Term 4 Week 2

Important Dates

Principal's Report

Welcome back to Term 4! We’re off to a flying start, and it’s been an exciting and productive return for everyone at Eastwood Public School. The term began with a bang as our talented band students participated in the much-anticipated band camp, and what a fantastic experience it was. The students truly impressed with their musical abilities, showcasing their hard work and dedication. We are incredibly grateful to the wonderful volunteers who helped make the camp such a success – your time and effort was appreciated, and we couldn’t have done it without you.

It's also been wonderful to see how energised and focused the students have come back after the break. They’re diving straight into their lessons, and it’s clear they’re ready to make the most of this final term of the year. Their enthusiasm for learning and their positive attitudes are exactly what we want to see as we wrap up 2024.

In addition to our academic work, rehearsals for the Excellence in the Arts performance are already well underway, and there’s a real buzz of excitement in the air. Our students are working hard to prepare for this event, and we know it’s going to be a special evening as they share their talents with the school community later this term.

With all that’s happening, it’s clear we’re in for another busy and rewarding term. We’re looking forward to all the events, activities, and learning ahead as we bring the school year to a strong close!

World Teacher’s Day

Today, Eastwood Public School proudly celebrated World Teachers' Day, a special occasion dedicated to recognising the invaluable contributions of our educators. Our teachers work tirelessly, often going above and beyond outside of school hours to ensure every student receives the support and guidance they need. Their dedication creates a nurturing and inspiring learning environment, shaping the minds and hearts of our students.

A big thank you to our P&C for paying for a scrumptious lunch in appreciation of our staff. It was a fantastic opportunity for teachers to relax and enjoy a meal together, sharing stories and laughter. We are also grateful for the thoughtful tokens each teacher received; these small gestures mean a lot and remind us that even in the busy world of education, someone is looking out for us.

As we like to joke, teaching is the only profession where you can simultaneously feel exhausted and energized—like a caffeinated hamster on a wheel! So, let’s continue to celebrate our teachers, not just today but every day, as they truly are the backbone of our education system. Thank you once again to the P&C for their kindness and support, which made this day all the more special for everyone at Eastwood Public School!

New Build

It’s finally happening! After a long and patient four-year wait, Eastwood Public School’s brand-new building is officially open.

On Monday, we made the exciting move into ‘E Block’ – our new home for Years 5 and 6. The energy and enthusiasm were palpable as students stepped into their fresh learning spaces for the first time. With its flexible learning spaces, modern facilities, and adjacent ‘B Block Playground,’ this building is a significant step forward for our school. It’s a joy to see the students settling in, exploring the area, and making the space their own.

This move marks an exciting new chapter for Eastwood Public School. After years of anticipation, we’re finally here, and it’s everything we hoped for and more. I’m sure your children will have plenty of stories to share as they continue to discover all the new features and enjoy learning in this fantastic environment.

A quick reminder: NO PARENTS are to enter the building. When school is dismissed, please wait for your children on 'B Block Playground.'

We’re planning an official opening event early next year (if schedules allow), where we’ll invite the community for a proper tour and celebration. It will be a wonderful chance to come together and celebrate this major milestone in our school's journey.

New Bell Times

Next week (Week 3), get ready for something exciting: the return of the single bell time. For the first time in four years, all students will enjoy recess and lunch together. It’s going to feel like a real reunion as the whole school comes together to share these moments again. The excitement among students and staff is building as we anticipate this return to a unified schedule.

Here are the bell times for next week (Week 3):

• 8:40 am – School gates open (no student should be left unattended before this time)
• 9:10 am – Lessons begin
• 11:10am - 11.40am – Recess
• 1:10 pm - 1.50pm – Lunch
• 3:10 pm – Dismissal

We’re thrilled to see this new chapter of Eastwood Public School unfold, with both the new building and the return to our shared bell schedule bringing a fresh sense of community and excitement to our school. It truly feels like a new beginning for everyone.

Excellence in the Arts Concert

We are looking forward to Eastwood Public School’s first-ever Excellence in the Arts performance on Wednesday, November 20, at The Concourse in Chatswood. This exciting event marks a special moment for our school, and our students have been hard at work rehearsing in preparation for what promises to be a wonderful showcase.

The evening will feature a variety of performances, including ballet dancers, our talented strings orchestra, the school band, and class musical presentations. These performances will highlight the creativity and dedication of our students, and we are looking forward to sharing their achievements with the community.

It will be a lovely occasion, and we are proud of the effort our students have put into making it a success. We extend our sincere thanks to the community for your ongoing support of the arts at Eastwood Public School, and we look forward to seeing you there to celebrate this special event.

Movement in Classroom Locations

With the completion of our new building, some classes have been relocated to different areas across the school. These adjustments have been thoughtfully planned to ensure that all students benefit from our modern facilities and enhanced learning spaces. We understand that changes in location may require a brief adjustment period, but we are confident that these new arrangements will provide an enriched educational experience.

Payments

Here at Eastwood Public School, we pride ourselves on providing as many opportunities as we can to enhance our educational programs. These excursions, incursions, activities and extra-curricular activities are planned to complement our teaching and learning programs. These programs come at a cost which we have to pass onto the families. From time to time, you will receive a notification from Schoolbytes regarding one of the programs the school has organised. We ask, when you give permission for your child to attend a planned activity that you also provide payment. If you are experiencing any financial difficulty, please contact the school and we will assist wherever we can. All matters will be held in the strictest confidence.

Extended Leave - Travel or Holiday

I would like to remind families of the Student Attendance in Government School Procedures that need to be followed by the Principal and schools in regard to extended leave for travel or holiday purpose. From the beginning of 2015, family holidays and travel are no longer considered under the Exemption from School Procedures. Travel outside of vacation period is now counted as an absence. Parents requesting leave during the school term will need to complete the Extended Leave Application and provide documentation, such as travel itinerary or e-ticket, and ensure this is attached to the Application.

As part of the implementation of the National Standards, holidays taken by students outside of school vacation periods will now be included as absences. A Certificate of Exemption can no longer be granted for this purpose.

Families are encouraged to holiday or travel during school vacations. If travel outside of school vacation periods is necessary, the following considerations apply:

If the principal accepts the reason for the absence, the absence will be marked as “L” and a Certificate of Extended Leave – Holiday issued.

If the principal does not believe the absence is in the student’s best interests and does not accept the reason, the absence will be recorded as “A”. A Certificate of Extended Leave – Holiday will not be issued.

If the period of absence is in excess of 50 days, the student may be eligible to enrol in Distance Education See Distance Education - Revised Enrolment Procedures 2014. For that period the student’s enrolment transfers.

Next Year - 2025

The school is carefully planning for next year, so it in important that we have all the facts. 

If you intend to leave the school before the start of next year (other than Year 6 students going to high school), or if your child/ren will be returning late in 2025, please fill in the attached form so we can include any changes in the organisation for 2025. 

Facebook

We have so much to be proud of and celebrate at Eastwood Public School, and we love showcasing the incredible talents of our students. Our Eastwood Public School Facebook page is dedicated to celebrating these achievements. Here, you’ll find photos and descriptions highlighting various aspects of our school life, from classroom projects and sporting events to special occasions.

This page is a celebration site where we can all share in the successes and milestones of our students. Please note that it’s not intended for day-to-day communications or to disseminate notes and updates; its primary purpose is to highlight the wonderful achievements of our students.

Thank you for being a part of our vibrant community and for joining us in celebrating the amazing things happening at our school.

Please have a look.

Thank you

Michael Kammerer

Principal

Deputy Principal's

Kinder Matters - KF

Term 4 is already off to a fantastic start in KF. The class have been showing an outstanding effort towards improving their reading and writing skills.

Each day, KF practice constructing sentences and are becoming experts at remembering their capital letters, finger spaces and full stops. Check out some pictures of their amazing progress!

Stage 1 Happenings - 2H

Over the past two weeks, 2H have been investigating 3D objects. We started by identifying different objects and pulling them apart into their nets. When they were pulled apart, we recognised lots of familiar 2D shapes. Then in small groups, we worked together to stack concrete materials in order to find their volume. We worked out that the most efficient way to measure volume is by looking at the width, length and height of the objects. It was wonderful to see the way the students used their critical thinking skills and making links between lots of different areas of mathematics. What clever mathematicians!

Stage 2 Happenings - 3B

3B has enjoyed participating in drama lessons this semester. This week, the students have worked collaboratively to rehearse and perform a Readers Theatre in small groups.

Stage 3 Happenings - 5B

At the end of term 3, Year 5 finalised their task to analyse the book we’ve been reading called ‘August & Jones’ about a girl ‘Jones’ who lost an eye to cancer as a child and loses a significant amount of sight in her remaining eye by the end of the book due to the cancer returning.

In pairs and threes, students were tasked with analysing Jones in the story, researching a Paralympian and creating a fictional interview between Jones (and her best friend August) and the Paralympian base on the research they were able to gather.

5B students did many rounds of drafting and peer-feedback to enhance their final interviews, with some recording to camera and others recording as a podcast interview.

Here are some of the interviews 5B performed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc3Kb5Jhv-k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmodU027rWA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4GGiS8n7jQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHrJs8XJRPA

Curriculum Reform

Cultural Language Assembly

We are excited to invite our Eastwood Public School community to the upcoming Cultural Language Assembly on Wednesday, 30 October at 11:45 am in the school hall. This special event will showcase performances from our talented Mandarin and Korean language teachers and classes, featuring music and dance that highlight the rich cultural traditions of both languages.

To celebrate, all students are invited to come dressed in mufti – either traditional cultural clothing or bright and colourful outfits in red, yellow, green, or blue.

Parents are warmly welcomed to join us for this vibrant celebration of cultural diversity at Eastwood Public School! We look forward to seeing you there!

Sport

Eastwood Public School is very proud of Caleb in Year 6 who competed this week in the Senior Boys Shot Put at the NSWPSSA State Championships. This completes an impressive double for Caleb who also competed in the State basketball Championships earlier this year for Sydney North region. We wish him well in his future sporting endeavours at high school next year. Congratulations and well done all round, Caleb.

Excellence in the Arts - Whole School Concert 20 November 2024

We are thrilled to announce our upcoming "Excellence in the Arts" whole-school concert, which will take place on 20 November at the Chatswood Concourse. This special event is an opportunity for our students to showcase the skills and talents they have been developing throughout the year in their music lessons.

Every student has been hard at work practising and perfecting their performance piece, and they are eager to share their progress with you. In addition to class performances, the concert will feature special presentations from our ballet group and cultural language groups, highlighting the diversity and creativity within our school community.

We look forward to celebrating the arts together and seeing our students shine on stage. Be sure to mark your calendars for this exciting event!

Year 2 Public Speaking Group

This term, Year 2 Public Speaking Group commenced. A group of eager students are giving up their Wednesday lunchtime in order to develop their public speaking skills. 

There are many reasons to learn public speaking. These include building confidence and self-esteem, helping with communication and social skills, teaching you how to think on your feet and developing valuable life skills

We have started by playing some beginners debating games such ‘If I Ruled The World’ (a game where students make a statement about what they would do if they ruled the world and are then quizzed about it and rebutted by other students). We will soon start working on short speeches that will be delivered to the group initially and possibly all of Year 2 later in the term.

We are having lots of fun in our meetings and it’s wonderful to see such keen beans each week!

Music

Merit Awards

School Student Travel

Below is some useful information to assist with student travel enquiries.

You will also receive a separate email shortly with school travel information for parents/carers and students that can be shared in your school newsletter.

Applications are now open for 2025 School Student Transport Scheme (SSTS) travel 

Students in the Opal network applying for an Opal card (including a Term Bus Pass) for the first time will receive their School Opal card at their nominated postal address from mid-January 2025.

Students progressing from year 2 to year 3 and from year 6 to year 7 do not need to re-apply if they:

• are continuing at the same school, and
• are residing at the same address, and
• have not been sent an expiry notification from Transport for NSW.

Where a student meets the new distance eligibility, the system will automatically update their entitlement. If they do not meet the new eligibility, they will receive an expiry notification.

Students who change address, school, campus location, have repeated a year or received an expiry notification for their school travel entitlement need to renew or update their details before the end of term 4. This will ensure that schools can endorse applications, so their travel entitlement can remain valid for the start of the 2025 school year.

Students who have an entitlement approved under a medical condition that is due to expire will receive a notification advising them to re-apply.

Term Bus Pass holders will receive a notification to re-apply.

Rural and Regional Students

Students living in rural and regional (R&R) areas should receive their travel pass at the start of the new school year from their nominated transport operator. It may come via the school or be sent directly to them at home. Note: some R&R operators do not issue travel passes. Students/parents should confirm with their nominated operator if they do not receive a pass.

Access to the TfNSW School Portal

A reminder that multi factor authentication (MFA) is now applied to all access to the TfNSW School Portal. MFA requires user to register with their individual work email address only. Shared email (i.e, school’s email) are no longer accepted. 

If there are more than one administrators requiring access, please apply separately.  If you need help, please refer to the Registration Guide for School Administrators.

 Senior Secondary Student Concession Entitlement Card

Delivery of the Senior Secondary Student Concession Entitlement Card will be paused from Friday, 13 December 2024 and will recommence from 31 January 2025 (inclusive).

For delivery of cards to be received by or prior to 13 December 2024, application will need to be submitted by 6 December 2024 as cut off date.

School travel brochures and posters

Updated school travel brochures are now available on our website at transportnsw.info/resources-school-staff under ‘Downloadable resources’.

Schools within the Opal network may also wish to make use of the School Opal card posters to remind students of the need to tap on and tap off.

Information for parents/students will be provided in a separate email should you wish to include it in your school newsletter.

School travel FAQs for School Administrators

What should I do if I find an error on a student’s travel application?
You can amend the first name, date of birth or grade for a student by clicking in the relevant row on the portal. Please ensure you have confirmed the information before making any changes. Refer to page 16 of the School Portal User Guide for further instructions. The user guide is accessible within the School Portal by clicking the arrow next to your username.

What should I do if I cannot confirm a student’s details?
Please do not endorse the application. By selecting ‘No’ the application will be rejected and the applicant (parents) will be informed. They will then need to go online to update their information.

What happens if I have endorsed an application by mistake?
Unfortunately, once an application has been endorsed, the information can no longer be retrieved. Please advise the applicant (parents) to go online and re-apply.

What should I do if a student’s details are correct, but the student is not eligible on distance?
Please endorse the application to confirm the address and details provided are correct. Our system will then calculate the distance and determine their eligibility and advise parents by email.

I am receiving daily notifications informing me that there are outstanding applications to endorse. However, when I log in to the School Portal, I cannot see any outstanding SSTS applications to endorse?
These notifications are automated and will be sent when there are any pending applications to attend to (including School Drive Subsidy applications awaiting attendance days’ confirmation and open Concession Entitlement Card applications). Please navigate to the “Go To” menu (in the top right-hand corner) and select each option to view any outstanding applications to be finalised.

How do I request for access to the TfNSW School Portal or report of administrator who have left our school.
To request for access, please go to the and enter required information. An enquiry can be raised for staff that have left your school by providing their full name, email and username so that TfNSW can remove the user from accessing the School Portal.

I am an administrator at multiple schools but can only view pending endorsements for one school. Can I request access to the other schools?
To add access to your existing account: go to the School Portal, log in using your Transport for NSW School Portal credentials, select ‘request more access’ and complete and submit the form.

I recently got married and my email address has changed. How do I update my School Portal details?
Please submit a request with your new details and one of our team members will update your School Portal details. Please note that we are unable to amend an existing School Portal username. You will need to create a new School Portal account if you wish to change your username.

My school has relocated recently. How do I update the address details in your system?
Please submit an enquiry and one of our team members will be in touch to assist.

Can our students use their School Opal Cards on school excursions or for school sporting events?
School Opal cards are for travel to and from school, on school days only between the hours of 6.30am and 7pm. School Opal cards do not include travel to school excursions, after-school care, sport and other activities away from school. Child/Youth Opal cards are for personal travel including school excursions using public transport. Schools are encouraged to ask parents to provide their child with a Child/Youth Opal card prior to school excursions. It is important to ensure there are sufficient funds on each card to cover the excursion travel expenses.

Concession Entitlement Card FAQs for School Administrators

How do schools order Concession Entitlement Cards?
Concession entitlement cards are ordered via the School Portal by uploading a template in CSV format containing student details. Schools will need to enter or copy and paste student details into the template as part of the ordering process.

When will I receive our cards?
Concession Entitlement Cards will be delivered to schools within two weeks of lodging a successful application.

How can I confirm if an application has been submitted successfully?
To confirm if an application has been submitted successfully, log into your School Portal account, navigate to ‘Concession Entitlement Card’, then go to the ‘Actioned Application’ tab (top left of the screen) and you will be able to see the status of your application.

What happens if I made a mistake with an application?
The recent portal changes allow school administrators to delete submitted applications and start again with a new application.

I have tried to submit an application but I’m receiving errors. What can I do?
Check that the data you have entered on the spreadsheet is formatted as follows:

• Date of birth should be written as dd/mm/yyyy.
• Students grade column should be in numerical form, e.g., 10, 11 or 12.

What should I do if a student has left our school?
Concession Entitlement Cards are issued with student’s details and the school they attend. If the student leaves the school, the card should be returned to the school and destroyed. Cards do not need to be returned to Transport for NSW.

I submitted an application for Senior Secondary Student cards but received Proof of Age cards. Why did this happen?
The Senior Secondary Students (SSS) Concession Entitlement cards are issued to students turning 16 within the next 6 months of their birthday or to students who have turned 16. We require the date of birth of the student to be entered on the spreadsheet so our system can determine the type of card to be issued. Students who are under the age of 15 years and 6 months will receive Proof of Age cards which are set to expire on their 16th birthday.

How can I confirm the validity of Senior Secondary Student Concession Entitlement cards for students in year 10, 11 and 12?
Senior Secondary Students (SSS) Concession Entitlement cards are configured as follows:

• Year 10 students – cards are issued for one year and set to expire on 31 March the following year.
• Year 11 students – cards are issued for two years set to expire on 31 March after they have completed their year 12.  For example, a year 11 student in 2025 will be issued with a card set to expire on 31 March 2027.
• Year 12 students – cards are issued for one year and set to expire on 31 March the following year.

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