Welcome back to another exciting term to all our Artarmon families and a special welcome to our newest Artarmon families.

It was wonderful to see so many of our families here yesterday, morning for our Mothers Day String performance. As mentioned to everyone there, I am still blown away every time I sit and listen to our students and what they are able to achieve as part of our music program. A huge thank you to Mr Mansukhani and Mr Walmsley and all of our P&C volunteers for everything they do to enable this experience for our students, you are truly appreciated.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation for all the mothers in our school community for Mothers Day this weekend. To our mothers on staff, students' mothers, grandmothers, step mothers and carers. Our children thrive in their environment because of the care, love and dedication you have for them every day. Thank you for being outstanding mothers and being the role models and leaders in our community. Everything you do is greatly appreciated and valued. May you have a wonderful weekend celebrating with those around you and remembering those who are no longer with us.

ANZAC DAY

At school on the last day of Term 1, we held our K-6 ANZAC remembrance assembly to pay our respects as a school, bring to the forefront the significance of this day and allow the students to learn and understand why we take time to remember. Our student leaders ran this assembly and were outstanding in the way they conducted themselves and shared the ANZAC story with their peers. 

One of our student leaders, Sidra, represented APS at the Chatswood RSL dawn service on ANZAC day to lay a wreath as apart of the ceremony. We are so proud of her and how she conducted herself on this occasion and she has taken the opportunity to share her experience with a letter.

TERM 2 STUDENT INVOICE INCLUDING VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION

Today, our Term 2 fees and 2024 voluntary contribution information was published in the SchoolBytes Parent Portal. An email notification was also sent through the system to alert you of these fees.

VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION INFORMATION

You will notice on your Term 2 student invoice, a school and P&C Voluntary Contribution amount. In consultation with the P&C and our current fund-raising efforts are to air condition our remaining classrooms and also contribute to the landscaping project for our playground area between the hall and canteen, this year the Voluntary Contribution is tax deductible.

For more detailed information, please view the PDF with details and FAQ on school voluntary contributions.

I can't thank our community enough for your contribution to our school and the support to ensure we provide the best possible outcomes and learning environment for our students and community.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR LIT QUIZ TEAMS

Yesterday two Stage Three teams travelled to Loreto Kirribilli to participate in an international Lit Quiz competition. 

Kids lit quiz is a trivia quiz that tests students’ knowledge of a wide range of books and literature. The quiz, consists of 10 categories like Classics, Vegetables, Character Names and Book Knowledge. Each category has 10 questions relating to the topic which teams must answer in the time frame provided by the quizmaster. Two teams from Artarmon Public School, went to the competition on Tuesday the 7^th of May. We competed against children from other schools all over Sydney, most of them were high schools, and still managed to get a place in the top twenty. Children’s author, Nat Amoore was the quiz master on the day, and she gave away many prizes for winning teams. APS team 1 managed to win a book each to take home.   

DID YOU KNOW ??

The Parent volunteer form – DECLARATION FOR PARENT VOLUNTEER – is in your Schoolbytes Parent Portal under the RESOURCE tab.

This needs to be completed by anyone who is volunteering at the school. Simply print and fill out the form and bring it to the Administration office with your driver's licence.

We ask that you avoid the busy times (ie 8.55 am and 2.55 pm).

Due to the wet grounds and the weather forecast for the next couple of days, we are postponing our cross country carnival.

Our new date for the cross country is Thursday16th May.

We will send out an order of events with approximate timing early next week.

Thank you for your flexibility.

During the last two weeks of term 2, Year Two participated in an intensive
learn to swim program, developing water confidence and providing students with basic skills in water safety and survival.
The benefits gained by students’ participation in these programs, both practical and theoretical,include:

● safer participation in water-based activities
● increased fitness, resilience and well-being
● reduced risk of drowning

The scheme is often referred back to as a highlight of students’ Year Two experiences. They all worked incredibly hard each day and should be proud of their progress. Keep up the swimming Year Two !

Year 4 are enjoying their new books in their classrooms.

These books were purchased with the help of our community through our literature levy on our invoices. As you can see we are pretty happy with the new additions to our class libraries.

Selective High School Placement Test for entry to Year 7 in 2025

The Selective High School Placement Test will be held on Thursday 9th May 2024 from 9:00 am to 1:30 pm at allocated test centres in NSW. All relevant information from the Selective Education Unit, including details of times and test centres, should have already been received and can be located via the application dashboard.

Some students become quite anxious about tests and changes to routine. Please ensure your child has regular bedtimes and nutritious food as usual in the lead up to the test day.

As this test occurs during a regular school day, it is expected that students will return to school afterwards unless a reason for absence is completed on the SchoolBytes portal for the afternoon session.

Year 6 students who are not taking the test, will be supervised during this time.

If you have any additional questions, please refer to the Selective High Schools and Opportunity Classes website (https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes).

 Many Year 6 students from our school will take part in these tests and we wish all test candidates well in these exams.

In maths, Year 3 has been learning to measure and compare objects using metres and centimetres.

Each group used classroom objects to estimate 30cm. They explained their strategy and discussed the purpose of formal units of measurement.

                                           RAW ART

Year two students engaged in Raw Art. An expert art teacher visited our classrooms and shared her knowledge and skills with us, to help us in making a beautiful creation. Every finished piece looked different, and we really enjoyed using a range of mediums during the artmaking process.

During the recent school holidays, Zoe Cheng in 5BL competed against other young pianists in the XII International Balys Dvarionas for young pianists and violinists in Lithuania. Zoe competed in two rounds during the competition and played the following songs:

I ROUND

Johann Sebastian Bach | WTC Book 2: Prelude and Fugue in c minor · BWV 871

Robert Schumann | Etudes after Paganini Caprices · Op. 3

• Etude No. 1 , A minor

Frederic Chopin | Variations in A major "Souvenir de Paganini" · B. 37

Abram Chasins | 3 Chinese Pieces, Op. 5: No. 3 "Rush Hour in Hong Kong"

II ROUND

Johann Sebastian Bach | WTC Book 1: Prelude and Fugue in B flat major · BWV 866

Balys Dvarionas | "Mažoji siuita" ("Little Suite"): No. 8 "Dance" (Skudučiai style)

Franz Schubert | "Drei Klavierstücke" ("Three Piano Pieces") · D. 946

• Allegretto

Cécile Chaminade | Toccata · Op. 39

Zoe was awarded FIRST prize in the competition and Best Performance of a Romantic Piece and Best Performance of a piece by a classical composer. A massive congratulations to this young pianist on her accolades at the International Balys Dvarionas.