Caves Beach Public School Newsletter

Welcome to Week 8 Term 3 2025!

Father’s Day

Thank you to all the fathers, grandfathers, and father figures who joined us in celebrating Father’s Day at our school last week. It was wonderful to see so many of you take time out of your busy schedules to attend and engage with our students. Your presence brought so much joy to the children and helped create lasting memories.

A very special thank you to Mandy Tindall and parent volunteers for organising the Father’s Day BBQ and stall. Your dedication, planning, and volunteer hours makes these events possible for all our students.

Nyikina Mangala Community School

As part of our NAIDOC celebrations and ongoing commitment in supporting Aboriginal students, I am pleased to share that we have made a connection with the Nyikina Mangala Community school. Nyikina Mangala Community School sits within the Jarlmadangah Burru Aboriginal community, located on Mt Anderson Station, west of Derby, in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

As part of this connection, we have planned some fundraising events to raise money for a sail to cover an outdoor learning space at their school. We will be running a series of raffles which have been supported by our local Bahtabah Lands Council. We would like to thank Carol Proctor who has generously donated several items for the raffles. The first of the raffles will be published via Facebook very soon.

Another planned fundraising initiative will be a bake day in conjunction with Swansea High School. High school students will assist with baking products, with an Australian native flavour, to be sold to students at both schools. More information to follow.

Kindergarten 2026

For the last two weeks and this week we are welcoming into our school, our Kindergarten 2026 students and parents. The new Kindergarteners are participating in three play group sessions in the kindergarten rooms. We welcome all our new students and look forward to spending more time with them in the future. If you have a Kindergarten age student who is yet to enrol or if you are aware of any child wishing to start Kindergarten at our school next year, please contact our school office on 49711838.

Sue Gibson

Principal

Week 8

• Tuesday 9th September - Sea Stars Playgroup 10.00am
• Thursday 11th September - Stage 1 Reptile Park Excursion

Week 9

• Monday 15th September - Galgabba Spelling Bee
• Thursday 18th - Friday 19th September - Band Camp

Week 10

• Tuesday 23rd September - ES1 Oakvale Farm Excursion 
• Thursday 25th September - Celebration Ceremony

KF and K1P have had a wonderful couple of weeks welcoming the arrival of our chicken eggs in the incubator. We watched with excitement and wonder as the eggs hatched and the baby chicks emerged, growing into adorable fluffy chicks that we could gently pat.

This term, we have also enjoyed participating in dancing for sport, learning some favourite dances such as the Nutbush. We have been busy practicing our routines for the upcoming assemblies, and we are excited to showcase our performances.

Congratulations to the following Gold Award recipients:

     Harrison R - 2/3B

      Albee P - 3P

Congratulations to the following Merit Award recipients:

Week 6

Congratulations to the following Celebration Award recipients:

Week 6

Congratulations to the following Merit Award recipients:

Week 7

Congratulations to the following Celebration Award recipients:

Week 7

Dear parents and carers,

During Term 3, students will participate in the Check-in assessment.

The Check-in assessment is a NSW Department of Education online literacy and numeracy assessment available to support schools to assess and monitor student learning.

The assessment can supplement existing school practices to identify how students are performing in literacy and numeracy and to help teachers tailor their teaching more specifically to student needs. Students with disability may receive the same level of support during the assessment they would normally receive in the classroom.

·         The assessment will be scheduled for our Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 students during Weeks 6 to 9 (Monday 25 August to Friday 19 September) with a finalisation week in week 10 (22 September to 26 September).    

·         All students complete a reading assessment and a numeracy assessment. Year 6 students will also complete a writing assessment during weeks 6 to 9.

Today our students proudly wore their favourite sporting jerseys and team colours for Jersey Day!

Jersey Day isn’t about fundraising – it’s about starting an important conversation. By wearing a jersey, we’re helping raise awareness about the incredible gift of organ donation and encouraging families to have the conversation at home.

A huge thank you to our school community for getting behind this meaningful cause and showing such wonderful support. 

Congratulations to all our students who attended the Hunter Athletics Carnival today! We are so proud of your effort, sportsmanship and the way you represented our school. Well done!

Band - Week 8 and 9 - Term 3

A very exciting two weeks are ahead for band! Band Camp will run next week on Thursday 18th and Friday 19th September. 

A carpool note will be sent home on Thursday this week to confirm all students transport to and from camp. If there are any changes needed please contact me through email or seesaw and I can adjust. An additional  medical note will go home this week as well for those needing it.

If there are any parents who can assist with transporting equipment to and from camp please let me know! There will be a pick of equipment time on Wednesday after school from 3pm - 4:45 pm, there are small and large items, so any space you can spare would be amazing!  There are some items that can be packed on Tuesday afternoon if Wednesday is not convenient, please let me know.

If your child has previously stated they are not attending and you now wish them to come, please contact me this week, we can still have them attend and it is highly encouraged that all band members are at camp. Very happy to chat about individual arrangements if required. 

The camps objective is to prepare for the upcoming excursion in term 4 to Bandfest, so attendance to the camp is highly encouraged to best prepare as a team.

Camp will also provide the first steps in the transition to senior band for our junior members,  a very exciting time for these members!  

New dates for your diary:

Celebration assembly - Junior and Senior band performance - Thursday 25th Sept - 9:30am -10:30am 

Family Band Night - All band students - Wednesday 29th October - 6pm - 8pm - School hall 

Bandfest - All band Students - Wednesday 5th November - 11am - 3pm - Newcastle Conservatorium of Music - Permission note to come soon! 

(Mallet group - Bandfest - Monday 3rd November 8am - 11am - Newcastle Conservatorium of Music) 

Week 8

Junior band 8:15am – 8:55am - Tuesday and Thursday  

Senior band 8:00am – 8:55am - Wednesday and Friday 

Week 9

Junior band 8:15am – 8:55am - Tuesday 

Senior band 8:00am – 8:55am - Wednesday

Band Camp Thursday and Friday 

Please send a black display folder with current band music to rehearsals each week. 

• Please keep in close contact with your tutors regarding absences. 

Lance Verdon- Clarinet, Saxophone and Percussion - Tuesday, Thursday, Friday  

Bethanee Swilks- Keyboard - Monday 

Isabella O'Brien - Flute and Bass guitar - Tuesday 

Bryn Wilson-Kellaway - Trumpet and Trombone – Wednesday

Fees:

Fees will be collected through the school office for all band members. These have been added to your school bytes accounts, please let Mrs Scott know if there are any errors or if you cannot view these fees. 

Fees can be paid off termly @ $60 per term. Instrument hire fees are due term 1 to secure the instrument for your child. Instrument hire fee is non- refundable.

Band fee - $60 per student per term, Junior and Senior band.

Instrument Hire fee - $100 per year, due term 1

Reeds:

Reeds are available for purchase with cash only to Mrs Scott:

Clarinet - Rico - $3.50 (Beginner students) 

Clarinet - Vandoren - $4.50 (Intermediate - advanced students) 

Saxophone - $4.50 

Bass Clarinet - $7.50

Students will be supplied with a reed when one is broken so they can continue to participate in rehearsals and lessons.  A slip will be sent home with your child with the cost displayed and payment is expected within the same week. 

Happy music making,

Kelsey Scott 

Band coordinator 

Students at Caves Beach Public School are learning the Awabakal language and everyone shows great interest and enthusiasm for learning about Aboriginal culture and language.   

Each week, check out the Word of the Week on our school Facebook page. It features the Word of the Week, introducing a new Awabakal word.  

Learning Awabakal language builds pride and belonging, strengthens cultural identity, and promotes understanding and respect in our school community. 

Read more  https://50words.online/languages/Awabakal 

Premier's Reading Challegne - PRC

Just a reminder for students to log their books on the PRC website before Friday 19 September 2025 (Week 9, Term 3). Congratulations to the many students that have completed the challenge so far.

 Book Fair

Thank you so much for your incredible support during our recent Book Fair! Whether you helped your child select books, or contributed in other ways, your involvement made a big difference.

Because of your support, we were able to foster a love of reading in our students and raise valuable funds just over $2000 for our school. We truly couldn’t have done it without you!

🙏 Father’s Day Stall & Breakfast, Thank You!

What a wonderful Father’s Day celebration we had at Caves Beach Public School last week! 🎉💙

The stall and breakfast were such a success thanks to our amazing volunteers, staff, and students who worked tirelessly to make it all happen.

🎁 Father’s Day Stall Helpers

A special thank you to our dedicated stall team:

Bianca Gay, Christine, Kahlie Macorig, Cath Shepherd.

🍳 Father’s Day Breakfast Helpers

Our breakfast crew did an outstanding job cooking, serving, and keeping everything running smoothly.

A heartfelt thank you to:

Kate Simpson, Stephanie Davies, Rob Tyndall, Drew Janiszewski, Amber Raue, Mel Asmar and Christine Muscolino.

What made this even more special is that some of these helpers generously took time out of their own workday, or made changes to their work schedules, just to be there for our school community. Your effort, flexibility, and commitment did not go unnoticed and we are so grateful. 💛👏

🌟 Student Helpers

A big shout-out to our amazing students who jumped in to help with the stall and bring lots of smiles:

Gracie, Pepper, Jessica, Amelia, Matilda, Rocky and Dash

🍎 Staff Support

An amazing thank you also goes to all the staff members who supported us. Your help behind the scenes and on the day makes a world of difference.

💐 Extra Special Thanks

And as always, we want to say a very special thank you to Mandy Tyndall, who spends countless hours buying, planning, and organising these events. Your dedication, hard work, and care make everything possible and we are truly grateful for everything you do! 💛👏

Upcoming P&C Events 📅

September

Monday 8 - P&C Meeting 

 October

Monday 27 – P&C Meeting

 December

Last week of school – Christmas Raffle 🎄 (Date TBA)

📣 Where to Find Us & Stay Connected

📧 Email: cavesbeachpublicschool@pcaffiliate.onmicrosoft.com

🌐 Website: Caves Parent

📱 Facebook: Caves Beach Public School P&C

🛍️ Buy, Swap & Sell Group: Caves Beach Public School P&C Buy, Swap and Sell

💛 Thank you for supporting our P&C. We couldn’t do it without you!

Caves Beach Public School P&C

Working together for our kids 🏫✨

Seaside Bites Update and Volunteer Call-Out

We need your help! 🌟

We are currently looking for parents, grandparents & carers who may be available to help out in the canteen once a month on a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and/ or Friday morning (9:00am – 12:00pm). If you’re free and would like to lend a hand, we’d love to hear from you, even if it’s a more casual basis🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️.

The kids love seeing you at school and it’s a great way to connect and meet other parents. Not feeling confident? No problems, We teach you every thing you need to know.  

📩 Interested? Give the school a call or pop us an email at cavescanteen@gmail.com to sign up—we’d love to have you on board! 🥪

A big thank you also to all our wonderful Seaside Bites volunteers for your continued support – we couldn’t do it without you! 🙌

The roster for Weeks 6 and 7 is below: