Welcome to the final weeks of 2024! Apologies for the delay in sending out this Newsflash, but there’s been so much happening lately, and I wanted to take the opportunity to share these updates with you all.

CELEBRATING OUR TALENTED ATHLETES

First and foremost, I’d like to congratulate some of our exceptional athletes. One of the greatest things about NSW Public Schools is the incredible opportunities it offers for talented individuals to compete and shine. This year, two of our Year 6 students have excelled in their respective sports and represented Artarmon at a National level as part of NSW teams.

Last week, Akara Koga competed in the National Athletics Competition as part of the NSW team, running in the 100m sprint and the Senior Boys relay. Akara ran impressively and finished in 12.77, earning the title of the 10th fastest 12-year-old in the country. Although the relay team faced some challenges with the baton change and did not place, Akara kept his head high and continued to show great sportsmanship.

Congratulations, Akara! We will be cheering you on as you continue your athletic journey, and we can’t wait to see where you go with this talent, perhaps in Brisbane in 2030!

Another rising star is Myra Guglani, also from Year 6, who has been a standout member of our Girls Cricket team that won the State Championships. Through the representative pathway, Myra was selected to play for the NSW Girls Cricket team. This week, Myra has been in Adelaide competing in the National competition, where she has been performing brilliantly. In one game against South Australia, she was named the Player's Choice for the match after taking 4 wickets, securing a run out, and opening the batting for NSW.

Congratulations, Myra! We look forward to watching you go from strength to strength, and one day, we might just see you donning the baggy green cap!

THANK YOU MORNING TEA

Yesterday, we hosted our annual Thank You Morning Tea to express our appreciation to our parents and volunteers for their unwavering support throughout the year. We understand this is a busy time for many, and not everyone could attend, but please know that we are grateful to everyone who contributes to making our school a community-focused, student-centred place of learning.

A huge thank you to our P&C Executive and all the parents who step up in so many ways. Your efforts do not go unnoticed, and we truly appreciate the time and energy you dedicate, especially with all the demands of family, work, and life.

CAROLS

I’m very much looking forward to the Carols tonight! It’s always a wonderful occasion to come together as a community and celebrate. A big thank you to the P&C Music and Fundraising Committee for all their hard work organizing this event. Our rehearsal this morning was fantastic, and I’m sure the performance will be even better tonight!

PRESENTATION DAY

Our formal Presentation Day assemblies will take place next Monday and Tuesday. These assemblies are an important tradition where we gather to recognise individual achievements, as well as the collective efforts we’ve made as a school community to improve and grow.

Families of students receiving awards have been sent invitations. As this is a formal event, I kindly ask that all students wear their full summer uniform—no coloured sports shirts, please.

FINAL INVOICES

Thank you to all our families who have already paid their term invoices promptly. This support makes a significant difference in maintaining our operational systems.

Earlier this week, any outstanding invoices were sent out to families. Please note that the funds collected help cover the cost of external providers and travel associated with excursions and learning experiences linked to our teaching and learning programs.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your invoice, please don’t hesitate to contact the office.

PICNIC DAY

Each year, on the last day of school, we hold a "Picnic Day" where students spend time with their grade-level peers to celebrate the end of the year. On this day, students are allowed to wear casual clothes (mufti) and bring along games or activities to enjoy with their friends. More details about the event will be sent home next week.

PRINCIPAL FOR A DAY

It was a delight to have two new “Principals” take over the school yesterday! This was a wonderful initiative to help ease my workload and give me a restful Thursday.

A special thank you to the Li family for their generous donation in our silent auction towards the "Principal for a Day" experience. Both girls were outstanding in their roles, and we had so much fun together! Here’s a glimpse of what they got up to:

• Presented to classes with important messages about keeping our playground clean and staying active and healthy.
• Sent a message to the school community via the digital board.
• Gave out Principal stickers to students for showing outstanding effort.
• Visited local businesses to thank them for their support of our school community.

It was a fantastic experience, and I’m sure the girls enjoyed their day in the principal’s chair!

MESSAGE TO ALL OUR FAMILIES LEAVING ARTARMON

As the time comes for you to leave our school community, we want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude for the invaluable contributions you have made during your time with us.

Your support, generosity, and active involvement in our school have left a lasting impact on our community. Whether through volunteering, attending events, offering encouragement, or simply being present for your children and their peers, your efforts have enriched the experience for everyone here.

We are grateful for the trust you placed in our school, and we have been honored to play a role in your children’s growth and education. Watching them learn, thrive, and form lifelong friendships has been a privilege.

Thank you once again for everything you’ve done for our school. We wish you all the best in the next chapter of your lives and in all your future endeavors.

What’s Happening in Kindergarten

Science

This term in Science, students have been learning that things around us can be made from interesting materials that have observable properties. As part of this unit, students represent and explain their understanding by designing and creating their own playgrounds from recycled materials. It is a wonderful project where students get to combine their knowledge and their imagination and then present their designs during news time. Every student should be congratulated on the amazing projects we were able to experience last week.

Maths

Each week, Kindergarten students get to practice the skills learnt during the week through games and hands-on mathematics rotations. Students apply their mathematics knowledge in small groups, practicing their team work and independent learning skills.  Sometimes we are lucky enough to combine this time with our buddy class. Both the Kindergarten and the older students love this time together and both benefit from the interaction. Check out the excited faces from a recent KKA and 6IW maths games session.

Year 6 Slam Poetry Incursion

Having attended the slam poetry incursion conducted by Phillip Wilcox we learned various techniques to enhance the quality of our poems and presentation. Some of these techniques include connection to audience, audience inclusion and a famous way of looking at the different perspectives of a poem called the ‘movie’ technique.

Connection to audience is a technique that poets use to relate to the audience. This is one of the most important skills in poetry mainly because if you use this then the audience will be inclined to listen to your work. Connection to the audience creates an understanding between the poet and the audience so they can take the topic that you feel passionate about and make a difference themselves. Throughout the session Phillip told us events that would interest us and leave wanting to hear more about it. An example of this is when he narrated to us his account with a shark, it left us wanting to hear more about what happened next. Connection to the audience leaves the spectators eager to hear more from you.

Audience inclusion is a technique where the poet asks the audience to get physically involved. This grabs their attention which ensures their participation and that they are listening to what the poet is saying. During our incursion Phillip Wilcox asked us to get involved in one of his poems by giving us certain actions to do when he gave us different hand signals. We created the sound of thunder, lightning and rain. Not only did it enhance the poem's quality but it got us listening attentively to what he was saying.

The ‘movie’ technique is used to understand the different perspectives that people may understand a poem from. This teaches us how different people’s experiences, cultures and beliefs impact their views on various topics. To understand this we did an activity where we had to listen to one of Philip Wilcox’s poems and explain what we understood from different parts of the poem. Our answers varied drastically, it shows the diverse range of personalities we have here at Artarmon Public School.

When Phillip Wilcox came to our school we were all a bit curious as to what he was going to teach us. However, having finished the session we all look at him in awe now as our slam poetry mentor.

By Pujya and Charlotte (6MB)

Did you know we have a new online system for registering parent volunteers at our school? 

If you have previously registered as a volunteer and/or regularly volunteer and would like to update your details to our new system, please drop by the office or send us an email at artarmon-p.admin@det.nsw.edu.au