The Brief | Term 4 Week 1
Principal Message
Welcome back to school for what promises to be a busy and exciting Term 4!
As we embark on this final stretch of the academic year, we will continue to engage in a range of enriching activities and events designed to inspire learning and foster connection within our school community.
Moving forward, The Brief will be published via Schoolzine each week. Please be aware that this is very much a work in progress! At this stage of our transition, our header images, together with some important links, are yet to be finalised and updated. Schoolzine provides increased functionality for both families and the school, with enhanced features and improved readability across devices. One handy feature is that families are able to skip to different sections of the newsletter with ease, to ensure the content you engage with is relevant to you and your family.
We encourage you to stay involved and support your child’s journey as they embrace new challenges and opportunities. Together, let’s make this term a memorable one filled with growth, achievements, and enriching experiences. Here’s to a fantastic Term 4 ahead!
Kindergarten Orientation
Our six-week Kindergarten Orientation Program commences next Tuesday.
The Kindergarten Orientation Program aims to ensure we engage in strong collaboration with parents to support a strong and successful start to school.
Term 4 Events
Our school has commenced planning for many end-of-year events and we would like to give families as much notice as possible.
High School Orientation Day – Tuesday 3 December
Presentation Day – Thursday 12 Decembe
Party Day – Monday 16 December
Year 6 Farewell – Tuesday 17 December
Year 6 Clap Out – Wednesday 18 December
Last day for students – Wednesday 18 December
Presentation Day will be held on Thursday, 12 December, split into two sessions. Kindergarten to Year 2 students will have their Presentation Day at 9:15 am, ending around 10 am. Years 3 to 6 will have their Presentation Day at 10 am, ending around 11:15 am. Please note that the start of the first break may be slightly delayed. We're excited to celebrate the achievements of students at these special events.
2025 School Planning
If your family plans to relocate by the end of the year, we kindly ask that you let us know as soon as possible. The number of students enrolled directly affects our class structures and planning for 2025.
The easiest way to inform us about your move is by calling or emailing the school.
Moving into our school zone?
Do you know any families considering a move to our area? Please encourage them to contact our school at their earliest convenience. This will ensure we can include them in our upcoming planning.
Enrolling at our School
Families new to the area can begin the enrolment process by visiting Online Enrolment Application (nsw.gov.au)
We appreciate your cooperation in helping us plan effectively for the upcoming school year.
P&C Initiatives
The tireless work of our P&C and our school community fundraising efforts continue to shape and benefit our school. The latest fundraiser from the P&C was a big hit last year and we’re sure it will certainly be a hit again this year. On behalf of our school community, I want to thank the P&C for their dedication to our school, without their support, there are so many aspects of school that would not be possible for our students and community. Thank you for supporting the P&C and our school.
Kirstie Yeo
Principal
Awabakal
Assistant Principal Curriculum and Instruction (APCI)
Mathematics at Floraville Public School
To enrich the teaching and learning of some important big ideas and core concepts that underpin the NSW mathematics syllabus, all Floraville Public School staff have engaged in an intensive year-long mathematics course. Developed by the NSW Mathematics Professional Learning team in partnership with leading mathematics education academics, staff have deepened their knowledge of evidence-based mathematical pedagogies and research.
Our mathematics programs provide opportunities for students to make important connections between key concepts and the role of mathematics in solving problems in the world around them.
Underpinning our teaching and learning is the concept that numbers are incredibly flexible and can be represented in numerous ways. Students are taught to identify and represent numbers using words, symbols and quantities. The ability to partition numbers in standard and non-standard form allows students to solve equations involving the four key operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in multiple ways.
Establishing a solid understanding of the value of a number, fraction or decimal takes times and students need multiple experiences manipulating numbers before they can flexibly work with a quantity. To assist your child at home, talk about numbers, spot numbers in the environment, play games involving the combining and separating of numbers. Create opportunities for children to solve non-routine problems, such as “Is it better to buy 6 cans of soft drink or a 2-litre bottle?” Everyday conversations and games involving numbers, fractions and decimals enables the development of essential numeracy skills and fluency, while nurturing their ability to think logically, critically and creatively.
To help you get started, try this task together as a family.
Can you put all five numbers in the cross puzzle so that the sum (total) of the 3 numbers in the horizontal is equal to the sum of the 3 numbers in the vertical. You may wish to use concrete materials such as toy cars to assist. Challenge more capable students to create their own puzzles using 2-digit numbers.
Reading is incredibly important
It’s hard to argue with the notion that the most important outcome of primary education is learning to read. At Floraville Public School this is one of our key priorities. We know that we are achieving this when students develop an ability to apply a complex combination of skills that they learn through explicit teaching and regular and meaningful reading experiences and practise.
Children who frequently read, or are read to, are more likely to develop reading skills with greater efficiency. We strongly encourage all of our students to be reading at home every day. Reading experience and practice isn’t limited to reading the text your child accesses or borrows from school. Reading opportunities are available all around us. Ask your younger children to read road signs, shopping lists and catalogues, posters and packaging. You can write them little notes or messages that tell them about how proud of them you are, or what you love about them. Write down the ways you want them to help you around the house or label household items so that they can repeatedly practise decoding words. Your older children can continue to refine their reading skills through exposure to newspaper articles, instruction manuals, brochures, blogs, web-based research or recipes.
Something of equal, if not greater importance, is the opportunities you make to have rich conversations with your child or children, so that they establish a comprehensive vocabulary. When children understand words in their oral vocabulary, they are more confident in their ability to read and comprehend these words when they encounter them in text. Our teachers offer extensive opportunities for students to engage in detailed discussions, allowing them to use knew vocabulary in ways that support their connection to the text they are exploring and the content they are learning.
As students’ progress in their reading abilities, they will have mastered the alphabetic code and the skill of decoding and will focus more on reading fluency and comprehension. Fluency includes how well-paced, accurately and expressively a child can read. It allows a student to read words quickly and effortlessly, so that they can understand and comprehend the text. Comprehension of text is the ultimate goal of reading, and relies upon the foundational skills of decoding, word recognition and language comprehension.
Assistant Principal Curriculum and Instruction
Jo Connolly & Jacqueline Pearce
School News
Uniform Price Increase
Lowes have advised that there will be a price increase for school uniform items. The price increase is due to take effect mid-December.
Lowes are conscious of the impact on families. To minimise this, Lowes have kept the increase to the minimum required to maintain their product quality and service levels. Most items will increase by $1.00 or $2.00, with a change of price for the short sleeve everyday polo shirt to $37.95, instead of variable pricing across the different size options.
Lowes will continue to offer regular “20% off” sale days throughout the year, with the next 20% off sale event scheduled for Thursday, 17 October – Saturday, 19 October.
Lowes continue to explore alternative production methods to offer cost-saving solutions.
Lowes appreciate their partnership with Floraville Public School and remain committed to providing affordable, durable, and comfortable uniforms for our students.
Star Struck – Vocal Auditions
Applications are now open for student singers to audition for Star Struck 2025. Star Struck are seeking talented individuals for roles such as featured artists, backing vocalists, and members of the core choir.
To be considered for a role in Star Struck 2025, you must complete the online application form by Friday 25 October 2024. Don't miss this chance to showcase your vocal talent!
All information can be found in the Star Struck 2025 Vocal Audition Information document.
Apply online at Star Struck 2025 - Vocal Audition Application Form Round 1
If you have any questions, please contact starstruck@det.nsw.edu.au.
Changes to bus timetables
We’re making some changes to bus timetables, including dedicated school services, to improve reliability and maintain connections to trains.
From Monday 21 October, a number of school timetables will be updated to better reflect congestion and travel times to get students to and from school in the Newcastle Transport area.
This includes some school services will be starting earlier in the morning to make sure students are getting to school well before the bell time and in the afternoon some school trips will be departing from schools closer to the bell time.
We encourage students and their families to check their school service to understand any changes made to your route and plan ahead of the changes on Monday 21 October.
Schools with changes to dedicated school services are detailed on our summary of school service changes in alphabetical order. Please select you school below to see how services have changed.
As always information is available on Trip Planner and other transport planning apps. Parents and students can easily check their timetable by following these three simple steps:
- Visit Transport NSW here.
- Type your school name into the search field.
- Select your school bus route to download the PDF timetable that will be effective from 21 October.
We would appreciate if you could pass this information on to parents and students. We have attached an insert you will be able to include in your newsletters and a smaller insert that can be used on the Skoolbag app.
Should you have any questions about dedicated school services, please contact our Customer Experience Team on 02 4974 1607. This number is for school staff only. Information for parents and students is available on 131 500.
If parents or students have questions about getting to and from school or need help planning their trip, they can get in touch with the Newcastle Transport team at contact@newcastletransport.info
P&C Community News
Welcome back to term 4 from the P&C! We hope everyone had a wonderful break.
Mangoes
Our Mango Fundraiser is back for another year! We are still finalising the ordering process but please start asking family, friends, and work colleagues for their orders. The cost is $30 for a 7kg tray - bigger and better than 2023! Fresh from QLD, to be delivered to school around the week commencing 2nd December. It’s a short turnaround for orders, with orders closing 29th October.
Payment Options for Mango ordering:
- Option 1: Flexischools: place your order on your child’s Flexischools account with the number of trays required. Note a small fee is charged by Flexischools. We are still in the process of setting Flexischools up (hopefully set up by the time this newsletter goes out!)
- Option 2: Direct credit/transfer: Can be made directly to the P&C account.
Account Name: Floraville Public School PnC General
BSB: 032-510
Account Number: 244730
Reference: PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR NAME and “MANGO” in the reference. Please include as much information as you can (e.g. child’s name or class) so we can track payments.
If you have ordered via bank transfer, we need you to then email the P&C via fpspresident@gmail.com or send us a message on the P&C Facebook page www.facebook.com/p.c.floraville to let us know you have placed an order and provide your contact phone number. We require your contact phone number so that we can keep in contact with you regarding the delivery dates/times.
This is one of our last fundraisers for the year so let’s make it our best yet and raise funds for our school!
Canteen update
The warmer weather can only mean one thing… Slushies are back! These are available for $2 in the canteen.
The canteen also has full stock in all sizes of the school hats so if you need to purchase a new one for term 4, these are available to purchase on Flexischools or over the counter at the canteen.
NPA Sports Equipment Fundraiser
The Christmas countdown is on – less than 10 weeks until Christmas!!! NPA sports offer personalised sporting equipment, and these make fabulous Christmas gifts. And you can shop easily from home! Our affiliation with NPA finishes at the end of the year so we’d love to add some extra sales before the promotion ends. Families are invited to purchase anything from the NPA website using our unique link and 20% of sales go back to the P&C, which then go back to our school. Items can be personalised with your child’s name or team/club name, so this means no more lost equipment! Items are sent quickly and posted directly to your home. Sports included are netball, soccer, basketball, AFL, league, rugby, touch football, tennis, volleyball, cricket and gridiron. They also stock drink bottles, sports bags, and personalised Christmas baubles. For our school to receive the funds, orders need to be made using the following unique link by clicking here.
P&C Communication
Please follow the official P&C Facebook page to keep up to date with the latest P&C information and events. Our page is www.facebook.com/p.c.floraville. If you need to get in touch with the P&C, you can send us a message on our Facebook page, or send an email to fpspresident@gmail.com.
Amanda Bailey
P&C Committee
Community Newsletter
Please see October Community Newsletter for community events and news.