The Punchbowl Press

2023 Term 1 Week 10

Term 1

Weekly from Week 2-11  M-F - P-6 Gymnastics Programs

Every Thursday - THERAPuppy Visit

March 27 - Come and Try Athletics (Owls and Kookaburras)

March 29 - P&C Annual General Meeting 

April 4 - Iftar Dinner (ticket holders ONLY)

April 5 - ANZAC Day Assembly - 9:00 am 

April 6 - Easter Hat Parade

April 7 - Last day of Term 1

Term 2 

24 April - School Devlopment Day (Staff only) 

25 April - ANZAC Day (Public Holiday, no school)

26 April - Student's First Day of Term 2

Every Thursday - THERAPuppy Visit

May 2 - ES1 and S1 Excursion to Riverside Theatre

May 16 - CPSMF Multi-School Choir Rehearsal

May 22 to June 1 - Life Education Visits (P-6)

Principal's Message

Dear Parents and carers, 

As always, the year has started quickly with Term 1 almost completed. Throughout the term we have had many programs running across the school to engage our students.

Congratulations to our 2023 Leaders, Student Representative Council and House Captains who were officially inducted at a special assembly in Week 7.  Our students and their invited guests, enjoyed breakfast together to celebrate this special event. A huge thank you all staff who assisted with the nomination and election process, especially to Miss Williams and Mr Shearer who will work closely with these students, as they serve the school community in these important roles. 

Year 6 engaged in the Young Change Agents program. The program stretches the thinking and ideas of Stage 3 students. It worked on their entrepreneurial and design thinking. There were some terrific ideas floating around the hall about elite sports people, the PPS community and Fashion. Great to see the collaboration of the students, showing curiosity and thinking how and why.

We have also had our weekly visit from our THERAPuppy Jellybean or Daisy who have become honorary PPS superstars. They are at the gate every Thursday greeting our students and visiting classroom throughout the day. We have seen an enormous impact on the positivity of the school when our puppies are here.

The P&C Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday March 29 at 9am and we encourage new and current parents to come and be a part of this very important team in our school.

We are very excited about the upgrade to Punchbowl Public School which is well into the planning stage. The upgrade will include additional permanent teaching spaces and core facilities to meet the needs of the local community. Further updates regarding the Punchbowl Public School upgrade will be released as the project progresses. More information can be found on the School Infrastructure webpage

We are looking forward to finishing the term with our Easter Hat parade, Iftar dinner and Anzac Day ceremony. To all those families celebrating Ramadan this month, Ramadan Mubarak and have a happy Eid al-Fitr ahead! Also, sending a very Happy Easter to families celebrating during the school holidays. Term 1 finishes on Thursday 6 April and Term 2 resumes for ALL students on Wednesday 26 April. Have a safe and restful holiday break. 

Donna McGeary

Principal 

Congratulations Ms Joseph

Andrew Fielding (Director for Chullora network), Donna McGeary (Principal) and staff from Punchbowl Public School celebrated Ms Lyn Joseph’s commitment and valuable contribution to the NSW Department of Education for over 40 years. Ms Joseph has taught hundreds of students throughout her career and has positively impacted their lives. She is an outstanding support to both students and teachers and we are so grateful to have Ms Joseph at Punchbowl Public School and wish her many more wonderful years of teaching ahead. We are glad Graham (Ms Joseph’s partner) was also able to join us for this special celebration. Congratulations Ms Joseph! #LoveWhereYouLearn

An important message from the P&C

The P&C Annual General Meeting will be on Wednesday 29 March from 9:00am.

Please come along as we vote for office bearer positions for 2023.

We encourage all parents/carers to attend, even if you do not wish to apply for a position on the committee.

If you have any questions phone the office and leave a message for the P&C President - Mirvat.

Schools as Community Centre (SaCC)

Our SaCC continues to deliver regular weekly programs for early learners, school aged children and their parents. During term 1 these programs have included SaCC playgroups, Parent Child Mother Goose program, Better Beginnings, Tuning into Kids, Learning Club, Kids Create, Go4Fun, Play2Learn playgroup, EACH Family Specialist Visit and Parents Drop in on Mondays.  Our playgroups are the highlight of the week for many of our families. The Term 2 Planner will be available shortly. 

A new government initiative this year has provided us with Ms Nika, Wellbeing Health In-Reach Nurse (WHIN) who is onsite every Friday. This partnership supports families by organising the children’s specialist appointments, therapist follow ups, checking blue books, booking free eyesight visits and more.

It has been a busy term with many new families joining our playgroups.  

Last Friday, parents joined Riverwood Community Centre for a Harmony celebration where they met new people and connected with different services. 

For more information about this service and the programs it offers, contact Asenati Mareko on 97505055 or 0439487865.  

We are a Crunch & Sip School

ALL students at Punchbowl Public School have a set time in their classrooms (during the morning session, before recess) to have Crunch & Sip.Crunch&Sip is a set time in primary schools for students to ‘refuel’ on vegetables, salad and fruit and ‘rehydrate’ with water. Students who are not hungry and are well hydrated perform better in the classroom, show increased concentration, and are less likely to be irritable and disruptive. Many students are not eating enough vegetables and fruit or keeping sufficiently hydrated.Please make sure your child has something suitable in their lunchbox each day. The canteen also sells fruit and vegetables packs for Crunch & Sip in the morning.

For more information please download the flyers attached (available in English and Arabic).

If you have any further questions please contact the class teacher.

Crunch and Sip Parent Information (English)

Download

Crunch and Sip Parent Information (Arabic)

Download

ANZAC Day Assembly

On Wednesday 5 April, 2023 an ANZAC Day Assembly will be held

in the Infants Playground at 9:00am.

Parents/carers are invited to come along to this special event.

You may bring flowers to lay during the ceremony if you wish.

Students will be participating in learning activities in their classrooms in the lead up to this event.

‘Lest We Forget’

Easter Hat Parade

The Easter Hat Parade will be held on Thursday 6 April from 9:15am. Parents/carers and family members are invited to come along.

PBL

Students at Punchbowl Public School have been working hard this term to continuously demonstrate the school values by being safe, respectful and active learners. Every week students from Preschool to Year 6 are introduced to a PBL focus and engage in lessons on these topics.  

A focus for this term has been on being safe by wearing hats on the playgrounds and fields. Students have explored the importance of wearing hats while outside. As part of this focus students have been taking part in a school wide hat challenge. The class with the highest percentage of hats will get an ice block at the end of the week.  The winner will be announced on the radio show every Friday till the end of the term. 

Preschool & Early Intervention

Students in Early Intervention are working hard at following teacher instructions to show what good learners they are. They are beginning to learn to share and show respect to their classmates. They are demonstrating the responsibility of being part of their class by following morning routines and doing their best throughout the day. Visits from the therapy dogs are having a calming effect on some of our children and allowing them to learn; it’s beautiful to experience. We are very proud of everything they have achieved already! 

Early Stage 1

This term during numeracy lessons students have been learning about patterns. Kindergarten students have been exploring how to recognise, create, copy and extend different types of patterns. They have been successful in describing patterns by referring to the different attributes such colour, size, shape, length, form. Students are able to identify the core and label different patterns. They are also beginning to explore the idea that there are patterns within number as well. Have a look at some of our amazing learning this term! 

Stage 1

Stage 1 have been reading the text, “The Big Book of Bugs”, by Yuval Zommer. They have been learning about adjectives and prepositional phases. Adjectives are describing words and prepositional phrases show where an object is in relation to something else.  

Ali said, “I have learnt that a spider has two body parts and an insect has three body parts.” 

Aya said, “I have learnt that ladybirds hibernate during winter.” 

Roukaya said, “I have learnt that a butterfly has four wings and an exoskeleton.” 

2 Sharks wrote facts about bugs. We then published our work and made it into a class book called ‘Bug Facts!’ Have a look at the photos to see some of their wonderful work! 

Stage 2

Term 1 is nearly over for 2023!

During the first term in Stage 2, we have had a strong focus on settling into our environment and getting to know one another by creating a place where everyone belongs.

This year, year 3 have helped us achieve this by successfully bringing the PAX Good Behaviour Game with them from Stage 1. All teachers and students are working hard at becoming PAX Leaders.

Our safe, respectful behaviours have allowed us to do some truly amazing work this term. Check out some photos from in-class highlights and gymnastics.

An extra special shout out goes to Aseel from 3Creative and Hanrich from 3Optimism. These two students were selected as our stand-out public speakers for the term. All students who participated should feel very proud of their efforts.

We wish our families celebrating Ramadan and Easter a beautiful time with their loved ones. Enjoy and be safe during the holiday break.

K/6 Owls & K/6 Kookaburras

Students in Kookaburras have been learning to arrange numbers in ascending and descending order. They used fun interactive games to help them understand the concept. Kindergarten have been working towards ordering numbers from 0-30 and identifying groups of different objects without counting. Good luck to Sajid who will be doing NAPLAN over the next couple of weeks.  

All our students continue to actively participate in gymnastics each week. Some rotations Kookaburras and Owls are taking part in include the straight jump off the mini trampoline, walking along the beam and front support on the high bar. With assistance, kindergarten is beginning to focus and listen to mindfulness music and connect with their emotions.  

Stage 3

Year 6 were given a fantastic opportunity to participate in the Young Change Makers Explorer program. 

Teams of students worked to identify problems within their communities and then ideate, validate, prototype, and pitch a social enterprise idea to a judging panel; it was our very own Shark Tank. 

Young Change Agents empowers young people to identify problems in their community, reframing them as opportunities, and develop solutions with an entrepreneurial lens. Year 6 had a great time bonding, building teams and designing their business.  

Genius Hour

Genius Hour students have had a lot of fun cooking pizza, chocolate cake and Sushi. Cooking experiences give students the opportunity to work together and learn life skills. They researched recipes, discussed budgets and looked at learning how to follow recipes. Mathematical and literacy skills underpinned these activities while scientific investigations helped us understand how heat is a catalyst to changing the state of food.  The students are very concerned about how changes to the climate will impact the sustainability of our food supplies. We are looking at ways we can become self sufficient to help support our local communities by experimenting with different ways to grow our own food. With the wonderful student of Punchbowl Public School, the future is looking bright!

Community Language - Arabic

Stage 1 students are enjoying learning Arabic through a variety of activities. They are re-visiting the Arabic alphabet using puzzles, drawing and putting the letters in the right order. Students are now able to say the letters and their sounds, some are also capable of finding words that start with the letter of choice. 

Library

Stage 1

Students from Stage 1 are enjoying stories from the very popular Pamela Allen. They are able to describe what they’ve learnt; some students amaze us with their messages that reflect deep thinking. Here’s what they’ve had to say about the story Herbert and Harry. 

  • “You can have a better life with people rather than being alone and having treasure.” Hadi, 1 Starfish 
  • “I learnt never to be greedy.” Melody, 2 Marlins 
  • “You should always share with your brother.” Jana, 2 Marlins 
  • “Don’t push others even if you want something. There are other ways of getting what you want.” Emma, 1 Eels 
  • “From the story I learnt to be nice, not selfish.” Maryam, 1 Eels 

K-6 Owls and Kookaburras

Using Bluebot, students are learning to code new words from the stories they’ve listened to. Through coding, they are developing problem solving skills and new ways of thinking. 

  • Sajid: “The narwhal can swim deep down into the ocean. It is a real animal that has a horn like a unicorn.” 
  • Mohammed: “The Mandrill looks like a monkey. Its fur looks like lion’s.” 


Stage 3

From the story, Cooee Mittagar by Jasmine Seymour, we are learning about Country and what it means to acknowledge and care for Country. Caring for Country means looking after native plants and animals. 

  • “I learnt that native bees come in a great range of colours and sizes, from a tiny 2mm to a large 24mm.” Mayesa, 5 Wondrous 
  • “Some native bees have furry coats while others are smooth and shiny like a stainless steel kettle.” Roaa, 5 Wondrous 
  • “There are over 230 native bird species in the Canterbury Bankstown area, that’s a lot of birds.” Maryam, 5 Wondrous 

RoboCup

Developing lifelong skills like problem solving, collaborating and effective communication, Year 6 students are mentoring younger students about using Lego robotics. A delight to witness the process. Thank you to Mr Potten for leading this in our school. 

Reminder

- Students arriving late MUST be signed into the office by a parent and collect a late slip before going to class.

- Any student items being dropped off by parents/ carers need to be sent to the office (students will be called to collect items).

- If parents/ carers need to speak with classroom teachers please contact the office to leave a message (02) 9750 5055.

Gardening Club

This semester, the gardening club students chose to plant some succulent plants and plant them in pots to take them back to their classrooms. They have researched how to plant, water and look after them. They took a lot of joy and pride in their work, and we are looking forward to new projects next term.   

An important message from the school office

Dear parents and carers

Parents will now receive an email where they can give permission and pay for school activities online. Please check your emails for instructions on how to complete this process online.   

If you have recently changed your email address please make sure you provide these updated details to the school. 

Contact the school should you have any questions. 

Premier's Reading Challenge

The aim of the Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC) is to encourage a love of reading. The PRC reading lists enables students to select reading material from a range of quality literature. The Challenge has started, students have until 18 August 2023 to complete the challenge. Students may include any books read from the end of 2022 on their 2023 challenge record. For more information about the PRC rules, click on the link here

Choosing to participate in the PRC is a great opportunity to read and be recognised for your efforts. 

MyON

Encourage your child to read 20 minutes a day to set them up for learning success. Over thousands of ebooks from MyON are available online for our students to enjoy at any time, all from the convenience of your home. Student MyOn accounts have been updated and most students are familiar with their login details. For quick reference, they have been issued with a login card summarising their login details. To login to student MyOn account, please click on the link here

Important Road Safety Information

Campsie Police have been, and will continue to regularly patrol the streets surrounding our school. Infringement notices will be issued to those not following the road rules. 

A particular area of concern is making U-Turns around the school and parking across driveways. 

Follow the link to the NSW Transport webpage for more details on fines and demerits. 

Some advice for road users: 

The beginning and end of the school day are busy times for pedestrians and vehicles outside the school. That’s why you need to take extra care in 40km/h school zones.• Park safely and legally, even if it means walking further to the school gate. Parking signs are planned with children’s safety in mind.• Slow down to 40km/h in the school zone and stay aware of crossings.• Always park and turn legally around the school.• Never double park as it puts children at risk.• Manoeuvres such as U-turns and three-point turns are dangerous.• Never park in a bus zone or in the school bus bay.• Make sure your children use the Safety Door (rear footpath side door) to get in and out of the car.• At a supervised crossing, observe the directions of the school crossing supervisor.• Model safe and considerate behaviour for your child – they will learn from you.

Remember to always give way to pedestrians particularly when entering and leaving driveways. Don’t park across ANY driveways or the entrance to the school car park.

It’s always a good idea to use the drop off and pick up areas on Rossmore Ave and Viola St.

This will help keep all children as safe as possible during the busiest times of the school day

Please be aware that local police continue patrolling our school and issuing infringement notices to those not complying with the rules. 

Download the flyers for more information or visit the website for more details. 

School Zones Flyer

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Attendance Matters

#AttendanceMatters #EveryDayMatters even in the days leading up to end of term. Families are encouraged to book holidays during school breaks so that students can get the most out of their learning time at school. Follow the link to view the 2023 calendar and more information. https://education.nsw.gov.au/.../going-to-a.../calendars

Local Community News and Events

Midford - Punchbowl Public School Uniform Pricelist

Please note that we at Midford School uniforms will be accepting the $150.00 Back To School Vouchers

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Motiv8sports Canterbury Bankstown - School Holiday Program

At Motiv8sports Canterbury Bankstown, we get kids excited about sport and help them learn about teamwork and sportsmanship in safe and fun settings. 

The Creative Kids Vouchers are also accepted for this program. 

​Don’t miss out – book today!

8:30am-3:30pm daily

For ages Kindy to Year 6

What is included:

  • 2 days of AWESOME sports and activities, led by our legendary Coaching Team!
  • Rookie jersey for all new attendees + FREE jersey milestone upgrades
  • Individual Team Sleeves
  • Prize Giveaways 

Junior Australian Sports Program

Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre, 150 Belmore Rd North, Riverwood NSW 2210 

Dates: Monday 24th - April 2023 - Monday 19th June 2023, 17:30 - 18:30,  (8x Monday afternoon weekly sessions)

Time: 5:30pm - 6:30pm

Follow the link for registration and more details. 

Did you know that the newsletter can be translated to many different languages?

- Scroll all the way to the bottom until you see the ‘Select Language’ option. Select your preferences language

You can now read the news in your chosen language.

This page provides the latest advice for parents and carers on the department’s response to the pandemic. This guide is updated regularly based on advice from NSW Health. Please check this regularly.