The Brief | Term 4 Week 10
Principal Message
End of year wrap up
As we approach the end of the school year, I would like to take a moment to extend my heartfelt wishes to each of you for a safe and happy holiday season. This time of year offers a wonderful opportunity to spend quality moments with family and friends, to relax, and to rejuvenate.
Thank you for your continued support throughout the year. Wishing you all a happy and restful break. We look forward to welcoming our students back for another exciting year ahead!
2025 Updates
Our school was buzzing with excitement today as students got to experience their new class structures for 2025, connecting with classmates and, where possible, meeting next year's teacher.
In last week's edition of The Brief, we shared our class structures, together with class teacher allocations. In our final edition of The Brief for the year, we share our executive and support staff. We thank you for your continued support and understanding.
| Executive Team | Kirstie Yeo |
| Release from Face-to-Face | Donna Blake - Creative Arts Liane Barden Casey Bowd |
| Library | Sam Tassell |
| Learning Support | Gabrielle Thacker (Mon, Tues, Wed) |
| School Learning Support Officers | Janine McDonald (Mon, Tues, Wed) |
| School Administration Team | Lee-Ellen Robinson - School Administrative Manager |
School Admin Reduction Program
Floraville Public School has been selected to participate in the School Admin Reduction Program for 2 years from 2025 to 2026. This is a time-limited program across the 2025 and 2026 school years only.
The School Admin Reduction Program aims to support us through streamlined operations, improved processes and practices, and administrative workload reduction. Feedback from the 419 schools in the 2023–24 cohort has been overwhelmingly positive, with many reporting significant improvements in staff wellbeing, workload management, and overall operational efficiency.
Participation in the program will provide our school with targeted resources, additional temporary staffing for the 2025 and 2026 school years only, and tailored training to enhance the capabilities of our school administrative and support staff (SASS) team. It’s designed to support staff workload and wellbeing, fostering an environment where students can thrive.
Second break - bell time adjustment
There will be a slight adjustment to our bell times for the upcoming school year. Please rest assured that our start and finish times, together with first break times, will remain unchanged.
The only modification will be to our second break in the school day, which will now take place from 1:18pm - 1:48pm. While this may seem like an unusual time, this adjustment has been carefully considered to ensure our students have the time to engage in meaningful and enriching activities across all sessions of the school day.
We appreciate your understanding and support as we strive to enhance the quality of our educational environment.
Term 4 Dates
Year 6 Farewell – Tuesday 17 December
Year 6 Clap Out – Wednesday 18 December
This will commence at approximately 2:30pm under the Infants COLA.
Last day for students – Wednesday 18 December
Term 1 2025 Dates
First day back to school for all students Kindergarten to Year 6 - Thursday 6 February
Kindergarten First Day Photographs - Friday 7 February
Primary Swimming Carnival - Friday 21 February
Staff Development Days
Please be advised that all staff return to school on Friday 31 January, including our office team. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us Friday 31 January - Wednesday 5 February, we're here to help.
Prior to students returning, we will send out detailed information regarding where all children are to meet on the first day back.
Kirstie Yeo
Principal
School News
Best Start Kindergarten Assessment
Within the first five full weeks of the 2025 school year, Kindergarten students will be engaging in the BEST START assessment.
Best Start Kindergarten Assessment identifies student’s literacy and numeracy skills on entry to Kindergarten. The assessment is conducted in line with existing school practices and builds upon teaching and learning programs that support students in the transition to school.
This assessment provides teachers with a baseline understanding of your child's literacy and numeracy skills. Parents will receive a copy of the assessment report and are welcome to discuss this report with their child’s teacher.
Year 6 Clap Out
Wednesday 18 December is the final day for Year 6. It is a tradition that students from Kindergarten to Year 5 form a guard of honour as the students exit the school. Parents and carers are invited to come at 2:30pm if they would like to see their children walk through. Please meet us under the Infants COLA.
Year 6 2025 shirts
We are excited to announce the final Year 6 shirt design has been completed! Elements from student designs have been thoughtfully incorporated to create this unique design.
We can’t wait to see all students wearing their shirts with pride in 2025!
Library
It’s time for students to return library books. Students are welcome to borrow some books to read over the school holidays, with the last borrowing day being tomorrow, Wednesday 18 December.
Overdue Notices will be emailed to parents and carers so keep an eye out for those. They may also end up in your junk mail. If these books are lost or damaged, please let Mrs Southward know.
Public Health Alert - whooping cough
NSW Health has asked schools to share this advice with families and remind you to be aware of the symptoms of whooping cough (pertussis), as the number of cases in NSW continues to rise.
The highest rates are seen in school-aged children aged 5 to 16 years.
Whooping cough starts like a cold with a blocked or runny nose, sneezing, a mild fever and an occasional cough. Coughing bouts can worsen and be followed by vomiting, choking or taking a big gasping breath which causes a “whooping” sound. The cough can last for many weeks and can be worse at night.
Children and adults may just have a mild cough that doesn't go away. In adults the cough commonly lasts 5–7 weeks, sometimes longer.
Adolescents are offered a free pertussis vaccine through the Year 7 school vaccination program, as immunity decreases following their early childhood vaccines. GPs can administer free catch-up vaccination to children and adolescents for those who have missed doses. Pharmacists can also administer these free for children aged 5-19 years. The best protection against pertussis infection is vaccination.
Large outbreaks of whooping cough usually occur every 3 to 4 years as population immunity decreases. Lower exposure to whooping cough during the COVID-19 pandemic is a likely reason for this current increase.
Advice for parents of newborns, infants and pregnant women
Newborn babies and infants are at greatest risk of severe illness from whooping cough. Newborns may not cough at all but stop breathing completely and turn blue. Other babies have difficulties feeding or they can choke and gag.
The on-time vaccination of babies and pregnant women is critical to their protection. Children should be vaccinated at 6 weeks, 4 months, 6 months, 18 months and 4 years of age. NSW Health recommend pregnant women are vaccinated during each pregnancy between 20 to 32 weeks.
NSW Health encourages parents, carers, grandparents and other people in close contact with babies and young children to get vaccinated if they have not received one in the previous 10 years.
If you think you or a family member might have whooping cough
If you or your child’s situation is life-threatening, please call Triple Zero (000) or present to your nearest emergency department immediately.
If it’s not an emergency, call healthdirect on 1800 022 222 if you or your child are unwell and you’re not sure where to go. healthdirect is free and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A nurse will answer your call, ask some questions and connect you with the right care.
If given early, antibiotics can reduce the duration of whooping cough symptoms. After 5 days of treatment with appropriate antibiotics, people with whooping cough are no longer infectious. Without treatment, they will remain infectious for 21 days. Antibiotics are rarely needed if it has been 3 weeks since cough onset.
BaRK program - Belmont Library
Some exciting news for 2025, Belmont Library will be recommencing the BARK program 11 February 2025. Belmont Library is also hosting a Meet and Greet session with the BaRK facilitator and Maisie during the January 2025 school holidays.
BaRK is a free eight-week program run during school terms, that allows children to practise reading on a one-to-one basis to a trained therapy dog. Each session is fifteen minutes.
Our animal assisted reading program removes stress and peer pressure for the reluctant reader, making reading fun. The child can read to the dog in a relaxed atmosphere without fear of criticism or intimidation.
To book and for more information please click the following link.
P&C Community News
Final P&C Reflections for 2024
Last week I came across P&C documents dating back to when Floraville P&C began in October 1967. There were 63 parents at that first meeting forming the schools P&C, which I am a little in awe of. The P&C’s first purchase for the school was a very generous donation of $10 to purchase the school’s first telephone. Times have certainly changed in many ways, we are busier than ever with work, kids, after school activities, and general life admin. The school now has MANY phones. And those $10 contributions have turned into thousands of dollar contributions every year towards technology, sport, books and everything in between. But what hasn’t changed, is that the P&C still work in partnership with the school and the community. We still are always looking for ways to improve facilities, communication and opportunities, and to help achieve the best possible outcomes for our students. At the end of the day, we all have the same goal – to make this school a fabulous place for our children to learn and grow!
In 2024 we have raised approximately $11,000, contributing funds for updated readers and learning materials, sensory tools and sports equipment, band supplies, a sandpit replacement, cubby house upgrades, and didgeridoos. Your contributions, big and small, made this possible – whether that was through being part of the P&C committee, volunteering, donating, providing ideas, wearing tie-dye fashion in the name of Harmony day, eating your own weight in mangoes, or buying your lunch every week from the canteen. It all helps.
Looking ahead, 2025 brings exciting P&C plans, including a second-hand uniform shop, an online Enrichment Tree for classroom resources, and the return of some colour run fun! We have also already committed over $5000 towards a speech pathology in schools program for Floraville.
I would like to mention a few long-term P&C supporters who are, unfortunately for us, moving on from our school next year – Kate Glew, Deb James, Leana Suffell, Inger Roods, Beth Gleeson, and Erin Benson, and their families. Chances are if you’ve attended a P&C event, seen something new pop up in the school grounds, or benefited from funds raised, these people had a hand in making it happen. We thank you for your time, ideas, and contributions to the P&C and the school over your years here and we wish you all the best for your next school chapters.
And finally, we of course want to celebrate the students! Well done on another successful school year. We look forward to continuing to work with the school to bring lots of opportunities and fun for the students in 2025.
Signing off from the P&C for 2024,
Amanda Bailey
P&C Committee
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.
CUBBY OOSH - Summer 2024/25 Vacation Care
Community Newsletter
Please see December Community Newsletter for community events and news.