The Punchbowl Press

Our Support and Community Centre (SaCC) remains committed to delivering consistent weekly programs catering to early learners, school-aged children, and parents. The highlight for many was participation in Book Week events.  During the term, we expanded our program offerings to include additional parenting workshops and work preparation classes. These included programs like "Step into Work," "Tuning into Teens," "3Rs: Rights, Relationship, and Responsibility," and the "Kids Create" program.

We are delighted to announce that ten dedicated parents successfully completed the intensive five-week "Step into Work" course and were recognised with participation certificates. Congratulations to them!

In addition, an informative session concerning the TAFE Certificate III in Education Support course was held on Monday, September 11th. We were thrilled to see a strong expression of interest from twenty-five parents who aspire to enrol in this course for the year 2024. Stay tuned for further updates during Term 4. We'll make sure to keep you informed once the dates are confirmed.

Looking ahead to Term 4, we're excited to announce a promising partnership with Tanya from The Junction. Tanya will be collaborating with our dedicated staff to facilitate the "Transition to Preschool" program.

We are in the process of establishing a promising partnership with ASPECT. This collaboration will bring occupational therapists, speech therapists, social workers, and educators to our playgroups, offering valuable support and resources. We will be sharing more information in Term 4, so please keep an eye out for updates.

As we approach the holiday season, we would like to wish you all a safe and enjoyable break. We eagerly anticipate your return for the start of Term 4.

Warm regards,

Asenati Mareko SaCC Facilitator

Contact: 0439487865

The power of great stories: taking us on whimsical journeys from the comfort of our school library 

I’m sure we can all agree that it has certainly been a beehive of excitement this term. With all the joy of Book Week and the successful completion of the Premier’s Reading Challenge behind us, there is hardly a better way to race towards finishing the term than with another exciting author visit. We were thrilled to have Sue Whiting, an award-winning author, visiting us. Sue engaged us, entertained us, frightened us, and made us laugh; she was AMAZING!!! We loved listening to her fanciful stories and can’t wait to read more of it. If you’d like to order your very own signed copy of Sue’s books, please click here. Orders can only be placed online, directly with the Children’s Bookshop; no orders will be accepted at school. The orders will be delivered to the school and passed on to you, the purchaser. 

An article about our Book Week celebrations was published in the Canterbury Bankstown local newspaper, The Torch. To read the article, please click here and go to page 7 of the 6th September 2023 edition. 

Over the past three terms, students have been actively working on demonstrating our school values of being Safe, Respectful, and Learners. 

In recognition of their dedication to these values, once students receive 12 merit awards, they will be awarded a Bronze School Badge. 

These Bronze School Badges, are proof of the hard work, commitment, and positive behavior that our students consistently show. We encourage students to proudly pin their bronze badges on their school uniforms or hats. 

Students who receive the Bronze School Badge will also have the exciting opportunity to participate in our end-of-year PBL Reward Day. This special event is a celebration of the positive behavior of our students and their unwavering demonstration of the school values throughout the year. It's a day filled with fun and activities to acknowledge their outstanding efforts. 

Science encourages and teaches children how to discover and wonder about everything in the world around them. 

This term the Kangaroo students continue to conduct a number of Science experiments. These have come from the children’s interests of experiments they have seen before and discussed with each other. 

The children learn through hands-on investigative play. They were given the materials required and were encouraged to model to their peers how to conduct the experiment. They then communicated their discoveries with each other. The children were encouraged to use their science enquiry skills, which involves identifying and posing questions, planning, conducting, and reflecting on their investigations. 

EYLF Learning outcome 4.2: Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, inquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating.  

When our experiments didn’t go to plan, the children were encouraged to think about why it didn’t work and given the opportunity to come up with solutions and retry the experiment. This was an opportunity to build on children’s growth mindset and their learning confidence.  

The Wombats and Koalas participated in a Science incursion, Kaleidoscope “Tiny Scientists” workshop. This introduced them to different hands on science experiences. 

Kindergarten students have been busy with their learning. This term students have been practicing writing their five-star sentences. They have enjoyed sharing their sentences with each other. Students have been reflecting on their writing by making sure it makes sense, has a capital letter, finger spaces and full stop.  

Have a look at some of the students' amazing writing!

Year 2 have been having a splashing good time! Students took part in swim school every day for two weeks at Roselands Pools. Before every lesson, the students had a safety briefing where they learnt the most important rule was to always swim with an adult. They learnt how to float on their backs and drift to the edge.  Students really enjoyed their time in the pool. The higlight of the swim school was Fun Friday! The first Friday was Titanic day. Students got to try on life jackets and other lifesaving floating devices, jump into the deep end and swim to the end of the pool. The second Friday they learnt how to perform a rescue using pool noodles and kick boards. They're ready for Summer! 

This term, Stage 2 has had the pleasure of being able to experience an official NRL skills program. This program invited players and officials of the NRL to the school to teach students basic Rugby League skills such as running, passing, kicking and, most importantly, teamwork. Students enjoyed being able to learn from the experts and show off their skills. Check out some of the photos below! 

Stage 2 has also taken a keen interest in ensuring that the school is a safe, respectful environment. This means ensuring that we look after our plants, animals and waterways by collecting and responsibly disposing of any rubbish we find. Everyone putting a little effort in can go  a long way! 

As we celebrated Book Week this term, all our students were dressed to impress wearing their favourite book character costumes. Congratulations to Abubaikr and Kosta for winning the best dressed costume within their classes. I would like to extend this to our staff in the support unit who won most creative staff costume award.

Students and staff created toolboxes filled with chocolates for Father’s Day. We would like to thank and acknowledge all the hard work our fathers do on a daily basis.

Owls and Kookaburras had another successful community access with Ms Clare and Ms Leonie from our garden program, joining us as we shopped for produce and ingredients. Students had the opportunity to learn the process when cooking chicken burgers and chips.

High school transition has started for some of our Year 6 students this term. These visits will ensure our students are set up for success as they familiarise themselves with their school setting and connect with teachers and students.  

 Mountaha’s Helping Hand is a non-profit organisation assisting local families in need. Their aim is to support families in need throughout the local communities by providing them with food and other goods that have been donated by the community. Their humble movement has sponsored Punchbowl Public School students with the intent to provide learning opportunities to Stage 3 students to learn everyday life skills through cooking and fundraising. To seek assistance by this amazing charitable group, please contact Mountaha’s Helping Hand on 0405 610 693 and/or visit their 

Punchbowl Public School's Arabic program provides students with a wide range of resources to engage them in the learning of Arabic. Community Language teachers strive to provide students with many opportunities to develop and extend their skills in reading, writing and most importantly speaking. That’s why in our classrooms our program includes the use of technology. Students have access to resources that include laptops, desktop computers, interactive books and the most popular iPads. The Community Language iPads have ELLA program apps that help students develop their social, thinking, and digital skills. These Arabic apps support the growth of students’ literacy, and numeracy as well as improving memory and concentration. Students from Kindergarten to Stage 3 are always keen to use the iPads and are observed to enjoy listening and repeating Arabic language after playing language development games within the apps.  

Mrs Awada, and Mrs Roffaell would like to wish you a safe and joyful spring holiday. 

The gardening club team was brimming with enthusiasm as they embarked on a mission to express the school and students’ gratitude to the dedicated teachers. They meticulously hand-picked a variety of luscious plants from around the school garden. These green treasures were thoughtfully arranged within an elegantly decorated and personalised jar to present them to the teachers. In this endeavour, the students not only nurtured the plants but also cultivated a profound understanding of the importance of acknowledging the hard work and unwavering support provided by their educators. This endeavour served as a beautiful reminder that small gestures of appreciation hold the power to illuminate the path of gratitude and strengthen the bonds of community.