Principal's Report
Dear Gorokan PS families and friends
Welcome back to what I trust will be another term of wonderful learning opportunities and enjoyment for our students. I hope that the students are well rested and motivated to strive towards their best for the term ahead. A warm welcome is extended to the new families who have recently joined our school community.
Mother's Day – The students will prepare for Mother’s Day in their classrooms. With the support of our amazing parents, the school will also be hosting a Mother's Day stall on Thursday and Friday this week. Prices range from $1.00 - $5.00. To ensure that every student has the opportunity to purchase a gift, there will be a limit of one item per student. We will also celebrate our mothers with a morning tea celebration on Friday 6 May on the Gail Farrell courts between 8:00am and 9:00am. An invitation was texted to parents on Monday. Please RSVP if you are attending.
Staffing Update – A warm welcome is extended to Mrs April Morrison who has transferred to our school from Roselea PS. Mrs Morrison will be teaching 3F for the remainder of the year. Tom Fitzpatrick has been assigned to a coaching role at the school, sharing his expertise in Explicit Instruction with the staff as we endeavour to implement this highly effective teaching approach across the school. Mrs Lansdowne has returned from extended leave to teach KL.
ANZAC Day - Thank you to the families and students who participated in this year’s ANZAC March and Service at Toukley. Our students really did a wonderful job representing our school and I am incredibly proud of their efforts. Special thanks to Mrs Day and Mrs James for their efforts in supervising the students on the day.
Pupil Free Day (School Development Day) – Last Tuesday, our teachers and support staff were engaged in a full day of rigorous professional learning, which focused on the implementation of the Get Happier Project, aimed to increase student happiness and wellbeing. As mentioned in previous newsletters, the project is a social and emotional learning curriculum for all classes, teaching Choice Theory and Reality Therapy to children. This new and innovative program is being used in schools around the world. It contains comprehensive, integrated and colourful resources for children, teachers and parents.
The resources and program have been developed by Ivan Honey and the Get Happier team over the past 6 years. Ivan is a Senior Instructor with Glasser Australia, an educator and a psychologist with over 40 years experience. He teaches Choice Theory around the world to teachers, counsellors and parents and will be our coach throughout the implementation period. A special thanks is extended to Mrs Day and Mrs Greentree for their organisation of the highly productive and enjoyable day, and for their leadership of this important school initiative.
The Get Happier School has been awarded the Australian Pacific Insider Award, 2019 for the “Most Comprehensive Parent and Child Mental Health and Wellbeing Initiative-Victoria’
To find out more, or to visit a Get Happier School, contact Ivan at ivan@ivanhoney.com or visit the website, www.gethappier.net
A Fantastic Result - Our first ever entry in the Sydney Royal Easter Show Flower and Garden Produce Competition has been awarded third place. Congratulations to Mrs King and our Gorokan Public School Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program team. What a wonderful achievement!
NAPLAN Online – In Weeks 3 and 4 this term, students in Years 3 and 5 will sit the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) online test. NAPLAN Online uses an adaptive test design, which presents questions that better match student achievement levels and provide more precise results for teachers and schools. As students are presented with questions that test the same range of difficulty, results will be reported on the NAPLAN assessment scale.
There is no need for students to be anxious, as the teachers will familiarise them with how to complete the tasks and reassure them that the assessment aims to capture their learning of basic literacy and numeracy skills that have been accumulated since starting school in Kindergarten.
NAPLAN is a point-in-time assessment that allows parents and carers to see how their child is progressing in literacy and numeracy against the national standard and compared with their peers throughout Australia. At the classroom level, NAPLAN provides additional information to support teachers’ professional judgement about student progress.
NAPLAN Online provides a better assessment, more precise results and is more engaging for students. The assessments can run through a real-time internet connection or onscreen without an internet connection. Watch the short clip: Understanding NAPLAN Online (2 min 11s).
COVID 19 Guidelines - As you may be aware, guidelines for close contacts have recently changed in NSW. I know there is a lot of information, but the basic message is the same as it's always been - 'Keep your child at home if they are sick'. If at any time you're not sure whether or not your child should attend school, please call our school office on 02 4392 4200.
Close contacts attending school - The announcement to ease the isolation requirements for close contacts was made on 20 April 2022. This will enable students and staff who are close contacts and have no symptoms to continue to attend school if they follow guidelines agreed with NSW Health.
- Close contacts attending school will need to adhere to the following in addition to the NSW Health guidelines. Isolation requirements for close contacts have changed meaning that from this week students and staff can return to school as long as they have no symptoms and follow the close contact guidelines to do so, including daily rapid antigen testing (RAT) and wearing a mask indoors.
- They must notify the school if they are intending to return under this provision.
- They should conduct a daily RAT and return a negative result each morning before attending school for 5 school days.
- Primary school students are recommended to wear a mask indoors (except when eating or exercising).
- Additional supplies of RAT kits will be distributed to all schools to support staff and students identified as close contacts who are able to return.
- NSW Health have updated the advice for students and staff returning to school after testing positive for COVID-19 including the recommendation to wear a mask for an additional 3 days after the 7-day isolation period.
- No student or staff member identified as a close contact will be permitted to participate in overnight excursions, including school camps.
- Any visitor to a school site who is a close contact is required to advise the school that they are a close contact before they come on site. These visitors should conduct a daily RAT and return a negative result before attending. They must also wear a mask indoors at all times. Schools should consider if the visit can be conducted virtually.
Thank you for your support and understanding.
Updating Contact Details – It is very important that the office has up-to-date contact details for parents and carers. If you have moved over the holidays, changed your phone number or email, please ensure that you let us know.
Together we can make a difference.
Jesmond Zammit
Principal
Dates to Remember
Thursday 5 May - Netball PSSA Round 1 game
Thursday 5 May - Mother's Day Stall
Friday 6 May - Mother's Day Stall
Friday 6 May - Mother's Day Breakfast - 8:00am - 9:00am
Thursday 5 May - Zone Soccer trials
Monday 9 May - NAPLAN
Monday 9 May - Life Education (Healthy Harold)
Tuesday 10 May - P&C AGM
Friday 13 May - School Cross Country
Monday 16 May - AECG Meeting Toukley PS
Monday 23 May - Year 6 Leaders GRIP Conference
Thursday 26 May - Sydney Writers Festival
Friday 27 May - Basketball Gala Day
Tuesday 31 May - Zone Cross Country
Friday 3 June - KO Touch Football Gala Day
Monday 13 June - Public Holiday
Friday 17 June - KO Basketball Gala Day
Monday 20 June - AECG Meeting - Northlakes HS
Friday 24 June - Slime Spectacular
Friday 24 June - Netball Gala Day
Monday 27 June - NAIDOC Week
Friday 1 July - School Athletics Carnival
Early Stage 1
Welcome back to Term 2. We hope that all of our families had a lovely break. It has been great to see the students return so settled and ready to learn.
Current Learning
Kindergarten students have been continuing to learn how to blend sounds to make words and segment words to hear the sounds. They are reading short decodable books and are enjoying participating in daily reading warm ups. In mathematics, students have been grouping and sharing objects and learning about length, while continuing to practise counting forwards to 30 and backwards from 20. In geography this term, we are exploring the places we live in and belong to.
Reminders
Jumpers and Hats - Please make sure that your child has a jumper for school as the weather is getting cool in the mornings. Please clearly label all of your child’s belongings (hat, jumper, drink bottle etc) with their name and class.
Headphones - We still have quite a few children that do not have headphones. Each child is required to provide their own personal set of headphones.
You can purchase these from Kmart for as little as $6.00. Please send in a set of headphones for your child to use with ipads/computers in the classroom ASAP.
Care and Connect - This term Kindergarten will be given the opportunity to share information about themselves with their class to make deeper connections with their peers, build confidence in public speaking and improve listening skills. A letter will be sent home to let you know your child’s allocated share day, and a list of topics that we will be sharing about this term.
Have you tried Mathseeds yet? - Mathseeds is found in the Reading Eggs App. Class Teachers have sent home passwords for your child to access Reading Eggs, Mathseeds and PM Readers at home. Students can access these programs on a computer, iPad, tablet or smartphone. The school has subsidised these programs so that your child can access them at no cost to families . Please download the Reading Eggs and PM Reader Apps or visit the following websites to get your child connected.
Class teachers get regular updates on your child’s progress and the amount of levels that they have completed each week. Please encourage your child to log into these programs regularly. You will find that they will enjoy participating in these educational interactive activities and we have seen huge growth in student achievement for those that are using these programs to consolidate learning at home. If you have lost your child’s login details, please contact the office and we will arrange for another copy to be sent home.
Celebrations of Learning
Well done to all Kindergarten students for their amazing effort this fortnight. We would like to congratulate our class award winners:
KB - Indi W, and Connor M
KD - Atticus D and Valin M
KF - Seanna K and Benjamin K
KL- Marshie W and Porsha Z
KTA- Tamika H and Koby M
Congratulations to all our award winners.
Mrs Alicia Duke
Assistant Principal (Relieving) - Early Stage 1
Stage 1
Current Learning
In Term 2, Stage One classes will be immersed in our PD/H/PE Unit “Healthy Living’. In this unit, students explore actions that enhance their own and others health, safety and wellbeing. Early this term the students will delve into identifying the five food groups and explore how eating healthy foods can benefit health and wellbeing. These concepts will be complimented and further explored when our Stage One classes each attend the Healthy Harold Life Education program in the coming weeks.
Reminders
Monday - 2B Sports in School Program
Wednesday Year 1 and 2 Sport Day; 1C and 1Y library
Thursday - 1J, 1/2E, 2B and 2R library
Friday - 2S library.
Sports in Schools
This term, our Year Two students will participate in our Sports in Schools program. During Weeks 2 to 5 each Monday, 2B (Mrs Bailey) will participate in a sport program focusing on athletics skills. During Weeks 6 to 10 each Monday, 2R, 2S and 2E (of 1/2E) will have the opportunity to enjoy the program also. The students will participate in coached activities including high jump, long jump, shotput, discus, sprints and relays. Our Year One students look forward to participating in the Sports in Schools program later this year.
Life Education – Healthy Harold
The Healthy Harold Life Education Program will be running in the coming weeks. Please return the permission slip to your child’s teacher this week. This is a valuable program that will show students how to keep themselves healthy and safe and the school has subsidised this cost to enable your child to attend at no cost.
Class Supplies
During this time of the year, we continue to appreciate any items you may wish to donate to your child’s classroom. Contributions such as paper towel, tissues, handwash and glue sticks are always graciously appreciated.
Labelling Items
As the weather continues to get cooler, please continue to ensure that jumpers and jackets are clearly labelled. Belongings that are clearly labelled with your child’s name and class should ensure that they are promptly returned to your child if they are lost or misplaced.
Celebrations of Learning
Last week, our Stage One students attended an NRMA Road Safety Science show incursion. They had a wonderful time learning all about key safety as a car passenger. They were taught to always wear a seatbelt and to remember not to distract the driver. The students also revisited key pedestrian safety; always crossing a road with an adult and correct wearing of a helmet when out and about on their bike or scooter. The students gained valuable safety knowledge whilst having lots of fun!
We warmly welcome all our Stage One students, parents and carers to Term 2 and are very excited about all the fabulous learning ahead of us! Please feel free to contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions by calling our school office. We sincerely cherish working in partnership with you to support your child’s learning journey.
Mrs Tammy Coote
Assistant Principal (Relieving) - Stage 1
Stage 2
Current Learning
Welcome back to Term 2. We are all looking forward to another fun-filled term of teaching and learning.
Teaching and Learning
We are up and running already. On Tuesday the staff had the privilege of spending the day together starting our exciting journey to become the first Get Happier school on the coast. We are excited to implement the Get Happier program into our classrooms to build on the teaching we provide the children for mental health and happiness. Get Happier will underpin the social and emotional learning within the school and will help students resilience and stamina within their learning.
Mr Fitzpatrick is already creating ways to use Get Happier during our learning time. We are so lucky to have such talented staff working together ensuring the absolute best for all of the students.
I would like to take this opportunity to personally congratulate Mr Fitzpatrick on his new role as our Explicit Instruction coach and mentor. He will continue to work closely with Stage 2, be in and out of the classrooms team teaching and working to help all of our students with their learning. Taking over the reigns in 3F is Mrs Morrison and already the students are settling into the routines of a new teacher. She is a welcome addition to our team and brings knowledge and skills that will positively impact Stage 2.
We also welcome preservice teachers Mr James and Miss Knight to our stage for Term 2. Mr James will be working in 4L and Miss Knight will be working with Mrs Farrell in 4F and we are delighted to be supporting their journey into teaching. Mrs Farrell and I will be teaching, supervising and overseeing all of the teaching and learning for our classes as Mr James and Miss Knight build their skills towards one day running a class of their own.
Reminders
Please don’t forget to keep labelling your uniforms and school equipment - we are working hard to help the students be organised and labelled bits and bobs make that so much easier.
NAPLAN will be held across all NSW schools for students in Years 3 and 5, during Weeks 3 and 4 this term. Whilst schools use this test to check in on literacy and numeracy knowledge, we remind all of our students that the test does not assess what makes each of them exceptional and unique and it is simply a check-in.
Sadly, we had to postpone the cross country again, however it has been rescheduled for 13 May.
It has been wonderful to see our playground full in the morning with our students happily catching up with their friends and enjoying breakfast club before the start of the day. Arriving before the bell allows your child to;
• Prepare themselves for the day ahead
• Join in with fitness and then walk to class with their classmates hearing from their teacher what is happening for the day and
• Set themselves up for success from the very beginning of the day.
If your child is late to school, please remind them to go to the office for a late note before going to class.
Change of End of Day Arrangements
From Monday of Week 2 the going home arrangements changed across the school. If Stage 2 students have a Kindergarten sibling they will be dismissed at 2.50pm from the bus seats at Dudley Street. The students that leave from Sunset Gate or attend Camp Australia, will be supervised in the primary COLA until 3:00pm and dismissed from there. The remaining Year 1-6 Dudley Street students (including bus) will be dismissed from the ‘Gail Farrell’ basketball courts by their classroom teacher, with the Kiss and Drop students being supervised by Mr Gibbs and Mr Fitzpatrick as they are collected. If it is raining, students will line up along the black fence, under cover and wait to be dismissed.
Celebrations of Learning
We are already able to celebrate the impact school has in supporting the growth of our students. This week the NRMA Science and Road Safety show came to school. Not only did the students learn about force and friction and how a hovercraft works, but I learnt things to help me as a parent. I didn’t know that helmets for bikes and scooters are designed differently. Bike helmets are designed to be longer and narrower, better protecting the frontal lobe of our brain as the research shows we are more likely to fall forwards off a bike banging the front of our heads. Whereas, scooter and skateboard helmets are designed rounder and deeper to protect the back of our heads as the research shows we are more likely to fall backwards off a scooter or skateboard banging the back of our heads. My boys had the same helmet for both, so off to the shops I went to make sure they are fully protected.
The show was fabulous and lots of fun. Road safety is such a key issue in keeping our kids safe, we thank Miss James for her organisation.
Mrs Jo Lee
Assistant Principal - Stage 2
Stage 3
Welcome back! Students have settled back into their classes after the holidays extremely well and we are all pleased with their efforts so far.
Current Learning
This term Stage 3 students are focusing on persuasive types of texts as part of our Literacy focus and students are continuing their learning with daily Maths warm-ups.
Term 2 Class Captains
A huge congratulations to all of our Stage 3 Class Captains for this term. They are:
5/6P – Lilli and Bodhi
5C – Vienna and Lucas
5H – Ryder and Bianca
6F – Kyliah and Jai
6G – Lucia and Cade
We look forward to our class captain assembly and can’t wait to see all the wonderful things you do this term.
Reminders
Please ensure your child brings a drink bottle and their own stationery (pens, pencils, glue sticks etc) to school every day. All students are required to supply their own set of headphones/earphones this year (these can be purchased from Kmart, Reject Shop etc from approx. $6).
NAPLAN
A reminder that students in Year 5 will sit the NAPLAN test from next week, in both Weeks 3 and 4. Trying their best is all that is required, as this will ensure students receive accurate reports of their basic literacy and numeracy skills as demonstrated on the day. We wish all of our Year 5 students every success.
Year 6 Shirts
We apologise for the delay in the distribution of the Year 6 shirts. Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions and shipping delays we are still awaiting their arrival. We are hoping to receive them shortly and will be distributed to students as soon as they arrive. We appreciate your patience.
Year 5 Overnight Excursion ZooSnooz – Taronga Park Zoo Sydney
We have some very exciting news! Year 5 students will be invited to attend an overnight excursion to Taronga Park Zoo with a Rocks walking tour. More information and details will be sent home this week.
Year 6 Canberra Excursion
Year 6 students will be given the opportunity to attend a 3 day/2 night excursion to our Nation’s Capital Canberra in September. More information and details will be sent home this week.
Year 6 Fundraiser – Slime Spectacular!
This year we are fundraising for Year 6 and we are hosting a Slime Spectacular School Fun Run on Friday 24 June, 2022.
Information booklets have been sent home to all students so please make sure you register online and start fundraising. We appreciate your ongoing support!
Celebrations of Learning
A huge congratulations and thank you to all those students who attended our Anzac Day march at Toukley RSL on Monday 25 April, 2022 with both myself and Ms James. We are so very proud of the students for the way in which they represented our fantastic school.
Our Stage 3 students thoroughly enjoyed a visit from NRMA last week learning all about road safety.
We wish all our fantastic mums and carers a very Happy Mother’s Day for this Sunday! A big THANK YOU to each and every one of you for all you do for our amazing kids!
If you have any questions or concerns please phone your child’s class teacher. Thank you for your ongoing support.
Have a wonderful fortnight.
Mrs Kate Day
Assistant Principal - Stage 3
Support Unit
Current Learning
Welcome back to another fantastic term in the Gorokan Public School Support Unit! This term students learn all about Australia in our integrated unit. They will also participate in math groups and for some students this will mean they will learn math in a different classroom with a different teacher. Many of our older students are experienced in this routine, however please speak to your child’s teacher if you have any concerns.
This term we have welcomed Miss Jaki, our yoga teacher for some awesome lessons in yoga poses, mindful breathing and meditation.
Weekly Schedule
During the school week we aim to engage the students with a range of enriching educational activities, please note our weekly calendar below:
Monday - K-6J and K-6E Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden, dance and drumming groups
Tuesday - K-6L Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden, grade gathering
Thursday - Unit Sport - students wear sports uniform
Friday - Yoga, library - students bring a library bag
Reminders
Morning Drop off and Afternoon pick-up
The back gate off Suncrest parade is the preferred gate for support unit students. In the morning students are to go to the K-6L green area and put their bag down behind their class cone. At 9:00am they will line up and we will proceed to the classroom and start the school day. At 2:40pm classes will pack up and head down to K-6L green area again where they can be picked up at 2:45pm. Supervision is available until 3:00pm.
Contacting your Child’s Teacher
If you need to contact your child’s teacher, please call the office and leave a message. Teachers will return these phone calls when they are able. Please understand that phone calls will not be taken during class time.
Celebrations of Learning
Ms Lauren Greentree
Assistant Principal (Relieving) - Support Unit
Aboriginal Education Update
This week our school was selected to participate in NSW AECG Wiradjuri Language & Culture Online Camp. Our Year 6 Aboriginal students were able to participate in a 40 minute interactive zoom session learning language and songs around Australian animals.
Dhinewan Mentor Program
This term former NRL Player Jonathan Wright and his team will be working with our students in Kindergarten and support unit students. Jonathan is a proud Gamilaroi/Dunghutti man, who has lived and resided on Darkinjung and Awabakal country.
Healthy Jarjums Healthy Future
Health checks for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families with children who started Kindergarten in 2022.
Come and help us celebrate the naming of our Gorokan Schools as Community Centre. Everyone is welcome. Please RSVP by 15/05/22 to lizmcminn@gmail.com or 0467760712
Mr Mitchell Gibbs
School News
2nd Hand Clothing Pool
If your student has been issued with a uniform item from our clothing pool could you please ensure you wash and return the item as soon as possible. Due to items not being returned, we no longer have any items of uniform left.
If you are able to assist with donating any items that your child may have outgrown, it would be greatly appreciated.
Canteen Menu Term 2
SACC - Term 2 Calendar
Parenting Ideas
A Motherʼs Day message for Dads
Motherʼs Day is a sensitive topic to write about. While it is a day of joy and delight for many families, it can also be a day of difficulty, and even pain, trauma, or sadness for many others. Many of us have farewelled a mother, experienced a relationship rupture with our mum, or experienced other challenges. And so many mums, this Motherʼs Day, will be grappling with co-parenting, separation or divorce, or an inability to be with their children in loving and meaningful ways.
There are two other challenges that Motherʼs Day brings:
First, even on the day when Mum should be feeling loved on by everyone, the overwhelming load of cooking, cleaning, and even thinking about what the kids should “surprise her with” still falls to too many mums. This is not how it ought to be. And second, one day of bliss (if it works out that way at all) is nice, but what about the other 364 days of the year?
So this is a Motherʼs Day Insights with a difference. This is for the dads, the co-parents, the partners, the exʼs, and anyone else who wants to make sure that the Mum of the house gets the love and respect she deserves, not just on Motherʼs Day, but on all of the days.
Mum, pass this on to your partner and others who matter. This is not for you this time. Itʼs for them to read, memorise, and live.
Help mum develop a sense of time affluence
Have you noticed how often Mum is flustered? How often it seems like thereʼs not enough time? And what time there is floats through the day like confetti, with just a minute here or there… and then the never ending demand that she get back into the rat race?
Recent research tells us our happiness goes up as our rushing goes down. Itʼs called “time affluence” and it means that we slow our lives down so that it literally feels like we have more time, even if we donʼt.
How can partners do this? Help Mum build a sense of time affluence (or abundance if you prefer) by going for a walk rather than driving – and not walking for exercise. Create it by having a “yoyo” night (Youʼre On Your Own) where the kids sort themselves out with leftovers or cheese toasties. Create a system where Mum doesnʼt have to feel obliged to do everything for everyone every time. Step back. Slow down. Or at least, let Mum do that a little more.
Be open to mumʼs influence
Have you noticed how Mum is always the one who steps back and letʼs everyone else decide? What would it be like if we were more inclined to look to Mum when decisions are being made and say, “Would you like to decide this one?
Itʼs true that sometimes Mum is tired of making decisions. Perhaps she doesnʼt want to. But studies show that even in our modern 2022, Mum is often voiceless. Everyone else gets what they want while Mum serves and does what sheʼs told. If everyone could stop being a bossy boots and let Mum have a clearer, louder voice, not by yelling, but by seeking her counsel and inviting her opinions, it might make life nicer for all, especially Mum.
Ask how you can help
If everyone said, “Mum, how can I help?” or if partners said, “Honey, what do you need?” it might make Mumʼs day.
You know whatʼs bigger? Help without asking. It shouldnʼt be up to Mum to have to tell everyone how to help and when to help and hassle them for not helping already. Do it without needing to be asked. This means remembering to empty the garbage or run the bins to the street, cleaning the kitchen, putting a load of washing on… you know, all that stuff that the cleaning fairy usually does.
Drop your agenda and help her with hers
Itʼs easy to get caught up in our own agenda and forget that the woman weʼre brushing our teeth next to in the bathroom is a real person with hopes, dreams, and desires. Recognise her perspective and elevate her by treating her so well that your children will know how the most important person in your life ought to be treated. That way, when theyʼre bigger (or even now), your kids have no doubt how they ought to treat their partner when they are old enough – and how they should expect to be treated.
The greatest compliment any dad could ever hear is “You always treated mum like she was the most wonderful woman in the world."
Bring that approach to every interaction. Make mumʼs day – every day.
(And a quick bonus tip: Do the leg work to make sure Mum actually has a nice Motherʼs Day and that she doesnʼt end up cooking, cleaning, or choosing her own gifts!)