The Punchbowl Press

2025 Term 1 Week 5

Wednesday 26 February - Year 3 to 6 Swimming Carnival

March 10 to March 21 - NAPLAN Testing Window

Tuesday 11 and 12 March - Meet the Teacher Afternoon Kindergarten

Thursday 13 March - Meet the Teacher Afternoon Year 1-6

Thursday 13 March - Selective HS Placement Test

Friday 14 March - Koori Jarum Experience, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. 

Tuesday 25 March - National Young Leaders Day event (Student Leaders) 

Friday 11 April - Easter Hat Parade P-6

Friday 11 April - Last Day of Term 1 for all students

 


Principal's Message

A huge welcome to all our staff, students and families.  With the movement of the School Development Days to the beginning of the year, we have been able to reset our school goals, complete professional learning and collaboratively plan for the upcoming year.   

During the week I received an email from the Principal of Canterbury Boys High School, Ross Dummett.  Three of our Year 6 boys now attend CBHS.  Mr Dummett mentioned that the three boys have had an excellent start to high school, based in part to the strong foundation they received here at PPS.  We are proud of all our students and the successful transition that they make to their high schools at the completion of Year 6.  Well done, Bahraisy, Aydan and Aidan. 

We have also started our P&C meetings for this year.  Mrs Kontakos and I were available to talk about Attendance and the School Community charter.   

Our P&C meetings are an important means of communication with our families regarding school and system priorities. 

We also plan to hold our parent workshops alongside these meetings again in 2025.  The feedback last year was extremely positive with all parents gaining an insight into the teaching and learning happening in classrooms around numeracy and literacy, and how this can be supported at home. 


Our school oath speaks of striving for harmony and peace to create a world where everyone belongs.  When we show up each day at PPS in our school uniforms, ready to go, this is the promise we make.  Things don’t always go the way we plan, and there are speed humps and hiccups along the way.  Our Problem-solving wheel is a crucial part of supporting our students to regulate their emotions and reactions to situations.  It can be found in every classroom and around our playground for everyone to use.  Take some time to look at the wheel with your child.  Some of these strategies are universal and can be put in place in many different environments. 

I look forward to catching up with everyone over the next few weeks at our Meet the teacher afternoons.  Look out for more information on Audiri, Kinderloop and Facebook. 

Donna McGeary

Principal

Staff List 2025

Attached is the full list of teachers and staff members who will be guiding and supporting our students in the year ahead. Our team remains committed to fostering a dynamic and inclusive learning environment where every student can thrive.

We look forward to another year of collaboration, growth and success.

Download

School Community Charter

📢 At Punchbowl Public School, we are committed to creating a positive, inclusive environment where every student is known, valued, and cared for. 💙

The NSW Public Schools School Community Charter guides us in fostering respectful, collaborative partnerships between students, parents, and staff—because the best learning happens when we work together! 📚✨

Read the School Community Charter  to ensure you understand how important it is to create a positive learning environment for our students.

Let’s continue to support each other in building a strong, connected school community where every child can thrive. 🌟

Schools and Community Centre (SaCC) Term 1 Planner

Please see attached the Term 1 Planner for the SaCC programs. 

For registration and more information please contact Asenati Mareko - School as Community Centre Facilitator on 0439487865. 

Download

Schools as Community Centres (SaCC) program

Welcome back to Term 1, 2025 to our existing families and greetings to our new families. We are thrilled to have you and your children with us. The SaCC has been hard at work continuing to offer a variety of programs and playgroups designed to benefit early learners, school-aged students, and parents alike. Here's a glimpse of what's happening in our centre on a weekly basis: 

Monday

  •  Mum2Mum English Conversation class 9.30am to 11.45am
  • Learning Club for school-aged students 3.00pm to 4.15pm 

Tuesday

  • Play to Learn playgroup for babies up to 3 years old 9.30am to 11.30am 
  • Bringing up Great Kids (Coming soon)12.00noon to 2.30pm

Wednesday

  • Parent Child Mother Goose program Session 1: 9.30 to 10.30am Session 2: 10.45 to 11.45am
  • Community/Family Drop in Service12.30pm to 2.30pm

Thursday

  • Play2Learn playgroup for babies up to 4 years old 9.15am to 11.15am
  • Community/Family Drop-in service 12.30pm to 2.30pm

Friday

  •  "NEW" Community Playgroup 9.30am to 11.30am. This playgroup is an initiative to support our newly arrived parents and children (led and ran by parents in partnership with Parenting NSW).
A heartfelt thank you goes out to the Canterbury City Community Centre for bringing back the Mum2Mum class. This program has provided a wonderful platform for women and children to learn English while enjoying each other's company in a safe and welcoming environment, resulting in new friendships. 

We are also delighted to kick start our playgroups four days a week, to serve the need of families within our school and the surrounding areas. Registration for playgroup is closed however please make contact with me to express your interest.

It was great to connect with other SaCC Facilitators when I attended the SaCC Network meeting held in Telopea last Wednesday. I was able to showcase the great programs at PPS SaCC and learn about other initiatives that we can look into for the  future.

 For any questions or inquiries, please don't hesitate to reach out to me, Asenati Mareko, at 0439 487 865. 

NAPLAN Year 3 and Year 5

📢 NAPLAN 2025 – Important Dates 📢

NAPLAN assessments for Year 3 & Year 5 students will take place from Wednesday 12 March to Monday 24 March 2025. Please ensure your child arrives on time each day and is well-rested.

📝 NAPLAN Schedule:

📌 Wednesday 12 March – Writing (Year 3 & Year 5)

📌 Thursday 13 March – Year 5 Reading

📌 Friday 14 March – Year 3 Reading

📌 Monday 17 March – Year 5 Conventions of Language

📌 Tuesday 18 March – Year 3 Conventions of Language

📌 Wednesday 19 March – Year 5 Numeracy

📌 Thursday 20 March – Year 3 Numeracy

📌 Friday 21 & Monday 24 March – Catch-Up Tests

Students are not expected to study for NAPLAN. Excessive preparation or the use of coaching providers is not recommended. You can support your child by reassuring them that NAPLAN is a part of their school program. If you or your child/children would like to know more about the NAPLAN online platform you can go to the public demonstration site. Some past NAPLAN papers are also available online.

⏳ If your child is absent on a test day, they will have the opportunity to complete a catch-up test on the designated days.

Thank you for your support in ensuring a smooth NAPLAN period. If you have any questions, please contact the school. 💙📚✏️

Gynmastics P-6

In Term 1 students will be participating in a gymnastics program as part of the Personal Development, Health and Physical Education curriculum. Qualified gymnastics teachers will provide students with the opportunity to learn fundamental and core movement skills. This program develops a positive and concrete foundation by introducing the basic principles and skills required to participate in gymnastics.  

Students will engage in the program for approximately 40 minutes per week over 8 weeks.  

Date and time: Weekly in Term 1

 What to wear: Sports uniform and sport shoes

 Venue: Punchbowl Public School  Cost: $45 

Please check your email to provide permission and payment.

Please contact the school with any questions or concerns.

Library

Curio our library fish is filled with curiosity. He loves listening to stories. Some of our students are excited to come up to the library during their recess break to read to Curio. Heleina shared a story with him, which he enjoyed very much! Curio stayed in the corner of his tank so he could listen to her attentively. 

Kicking off the term with an enthusiastic start learning about Cybersafety, our students put their knowledge to the test with a Post-It Note race. Students had to write or draw onto a Post-It note as many thoughts and ideas about online safety that they could recall. They needed to be able to explain how each idea contributed to safe or unsafe online behaviour. Students from 5 Victory shared these messages that we all need to be aware of when online: 

“DO NOT share personal information like your name, age, password, address, or phone number. Protect your personal information.” Fatima 

“Be careful of online scams. For example, if you get a message to click on a link to get a free prize, never click on it. It could be a scam.” Adam 

“Never chat to anyone online. If someone tries to chat to you online, block them and ask your parents to report it.” Abrita 

 

Chess 

Chess Club has received keen interest from younger students. There are over 40 students attending weekly. They receive coaching from Sydney Academy of Chess and more experienced in-house players. It’s wonderful to see the enthusiasm and energy from the students who are keen to learn. Through these weekly coaching and games, students are developing confidence, focus, determination and thinking skills, great skills that will help them with all areas of their learning. 

 

Rubik’s Club 

We’ve seen plenty of grit from our Stage 1 students who have eagerly joined the Rubik’s Club. Senior students are showing leadership qualities and service to community by giving up their lunch time once a week to help teach younger cubers. 

Preschool & Early Intervention

The Possum children had a wonderful time during our first gymnastics session. There was lots of new learning starting with walking safely in a line to the hall, turn taking and listening to instructions.  The children had a great time learning some new gross motor skills, as they completed the obstacle course. It was wonderful to see their confidence growing as they moved, balanced, and learned new skills! We look forward to learning some more gross motor skills as the term progresses. 

 

The Koalas have been learning all about coming to preschool as they started only a few weeks ago. Starting with building their confidence and independence when unpacking their bags and finding their locker to learning all about being respectful and safe learners during indoor and outdoor play time. Children are feeling a sense of belonging and making friends and building trusting relationships with their educators.  

Early Stage 1

Kindergarten have had a wonderful start to their learning at Punchbowl!  

They are now all settled into their classes for the year, making lots of new friends and doing some amazing learning. Our kindy students have been learning about how to be a PAX leader, what green behaviours they need to show at school and how to be a kind friend. They have also had the opportunity to show us their jumping in gymnastics class! 

We can’t wait to see what they achieve this year!  

Stage 1

In Term 1 the whole school will have the opportunity to build on their gymnastic skills while participating in the ZING Active Program.  

Stage 1 students have been developing their balancing, jumping and landing and hopping skills through a range of activities. They have also been learning to use their strength and whole body to create new movements and motions. This is a fun and engaging learning opportunity for all students to develop new skills, keep their bodies and minds active and support their peers. 

Kookaburras and Owls

It’s been lovely to see all our returning and new students in Kookaburras and Owls classes settling back into the routines of school and reconnecting with friends and teachers. 

The students have been busy learning, taking part in educational, environmental (Gardening) and fitness (Gymnastics) programs. What an enjoyable start of the school year! 

Stage 2


Stage 3

In 6 Curious, we have been learning about warm and cool colours in our art lessons. We thought it would be fun to link this to our class novel, Storm Boy. 

Each student got to choose whether they wanted to use warm or cool colours in their artwork. This allowed them to show their feelings about the story through their art. At the end of the lesson, everyone created a simile to describe either the pelican or the background of their artwork.   Ayah: My pelican is black as the night sky as the stars shine.  Mohammed: My pelican is as dangerous as a tiger. Indi: The sun is shining as bright as curls.  

The students enjoyed getting involved with both art and the story, and we have proudly hung them on the windows so you can see them from the primary playground! 6 Curious are looking forward to more exciting learning adventures in 2025! 

Community Language - Arabic

Welcome back to another year of learning. We, the Community Language teachers, are looking forward to meeting all our new students and their families. This year will be jampacked with learning Arabic on many different platforms. Students will be using interactive apps on the iPads as well as laptops to transfer knowledge of how Arabic keyboards work. Let us take you through each stage and what they are learning: 

Early Stage 1: ‘Let’s learn Arabic’ is the topic that will support student to learn the sounds and formation of the Arabic alphabets. Our Kindergarteners will discover how to write their names and count to ten independently.  

Stage 1: ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ is an interactive story that will develop students’ knowledge of the Arabic alphabet and their vocabulary for numbers, colours and foods.   

Stage 2:  Students are developing literacy and comprehension skills by following the storyline of the ‘The Tortoise and the Hare.’ Students are extending their reading comprehension skills and learning to write compound sentences. 

Stage 3: By this stage, almost all students have prior Arabic skills; therefore, the teachers have decided to challenge their knowledge by introducing reading and writing comprehension. Students are reading the story ‘Possum Magic’ and will be expected to read and answer questions posed in Arabic on the story.  

We strongly encourage families to ask their children about their Arabic work and commend them on their efforts. 

Happy 2025 

Mrs Roffaell and Mrs Awada 

School Canteen - Term 1 Menu and Pricelist

The school canteen is open 5 days a week for breakfast, recess and lunch.

Breakfast: 8:30-8:55 am

Recess: 11:00-11:30 am

Lunch: 1:15-2:00 pm

Place your RECESS & LUNCH orders conveniently online at https://myschoolconnect.com.au/login

Breakfast and counter sales available daily.

RECESS & LUNCH ORDERS must be placed at the canteen, place them BEFORE the morning bell.

Opt for the hassle-free online option through My School Connect before arriving at school.

Term 1 Menu and Price List attached.

The canteen also offer 'Birthday Buckets' for your child to share their birthday celebrations with their friends.

See Canteen for more details. Thank you for choosing nutritious and tasty meals at our school canteen. Kathy - Canteen Manager

Download

A message from the PPS P&C - Donate Your Preloved PPS Uniforms

 If you have preloved Punchbowl Public School uniforms in good condition, we’d love your help.

The P&C Uniform Shop collects PPS-branded uniform items, which are then washed and sold to families at a small cost. All funds raised by the P&C go directly back to the school, supporting our students and programs.

How to Donate - Simply drop off your items at the front office during school hours.

Your generosity helps make uniforms more accessible for families and supports our school community.

- PPS P&C Uniform Committee

PPS School Hats and Library Bags Available for Purchase

PPS school hats are now $20 and PPS library bags are $17. These items can be purchased directly from the front office or from the Midford uniform shop. 

For your convenience, payments can also be made online via the school website. Simply visit [Punchbowl Public School Website](https://punchbowl-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/) and click on ‘Make a Payment.’ Be sure to fill in your details and include ‘School Hat’ or ‘Library Bag’ in the 'Payment Description' section. You will only need to complete the fields marked with an asterisk (*). Alternatively, you may place the correct money in an envelope, label it with your child’s name and class, and mark it with 'School Hat' or 'Library Bag.' The envelope can be dropped in the silver letterbox outside the office . Please note, the office does not provide change, so ensure you include the exact amount.

 Once payment is received, the office will ensure your child receives their school hat or library bag.

 Lastly, please don’t forget to write your child’s name on these items for easy identification!

Did you know that Punchbowl Public School offers convenient before and after school care onsite?

Fun Kids OSHC provides a welcoming, safe and fun environment for our students from Preschool to Year 6! They offer Before School Care, After School Care and Vacation Care, all within the grounds of our school. Whether you need early morning drop offs, a place for the kids after school or care during the holidays Fun Kids OSHC has you covered.For more information, reach out directly to Fun Kids OSHC and see how they can support your family https://www.funkids.com.au/punchbowl/

An important message from the school office

Have your contact details changed?

Please inform the school office by completing the eForm or call the office on 97505055 to update your details. 

It is particularly important that the contact details are kept up to date, especially if the school needs to make contact with you in an emergency. 


Click here to 'Like' Punchbowl Public School on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/punchbowlps/

Local Community News and Events

Bankstown Netball Club

Oatley Rugby Club

Click the link for information regarding the Oatley Rugby Club.
Download

Birrong Netball Club

Click the link for information regarding the Birrong Netball Club.
Download

Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre

Click the link for information about the Morris Iemma Sports Centre's program.
Download

Midford Uniforms Pricelist

Midford Uniforms Pricelist
Download

Did you know that the newsletter can be translated to many different languages?

- Scroll all the way to the bottom until you see the ‘Select Language’ option. Select your preferences language

You can now read the news in your chosen language.