WELCOME TO TERM 2!

I hope all of our Artarmon families had a restful and safe holiday period. I have spoken with many children this week, and they've all said that they loved spending time at home with family, but they were very excited to come back to school and see all their teachers and peers. So lovely to hear.

As you may have read on Monday, it was made official that I have been announced as the successful applicant through Merit selection for the substantive Principal position at Artarmon PS. 

APS Letter to Parents and Community.pdf

I would like to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to the entire staff and community for your support and trust over the past 18 months whilst leading the school from a 'relieving' position, but most recently when the recruitment process was announced. I have been completely humbled by everyone who approached me to let me know they were 'in my corner' and supported my application for the substantive Principal position.

For those who don't know me that well, or are new to the school, I have been at Artarmon PS since 2012 and have held a number of different leadership positions over that time to help build our collaborative and supportive school culture. I understand our diverse and multicultural community and will continue to build authentic connections for all to succeed in OUR school. I know that Artarmon is an outstanding Public School with outstanding staff, outstanding students, and an outstanding parent community. I am so proud to be leading our school as the substantive Principal and will continue to be visible, approachable, and respectful to everyone. My focus is always the students and how we as a school can continue to improve and create learning environments and learning experiences that provide the best possible opportunity for the future leaders of our world.

MONDAY 24TH APRIL - STAFF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING DAY

Our staff started the term with a professional learning day on Monday 24th April focused on Aboriginal education and culturally safe schools. The professional learning was planned around the unique needs of our school community and will help to sustain positive change and improve both educational outcomes and wellbeing for all learners.

The Department of Education is committed to eliminating all forms of racial discrimination so that all students can flourish in a safe and cohesive environment of respect and opportunity. Our school is committed to embracing all ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds. We have an Anti-Racism Education Officer (ARCO), Ms K Wong, who supports students, teachers, and the community who experience racism.

DoE Anti Racism Policy parent information.pdf

YEAR 5 AND 6 WRITING LESSON

On Monday morning, I popped into 5/6LB and accidentally took over the writing lesson. I noticed the students were investigating how to build tension in their writing and decided to set a completely new task for them and challenge their ability.

The challenge was simple:

1. View a small clip from the film 'How to Train Your Dragon' You can watch the clip here.

2. In groups, write the scene allowing the reader to visualise the character's fear and dramatic tension in the clip.

Later that day, I was presented with the winning group's final edit and I wanted to share it with you today. 

WELLBEING PROCEDURE

Over the last 6 months the school has reviewed and updated our schools Wellbeing Procedure in line with new Department policy. This process has included staff, student, and parent collaboration and the final document is now available to view on our website.

The final part of the implementation process was to create new 'Core Values and School Rules' posters to be displayed in every classroom and around the school. To do this, a competition was announced and presented to Year 5 and 6 to enter.

I was so amazed by the number of entries we received and the time, care, and creativity that went into each poster. After a long judging period, and robust and rigorous conversation we decided on an overall winner. We have also asked our runners up to create a new poster including our school's High 5 and our 5 keys to success.

CONGRATULATIONS: Our winning entry:

By Ariane Tow of 6MB

HAMPTON CONSTRUCTION + PARKING KISS AND RIDE

Thank you to our entire community for their patience and focus on safety of children when managing the construction zone on Hampden Rd over the return to school period. We understand this is challenging at times and has impacted families in different ways. Please remember to be patient and kind to each other during this time.

Don't forget our new 'Kiss and Ride' zones added by the council to help ease congestion and keep our kids safe!

The map below shows the locations of the Kiss and Ride zones around the school and recommended drop off/pick up zones for various year groups. This will ensure that traffic is distributed across various streets and our youngest children can be picked up/dropped off nearest to the school gates while older children can walk safely to/from other kiss and ride zones.

Please remind children (& yourselves!) to always use the pedestrian crossings/traffic lights when walking from a kiss and ride zone.

HEALTH & SAFETY - COVID + WINTER FLU SEASON

Thank you for your continued support in helping to keep our students, staff and community safe while COVID-19 is still circulating in the community. With the winter flu season approaching, we will also see an increase in respiratory illnesses and by working together, we will keep our school community healthy this term.

Our COVID-smart measures continue to be in place to help reduce the risk of transmission for students and staff members and are vital in allowing us to keep our schools operational while prioritising student and staff wellbeing.

Please remember:

• Stay home if unwell and test for COVID-19 if showing any symptoms

• Keep up-to-date vaccinations, including the Flu and COVID-19 booster shots for anyone eligible

• RATs are available from the office or are able to be sent home with students on request free of charge.

WINTER UNIFORM

As the days begin to become cooler we ask that students now start to wear their winter uniform. See image below for some of our winter uniform options. We have been working in the background with parents and the students to have specific options for girls to wear shorts and pants. These options, voted on by the students should start to be available from early Term 4. In the meantime, girls that would like to wear shorts and pants are able to wear the sports skort in summer and the unisex tracksuit pants in winter with the Artarmon polo shirt.

YEAR 1 GLEN STREET THEATRE POSSUM MAGIC EXCURSION

On Friday 28th April Year 1 were lucky enough to visit the Glen Street Theatre to watch a wonderful performance of the story ‘Possum Magic.’ They had a fantastic time watching a story they’d learnt about in class being performed live on
stage. The special effects were fantastic, and they learnt a lot about both the story and how a theatre production is performed.

The teachers, bus drivers and staff at the theatre were very pleased with Year 1s excellent behaviour.