Term 3 Week 7 Newsletter - Monday 2nd September 2024

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Term 3 Week 7

I hope all of the John Purchase dads and other father figures, had a wonderful Fathers Day on Sunday, and you had the opportunity to spend quality time with the children. 

Many thanks to our P & C and volunteers, under Natalie's leadership, for organising the Fathers Day stall so the children could choose something special for their dads, grandparents, uncles and/or other father figures.

CELEBRATING OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC RESULTS

We are thrilled to announce the exceptional academic achievements of our students in the recent Year 3 and Year 5 NAPLAN assessments. Over 90% of our students have achieved in the exceeding or strong bands across assessment areas including: reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy. These outstanding results are well above or above similar schools and well above state averages, and are a testament to the dedication and hard work of our school community.

The diagrams below illustrate the remarkable performance of our students in the assessments, showcasing the significant progress they have made. These results not only reflect the academic excellence of our students but also signify the continuous upward trend in our school's improvement journey.

We would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to our hardworking Year 3 and Year 5 students for their outstanding achievements. Your commitment to learning and fantastic effort have enabled these results.

We also want to acknowledge and thank our collaborative and highly committed teaching and leadership team for their unwavering support and guidance. Your passion for education and commitment to student success have been instrumental in helping our students work hard and achieve excellence.

Lastly, we are grateful for the invaluable support provided by our parents. Your partnership with us in the education of your children has been instrumental in their academic success.

Together, as a strong school community, we celebrate these exceptional academic results and look forward to continuing our journey of excellence and growth.

SPRING INTO SUMMER UNIFORM

With the earlier arrival of Spring weather, students can begin wearing summer uniform, rather than waiting for the start of Term 4.

KISS AND DROP

This is another reminder to please be courteous, thoughtful and safe, when using the kiss and drop zone. The vast majority of parents are mindful of the children's safety. This includes having children enter and exit the car in a timely way, and ensuring they are wearing seatbelts before driving into the traffic.  

Please do not drive up onto the kerb, as this is extremely dangerous.

DISCIPLINE VS PUNISHMENT

One of the great challenges of parenting can relate to discipline. We all want children to learn from the mistakes they make and to grow up to be able to self-regulate their behaviour and do the right thing. We want them to be happy, well adjusted and resilient. This means teaching them right from wrong and from time to time, it means disciplining children.

So what is the difference between discipline and punishment? Discipline refers to teaching children desirable behaviour for  the future, whereas punishment focuses on inflicting some kind of suffering based on past behaviour. The following  infographic from www.parentingbrain.com summarises the difference between the two.

APPLICATIONS FOR EXTENDED LEAVE (TRAVEL)
TAKE VACATIONS WITHIN THE SCHOOL VACATION PERIOD

As mentioned in the newsletter very recently, I have received a significant increase in requests for extended leave (travel), with the numbers of requests received this term being unprecedented. While I understand the benefits of students travelling and spending quality time with family, vacations should be taken out of the school term and should be taken within the 11 weeks of scheduled school vacation periods. School vacation periods are included below for your convenience.

Please note applications for travel during school term require supporting travel documentation and moving forward, will often not be approved.

CHILD PROTECTION RESPONSIBILITIES (repeated)

VOLUNTEERS: IMPORTANT INFORMATION
(including P & C Volunteers)

Thank you for your commitment to the safety and well-being of our students.  Your dedication is invaluable to our school community.

We want to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all students in our care, and as such, it’s essential for you to be aware of this Child Protection information.

Part A: Working With Children Requirements

Please ensure you:

1. Sign in at the office using the QR code and show photo ID each time you are volunteering.
2. Complete the Declaration for Child-related Workers: https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/policy-library/public/implementation-documents/pd-2005-0264-07.pdf

Part B: Child Protection Requirements

Here are the key points you need to know:

• Responsibilities: All staff, including volunteers, have a responsibility to report any concerns about the safety, welfare, or wellbeing of children and young people. This includes identifying risks of harm and providing support where necessary.

• Mandatory Reporting: Volunteers are considered mandatory reporters under NSW legislation. This means you have a legal obligation to report any suspicions or concerns of child abuse or neglect. If these become apparent while volunteering in the school, these should be communicated immediately to the Principal or relieving principal or the most senior person in attendance at school. You can also make reports directly to the Department of Communities and Justice. The phone number for the Child Protection Helpline is 132111.

• Training: Volunteers are required to be informed about indicators of abuse and neglect, as well as reporting procedures. Please refer to the link below, which outline key indicators of abuse and neglect. An overview of indicators is also available at the front office.

https://education.nsw.gov.au/schooling/school-community/child-protection/child-protection-policy-guidelines/resources

Mrs Leonie Cole (LaST) provides training for Volunteers, which is compulsory at our school for school volunteers (including those helping in and out of the classroom such as on excursions). This training is highly recommended for P & C volunteers as well. Please leave a message at the school office if you would like to attend Mrs Cole's next training session.

2024 Term Dates & Holidays (repeated)

PLEASE MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO ARRANGE TRAVEL DURING SCHOOL VACATION PERIODS, RATHER THAN DURING THE SCHOOL TERM

Term 3 2024 - Monday 22 July 2024 (students return Tuesday 23 July) to Friday 27 September 2024

Spring school holidays - Monday 30 September 2024 to Friday 11 October 2024

Term 4 2024 - Monday 14 October 2024 (for staff AND students) to Wednesday 18 December (for students) and Friday 20 December (for staff) 2024

2025 NSW term dates and school holidays

Please note: School development days for staff are included in these term dates and parents and carers should not send their children to school on these days.

• Term 1 - Friday 31 January to Friday 11 April
• Autumn school holidays - Monday 14 April to Friday 25 April
• Term 2 - Monday 28 April to Friday 4 July
• Winter school holidays - Monday 7 July to Friday 18 July
• Term 3 – Monday 21 July to Friday 26 September
• Spring school holidays – Monday 29 September to Friday 10 October
• Term 4 – Monday 13 October to Friday 19 December
• Summer school holidays (Eastern) – Monday 22 December to Monday 26 January 2026
  

Term 3 Week 7

Monday 2nd September 2024

I hope the dads in our community, had a fantastic weekend! Thank you to Natalie Campbell and her band of parent volunteers, who organised and ran last week's Father's Day Stall, for students and families.

Hearty congratulations to our dancers, once more, who performed with distinction, at the Hawkesbury Eisteddfod, last week!

Stage 3 students presented an entertaining dance to 'Waka Waka' at assembly last week. It was heart-warming to see so many parents enjoying the performance, with the rest of the school.

I look forward to meeting the new parents of Kindergarten 2025, at our first information meeting, tomorrow morning, at 9am. The information session will be repeated at 6pm tomorrow evening, via Microsoft Teams. Information to the online information session, will be distributed separately.

Good luck to all of our athletes participating at the Zone Athletics Carnival at Sydney Olympic Park, this Thursday.

Here is an important reminder: The next K-6 Assembly will be held at 9:30am, under the COLA, on Thursday 19th September. This assembly will feature the eagerly-awaited Book Character Parade. This is a great opportunity for students' creativity to shine, as I'm told that there will be special library prizes on offer this year!

Have a positive week!

If you can be anything, be kind.

Adela King
Deputy Principal

Bullying No Way - How Parents can help (repeated)

By working collaboratively within our community, we can collectively help reduce bullying.

Parents and carers play an important role in helping your child understand bullying, and know how to respond to it.

If your child tells you about things at school, or you observe something in public that involves conflict or bullying, take the opportunity to talk about what bullying is. You can learn more about what defines bullying at bullyingnoway.gov.au.

Questions you could ask:

• What do you think bullying is?
• Have you seen it? How did you feel?
• Have you ever felt scared at school because of bullying?
• As well as me, who are the other adults you would talk to when it comes to things like bullying?
• Have you or your friends left other kids out on purpose? Do you think that was bullying? Why or why not?
• Have you ever tried to help someone who is being bullied? What happened? What would you do if it happens again?

Remind your child that bullying is never okay and discuss how they can respond safely if they experience or witness it.

Encourage them to seek help from a trusted adult and keep seeking support, if needed.

By promoting open communication, we empower children to stand up against bullying and create a safer environment where everyone can feel that they belong.

Congratulations Silver Award Recipients

Congratulations Gold Award Recipients

Term 3 Diary Dates 

• Tuesday 3rd September - Kindergarten 2025 Parent Meeting 9am at school or 6pm via Microsoft Teams
• Thursday 5th September - Zone Athletics Carnival at Sydney Olympic Park
• Monday 9th September - 7pm P&C Meeting
• Wednesday 11th September - Year 5 Leadership Day
• Thursday 12th September - Year 6 Mufti Day Fundraiser
• Thursday 19th September - 9:30am K-6 Assembly and Book Character Parade
• Tuesday 24th September - 10:30am Principal's Morning Tea in Hall
• Wednesday 25th September - 11am Bronze Medallion Morning Tea in Principal's Office
• Friday 27th September - Last day of Term 3

Our School Expectations

Congratulations to our students who have demonstrated our school expectations of Respect, Responsibility and Aspire.

This week's expectation is: 

Responsibility: Finish eating and drinking before you play

Purchase Pride Badges

Purchase Pride awards recognise positive student behaviour on the playground and in the classroom. When students receive ten Purchase Pride award cards, these should be left in the boxes on the ‘award shelf’ inside the school office foyer. Each set of ten awards needs to be bundled together and clearly labelled with the student’s name and current class.

Purchase Pride cards also have a 'tear-off' strip. This strip may be removed by the recipient and placed in the appropriate stage box in the award shelf, to go in the lucky dip draw, for a canteen voucher. Canteen vouchers are drawn by our SRC representatives, at the end of each term. Students are notified directly, if successful.

Award recipients will be presented with a coloured Purchase Pride badge, the week after their name is published in this newsletter, during term time. This badge may be worn on the school uniform. Students are encouraged to hand in their awards regularly and not 'stockpile' them.

Congratulations:

Toby S (3/4B), Khushal (5B), Liam (1B), Stella (3B), Max A (1B), Rohit S (3S), Siddharth V (3/4B), Krish P x2 (3S), Celina (1B), Audrey G (KH), Jade N (3S), Viraaj (3/4B), Alice W (3B), Amelia Y (1KR), Blake (4D), Alina A (2L), Lucas Z (3/4B), Amelie J (3S)

Class Awards System

In addition to Purchase Prides, JPPS has an incremental class awards system. When a student has received ten class awards, these should be left in the boxes on the ‘award shelf’ inside the school office. The ten class awards need to be bundled together and clearly labelled with the student’s name, current class and award level reached. A clear, snap lock bag is ideal for this purpose! Students need to be responsible for their own awards, as replacements are not issued. Students are encouraged to hand in their awards, rather than 'stockpiling' them until Term 4, so they don't miss out on special celebrations, such as the Principal's Morning Tea.

10 Class Awards = Bronze   20 = Silver   30 = Gold   40 = Bronze Medallion  
50 = Silver Medallion   60 = Gold Medallion  75 = Platinum Medallion and Principal for the Day!

All awards (including Bronze) now received by 9am on Thursday mornings, are ‘stamped’ and published in the next school newsletter, which is usually on the following Monday, in term time. At this time, I indicate when these awards will be presented. Silver Awards, Gold Awards and all Medallions, are presented at whole school assemblies. Please note that Bronze Awards are only presented at the end of each term, at the Principal's Morning Tea.

Bronze Award

The Term 3 Principal's Morning Tea, will be held in the hall, at 10:30am, on Tuesday 24th September. Parents of recipients are cordially invited to attend. 

Congratulations:

Ava L (1KR), Arian P (1KR), Leo I (1KR)

Silver Award

These awards will be presented at the next assembly. This assembly is planned to occur at 9:30am on Thursday 19th September, under the COLA. This assembly will feature the whole school Book Character Parade, where students are invited to come to school, dressed as their favourite book character.

Congratulations:  

Victoria X (3B)

Gold Award

These awards will be presented at the next assembly. This assembly is planned to occur at 9:30am on Thursday 19th September, under the COLA. This assembly will feature the whole school Book Character Parade, where students are invited to come to school, dressed as their favourite book character.    

Bronze Medallion

These awards will be presented at the next assembly. This assembly is planned to occur at 9:30am on Thursday 19th September, under the COLA. This assembly will feature the whole school Book Character Parade, where students are invited to come to school, dressed as their favourite book character.   

A morning tea for Term 3 Bronze Medallion recipients, will be held on Wednesday, 25th September, at 11am in the Principal's office.

Congratulations:

Madison S (6MW), Emily P (6MW)

Silver Medallion

These awards will be presented at the next assembly. This assembly is planned to occur at 9:30am on Thursday 19th September, under the COLA. This assembly will feature the whole school Book Character Parade, where students are invited to come to school, dressed as their favourite book character.

The ‘GOT IT’ team who work for the NSW Department of Health and the NSW Department of Education are presenting a NEW AND DIFFERENT highly recommended online webinar 'Wanting ideas for how you can stay connected to your child in those difficult limit setting moments?' They have invited the JPPS community to join in for FREE!

The online webinar is for all parents and carers of students from Kindergarten to Year 6.

Please see the flyer for details of the webinar and a registration QR code. You can also find the live registration link above the flyer below.

If you have any questions about the webinar, please contact me on 98753100 Tuesday or Wednesday.

Leonie Cole  
Learning and Support Teacher/Coordinator  

SPORTS REPORT

Winter PSSA results 

Stage 2 vs Pennant Hills Public School

Soccer
JPPS Boys 3 lost to PHPS 4
JPPS Girls 0 lost to PHPS 15

Netball 
JPPS Boys 7 won against PHPS 6
JPPS Girls 20 won against PHPS 9 

Stage 3 – BYE

Laura Davidson

Dance announcement
Last Tuesday our dance troupes competed at the Hawkesbury Eisteddfod. We would like to congratulate our dance groups again on their outstanding results. 

1. Stage 1: 2nd out of 9
2. Stage 2: 2nd out of 8
3. Stage 3: 3rd out of 18 

Mrs Adele Walters
Dance Coordinator 

Parent Volunteers

Are you interested in volunteering?

At John Purchase Public School, there are many opportunities to be involved and to support our P and C.

• P & C positions
• Special events
• Canteen
• School Uniform Shop

Volunteering helps you connect with people in the community.

If you would like to get involved, please put your name down at the canteen (for volunteering in the canteen), email our president, Richard at richardw@jppspandc.org.au or at the front office (for volunteering for other P and C roles). 

P & C Volunteer Sign Up Form

Please remember to sign up to volunteer using the volunteer sign up form. This will assist in planning for next year. See the below link to the sign up form.

https://volunteersignup.org/RAFL8

Uniform Shop (repeated)

JPPS Uniform Shop Opening hours:​ 8:30-9:30am every Monday, Wednesday, Friday  

Friendly Reminders: 

1. Any size change of items has to be arranged within 14 days upon purchase with FULL packaging and receipt shown ONLY. Any used items or missing packaging will definitely NOT be accepted. Thanks for your understanding. 
   
2. To shorten your waiting time in the shop, we highly recommend all parents order uniforms online and arrange pick up. Items can be changed if there is a sizing issue. https://uniforms.jppspandc.org.au/ 
   

Thank you. 

Pace 
Uniform Shop Manager

Please note our school publishes community information for the convenience of families but does not endorse any activity, organisation, person or product.

JOHN PURCHASE PUBLIC SCHOOL accepts no responsibility for content on third-party websites and providing a link does not imply that the school endorses that website.

Want to do something life-changing in 2024? Why not volunteer at JOHN PURCHASE PUBLIC SCHOOL as an Ethics teacher!  

Ethics classes can only be offered as an alternative if we have volunteer teachers. Volunteers can come from our parents, grandparents, friends and local community, from every walk of life. Primary Ethics offers full, free training, lesson scripts and teaching support.

Ethics encourages children to listen closely and to develop their opinions through ethical reasoning. Ethics helps kids develop confidence and empathy. As an ethics teacher, you’ll get a lot out of it too!

If you have an hour a week and want to ensure children at our school can access this valuable program, go to: https://primaryethics.com.au/volunteer/ethics-teacher/