Newsletter | Term 3 Week 7

Principal Message

Building connections with Belmont High School

In the Wakul Karabung (Belmont) community of schools, we believe that strong connections between our primary school and our local high school are essential for ensuring a smooth and supportive transition for our students. To further strengthen these vital community ties, we are excited to welcome Trent Colley, Principal of Belmont High School, who will be joining us in the near future for front gate duty!

Trent will spend time with us greeting students and families, providing a wonderful opportunity for our community to connect with local high school leadership. This initiative aims to foster positive relationships and open communication channels between our schools.

Thank you to Trent and the Belmont High School team for partnering with us to strengthen our community and support every student’s journey. Together, we are building a brighter future through public education.

Promotional Photographs – Tuesday 9 September

Advanced Life Photography will be visiting our school on Tuesday, 9 September to take promotional photographs. These images will help showcase our school at its very best and will be used across our website, brochures, prospectuses, social media, and other promotional materials.

Advanced Life’s experienced photographers work closely with us to ensure that the photos capture the spirit and excellence of our school community. After the photo session, the images will be professionally edited and made available for our school's use.

To help us present our school in the best possible light, we ask that all students come to school on the day wearing their full school uniform. This is a wonderful opportunity to highlight the pride we all share in our school.

Additionally, any student who was absent on previous school photograph days will have the opportunity to have their photograph taken during this session to ensure their image is captured in School Bytes.

Thank you for your support in helping us create a positive and professional image of our school community.

Planning for Kiss and Ride

As communicated last week, changes are coming to our Kiss and Ride area. Lake Macquarie Council has approved the proposed adjustments, initially shared last year, aimed at improving safety and reducing congestion during busy drop-off and pick-up times.

While the exact date for these changes has yet to be confirmed, we will notify families as soon as details are available.

In the meantime, we want to work closely with our community to develop a plan for how the new Kiss and Ride will operate. We have prepared a draft document to get the ball rolling and would greatly appreciate your thoughts, insights, and feedback. Check out the draft planning via the link below.

Additionally, our draft plans will be presented at the next P&C meeting on Tuesday 9 September. We encourage families to attend so we can collaborate and ensure our Kiss and Ride zone best meets the needs of our community. 

Not able to make it to the P&C meeting? You can leave your feedback by completing our quick form - Kiss and Ride zone.

Form responses will close on Tuesday 9 September at 4pm, to allow us time to collate responses for our P&C meeting.

Kirstie Yeo and Nick Garner

Principal

Celebrating Success: Hayley’s excellent work

We are excited to celebrate Hayley from KM for her impressive understanding of vowel teams during a recent dictation activity. Hayley confidently and clearly wrote the sentence, “The car has a horn.” Hayley's sentence demonstrates not only her significant knowledge of vowel teams but also her understanding of important sentence features, including the use of a capital letter and a full stop. Her enthusiasm and skill were evident as she continued to demonstrate her learning while Mr Garner visited the classroom. Well done Hayley.  

Nick Garner

Learning and Support Team (LaST) Update

Let us reintroduce ourselves!

L-R: Nick Garner, Carly Erich, Dara Mitchell, Gabrielle Thacker, Phoebe Burchill (School Counsellor)

At the end of semester one, we farewelled Miss Gee and welcomed Miss Mitchell to our Learning and Support Team. Miss Mitchell comes to us from Warners Bay PS and has taken on our HPGE groups and some small group intervention programs. Our HPGE programs are explained further below.

What does the LaST do?

Each school has its own Learning and Support Team, which may vary in composition. At Floraville Public School, our LST gathers information and provides recommendations to teachers for students who require adjustments to access the curriculum and achieve their educational objectives. The team plays a key role in addressing the specific needs of students with disabilities and additional learning and support requirements. Our Learning Support Team encourages collaboration with parents, carers, caseworkers, pre-school settings, and external agencies. We would also like to express our gratitude to our school community and the P&C for funding the acquisition of new sensory tools through the Enrichment Tree initiative. These tools continue to be sought after to support students throughout the school.

LaST teaching focus areas for Term 3

What is ‘High Potential and Gifted Education’?

High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE) is designed to support students who show exceptional abilities or talents in one or more areas. The goal of HPGE is to provide students with learning opportunities that challenge and inspire, helping them to reach their full potential. Through tailored activities and support, HPGE helps students develop their skills, creativity, and critical thinking, ensuring they are engaged and motivated at school. This program is a way to celebrate and nurture each child’s unique strengths in a positive and encouraging environment.

What is the ‘Seasons for Growth’ program?

Seasons for Growth is a small group education program that supports children to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to understand and respond well to experiences of change, loss, and grief. Seasons for Growth supports connection with others, fostering emotional literacy and resilience as a pathway to improved social and emotional wellbeing. Please contact the school via email or call Ms Thacker or Ms Yeo if you think this program may benefit your child. Further information can be found at Seasons for Growth Children & Young People's Program.

Helping your child with literacy and numeracy at home

The Department of Education has created resources for parents, carers, and families of children in the early years of their school education. The activities support the important learning that happens at home. They are designed for you to have fun with your child and to help them have a great start to school. Visit Helping your child with literacy and numeracy at home.

Contact us

If you would like more information regarding our learning support processes, please contact the school:

Email: floraville-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au  | Phone: (02) 49454845

Sports News

National School Aerobics

We are extremely proud of our students who competed at the FISAL National Aerobics competition. Each team performed amazingly and represented our school with great pride and dedication.

And the results are in:

• Primary Small Teams Prep - 2: Super Girls – 1st Place NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
• Primary Pre-choreographed Teams Year 1 - 2 Phase 1: Hyped Up – 8th Place
• Primary Pre-choreographed Teams Year 1 - 2 Phase 2: Crazy Crew – 5th Place
• Primary Large Teams Years 3 - 4 Phase 2: Fierce and Fabulous – 4th Place
• Primary Advanced: Aftershock – 6th Place

We would especially like to congratulate the Super Girls, all Year 2 students, who competed at Nationals for the first time and emerged as National Champions – an outstanding achievement.

In addition, Floraville Public School was honoured with the ‘School Stream Spirit and Sportsmanship Award’, recognising the exemplary spirit and sportsmanship consistently demonstrated by our students at such events. This is a wonderful acknowledgement of our school community’s values.

Congratulations to all our students for their hard work and dedication. Your achievements continue to make us proud.

Hunter PSSA Girls Basketball 

What an incredible achievement! On Thursday, 4th September, our Floraville PS girls’ basketball team took to the court at Hunter Sports High School for the PSSA Hunter Grand Final against Tuncurry PS, and came away victorious!

The game was tight in the early stages, with scores locked after the first quarter. By halftime, FPS trailed by just 2 points. But in the third quarter, the girls dug deep, combining tough defence with sharp offence to pile on an impressive 15 points. With their confidence soaring, they carried their lead into the final quarter and finished strong, taking out the match 33–20.

This win wasn’t just about the score, it was a true display of teamwork, encouragement, and determination. Every player contributed and supported one another, showing what it means to play as a team.

The girls will now go on to represent the Hunter region at the State Quarter Finals at Penrith Valley Indoor Sports Centre, Cambridge Park, on Monday, 20th October (Week 2, Term 4). We can’t wait to cheer them on as they continue their amazing journey!

Phoebe Newton

Hunter PSSA Rugby League Semi Final

Floraville Public School vs Scone Public School

In windy conditions, the students from Floraville PS put up a real fight against a formidable opponent. They played with great sportsmanship and represented our school with pride. The game came right down to the last few minutes with Scone PS scoring to secure a 24-18 win.

Thank you to the students who came along as backup for our missing players. All our players should be proud of themselves. 

Aaron McSweeny

K-2 Sports Carnival 

Not long now until the K-2 Sports Carnival! And we certainly hope this beautiful weather continues for our exciting day! 

Our wonderful P&C are organising a BBQ lunch for students for the sports carnival day. Order forms have been sent home, they are due back at school by Friday 12 September. 

P&C News

🌈 Colour Run – Thursday, 25 September! Only 3 Weeks to Go!

If you haven’t already registered your child for the Colour Run, now is the time! Register at www.myprofilepage.com.au  and share your page with family and friends to sponsor your child. The more people who register and raise funds, the closer we get to our goal, and the closer the kids get to sliming their teachers and winning a huge range of prizes! So far, 94 of our nearly 500 students have started fundraising. If every student gets behind the fundraising, we will reach our target!

The SRC has requested $15,000 to update library furniture and resources to create a more comfortable space for lessons and break times. Our goal is to raise this (and more!) through the Colour Run to benefit everyone from Kindergarten through to Year 6.

🏢 Business Owners 

Want to sponsor this event or one of our Colour Run obstacles? Contact Cheryl, VP (Fundraising), at fpsfundraising1@gmail.com for more information.

🙋 Volunteers 

Take a roster or leave day and join the fun! Our last Colour Run in 2022 was a blast for students, teachers, and helpers alike. Don’t miss it! Volunteer registration will open soon, so keep an eye on our Facebook page for more information.

🎉 Father’s Day Wrap Up

💥 Our Superhero Dad Father’s Day Stall and mini pop-up stall were a smash hit! The kids loved choosing something special for the real-life superheroes in their lives 🦸🏻‍♂️⚡️❤️.

Check out the video from the day here: Father’s Day Stall Video.

👏 Huge thanks to our fundraising dream team – Katie, Kate, Cheryl & Amanda – for all the behind-the-scenes planning, and to the 11 amazing volunteers who gave their time to make the stall happen. Whether for an hour or all day, you made a difference for our nearly 500 students.

📣 One teacher summed it up perfectly: our volunteers had plenty of other things they could have been doing, but chose to be at the stall, helping our school and kids. That’s pretty super! 💫

💐 Thank you to all our helpers – Penny, Michelle, Ebony, Sharon, Karen, Emma, Amanda J, Allira, Jayde, Candice, Katie, Cheryl, Amanda B & Angelique, and to every family who supported the stall.

💙 Teamwork, community spirit, and lots of love for our dads is what it’s all about! We also raised just over $2,000 from the stall. Happy (almost!) Father’s Day to our Floraville dads 🦸🏽‍♂️. We hope you love what your kids chose especially for you.

📅 September P&C Meeting

Join us on Tuesday, 9 September at 6:30pm for our last meeting of Term 3! It’s a great opportunity to catch up on school news, meet the Principal, hear a school update, learn about upcoming plans, and contribute to P&C and school decisions.

Some agenda items include:

• NAPLAN results and planning
• Kiss & Ride changes
• Final Colour Run planning
• Uniforms
• Canteen update

Everyone is welcome! The more people attending, the better the P&C can represent the whole school community. Please contact us via Facebook or email at fpspresident@gmail.com if you have questions. We’d love to see you there! Facebook P&C Meeting Event

🌭 Infants Sports Carnival BBQ – Wednesday, 17 September

The P&C is firing up the BBQ again for the Infants Sports Carnival!

✅ Student lunch orders

Order forms were sent home on Thursday this week. Please return with cash to the canteen by Friday, 12 September.
Need another form? Grab one from the canteen or office.

Note: K-2 students will not be able to purchase lunch from the canteen on the day; pre-orders only.

🍰 On the day

Families can purchase sausage sizzles, drinks, cakes & ice blocks over the counter.

🙌 Volunteers Needed

We need helpers from 9 AM to 1:30 PM for setup, cooking, packing, and sales. We have 30-minute time slots so everyone can help without missing their kids’ events. Sign up here: Volunteer Sign-Up

We require volunteers in our canteen on the following dates:

👕 2nd Hand Uniform Shop

📅 Next open

On Monday, 8 September, from 2:45-3:15pm, we will be open next. School Bytes is updated with our uniform shop opening dates, so remember to check here if you want to see when we are next open.

📝 Survey

We are asking our school community to complete a survey about our 2nd-hand uniform shop. Even if you haven’t utilised the uniform shop, we’d still like to hear your thoughts! It takes less than 2 minutes to complete: 2nd Hand Uniform Shop Survey.

🗓️ Upcoming P&C Dates for Your Calendar! 📅

📅Term 3 P&C Meeting: 9 September

🏃‍♀️Colour Run: Thursday, 25 September 

📅Term 4 P&C Meetings: 14 October and 11 November

Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details on these exciting events! 🎊

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 3 for upcoming holiday and vacation care information, and other community news and events.