Drummoyne Public School

Dear Drummoyne PS Community,

Celebrating Public Education Week 

What a fantastic celebration of Public Education Week we’ve had! Our assembly on Monday was a true showcase of the incredible talent and breadth of opportunity at our school, with student performances that had the audience smiling, applauding and brimming with pride. It was also heart-warming to see so many parents visiting our open classrooms and then sharing lunch with our students.

This morning’s Taikoz parent drumming workshop was also an absolute hit! Thanks to the parents who joined in with great enthusiasm, releasing a little stress through some very energetic drumming. I was very happy to see the hall filled with laughter, smiles and the rhythmic beat of drums, as parents joined us to learn about the ancient and fascinating cultural tradition of Japanese drumming.

Thank you to all of our parents and families who were able to  join us to celebrate public education this week. I feel incredibly proud to be a public school educator and to lead a school that lives and breathes the values of inclusion, equity, excellence and opportunity every single day.

BayRun 2025 – Drummoyne PS Shines in the Rain

Despite the wet weather, it was great to see so many families brave the conditions to proudly represent Drummoyne Public School at this year’s BayRun on Sunday. Smiles stayed bright as students, parents and staff took part in the 2km Primary School Challenge - with some students even taking on the full 7km course! Thank you to everyone who joined us and showed great school spirit.

Stage 3 Choir Performance at the Opera House

I was a very proud principal as I watched our Stage 3 choir perform at the Opera House as part of the Festival of Choral Music on Tuesday night. It was inspiring to see our students showcase their talent alongside so many gifted young performers from public schools across the state.

A huge thank you to Ms Kathy Xenos and Ms Beck Cantlay for their dedication in preparing the choir - before school, at rehearsals, and on the big day and evening. Their passion for the performing arts gave our students this incredible opportunity to shine on such a prestigious stage.

Regards,

John Nguyen​

Principal 

E: john.nguyen34@det.n​sw.edu.au

On Tuesday, 5th August, 28 Stage 3 chorists made their way to the Opera House to perform in the Festival of Choral Music. The day began with a final rehearsal, where DPS with about 600 other students, rehearsed the songs we had been learning and practising all year, ready for the concert that followed later that night. 

A highlight of the rehearsal was definitely the secret light show - we got to see some of the amazing things that the Opera House can do! Another was singing for conductors who had composed two of the songs we were performing, Rachel Kelly and Ian Jefferson. 

The concert itself was an amazing night of brilliant choral pieces and exciting harmonies. Some highlights were performing with the Concert Orchestra for 'Manly Ferry' and 'Arlington, and then with the Stage Band for 'The Theme from Spiderman' and 'You've Got a Friend in Me'.

It was a night we won't soon forget, and performing on the Opera House Stage was such a thrilling and memorable experience. 

Kathy Xenos

This week DPS debated against Newtown Public School The topic was ‘It would be good to be famous’.

The affirmative team, the Frasers were the away team, with James as 1st speaker, Ashton as 2nd speaker, Isaac as 3rd speaker and Charles as team advisor. They argued that fame can open doors and is the key to opportunity and influence.

The Abbotts were the home team. Hamilton was 1st speaker, Ella was 2nd speaker, 3rd speaker was David  and the team advisor was Aleksandra . As the negative, they argued that behind all the glamour, fame can take a serious toll.

Well done to both teams on their convincing wins.

A big thank you to Isaac’s grandfather, William for providing transport for the away team at short notice. Also, thanks to chairperson Anastasia and timekeepers Hayley and Layla who were also meeters and greeters.

The Stage 2 Choir sounded excellent on Monday and I'd like to thank Russell for his ear piercing scream in one of our pieces. We look forward to performing again at the fete in a few weeks. 

Yesterday, Ms Skontos and myself talked to the choir about the Primary Proms Concert. We were offered 30 positions, and unfortunately there are more students in the choir, therefore some singers missed out. A note was sent out yesterday and we ask that if you let us know ASAP if your child can attend as there are a number of students on the reserve list. 

Amanda Champion and Chris Skontos

Last Friday, our Kindy kids reached a very special milestone - 100 days of school! They celebrated in style with a dance party in the hall and crafted colourful 100-day crowns to wear proudly.

It’s amazing to see how much they have learned, grown, and achieved in such a short time - what a fantastic way to mark the occasion!

Year 5 and 6 music students are invited to take part in the Sydney Secondary College (SSC) music enrichment transition program - Primarily Fun Workshops and Performances! 

This free initiative is a great opportunity for young musicians to be mentored by SSC Year 7 and 8 Instrumental Music Program students in a fun environment where they will learn new repertoire and make new friends. 

Students who participate in the Primarily Fun Workshops will be invited to perform alongside the SSC Instrumental Music Program at The IMP Showcase (2025), which will be held at The Sydney Conservatorium of Music’s Verbrugghen Hall on Saturday, 6 September. Complimentary tickets will be distributed to all principals within our primary school network. Primary school parents and the community will also be given the opportunity to purchase tickets prior to this event.

Please make a note of the below dates

• Rehearsal: Band Workshop hosted at Balmain Campus, Wednesday 3 September 9 am-2:00 pm
• Rehearsal: String Orchestra Workshop hosted at Leichhardt Campus, Friday 5 September 9 am-2:30 pm
• Showcase: All ensembles - The Sydney Conservatorium of Music’s Verbrugghen Hall on Saturday, 6 September, 2 pm-4 pm

Attached below is an Information Pack about the Primarily Fun Workshops.

Nude Food Tuesday.

Please send your children to school on Tuesdays with food that is not wrapped or packaged in any form of plastic or foil including cling wrap, foil, polymer, aluminium etc. 

So why Nude Food?

In an effort to reduce the amount of landfill the Environmental Leaders, with the support of the Student Government, have re-ignited Nude Food each Tuesday.

The Student Government Class Reps will be checking in with their classmates at lunch eating time and the start of recess to record who has brought food that is not in packaging (something they have to throw out).

Please support your child(ren) to bring a Nude lunch and recess tomorrow. This will go a long way to help reduce the landfill waste at DPS. 

Many thanks,

Michelle O'Dowd

Assistant Principal - On behalf of the Environmental Leaders

Once again Drummoyne Public School will be celebrating children’s literature and we would love our families and friends to join in!

The big day of celebrations will take place in week 5, on Monday 18th August.

We will have two amazing authors, Serena Geddes and Belinda Murrell visiting us, an adventurous Book Week Parade and of course, lots of reading!

Author visit!

Also on the Monday, students from Kindergarten to Stage 2 will listen to a presentation from amazing author and illustrator, Serena Geddes.

Stage 3 will be treated to an exciting writing workshop from acclaimed author Belinda Murrell!

Notes regarding the author visits have been emailed out and are also in your School Bytes Parent Portal.

Students can still purchase a book by Serena Geddes or Belinda Murrell however any books ordered now will be sent after the visit and will NOT be available to be signed.

Students are invited to come dressed as something book related! It could be a favourite book character, a favourite book cover, a definition from the dictionary, their favourite world record from Guinness or in the “Book an Adventure” theme. Family and carers are invited to come and watch the parade. The parade will take place Monday 18th August at 2:30 p.m.

Education Week Book Fair

A huge thank you to everyone who visited our book fair last Monday! I hope you found the selection of books to be worthwhile. A portion of each purchase comes back to our library so that we can continue to update our collection with new books for everyone to enjoy. A special thanks to those families who donated books to the library!

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.

Book Club brochures have arrived! Look out for your copy of Book Club coming home in your child's schoolbag! It's packed with hundreds of books from just $3 to help you on your child's reading journey.

It is easy to order. The Book Club LOOP platform for parents allows you to pay by credit card. Your child’s order is delivered directly to school safe and sound and the books will be given to students in class. You can place your child’s order at scholastic.com.au/LOOP or using the LOOP app, which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.

For more information please see The Scholastic Parent's guide to Book Club

Book Club issue 5 closes on 11th August

Well done to Kayla C who competed at Ryde Eisteddfod last Sunday winning first place in the category Vocal U12 and also receiving the "people's choice award"!

She loves that Drummoyne school also does performance this year and very much looking forward to it!

Isaac N from 5/6O who recently competed in the  Multicultural Perspective Public Speaking Competition local finals and is to be congratulated for his Highly Commended award.

Jacqui Hill & Maria Arruzza

In the school holidays, I went to Thredbo for the Interschools ski competition. It was one of the best experiences of my life!

I competed in Division 4 in two events – Alpine and Ski Cross – for the first time ever. I’ve only skied for three weeks in my entire life. I was nervous at first, but mostly bursting with excitement. We had to get up really early to put on our ski gear and catch the first ski lift to the top of the mountain.

The Alpine race was first. I zoomed down the course, weaving in and out of the gates as fast as I could. Ski Cross was even more fun because I had to jump and turn over the icy bumps. It felt like a rollercoaster on snow!

Even though I didn’t win, I was really proud of myself for giving it my all. I learned that being brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared – it means trying anyway. I also made new friends and had so much fun playing in the snow after our races.

Next year, I want to go again and try to beat my best time.

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 for Extended Leave Form. You can download this from the school website and return to the school by email or in person to the front office along 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.

With the recent cold weather changes students are taking their jackets on and off throughout the day and many are ending up, unclaimed, in lost property!

Office staff have been endeavoring to return items to students where the owner's name is clearly marked but many items have no name or the name of a student who has left the school.

Please clearly mark your child's hats, jackets, lunchboxes etc and encourage them to be responsible for their belongings.

Thank you 

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. 

We encourage you to get in early and buy your ride passes, and start collecting great quality toys and books for donations. The fete is not only a fantastic day out for the whole family, but plays a crucial role in raising funds for our school. This year we have ambitions to raise even more than last year’s record of $43k — and we are well on track! All proceeds from the fete will go towards enhancing educational resources and facilities for our students.

Date: Sunday 31 August 2025

Time: 10am – 3pm

How can you help?

Use our link in the booklet to sign up to volunteer on the day. We are also still seeking a co-ordinator for our Silent Auction. If you are interested, please contact Rob (0410 441 053) for more details.

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

We hope you all enjoyed the mufti day today, and we are grateful for all the donations so far from our wonderful school community.

If you haven’t yet donated, please follow the links below. Don’t forget that the class that raises the most money will win a pizza party! 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 Day.

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!!

Early Bird Unlimited Ride Passes are NOW ON SALE! Scan the QR code below to purchase. And get in quick – early bird prices only last until 22 August. Unlimited ride passes are $45 to pre-purchase, $60 on Fete Day or 3 x rides for $25.

Fancy some tennis lessons? How about indulging in a Staycation at Crown Plaza Burwood? Or spoiling yourself with some beautiful 18ct White Gold diamond earrings?

All these great donations and more are up for grabs in our DPS 2025 Fete Silent Auction. Scan the QR code below to place your bid! We will be adding more items over the coming weeks, so please keep an eye out for new additions.

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:

Are you passionate about nutritious food and creating a welcoming atmosphere? The P&C are looking for someone enthusiastic, friendly and organized to work in our vibrant canteen! 

Our lovely Eugenie will be leaving in September, after an incredible 18 years being involved with the school! The role will start towards the end of Term 3, 2025 working in a job share with our current Canteen Assistant Tayla, 3 days a week (varied hours) during school term. 

The role will be well supported by our current canteen team - Tayla and the P&C Canteen Committee. Detailed job description is available on request.

Email your resume to president@drummoynepublicschool.com.au

Dear Parents & Carers, 

New Canteen Items

GF Banana Muffins $3.00 are now available. Made in the canteen and available on line only.

Yoghurt fruit drops: $0.50 - Granola base , vanilla yoghurt with strawberry mashed through ….then frozen. Over the counter only special. Made in the canteen.

Why not try our new healthier option for recess:  

Fresh fruit plate

• Plain: cucumber and carrot sticks with hummus.   $3.00
• Egg (1) :  cucumber and carrot sticks with hummus.  $3.50
• Falafel (2): cucumber and carrot sticks with hummus.  $4.00
• Cheesy breads are available to order online for recess  for $1.00. This is half a bread roll topped with a slice of tasty cheese and baked in the oven. Our smaller cheesy breads will still be available over the counter at recess for $0.50.

Volunteers needed for August

The times listed below are our busy times. These are the slots that we would really appreciate a helping hand so lunches can be delivered on time.Any help is so greatly appreciated!!! Many hands make light work !!

MONDAY 11th….10:30am-11:30am…..1

FRIDAY 15th……9:30am-10:30am…….1.        10:30am-11:30am….2

MONDAY 18th….10:30am-11:30am…..1

WEDNESDAY 20th…..10:30am-11:30am…..1

THURSDAY 21st…….10:30am-11:30am…….1

FRIDAY 22nd……10:30am-11:30am…..1         10:30am-11:30am….2

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

We are always grateful and appreciative for any help.

If you have ordered recess for your child, please remind them in the morning. Many times we have orders not collected. We do ask Admin to call on the P.A system at recess. If recess still not collected, perishables will be binned. Non perishables will be refunded the next day.

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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