Drummoyne Public School

Dear Drummoyne PS Community,

Meet the Teacher’s Evening & Parent/Teacher Interviews

It was wonderful to see so many parents attend our Meet the Teachers evening on Monday and enjoy the P&C Champagne and Cheese night afterwards. I hope you found the evening valuable and gained helpful insights into what’s in store for your child/ren this year. In a change from previous years, our teachers presented together in Stage teams. Across the school, all our students are supported by a team of teachers working together - not just their class teacher- and we feel it is important for you to get to know everyone involved in your child/ren’s education this year. I’m also very pleased to report that over 90% of parents have already booked in for a parent/teacher interview next week. I look forward to welcoming you all back into the school and continuing to strengthen our partnership in supporting your child’s learning and wellbeing.

Changes to Drop-Off & Pick-Up Organisation Coming (and we’ve moved the Bike/Scooter Racks!)

From next week, the South Street gate (between the two small demountables) will be closed in the morning. Entry will be through the Thompson Street and Rawson Avenue gates.

We’ve also relocated our bike and scooter racks from behind the picnic area in the K-2 playground to a new spot between the hall and the small demountable, next to our garden - see the picture below. This change is to make space for Stage 2’s upcoming planting project as part of their Birds & Bees Highway incursion.

We are also planning some changes to the morning routine and afternoon pick-up procedures which will be communicated next week. Thank you for your support as we continue to make improvements!

P&C: Welcome Drinks & February Meeting

Thank you to the P&C for the Champagne and Cheese Night - a perfect complement to our Meet the Teachers evening. It was wonderful to see our community come together again and start the year in such a warm and welcoming way.

Finally, I was very pleased to see some new faces at our first P&C meeting this week, including a few Kindergarten parents joining us for the first time. We have some exciting initiatives planned for the year to enhance and enrich your child/ren’s experience at school and the P&C plays a vital role in making many of these things happen. We’d love to see even more ‘first-timers’ at our Annual General Meeting (AGM) next month

Regards,

John Nguyen​

Principal

E: john.nguyen34@det.n​sw.edu.au 

Stage 1 Choir

Stage 1 Choir will be on Monday's, second-half lunch in the KB classroom. Students in Year 1 & 2 are welcome to join and sing along for enjoyment. We will be learning songs to perform at Assembly and Spring Carnival.

Come and have a go and some fun!

Jessica Buchanan

Stage 3 Students who love to sing

Please come along and join Miss Xenos and Miss Cantlay for Stage 3 Choir on Thursday mornings at 8:30am in the library.

We can't wait to see you there.

Kathy Xenos 

Michelle O'Dowd

Assistant Principal and Environmental Coordinator

SRE refers to education in the beliefs and practices of an approved religious persuasion. SEE is a program in ethical decision making, action and reflection within a secular framework, based on a branch of philosophy.

SRE Scripture & Ethics classes commence on Friday 7th March.

If you would like to change your child's class from their 2024 choice please email the school office by next Friday, 28th February.

Information about the various SRE & SEE choices at DPS can be found here: Religion & Ethics

Any requests received after 28 February will commence in term 2.

We had a fantastic turnout of students eager to learn the recorder this week! There are still a few spots available for any new students who would like to join.If your child has a private music lesson on Tuesday mornings, they are still welcome to attend the recorder lesson before or after their private lesson.

Recorder rehearsals will now take place every TUESDAY MORNING at 8:30 am. Students should meet Mrs Sole at the office at this time.

SAVE THE DATE!

The Recorder and String Ensembles will perform at the Opera House on the 9th of September 2025. Recorder lessons with Mrs Sole are free. A small fee will apply to cover the recorder, t-shirt, and transport for the rehearsal and performance. More details will be shared with parents in the coming weeks.

Bus Safety Week is a reminder that we all have a role to play. The 10th annual Bus Safety Week runs from Monday, 17 February to Sunday, 23 February 2025.  

Busways is reminding the community in its service regions to behave safely on and around buses. Whether you’re a pedestrian, cyclist, passenger, or driver, it’s crucial to Be Bus Aware and take steps to avoid preventable incidents. 

Buses have four main blind spots, which can pose risks to other road users. Motorists are reminded to keep a safe distance from buses, slow down to 40km/h when bus lights are flashing, as children may be crossing the road, avoid cutting in front of buses, and give way when they are merging into traffic.  Pedestrians are reminded to look up from their phones and look out for buses.

“Safety is everyone’s responsibility. In the past year, we’ve seen over 1,500 preventable incident' said Sarah Langthorne, Customer Experience Manager

To learn more, visit the Be Bus Aware website or follow NSW Road Safety on Facebook. Together, we can make a difference.  

Stay safe, stay alert, and remember to Be Bus Aware. 

The Art Gallery of New South Wales invites budding artists between the ages of 5 and 18 to submit a portrait for the Young Archie competition.

The portrait must be of a person who is special to you – someone who is known to you and who knows you and plays a significant role in your life.

For more information please see:

https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/prizes/young-archie/enter/

Entries must be received: before 3 March 2025, 5pm

This year our school will continue to streamline some of our communication practices in an effort to keep our school community engaged and informed. As part of this process, we ask that you please download the Audiri App and read the weekly newsletter with important information about upcoming events etc.

New users joining our school can subscribe to Groups by following these steps in the Audiri app:

Thank you for your support.

There are several students at our school who have a severe allergy to certain foods (peanut products such as peanut butter and Nutella, nuts, sesame seeds, coconut, eggs, milk, shellfish and some fruits and grains) that could induce an anaphylactic reaction.

Whilst we are not asking you to exclude particular foods, we would like your support in encouraging your child not to share their food items with other students. Teachers will also emphasise with the children not to share their lunch or recess at school to avoid possible accidents as a result of your child’s kindness.

For new students who require medication to be administered at school, all instructions and medications need to be handed in to the office.

To support this process and ensure the dosage is correct and medicine is stored securely, please complete the “Request for administration of prescribed medication to a student” form and hand in at the office with the medicine.  The form is available from the school office and can also be found on our school website.

No student should keep medication in their bags. Thank you for supporting the health and safety of all students.

For returning students, any changes to medication should also be directed to the office.

From 24 February to 21 March 2025 Transport for NSW will be focusing on school student Opal tap data to help plan better bus services. It’s vital that your child remembers to tap on and tap off their Student or Child/Youth Opal card during this time – and every time they travel by bus.   

Why is tapping on and off on the bus important? The use of Opal cards is the primary way bus operators and Transport for NSW analyse demand for bus services. When students don’t use their Opal cards, their trip is not recorded. Therefore, buses may appear underutilised. 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. 

An important part of next month's meeting will be the election of the 2025 P&C executive, as all positions will be declared vacant. This is an excellent opportunity to become involved at the start of the year with our P&C executive and team.

The P&C AGM will be held on Tuesday 18th March from 7.30pm in the Library. We hope you can plan to join us.

For anyone who has been wondering what roles are available and what is involved, please click the below attachment to read. Any more questions? Please get in touch with:

• Tim at secretary@drummoynepublicschool.com.au or
• Angela at  president@drummoynepublicschool.com.au

P&C Committee

Hi everyone! Planning is kicking off for the 2025 Drummoyne Public School Spring Fete, and we need your help to make it our best one yet!

Join us for our first organising committee meeting:

Tuesday, Feb 25 from 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM

Back Lounge, Dock & Co Restaurant, Club Five Dock RSL (66 Great North Rd, Five Dock)

There are big and small roles available – marketing, logistics, sponsorship, stalls, and more. Every bit of help makes a difference!

Can't make the meeting but want to get involved? Contact Rob Tolliday (0410 441 053).

Let’s make this fete an amazing event for our school community! Hope to see you there! 

Fete Committee

From Term 1 the uniform shop will be open for face to face sales on Monday mornings from 9am - 10am.

We are currently out of stock of size 8 & 10 short sleeve polos, stock is due to come in first week of March :)

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

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

The canteen has a new staff member, Anna, working on Mondays. We really need and appreciate a volunteer to help from 10:15am-11:15am to assist in the packaging of the lunch items. Mondays can get pretty busy with the nuggets and when you are new it can be quite stressful. Some support from the school community would be awesome! Please get in touch if you can help out.

New canteen items

• The Pineapple cupcakes and Banana Cupcakes have been selling really well. A fresh batch of banana cupcakes was made on Thursday. COST: $1.50 Made in the canteen.
• Apple & Banana cupcakes: banana, apple, 1:1 wholemeal/white self raising flour, yoghurt, light olive oil, eggs, bicarb soda, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. made by Anna. Some students tasted and said they were really good! COST: $1.50
• Jelly: made from fruit juice and gelatine. No jelly crystals in sight. Apple/blackcurrant or pineapple juice are the options. COST $1.00.
• Pancakes: made in the canteen using self raising wholemeal:white flour, vanilla essence, egg, milk, bicarb soda COST: $2.00 ( for two pancakes ) OPTIONS: sugar free maple syrup, honey or plain ( see menu for cost ).
• Yoghurt tubs: vanilla yoghurt OPTIONS: plain, honey or granola. See menu for prices.

FEBRUARY: Volunteers Needed

Monday 24th…..10:15am-11:15am…….1

Thursday 27th….10:15am-11:15am …..1

Friday 28th ……..9:30am-10:30am…….1.         10:30am-11:30am……….2 

To register to volunteer:

https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10C0B4FA5AA2EA7FBC52-47648005-dpscanteen

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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