Newsletter | Term 1 Week 7

Principal Message

As communicated in the Week 6 Newsletter, Ms. Yeo is currently on leave, and I have the privilege of stepping into her role for the next four weeks. During this time, Miss Katen will serve as relieving Deputy Principal, and Mr. Myers will take on the responsibilities of Early Stage 1 Assistant Principal.

This week marked the commencement of our NAPLAN assessments for students in Year 3 and Year 5. Both Year 3 and Year 5 successfully completed Writing assessment on Wednesday and Reading assessments on Thursday. The final assessments, Conventions of Language and Numeracy, are scheduled for next week, with the majority of assessments expected to be concluded by Wednesday, some catch-up opportunities will be later in the week.

On Tuesday evening, the P&C held their Annual General Meeting. We are pleased to acknowledge the continuation of Amanda Bailey as President, Leanne Gollop as Secretary, and Amanda Wanser as Vice President. We also extend a warm welcome to our new executive member, Stephanie Kelly, who takes on the role of Treasurer. We would like to express our gratitude to outgoing executive members Andrew Folpp and Sam Donnelly for their dedication and service.

We extend our sincere appreciation to all members of the P&C for their ongoing support and commitment. The P&C plays a vital role in enhancing the educational experience for all students at our school, fostering a strong sense of community, and providing essential resources and opportunities that benefit our students.

Thank you for your continued partnership in supporting our school community.

SRC Representatives

This week, it was a delight to visit each classroom and present our newly elected Student Representatives with their badges. These enthusiastic students will serve as SRC representatives for the first semester, with re-election scheduled for Semester 2.

The Student Representative Council (SRC) will play a vital role in our school community, providing a platform for student voices and perspectives. Their first meeting is set for Week 8, where they will discuss important topics such as out-of-uniform day fundraising, school-based reward systems, the upcoming school disco, and much more!

Pictured below are our dedicated SRC representatives.

Absent: Lewis K (5/6F) and Taj H (6C).

Morning Supervision

Please note that our school playground is not supervised until 8:30 AM. We have noticed an increase in students arriving as early as 8:00 AM, and we kindly encourage families to consider using our OOSH program for early drop-off.

For those students who may arrive just before 8:30 AM, we ask that they sit under the COLA until the bell rings. This will help ensure their safety while waiting for the school day to begin.

Nick Garner
Principal Rel.

Celebrating Success in Kindergarten!

We are thrilled to share the fantastic progress our Kindergarten students have made as they embark on their exciting journey of learning! Their enthusiasm and curiosity have truly set a positive tone for the school year. From forming new friendships to exploring their classroom, our young learners are making great strides every day.

As we celebrate their achievements, we also recognise the critical importance of literacy and numeracy in laying a strong foundation for their future. Our curriculum is designed to provide a rich and engaging learning experience, with explicit teaching methods that focus on developing these essential skills. Through targeted lessons and hands-on activities, our students are encouraged to explore language and numbers, enhancing their ability to communicate effectively and solve problems.

We are committed to fostering a supportive environment where each child can grow and thrive. Congratulations to our Kindergarten students for their wonderful start—here's to a year filled with exploration, discovery, and continued success in literacy and numeracy!

Miss Katen
Deputy Principal Rel.

Awabakal Word of the Week

APCI Focus

The role of the Assistant Principal Curriculum and Instruction (APCI) is to maintain an explicit focus on the leadership of effective, evidence-informed literacy and numeracy teaching and assessment practices for improved student learning outcomes. APCIs work shoulder to shoulder with teachers to enhance the quality of literacy and numeracy instruction across the curriculum. This is achieved through the provision of high impact professional learning, strong collaboration and detailed analysis of data to inform teaching practice.

Some of the areas we are focusing on this term, include:

Reading

The Power of Daily Reading
Research has proven that reading on a daily basis can have profound effects on a student’s academic, social, and emotional development. Daily reading stimulates and strengthens language and literacy skills. It builds confidence, fluency, and comprehension. Daily reading builds vocabulary and expands general knowledge. Engaging in daily reading also develops creativity, imagination, and empathy. Everyone can benefit from daily reading! 

New Books
Look out for our new books! Thanks again to the incredible generosity of our P&C the second set of extended decodables, which we purchased last year, have just been printed and delivered and I know our students are super excited about them. For our older students, the library has an extensive array of books and we encourage all students to read daily both at school and at home.

Get involved
Floraville Public School invites parents and grandparents to assist our students to develop a love for reading. If you are able to spare 30 minutes a week /fortnight to listen to our students read, please speak with our Stage Assistant Principals. And yes, even Year 5 &6 students like to read with and share their stories with more knowledgeable readers! You will need to fill out the Working with Children Check, declaration form on our parent portal and come to the office to identify yourself. You only need to do this once. For more information, please contact the office.

Numeracy - Regular Reviews

Regular Reviews are an evidence-based pedagogical practice that enables students to retain, strengthen, and apply knowledge to new tasks and concepts. The effectiveness of regular reviews in transferring information to long-term memory is well-documented in cognitive psychology, which is why we have integrated this practice into our mathematics program for students from Kindergarten to Year 6. Previously taught concepts are reviewed consistently through brief, focused instruction lasting approximately 5 to 10 minutes. These concepts are presented to students in various ways, and they respond either individually on mini whiteboards or collectively as a choral response. By keeping the Regular Reviews quick, we are actively training the brain to access their short-term memory, transfer this information to their long-term memory and enhance the student's ability to apply the information learnt at speed.

Regular reviews necessitate ‘active recall,’ prompting the brain to "work harder" to retrieve information. This process strengthens neural connections and enhances the brain's capacity to store and access information in the future. Regular Reviews offer students the chance to consolidate their learning, in a low-risk environment, not intended as assessments.

How it applies to maths: By reviewing a maths concept each day, you reinforce the material incrementally. For instance, if you learn to calculate the area of a rectangle, revisiting it the next day, one week later, and again one month later will help solidify your understanding in long-term memory.

Ms Connolly
Assistant Principal Curriculum & Instruction

School News

Easter Hat Parade

Hop on Down to the Easter Hat Parade!

Get ready to celebrate Easter in style at Floraville Public School!

When: Friday, April 11, 2025, from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
What: Annual Easter Hat Parade
Where: Under the Cola

K-2 students will be busy crafting their fabulous Easter hats in the classroom. We can't wait to see the imaginative designs that spring from their creativity! Remember, it’s a day to shine, so all students are invited to come dressed out of uniform.

3-6 students are encouraged to sport their wackiest hairstyles—think bunny ears, spiky hair, or anything that says “crazy”!

We invite all parents and carers to come along and cheer for your children as they show off their creations in the parade. After the festivities, be sure to stop by the hall for the P&C Easter Raffles, where you could win some egg-citing prizes!

We look forward to seeing everyone’s festive spirit and creativity on display! 🐰🎉🥚

Starting School Information Night

Harmony Day

Stewart House

Envelopes are due back to school by Friday, 14 March.

You can learn more at Stewart House - assisting NSW children since 1931.

We have 3 payment options:

1. Cash via the payment envelope 
2. Scan the QR code on the payment envelope to make an online payment
3. Via the School Bytes parent payment portal, and selecting ‘add other item’

Library News

Book Club

This is a friendly reminder that all book purchases for our upcoming Book Club Issue 2 are due by 14 March. If you're interested in purchasing a book, please visit the link: Book Club LOOP  or the LOOP app.

Mr Tassell
Library Teacher

Sport News

Netball Trials

Using the information collected in the survey seeking interest from students and families (Years 5-6) for sporting opportunities in 2025, we are collecting names for the PSSA Knockout Netball Team, ELMPSSA PSSA Trials and School Netball Teams. Trials will be held over the next few weeks, at school.

ELMPSSA Team Trials will be Wednesday 2 April - we have a limited number of spaces available to send students to these representative opportunities. 

PSSA Knockout - The first game will be played early next term.

School Team will compete in the Macquarie Cup - there will be opportunities to up to 50 students from 3-6 involved in this opportunity. 

Hunter Swimming Success

On Monday, our school proudly showcased the talent and determination of four outstanding students—Zahara B, Maya F, Joe F, and Aurora P—who represented us in individual events at the Hunter PSSA Swimming Championship. Additionally, our senior boys relay team, consisting of Kyle U, Archer S, Mason K, and Rylan H, made us proud with their performance.

Each student demonstrated their skill, representing Floraville and the Eastlake PSSA with great pride. We extend an additional congratulations to Joe F and Maya F, who have earned the exciting opportunity to represent the Hunter Region at the State PSSA Championships in Sydney on April 10.

We wish all our competitors the best of luck and look forward to cheering on Joe and Maya in their upcoming challenge!

Eastlake Macquarie PSSA Zone AFL Trial Success

We are thrilled to announce that five of our students—Mack S, Phoenix A, Oscar M, Jaxon K, and Sonny S—have successfully made it through the Eastlake Macquarie PSSA Zone AFL trials!

These students will now advance to the next level as they trial for the Hunter team on March 28. We are incredibly proud of their achievements and wish them the best of luck.

Swimming Ribbon Presentation

The Primary Swimming Carnival Presentation will be held in the school hall on Monday, 17 March, at 2pm. At the assembly we'll announce the Age Champions, the winning house, and present ribbons to the top three overall swimmers in each stroke and age group. 

Please refer to Sports News in Week 6 Newsletter for results.

From The Office

Beat the Bite - Fundraiser

As part of this initiative, our school has been provided with RID Tropical Antiseptic Bite Protection 100ml pump spray bottles that are available for families to purchase at a discounted cost of $5 (RRP $9.50).  These can be purchased from the office with cash or EFTPOS, or you can log into your School Bytes parent portal, go to the ‘Payments’ tab, select the ‘Add other item’ tab, and from there you can complete your purchase.

For all online purchases, office staff will send these home with students, or email the school if you would prefer to collect your order from the office.

All monies from this fundraiser goes towards resources for the school. 

P&C News

🗞️ New P&C Committee 2025 🎉

We had a successful AGM this week and formed our 2025 P&C Committee! We say farewell to Katie Budden, Drew Folpp, and Samantha Donnelly from the Executive team. Thank you so much for your time and contributions to the P&C and the school. We appreciate everything you have done for us! 🙏

We have some new faces and some returning faces on our committee for 2025:

• 👩‍💼 President: Amanda Bailey
• 🍽️ Vice President (Canteen): Amanda Wanser
• 🎉 Vice President (Fundraising): Cheryl Magann
• 📝 Secretary: Leanne Gollop
• 💰 Treasurer: Stephanie Kelly
• 🤝 Assistant Treasurer: Jennifer Miller
• 👕 Uniform Shop Coordinators: Lynne Bidstrup (2nd hand uniforms) & Amanda Jackson (hats)
• 🧸 OOSH Parent Representative: Leah Woodman
• 🎶 Band Parent Representative: Vacant
• 🍽️ Canteen Sub-Committee: Amanda Jackson, Lynne Bidstrup & Allira Faber
• 💖 Fundraising Sub-Committee: Katie Nolland & Kate Bailey

Congratulations and thank you to the new committee members for nominating for positions! We are looking forward to an exciting year.

🌟 The Band Parent Rep position and a few positions on the Fundraising and Canteen Sub-Committees remain vacant. If you would like any further information on nominating for any of these positions, please email fpspresident@gmail.com. 📧

💖 Fundraising - Harmony Day 🎨

Amanda B and Michelle D have been busy sorting and creating Harmony Day tie-dye orders, tie-dye items started to get delivered to the school Friday morning for distribution to students. Items will continue to be delivered to the school over the coming week. 

We had orders placed for over 100 shirts and 80 pairs of socks! Huge thanks to everyone for placing orders! 🙌 We have a handful of sizes left in both shirts and socks if anyone missed out and would like to place an order on the website link: [Harmony Day 2025 | Floraville P S P&C Association] 🔗.

We look forward to seeing everyone celebrating Harmony and wearing orange on Friday, 21 March! 🧡

🍽️ Canteen Update

The canteen is turning orange next week too in recognition of Harmony Week! We have special meal deals running from Tuesday, 18th – Friday, 21 March. These will be available on Flexischools and each option includes your choice of drink:

• 🌟 CARING - Pizza scrolls = $6
• 🌟 RESPECT - Cheesy vegemite scrolls = $6
• 🌟 CONFIDENCE - Sausage roll = $5.50 and GF = $6.50 (2 GF sausage rolls)
• 🌟 FRIENDSHIP - Mini salad (vegetarian option) = $8.50

We require a few more volunteers in the canteen for the following dates:

• 📅 Tuesdays: 18/3 and 8/4
• 📅 Fridays: 14/3, 4/4, and 11/4

If you can help for a few hours in the morning, please contact the P&C. If you can make a sandwich and sell an ice block, you are qualified! 😊

👕 Second-Hand Uniform Shop 🛍️

The final dates that the 2nd hand uniform shop will be open for Term 1 are:

• 📅 Monday, 24/3/25 from 2:45-3:15pm.
• 📅 Friday, 11/4/25 from approximately 1:30-2:15pm (after the Easter Hat Parade and P&C Easter Raffle).

We are still accepting donations – these can be taken to the donation tub in the foyer of the front office during school hours. The winter months are coming, so it’s time to get prepared and grab some 2nd hand Winter uniform bargains! ❄️ Please note there are no exchanges or refunds available. Thank you for your support! 🙏

🤝 Becoming a P&C Member 🌟

Anyone can become a P&C member, anytime! You don’t need to attend meetings or take on extra jobs to join. What are the benefits? 🤔

As a member, you will receive the P&C meeting agenda, minutes, and reports, as well as the Principal's reports each month. If something important comes up, you’ll have the opportunity to cast a vote at a meeting! 🗳️

Joining is a fantastic way to stay up-to-date with what’s happening at school. The more people we have involved, the more successful our P&C is at representing our whole school community. 🌍 It costs just $1 to join the P&C each year! 💵

If you would like to join, head to our website:  About us | Floraville P S P&C Association

P&C Communication

Stay up to date with the latest P&C information and events.

📨Email us: fpspresident@gmail.com
🌍Visit our website: https://floravillepublicschoolpc.square.site/
📘 Join us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/p.c.floraville

Amanda Bailey
P&C President on behalf of the P&C Committee

Community Newsletter

Please see Community Newsletter - Term 1 for community events and news.