GORDON WEST BULLETIN V O L U M E 1 7 2 0 1 9 N O V E M B E R 7 2 0 1 9

Principal’s Report Ryde Road Pymble 2073 Telephone: 9498 4644 Fax: 9498 4436 Email: gordonwest-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au Website: www.gordonwest-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Tue 12– Thur 14 Nov

Early Bird Transition

Sunday 17 November

Band Intensive

Mon 18 November

P&C AGM

Tue 19– Thur 21 Nov

Early Bird Transition

Thurs 21 November

Yr 12 Reunion

Fri 22 November

Yr3&4 STEM Incursion

Tue 26– Thur 28 Nov

Early Bird Transition

Tues 3 December

Year 6 Farewell

Wed 4 December

Year 3/4 Disco

Dates to Remember

Although taking a great deal longer to complete than anticipated our synthetic grass project adjacent to the school hall has now been completed. A big thank you to the School Building Committee for all of their work over a “would you believe” five year period. However the incredible amount of work/research involved in the selection of the Tiger Turf NRG product was well worth the wait and given that we had originally planned to use a rubber infill we are so pleased that we waited for the latest Tiger Turf product that has a sand infill. The students love our newest all weather play space which makes all of the hard work worthwhile.

The Ryde Spectacular choir enjoyed a wonderful experience at one of the world’s greatest venues, the Opera House, on Thursday evening 24 October where they joined with local schools to produce a spectacular performance that enthralled the audience in attendance. Congratulations to Mrs Tambakis on preparing our singers for such a memorable occasion and a big thank you to Mrs Garland who accompanied Mrs Tambakis on the evening. Although I didn’t have the opportunity to view the performance my role for the evening was very enjoyable where I placed students who arrived late and supervised students who were waiting to perform which in itself was very exciting.

J Huckerby Principal

Also supervisory staff who worked backstage had access to the Opera House staff restaurant and lounge with its beautiful harbour views. On my walk back to Wynyard Station I marvelled at the beauty of the harbour foreshores on a perfect Spring evening. On Monday evening of last week prior to the parents and Citizen’s meeting Mr Sparke our Deputy Principal presented an in depth overview of the Gordon West Naplan results for 2019 of which we were very proud. The very keen, albeit small in numbers audience was very impressed by Mr Sparke’s enthusiasm for data analysis and the compilation of graphs to illustrate his findings. They were also very appreciative of the very detailed analysis of our students’ results and more importantly how we were using the results to improve student outcomes. Mr Sparke also emphasised the importance of comparing our results to “like schools” and not the “across the state” results. Mr Sparke also related the Premier’s priorities to the performance of our children in the top two bands in literacy and numeracy. The school’s performance in writing and working mathematically was also analysed and what steps the school has taken to improve our performance in these very important areas were outlined. We are very fortunate to have a Deputy Principal who is so interested and skilled in data analysis given the significance placed on this area by the Department of Education. Following the Naplan presentation the monthly meeting of the Gordon West P&C was conducted. Although light in attendance numbers, those present certainly made up for the shortage in numbers by their enthusiasm. P&C meetings are a wonderful opportunity to find out what is happening in our school and are conducted in a friendly, fun filled environment. We do realise however that the demands placed on families in a society such as ours isn’t conducive to regular attendance at such meetings. However new parents are always welcome and if worried about being volunteered one can sit on their hands for the entire meeting. On Tuesday Evening of last week the Gordon West Festival Choir performed at the Chatswood Concourse. A big thank you to Mrs Garland our conductor for preparing our students for this prestigious event where the students had to learn 12 songs which in itself is memorable. Julia and I had a lovely evening attending this concert

where we were entertained with a variety of mass choir presented, musical compositions together with an array of excellent school and individual performances, showcasing the talent of Public Education students in our area.

On Wednesday evening of last week our largest ever group attended the Band Information Evening. Over 85 students have indicated a desire to join the Training band Program for 2020 which is a wonderful endorsement of the Gordon West band program and its conductor Ms Bella Harvey. Congratulations to Mr Mathew Hurditch, our Jazz Band Conductor, on his fulltime appointment to one of Sydney’s top community bands. We thank Mr Hurditch for his contribution to the Gordon West Band Program and wish him all the best for the future. We are also very excited to announce that Teaching Services Australia will take over the administration of the Gordon West Band Program. Mr Ben Miesch and his staff administer over 70 Public

and Private School bands and we look forward to a

mutually beneficial association with Teaching Service

Australia over the coming years where our band

program will benefit from a more streamlined

organisational model with inherent economies of scale

and increased opportunities for our band members.

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If you are interested in hosting a Parent's Christmas Party

please email FRASC at gordonwestFRASC@gmail.com

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•• •• ••K-2 Christmas Concert • Friday 13 December

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Sign-up to volunteer: https://signup.com/go/tQCEVkL

K-2 Christmas Picnic• Tuesday 17 December

Teacher's Christmas Lunch • Monday 16 December

Bookclub issue 7

Please email gwps.bookclub@gmail.com to help sort book orders for distribution. We expect to receive them at the end of next week.

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https:/ /www.entbook.eom.au/20040o2 For more information contact: Beck Jull 0408 812 046 beckc@iinet.net.au

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! • ' e

CANTEEN NEWS We are adding two new items to our OVER THE COUNTER recess menu. Beginning on Monday 11th November we will be selling cocktail spring rolls with sweet and sour sauce. The cost will be $2.00 for three spring rolls and they will be available to purchase OVER THE COUNTER on MONDAYS ONLY.

From Wednesday 13th November we will be selling dumplings with soy sauce, fillings available are chicken and mushroom and pork and chive. The cost will be $2.50 for three dumplings and will be available to purchase OVER THE COUNTER ON WEDNESDAYS ONLY.

We still welcome volunteers on any day so if you are free and would like to help out in the canteen you can use the link below to sign up . Options are available to come for the whole morning or just over our busiest time which is 11.00am until 1.00pm. We would love to see you and you do not need to be experienced in the kitchen we just welcome an extra pair of hands! Your children love to see you serve over the counter at recess time too. Here's how it works in 3 easy steps: 1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on SignUp.com: http://signup.com/login/entry/83933674049 2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on SignUp.com) 3. Sign up! Choose your spots - SignUp.com will send you an automated confirmation and reminders. Easy! Note: SignUp.com does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and I can sign you up manually - Can-teengwps@gmail.com Regards Jo Greenway Canteen Manager

SOPHIA PUBLISHED AUTHOR As a class activity for our magazine assignment everybody submitted a story to the Orbit school magazine using the starter “If only they had never opened the door” and 10 specific words. It could be no more than 120 words. It was challenging to come up with a story that used these words in so few sentences. Afterwards, we went into pairs and edited each other’s work, which I am really thankful we did. I know I wouldn't have won one of these awards without my friend Ava’s suggestions. There were stories written and submitted from all across Australia and I really didn’t expect to get chosen. By Sophia B 5T

STUDENT NEWS

STUDENT NEWS

TOUCH FOOTBALL RESULTS

25/10/19 Jnr Boys vs St Ives Nth lost 0-4 Snr Girls vs Lindfield lost 1-3 St Ives North lost 0-3 Jnr Girls vs St Ives Pk won 4-2 Snr Boys vs Pymble won 2-1 Chatswood won 5-1 1/11/19 Jnr Boys vs Masada won 7-0 Snr Girls vs Chatswood won 2-1 Killara won on forfeit Jnr Girls vs Chatswood won 4-2 Snr Boys vs BYE Lindfield east won 4-1

MODBALL RESULTS 25/10/19 Snrs vs St Ives Nth 14-0 Jnrs vs Gordon East won 12-7

1/11/19 Snrs vs Pymble won 14-0 Jnrs vs St Ives Nth lost 2-9

CRICKET RESULTS 25/10/19 vs Gordon East Juniors won 169-102 Seniors lost 66-101 1/11/19 vs Roseville Juniors won 158-48 Seniors won 108-24