Lidcombe Public School Mills Street Phone: 9649 7576 Lidcombe 2141 Fax: 9749 1197

The

Email:lidcombe-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au Website:www.lidcombe-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

“A dynamic innovative school always moving forward”.

Issue 1/2019 7 February 2018

DATES TO REMEMBER

TERM 1

30.01.19 First Day back for students. Best Start Testing begins for Kindergarten

1.02.19 Summer PSSA trials at school – preference 1

4.02.19 STEM Workshops begin for 1A, 1E, 1G & 1K.

6.02.19 Kindergarten students start STEM Workshops begin for 1/2T, 2C, 1W & 2B.

7.02.19 Dance2bfit classes begin for 4C, 4K, 3A, 3B, 3M, 3T, 3/4B, 4L, 2F, 2L & 2M.

8.02.19 Summer PSSA trials at school – preference 2

11.02.19 9am-11am Playtime Sessions start – Lidbury Hall STEM Workshops for 1A, 1E, 1G & 1K.

12.02.19 9.15am – 11am – Parent Resource Group – Lidbury Hall Summer PSSA trials at school – preference 3 Our Spectacular meeting – 4pm

13.02.19 Swimming Carnival / Water Safety Day – Ruth Everuss Pool (Years 3-6) Water Safety / Fun Day at school (K-2) STEM Workshops for 1/2T, 2C, 1W & 2B. 4.00pm – Sydney West PSSA meeting

14.02.19 Dance2bfit classes for 4C, 4K, 3A, 3B, 3M, 3T, 3/4B, 4L, 2F, 2L & 2M.

15.02.19 9.30-11.00am Auburn Zone Representative team trials – Girls and Boys Soccer, Girls and Boys Softball, Netball, AFL. Granville Primary Principals meeting – 10.30am

18.02.19 STEM Workshops for 1A, 1E, 1G & 1K. P&C meeting – 7pm (Staffroom)

19.02.19 3.15-4.00pm Meet the Teacher evening for KIndergarten (in classrooms) 4.00-4.45pm Meet the Teacher evening for Stage 2 (Larcombe Hall)

20.02.19 11.45am Parent Library Helper Group – Lidbury Hall STEM Workshops for 1/2T, 2C, 1W & 2B.

21.02.19 Dance2bfit classes for 4C, 4K, 3A, 3B, 3M, 3T, 3/4B, 4L, 2F, 2L & 2M. 3.15pm onwards – scheduled 10 minute interviews for SEU in classrooms 3.15-4.00pm Meet the Teacher evening for Stage 1 (in classrooms) 4.00-4.45pm Meet the Teacher evening for Stage 3 (Larcombe Hall)

22.02.19 Summer PSSA Round 1 STEM workshops begin for: 2M, 2L, 2C & S3B.

4.03.19 6pm – High School forms meeting - Hall

5.03.19 GRIP leadership conference for the student leaders

7.03.19 Auburn Zone Swimming Carnival – Ruth Everuss Pool

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Welcome Back !

Welcome back to another school year at Lidcombe PS. I am delighted to see so many smiling faces in the playground, on assembly and in the classrooms so far this year. Also, so many fresh uniforms, shiny shoes and lots of smiling faces on the parents as well. The staff are really looking forward to a very successful year for your children.

All students in Years 1 to 6 were placed in their new classes on the first day back, Wednesday 30/1. Kindergarten have also been ushered into their new classes, their first day was Wednesday 6/2 after our teachers had completed all of the Best Start testing with them. The staff and school Executive have worked very hard in placing the students into classes for 2019. A lot of professional time, effort and thought goes into trying to ensure students will be happy in their new class, but also in a class that will be a challenging environment for them as well as matching the student's personalities with that of the teachers, so that we can get the best out of them. All students went to their new classes happily. I need to say that the classes have been finalised as our numbers are healthy and have been submitted to the Department.

On occasion, some students can feel a little upset in their new surroundings, usually because they feel they are not with any of their friends, or they have heard some unfounded gossip about a teacher. I ask you to support your child by talking positively about the new situation, reassuring them and encouraging them to be strong and resilient in dealing with the change. As students move through the years of primary schooling, new challenges face them every day and the best way to cope with change is to make the most of it, embrace and enjoy the challenge. Most of the time, the upset feelings can pass quickly and sometimes, very rarely, the feelings can take a little longer to pass. It is important as parents to keep being positive. Children read their parents very well, if they feel you are worried about them, this will reinforce to them that there is something for them to be worried about too.

The fact is that we have amazing teachers here at Lidcombe PS and every single one of them are very rigorous with their analysis of data and are keen to

remedy the weaknesses the students have to raise their results. That is why so many families seek enrolment at our school - it is a high performing school with a great school culture and atmosphere. I feel blessed to be working here, and no doubt as parents, you are also proud of what our school achieves.

Our class teachers for 2019 are: K Bilby = Miss N. Clift (Rel. ES1 AP) K Cassowary = Miss J. Lee K Dingo = Miss T. Siu K Koala = Miss K. Gu K Quokka = Miss J. Quinnell K Wallaby = Ms. S. Gatmaitan 1 Acacia = Miss H. Chan 1 Eucalyptus = Miss G. Nguyen 1 Grevillea = Mrs C. Moir 1 Kangaroo Paw = Mrs YJ Kim (Rel. Year 1 AP) 1 Waratah = Miss S Polman 1 /2 Tea Tree = Mr. C Minett 2 Bottlebrush = Mrs. S Tran 2 Casuarina = Mrs. E Wakelin 2 Firewheel = Ms M Morgan 2 Lilli Pilli = Miss L. Nguyen 2 Melaleuca = Miss T. Duong 3 Avalon = Miss S. Mo 3 Bondi = Mrs R. Ranasinghe 3 Tamarama = Ms H. Robinson 3 Malabar = Ms A. Colley 3/4 Birdsville = Mr C. Windle (Stage 2 AP) 4 Coober Pedy = Mrs J. Chau 4 Kalgoorlie = Miss S. Yin 4 Lightning Ridge = Mrs N. Ortado (M, Tu) & Mrs C. Pisano (W, Th, F) 5 Bundjalung = Miss G. Fisher 5 Kosciuszko = Miss M. Davies 5 Garigal = Ms A. Chant 6 Arnotts = Mrs A. Pant (Rel. Stage 3 AP) 6 Fairfax = Miss S. An 6 Holden = Mrs G. Matthews 6 Qantas = Miss R. Hendy 3/6 Ruby = Miss R. Liro (Rel. SEU AP) K-6 Sapphire = Mrs L. James K-6 Emerald = Mrs M. Healy

See below for a location map of these classes.

You will notice that there are few new names besides some of the classes. We welcome these teachers to our school community. These staff members come highly recommended to our school and we are most

confident that they will do an outstanding job with your children. They include: Miss K. Gu, Miss J. Kim (Korean teacher), Mrs J. Zreika (RF), Miss J. Quinnell, Mrs M. Healy, Miss S. Yin, Miss S. Ghandour (RFF), Mrs S. Wong-Nizic (EALD SEU), Mrs T. Sklavenidis (RFF), Miss G. Fisher and our new counsellor, Mrs. J De Bono. Considering that we have Mrs Harvey, Miss Wong and Mrs Maaliki on maternity leave, it’s still a very strong team indeed.

Later in this newsletter, the roles of the other teachers in our school are explained. I ask you to please support the decisions we have made about placing the children into classes for this year, but as always, if you feel there may be a problem, come and have a chat with me.

Support Roles in 2019 Schools can be quite complex environments and quite often all you see is the interventions made with our students via the classroom teachers, but there are several other support personnel who assist the teachers with raising the standards of our students. They are:- Librarian Miss M. Cole & Mrs S. Scillitani (W,Th)

L&ST (Learning and Support Teacher) Ms R. Scott (L&ST, Reading Recovery – Rel. Year 2 AP) Miss J. Zong (L&ST, Reading Recovery) Mrs L. Willis (L&ST – 2 days a week, whilst also taking leadership of AP Student Support (LST, EALD) with a 3 day administrative role)

EALD Mrs K. Aitken (ES1 – 3 days – M, Tu & F) Mrs H. Tu (ES1- 2 days – W, Th) Mrs J. Ramsay (Year 1 – 3 days – M, Tu, W) Miss D. Sage (Year 1 – 1 day - F) Miss S. Ta (Year 2 – 5 days) Mrs M. Whittaker (Stage 2 – 4 days – M-Th) Miss D. Lee (Year 1 – Th, Stage 2 – F) Mrs Y. Nguyen (Stage 3 – 5 days) Mrs S. Wong-Nizic (SEU – 2 days – Th, F)

RFF Mrs J. Zreika (5 days) Mrs T. Sklavenidis (5 days) Miss S. Ghandour (5 days) Miss D. Lee (3 days)

Community Languages Mrs E. Park (Korean – 5 days) Miss J. Kim (Korean – 2 days – M, F) Mr K. Gan (Chinese – 5 days) Mrs J. Ji (Chinese – 2 days – M, F) Mrs A. Tokyurek (Turkish – 5 days) Mrs M. Wehbe (Arabic – 4 days – M, W, Th, F)

School Counsellor Mrs. J. De Bono (M,Tu,Th + every second Wed)

We also have, for the first time, a Technology Advisor, working in our school, supporting technology integration and ensuring it is all working at an optimum level for the students and the teachers. He is not new to our school as he was working every Thursday last year, but is now full time, welcome Mr Erwin Manalo. These support teachers are tremendously hard working and add greatly to our school’s culture.

Administration Staff for 2019 We have all of our hard working and very friendly administration staff from the end of last year, back on deck this year as well. No problem is too great for these lovely ladies and like everyone else at our school, they work extremely hard to ensure the service you receive as parents is first class. Our office hours are 8.30am to 3.15pm.

SAM Mrs Julie Rush (5 days) Business Manager Mrs Bronwyn Persson (2 days-T, Th) SAO Mrs Bronwyn Persson (3 days – M,W,F) SAO Mrs Sonia Lopes (5 days) SAO Mrs Karen Argyropoulos (5 days) SAO Ms Sandy Johnson (M, Th – 4 hours a day) General Assistant Mr M. Rush We also have 7 incredible Student Learning Support Officers – SLSO’s who do an amazing job in assisting our teachers with some of our students who have a disability. SLSO’s Mrs Julie Teasel, Mr Peter Sage, Mrs Jan Ebelt, Ms Rose Tunali, Mrs Rosa Kowaider, Ms Zena Wannous and Ms Faye Tarpis.

**P&C Meeting – Monday 18th February – staffroom. All welcome!

Executive Roles in 2019 Our school executive team comprises twelve (14) teachers in school leadership positions. Our school executive team members are as follows: Mr Matt Lewis Principal Mr Michael Duffy Deputy Principal Ms. Kylie Ward Rel. Deputy Principal Miss Debbie Sage Act. DP L3 Lead Trainer There are nine Assistant Principals with delegated leadership and management of different teachers and students within the school. Mrs Lee Willis – AP Student Support Miss Riahn Libro – Rel. Special Education AP Miss Nerida Clift – Rel. Early Stage One AP Mrs YJ Kim – Rel. Year One AP Ms Rebecca Scott – Rel. Year 2 AP Mr Chris Windle - Stage 2 AP (Year 3 and Year 4) Ms Aruna Pant – Rel. Stage 3 AP (Year 5 and Year 6) Mrs Corli-Ann Brebner – Act. AP Early Career Teachers Mrs Kristie Aitken – Act. AP L3 Trainer

Add Mrs Rush as our School Administrative Manager and that makes a total of 14 in our Executive team, leading Lidcombe PS into the future and beyond. Our school has been through major change over the last 8 years – boosting teachers for better performances in student results and teacher roles, maintaining a high focus on quality teaching, changing the classroom landscapes with technology and furniture, implementing great programs like L3, L3Stage 1, LOL, TENs, Project based learning, Learning Centres, STEM education, but the ethos amongst our leadership continues: “Building the capacity of teachers and leaders through engagement in quality professional learning is the key to improving student learning outcomes.” The combined teaching experience and expertise of our school leadership team exceeds 200 + years.

Throughout 2019 we will be using that combined experience and expertise to focus on the further enhancement of our own leadership capacity and the professional practice of our colleagues with particular emphasis on successful classroom organisation and effective reading strategies and techniques.

How do your children get to and from school ? The start of school term signals the start of the Mills Street, John Street and Doodson Avenue traffic chaos. To ease traffic congestion, improve child safety and lessen parental stress, perhaps your child could walk or catch the bus to school?

While younger kids need to be accompanied, older children are often both willing and able to make their own way to school. Yet many Year 5 and 6 students aren't given the opportunity until high school, when greater distances make it an extremely daunting experience for the uninitiated. Obviously we don't all have the time to walk our kids to school, but perhaps a car-pooling or "walk-pooling” arrangement could be made with parents that live nearby. Whatever works for you, you'll be doing everyone a favour (including the ozone layer) by leaving the car at home. Some good reasons to walk to school: • the weather is with us - make the most of it! • younger kids benefit from the one-on-one time with their parents • older kids enjoy the independence that walking to or from school fosters, not to mention the time to chat and unwind with their friends • all kids (and their parents) benefit from the exercise and the chance to take stock of their surroundings • parents can surreptitiously check out what's going on in their neighbourhood. Perhaps you might get some renovating or gardening ideas along the way • if nothing else, you're bound to be rewarded with a friendly "Good morning" and smile, making your community that much nicer (and safer) for your child to grow up in. Too far to walk? Perhaps your child can catch the bus: The School Student Transport Scheme (SSTS) provides free travel between home and school Monday to Friday on school days. To be eligible for the scheme an applicant must be a resident of NSW, 4 years 6 months of age or older and enrolled as one of the following:

• an infant student (K-2), the distance between their home and school being irrelevant • a primary student (Years 3-6) who lives more than 1.6 kms (radial distance) from school, or 2.3 kms or more by the most direct practical walking route to the nearest entry point to the school • a secondary student (Year 7-12) who lives more than 2 kms (radial distance) from school, or 2.9 kms or more by the most direct practical walking route to the nearest entry point to the school

You can apply online for all school travel passes, using a single application form for your complete journey. https://apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts/#/applyNowForms must be completed and signed by a parent or guardian and returned to the school, which will verify that the student is enrolled. The school will forward the application form(s) to the transport operator, who will assess whether the student meets the distance eligibility criteria. If eligible, the operator will issue the student with a pass, which indicates that it is solely for travel under the scheme. Note that a new application must be completed when a student progresses from Year 2 to Year 3; changes name, school and/or address; or applies for an additional travel pass in a joint/dual custody situation.

Medical Issues As a reminder, we have a few children who have an extreme allergic reaction (which can be life threatening) to peanuts and other nuts. This means that this child cannot come into contact with other people who have eaten nut products (eg. Nutella, peanut butter, any types of nuts or any foods that contain nuts or nut products.) I realise that the school can never really be nut free, but I’m sure that all parents can be very vigilant about this problem and not send their children to school with anything that contains nuts, including home made birthday cakes etc. This way, we will become nut-aware. It is a challenge for us at school as well as our community, but I am confident that everyone will pull together to make our school a safe place for every child. As a rule anyway, if your child does present as ill before they come to school, it is better that you keep them at home, so as not to spread the disease throughout the school. We respectfully request that all children and parents of Lidcombe PS follow these guidelines over 2013 and beyond. If you have any enquiries regarding this, please contact me at the school office.

School Uniforms The parent community of Lidcombe Public School has determined that all students attending Lidcombe PS should wear school uniform. The principal and school staff fully support and endorse this decision and encourage all students to comply with this expectation. All students are expected to exhibit good grooming and personal cleanliness. Offensive slogans on clothing or belongings will not be permitted. At the end of 2011, we officially took over control of the Uniform Shop from Lowes and now parents can buy the uniform from our school. It is located at Lidbury Hall (near Blocks A and C) and you can visit the Uniform Shop on Wednesdays 8.30 to 9.15am or on Friday afternoons 2.30 – 3.15pm. This year I would like to focus on the wearing of our school hat and black school shoes. There seems to be quite a few students who tend to wear any hat to school, and when I look out over the school population at a morning assembly, it doesn’t look good. The wearing of a hat is especially important during hot weather and we are definitely insisting that our students are wearing their hats outside. As a school, we bought school hats for everyone last year (and did it in 2012 and 2016 as well), there should be no excuse for not wearing one. With the wearing of black school shoes, these can be black sneakers also, whichever of the two they are more comfortable in, but they must be black. Whilst on the uniform shop, I need to thank our very hard working, friendly and very supportive parents who run the uniform shop. They spend countless hours voluntarily, chasing up or filling orders and providing a wonderful service to our parents. On the issue of supervision, please ensure you have your small children with you. They are not allowed on the equipment outside the uniform shop – we are not

covered for any accidents that happen on this equipment without direct supervision and of course, when they are on the equipment, it is mostly during class time which serves as an unnecessary distraction to our students. Also, please don’t leave your child alone in Lidbury Hall as accidents can happen there too. Your children must be kept with you, safe and sound at all times. Thank you for your support in this matter.

Excursions and School Performances During the year the students will be provided with opportunities to participate in excursions, visiting performances and other activities that cost money. These activities are very important to the overall education of your child(ren) and therefore it is expected that all children involved will attend. If parents require assistance with payment for any of these activities, please speak to Mr. Lewis.

Fruit Breaks – Crunch and Sip Like last year, our staff decided they would follow the new program “Crunch and Sip” in their classrooms, to improve the way our students think at crucial periods during our school day.

As our morning session is 2 hours long, and physically, some children have not eaten for 4 hours between breakfast and recess, we are now asking that you provide a small portion of fruit (you determine the size

depending on the age of your child(ren)), so they can spend 2 minutes at around 10am having a quick bite of something healthy to recharge them for the rest of the morning. Also we are encouraging the use of a water bottle filled with chilled water only, to sip on at this time. The rules are, however, that it must be a small piece of fruit and water only to take advantage of this break. If you would like more information about this program, see Mr. Lewis, Mrs Rush or visit www.crunchandsip.com.au. I am sure that this will lead to even more success in the classrooms. **A reminder as well – due to all the building and the limited access between the top and bottom of the school, it is a very good idea that parents and students get used to doing a lunch order, preparing it at home with paper bags and dropping it into the canteen, rather than have copious amounts of children accessing the canteen to buy something. It just means that we will have just a little more space for the students to play in.

Composite Classes At the beginning of a new school year, many parents might suddenly find their child in a composite class. Naturally, questions arise: for the older group - will my child be held back? For the younger group - will my child be able to keep up? In primary schools, classes are organised in a wide variety of ways. Composite classes are one such type. Background Classes that are made up of children of different year levels have traditionally been called composite classes. In recent times, these classes have also been labelled multi aged or stage classes. There are two reasons why these classes are formed:

Administrative - this is where there is an uneven enrolment in school years and classes need to be formed across a number of school years. This occurs in most primary schools and especially in smaller primary schools.

Educational - where classes are formed on the basis of educational rationale as they are seen to have educational benefit for the student.

Classes are formed following either of the above criteria or a combination of these criteria. Composite classes have been the source of much controversy over the years, with parents often believing that their offspring is being disadvantaged in some way by being in one. The key to understanding composites is realising that growth is determined in stages and not by ages.

Composite classes teach children who are at compatible stages - not ages. It makes sense then to group children who are going through the similar stage so they can relate, help and experience together. Even within the same class, children will be at different levels. Teachers recognise this and usually extend the work of those who learn more quickly and give more attention to those who are slower. The class then becomes outcome based rather than competition based - this method of teaching also applies to straight classes. The good thing about composite classes is that it draws attention to individual needs and development and facilitates individualised learning. Managing composite classes requires experienced/dynamic teachers. Teachers at Lidcombe PS are well versed and experienced in conducting programs in composite classes. Older students are not held back in composite classes. Separate programs are used, in most curriculum areas, for the different groups of students according to their level of development, and there will be some joint activities. Composite classes can provide significant benefits to both the younger and older students in the class. Older students can benefit from helping younger students in co-operative learning situations. The younger students have the opportunity of enhanced learning experiences where they are ready for it. The Department of Education has published overseas research that shows children in composite classes do no better or worse academically than their peers in straight grade class, but that, socially, their development is enhanced. They are more confident, can operate better as part of a group, are more assertive, become more independent learners and better problem solvers. They also make friends outside of their standard age groups. Composite classes, also known as multi-age, multilevel, fluid or vertical groups, are viable ways of grouping students. If you use this definition, you would also then realise that every class (including ‘straight’ classes) can be deemed composite as every class has a variety of children who are performing at different academic levels.

Chinese New Year

As you may have noticed that the Chinese New Year

2019 fell on Tuesday, February 5, 2019, beginning a

year of the Pig. China's public holiday will be February

4-10, 2019.

Through Mr Gan and Mrs Ji, I would like to briefly share

some facts that how Chinese people celebrate the most

important festival of their culture.

1. Chinese New Year Decorations - Lucky Red Items

Every street, building, and house where Spring

Festival is celebrated is decorated with red. Red is the

main colour for the festival, as red is believed to be an

auspicious colour. Red Chinese lanterns hang in

streets; red couplets are pasted on doors; banks and

official buildings are decorated with red New Year

pictures depicting images of prosperity.

Most public decoration is done a month before, but

home decoration is traditionally done on Chinese

New Year's Eve. As 2019 will be a year of the Pig,

decorations related to pigs will be commonly seen.

Look out for red pig dolls for children and New Year

paintings including pigs.

2. Chinese New Year's Eve - Family Time

Chinese New Year is a time for families to be together.

Wherever they are, people are expected to be home

to celebrate the festival with their families. The New

Year's Eve dinner is called 'reunion dinner', and is

believed to be the most important meal of the year.

Chinese New Year Dinner New Year dinners have

many meaningful dishes. Like people waiting in New

York Time Square to see the ball dropping, Chinese

people have the custom of staying up late on Chinese

New Year's Eve to welcome the new year's arrival.

After reunion dinner, families normally sit together to

watch the Spring Festival Gala, one of the most

watched TV shows in China. At the same time, most

people send WeChat red envelopes or short

messages to acquaintances by phone.

3. Chinese New Year Gifts and Red Envelopes

Like at Christmas in other countries, people exchange

gifts during the Spring Festival. In rural areas and for

older people the New Year gift giving tradition is still

strong, but increasingly younger people prefer just to

receive red envelopes (by hand or electronically).

The most common New Year gifts are red envelopes.

Red envelopes have money in, and are believed to

bring good luck because they are red. They are given

to children and retirees. Customarily only employers

give red envelopes to working adults. We would all like to wish members of our school community a very happy and prosperous new year. Summer PSSA Sport We are also entering into Summer PSSA sport this year. The sports on offer are: *Junior and Senior Cricket *Junior and Senior AFL (Aussie Rules)

*Senior Boys and Girls Softball *Junior Boys and Girls T-ball *Junior Mixed, Senior Boys and Girls Basketball

Trials started last Friday, continue this Friday 8 February for their 2nd preference and will conclude on Tuesday 12 February, giving your child in years 3 to 6 three chances of trying out for PSSA Summer Sport teams. If successful, your child will need a permission note signed by you to participate, they will need to sign a code of conduct sheet and pay the PSSA sport fee (one off payment for the term) before the season commences. Summer PSSA sport will commence on Friday 22 February 2019. There will also be a morning of Auburn PSSA district trials in the following sports – Boys Soccer, Girls Soccer, Netball (Mixed), and Boys and Girls AFL. This morning will take place on Friday 15 February 2019. Please see Mr Windle or Miss Davies if you are interested in your child attending (years 5 and 6 only).

For our new Kindergarten parents….. Our new Kindergarten students have settled in well and have begun their great journey for learning in the primary years with great enthusiasm. Just a couple of reminders are below to help you make your child as successful as possible: *All students need to wear closed in shoes – no sandals or thongs! *All students must be wearing a school hat outside as part of our Sun Safe policy. They are only $15 at our uniform shop. PLEASE make sure you label all hats with your child’s name. *It is summer at the moment, so jumpers are probably not a wise thing to dress your children in. Put the jumper in your child’s bag if you are worried. *We have a program called “Crunch and Sip” happening at 10am in the classrooms. Your child needs a small portion of fruit (bite-sized) and water to drink every day for this activity. Please see further information regards Crunch and Sip in this newsletter. *Please ensure that you pack an appropriate amount of lunch to eat each day. We have witnessed some Kindergarten students take almost the whole of their lunch break to consume what they have for lunch. Play time is important too. *Whilst you can do a lunch order for your child, Kindergarten students won’t be served at the canteen windows just yet. We will give them a practice in Term 4, but until they have a better concept of money and what they can buy, we don’t let them buy at the canteen.

School Swimming Carnival Our swimming carnival will follow the tremendously successful model that has now been in operation for 6 years, the Water Sports Day.

All children in Years 3-6 will be attending our swimming carnival down at Ruth Everuss Pool. Year 2 students that turn 8 years old and can swim 50m (one lap of the pool) are also invited. The morning session will focus on the races needed for representatives to go on to our Auburn Zone carnival and then for the rest of the day, focus will shift to students placed in groups to learn aspects of water safety in the pool. We feel this will be of most benefit to all students. Our carnival will take place on Wednesday 13 February 2019 with the note already sent our with students (translated in four 4 major languages which will be put on our website). In reading this note, it is very important that you read all of the information and place your child in the most applicable group that applies to their swimming ability – beginners, intermediate and advanced. Beginner and intermediate groups will still be able to touch the bottom of the pool without going under, but the advanced groups will be learning in the deep water – we will be testing their ability to take part in the advanced group as well as highlighting what group each student is in with a very brightly coloured wristband. Of course, you are more than welcome to attend, even help out on the day. K-2 will be operating their Water Sports Day back at school with lots of fun activities involving water and some lessons on water safety as well. Should you misplace your note please go to our school website and download a replacement note.

Mobile Phones While it is accepted that mobile phones play an important part in modern life and communications, it is important that all staff, students and parents accept that their use during class time and on various other occasions at school is inappropriate. If mobile phones are to be brought to school by students, they need to be switched off and left in their bags until 3pm or better still, left at the office. Parents and carers must give written permission for students to bring mobile phones to school. The school will not accept any responsibility for a mobile phone being lost or damaged.

Meet the Teacher evenings Meet the Teacher evening is certainly a very worthwhile and important activity for our school community. At these meetings, you will be given an idea into how the classrooms work, what we will be covering regards content during the year in stages, how homework is administered in the different stages, basically a run down of what will happen for your child at school during 2019. It also affords you the opportunity to contribute to their learning if you, as parents, have a job that may have significant

relevance to what we are covering in classes. Please consider this. What a Meet the Teacher evening isn’t, is a chance for you to discuss your child’s progress at this point in time. If would like to do that, please organise a separate interview time, as the teacher’s will not have time to do this informally on the day. You will take away some reading material that will be crucial to the organisation of your child’s class and grade, so please file it in a safe place. Stage 3 students will be moving into BYOD (Bring your own device) – a system that allows students to bring a device from home to further supplement their learning – nothing smaller than a mini iPad and certainly something they already have (you don’t need to buy a brand new device). More information will come from Ms Pant at the Stage 3 Meet the Teacher evening. Times and dates for these meetings are: *Kindergarten – Tuesday 19 February 3.15-4pm (in classrooms) *Stage 2 – Tuesday 19 February 4-4.45pm (Larcombe Hall) *SEU – Thursday 21 February – scheduled 10 minute interviews – SEU rooms *Stage 1 – Thursday 21 February 3.15-4pm (in classrooms *Stage 3 – Monday 19 February 4-4.45pm (Larcombe Hall) We hope to see a lot of parents attend.

Scripture Scripture lessons won’t start until Tuesday 26 February, 3-6 sessions 1.50-2.20pm and K-2 sessions 2.20-2.50pm. At the end of last year, the Department removed historical data about SRE, so when the children rolled over into 2019, they had no SRE information. If you want your child to attend SRE (or not) you must fill out the form we have sent home, sign and date it. You have the option to withdraw your child from SRE at any time by notifying the school in writing. If we do not receive a signed note from you, we will assume you do not want your child to attend scripture.

Closing the main school gate

If you are visiting the school during school hours and coming through the main school gate, please make sure the gate is closed behind you when you enter and when you leave to avoid a quick and easy exit for some of our younger students. We have a student in our school who is a flight risk, so this issue is very important !!! Also, we are keeping the pool gate near the Uniform Shop closed as well – please ensure when you walk through it, you close it behind you !

Platinum Awards Being Green suggests that your child is behaving very well and is doing what our teachers expect of them in the classroom and the playground. Our Week 1 & 2 recipients were:- Week 1 – No recipients. Week 2 – Kimmela Rabago (4K), Anna Chen (4K) and Max Zanic (3/4B). What a great start to the year students!

Website, Facebook & Team App We encourage you to keep an eye on our school website www.lidcombe-p.schools.nsw.edu.au and to become involved in our school and work with us in the interests of your child’s education. We have also purchased a “Team App”. All you need is an iPhone, iPod Touch, any smartphone android device (eg Samsung) or an iPad, and then download the free “Team App” to your device. The team app enhances our communications with our community. It will be a notification type service, that will allow you to get updates, reminders and even our school newsletter. By far though, our most successful means of communication happens with our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/LidcombePS). Please like our page to get all of our updates.

Newsletter The newsletter is emailed to parents each fortnight. Electronic distribution is a much better method of communication with families as it allows the school community to enjoy great images of students in full colour without the environmental impact of substantial paper usage. Please ensure that you keep your email address up to date with the office. Thank you for saving just that little bit more of our environment.

CHANGE OF EMAIL ADDRESS NEWSLETTER

I have changed my email address. Name of Child: ____________________ Class: ______________ Email address:- __________________________________________

Please write clearly. Please hand in to Mrs Rush in the office as soon as possible.

*Swimming Scheme starts on Monday 18 March through to Friday 29 March. Year 2 and 3 students get first preference in this great learn to swim program. Kindergarten and Year 1 are not eligible for the program.

Principal

SCHOOL TIMES

Students MUST NOT arrive at school before 8:30 am and must leave promptly at 3:00 pm Parents are reminded that school supervision exists between 8:30 am and 3:00 pm. A Before and After School Care facility is provided on the school site for parents needing child minding. Contact 9749 2817 after school hours for further details.

Leaving students unsupervised on school grounds has legal implications for both the school and parents.

Access to the school is only possible via the pedestrian gate near the sandpit (Mills Street) during school hours. All visitors must report to the school office. Unauthorised persons on school premises are considered to be trespassing and will be reported to the police.

SMOKING IS PROHIBITED ON SCHOOL PREMISES

How exciting is it to hear that next week, K-6S, 3-6R, Kindergarten and most of Stage 1 will attend the EnviroMentors Workshops? This complementary incursion is provided, with thanks, by the Cumberland Council. These 45-minute sessions will aim to encourage our students and teachers to continue their environmentally friendly ways towards a more sustainable way of living.

Students will learn about the different types of bins, how to recycle, sustainability, composting, schoolyard harvesting, worm farming, how to use water wisely, keeping waterways clean, waste-free lunchboxes and the effects of littering. Our love and care for the natural environment will grow even more after this wonderful event!

Did you know???

For the safety of all students, toddlers, babies and adults, please do not bring dogs into the school grounds, even on leashes. Some children have a genuine fear and it can be quite distressing for them as well as for parents, particularly those with very young children. Thank you for your support in this matter.

Under the Companion Animals Act

1998 No 87 (14.1.e), dogs are

prohibited in school grounds,

(whether or not they are leashed

or otherwise controlled).

ENVIRONMENTORS

Lidcombe Public School List of materials for classroom use 2019

Kindergarten – Early Stage 1 2 family size box tissues each semester 1 old shirt 1 roll of paper towels or wet wipes

Years 1 and 2 – Stage 1 2 glue sticks (solid type) per term 2 whiteboard markers per term 4 lead pencils per term 2 family size box tissues each semester Homework book (A4 size book) 2 highlighters Pencil case Sharpener Ruler (30cm length) Scissors I roll of paper towels or wet wipes 1 old shirt Headphones (cheap) * Library bag

Years 3 and 4 – Stage 2 Pencil Case 10 lead pencils per term 4 red pens per term Pencil Sharpener (with room for shavings) 2 glue sticks (solid type) per term 30cm ruler - with mm Eraser and scissors 2 family size box of tissues each semester A4 Homework Book A4 Plastic Folder with plastic sleeves Whiteboard markers Headphones/earphones Library bag 1 pack of wet wipes Headphones (cheap) * NB: Library bags are available from the Uniform Shop ($12-00 each)

Years 5 and 6 – Stage 3 Pencil case Coloured pencils 6 HB lead pencils per term (Staedtler or similar) 3 blue & 2 red biro pens (bic brand or similar) 2 x Green pens Highlighters 30cm Ruler (showing millimetres) Pencil sharpener (with room for shavings) 2 glue sticks (solid type) per term Eraser and scissors 2 family size box tissues each semester A4 Homework book Whiteboard markers Textas Whiteboard markers x 2 Geometry Set Headphones (cheap) * Library bag Optional: Calculator, BYOD

Hi, my name is Toula Sklavenidis and I am 54 years old. I was born in Australia and my background is Greek. I have three beautiful kids. My boys are 22 going on 23 and my daughter is 21 going on 22. I am very much family orientated. I have been teaching for over 30 years. I started my teaching career at Airds High School. From there, I went to Blairmount Public School. After nearly 3 and half years I put in transfer to Belmore North to support my nephew who was starting school the following year. I had just over 6 glorious years there. I’d put a transfer in to get closer to home. I got my transfer to Liverpool Public School. After 20 years and waiting 8 years, I was transferred to Lidcombe. I have taught kindergarten right through to year 10, been an EAL/D and RFF teacher. I love teaching RFF simply because you get to teach from kindergarten right through to year 6. At Lidcombe I will be doing RFF. I’m hoping my enthusiasm, sense of humour and my thirst for knowledge will allow me to connect with the students in a positive way.

We are looking to expand our range of passive play toys for our Kindergarten students to use during break times. Do you have any toys at home that your children don’t use any more, that are still in good condition and don’t require batteries? Please drop them off to the office or see Miss Clift, Assistant Principal, Kindergarten.

School banking is up and running again for 2019. Bank books should be dropped off at the office on a Wednesday morning before school. They will be returned to students the following Tuesday. School Banking encourages children to save a little money each week (any amount) into their Youthsaver account, helping them learn about the value of money and develop a good saving habit. Each time a child makes a School Banking deposit they earn a silver Dollarmites token. Once they've collected 10 tokens, they can redeem them for an exciting reward. If you would like your child to be part of the school banking program see the office for an application form.

MEET THE TEACHER

DONATIONS OF TOYS FOR KINDERGARTEN PASSIVE PLAY

SCHOOL BANKING

Wow what a busy start to the year! Many thanks again to our regular Uniform Shop mums and also the additional mums who volunteered their time to help us during that first week, we wouldn’t have survived without you!

To give you an idea of how quickly our stock goes out the door, at the end of last year we placed an order for around $9,000 worth of stock. At least half that stock was sold within 48 hours of being put on the shelves. Another order for around the same amount was placed last week and should hopefully arrive early next week. That order includes more short sleeve polo shirts as well as house t-shirts in all colours. We have also just placed another $6,000 order and that should arrive in about 2 weeks time.

Please keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates on stock arrivals.

The new dresses look great on our girls – we are presently selling them in sizes 6 and 8. We know you are all keen to get the new dresses but we appreciate your understanding that we have to sell all our old stock first. To enable this to happen quicker, we have reduced the cost of the old stock dresses to $20-00.

Our Playtime sessions are entering their 21st year in 2019 and will restart on Monday 18 February 9am-11am in Lidbury Hall. Playtime is open to siblings of students already attending Lidcombe PS and those children who will be enrolling for Kindergarten 2020 at our school. There is an annual fee of $10 and $2 each week you attend. This money goes towards the running of Playtime. The first week is free for newcomers. Please bring a piece of fruit to share for morning tea.

18 February Valentines Day Craft 25 February Octopus Craft 4 March Flower Craft 11 March Magic Wand 18 March St Patricks Day Craft 25 March Colour Matching Craft 4 April threading craft 11 April Easter Craft

UNIFORM SHOP

$35 $20

PLAYTIME – MONDAY MORNINGS

ROAD SAFETY AROUND SCHOOLS

*NOW TAKING ACTIVE KIDS AND CREATIVE KIDS VOUCHERS!*

BERALA UNITED

GIRLS PHYSICAL CULTURE CLUB

MONDAYS - St. Peter Chanel Hall, Kingsland Road, BERALA

FRIDAYS - Berala Public School Hall, Harrow Road, BERALA

Instructresses: Rebecca White, Nicole Baker, Brooke Lampier & Camila Lopes

COME DANCING TO :-

KEEP FIT - HAVE FUN - MEET NEW FRIENDS

Now Enrolling for 2019 classes!

“Physie” is a female-only sport that fuses dance styles such as Jazz, Ballet, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Aerobic dance and even Yoga! Our perfect

combination of different movements is designed to increase strength, fitness and flexibility. The benefits for your daughter (and yourself!) include increased co-ordination, brain development and confidence.

All this at a very reasonable price and no expensive outlays! Fees range from $50.00 - $75.00 a term.

ENQUIRIES - Karen White 9793 2422 / 0408 263170

Denise Baker 9649 6218 / 0419 462505

Email: beralaphysie@hotmail.com

or check out our Website: www.beralaphysie.com.au

NEW MEMBERS WELCOME - FIRST TWO LESSONS FREE!