It has been wonderful walking around the school the past couple of weeks visiting classrooms and getting to view major end of term projects, witnessing class presentations, and seeing kids who when I walk in the room are proud of what they have achieved can't wait to share. It is amazing to see not only the children celebrating their hard work, dedication, and success, but the creativity, planning, and expectations set by teachers to provide learning opportunities for our students to thrive and achieve.

Speaking with the teachers and reading student report comments over the past few weeks really showed me how proud the teachers are of the students at Artarmon. Their commitment to learning and growth in the first semester is something you as parents should be really proud of and please ensure you let your child /chlidren know this as well.

Please enjoy a little gallery of some images put together to celebrate the term!

As we move into the holidays, please ensure you spend some quality time with family and friends and make time to rest and rechagre the batteries. 

Thank you to all our wonderful parent volunteer who have made a huge difference this term either helping in classrooms, going on excursions, supporting the P&C programs or committiees, every little bit you do has a significant impact on our school community and culture.

FESTIVAL OF INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

On Thursday 15th June, 15 of our senior strings students represented Artarmon Public School on the amazing Opera House stage for the 2023 Festival of Instrumental Music. Artarmon students joined over 200 students from over 20 public schools from around New South Wales to perform several beautiful strings pieces. Thank you to Mr Mansukhani for rehearsing with the students and for giving them this once in a lifetime experience.

As always, our Artarmon students displayed impeccable manners and behaviour and represented Artarmon Public School with pride.

SYDNEY NORTH DANCE FESTIVAL

Last week dance students from Years 3-6 performed at the annual Sydney North Public Schools' Dance Festival. Festival entry is via audition and students have been working very hard towards this goal since the beginning of the year. The 3-6 Dance Ensemble delighted the audience with their cheeky interpretation of Matilda’s ‘Revolting Children’. Festival organisers loved the performance but felt Artarmon students were too lovely to be revolting. The Senior Girls Ensemble entertained us with a dynamic and engaging performance of ‘Faith’ from the movie Sing. The stage presence of the girls sparkled on stage as much as their costumes did. Dancers are to be congratulated for their energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to the dance program and to the success of the festival. Thanks to Ms Juergens for the choreography and running of the Senior Girls Ensemble, Mrs Harrison for the choreography and running of the 3-6 Dance Ensemble and to Ms Winchester and Ms Sawyer who volunteered their time to help at the Festival. What an amazing opportunity for our students.

STUDENT ATTENDANCE

Students atending school every day they are fit and healthy makes a significant difference to not only learn and engage academically but build and develop quality social and emotional behaviours.

To ensre we are getting accurate and timely notifications from parents / carers regarding student absences we are working to implement a system where parents are regularly notified as soon as possible if there is an unexplained absence.

If your child is misses a day of school, please use the parent portal or the absentee tile on the SZapp, to inform the school as soon as possible.

From next term, emails will go out weekly to inform parents of any unexplained absences, including late arrivals on our records. If you are notified of an absence, please respond as soon as possible with the reason for the absence by one of the following methods: 

• If the unexplained absence is from within 7 days or less, please indicate a reason for your child's absence in the parent portal 
• If the unexplained absence is from over 7 days ago, please indicate a reason for your child's absence in the school contact us form. 
• If you believe the unexplained absence is incorrect in any way, please inform the school using the school contact us form. 

In the event your child has repeated or ongoing unexplained absences, we will continue to try to contact you about each absence to provide appropriate support for you and your family. 

We know that for our students every day of school matters. 

Missing a day here or there may not seem like much, but absences add up and can negatively impact your child's learning and wellbeing. When your child misses one day a week, that's 40 days of school and 8 weeks of learning in one year. Over an entire school journey, this adds up to 2.5 years of lost learning.