Drummoyne Public School

Dear Drummoyne PS Community,

Book Week Parade – A Day to Remember!

What a fantastic day we had on Monday, celebrating books, reading and our amazing students! A huge thank you to all our parents for helping create such incredible costumes and for braving the rain to support the parade.

A special shout-out to Mr Neufeld for his brilliant organisation of the Book Week activities and, in a last-minute plot twist, relocating the parade to the hall and COLA. His quick thinking ensured everything ran smoothly and that our celebration had a truly happy ending.

It was wonderful to see our community come together, with students, staff and parents alike embracing the joy of reading and creativity. 

Roll up, roll up – Our fete is in your hands

Our school fete is almost here, and to make it a day to remember, we need plenty of hands on deck. This isn’t just about raising funds – it’s about raising smiles, building connections and giving our students that proud “my school is amazing” feeling.

Keeping to the bookweek theme, as a volunteer, you’ll be able to ‘choose your own adventure’:

• Set up or pack up – the unsung superheroes heroes who make it all appear (and disappear!)
• Toy & Book Stall – where treasures change hands
• Ride Tickets – the keepers of the queues
• Tombola – lords and ladies of the lolly jars 
• BBQ – guardians of the grill
• Cakes – our caked crusaders
• Kadmus – kings and queens of kebabs

Your time will help write the next chapter of our fete. The story simply won’t get told without you, our amazing parents, playing your part. If you haven’t already, please sign up to volunteer using the link below, https://signup.zone/dps-fete

Regards,

John Nguyen​

Principal 

E: john.nguyen34@det.n​sw.edu.au

On Tuesday, 19th August, Maddie’s mum visited all of us to tell us about her job. Lyndelle Barnett is a Barrister, she goes to court and persuades the judge to agree with her. 

She shared some tips about how to persuade people to agree with your opinion. Ms Barnett told us not to fiddle with our hands, and use some body language, but not too much! Make sure you maintain eye contact with the audience and use different tones to make it interesting.  

Maddie’s mum was dressed in her barrister robe, a jacket, a white band around her neck and a wig. This is what she wears to court. She let us feel her wig and try on her outfit. They were adult size, so they didn’t fit the kids! The robe felt silky, but was heavy! The wig was made out of horse hair. She had to cut it because it was too long when she first bought it. 

Co-constructed by 1/2M

Ethics classes are weekly discussion-based lessons for students who don’t attend Special Religious Education (Scripture).

In these classes, students explore topics such as fairness, honesty, kindness, and making good decisions - among many others. With over 80 different topics, there’s always something new to think about and discuss. They learn to listen to others, think carefully about different ideas and reasons, and share their views in a respectful and supportive space.

We’re holding a 1-hour online information session for anyone interested in finding out more:

6 - 7 pm, Thursday, 4 September 2025 Click here to register and receive your link: 🔗 https://events.humanitix.com/empower-young-minds-primary-ethics-webinar-sept-2025

In the session you'll:

• See what an ethics class looks like in action
• Have your questions answered
• Hear from current volunteer ethics teachers
• Learn about our free, comprehensive training and support

Ethics classes (officially called Special Education in Ethics) can be held at schools when trained volunteers are available. At Drummoyne Primary School there are currently eight volunteer ethics teachers helping to make this possible.

Whether you're simply curious, considering becoming a volunteer, or seeking a deeper understanding of what happens in ethics classes, this session is designed for you.

For more information, please get in touch with Helen Kerr-Roubicek kerrroubicekhelen@gmail.com

Or visit: https://primaryethics.com.au/

Sports and special group photos can be viewed and ordered online at www.theschoolphotographer.com.au using the ordering code : 25S2042EL54D.

Photo prices are $20 each, 2 for $36, 3 for $48, 4 for $60 or 5 for $72.

Groups include:

• Debating
• Environmental leaders
• Flag leaders
• Game Changers
• Touch football, soccer, basketball, netball, softball, AFL cup & cricket teams
• House captains,
• Junior & Senior bands
• Librarians
• Public speaking finalists
• Recorder & String Ensembles
• Choirs
• Student government
• Technology leaders
• Ukulele club
• Zone swimming & Zone cross country teams
• Year 6 group

What an exciting and wild way to celebrate Book Week!

A big thank you to all our families who helped our students look amazing for our parade and a special thank you to all those hardy souls who braved the wind and rain to join us for our parade! It was the first time we held the parade in the hall and it certainly added to the atmosphere of the celebrations!

We had two amazing authors visit us, the wonderful Serena Geddes and Belinda Murrell, and even managed to share some books in our peer support groups.

If students would like to order books by our visiting authors, please follow the links below. Orders will be taken until 31st August.

Happy Reading,

Joseph Neufeld

The Premier’s Reading Challenge is currently on but time is running out! Students must have their reading logs completed by 29th August.

Students in years 3 to 6 must log their own reading on the PRC website.

The easiest way for students to log their reading is by going to their student portal and clicking on the Premier’s Reading Challenge icon.

Kindy to year 2 students will have their reading logs updated by Mr Neufeld.

Maeve O and Ella C went to Dubbo this week to take part in the NSW PSSA Touch tournament. We were undefeated the first day and each game we slowly improved as a team.  

Our Sydney East team finished 6th out of  the 13 teams.  We had an amazing time and met lots of great people. 

Maeve O

Regular school attendance is important for your child’s learning and social development. If your child is absent from school, you must ensure that you provide the school with a written explanation.

From Term 3 2025, our school will begin using the School Bytes Parent Portal to help manage student absences. You can submit your child’s absence through the School Bytes Parent App or by email. We are no longer using Audiri.

The School Bytes Parent Portal allows parents to view all their children in one portal and enables parents to provide details of a planned absence, if the absence details are known in advance - for example; to report an illness or a scheduled medical appointment.

Parents can also provide a response for any unexplained student absences that have been recorded by the school. 

Late arrival or early departure

Partial absences cannot be submitted on the School Bytes Parent App.  Parents must come to the office and sign their child/ren in or out of school.

Extended leave

Families are encouraged to travel during school holidays. If travel during school term is necessary, you can only submit up to 9 days leave on the School Bytes Parent App.

If travelling for 10 days or more, you will need to complete an Application to leave - travel You can now complete the form online through schoolbytes with your travel itinerary or flight details.

For more information, visit the School Bytes website and check out the "Parent Guides" for helpful FAQs and tutorials.

How to guides

To help protect the health of students and staff, we remind you to please keep children at home if they are showing cold or flu-like symptoms.

We understand that some children may have symptoms that are not contagious - in these cases, we may request a medical certificate confirming that your child is fit to return to school.

Tapping on and off provides better data to plan better bus services.

How can you help? Please remind your child to tap on and off and ensure your child has a valid Opal card (either a School or Child/Youth Opal card) and remind them to tap on and tap off on every trip.

To apply for a school Opal card, visit https://transportnsw.info/school-travel-apply.  Students may see onboard bus posters and Busways Community Relation Officers at afternoon loadings.  Together let’s get students into good habits of tapping on and tapping off with their Opal card. 

Have you bought in your tombola?

Yesterday was our tombola mufti day, and we’ve had lots of creative and delicious looking tombola jars dropped off to the office. Thank you everyone for your kind donations so far!

Don’t forget, you can drop your tombola jars and adult donations (wine, jams/chutneys etc) to the office any day in the lead up to the fete. If you don’t have time to make a jar, just bring in some lolly bags or craft items and we can do it for you!

We encourage you to get in early and buy your ride passes, and start collecting great quality toys and books for donations.

We are still receiving generous donations for our Silent Auction. If you would like to donate a prize, please email sponsorship@drummoynepublicschool.com.au 

Warm regards,

Rob Tolliday 

Fete Coordinator

Fete early bird unlimited ride passes

Please sign into your flexischools account or click the above link to purchase your early bird unlimited ride passes. Get in quick – early bird prices only last until 22 August. 

Unlimited ride passes are $45 to pre-purchase during early bird, $60 on Fete Day or 3 x rides for $25.

Early Bird Unlimited Ride Pass sales end on 22 August 11.59pm. 

A lot of effort goes into making our DPS Fete so great. That’s why we need you – our parent community to step in and volunteer for as little as an hour on Fete Day. Get in quick to nab a volunteer slot on your favourite stall. Toy & book stall, cake stall, BBQ, dunk tank... what will you choose? Use the link here to pop your name down:

All help is gratefully received!

Our fete won’t be our fete without the generous donations from our school and community:

Book Stall Donations Saturday 30 August, 1pm – 4pm

Quality pre-loved (or new!) book donations, can be brought in to the school cola on Saturday 30 August , 1pm – 4pm.

Please help us by placing your books into allocated sections/price categories when you arrive. Unfortunately we won’t have resources to accept unsorted piles of books.

Toy Stall Donations Saturday 30 August, 1pm – 4pm

Quality donations, clean secondhand (or new!) toys can be brought in to the school cola on Saturday 30 August, 1pm – 4pm. Please allow 5 minutes to place your items into appropriate price categories.

We will not be accepting undressed barbies, collectables, games with missing parts, DVD’s or electronics with flat batteries. If possible, we would appreciate unsold donations be collected at the end of the day to assist with fete clean up.

Cake Stall Donations 

Attention all bakers! We welcome your contributions of cakes, slices, cookies, cupcakes, bliss balls & gluten free treats for our upcoming fete! Drop off at the canteen on the morning of the fete, Sunday 31 August from 9am.

Cake boxes will be available to collect from outside the school office from Monday 25 August. Full cakes and loaves much appreciated – they are very popular!!

Please mark the box where indicated for any allergens.

Don’t forget that the class that raises the most money will win a pizza party! You can still donate right up until the end of Fete Day. Use the QR code or link below to donate to your child’s class/classes. Your donation will contribute towards individual class totals, and the winner will be announced after Fete.

And so far our current leaders are…. (it’s close!)

How to donate:

• Step 1: Visit this link (or QR code below), and navigate to the ‘DONATIONS’ button. https://oktion.com.au/event-details/932
•  Step 2: Find to your child’s class (ie. Class KB Donations):

• Step 3: Choose the amount you wish to donate, and ‘ADD TO CART’. 1 unit = $1.
•  Step 4: Donate!!

Scan the QR code below to place your bid! Lots of great new items have been added including local artisan creations, jewellery and loads of vouchers for all ages – fitness, sports, music and other activities.

All these great donations and more are up for grabs in our DPS 2025 Fete Silent Auction. 

Dear Parents & Carers,

The P&C Father’s Day stall will be held on Thursday 4th September.

Gift tokens are $7.00 each and are available to purchase through Flexischools under 'Events'. 

Each class will visit the stall and children will be able to choose their gift/gifts.  Please pre-purchase your tokens if you would like your child to get a father's day gift at the stall. Grandfather gifts are also available.

https://user.flexischools.com.au/login? 

P&C Committee

The uniform shop will be open for face to face sales on Monday mornings from 9am - 10am.

All uniform shop orders are now to be placed on Flexischools.

If you need to contact the uniform shop volunteers please email:

Dear Parents & Carers, 

The P&C and Canteen are asking for some help next Tuesday morning as our lovely parent and canteen committee member, Christine, has kindly volunteered to run the canteen on Monday and Tuesday but will need some .

VOLUNTEERS: AUGUST

TUESDAY. 27th……..10:30am-11:30am……..1

THURSDAY 28th…….10:30am-11:30am…….1

VOLUNTEERS: SEPTEMBER

MONDAY 1st….10:30am-11:30am…..1

TUESDAY 2nd…10:30am-11:30am….1

THURSDAY 4th…….10:30am-11:30am…….1

FRIDAY 5th…… 10:30am-11:30am…1

Please sign up using the following link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B4FA5AA2EA7FBC52-47648005-dpscanteen

We are always grateful and appreciative for any help.

As previously mentioned - the Canteen will only be open for recess orders next Thursday & Friday.

Kind regards,

Canteen and P&C Committee

To book Gowrie NSW - enrolment forms can be found on the Gowrie website:

https://www.gowriensw.com.au/out-of-hours-care/drummoyne-and-stmarks

Contact Rekkha for more information on 0436 616 744.

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