Smithfield West Public School Deeds not words

Newsletter

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

Bulletin: 20:03

Term: 1 Week: 8 Thursday 19 March

CALENDAR

Wednesday 25 March School Photos - Postponed Sunday 5 April End of daylight savings- Turn clock back Thursday 9 April Last day of Term 1 Monday 27 April School Development Day (Student Free) Tuesday 28 April First day Term 2 INCLUSIONS Tell Them From Me survey – Years 4-6 NAPLAN information Years 3 & 5 Wetherill Street, Wetherill Park 2164 Phone: 9604 3161 9604 4501 Stephen Gray Principal

Dear Parents and Caregivers, COVID-19 As you would be aware, information regarding COVID-19 is updating on a regular basis. It is important to understand that our school is open and operating as normal. While many planned excursions and events have been cancelled in line with DoE requirements, classes are operating normally. There is currently no reason for a student to be absent from school purely because of concerns relating to COVID-19. NAPLAN The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a point in time assessment of literacy and numeracy skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life. Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participate in the annual NAPLAN tests in reading, writing, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. Our school will be participating in NAPLAN Online between 12 and 22 May 2020. Excessive preparation for NAPLAN Online is not recommended. Students can use the public demonstration site (https://www.nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site) to familiarise themselves with the functionalities and types of questions they will experience in NAPLAN Online. If you have any questions about NAPLAN Online, please contact your child’s teacher. REFUNDS Payments already made for events (such as the Stage 3 Science incursion from last Monday), can be rolled over as payment in advance for future events or refunds can be issued. Parents will need to present at the office to complete the paperwork to obtain a refund from Friday morning. PLEASE NOTE: THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO SCHOOL PHOTOS (REFER BELOW). SCHOOL PHOTOS As you are now aware, school photos have now been postponed. They have been rescheduled for Wednesday August 19 (Term 3). If payment has been made online The School Photographer can either hold payment over until the rescheduled photo day or alternatively, if you would like a refund, please contact The School Photographer directly on 9674 9824. If payment has been made in cash to the school office, please come into the office to collect your payment envelope from tomorrow.

https://www.nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site

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CLASS MERIT AWARDS With the cancellation of school assemblies for the foreseeable future, I do not want to see students at our school miss out on the class merit awards they have earnt. From next Wednesday, I will be visiting classrooms to present these awards. P&C At the Annual General Meeting of the P&C the following ladies were elected as executive members for 2020. Congratulations to: President: Cassandra O’Keeffe Vice President: Rachel Elias Secretary: Alana Byrne Treasurer: Shami Siwan PSSA REPRESENTATIVES Congratulations to the following students who were recently selected in Horsley Zone PSSA representative teams:

• Marco Kiseloski Under 11s Rugby League • Rayden Honeysett Under 11s Rugby League • Orlando Pau Open Rugby League & Basketball • Dean O’Keeffe Open Rugby League

While the current situation means they won’t be able to play, it is still a wonderful achievement to be selected. TELL THEM FROM ME SURVEY I am delighted that this term, our school, like many other public schools in the state, will participate in a Department of Education initiative: the Tell Them From Me student feedback survey. The survey measures factors that are known to affect academic achievement and other student outcomes. The focus of the NSW-wide survey is on student wellbeing, engagement and effective teaching practices. More information about the survey is available at: http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au The survey is a great opportunity for our students to provide us with valuable and quick feedback on what they think about school life, how engaged they are with school and the different ways that teachers interact with them. More than 6,300 schools in Australia and around the world have used Tell Them From Me to survey 5.4 million students. Capturing the voices of our students will help improve how we do things at our school. I want to assure you that the survey is confidential. The survey is conducted online and will typically take less than 30 minutes to complete. It will be administered during school hours between later this term. Participating in the survey is entirely voluntary. A consent form and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for parents/carers about the survey is being sent home with students. If you do not want your child or children to participate, please return the form to school by Friday 27 March, 2020. Copies of the form and FAQs are available from: http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au/information-for-parents. The consent form and FAQs are available in 23 languages. SCHOOL ZONE OFFENCES On 1 July, 2019 the NSW government updated school zone offences by increasing fines. It is hoped that this will help to create and enforce a safer road environment in school zones. I have some of the penalties for illegal parking/stopping around a school. 1. Stopping in intersection - $457 and 2 demerit points. 2. Stop within 20m of intersection (traffic lights) - $457 and 2 demerit points. 3. Stop within 10m of intersection (no traffic lights) - $457 and 2 demerit points. 4. Obstruct access to ramp/path/passageway - $344 and 2 demerit points. 5. Not parallel park in the direction of travel - $344 fine and 2 demerit points. 6. Parallel park close to dividing line - a $344 fine and 2 demerit points. All updated school zone offences can be located through Roads and Maritime: http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/documents/roads/ safety-rules/demerits-school.pdf

http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au/information-for-parentshttp://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au/information-for-parents

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WHEN LUNCH COMES HOME AGAIN – UNEATEN What's going on when school lunch comes home uneaten again, now an unrecognisable impression of a sandwich at the bottom of the bag? Almost nine out of 10 Australian parents say children's resistance is a major obstacle in their efforts to provide a healthy diet, and in many cases school lunches are one of the battlegrounds. But, it's a battle families can do without and there are some simple steps to help avoid it. At a glance:

• Children have small stomachs and prefer to graze all day rather than eat fewer, bigger meals. • Sweet treats fill kids up, leaving little room for healthy lunch options. • Reassure your kids that it's OK to bring their lunch home so you can see what they need to eat that evening. • Lunch is not as vital as breakfast in setting up your child for the school day. • Concern is warranted when meals at home are being skipped as well as lunch. Find out more: http://www.schoolatoz.nsw.edu.au/wellbeing/ food/when-lunch-comes-homeagain Stephen Gray Principal ASSEMBLY AWARD RECIPIENTS

KC Emma Arena, Ruben Jones, Karas Hilal, Maude Makoare KG Austen Hang, Marbel Qaqos, Linden Tran, Sargon Kina KN Rita Al-Saour, Loren Cacus, Liyon Pano, Lorance Batti 1O Harley-Rae Feagaiga, John Adam, Marianela Alzebari, Jonathan Barker

1/2L Yousef Al-Dahelky, Kian Varghaei, Audrey Tran, Jamilli 2P Yousef Elbestawy, Raad Al Shabi, Kerstin Sarkees, Simay Bayram 2R Adilla Kwrea, Joshua Adam, Arianna Nguyen, Toumas Shmouni 3F Daniel Atta-Opoku, Mir Saeed, Isabelle Oudish, Jerzey Feagaiga 3N Layelle Taha, Materan Cacus, Giorgia Favale, Jad Al Khouri 4C Zachary Byrne, Mikayla Moore, Silena Somo 4H Dominic Walsh, Daniel Leat, Christiano Kina, Angliena Katsho 5D Iden Azeez, Shaelee McLean, Manesa Al Saedey, Jason Mooshi, Stephanie Omongos

5/6M Matti Matti, Elysha Porfida, Andy Tran, Mohamed Taha, Sienna Byrne 5/6R Brodie Bennett, Hope Robinson, Dean O’Keeffe, Eugenia Zaya, Alexi Sinadinos 6K Eliana, Bavin Bahaddin, Cherbel Odisho, Rita Oudish, Leah Sefo

PSSA Friday 13 March results

Junior Newcombeball Lost 0-2 St Johns Park Senior Newcombeball Lost 0-2 St Johns Park Junior Boy’s T-ball Lost 7-12 King Park Senior Boy’s Touch Won 4-1 Cabramatta West Senior Girl’s Touch Won 7-0 Cabramatta West

M. Kirby

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NATIONAL YOUNG LEADERS DAY On Monday 2 March, our student leaders attended The National Young Leaders Day at the International Convention Centre (ICC) at Darling Harbour. Mrs Carpenter had the thrill of accompanying them and enjoyed her day with these four great students. We thank her very much for taking the students and helping to ensure this was a very valuable experience for them all. They had the opportunity to listen to inspiring guest speakers including the following and 'came away' with many new ideas and inspiring thoughts for use in their leadership roles this year and in the future. They listened to: Erin Molan (Sports Journalist) - who gave a fantastic insight into the world of sports journalism, coping with social media trolls and stressed the importance of having a 'close knit' support network that promotes positivity and personal safe zone. Rove McManus (TV personality and author) - who spoke about pursuing one's passions and encouraged students to be brave in their decision making. Bianca Chatfield - (former Australian netball representative and The Block contestant) spoke about the importance of resilience and not comparing yourself and your journey to those of others - we are all different. John Coutis - (motivational speaker) whose story of overcoming disability, bullying and exclusion they all found nothing short of heart-warming. His important message was we must all be more responsible for ourselves - both in words and actions and he encouraged all in attendance to be deliberately kind and thoughtful in our day to day interactions with one another. Mrs Carpenter also reported that our student leaders have a vast array of hidden talents - Zhir - a master of the slip and slide, Dean, an excellent dancer, Alexi, a closet comedian and Sienna, the next prime candidate for the United Nation's Peace Keeping Force. By all accounts, a great day was had by all. Thank you Mrs Carpenter. S Rowlings

2021 HIGH SCHOOL PLACEMENT Year 6 students received their public high school 'Expression of Interest' forms over a week ago. A reminder to parents that these need to be returned to class teachers tomorrow, Friday 20 March so data can be entered into the computer system and forms sent off to the respective high schools. If you require help to complete this paperwork please do not hesitate to contact Mr Gray, Mrs Bennett in the office or myself. We are more than happy to help you out and can organise translator assistance if need be. Parents seeking placement outside the public education system are encouraged to still seek their local high school placement which can very easily be cancelled once independent school placement has been confirmed. Please note also that the organisation of all placements in Catholic or Independent schools is the responsibility of parents. S. Rowlings

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Uniforms will be available for purchase on: Wednesdays and Thursdays

8.30am-9.30am and 2.30pm-3.00pm Please see staff in the Administration Office