THE UPSIDE

26th of July 2023 -ISSUE 11

News and updates from

Next week we celebrate Education Week 2023. This year’s theme is 175 years of public education in NSW and focuses on learning from our past, celebrating our achievements and embracing the future with confidence.

This year marks 175 years since the establishment of public schools in NSW. Founded in 1848, the Board of National Education was formed and tasked with establishing a public education system in NSW. Prior to 1848, schools operated under a denominational system and were the responsibility of churches.

I would like to invite all families to attend a special assembly in the hall on Thursday 3rd August at 9.15am, followed by open classrooms from 10.00 -11.00am. The last 15 minutes of this session, parents, grandparents and special visitors will be invited to share their memories of what it was like to learn mathematics when they were at school. Families are also welcome to enjoy a picnic lunch with their child between 11.00 -11.30am.

I am keen to share that the eagerly anticipated NAPLAN (National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy) student results have been released and sent home this week. We are immensely proud of our students' hard work and dedication, and we believe it is a perfect time to celebrate their achievements together! 

For those who may not be familiar, NAPLAN is a national assessment conducted annually for students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9. It provides valuable insights into each student's literacy and numeracy skills, offering a snapshot of their academic progress against national standards. 

The NAPLAN results offer valuable data that enables us to better understand each student's strengths and areas for growth. These insights serve as a foundation for our educators to tailor their teaching approaches, providing targeted support to help every child reach their full potential. 

As we review the results, it's important to remember that NAPLAN is just one measure of a student's academic journey. It doesn't define their abilities, nor does it capture the full range of talents and qualities that make each child unique. What truly matters is the growth they have achieved and the effort they put forth during the assessment. 

I encourage you to take some time to review the NAPLAN results with your child and acknowledge their progress. Use this opportunity to have open and positive conversations about their learning journey. Emphasise the value of hard work, perseverance, and the joy of learning, regardless of the scores achieved.

I am thrilled to announce that our school will be hosting a group of 9 talented Vietnamese students for a week-long study tour! It is with great joy and anticipation that we extend our warmest welcome to these bright young minds, who will be arriving on Monday 31st July.

During their stay with us, these exceptional students will be immersed in the unique educational experiences that our school has to offer. They will have the opportunity to engage in a wide range of activities and participate in classes alongside their Ultimo buddies, creating unforgettable memories and fostering cross-cultural friendships.

The purpose of this study tour is not only to enrich the academic journey of our Vietnamese guests but also to provide an opportunity for our students and staff to learn and grow from this cultural exchange. By coming together, sharing ideas, and embracing diversity, we can strengthen our sense of global community and understanding.

As hosts, it is our duty to ensure our visitors feel at home, supported, and inspired throughout their time with us. Let us open our hearts and extend our helping hands to make this experience truly remarkable for our Vietnamese friends.

In a vibrant showcase of Indigenous culture and unity, Glebe Public School hosted its annual NAIDOC Community Day on on the last day of Term 2, spreading awareness, appreciation, and celebration of the rich heritage of Australia's First Nations. As a part of our ongoing commitment to cultural diversity and inclusion, some of our students had the privilege of attending the event and experiencing a day filled with profound experiences and heartwarming connections.

The school had organized several interactive workshops and demonstrations, providing students and visitors with hands-on experiences of Indigenous traditions. We were fortunate to participate in activities like weaving and body painting. Our students also watched an assembly that included traditional dance and music. These engaging activities not only fostered an appreciation for Indigenous culture but also provided an opportunity for the younger generation to connect with their heritage.  

We are filled with gratitude for the opportunity to participate in such a meaningful celebration. We extend our sincerest thanks to the Glebe Public School community for opening their doors and hearts to us, providing a day that will forever hold a special place in our memories.

With your support, we do the very best we can to ensure that our students feel safe and are able to reach their potential.

The Department of Education rejects all forms of racism and is committed to the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination in NSW public schools. The Department’s Anti-Racism Policy aims to ensure that no student, employee, parent, carer or community member experiences racism within the school environment.

The policy asks all members of the school community to assist in countering racism by demonstrating respect for the cultural, linguistic and religious backgrounds of others, and by behaving in ways that promote acceptance and harmony in the school environment.

Each school has an Anti-Racism Contact Officer (ARCO) who is trained to assist with complaints and countering racism. Our ARCO is Ms Draga Jankovic. For more information about anti-racism and the role of the ARCO, see: Anti-Racism Policy - Information for parents and carers.

Please contact our ARCO if you or your child experiences any form of racism, witness anyone experiencing racism at our school, or if you would like further information or support. All emails to our ARCO should be directed to the admin team.

As we dive into Term 3, I am excited to extend an important reminder to families looking to enrol their little ones in Kindergarten for the year 2024. The enrolment process has officially begun, and we encourage you to apply now to secure a spot for your child in our warm and nurturing learning environment.

Enrolling your child in our Kindergarten program is a simple and straightforward process.  Use this LINK to access the online enrolment application.

Should you have any questions or need assistance with the application process, please do not hesitate to contact us on 9660 2130. We are here to support you every step of the way.

School Photographs were distributed last week, if you have asked for your child's pictures to be kept in the office please come in and collect the photographs at your earliest convenience. If you have missed out and would like to order, please use this link.

We would also appreciate if parents took this 2 min survey to give us some feedback about this years school photos.

As the weather continues to become cooler, it has been noticed that colourful jumpers, jackets, scarves and tights have made their way to school. Wearing our school uniform is an important part of school life. The students look unified and wonderful when they are all in school uniform. If students wish to wear items of warm clothing, it is recommended that they are in school colours. We thank you for your ongoing support. 

Welcome to Term 3. I hope you had a restful break and enjoyed some quality time with your families. Term 3 is an exciting time in the Library with Book week, our book week parade, Library monitors excursion and an Author visit. Please read below for updates.

Breakfast Reading Club: Term 3: Thursday mornings

In the Library: 8:20-8:55am

This term, we are continuing Breakfast Reading Club. Please drop your child off in the library from 8:20am on Thursday. Please note there will be no Breakfast Reading Club in Week 7 due to the Scholastic Book Fair. I will send out another reminder closer to the date.

Book Week Incursion: Author visit: Monday 7th August: Oliver Phommavanh

To celebrate Children’s Book week, Ultimo Public School has invited Australian Author, Oliver Phommavanh. Oliver loves to make people laugh, whether it’s on the page writing humour for kids or on stage as a stand-up comedian. He also shares his passion for writing with kids, using his experience as a primary school teacher. Oliver has performed at various comedy and writer’s festivals around Australia and Asia. Oliver’s recent books include What About Thao, Brain Freeze, Don’t Follow Vee and Natural Born Loser, and he is best known for Thai-riffic!, Con-nerd and The Other Christy. Please indicate permission to attend on your Sentral Portal.

Students will be able to purchase books through the Children's Bookshop, where the books will be sent straight to the school. If your book arrives before the 7th of August, Oliver will personally autograph copies. Please purchase books directly from the LINK and select, Ultimo Public School and list your child’s name and class.

Library Monitors Excursion: Friday 18th August

To thank our Library monitors for all the help they provide to our school library, we are taking them on a special excursion to celebrate Children’s Book week. Students will be there to celebrate the announcement of the 2023 CBCA Book of the Year. Students will get to hear the winner being announced as well as honour books at the Kid’s Book of the Year event. Special guest presenter, James Foley, author of Stellarphant, will announce the winners. Please check School ENews for more details and if your child is a library monitor, please consent to attending on your Sentral Portal.

CBCA Book Week 2023

A reminder that this year’s Book week theme is Read, Grow, Inspire.

Ultimo Public School is celebrating book week from Monday 28th August to Friday 1st September. We will once again be having the Scholastic Book Fair which will run over the week and parents and carers will be able to purchase books for their children at the school. More details to follow.

Book Week Parade- Week 7

Our book week parade will be on Friday 1st September at 9:15am in the Cola. Students will dress up as their favourite book character. All parents, carers and families are welcome to attend.

Premiers Reading Challenge: closing soon

A reminder that the Premier’s reading challenge is closing soon! We highly encourage all students to participate in the challenge. The Challenge opens on 27 February 2023. Students must complete your online Student Reading Record by 18 August 2023 (11:59 pm) to complete the Challenge. A reminder that Kindergarten students will complete the challenge during school, and I will complete their online logs for them. Parents or students from Years 1-6 will need to enter their books in online for the challenge. Please log onto the Premiers Reading Challenge website for further information: https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html

If your child has completed the challenge, please have them bring in their blue folder for further challenges.

Library Day

 Please be aware that some classes have had their Library day changed. Please check in with your classroom teacher if this has affected your child’s class.

Scholastic Book Club

A friendly reminder that Scholastic book orders are due on Friday 4th August. Students can purchase books at a discounted rate through scholastic book club. The best part is 15% of your order value is given back to our school. It is easy to order. Just go to scholastic.com.au loop or by using the LOOP app which you can download from the App Store or Google Play. Once you select your books, use the drop-down menu to find your class and the books will be delivered to your child’s classroom. Please note the school does not take cash for Book Club orders.

Join us for an evening to celebrate the creative and performing arts! Families are invited to walk around the school admiring the amazing visual artworks on display and join us for a concert in the COLA, showcasing a variety of performing arts. 

Enjoy the food, fun and festivities on a night that is not to be missed!

Community Art Competition

This year an art competition for parents, carers and family members will also be held. The theme for 2023 is Embracing Our World. Prizes will be awarded to winning entries. If you would like to submit an artwork, please deliver to the school office by Friday 15th September. 

Student Art Show committee

Students in Stages 2 and 3 can nominate to be a part of the Student Art Show committee. Students will meet Tuesday Lunch 1 from Week 4 - 10 to help create additional artworks and decorations for the Arts Show. This group is capped at 20 students (5 per year). Please register interest with Ms T (2 Tuvalu). 

By Claire, Jeehwan, Yash, Zaria

Next Tuesday we will have our Athletics Carnival for 2023. This will include sprinting, long jumps and many more activities. Please also remember to wear your house colours on the day, and we wish everyone the best!

On Monday we will have foreign exchange students from Vietnam coming to our school to learn English. Students have been chosen to help the foreign exchange students learn throughout their week at Ultimo Public School. If you see them, remember to give them a warm welcome!

In other news today the Environmental Guardians planted 100 seedlings in the garden areas near the Wentworth Park Light rail. Everyone was working extremely hard to help and assist the environment, and we all like to give a thank you to Pyrmont Ultimo LandCare for assisting us throughout this event. 

By Caleb (Stage 2) and Ethan (Stage 3)

Welcome to Term 3! We are excited to be organising Student Wellbeing week for Term 3, this week the SRC will be asking their class and Kindy classes about some well-being focused activities. We’re looking forward to voting on your suggestions. It’s so rewarding to be part of this student voice initiative; we enjoy being part of the process that enhances the wellbeing of students at our school.

It has been an honour to represent our peers so far this year, we’ve enjoyed working hard to be positive role models to our Stage and younger people. We hope we can encourage others to have a go at being brave, working hard and listening to the ideas of others to be responsible leaders.   

This week in mathematics, Kindergarten looked at how to apply their knowledge in combing numbers into math games. Students had to use their mathematically thinking and strategies in order to reach a target number.

Also, Kindergarten started the Dharawal Language Program. The first lesson, students were learning how to sing a song.

Stage 1 has jumped into our integrated English and geography unit about people and places with a range of investigative and vocabulary-based activities. These have seen classes explore the local area to identify natural and man-made features and consider how they interact and connect with people on a daily basis. Our focus has been on developing student vocabulary to accurately describe their experiences and perceptions as we start exploring our focus text, Alphabetical Sydney! 

If any students have any photographs of places they have visited around Australia and/or Sydney, please feel free to bring them in to share or display in the classroom. 

Stage 1 Speaking Task

Stage 1 students are asked to present a speech on Tuesday the 15^th of August (week 5). Please see more information on eNews and in your child's homework folder. If you have any questions or require support, please contact the classroom teacher to discuss. 

Class Hey Sigmund sets 

Each Stage 1 class has received a Hey Sigmund class resource set that includes core texts about brain development, anxiety, courage and resilience. Each class will be using these amazing resources every morning as a part of their check-in meetings with students to develop their understanding about their own amygdala and responses and reactions to everyday feelings they may encounter.  For more information or access to parental resources you may be interested in, please visit the website: https://www.heysigmund.com/

Thank you to everyone who ordered their tea towels via Flexischools. The tea towels are currently being printed and will be delivered to your child’s classroom by mid August.

For anyone that missed out, we have ordered extra and will be selling them in person at events later in the year - we’ll let you know when that will be as soon as we know.

We hope everyone who took part in the fun run enjoyed their gift/s. We would like to congratulate Axel and Magnus for reaching medal stage!

After school debating and public speaking classes will be commencing at Ultimo Public School in the second half of Term 3. The classes will be delivered by leading coaches from Speakers' Corner Australia, many of whom have represented their universities internationally in debating tournaments and are some of most experienced specialised debating coaches in Sydney. You can view the profiles of some of their coaches here. 

These classes are a great way for students to build their self-esteem, think logically and learn to express themselves confidently and clearly.  The classes will be priced at $35/hr and will be delivered on campus, after school (fee waivers and discounts are available for those facing financial hardship). To express interest in classes, please use this sign-up form or email ultimo@speakerscornerau.com for more information. 

The Speakers' Corner team will be in touch with further details about class times and logistics, after expressions of interest are received.

Please note all our important dates are live on our school website and your Sentral Calendar

July:

Fri 28th: 1 Cambodia Assembly

August

Tue 1st: K- 6 Athletics Carnival

Thu 3rd: Open Classrooms 

Fri 4th: Years 3-6: PNG Assembly

Mon 5th: Author Visit

Fri 11th: Years K-2: K Rwanda Assembly

Mon 14th: Year 2 Excursion 

Mon 14th: Stage 3 Young Inventors Conference

Ultimo PS is not affiliated with any of the following companies.