from overseas to receive treatment for a range of conditions. A gold coin donation from each child at our school will help the hospital to continue the vital work of caring for sick children and give hope to their families. The School Representative Council (SRC) is inviting all students to support this cause and wear bright and colourful mufti with closed shoes on Thursday 12th November. Geeta Pendharkar – SRC Coordinator Local Exhibition of Watercolour Paintings by GPS Story Dogs Volunteer Val Wright As you may recall, Story Dogs is a fun and unique reading support program that aims to improve children’s confidence and reading skills. Students spend approximately 20 minutes one-on-one with a trained Story Dog Team (a trainer and their dog) once a week reading appropriately levelled books. The dog’s job is to listen, with the trainer providing prompts to encourage the student.


The program is designed primarily for Year 2 students who may be experiencing some reading challenges, but do not necessarily qualify for intensive school-based intervention. One-on-one time with a more experienced reader in a non-threatening environment is invaluable for all students, but particularly for those who need a bit of encouragement. Val Wright and her loveable Labrador, Zoe, began volunteering as a Story Dog Team at GPS in Term 2 2018. Sadly, because of COVID restrictions on visitors to schools, we haven’t seen Val and Zoe at GPS for some time. Val is holding an exhibition of her original watercolour paintings, many of local birds and animals, in Galston from Friday 20th- Thursday 26th November. For details see flyer further on in the newsletter. News From 5-6S What an interesting year for 5-6S, we have grown closer as a class and achieved many goals together. Since it’s the last newsletter for the Year 6 students in 5-6S, we have decided to share some of our favourite school memories; • When Lexi and I were playing OzTag with the class and we fell on top of each other because I had the ball and

Lexi went to go tag me and it was slippery so I fell over and Lexi fell on top of me and we just laughed our heads off – AJ

• To me the BEST bit about school and my best moment was making friends. If I didn’t have friends I wouldn’t be the person I am today – Charli

• It felt like an eternity since I had spoken to my friends. The long days and hard nights all leading up to this moment, the moment I call. The End. Sorry for being dramatic, I’m just talking about the end of online schooling the joy of seeing my friends again. It would be the most relieving moment of my entire time at Galston and one of my favourite times here – Dean

• Camp was the best thing that happened to me over my school years, the giant swing was my favourite part of camp – Ben

• My favourite memory about being at Galston Public School was when we travelled to Point Wolstoncroft. It was lots of fun; we stayed for two nights. We did lots of amazing activities like the giant swing, kayaking and sailing. Except when they told us there might be blue ring octopuses and they said you’ll be fine!! The cabins were amazing we had a lake view, but a girl in our cabin forgot her hairdryer and that coursed a bit of a problem. But overall I will GPS I had a great 7 years…..another 6 years to go!!- Emily

• My favourite time being at GPS was Crusaders Camp. We did so many fun things there like ga ga ball, rock climbing, bush walk and much more. We got to stay in cabins over night with friends. We also did kayaking were we paddled out in the middle of the lake and parked next to each other and we ran across the fronts of the kayaks – Finn

• My favourite memory from year 6 would have to be when I got House Vice Captain of Boronia. I walked up on the stage and Charlotte R gave me my badge. I stood up there and I looked over at everyone that would’ve been a great leader for my Boronia and I was lucky enough. Another good memory that I had in year 6 was when I was doing dancing in the library and it was last day of school going into Easter holidays and I was having the time of my life because I was with most of my friends and dancing away with them – Lexi

• Oh, this is so hard to come up with one memory from primary school there is just so many. Let’s go with when stage three last year went to Point Wolstoncroft for a two-day camp. It was probably the best camp I had gone on, because I learnt so many different things but when I was there, there was something that stood out to me was when we learnt to sail in sail boats - Mae

• My favourite memory from school is when we went to Point Wolstoncroft. The sun was beaming down on us it felt like one hundred degrees. We just finished high ropes and we were all sweating bullets. We all slowly crawled up this quite steep ledge. When we got to the top of the ledge there was two big wooden poles. The instructor said we were going on to the giant swing. As soon as I heard that I rush to the back of the line. But once I got on the swing it was so fun. The wind was brushing though my hair making it feel like a warm summer day. It was not to hot but not to cold it was just perfect - William

• After spending my time here since year 2 I have racked up some amazing memories from dress up days to camps to just having fun with my friends and class but one particularly sticks out it comes from the Point Wolstoncroft sport camp where they have many recreational activities. But the one I remember is paddle boarding with my class but this wasn’t just any paddle boarding we did at sunrise, looking across the lake and seeing the sun just start too peak over the hills and glisten off the water – Lachlan C

• My favourite memory from school is when I was in year 2. It was the last minutes of school on the mini fete day I pulled the most classic prank on my teacher I put my woopy cushion on her seat and I waited. Than


many hours later my mum gets a phone call and it worked! She said she got so scared and started cracking up! It was so funny – Sam

• My favourite school memory was when we went to camp last year and did the giant swing- Oliver We have loved our year as 5-6S! Claire Harrison – 5-6S Canteen News: Week ending Friday 6th November Thank you everyone for your wonderful support of the canteen for our Curious Creatures Wild Minds day last Friday. We had 190 orders for the pizza lunch and we sold 160 cupcakes for recess, plus all the amazing treats that were available at recess and lunch. I would also like to praise the parents of the children at our beautiful school, we had so many children come up to the mums volunteering in the canteen on Friday and thank them for the special day. The children weren’t asked to do this by their teachers: they just appreciated the effort that had been put into making it a special day. Thank you parents for teaching your children such beautiful manners, their thank yous were so appreciated. Thank you again to our very special Mrs Morgan who went well and truly beyond what was asked of her and had some amazing treats for the children to enjoy, and also to Mrs Sjaan Perlowski who spent many many hours working with me to make all the treats possible. Our next special day will be the last day of school for the year, Wednesday 16th December, our Party Day. More details to follow in the coming weeks. Monday Roster Below is the roster for the next two weeks. Please note the shift time changes to the Monday Roster.

Monday 9th November 10.45am – 1.45pm Adele Newby Recess: 10.45am-11.15am Kylie Dawson 11.30am – 2.45pm Farah Miles

Monday 16th November 10.45am – 1.45pm Jenni Bohman Recess: 10.45am-11.15am Leanne Kennedy 11.30am – 2.45pm Megan Kirkland

Friday Roster Below is the roster for the next two weeks:

Friday 6th November Helper Helper Assistant Supervisor 9.30am – 12pm Sjaan Perlowski 12pm – 3pm Danielle Van Middeldyk 9am – 3pm Jenni Bohman 9am – 3pm Megan Kirkland

Friday 13th November Helper Helper Assistant Supervisor 9.30am – 12pm Sjaan Perlowski 12pm – 3pm Carol Hellams 9am – 3pm Jess Margules 9am – 3pm Pamela Ferris

Your continued support of our canteen is very much appreciated! Pamela Ferris – Canteen Manager, [email protected] (0413 048 028)



P&C News Wow! How amazing was the Curious Creatures, Wild Minds Celebration last Friday? So much work went into making it not only an incredibly special day for our students but also a massive FUNdraiser for our school. I'd like to thank our teachers and staff for their awesome effort and enthusiasm making the day a memorable one. A huge shout out also goes to Pam Ferris for many hours spent organising and delivering the special canteen menu and spooky treats, as well as the team of legends helping to get the job done: Sjaan, Delia, Ali, Jodie, Kelly and Rachel. Thank you all. We have so much more to come this term, so stay tuned for all the exciting details and opportunities to get involved. Updated photos and information are now available on the school website, P&C Facebook page, and School Stream app - check them out. Our next P&C meeting will be held on Thursday 12th November at 7pm via Zoom - everyone is invited. For those who have ideas and feedback, this is your chance to share them. Help us shape the future of our school as we discuss our School Improvement Plan for 2021 and beyond. Sue Downing – P&C President, [email protected] (0487 601 925) Uniform Shop The Uniform Shop will be filling uniform orders placed through Flexischools weekly. If you do not have a Flexischools account, please contact the Uniform Shop so that other arrangements can be made. Orders will be packed and sent home with students at the start and end of each week. Any enquiries please contact us via [email protected]. Ali Toy – Uniform Shop Coordinator



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