05 Sep 2016
Welcome!
What another wonderful few weeks of engaged learning we have experienced here at Villawood North PS together!
Uniform Draw
The Executive Staff and I have introduced a new process to reward the students who wear full school uniform. Every morning this term, myself or another teacher will draw up to 3 student's names from our Uniform Draw Box. If the child whose name has been called out is wearing full school uniform, they have a token to spend $1 at our school canteen! The student must be wearing FULL uniform including black shoes (Mondays-Thursdays) and white socks or black tights. As we are outside when we do the Uniform Draw, the student must be wearing their school hat. Extra coloured clothing or tights under the uniform will prevent the student from winning the token.
"Benefits of school uniforms
The wearing of school uniforms by students will assist school communities in:
- defining an identity for the school within its community
- developing students' sense of belonging to the school community
- providing an opportunity to build school spirit
- enhancing the health and safety of students when involved in school activities
- promoting a sense of inclusiveness, nondiscrimination and equal opportunity
- reinforcing the perception of the school as an ordered and safe environment
- increasing the personal safety of students and staff by allowing easier recognition of visitors and potential intruders in the school
- promoting positive community perceptions of public education
- making school clothing more affordable for families by eliminating the risk of peer pressure to wear transiently fashionable and expensive clothes."
This information was taken from "School Uniforms in NSW Government Schools".
More information can be found at here
New Finance and Student Management System
On Monday 5th September our school will begin a new finance and student management system called LMBR Learning
Management and Business Reform. The LMBR program is designed to help the Department of Education improve
administration so we can focus more on teaching and learning systems. There will be several changes in how administration is performed, particularly around parent payments to the school. Please keep an eye on the newsletter and our school app for updates.
Thank you to Mrs Ingram and Mrs Ackaoui for their hard work and patience during many hours of training in the new system and preparation in planning for this rollover. To thank Mrs Ingram and Mrs Ackaoui and to farewell the current OASIS system, on Friday 2nd September we shared a ‘rollover' morning tea, eating anything that had ‘roll' in the name or any food that could ‘roll' – sausage rolls, spring rolls, grapes and maltesers!
SASS Recognition Week
Monday 29th August – Friday 2nd September was SASS Recognition Week! This was a wonderful opportunity for all of our school to thank our hard working School Administrative and Support Staff for all of the contributions they make to the successes of our dynamic school. Thank you to Mr Whyburn and Mr Morgan for their general assistant work around our school. Thank you to Mrs Donatiello, Mrs Pham and Mrs Nhan for their dedicated work supporting students in the classrooms. Thank you also to Mrs Ingram, Mrs Ackaoui and Mrs Zuraigat for their excellent organization in our school office. Thank you all for the vital role that you each play in education at Villawood North Public School.
MathsCup 2016
On Thursday 1st September, Mrs Olivieri and I supervised 6 students at Amity College for MathsCup 2016, a whole day of exciting mathematics challenges for students in Year 6. 103 teams from 43 schools across New South wales, Queensland and Victoria entered the competition.
Congratulations to Chelsea Ng, Andrew La, Selina Malabanan, Stanley Nguyen, Lilly Doan Nguyen and Lewis Duong for a wonderful day of learning and representing our school with their enormous Mathematics skills!
Zoo Snooze
Our Stage 2 students had the fantastic opportunity to attend Taronga Zoo's Zoo Snooze excursion, an overnight experience sleeping at Taronga Zoo! The students had a unique overnight experience, including a BBQ dinner, a night tour of the Zoo and early morning behind the scenes experiences after a continental breakfast and animal encounters. Thank you to Mrs Busuttill, Mr Yoia, Miss Baillie, Mrs Nhan and Ms Fayle for attending this camp, providing our students with this memorable opportunity!
"STEAM Team" Professional Learning
Mrs Jugovac, Mrs Nguyen, Mr Green, Miss Danh and I all work together with 9 teachers from Lansvale Public School as a new Community of Schools initiative named STEAM Team Fairfield. STEAM Education is the learning of science, technology,
engineering, art and mathematics in an interdisciplinary or integrated approach. Students gain and apply knowledge, deepen their understanding and develop creative and critical thinking skills within an authentic context. STEAM may include inquiry and project-based learning practices.
Leading the way for STEAM education across Fairfield schools, our STEAM Team recently led professional learning for St Johns Park Public School, showcasing the talents of STEAM Education at Villawood North PS. Congratulations to all involved!
Gillawarna Festival
On Monday 5th September and Monday 12th September, our Choir and Hip Hop Dance Group will be representing Villawood North PS by participating in the Gillawarna Festival held at Bankstown Sports Club. After lots of hard work practicing during lunch breaks, our Choir and Hip Hop Dance Groups will both perform. Thank you to Miss Baillie and Miss Wanasawage for their preparation for these performances
OSMO
In line with our push for future focused learning practices, we have purchased two new OSMO Wonder Kits! OSMO is an award-winning game system that will change the way your child interacts with the iPad by opening it up to hands-on play. OSMO allows our students to interact with Tangrams, Numbers, Words, Drawing with Masterpiece, and Coding. Our students K-6 have loved this exciting addition to our technology resources.
Greening Australia
Last week, Greening Australia again donated and helped to plant over 500 plants, trees and shrubs that are native to our local community. We are very fortunate to have this opportunity and are grateful for the resources provided to us by Greening Australia. Thank you to Mr Green and Mr Yoia, their classes and the Environmental Committee for their work in planting these trees around our school.
Quote for this post of our VNPS news:
"A teacher affects eternity. They can never tell where their influence stops".
– Henry Adams
Kind regards,
Melanie Macmillan
Relieving Principal