News

Get #FirstDay2021 ready for the new school year

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 16:25:11 AEDT

Be prepared for the new school year with our back to school tips and tools.

The start of a new school year can be both an exciting and demanding time for parents and students alike.

Our parents and carers Back to school hub can help you prepare for the year ahead with practical articles, tools, activities, calendars and checklists so you and your child can be ready from day1, term 1.

Find out about our COVID-safe school guidelines, download fun activity sheets to complete with your child, read about our health and wellbeing resources and more.

If your child is starting kindergarten, check out our starting school guide for everything you need to know from enrolment to what to expect throughout your child’s first school year.

Video – #FirstDay2021

Duration – 0:49

We’re participating in Share Our Space over Summer 2020/21

Tue, 15 Dec 2020 11:33:15 AEDT

Share Our Space is on again this summer, opening our school grounds for the entire community to enjoy.

Schools Spectacular remixed for television

Fri, 04 Dec 2020 16:31:35 AEDT

Relive memorable acts and performances from the past four years in a special televised Schools Spectacular event.

The annual Schools Spectacular, cancelled this year due to the pandemic, will entertain audiences with a special television broadcast next week.

The Schools Spectacular 2020 Remixed will air on Channel 7 on Saturday 5 December at 7pm.

The two-hour broadcast will feature memorable acts and spectacular moments from the past four years.

The show will also feature a surprise digital performance from this year’s graduating Class of 2020 with the Year 12 students sharing their passion and talents while celebrating with NSW Education for one last time.

This technical feat aims to inspire audiences as more than 70 dancers, singers, instrumental musicians and signing performers from across NSW assemble virtually for the performance.

Mark Scott, Secretary of the NSW Department of Education, said this event is an opportunity to revisit memories of past performances and celebrate the talents of students in NSW public schools.

“Schools Spectacular 2020 Remixed will be an extraordinary broadcast and a unique opportunity to look back at some of the many achievements of our talented performing arts students and their hard working and committed teachers from the past four years,” he said.

Audiences can also share their own memories and see highlights from past Schools Spectacular performances on the Schools Spectacular Facebook page.

Schools Spectacular Remixed 2020 is produced by the NSW Department of Education and proudly supported by Presenting Partners, Telstra and the NSW Teachers Federation, and Segment Partner, RØDE Microphones.

Celebrate Schools Spectacular 2020 Remixed on Saturday 5 December at 7pm on Channel 7.

Supporting effective learning at school and home with the 'What Works Best: 2020 update'

Thu, 03 Dec 2020 11:36:41 AEDT

The ‘What Works Best: 2020 update’ outlines the eight most effective teaching practices and how these can be supported at home.

Parents and carers can support effective student learning at home through the ‘What Works Best’ resource, now updated for 2020.

The What Works Best resource has been very successful helping teachers bring the best teaching practices into their classrooms. The ‘What Works Best: 2020 update’ outlines eight evidence-based teaching practices that teachers can use in their classrooms to improve student learning.

You can find out more about these practices, how it’s used in schools, our handy guide for parents and carers and conversation tips to help continue student learning at home when you visit the ‘What Works Best’ parents and carers hub.

2021 term dates now available

Fri, 30 Oct 2020 16:46:02 AEDT

Most students start Friday 29 January (or Friday 5 February for Western division) in Term 1 2020.

To support a strong start to 2021, school staff will now have two school development days at the beginning of Term 1.

For 2021, students will return to school on Friday 29 January (or Friday 5 February for Western division), unless otherwise notified by the school. School term dates for 2021 are now available.

Western division schools, also known as ‘late start’ schools, are located in the far western region of NSW. Check if your school is a Late start school.

#MathsTrainsBrains for the future

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 18:41:03 AEDT

Parents and carers can now explore the importance of mathematical skills with the new Everyday Maths experience, featuring activities, resources and explainers targeted to year groups.

The digital launch is part of the NSW Mathematics Strategy 2025, which aims to strengthen mathematics teaching in NSW public schools, promote understanding of the usefulness of mathematics and build positive perceptions of mathematics.

Tune into Education LIVE to find out how high profile Australians like media guru Kellie Hush, former Olympian Steve Solomon and former Masterchef Alice Zaslavsky use maths in their everyday lives.

Video – #MathsTrainsBrains

Duration – 1:00

Charlestown South PS Wins Prestigious Award

Wed, 09 Sep 2020 10:24:42 AEST

Today we can announce Charlestown South PS has been awarded the prestigious 2020 Minister's and Secretary's Award for Excellence! Congratulations to our whole school community, as we know it takes a village to raise a child, and our village has been recognsed for outstanding achivement and school excellence.

Have your before and after school care needs changed?

Fri, 31 Jul 2020 10:53:17 AEST

The Department of Education wants to hear from all NSW parents about their specific care needs in light of COVID-19.

The NSW Government is committed to making before and after school care available to families at all NSW public primary schools, but we understand your work arrangements and care needs may have changed due to COVID-19.

To better understand how parents can best be supported to access the before and after school care, the department and Service NSW have developed a short survey.

Have your say:

visit service.nsw.gov.au/basc
email BASCreform@det.nsw.edu.au.

Updates to COVID-19 restrictions affecting NSW schools

Tue, 21 Jul 2020 23:05:30 AEST

Latest COVID-19 case locations in NSW

NSW Health has a website to inform you of the actions you should take if you have been in a location where there have been confirmed cases of COVID-19 within NSW. Monitor the site and follow the relevant health advice if you have been at any of the locations at the specified dates and times.

Students and staff who have travelled through or visited Victoria

All students and staff who have visited Victoria must have a permit to enter NSW and are required to self-isolate for 14 days.

Except for students and staff who reside in a border town, all students and staff who have visited Victoria in the 14 days before the commencement of school should not attend school until they complete the 14 days self-isolation period since they left Victoria.

Students and staff who are unable to return to school due to these self-isolation requirements will be supported to learn and work remotely during the self-isolation period via the online learning hubs until they return to on-campus learning and teaching.

NSW Health has requested anyone who has been in Victoria and is unwell or has flu-like symptoms arrange to be tested through their local medical practitioner or one of the COVID-19 clinics.

Refer to current advice for people who have recently visited Victoria.

Information for students and staff on new NSW-Victoria border restrictions

The NSW Government has announced further tightening to the restrictions for people travelling across the NSW-Victorian border.

From midnight Tuesday 21 July a border zone, defined along the Murray River, will be established.

Anyone travelling from Victoria to NSW must apply for a new permit through Service NSW.

Victorian residents who have been in one of the restricted areas in Victoria in the last 14 days must not enter NSW.

Attending schools along the border

Current permits will expire at midnight, Tuesday 21 July. We strongly encourage all parents and staff to check they have a permit and if not, apply for one through Service NSW.

Students and staff who reside in Victoria will need to be eligible for a border permit to attend school in person.

Under the new public health order, the border zone has been reduced significantly.

Not all students and staff may be eligible for a border permit under the public health order. If you are not eligible for a border permit you will not be able to cross the border. Students and staff will be supported through remote learning and working via the online learning hubs until they return to school.

Further information on the new border zone is available from Service NSW.

Border permits can be rescinded at any time if a cluster outbreak in your community occurs. We encourage parents to monitor local circumstances regularly as things may change in the coming days or weeks.

Transport to and from school will run as scheduled. For travel advice to and from school refer to Transport for NSW.

New restrictions affecting boarding schools

Any student returning from Victoria to reside at a boarding school in NSW must now self-isolate for 14 days in a NSW location separate to the boarding school. They must also obtain a negative test swab from day 10 of their isolation before entering school and have written confirmation of the test result and the period spent isolating.

Those who are unable to return to boarding while they are completing the self-isolation period will be supported through remote learning and working via the online learning hubs until they return to school.

More information

Returning to school in Term 3

Fri, 17 Jul 2020 11:49:25 AEST

Our school will be open to welcome students back to onsite learning from the beginning of Term 3 – Tuesday 21 July 2020.

As you would be aware the border between NSW and Victoria closed as of 12:01am 8 July 2020.

All staff and students returning from Victoria after this time must have a permit to enter NSW and are required to self-isolate for a period of 14 days.

All students who have been in Victoria in the last 14 days before the commencement of school must not attend school until they complete the 14 days self-isolation period since they left Victoria.

NSW Health has requested anyone who has been in Victoria and is unwell or has flu-like symptoms arrange to be tested through their local medical practitioner or one of the COVID-19 clinics.

Refer to current advice for people who have recently visited Victoria.

Students who are unable to return to school due to the border closures or self-isolation will be supported to learn remotely.

We would like to remind our community the most important action you can take is to practise good hand hygiene and physical distancing. Our school will be vigilant in implementing these requirements to minimise the risk at school.

Curriculum reform focuses on deep learning

Thu, 25 Jun 2020 18:57:38 AEST

Changes to the NSW school curriculum will be the biggest education shake-up in 30 years.

The reforms, announced by the NSW Government on Tuesday, will start rolling out in 2021. All Kindergarten to Year 12 students will learn the new curriculum by 2024.

The changes are in response to the NSW Curriculum Review by Professor Geoff Masters and will ensure every student is prepared and ready for their future.

The reforms are based on:

decluttering the curriculum by reducing unnecessary subjects
a ‘back to basics approach’ that will see a renewed focus on the core subjects of English, maths and science
Year 11 and Year 12 prequalification for university and TAFE courses.

Education Week to celebrate learning together

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 11:19:46 AEST

Education Week 2020 will be held from Monday 3 August to Friday 7 August.

Education Week is our annual week of celebration to highlight the achievements of our students and staff and the role of public schools as the cornerstone of their communities.

This year’s theme is ‘Learning together’ and it reflects the incredible months of 2020 where NSW public school students have continued to learn and achieve, despite natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our schools have experienced significant disruption but our staff – in partnership with parents and carers – have worked tirelessly to ensure that high quality teaching and learning has continued for all students.

Department of Education Secretary Mark Scott said the best learning takes place when there is a partnership of students, teachers, parents, carers and the community.

“Our schools and families benefit from strong, respectful relationships where responsibility for student learning is shared,” Mr Scott said.

“As our lives slowly return to normal, it’s time for us to reflect on the achievements and resilience of our entire school community. We look forward to celebrating Education Week with all of you in August.”

Statewide events for Education Week include:

a live stream launch on Monday, 3 August
activities for National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day on Tuesday, 4 August
a live streamed student film festival on Wednesday, 5 August.

Schools are invited to share photos, videos and stories of local celebrations on social media using the hashtag #EdWeek20 or send an email to educationweek@det.nsw.edu.au.

Entertainment Memberships for 2020/21 Available Now

Tue, 09 Jun 2020 09:43:31 AEST

NSW students return to the classroom full-time

Tue, 19 May 2020 09:53:07 AEST

Students across NSW will be back in the classroom full-time from next Monday, 25 May.

The success of the phased return to face to face teaching has demonstrated the education system and community are ready for school to come back full-time.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell thanked school communities and parents for their patience during this difficult time.

Ms Berejiklian said a return to full-time face to face teaching and learning is crucial for the education progress of every child in NSW from Kindergarten to Year 12.

“Since starting a managed return to the classroom, we have seen a strong degree of confidence from our school communities in managing COVID-19 and a clear desire for all students to be back at school,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“We expect schools to stick with the health advice – increased cleaning, access to hygiene supplies and compliance with hygience practices – and look forward to seeing all students back on campus five days a week.

“The health advice is very clear; a return to full-time face to face teaching is safe.”

Over the last two weeks schools have been working hard to support students practise good hygiene and implement new routines at school, which has been successful giving the community confidence that full-time face to face teaching can resume.

Ms Mitchell said she was eager to see students back in the classroom full-time.

“Our principals, teachers, support staff, parents and carers have gone above and beyond to continue the education of our students while we respond to this pandemic,” Ms Mitchell said.

“My priority is the education of our children. We know that parents across NSW share our desire for students to be back in school, and that is our expectation.

“Schools will need to maintain the measures and precautions they have put in place for the foreseeable future, including no assemblies and excursions.

“Teachers will be focused on identifying where their students are at in their education and we will be supporting them to recognise and assist those students who need additional help.”

Read the department's latest advice for families.

A managed return to school Phase 1

Wed, 13 May 2020 09:58:07 AEST

Phase 1 details

Keeping our school COVIDSafe

Tue, 12 May 2020 15:30:42 AEST

Help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our community by downloading the app.

Social distancing and washing your hands remain the best ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The COVIDSafe app, developed by the Australian Government, helps to reduce the spread by allowing health experts to find close contacts faster and more accurately.

The app does not track your location. It uses your phone's Bluetooth to record other users you come into contact with, so if they test positive, NSW Health can let you know.

Find out more:

Students begin return to classrooms

Fri, 08 May 2020 18:15:32 AEST

From Monday 11 May (Week 3) students will begin a phased return to school.

The phased return will maintain distancing in the classroom while supporting students' education and wellbeing.

Most students will continue learning from home and will only attend school 1 day each week.

Our school will continue to provide detailed information about the return to the classroom throughout the rest of Term 2.

Measures to keep schools clean and safe for all students and staff include:

25% more cleaning time focused on high-touch areas
priority deliveries of hygiene supplies including soap and hand sanitiser
local school changes to pick up, drop off, lunch and recess times and processes.

Religion and ethics lessons continue at home

Tue, 05 May 2020 11:42:16 AEST

Students learning from home can continue to access Special religious education (SRE) and Special education in ethics (SEE) classes.

Face-to-face SRE, SEE and Voluntary student activities of a religious nature in schools (VSA) will not be available until schools resume normal operations.

In response to requests from school communities, SRE and SEE approved providers are delivering their authorised curriculum with modifications to allow students to learn from home from the start of Term 2.

The lesson content and the mode of delivery has been reviewed and modified for easy access by students. The approved providers recognise that learning at home will not replicate face-to-face learning at school.

The learning from home SRE and SEE programs are now available:

A managed return to school - Phase 0

Wed, 29 Apr 2020 14:38:13 AEST

Phase 0

Tune in at 8.45am to NSW Education LIVE

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 19:41:06 AEST

To welcome our students back for Term 2, join us at 8.45am from Wednesday 29 April to Friday 8 May for a special live stream.

Musician Guy Sebastian, TV foodies Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and Manu Feildel, Gardening Australia host Costa Georgiadis, Sydney Swans player Ollie Florent, and our very own Eddie Woo, have donated their time to kick start learning from home each morning from 29 April - 8 May.

Tune in each day at 8:45am. We can't wait to see you!

Term Two Update from Mr Johnson

Wed, 22 Apr 2020 12:02:20 AEST

Start Term 2 Update

Good morning CSPS community. No doubt most would have read or heard the Premier’s announcement yesterday in regard to schooling in Term 2. The first two days are Staff Development Days to allow planning for what lies ahead. From Wednesday of next week, we remain on high alert with social distancing and isolation wherever possible, with online learning from home continuing as in the latter stages of Term 1. Just as before, the school will be open with minimal staff onsite for supervision of students whose parents have no alternative supervision available to them. However, we do recommend all follow Government Health guidelines and advice during this COVID19 period by keeping children at home if possible.

On May 11, Monday of Week 3, as per the Premier’s announcement, students will return to school 1 day per week for a face to face teaching experience. For the 4 other school days, they will continue to engage with their learning at home. Schools will be allowed to have a maximum of 25% of the student population onsite on any given day and class groups will need to adhere closely to social distancing. This means that only 10 to 12 students could be in a class at any given time which is also dependent upon classroom sizes and spaces.

By the time Week 3 arrives, the Health Department believes schools will be a ‘safe’ place as long as the social distancing and extra hygiene and cleanliness measures are adhered to. Schools are receiving daily extra cleaning of high use areas and will be sent extra soap, hand sanitisers as well as thermometers over the next 2 weeks. We ask all to continue to abide by Health Department recommendations and to ‘kiss and drop’ kids at school when they recommence for their 1 day onsite. The less adults onsite the safer our school environment will be. Please also maintain social distancing at pick up time. Where possible, please organise to meet older children at the car or at a certain spot rather than the usual ‘under the COLA home time’ pick up location.

At CSPS we have already developed a plan as to how this ‘new world order’ from Week 3 will look. I believe it to be one that will allow each student a quality 1 day per week face to face school experience with their ‘usual’ teacher whilst we await the next phase which may well be a transition to 2 days per week. Given that only 25% of students can be onsite an any given day, the success of our already developed plan very much relies upon having minimal attendance of students of parents that have no alternative supervision. In the last few weeks of Term 1, this percentage averaged was around only 3% to 4%. If this remained at this level, I believe our plan will be highly successful.

Please note that if your child is any way unwell, you must keep them at home regardless of whether it is their scheduled day at school or not. This is particularly crucial as we are now approaching the winter months and the flu season.

You may have read that it has been suggested to schools to try and have siblings attend on the same 1 day per week if possible. Please know that this won’t be possible in all cases and we ask for your understanding and patience in regard to this part of our organisation. We

will try but cannot promise. Our key priority is your child’s learning and ensured academic progress and that will be at the forefront of our planning. If we simply bring all siblings in on the same day for everyone, there is no way that each child will be able to have a face to face learning day with their ‘normal’ classroom teacher. Again, we appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate unchartered waters.

We do hope all are well and enjoying the break and ‘down’ time as you isolate together as a family. Know that we are all missing your kids and are looking forward to the day when normality returns for us all. Please take note of recent posts outlining assistance for families that are doing it tough at this time. There are a number of agencies that are offering assistance and I would encourage those in need to take up these offers. If you are unsure of how to approach this, please email me at colin.johnson@det.nsw.edu.au and I will assist you in making contact.

You will receive a timetable soon which will outline which day of the week your child will be scheduled to attend school from Week 3 onwards. In the meantime, here is a summary of the plans for Term 2.

The plan for Term 2

Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th April are Staff Development Days.
First day of term for all students is Wednesday 29th April.
Students will learn from home during the first two weeks of term.
From May 11th, students will attend school one (the same) day each week.
Days at school may increase progressively throughout the term.
School remains open for students who can not be supervised at home.

NSW students to transition back to the classroom in Term 2

Tue, 21 Apr 2020 12:45:16 AEST

NSW school students will gradually transition back to the classroom during Term 2 as the Government continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning Sarah Mitchell outlined the plan for students attending NSW public schools to progressively return to face-to-face learning in week three of Term 2.

Ms Berejiklian said health advice continues to be that schools remain open, and parents, teachers and students can be confident that school is safe place.

“We are grateful to all families who kept their children home from school at the end of Term 1 and to teachers who worked tirelessly to deliver education online,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“This allowed us critical time to prepare our schools to develop better online learning options and for considering additional hygiene measures to allow schools to return.

“We know that nothing is more important than a child’s education, and we must begin to return our students to their classrooms in a considered way.

“Under these changes, from week three of Term 2, every student will be attending school for one day a week.

“We will look to increase the number of days students are at school in a staged way and hope to have all children back at school full-time by Term 3.

“I’d like to thank the Catholic and Independent schools for working with the NSW Government at this time, as well as staff, including teachers, principals and cleaners, for working so hard to prepare for a resumption of school.

“I’d also like to thank parents for what has been a tough month, often juggling working from home and caring for children. We hope the partial resumption of on campus learning will provide some much needed relief to those families.”

During the first stage of on-campus learning, parents will be encouraged to keep their children home except on their allocated day of face-to-face learning. Initially, about a quarter of a school’s students are expected to be on site at any one time. The specific days students will be required to attend school each week will vary from school to school and will be clearly communicated to parents.

Classes will be split across schools, allowing schools to appropriately social distance students and teachers.

As always, schools will remain open for students who need them and no child will be turned away from school.

Ms Mitchell said careful consideration had been given to support the school community, providing clarity and certainty on the path forward.

“This plan provides a clear path that balances community concerns with a need to deliver continuity of quality education,” Ms Mitchell said.

“Hand sanitiser will be available in all classrooms and provisions are in place for at-risk teachers to work from home. Drop off, pick up, recess and lunchtimes will also be staggered to ensure social distancing.”

In addition to the staged return to school, the NSW Government has committed up to $95.7 million to help keep casual and temporary school staff engaged in active work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our casual and temporary teachers and other non-teaching staff across NSW schools are critical to our education system, and will help ensure the educational outcomes for our students during this staged return,” Ms Mitchell said.

A cross-sector working group of teachers will also be established to report back to the Minister on recent innovations and educational developments assembled during the COVID-19 period that are suitable to support future educational delivery.

“It’s important that we have an inventory of the cutting edge teaching solutions and recognise the best efforts of our amazing NSW teachers during a difficult time,” Ms Mitchell said.

Teachers will have an additional day to prepare for Term 2 on Tuesday 28 April making the first day of term for students Wednesday 29 April.

Latest advice

Get up-to-date information about the department's response to COVID-19 (novel coronavirus).
Explore the department's learning from home resources for teachers and parents to support both online and offline learning for all students.

Keep your family entertained these school holidays

Thu, 09 Apr 2020 18:41:39 AEST

We know it’s been a challenging Term 1. Just as many communities began recovering from fires, droughts and floods, we moved to learning from home to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

The school holidays are coming, which means your family is about to have a lot of free time and nowhere to go.

To support you while looking after children we’ve put together a handy guide of activities to stimulate young minds and keep your family busy and engaged.

Check out our parents and carers toolkit for important self-care tips, free parenting podcasts and apps.

If you need a break, the Service NSW before and after school care finder can help locate vacation care programs near you.

Tuesday Update from Mr Johnson

Wed, 01 Apr 2020 10:21:39 AEDT

Happy Tuesday Team CSPS! Hope all is well at home. Once again we had 96% of students at home today and lots of staff working from home staying safe and healthy. Please don’t spend too many hours on a screen! Some of our staff on deck today spent the day in the gardens planting and creating and away from computers! As per our photo posted here!

Lots of wonderfully positive reports coming in from so many students and parents who are getting into the routines of life at home. Great to see so many kids logging on to Google Classroom and completing some tasks and connecting with their teacher and relaying their achievements. But do please remember mums and dads, we don’t expect you to be the experts. No need to set a minute by minute schedule and have the whip out and think that each day is going to be just like school. It won’t be. Keeping them calm, happy, content and feeling loved in an environment that isn’t anxious or stressed is our ultimate goal. Don’t worry about them regressing at school. Every single kids across Australia is in the same boat and they all will be OK.

In some cases, our kids might be just as confused and on edge as we are given the uncertainty of what may lie ahead. Remember, our kids listen to our words and can ‘feel’ tension and worry. They have a sixth sense! Despite our inner turmoil, keep creating ways to assure them and give them hope and confidence that all will be ok. It may seem fun being at home for a week or so, but the older kids will start to miss the friendships and interactions and ‘normality’. You may even see a few totally unexpected meltdowns, tantrums and behaviours completely out of character. This is where we kick in as parents and do the listening and reassuring. Don’t panic and ‘react’ back at them aggressively or angrily. Be patient and respond calmly. Not easy … but necessary. It may even be the school work ‘thing’ that pushes them to react in such a manner occasionally. That’s the time to pull stumps on the school work and go for a walk, play a game, do some gardening, listen to music, ride the bike, bake a cake, read a book, paint a picture, do a science experiment, make a cubby house ….. and you even let the kids join in with you! … LOL.

These aren’t usual times. But do know you aren’t alone in this. We are all in it together. Know that we are thinking of you and miss your kids terribly already. Remember that at the end of this, your child’s mental health and wellbeing is far more important than their academic skills. A good thing for us all to keep in mind as we go through this together. Despite the challenge, let’s keep looking for the positives. Please know that we are thinking of you all. – Mr J

An update from Mr Johnson, 30th March 2020

Mon, 30 Mar 2020 13:36:18 AEDT

Click here for a video update from Mr Johnson.

No child will be turned away from school

Wed, 25 Mar 2020 13:49:05 AEDT

The NSW Department of Education's advice regarding schools is very clear. No child in NSW will be turned away from school.

Schools will remain open for parents who want their children to attend irrespective of their profession or working arrangements.

The decision to keep schools open has been made based on advice from NSW Health, which has not changed.

The department will provide continuity of learning for all students both on and off campus and the Premier, for practical reasons, has encouraged parents to keep their children at home if they could.

Schools will communicate directly with parents on what learning options are available using their communication methods such as the school website, newsletters, emails and other online tools.

Latest advice

Get up-to-date information about the department's response to COVID-19 (novel coronavirus).
Explore the department's learning from home resources for teachers and parents to support both online and offline learning for all students.

CSPS Online Learning Hub

Wed, 25 Mar 2020 13:57:37 AEDT

Click here for the CSPS Online Learning Hub.

This site has all the inofrmation you will need for Home School during the current situation.

For help with passwords please email your child's teacher directly.

COVID-19 Update 24th March 2020

Tue, 24 Mar 2020 08:37:18 AEDT

COVID-19 School Update

After a lengthy live stream broadcast from the Secretary of the NSW Department of Education, who referred many times to the instructions from the NSW Premier from this morning’s press conference, the message is as follows to schools.

NSW schools will remain open through to the end of the current school term basically for the children of essential service workers. Essential services means health care workers, such as doctors, nurses and others on the frontline in hospitals and health care services. Both the Premier and the Department Secretary categorised teachers as an essential service worker along with some other sectors of the community like public transport providers, post offices, supermarkets, garbage collections etc.

The clear message from both the NSW Premier and the Department Secretary to all parents, (including me), is to keep your children at home if at all possible. If there is someone to care for them at home, they should be home. No longer is it just the students who are exhibiting flu type symptoms, but it is all students except the children of essential service workers who are working on that day.

Today across the nation, 50% of pupils were not at school; this is up from 25% last Friday. Tomorrow, if all Australians comply with the health recommendations, this percentage is set to increase dramatically again. The greater the social distancing the less opportunity for spread of infection and the spread of Covid19. At CSPS we are doing all we can to abide by all health directives.

In terms of online learning, last week we began the journey for many of you. This will continue and we are working on the ease of access for everyone. We will soon launch our own CSPS site as a one stop shop for you, making online learning far easier than a ‘pick your own adventure.’ The department has created an online learning space which will be part of that journey. Our teachers began creation last week and want to make life as easy as possible for all parents, carers and students. We have been directed to set school up as a supervisory centre so as students at home will have the same opportunities to learn as those that have no other option than to physically attend school. Attending will not mean your children will be taught ‘normal’ lessons. This is not business as usual. As mentioned before, these are unprecedented times and for now, school will look, function and operate differently for a period of time yet to be determined. However, the better we can self-isolate, the sooner normality will be able to return for us all.

As the Principal of Charlestown South PS, my responsibility is to keep our entire community as safe as I possibly can by keeping you informed and by following the directives of our health care services. Part of that community is our staff. Once we settle into a rhythm over the rest of the week, I will be rostering some of our staff on various days to work from home as they update and guide your children with their online learning. We ask that you …. stay patient, stay calm, keep your children at home if at all possible and keep providing and accessing learning opportunities for them. During this time of uncertainty, along with the cancellation of many afternoon activities, it may very well present families with far more time than previous to connect and just enjoy each other’s company doing things that are often stolen by the busyness of life and the craziness of schedules.

Please stay safe and healthy and do not hesitate to call us should you need to. Mr J

Tuesday Update from Mr Johnson

Tue, 24 Mar 2020 13:32:33 AEDT

Tuesday School Update …

Good morning Charlestown South Community. Thank you everyone for heeding the advice of the health experts as we attempt to keep everyone as safe and healthy as possible. The less people we all come in to contact with, the lower the risk we create to ourselves and others. The fact that it took 67 days for the spread of the virus to infect the first 100,000 people across the world, yet only 11 days for the next 100,000 and then 4 days for the last 100,000 certainly indicates the need to socially isolate whenever and wherever we possibly can. Well done CSPS! We have 217 students out of 260 isolated at home today. Know that being home you are certainly not missing out. Our kids on deck are doing exactly what our kids at home are doing in terms of work provided via the suggested links and activities via their Google Classroom.

With only 12 days until we reach the school holidays, please don’t stress in regard to learning. Our kids have already packed a terms worth of work into the 8 weeks. What our kinders can do already is remarkable! When I walked into 1/2 yesterday, they were tackling a piece text that would normally be a challenge for primary aged students. Know that your kids are well placed and won’t suddenly start regressing academically over the next 3 week period. Remember, that according to last week’s Daily Telegraph, our years 3s of last year knocked Sydney Grammar off the perch as the top writers in NSW! We’re doing ok team!

Whatever you do with them at home, I’m sure will keep them moving forward. Although, just putting them in front of Netflix and turning the audio off and the subtitles on, probably doesn’t cover the reading for the day!! Be creative and add plenty of fun activities like board games, cooking, Youtube Zumba, movie making, play writing to keep the troops engaged and learning. Continue to check out the web links and sites we provided earlier, but also know that later today or sometime tomorrow we will be ready to launch our CSPS Learning Hub. Our staff have been amazing to watch this morning as they work together to make sure This will be a ‘one stop shop’ for you as you learn from home. All teachers are adding activities, suggested timetable and learning links as we speak. The CSPS Learning Hub will have five easy ‘click’ buttons for Kinder, 1/2, 3/4, 4/5 and 5/6 and off you go! Every aspect won’t be prescribed and mandatory. The key is variety and enjoyment. Keep learning fun everyone! And … no play dates! Mr J

New COVID-19 restrictions begin as schools move towards online learning

Tue, 24 Mar 2020 19:57:18 AEDT

The NSW Government has taken significant new steps to increase restrictions across the state - triggering the next level of enforcement necessary to fight COVID-19.

Following the decisions made by National Cabinet, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed the shutdown to protect NSW citizens.

"I understand many in the community are worried, and these changes will affect everyday lives, and may be upsetting," Ms Berejiklian said.

"But these decisions will make us all safer, they are taken with the health of all citizens in mind, and they must be taken now.

"If you have the capacity to work from home, you should do so."

In line with health advice, from midday today, the following non-essential activities and businesses will be temporarily shut down:

pubs, registered clubs
gyms, indoor sporting venues
cinemas, entertainment venues, casinos, and night clubs
restaurants and cafes will be restricted to takeaway and/or home delivery
religious gatherings, places of worship (excluding small weddings and funerals that comply with the 4m2 rule, which can proceed).

It is important to note essential gatherings at places such as hospitals, workplaces, constructions sites and for public transport are exempt and will continue.

As confirmed last night by the Prime Minister schools will remain open, based on health advice, which has not changed.

But from tomorrow, in NSW, for practical reasons, parents are encouraged to keep their children at home.

"Because nearly 30 per cent of children are already being kept out of school, for practical reasons NSW is encouraging parents to keep their children at home," Ms Berejiklian said.

"This will ensure there is only one unit of work, whether the student is at home or at school.

"No child will be turned away from school."

Latest advice

Get up-to-date information about the department's response to COVID-19 (novel coronavirus).
Explore the department's learning from home resources for teachers and parents to support both online and offline learning for all students.

How to Keep Kids Calm at Home

Mon, 23 Mar 2020 15:08:19 AEDT

Some great ideas in this article!

https://www.theeducatoronline.com/k12/news/how-to-keep-kids-calm-at-home/270628?utm_source=GA&utm_medium=20200322&utm_campaign=Newsletter-Openers-20200323&utm_content=D61CAC7B-657E-48F6-A352-459CF478B5CB&tu=D61CAC7B-657E-48F6-A352-459CF478B5CB

Web Links for Learning

Wed, 18 Mar 2020 14:52:17 AEDT

Our CSPS Staff have put together a number of wonderful Web Links For Learning. We have covered Literacy, Numeracy, Geography, Coding, Science, Creative Brain Activities and more! If you do have your kids quarantined at home, keep them engaged and learning and don’t forget books!

https://app.literacyplanet.com/login

https://www.studyladder.com.au/about/student?lc_set=

https://www.prodigygame.com/

www.littlescribe.com/teacher-writing-toolkit

https://mathspathway.com/ For Stage 3

www.mathletics.com.au (login as student)

https://pbskids.org/

https://education.abc.net.au/home#!/home

https://www.abcya.com/

https://www.funbrain.com/

https://www.natgeokids.com/au/

https://scratch.mit.edu/

https://code.org/

https://hourofcode.com/au

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/continuity-of-education

https://www.abc.net.au/abcme/shows/
https://www.starfall.com/h/
https://www.nasa.gov/kidsclub/index.html

https://www.mathplayground.com/

Google Classroom – Many students have access to Google Classroom and teachers use this platform to drop documents, work, reports into for their class. 5/6S and 5/6G already have resources available. All of the students from Year 1 to 6 know how to use this! Not so much Kinder!

For Kindergarten

John Hartmann maths songs and "Geraldine the Giraffe sounds" on YouTube.

Sight words powerpoint distributed at orientation.

Some great Apps to use - Parrot Fish, Reading Eggs, Targeting Maths, Funbrain Jnr, Poptropica, Fish school, PBS Kids games, Phonics Ninja, Pizza Fractions, Science 360, NASA Visualisation Explorer, Toca Kitchen Monsters,
Math Planet, ColourBand, Vocabulary Spell City, Science360, Quick Maths,
Abcya, code.org.

COVID-19 and Students Who Are Staying At Home

Tue, 17 Mar 2020 08:39:29 AEDT

As we move into more uncertain times with the COVID-19 our department has been busily beavering away in the background to support schools to support students.

Whilst this is a work in progress, this site :

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/continuity-of-education has some outstanding support material for students who may have to stay at home due to illness or quarantine. This continuity of learning site has some great resources.

COVID-19 Update from Mr Colin Johnson, Principal

Mon, 16 Mar 2020 14:27:14 AEDT

Dear parents and carers,

A quick update for you all in regard to the current COVID19 situation and our response at a school level. We remain vigilant in terms of personal hygiene and have extensively limited larger school based gatherings such as assemblies and community events. We have also limited the amount of visitors that come into our school where possible, such as our Mentors, SRE Teachers and other external providers. Gymnastics will go ahead as normal.

There are a number of cancellations of events that have been made by the various department organisations and we will let you know of these as we receive notification. Already all larger Hunter PSSA sporting events have been postponed. Choralfest has been cancelled for 2020 and it is highly likely Star Struck will also be cancelled. Unfortunately, our Easter Hat Parade, scheduled for Friday 3 April 2020 will be cancelled.

We believe that using email (as used to distribute our Newsletter), Facebook and the Skoolbag App that we will be able to communicate with everyone who is part of the CSPS Community so as we can update you as necessary of any further developments, cancellations or changes to routine. Please monitor these channels regularly.

The department has sent the message to all schools to please ask all parents and carers to please keep all children at home who are exhibiting flu type symptoms and continue to do so until these symptoms are no longer evident. By doing this we increase the chances of keeping everyone as healthy as possible during this challenging time.

Thank for your understanding & co-operation.

Mr Colin Johnson - Principal

Schools to implement distancing measures

Sun, 15 Mar 2020 21:02:38 AEDT

The NSW Department of Education is introducing proactive measures to limit the impact of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in our schools.

Mark Scott, Secretary of the Department of Education, today announced that schools would adopt social distancing measures requiring them to cancel assemblies, excursions, travel, some events and conferences.

Mr Scott said these measures are precautionary and designed to reduce exposure via non-essential gatherings.

"Schools have been a focus of the community and the government as the impacts of coronavirus have developed globally," Mr Scott said.

"From Monday onwards, I expect school assemblies and substantial gatherings to be cancelled, along with all excursions.

"The community expects schools to be as safe as possible. We are implementing these measures to provide peace of mind for students, parents and staff."

"These cancellations also extend to inter-school arts, sports, initiative activities and events.

All major arts, sports and initiative activities and events will temporarily be ceased until further notice. This includes whole-school sporting events and inter-school events involving three or more schools.

"Local inter-school sport and other activities can proceed, but we ask organisers to ensure that as far as possible, reasonable precautions are taken," Mr Scott said.

"I trust our principals and staff to show leadership during this time."

Schools will be provided with more detailed advice and suggestions on how they can adjust their day to day activities with minimal disruption.

The department is continuing to prepare for further closures if necessary with scaling up of technology, additional training of staff and preparation of offsite lessons.

Families and students in self-isolation can find useful information to continue learning from home.

For the latest information, check COVID-19 advice for schools.

From the Newsletter 10th February 2020

Wed, 12 Feb 2020 14:10:25 AEDT

Coronavirus - Department of Education statement

Tue, 28 Jan 2020 19:14:00 AEDT

The department is working with the Ministry of Health to monitor and respond to the unfolding international novel coronavirus situation.

Get up-to-date information about the department's response to novel coronavirus.

#Ready2020 – a great year starts here

Tue, 21 Jan 2020 13:46:11 AEDT

Starting school is a big moment in a child’s life. Here’s how to make the most of it.

We can’t wait for you to join us for a great year – the first step towards a lifelong love of learning.

Visit the department’s primary school resources for hints, tips and checklists to make a great start to the new school year, whether your child is starting Kindergarten or Year 6.

You’ll find:

Getting ready for primary school booklet – everything you need to be #Ready2020
Daisy’s First Day – the story of Daisy the koala’s first adventure at Kindergarten
advice from teachers – they’ve been through this before.

Video – #Ready2020: First day of Kindy

Duration – 1:00

Staying healthy into the new school year

Fri, 20 Dec 2019 17:16:28 AEDT

Immunisation is a simple, safe and effective way to protect your family from harmful diseases this holiday season and into 2020. Visit your doctor for general health and vaccination advice.

Immunisation not only protects you and your family but also others in your community, by reducing the spread of preventable diseases.

Children starting school in 2020 must have up-to-date immunisations to enrol.

These vaccinations help protect children from highly infectious and severe diseases including whooping cough and measles.

Travel health

If you’re travelling overseas during the school holidays, you may need vaccinations or medication – both for general health protection and for region-specific diseases.

If you’re travelling to the Northern Hemisphere, you may even need a flu shot.

Find out more about staying healthy while travelling.

Term Dates for 2020

Mon, 16 Dec 2019 09:31:28 AEDT

Term Dates for 2020

Term One: Wednesday 29th January 2020 to Thursday 9th April 2020 - Staff Development Day Tuesday 28th January, no students at school.

Term Two: Tuesday 28th April 2020 to Friday 3rd July 2020 - Staff Development Day Monday 27th April, no students at school.

Term Three: Tuesday 21st July to Friday 25th September 2020 - Staff Development Day Monday 20th July, no students at school.

Term Four: Monday 12th October 2020 to Wednesday 16th December 2020 - Staff Development Days Thursday 17th December & Friday 18th December, no students at school.

From the Newsletter 16th December 2019

Mon, 16 Dec 2019 12:22:34 AEDT

Key Dates For Term 1, 2020

Tuesday 28^th January – Staff Return

Wednesday 29^th January – Students from Year 1 to Year 6 return

Tuesday 4^th February – Kindergarten commence

Tuesday 11^th February – Swimming Carnival Primary

Tuesday 11^th February – P&C Meeting 7pm-8pm

Wednesdays from 12^th February – Gymnastics Program commences

An Amazing Year Gone ….

Thank you to every single person who assisted in making 2019 such a wonderfully successful year at Charlestown South. From our staff, to our students, to our parent helpers, volunteers, canteen workers, cleaners, general assistant, scripture teachers, Chaplain and mentors and more… we say ‘thank you’. The words of acclamation from School Director Steve Harris on Presentation Day were incredibly heartfelt and sincere recognition of a job well done by our CSPS community. It was nice to hear from him that our results exceed all other schools right across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, but was nicer to hear of his thoughts and reflections about a school that he sees as an amazing community that works so closely together.

I know our NAPLAN results grew enormously again but so did our student population which jumped to 239 students. In 2020 we will commence Day 1 with 254 students and form a 10^th class. This places us only 4 more students away from having to form an 11^th class. Who knows what February may bring! Asset Management Unit have already made some provision for another demountable location should we require another.

Thank you to our incredible P&C and Canteen Team who have contributed in so many ways to add a wide array of new facilities and resources to our school in 2019.

And farewell to a very special group of Year 6 students. They have made our school a better place for being here, many for a whole 7 years and a small handful for a shorter period. They have brought great pleasure to us all and we have delighted in being part of their journey and watching them grow.

Our Bittersweet Farewell

As I mentioned on Presentation Day, a truly successful school is one that has a bigger mindset and way of thinking than just itself. It is a school that develops educational leaders that can also head out and advance their careers beyond CSPS and enjoy a wider impact in the educational sphere. On Presentation Day we announced with sadness that Mr Kelly will take up a lead Assistant Principal role at the larger Dudley PS from day 1 in 2020.

Steve leaves us after 5 years as Assistant Principal Primary, and has most definitely changed the way we do many things at CSPS. The student leadership team, student wellbeing, so many staff systems and procedures, peer support, technology and STEM developments and programs and more, that we enjoy so very much, we attribute to his incredible knowledge and skill. No wonder when Google Sydney run a special day for schools they get Mr Kelly to present as a guest speaker each year.

To Mr Kelly we say (despite our sadness and a little nervousness as we face life without him!), congratulations on this well-deserved next step in his career. Dancing to Midnight Oil, not to mention Karaoke, just won’t ever be the same at CSPS ever again!

Mr Kelly’s replacement is Mr John Costolo. John is someone we already know well at CSPS and is an outstanding educator who I suspect will fit in with the CSPS team very nicely. He was previously positioned at Dudley PS and comes to us with a skill set that will be warmly welcomed.

Presentation Day Celebration

What an outstanding day of celebration was had by all at last week’s event. Congratulations to our four School Leaders - Blaire, Lachlan, Elyse and Riley for running our event with such confidence and professionalism. Congratulations to all of our class book award winners, citizenship award recipients and award-winning athletes for 2019. Choosing these award winners is incredibly difficult because of the excellent quality of the student body at CSPS. Congratulations also to our new school leaders for next year - Sunny, Zach, Madison and Aiden who showed off their public speaking skills as they all played a part in the closing moments of our celebration. These four students, along with every other Year 6 student in 2020, will play a key leadership role in making sure that the many programs at CSPS continue to run as per usual. Our Year 6 Leader Team will be responsible for areas such as the environment, sporting gear and sporting house team leadership, creative arts, concert band, library function, technology and more. There will be no ‘badgeless’ idle Year 6 student in 2020!

Fishing For Compliments

Hats off to our avid array of anglers who had ‘Gone Fishing’ in Term 4. Our 45 raw but ready rod holders enjoyed participating in our 3-week fishing program and learning many of the nuances of enticing that unsuspecting fish on to their hook. Much to the relief of many of our debutants, we ran a catch and release program and please know at home, no fish lost its life or ended up on a plate during our program! Instructor and Aussie Casting Champion Todd Young, was full of compliments for our CSPS students wishing he had more time working with them. Many thanks to Mrs King, Mrs Burton and Mrs Sutton who endured the conditions, baited 1000s of hooks and kept our program flowing beautifully!

Do You Hear What I Hear?

It’s Community Carols Take 2! This Tuesday night we join together for our annual event that was rescheduled after the smoke haze rained on our parade. Our P&C BBQ kicks off just after 5pm so come and grab a snag and a drink and find yourself a good seat or throw down the picnic rug in preparation for Carols singing commencing at 6pm.

We Won’t Be Fenced In

Take a few moments to admire our latest new addition (apart from our new demountable classroom) of our black backfield fence. This new higher and improved fence is a hit with our kids already and saved a mountain of time in chasing balls down the ‘hill’. We are aiming in 2020 to open parts of our newly cleared ‘down the hill’ area for nature play during the lunchtime break. This will allow students to enjoy nature to a greater extent and soak up the fresh air during the break.

What Shall We Do Today?

If you are stuck for fun during the upcoming holiday period, Club Charlestown, who are great supporters of CSPS, are running Inflatables on the Green from 13^th to 26^th of January from 10am to 1pm and then 5pm to 8pm. This Jumping Castle style extravaganza sounds like a whole lot of fun that’s close to home!

We’re Doing Somersaults!

To keep all ahead of the game, a reminder that in Week 3 of Term 1 we will commence our biannual Gymnastics Program. This is definitely one of our favourites as we master and explore the use of some fantastic gym equipment that we are just not able to store on site. We have negotiated with providers and managed to gain a great deal with the 8-week program reduced to $44 per student. We do try to minimise costs to parents as much as we can throughout the year, but this one is greatly enjoyed by all, a whole bunch of fun and a great way to commence our new year PE program.

Leading the Christmas Cheering

Congratulations to CSPS Year 2 student Sophie who recently headed home form the National Cheerleading Titles wearing a very shiny 1^st Place Gold Medal as a necklace! Sophie’s team, The Black Canaries, flew gracefully through their routines with an amazing ‘zero deduction’ routine. An amazing effort Soph!

Mr J’s Free Parenting Tip

Enjoy Christmas. Take time to relax. Tell family how much you care about them. Eat Christmas pudding … but not too much. Ask ‘what can I give’ rather than ‘what will I get’. Look incredibly excited and grateful every time you open a present. Read the card before opening the present! Don’t ask the giver “did you keep the receipt?” Watch some of the Boxing Day Cricket Test. Go to the beach. Read a book. Attend your street party if you have one. Sleep in! Look forward to all that 2020 has in store!

From the Newsletter Monday 25th November 2019

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 15:09:01 AEDT

Making a Splash!

Today we commenced our two week Intensive Swimming Scheme at Charlestown Pool, with 160 students adorned in goggles and ready to hit the water! Most of our Kinders pop on their goggles whilst in the bus, much to the amusement of passing drivers!

Despite the same thing happening every year, we are still absolutely stunned at the progress made by swimmers of every level during this 2 week period. Please do a double check each morning ensuring towels, swimmers, rash shirt, sunscreen, dry underwear, cap and goggles are all in and ready to go. Writing names on all gear would be highly recommended. Please ensure your child has a plastic bag to place towel and wet gear in after swimming as well as thongs to wear to and from the pool. DO NOT wear thongs to school, we will change prior to swimming.

P and C Party Time!

Our final meeting for the year is on this Tuesday November 26^th at 7pm. This is fantastic way to introduce yourself to our wonderful group of P&C parents so please come and join us for our low key final meeting for 2019 as we reflect upon the successful year that has been. And what a year it has been! Our P&C have funded so many outstanding projects none more spectacular and exciting than the refurbishing of our Library. All of our kids and community benefit greatly from the generosity and hard work of our wonderful team.

Will There Be Rein Deer?

You can be very confident of a dry evening given the current weather patterns for our Community Carols Night on Thursday 5^th December. The musical section of the night will kick off in earnest at 6pm but do come early and grab your position as well as a sausage sandwich from the barbie. Our P&C will be running a BBQ for all (cooked by 3 wise men) and hopefully you have pre-booked your order through the school office using the note sent home with Santa’s elves a few weeks ago! Start your carols singing practice in the shower very soon so you’re tuned up and ready to invigorate your vocal cords as we sing all things Christmassy! Because this is a community evening singalong rather than just a school performance, we have invited any competent and willing parent who can play a musical instrument to join with our Concert Band in playing the opening bracket of Carols. We have 7 ‘extras’ so far but can fit more! The bonus double bass, guitars, trumpet, violin and more will be a wonderful addition and a real buzz for our Concert Band members as they herald in the festive season. All crazy Christmas outfits are encouraged!

Our Leaders Far From Speechless

On Monday December 2 at 9.10am, our current Year 5 students with aspirations to be elected as School Leaders in 2020, will make their case for consideration as they present their individual speeches to the whole school. Parents, please feel free to attend if you wish but certainly don’t feel under obligation to do so if work beckons.

It’s All Clear Charlie For Our Chaplain

Wooohooo!! We have been successful in our application to continue our Chaplaincy Program for another 3 years. The Federal Government organisation that oversees the program has found in favour of our application and granted us another 3 years of funding to enjoy having Mrs Rosemary Donovan as our School Chaplain. This will allow Rosemary to attend CSPS 2 days per week through to the end of 2022. Personally, I’m not sure what we’d do without her. Rosemary is such an integral part of our community and contributes in so many and varied ways beyond the area of student wellbeing. Welcome aboard again Mrs Dono!

Angling For a Gift?

Our first group of anglers has completed their 3 week fishing program. Now having learnt the finer arts of casting, baiting and patience, our 24 fishing experts could be angling for a rod and reel combo come Chrissy Day? It might just be the surprise they are hoping for! Our very patient Stage 3 students will cast off their program this Wednesday with the hope of ‘re-whiting’ the CSPS Fishing Records. The current ‘big fish’ record holder is Alex Stocker with a monster flathead!

Create the Joy of Beater Licking!

Do kids still like to lick the beaters after cake cooking? Well here’s the opportunity to put it to the test! Our Bunnings Cake Stall is all good to go for this Saturday and now we just need servers for the day and as many bakers as we possibly can have! There is no such thing in this case as “too many cooks spoiling the broth”. Grab the cake tins, caramel slice recipes, chocolate crackles and anything else that fits with a Cake Stall and get baking! All goods can be dropped off to KH this Friday morning for our team of goodies wrappers. Join us from 2.00pm in KH if you have some time to spare to help package up our pikelets!

Congrats to Cass’ Canteen Crew

After many months of planning and adjustment, CSPS Canteen has received the tick of approval that followed the stringent scrutiny of our canteen menu. We are now classed (and not too many school canteens are!) as a Healthy School Canteen. A huge thank you to our canteen coordinator and menu creator Mrs Cass Small for her endless hours of volunteering so our kids have a healthy canteen to purchase from.

Extra Classroom Coming Soon

You may have noticed that provision for the installation of our second demountable classroom has commenced. The concrete foundations for the brick piers have been poured and underground plumbing works completed. Tree loppers are scheduled to be on site this week to attend to a few trees that require removal. For every tree removed we will plant one in its place in another location within our school grounds. Should we require a third demountable classroom in the future, provision has already been made and it would be placed next to the building that is about to be installed. This may occur sooner rather than later as we are now less than 10 students away from an eleventh class.

Christmas Appeal Closing Soon

Thank you to the many families who have generously given to our Christmas non-perishable food drive. At the end of the week we will deliver our collected goods to the Salvation Army so they can distribute to local families who may be experiencing difficulty this Christmas.

Presentation Day Planning

Our annual Presentation Day will take place at HopeUC Church at Felton St Gateshead on Thursday 12^th December commencing at 12.30pm. Class teachers will be in contact with all parents of students who are receiving an award well ahead of time. This will allow those who would like to attend to make plans to do so. A yellow note has gone home today with the travel arrangements so please read it and return the slip as soon as possible, thank you.

Mr J’s Free Parenting Tip

If you read the fishing report earlier in the Newsletter, I suggested a rod and reel as a possibility for the Christmas stocking. This year why not make outdoor leisure or physical activity gifts a priority for the kids? The more we are able to promote non screen time and being outdoors, the healthier our kids will be. Research shows that one of the best ways to reduce stress and mental health issues, as well as increasing physical health and fitness, is to get the kids outdoors and active.

From the Newsletter 11th November 2019

Wed, 13 Nov 2019 13:21:24 AEDT

Book Yourself In

After months of preparation and planning and a thousand hours put in by Mrs Kristen Muir, our Library is ready to show off! We will be holding an official opening today at 2.45pm for parents to come and have a wander through and a time to admire our incredibly designed new space. Come 10 minutes early to pick the kids up and be part of the ‘viewing’. Thank you Mrs Muir for a Herculean effort and for being so enthusiastic and passionate about providing our students with a spectacularly stunning space to learn and enjoy.

We Have 2020 Vision!

Just a quick update on next year in terms of classes. CSPS, for the very first time in history, will hit the 250 students mark thanks to the 43 new kindergarten students who will embark upon their educational journey in 2020. This will also mean that we will commence the new year with 10 classes and the Department of Education Asset Management Unit (AMU) will therefore provide us with another demountable classroom. This classroom will most likely be installed during the January holidays and will be located adjacent to Block D where we currently have our two Year 1-2 classes. The erection of a security/safety fence has already taken place, as has the pouring of pier footings with some tree lopping next on the agenda. The new year will also see many classrooms painted and a number of exterior projects carried out by our AMU including replacement of the sheeting on our covered walkways and the large shade sail that covers our fixed play equipment. It will cause some disruption to our ‘normal’ operations but the short term pain will be worth the long term gain.

Our Spin Doctors

Last week our team of three State discus throwers headed to Sydney to compete in the NSW Athletics Championships at Homebush. All three had been working hard on their technique and spin which reflected their excellent results. Elyse O, Blaire D and Tallan H all threw close to personal bests as they did themselves, CSPS and the Hunter region proud. Maybe they will follow in the footsteps of former CSPS student Imogen Petrie who went on to win herself a Gold Medal in the Australian Championships? Time will tell! At the same age, Elyse is only 4 or 5 metres behind Imogen so watch this space!

Beyond Just ‘Audit-nary’!

Apologies for the nervous and worried looks upon the faces of Mrs Pascoe, Mrs Hansen and me last Wednesday and Thursday, as we underwent a very thorough and stringent Finance and WH&S Audit by the Department of Education. However, there was no need for major concern as CSPS passed and will remain open!

Buddies Earning Their Keep

In Week 6 and 7, Tuesday afternoons will see our 43 kinders for next year pop in for just over an hour to help their transition into ‘big school’. Our ‘newbies’ will spend time with their Year 6 buddies in their kinder classrooms completing some activities and then head to recess to eat with the big kids.

We’ve Taken ‘A-Fence’

Great news! The old fence that divides our back playground and our recently cleared bushland area is being retired! Over the next few weeks you will see a new fence installed which will be taller and stronger and no doubt catch a few more of our soccer balls and Frisbees that often sailed ‘down the hill’.

More On Attendance

During the year I have tried to keep everyone up to date with all things relating to attendance, given that this aspect of education is a ‘big ticket item’ for the department moving forward. I have outlined below some procedures that you do need to abide by if you plan to avoid a call from one of the Department Home School Liaison Officers who regularly check on all digital records for every single school.

· If you are planning on any leave during school terms that is a week or longer, you do need to notify the school immediately. The latest Attendance Policy requires parents to lodge an application with the Principal explaining the reason why a student will be absent. If travelling, a copy of a travel itinerary or travel ticket should accompany the application form. This form can be acquired from our school office. If the Principal deems the period of leave to be of educational benefit, then it will be recorded on a student attendance record as ‘justified leave’.

· A reminder also to please let the school know of the reason for any absence as failing to do so results in the absence being recorded on the department attendance record as ‘unjustified leave’. Best to let us know asap before it gets lost in the ‘to do later’ file!

· If your child is late to school even by 5 minutes, please do not just send them in alone as this is also recorded as an ‘unexplained partial absence’. As pointed out by the WH&S auditor last week, this policy requires us to record this as `unexplained absence’, unless the parent, in person, gives us a reason for lateness.

· If absent, picking up your child early or dropping off late, there must be a reason recorded or the records to show ‘absence explained’. Please do not feel like we are prying when we ask for a reason. It is simply a legal requirement.

Early Arrivals!

Just a reminder that if you are dropping your child off to school well before the 8.30am commencement of staff supervision, then please make provision for your child to attend OOSH so as they are well cared for. Please only drop them earlier than the designated ‘earliest time’ of 8.30am in an emergency where no other option is available to you. It is a priority to us that your child is cared for and supervised at all times whilst at school and if you are dropping off at 8am or close to that time, we cannot guarantee that a staff member will be directly supervising. Please note that many of our staff meetings, stage meetings and learning support meetings are held from 8am where many of our staff are engaged. The number to call to book in for OOSH is 0400 722 582.

We Are Now Officially Healthy!

Congratulations to our Canteen Team who have gone above and beyond to see our Canteen meet all the requirements to now be certified as a ‘Healthy School Canteen’. The NSW Premier in recent times has developed the Healthy Canteen Strategy with all school canteens across the state encouraged to attempt to meet the stringent guidelines in order to gain certification as a Healthy Canteen. Well done to Cass Small and her team for making this happen.

Group 1 Took The Bait

Friday saw the ‘casting off’ of our Young Gun Fishing Program as 24 very excited Year 3-4 students spent a very educational and leisurely afternoon on the shores of Lake Macquarie. National Casting Champion and multiple fishing record holder, Todd Young set about teaching our budding anglers all things fishy. This group will spend two more afternoons with Todd before our Year 5-6 group hit the water. Congrats to Harry F who topped the ‘catch count’ for Day One.

The Perfect Chrissy Present

If you have a child in Year 5 for next year, as per the last 3 years, we ask that you commence considering a Chromebook purchase. Year 6 students will most likely already have a Chromebook and will be able to continue along nicely with that device. We realise this is a significantly priced item and it is often an ideal purchase as a Christmas gift. Mr Kelly will very soon distribute a note with all the info you will need in regard to this, but he also welcomes any questions you may have in order for you to have all the information you may require at your fingertips. I do realise that some may have a Windows laptop at home and a very small number of students have used this as their device in years gone by, however, I would advise otherwise. If it is economically viable to grab a Chromebook, then please do. The Windows devices don’t always easily load or run the programs that we will use in Years 5-6 and may create a level of frustration for students. Mr Kelly’s note will outline perfectly for you the best options for purchase. This includes Chromebooks you can buy online or (if you’d rather) at local retailers. Mr Kelly has negotiated with all of the suppliers to get the very best price for you. Chromebooks are an amazing device with a price point of between $275 - $500. Usually the cheaper versions do exactly the same as the more costly ones!

Christmas Appeal Underway

Thank you to those families that have already sent in non-perishable items for our Christmas Appeal box. We will continue to collect items over the next few weeks and then pass them on to the Salvation Army to give to families in need over the Christmas period. Just one item per family would see us fill soooo many boxes!

Our Expanding Band

If you missed getting your “Expression of Interest for New Members” note in for Concert Band last Friday, I’d suggest creating a diversion and sneaking it across the office counter very quickly before anyone notices! Miss Mac had EOI notes tumbling out of her pigeonhole last week with 17 new members wanting to blow their own trumpets! Now that we have the EOI notes in, we will send some extra info home soon as we plan for 2020. Please understand if you did put keyboard as the preferred instrument, in a Concert Band we may have 1 keyboard only and it is unlikely Mr Bone would opt for 2. The most likely instrument your child will be offered to learn and play will be either flute, clarinet, trumpet, trombone or saxophone. There will also be a small percussion section to accompany our current drummer and 3 bass players. Guitar of any option will not be offered in 2020.

Before making your final decision, please become familiar with the costs involved as Band fees, tutoring fees for your child’s weekly peripatetic one on one or small group lesson and instrument hire fees need to be paid at the start of each term. These fees are outlined in the upcoming notes. Teaching and tutoring music is the profession of our tutors and the agreement parents make prior to having their child commence in the Concert Band is that fees will be paid at the start of each term. As a school, we cannot carry or cover these for you as it is an optional extra curricular activity. If fees are not paid our tutors are not paid.

CSPS Boasts Another National Champion!

Last week our very own Mrs Louise Sutton returned from the National Powerlifting Championships in Perth with a Gold Medal hanging proudly round her neck. The 95kg lift in the squats, 57.5kg lift in the bench and a massive 130kg lift deadlift saw her take gold and only 2.5kg from the Australian Record in the Maters 2 Division. We are deliberating whether or not to use a crane to position the new demountable or just get Mrs Sutton to ‘pop’ it in place for us!

Mr J’s Free Parenting Tip

One of the generational vacuums that exists is patience. Probably not the fault of this generation as they have grown up in a world of instantaneousness (try say that one quickly 3 times!) where instant gratification and ‘now’ is the norm. Our challenge then as parents is to teach patience! One of the best methods of teaching anything is……. modelling. If we model patience when driving, waiting in a queue, sitting in the drive through at Maccas or when dealing with our kids, they will notice. Believe me, they DO notice every time when we demonstrate impatience! Another exercise is to deliberately put yourselves in situations that ask for patience. A dining experience that isn’t one that has your meal delivered in 5 minutes or it’s free, letting the person next in the shopping queue go before you, motioning for the driver in the next lane to cross before you (with a smile on your face!), letting the kids finish the job without saying “just let me do it, it will be quicker that way”. But just remember, it takes time to develop patience even though we want it to happen NOW!

NSW schools respond to bushfires

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 17:29:49 AEDT

Many schools are responding to the catastrophic fire rating that is affecting communities across the state this week.

We are continuously updating the School safety page with a list of government and non-government schools, as well as TAFE NSW campuses that are currently non-operational.

While some schools are temporarily non-operational due to localised fires, many others in high-risk areas are non-operational as a precautionary measure.

Schools in some areas are being used as emergency evacuation centres at the direction of the Rural Fire Service.

For schools that are currently operational, school pickups and dropoffs will continue as usual. If your school is currently non-operational, it will likely remain so tomorrow.

Large scale distressing events affect our school communities in many ways. Headspace’s mental health support resource (PDF 100.52KB) is available to help students, teachers and school staff respond to the bushfires.

Visit the School safety page for updates. The department’s Facebook and Twitter accounts will also provide updates during this period.

From the Newsletter 28th October 2019

Mon, 28 Oct 2019 14:16:19 AEDT

From the Newsletter 14th October 2019

Mon, 21 Oct 2019 14:16:54 AEDT

The Fourth & Final

Welcome back everyone to our fourth and final term for 2019. And a huge welcome back to Mrs Hodson who has covered more of Oz in the last 3 months than the Leyland Brothers! (Google Leyland Brothers if you were born after 1990!) If you thought we packed a bit into last term, best buckle up for this one! Kinder Orientations, Bandfest, Life Skills Programs, Intensive Swimming Programs, Fishing Program, Supercars Excursion, Presentation Day, Carols Night, Gold Day Out, Year 6 Farewell …. And there’s more! I’m sure there’s a free set of steak knives thrown in there somewhere!

We do have three new families joining the CSPS community this week so please if you do spot them before or after school, take a few seconds to say hello and welcome them. It is amazing how reassuring and welcoming this can be when you are in an unfamiliar place. Apologies for not being on deck during this first week of term. I will be in the sunny coastal city of Wollongong coaching the Hunter PSSA Cricket Team at the NSW State Carnival. Howzat for a start to the term!

Novel Ideas Come To Life

The hours of painstakingly selecting new shelves, tables and chairs, colour schemes, bookends, mats and more… by our in house designer gurus, Mrs Kristen Muir and our Teacher Librarian Mrs Maria Stoppini, I’m sure will all begin to feel worth it as our new Library begins to take shape. Over the holiday break we had electricians and other tradies ‘booked’ in to prepare for the install of shelving, seating and workstations. We are moments away from the final reveal which should all occur in Week 3!

Grounds For Appeal

When you look around at our appealing green grassed grounds and healthily garnished gardens, please don’t think it just happens by default. Our Jack of All Trades and green thumbed General Assistant, Mr Colin Pascoe, is the key reason why we all get to enjoy such a beautifully manicured school. Thank you Mr Pascoe!

Take Your Seats Everyone

During Term 4 we are adding some very welcomed sections of picnic style seating around our picturesque little school. Keep your eye out for our four Eco-Trend Sheltered Outdoor Settings that will be installed very soon. This new sheltered seating will give students more options as to how to spend break times as well as providing some superb spots for reading groups and other collaborative small group class tasks. Not to mention providing the ideal spot for our CSPS families to maybe spend an afternoon or weekend morning enjoying a relaxed picnic in our lovely school grounds. During the holidays we had four 3m x 3m slabs laid in various areas of the school in preparation for the arrival and installation of our sheltered settings. Our persistent P&C have lodged an application with the State Government with a hope to obtain a $14,000 grant in the Community Partnership Program. Fingers crossed! This one really sits well with us!

♫ ♪♫ Week 2 Is Bandfest Week!

The Warners Bay Performing Arts Centre will come alive with the sound of music as Concert Bands from all over the Hunter and Central Coast come to blow their own trumpets as they compete in the annual Bandfest Competition. CSPS Concert Band, under the guidance of Mr Jason Bone, will perform on Tuesday October 22^nd at 12.20pm. Entry fee is $5 for audience members and all funds go toward the cost of venue hire, prizes and trophies and staffing costs. Mr Bone, Mr Isaacs and Mr McElhone have performed a miracle in 2019 as they have taken our very youthful band of primarily Year 3 and 4 students from not knowing which end of the instrument to blow in, to playing classical pieces! We even had boys trying to blow in the ends of bass guitars until they realised they had strings! Come along and support our Band and be amazed as they compete in their section of the 2019 Bandfest Competition. In preparation our entire Concert Band head to Glenrock Lagoon Scout Camp for a full on day of music and melodies this Friday 18^th October. As per usual, we invite parents and others interested to come along at 2pm for short session where will play our Bandfest pieces for you.

Luxury Escapes Brilliant!

Both our Stage 3 Canberra Snowy trip and our Stage 2 Sydney jaunt, proved to be an ‘awesome!’, ‘the best ever!’, ‘so cool!’ adventure according to our 120+ students who embarked on the journeys. The richness and depth of the educational, social and emotional experiences for all were incredibly valuable and will be cherished and long remembered by every student. Our Chaplain, Mrs Donovan, reported back only minutes after arriving back on home soil that she was completely overwhelmed at the consistent and constant lovely comments from the general public and tour guides regarding the behaviour of our students and the courteous and grateful manner in which they conducted themselves. So many tour guides were very impressed by the mature and multiple questions asked by our group of sightseeing students. We thank our dedicated and passionate staff who gave up many nights of family time to make these excursions possible.

Let Them Play!

This was the very heading in one of the latest Educator magazines and a philosophy that we believe in wholeheartedly at CSPS. It is our vision to create a number of additional spaces in our school grounds in which kids can just ‘play’ and be creative. Many enjoy the games of handball, soccer, touch footy, basketball and utilising sporting equipment at lunch and recess times, but we also want to have spaces for alternative activities. Places where our students can build and create without competition. Places they can socialise and just hang out. The addition of our extra sandpit last year was an example of exactly that. Not to mention the brilliant new vegie garden area created by our working bee attendees last term. Many of our Stage 2 kids attend this plot several times per week watering and tending our plants. This garden now has water on tap as we had plumbers attend during the holiday period to run a waterline to our garden with a pump attached from our unused water tanks that are filled from the catchment from the Hall roof. (This was the brainchild of our garden Queen, Mrs King). Next on the drawing board is a nature play area located between the computer lab and the fixed equipment. We are planning to add an attractive and functional log bordered area filled with wood chips and some nature focused equipment that promotes some fun creative play. I think this one will be a real winner for all! Thanks to CSPS dad and landscaper Daniel Franco who is measuring up the area as we speak!

Please Consider

Earlier in the year one of our CSPS dads was involved in a freak mountain biking accident whilst out riding with other CSPS dads. Chris Apps has been hospitalised since June and has undergone extensive rehabilitation and numerous operations. Chris will possibly be finally heading home in a month or so to join his wife Kimberley and 2 beautiful girls who have been trekking endlessly each and every weekend down the freeway to Royal North Shore Hospital to visit. This accident has left Chris in a wheelchair and our hope and prayer is that one day this will not be the case. Thank you to the many CSPS family members who have helped the Apps family during this extremely difficult and challenging time. If you would like to support the family in some way but are unsure how, a GoFundMe page has been set up at www.gofundme.com/f/stack-for-a-stack where you can donate. I know that it will take some major funds to add ramps and other equipment to the family home to ensure Chris is comfortable and can manage at home with his family. Thank you all for considering.

Parents of the Bride

If Mr & Mrs Pascoe appear somewhat bleary eyed, yet gracefully content over the next few weeks, it’s due to sleepless hours preparing for their daughter’s wedding which is now less than 2 weeks away! Should Kellie return to you a piece of iced fruit cake instead of a permission note over the next week or so, please smile understandingly and wish her well for the big day!

Red Faces the Order of the Day

The Charlestown Cup is an event that just keeps getting bigger and better! Year 3 and 4 students from our 6 local primary school descended upon Kahibah Oval in the last week of term to participate in 4000 sporting opportunities which provided more fun than the upcoming 2 week holiday. They ran and played for hours and if each had worn a fitbit, it would have overloaded the circuit well before the lunch break. Congratulations to all for your constant display of sportsmanship and fair play.

Mr K Briefly Away

Mr Kelly will be on Long Service Leave during Weeks 2 & 3. Mrs Katrina Morgan and Mrs Elise Mountford will co-host 5-6K during this period.

Local Courses Worth Considering

Victory Centre who run our OOSH and also provide our students with a very generous weekly basket of fruit, continue to run some excellent free courses for adults that are definitely worth a look. A short outline is listed below but a visit to their website will provide you with a tad more info if you’re interested. Empowered Life

Helping you live your best life. This is a free, 8 week course that aims to benefit each individual in areas such as - Releasing Life’s Pressures, Building Confidence, Knowing Your Value, Learning New Things, The Art of Making Friends.

Commencing 22^nd Oct and running for 8 weeks each Tues 9:30 – 12:30am. However, come and join in any sessions.

Each Session has a cooking demonstration, includes lunch and there is a take home meal parcel for you to try at home.

Location: Victory Centre, 5 Hopetoun St, Charlestown.

WEBSITE LINKS - Facebook.com/c3vcentre/ or C3victory.org/events

Artful Expression

Free Art sessions. Art is a wonderful way that people can express thoughts and images. It can be purely a creative moment to promote relaxation and awareness of things other than the concerns of our busy daily lives. The exercises used are not bound by anyone’s artistic capabilities, but rather a fun, insightful and engaging experience. All materials are provided.

Friday 1-3pm beginning 1^st Nov and running for 6 weeks. Come and join in any sessions.

Location: Victory Centre, 5 Hopetoun St, Charlestown.

WEBSITE LINKS - Facebook.com/c3vcentre/ or C3victory.org/events

Mr J’s Free Parenting Tip

Sorry to touch on a touchy subject for us all, but I know this one might hit a raw nerve with many of us. Have you ever attended a function or family event and the person you were speaking to was clearly distracted and scanning the room looking for people they felt were more important to speak to? How did that make you feel? Pretty insignificant, right? That is exactly how our kids feel when they are trying to talk to us but we are flicking through the Netflix options or checking our feeds on our phone. It is becoming increasingly difficult today to be where we are.
Have you ever misplaced your phone and then ‘lost it’? By that I mean almost had a meltdown causing you to yell, “Has anyone seen my phone?” Have you ever checked your phone when you were experiencing a momentary pause, like at the traffic lights? Even though we know it is against the law when we are in charge of a car, we just can’t help ourselves. I know we own these devices, but sometimes these devices seem to own us!
We can be so distracted today by trivial things while the important things are often ignored. We don’t know who our kids are hanging out with, but we can know what someone we went to school with but never actually talked to, ate for breakfast this morning. Our phones are incredibly powerful devices that can connect us with people all across the world and disconnect us from the person sitting right in front of us. They are powerful devices for global reach but harmful for daily presence and connection.
To be where we are, it may help us all to start placing some boundaries if needed around our phone use. A mantra I heard a couple adopt recently is “Phones down when the kids are around”. Not a bad option one thinks. Small adjustments to how we use our devices can and will improve our relationships exponentially.

Grab a ticket to Schools Spectacular 2019

Tue, 22 Oct 2019 19:08:09 AEDT

Will you be joining us at Schools Spectacular 2019? Tickets are on sale now. Experience our live show featuring a cast of thousands of public school students from across metropolitan, rural and remote regions of NSW.

Students from different ages, cultures and backgrounds will share the spotlight as they dance, play and sing for you. Choose from one of our four massive performances at Qudos Bank Arena on Friday 22 November and Saturday 23 November.

This year's events will feature:

more than 380 schools
5,500 performers
a 3000-strong choir
2,300 dancers
an 80-piece symphony orchestra
a world-class stage band.

Group bookings

Need to make a group booking for over 10 people? Complete the Schools Preview Order Form 2019 (PDF 110KB) to attend the discounted 11am Friday matinee. The Friday matinee is discounted for school students and accompanying teachers.

If you’d like to grab a spot at one of the other three remaining shows complete the Group Booking Form 2019 (PDF 110KB).

Tickets for you and your family and friends

Save you and your family a spot online or by phone on 132 849.

Video – Schools Spectacular 2019

Duration: 0:26

From the Newsletter 16th September 2019

Tue, 17 Sep 2019 12:24:54 AEST

The Amazing Race … Amazing Indeed!

Congratulations to all students and staff for putting on what can only be described as our best musical ever! Moments of sheer magic flowed continually throughout as did the water from our Italian fountain dancers! Miss Garland’s creativity and sailing close to the edge knows no bounds! The smiles on our kids’ faces was constant and priceless as they each enjoyed and soaked up every minute in the spotlight. What a superb job by our Amazing Race contestants and hosts Blare D and Connor F! So incredibly entertaining and funny. A Gold Logie to Mrs Elise Mountford and Mrs Amber Woodward for writing and directing our show. Simply superb! A big thank you as well to mum Heather Price for playing piano and double bass as well as dad Paul McNamara for playing guitar and Lily J for ‘violining’ in our Scottish Highland Fling. A huge hats off also to the team at Belair Baptist Church who bent over backwards to accommodate us and make sure we were well looked after during our two days ‘stay over’. Our staff would also like to thank the army of parent and grandparent volunteers who sewed costumes and stuck sequins - thank you to Mrs Barbara Crump, Mrs Jan Unwin, Mrs Corinne Fisher, Mrs Kristal Steele, Mrs Megan Arthur and Mrs Kassie Hunter.

The Big City Lights Await Us

Early on Wednesday morning our Year 3 and 4 students will bid us farewell as they blissfully board the bus bound for Sydney. Mrs King, Miss Garland, Mrs Butler and Mrs Donovan have an action packed 3 days in store for them that will educate and excite as they spend time in the state’s capital.

From Show Business to Snow Business

With the musical behind us and Canberra and the snow before us, Stage 3 will board the Sid Fogg's luxury tour bus in Week 10 and head for the nation’s capital. We will pack more into four days than Mrs Sutton packs into her usual literacy session (now that’s a feat!) and visit just about every spectacle Canberra has to offer.

Just When You Thought It Couldn’t Get Any Better ……

In 2018 our first crew of Explicit Instruction (EI) ‘babies’ arrived at Year 3 where they sat their debut NAPLAN Assessment. We all waited with baited breath to see if our literacy, maths and writing warm ups and our EI lesson formats that we introduced in earnest in 2015 would have the impact we felt they would. The fact that CSPS had been identified specifically along with 136 other schools throughout NSW as a Bump It Up school put the pressure on to see a higher percentage of students achieve the top 2 band levels in Reading and Numeracy especially. The transformation was astounding! Suddenly, the percentage of students in Year 3 in the top 2 bands in every subject area doubled! In fact, the 87% in the top 2 bands in Reading and 83% in Numeracy saw CSPS attain the number 1 position as the top performing Bump It Up school in NSW in terms of percentage of students in the top 2 bands. So ….. 2019??

NAPLAN results released last week saw CSPS achieve 100% of Year 3 students in the top 2 bands for Reading and 87% for Numeracy! Throw in the 100% in the very top band 6 for Grammar and Punctuation and the 93% in the top 2 bands for Writing. Add to this the incredible growth in Year 3 to Year 5 by all of our Year 5 students which almost double state average in every subject and you have a set of NAPLAN results that has our Director of Education completely gobsmacked and extremely proud of one of his local schools. Great job CSPS students and staff!

Who, What and How

All research indicates that how students are taught and what they are taught is vitally important. However, the greatest difference made to student learning is the who! It’s that person standing in front of them providing and guiding the learning opportunities that makes the greatest difference. Given this fact, how incredibly fortunate are we at CSPS to have a team of teachers and support staff that are so incredibly gifted in doing what they do day in and day out. Having been around schools for 5 decades now (yep, I lived in the school residence next door to where my dad taught in a small 92 student school in the central west of NSW when I was a wee lad), I am hoping by now I can spot a good teacher when I see one. However, at CSPS we don’t have any good teachers. We only have outstanding ones! And, we are so very fortunate to have each and every one of them. Never before have I witnessed a group of educators so passionate, dedicated, invested, caring and energetic, who all work so cohesively and supportively together as a team. I find unique the manner in which they champion each other and work collaboratively each second of every day. Their output is so far beyond ‘normal’. It’s no wonder our kids are achieving like we have outlined above in NAPLAN Assessments. If you do see Mrs Katrina Morgan and Mrs Tracey Judd this week, please thank them for the fantastic job they have done with KH whilst Mrs Hodson has been touring Oz. Both are superb educators and our kinder crew has not missed a single beat this term. Our Library sessions have also ticked along like clockwork as Mrs Judd has filled in for Mrs Stoppini during her 4 weeks of long service leave. Both ladies are very much part of our team and we love having them at CSPS as often as we are able. If we don’t have the very best staff team on the planet, I’ll give up!

The Next Chapter in the Story Awaits Us

We are now only mere moments away from seeing our Library completely transformed. The upcoming holiday break will see our new shelving and furniture turn the page on the newest chapter of this exciting venture. Following hot on the heels will be our new soft furnishings and rugs, signage and storage which will all transform our 1970s library into a colourful and inviting modern learning space.

Mike Rolls Back the Truth About Resilience and Grit

All Year 6 students joined their local buddies from Dudley, Redhead, Charlestown, Kahibah and Charlestown East primary schools last week for our annual Year 6 Whitebridge Community of Schools Leadership Day. Guest speaker, Mike Rolls, spoke from his wheelchair with great authority and inspiration about ‘Standing Tall Through Adversity’. Mike certainly pulled no punches with his audience, who after an hour of solid listening were hoping that he would just keep talking and challenging them to the be the very best version of themselves. Add to this the array of team building and fun activities that filled the afternoon session and you had one very enjoyable and successful day of learning. Thank you to our own Mr Kelly who played the key role in putting this brilliant day together for all of six local primary schools.

The Prestigious Cup Awaits

Forget the Melbourne Cup, the America’s Cup, the World Cup and Mrs Forbes’ ridiculously oversized Coffee Cup …… because the big one, the Charlestown Cup has arrived in town. All of our Year 3 and 4 students will participate in this annual event on Thursday September 26 with Charlestown, Charlestown East, Charlestown South, Dudley, Kahibah and Redhead Primary Schools combining for this huge sports-fest event. This is a non-competitive day, aimed at fun and participation with the school displaying the biggest smiles and best sportsmanship often coming away with the silverware. Our kids will participate in Touch Footy, T-Ball, Soccer, Golf, European Handball and more in what will most certainly be one of their most memorable events for the school year.

Sporting School Extravaganza Comes To CSPS

We scored a bit of a mini jackpot when I won the lucky door prize at a recent Principal’s gathering and CSPS was awarded a free Sporting Schools Sports Day! All equipment and instructors are provided and the team from SIS will visit us on the last day of term to put us through our paces.

Stay in Touch

If you’re wanting to keep pace with all things happening at CSPS, then make sure you have our Skoolbag App downloaded on your smartphone. You can also keep up to date with a number of activities and upcoming events via our Facebook page and CSPS website.

We’re Now Supporting Shorts and Skorts

After surveying our students and through discussion with our P&C and staff, Lowes at Charlestown Square are now supplying Sports Skorts as an alternative for our girls for their Friday sports uniform. Despite an overwhelming percentage of our girls stating that they still preferred the shorts, we did want to cater for the 20 to 30 girls who said they may prefer the Skorts option. The Skorts are embroidered with our CSPS logo and we ask that if your daughter does prefer this option to please maintain our high uniform standard and purchase the Lowes CSPS Skorts. During the holidays if you are restocking uniforms, please remember that grey socks for the boys and white for the girls are our Monday to Friday uniform option. If ‘reshoeing’ please ensure the Monday to Friday shoes are completely black and not a combination of colours. We do receive many compliments about our uniform from visitors and want to ensure we maintain this high standard. If you are unsure of any uniform requirement, please call our school office to check. Also, if you do have uniforms that are in good condition but no longer fit your child, please pass them on to the school so we have spares and preloved gear in stock for emergencies and short term needs.

Looking For Some Holiday Fun?

Redhead PS is hosting a one day Active Sports Camp which is filled with a whole stack of sporting experiences on Wednesday 2^nd October from 8.30am to 3pm. More information can be found on the flyer posted on our CSPS Facebook page.

Anyone For Cricket?

If you’re looking for a great way to get outdoors and play an iconic Aussie sport then why not head to your local cricket club and register today! Check out Charlestown Junior Cricket Club website now. We also have a few CSPS students playing with Merewether Under 12s so if you’re looking to play with some buddies you already know, call Merewether JCC and slot straight in as they are still short 3 or 4 players for their team.

Mr J’s Free Parenting Tip

As the Beatles sang so iconically ♫ ♪♫ “I’ll get by with a little help from my friends”. As parents there will be days we will feel we are just not doing our best and coping as well as we have done on other days. It’s on those days that wise parents will seek some help. That may be in for the form of advice from your own parents or other parents that you know who wear the parenting hat stylishly, letting someone else mind the kids for an hour or so, reading some parenting books, listening to a podcast (Focus on the Family has a few crackers) or simply by just giving yourself some licence to not be perfect on every single occasion. I always find if I’m out of ideas or if it’s just too hard some days, then the go to “I’ll just ask Jill Hodson” generally works! However, she isn’t back until day one of next term so hang in there!

Have a safe and happy break CSPS community!

See everyone back Day 1 of Term 4 on Monday October 14.

Have your say on before and after school care

Fri, 13 Sep 2019 13:41:07 AEST

We want to better understand your needs for before and after school care in NSW.

Have your say today on before and after school care.

Fill out the survey by Service NSW to share your specific care needs and to register interest to stay informed of new developments.

Your input will provide insights into where there are gaps in service availability and help us to deliver extra places where they are needed.

You can also contact the team responsible for rolling out the before and after school care commitment at BASCreform@det.nsw.edu.au.

Book yourself in for Reading Hour

Thu, 12 Sep 2019 11:27:22 AEST

This Australian Reading Hour, encourage your child to discover or rekindle their love of a good book. Take the time to learn, escape and relax on Thursday 19 September and read for one hour.

Get involved at home

Join in at home and read your child a bedtime story. Studies show that reading a bedtime story six days a week can give kids almost a year’s head start when they begin school. Reading has also been shown to develop empathy, promote critical thinking and help children find a sense of self.

Join in from the classroom

Bestselling children’s author and illustrator Matt Stanton will broadcast live to primary school children across the country from the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday 17 September. We invite schools to register for the livestream of this free event.

Stanton’s author talk is among more than 140 events happening across the country involving more than 50 authors.

Take the Book Swap Challenge

We all have favourite books that we come back to again and again.

To help celebrate Reading Hour take our Book Swap Challenge. We want students, teachers, staff and parents to try reading something new on the day. To get involved, simply pair up with someone and swap your favourite books.

Take a photo and tag it with #ReadingHour so we can see how you got involved.

Video – #ReadingHour authors talk about their favourite place to read

Duration: 0:38

Looking for a good spot to open a book? We asked authors Benjamin Law, Morris Gleitzman, Jacqueline Harvey and Mick Elliott about their favourite place to read.

How to be smart and safe on social media

Thu, 05 Sep 2019 11:49:19 AEST

Use our new Digital Citizenship toolkit to empower your child to understand how their online behaviour affects themselves and others.

You and your child can find information on:

how to ‘be positive’ by understanding online behaviour and its effect
'be smart’ by thinking critically and being digitally aware
'be safe’ by protecting your security, privacy and wellbeing.

A toolkit to empower you and your child

You can find articles and videos to equip and empower your child to minimise the risks and maximise the opportunities in our digital future.

We’ve partnered with leading researchers to produce a curated toolkit – aligned to the curriculum – which teachers and you can share with the young people in your lives.

Guide your child through important concepts such as:

managing privacy settings in social media
collaborating online
avoiding scams and hoaxes
understanding the law when it comes to online speech
Internet banking, shopping online and much more.

Keep your child safe and happy online

Visit and bookmark the Digital Citizenship website. We’ll continue to add articles and resources to ensure the best possible tools are available to help you guide your child to be positive, smart and safe online.

'The Amazing Race'

Mon, 26 Aug 2019 12:57:39 AEST

From the Newsletter 19th August 2019

Mon, 19 Aug 2019 14:24:40 AEST

From the Newsletter 5th August 2019

Wed, 07 Aug 2019 12:59:19 AEST

Diary Dates Term 3 Week 3

Wed, 07 Aug 2019 13:03:07 AEST

list of dates for term 3 week 3

Education Week – Every student, every voice

Thu, 01 Aug 2019 14:15:17 AEST

We are celebrating our students and their powerful voices this Education Week Monday 5 August to Friday 9 August. Every year Education Week celebrates the achievements of public schools, our students and the value of public education.

This year, the theme is Every student, every voice.

Join us for #EdWeek19 as we celebrate our students and their power to shape the world.

Video – #EdWeek19 – Every student, every voice

Duration: 0:34

Diary Dates Term 3 Week1

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 11:42:27 AEST

From the Newsletter 23rd July 2019

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 11:36:55 AEST

Lowes Uniform Update

Parents, please know that Lowes is the place for all your uniform supplies except for the school hat and the girl’s stockings which can be purchased from our school office. Recently, we have had a few parents told by the staff at Lowes that winter jackets will take 3 months to come in and won’t be restocked any time soon. This is NOT the case and it has been confirmed by the new Store Manager and the district school wear Regional Manager that any order will take a maximum of 2 weeks to supply if an item is not in stock. If you need a new or updated or upsized school jacket, please head in and order and it will be supplied within the 2 week period. Please steer clear of buying inferior quality jackets and sloppy joes that don’t have our school logo as it will simply lower the standard that we have all worked so hard to achieve. We constantly receive comments when we take our students offsite about how outstanding and impressive it is to see a school so well ‘uniformed’. Visitors to our school, especially casual teachers, also say the same. We ask that you be vigilant in this area so we maintain this high standard which also means completely black shoes except for sports days.

How Good was the Asher Test!

If you did miss local Child & Family Psychologist Asher Morrison at our recent Social Media and Gaming night presentation, you did miss an absolute cracker of a talk. We thank Asher for his valuable time as we were treated to so much quality and relevant information that no doubt saw every single one of us in attendance head home to alter just a few of our children’s online habits as well as our own! We are aiming at a later date to invite Asher back to discuss the issues and intricacies around children that suffer from anxiety.

Make Cyber Safety a Priority

During my attendance at a recent Police Forum, which had as its focus all thing Cyber Safe, I was reminded of the need to be vigilant and informed as parents and educators of young people. The Cyber ‘space’ is changing continually and with that comes a variety of challenges. In response to this ongoing need, we have created two very important and informative Cyber Sessions for you run by a leading Cyber Safety group, the Cyber Owls. The first is for our Stage 2 and 3 students and will be held at school on Tuesday 30^th of July. This session comes highly recommended by every single school that has run these sessions which are highly interactive and will challenge the thinking of all of our students when it comes to keeping themselves safe online. It may even shock them as to who can see their information and how easy it is for people to steal online identities, information and access photos if they aren’t vigilant and wise online. The cost is usually $12 per students but thanks to our P&C subsidising every single student, the cost has been reduced for you to $5. The second session is for parents. This will be held on Wednesday evening 31st July at 6.15pm at Club Charlestown. This will be presented by Cliff Harris the former Team Leader of the NSW Police Cybercrime Command. Cliff has lead high profile cyber investigations working alongside national and international enforcement agencies including the FBI and United States Secret Service. He has spoken at international forums including Interpol (France) and the International Drug and Alcohol Summit. Cliff has conducted information sessions for the NSW Department of Education’s Teacher and Principal Forums on cyber security and safety, as well as training NSW Police School Liaison Officers in cyber safety. He has just a few boxes ticked that qualify to lead us in this extremely important discussion.

We’re Speaking Up!

Our Year 6 Debating students have continued on their merry way debating brilliantly despite losing by the very skinniest of margins in our last debate. Great job girls! We know they are already rearing to go for the next round looking to reverse last round’s decision. Our Train On Squad also commenced their campaign in Week 9 of last term with one win and one loss so far. Considering we have a team all in Year 4, this is quite an amazing achievement. Thumbs up to our team of Niamh M, Ariana C, Daniel K and Jasper T. Great coaching Mrs B!

That’s What We’re Talking About!

Early this term, eight of our students will head to various locations to compete in the Newcastle/Lake Macquarie Public Speaking Competition. Every student at CSPS presented a public speech on a topic of their choice which was first presented to their classmates. Once the numbers were narrowed down each Stage level held finals at school and the final eight students and their topics competing for CSPS are listed below. We wish all of students the very best.

Early Stage 1: Jaxon L - Sharks, Stella I - Jelly fish

Stage 1: Harrison C - Andy Griffiths. Pippa R - Hands

Stage 2: Niamh M - Activists. Lacy B - Red heads

Stage 3: Sunny R - Hair, Abbey S - Sisters

High Tea For Everyone!

Seeing that Mrs Hodson had nothing seemingly to spend her time on only days before heading around Australia in a caravan with her hubby for 3 months, she produced not just one, but two High Tea Celebrations in our final week of term. The much loved celebration for one very fortunate student from each class took place early in the week and then backed up on Thursday afternoon with an absolutely luxurious High Tea for all of our staff. This was one of those moments which was simply stunning! Jill definitely deserves a luxurious holiday seeing some remote areas of Oz that have been on her bucket list for some years now.

Now That's Funny!!

Our extremely active and creative P&C have done it again!! They have an absolute barrel of laughs planned for all of us with the Comedy for a Cause evening. This P&C Fundraiser has been a hit right across the nation gaining rave reviews from all quarters of the land. Comedians that have featured in the Sydney and Melbourne Comedy Festivals will keep us entertained during the evening which is at Club Charlestown (formerly Charlestown Bowling Club) on Saturday 10^th of August at 8pm with the doors opening at 7pm to grab the best seat in the house. Note that this one is 18+ only. Why not book in for dinner at 6.30pm and head on in for the show once you’ve been looked after by the restaurant staff. Tickets are $35 with a hefty percentage coming straight back to the P&C to go toward our Library Refurbishment. Get your giggle on everyone!!! Book online at https://comedyforacause.net/tc-events/cspc/

## Please note the CSPC standing for Charlestown South P&C!!!

Anti-Bullying Performance No Push Over!

The lads from Brainstorm Productions produced their very best in entertaining and challenging us all with a special performance of their primary anti-bullying drama in Week 10 of last term. No doubt this extremely thought provoking drama caused all from Kinder to Year 6 to examine their own behaviours and how we treat our friends and family. Mrs Eland was onto a winner when she booked this one for us.

Our Working Bee Was Buzzing

A massive round of applause for our 20+ mums, dads and grandparents who sacrificed hours of sleep on a Sunday morning to be part of our gardening working bee on Sunday June 30. During our 3 hours together we managed to relocate all 6 vegetable garden beds from next to the demountable classroom down to our new and improved site next to our cricket nets. No doubt this will be the ideal spot for a passionfruit vine or climbing beans! Our beds are full of new soil and are now awaiting to be filled with seedlings. We also planted some 200 sapling plants in our recently cleared ‘down the hill’ back area as well as clearing the last of the old bricks and debris left over from the war! Thank you to all those that assisted on the day and a special green thumbs up to Mrs King for organising such a successful and productive morning.

A Colourful Story!

Whilst students and teachers enjoyed a well-earned break, our ‘Mr Fix It’ School General Assistant, Mr Colin Pascoe, was busy preparing our Library for painting. Col took down shelving, wall hangings, noticeboards, moved all manner of furniture, found a missing Librarian from 1964 and made all ready for the incoming team of painters. And wow, what a difference it has made! The next step is the addition of new shelving, seating, tables and workspaces. Mrs Stoppini, Mrs Muir and Mrs Hansen have excelled in their planning and administering of this great project. Thank you to our P&C for completely paying for the painting of this new recoloured space! I think our students and staff will be pleasantly surprised when they head to the library for their first visit of the term.

Eastlakes Zone Athletics Team Primed To Go!

Our team is in in full training for the Zone Carnival and we ask parents to continue to play their role if time permits, by fitting in some extra ‘leg work’. By all means feel free to use our playground in the afternoons for some running, throwing or jumping practice. We have an accurately marked discus circle painted on our basketball court which can also be used for shot put despite the dimensions being a little different. For parents planning on attending this carnival, it will be held on Wednesday and Thursday of Week 2 which is July 31 and August 1. The Wednesday will see the field events run ie; discus, shot putt, high jump and long jump; as well as the heats of the 200m and 800m. On the Thursday all of the 100m age races will be run as well as the finals of the 200m and 800m and the relays. Relay heats will be run in the middle of the day and the finals last thing in the afternoon. Mr Kelly, Mrs Sutton and I will be attending the carnival with our team.

Canberra & Sydney Excursions Looming Large

Thank you for being so punctual everyone in getting your EOIs back for our Stage 2 & 3 Sydney and Canberra/Snowy excursions later this term. This has allowed us to almost finalise plans with excursion providers. Please feel free to keep paying small instalments to our office which may assist you in the paying off of this expense. Having been on both excursions during my time at CSPS, I can guarantee that both of these life changing journeys will be greatly enjoyed by your kids. It is hard to place a price on these invaluable experiences.

We Are Squeezing Into The Square

On Friday August 9, both our Concert Band and Small Monday Choir will be keeping shoppers entertained as we squeeze into Charlestown Square performance space during Education Week. Our CSPS performances will commence at 12.30pm and run for 30 minutes. Why not grab the groceries, commandeer a cuppa and come and support our students as they sing and play for the unsuspecting masses!

Mr J’s Free Parenting Tip

Having worked with kids for almost 4 decades now, one of the things that saddens me is when I hear children (especially teenagers and those approaching teenage years) say they have never heard a parent say they are proud of them or that they love them. It seems easier to encourage and love a baby, toddler or child. With all the emotional outbursts, screaming and hormonal rage of a teenager, compliments may not come as easy. However, as parents it is essential that we praise even the slightest hint of the behaviours we want to see flourish in our children. I recall a parent once saying to me, “If I praise them too often, it won’t mean much.” But the reality is that much of the world is insecure and hell bent on ridiculing, mocking and taunting your teenager – especially in the vortex of social media. So, before they go out and face the world, make sure their cup is filled to overflowing at home with as much encouragement, hope and optimism that you can pour in. Keep talking with your children about EVERYTHING. Make no conversation off limits so, when the time does come for them to bring some hair raising news to you, they know you will listen without losing it! When teenagers feel the support from a loving parent, they know they can withstand the taunts from others and press on.

From the Newsletter 24th June 2019

Wed, 26 Jun 2019 12:40:07 AEST

Creative and Active Kids vouchers now available

Fri, 14 Jun 2019 11:43:56 AEST

Creative kids can now put a $100 voucher towards extra-curricular creative activities outside of school.

Together with Active Kids, this program aims to encourage more NSW children to participate in a range of extra-curricular activities such as coding, languages, circus, performing arts and visual arts.

Parents can apply for one $100 voucher for each child enrolled in school on the Creative Kids website and use it towards the cost of registration, participation or tuition. You just redeem the voucher with a registered provider in your area when making your payment.

This is a great opportunity for your child to become involved in a range of activities that will build on their education, growth and development.

Service NSW is working with industry bodies to deliver the program.

For more information, contact Service NSW on 137 788 or creativekids@service.nsw.gov.au.

The Game Changer Challenge is back

Fri, 31 May 2019 12:28:20 AEST

It’s not too late to become a Game Changer with applications for the Education Week challenge due by 7 June.

The Game Changer Challenge brings 16 teams from public schools across NSW – eight from primary and eight from secondary – to Sydney during Education Week in August for a three-day, intensive design-thinking workshop.

The Game Changer workshops, which start on Tuesday 6 August, includes teacher training in the use of design thinking as a teaching methodology and its application for school planning.

It also includes a team competition where schools will work under the guidance of experts from industry and academia to develop a solution to this year’s critical question: How might we humanise technology?

Department of Education Secretary Mark Scott has encouraged students and teachers to get behind the event as it highlights the critical thinking students will need to develop to succeed in the future.

“The Game Changer Challenge is an exciting initiative that helps educate and inform our students and teachers on how to integrate the problem-solving methodology of design thinking into the classroom,” Mr Scott says.

“It embraces the 21^st century skills our students will need to thrive in a globalised world such as collaboration, creative thinking and communication.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for our students at all levels to be involved in discussing and addressing a real-world issue that will affect their future lives. I encourage every school to get involved.”

The challenge is designed to make strong learning and teaching connections to the NSW syllabus specifically in the area of developing general capabilities such as critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, communication and problem-solving.

The challenge also provides teachers with an opportunity to gain exposure to the design thinking process and includes teacher resources to introduce this creative problem-solving methodology into the classroom.

Finalists will be selected based on a 60-second video that showcases your team’s vision around the question of humanising technology.

For more information email edweek@det.nsw.edu.au or visit the Game Changer Challenge page.

Diary Dates Term 2 Week 5

Tue, 28 May 2019 10:55:12 AEST

From the Newsletter 27th May 2019

Tue, 28 May 2019 10:51:14 AEST

Diary Dates Term 2 Week 3

Mon, 13 May 2019 11:46:05 AEST

From the Newsletter 13th May 2019

Mon, 13 May 2019 11:43:25 AEST

Your NAPLAN questions answered

Thu, 09 May 2019 15:26:08 AEST

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a point in time assessment for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. The tests assess the foundational skills in reading, writing, spelling and numeracy that are essential for every child to progress through school and life.

This year NAPLAN takes place between 14 and 16 May for paper tests and between 14 and 24 May for schools participating in NAPLAN Online.

NAPLAN data is used to help monitor student progress over time against a national measure and to identify areas of strength and improvement. It is used in combination with other school assessments to guide and support student learning.

Watch students ask an expert the tough questions about NAPLAN.

Video – Kids ask the hard questions

Duration – 3:45

Diary Dates Term 2 Week 1

Wed, 01 May 2019 10:27:10 AEST

From the Newsletter 30th April 2019

Wed, 01 May 2019 10:18:01 AEST

Apply now for My Community Project funding

Mon, 29 Apr 2019 15:15:29 AEST

Do you have a great idea to improve your area?

My Community Project is a new NSW Government funding program that is all about local ideas, local projects and local decisions.

You can apply now for grants from $20,000 - $200,000 for projects that will make a difference to your community. Projects could include new playground equipment, sports facilities, paths or ramps to improve access, public art or a community service.

The local community can vote for their favourite projects in July and successful projects will be announced in September.

Project applications close 15 May 2019.

Apply for My Community Project funding

Bring back memories, not measles

Thu, 11 Apr 2019 15:29:40 AEST

With school holidays just around the corner, it’s time to visit your doctor to check that you and your family are fully protected against measles, before you travel overseas.

Measles is a serious, highly contagious, viral illness that is easily spread through the air when an infectious person coughs, sneezes or breathes. If you and your family are not fully vaccinated, or have never been vaccinated, you are at risk of contracting measles.

Not sure if you’re fully protected?

In Australia, the measles vaccine (MMR) consists of 2 doses. If you’re not sure whether you’ve had 2 doses of the measles vaccine, visit your doctor. It’s safe to receive another dose.

Children born in Australia

If your children were born in Australia, they may have received the measles vaccine at 12 months old and the second dose at 18 months, in accordance with the National Immunisation Program.
If you have a baby under 12 months old, consult your doctor about getting their measles vaccination.

Adults born in Australia

Born before 1966 – you were most likely exposed to measles as a child and are generally considered to be immune. If in doubt, ask your GP.
Born between 1966 and 1994 – you may not have received 2 doses. Talk to your doctor about the free vaccine if you’re unsure.
Born after 1994 – the National Immunisation Program offers 2 doses, and you can check your vaccination status using the Australian Immunisation Register.

For more information about the measles vaccination, visit NSW Health or consult your local doctor.

Diary Dates Term 1 Week 9

Mon, 25 Mar 2019 14:57:04 AEDT

From the Newsletter 25th March 2019

Mon, 25 Mar 2019 14:55:14 AEDT

From the Newsletter 11th March 2019

Mon, 11 Mar 2019 13:32:21 AEDT

From the Newsletter 25th February 2019

Tue, 26 Feb 2019 13:34:08 AEDT

5 road safety tips for parents and carers

Mon, 25 Feb 2019 13:46:53 AEDT

Now that students are back to school after a break it’s a good time to chat with your child about safe behaviours when you walk or commute to school.

Here are our top tips to help our students make a safe trip:

1. Be alert and aware

Take note of the dangers you come across on your walk and bring them to your child’s attention. Point out dangers, such as vehicles coming out of driveways. Talk to your child about being alert in a road environment.

2. Hold hands

When on the footpath, at a crossing or in a car park always hold your child's hand. It is advised to do this up to the age of at least 8 years old and closely supervise until at least the age of 10.

3. Choose a safe crossing

Lead by example and choose a safe place to cross the road. Explain why it is the safest place to cross.

4. Set a good example

Your child watches everything you do, so if you cross at the crossing they will too. It is also important to share these messages with other carers who may walk with your child to school.

5. Stop, Look, Listen, Think every time you cross the road

Discuss this important road safety message. STOP! one step back from the kerb. LOOK! continuously both ways. LISTEN! for the sounds of approaching traffic. THINK! whether it is safe to cross.

Practise makes perfect

The more supervised practice your child can get the better, so why not make Term 1 the start of a new routine to walk with your child to school more often.

Older children may be ready to make the journey to school independently. Before they take this step, observe if they are road safe and reinforce the road safety messages.

For more information, check out the department’s pedestrian safety advice for students, parents and carers.

From the Newsletter 11th February 2019

Mon, 18 Feb 2019 10:15:56 AEDT

From the Newsletter 4th February 2019

Thu, 07 Feb 2019 13:33:13 AEDT

Term 1 Reminders

Thu, 07 Feb 2019 13:41:19 AEDT

Student Banking resumes Monday 11th February.

Swimming Carnival, Years 3 to 6, Tuesday 12th February.

School Canteen reopens Thursday 21st February.

Back to school

Fri, 25 Jan 2019 15:08:00 AEDT

The first day of Kindergarten and the return to school in the new year are busy times for your child – and for the entire family. To help you make the most of this time and enjoy the experience, we’ve compiled some useful tips and checklists. We want every student to be known, valued and cared for in our schools.

Our film #FirstDay2019 captures the excitement – and the nerves – of the rite of passage that is the first day of Kindergarten.

Video – Back to School 2019: First Day at Kindy

Duration – 1:00

Back to School Information for 2019

Mon, 17 Dec 2018 12:46:50 AEDT

Classes resume for students in Years 1 - 6 on Wednesday 30th January 2019.

Kindergarten will commence on Tuesday 5th February 2019.

School Uniform can be purchased from Lowes at Charlestown Square. They supply all items except school hats which are sold at the School Office, for $13.00 each.

Further Back to School information can be found by clicking here

From the School Newsletter Monday 17th December

Mon, 17 Dec 2018 11:32:37 AEDT

Students Return Dates 2019

Years 1 to 6 return Wednesday 30^th January.

New Kinders Tuesday 5^th of February.

Presentation Day a Hit!

A huge thank you to all who played a role in making our annual Presentation Day such a wonderful success. The celebration of learning across such a wide array of disciplines was extremely evident given the awards that were distributed on the day. Both the Director of Educational Leadership in our area, Mr Steve Harris, and Charlestown State MP, Ms Jodie Harrison, were just so very impressed by our students and community. Not to mention how overwhelmingly heartfelt was their praise for a staff that obviously cares and feels so deeply for the students of CSPS. Well done to our Concert Band and Monday Choir for their performances on the day which was echoed in the applause from the floor.

We congratulate every student at CSPS, whether they received an official award or not, for an outstanding year of significant achievement and relentless application. Congratulations to the many students who were fortunate enough to receive awards this year.

♫ ♪♫ Christmas Spirits Poured Out

What a fantastic night was had by all as our students led us through another magical Carols event. This end of year event is always such a highlight for me personally as we gather as a community to celebrate Christmas together. Perched on picnic rugs, sausage sandwich in one hand and a songbook in the other, singing along in one voice with Mr Blake melodically guiding us on has all the hallmarks of ‘family’. Thank you everyone for making it such a special night and to our P&C Team for once again BBQing and running a brilliant Christmas Raffle that saw 18 of our CSPS families head home with hamper in hands.

A Stacked Deck

Last Wednesday saw our Ocean View Deck off the Library filled with a group of the most amazing people who all play a role at CSPS in a voluntary capacity. Student mentors, canteen workers, reading helpers, P&C members, scripture teachers and more, assembled for a Chrissy luncheon get together as a thank you for the endless hours of dedication and sacrifice for our students. I hate to think what would happen nationally if every volunteer took the day off!? It has been said in the past that Australia rode on the back of the sheep such was our global wool trade and now on the back of our mining given our minerals and resources exports, but I tend to think our success and wealth as a nation rides on the back of our volunteers and the goodwill of people to give freely back to their communities. Thank you to all of our volunteers for your giving.

Keep An Eye Out

Parents who live close by or who drive past our school regularly, can we ask that you keep an eye out for trespassers that may look to be up to no good! If you do spot anything suspicious, please don’t approach intruders but do call School Security on 1300 880 021. We have had some type of vandalism every weekend since the Council turned on the CCTV cameras 4 weeks ago at the new skate park.

Keep on Swimming CSPS!

Can I encourage all families who had children participate in the recent Intensive Swim Scheme to head to the pool several times during the hols. This will aid enormously in reinforcing all of the new water safety, survival and swimming skills that our children gained during the 2 week period. The improvement in every single student was evident after the final day had clicked over, and given our location by the seaside, it is such an essential skill on so many levels. Get the goggles out!

Who Knows What Tomorrow Brings??!!

With only moments before we close up classrooms and our students and staff take a well earned break, let me give you the most likely scenario for 2019. We are still a couple of families away from forming a 10^th class and it seems the most likely outcome will be 9 classes once again at CSPS despite that we will start the new year with 12 more students than this year. Who knows, maybe by day one in 2019 a few local houses will have sold and the story may have a vastly different chapter written yet!

Are You Outstanding?

Just a reminder that we do have a handful parents that still have outstanding fees owing from Term 1 for some book or IT resources. Mrs Pascoe would love to settle these well ahead of Wednesday please as she draws a line in the ledger for 2019.

Save This Swim Date

If you do need to save a date well ahead of time and the Swimming Carnival is a ‘not to be missed’ event for you, note down Tuesday 12^th of February. Our carnival is attended by Year 3 to Year 6. Year 2 can nominate to participate if they are quality swimmers who can complete 50m with high competence.

Mr J’s Free Parenting Tip

Christmas is the absolute perfect time to reinforce the important character trait within our kids that it is more important to give than receive. This week I’ve asked a number of kids as they have played at lunchtime or recess, “What are you hoping to give this Christmas?” I have had a few strange looks that have said “Don’t you mean get Mr J?” Getting our children to create a small gift or write a simple card to family members or friends (grandparents especially love this far better than a bought one!) is just another way to teach our kids that generosity and thinking of others first is the very foundation of a quality community. From all of the staff at CSPS, we wish each and every one of our families the most enjoyable Christmas ever!

From the School Newsletter Monday 26th Novmeber

Mon, 26 Nov 2018 13:27:54 AEDT

Diary Dates Term 4 Week 7

Mon, 26 Nov 2018 13:17:51 AEDT

Diary dates Term 4 Week 7

Diary Dates Term 4 Week 5

Mon, 19 Nov 2018 13:49:09 AEDT

From the School Newsletter Monday 12th November

Mon, 19 Nov 2018 14:00:46 AEDT

Open For Business

Year 3 and 4 campers returned from Morisset full of excitement and tales of heroics and conquest. The flying fox fetched comments such as “Awesome!”, “It was so cool”, “It felt like I was flying!”, “I wish we could’ve had heaps more turns”. Yet it was the High Swing that brought the most wide eyed reactions. Since their return the swing has grown in stature from 8 metres to taller and longer than the Sydney Harbour Bridge!

Monday Night’s Country Fair was a huge hit with a delicious selection of stalls including hair spray, nail polish, mechanical surfboard, milkshakes, doughnuts, jumping castle, face painting and more! I certainly looked a treat adorned with my nice ‘redback spider’ face paint (compliments of Abbey S) which nicely complimented my eye colour! Mrs King smashed the camp record for the teacher who could stay on the surfboard the longest. (Next time we’ll get them to turn the motor on!)

Games Night proved to uncover some more hidden talents as Ella B narrowly defeated Mrs Hodson in the musical knees challenge.

Morisset Camp Staff ‘raved’ about our CSPS kids and continually commented on their manners and respectfulness as well as their willingness to have a go at any and everything on offer. Many thanks to Mrs Woodward, Mrs King, Mrs Burton and Mrs Donovan for guiding our courageous campers through their adventures and safely home. A big thank you to Mrs Hodson who tagged with Mrs King for the Tuesday evening sleep over and Mrs Sutton as well who joined the festivities for our final day of fun.

♫ ♪♫ Concert Band Ready to Explode

Miss Lawson is currently trying to locate her desk under the mountain of Expression of Interest notes to join the Concert Band in 2019. We know that research from all corners of the globe confirms that learning a musical instrument at a young age has a significant impact upon a child’s ability to read and compute mathematical tasks. What a nice academic added bonus! Our new recorder program as well as the introduction of the Term 1 Junior Band for ‘newbies’, has proven to be even more successful than we hoped or envisaged. This year’s Year 3 students have moved to a musical level at a rate we haven’t experienced before. Add that to the fact that we now have students starting in 2019 that have been playing, reading music and have been tutored on recorder for 12 months in Year 2 by Mr Isaacs …. the sky is the limit as to what the Concert Band will produce in the new year! Bandfest 2019 look out!

Mr Bone, Instrumental in our Success

If you are a parent of a band member or a prospective band member and are looking to buy your child an instrument for Christmas, please come in before 9am on a Friday morning and have a quick chat with our Band Conductor, Jason Bone, so he can give you some free advice. Yes ALDI and a few others stores occasionally have instruments for sale, as do Ebay and Gumtree, but check to see if they are the best long term purchases.

The Great Outdoors

Thursday of Week 3 was National Outdoor Classroom Day and Mrs Jovanovski and Mrs Hodson took up the challenge of taking their lessons to the great outdoors! Students greatly enjoyed the freedom, fresh air and the change of scenery for the day.

All Revved Up and Somewhere To Go!

Supercars are here! Woohoo! Friday 23^rd November we return to the track for the second edition of the Newcastle based Supercars event. Our 2017 attendees are still raving about this one with most backing up for the return bout. As a school we have been allocated free tickets for students as well as adults accompanied by their child with the only cost being $5 for the bus fare! A bargain! Go Team Nissan!

Tennis Program A Smash Hit With Students

I’m not sure what sort of racket we have started, but our kids have fallen in love with tennis! Our 4 week program with Mount Hutton Tennis Coach, Matt Abbott, has already inspired some to dream of Wimbledon even to the point of bringing strawberries and cream for fruit break! However, it has caused some issues with teachers which was highlighted during 3-4W’s session last week when I called out to a group of kids “Are you at forty love?” Mrs Woodward turned and threw a tennis ball at me letting me know in no uncertain terms that she hadn’t even reached 30 yet! I shall take more care court side this week!

Kinder Buddies and Besties Unite!

If you’re a parent of a Year 5 student, be proud …. very proud. Our Year 5 kinder buddies were exceptional last week during Kinder Orientation as they confidently introduced themselves to their buddies and their buddy’s parents and proceeded to allay the fears of first time ‘big schoolers’. It took just over an hour after the session to receive an email from a mum commenting how wonderful and friendly and caring a Year 5 boy had been to her nervous daughter. She was worried when her daughter got a ‘boy buddy’ but after only a few minutes she was sold. Great job Daniel B!

Jane Austen Beware!

At CSPS, lifting the quality of our writing has been a priority for us for over the last few years. Our EI Writing Warm Ups and the intentional and explicit teaching of vocabulary has dramatically improved not just our NAPLAN results but the quality of every piece of writing our students are producing on a regular daily basis. Recently, Stage 3 has been studying the gold rush era and the 1800s and were set the task of putting themselves in the shoes of someone living and working on the goldfields and writing a letter home to their parents. With the permission of Year 6 student Keira, here is her letter.

Bendigo Creek, July 22nd, 1852.

Edwin Jameson

My Dear Father,

Many apologies for my lack of correspondence of late, I hope you and Mother can forgive me.

The journey was arduous. The heavens seemed to draw down and touch the land. With one’s view limited to only a few yards and the ground as unsteady as the marshy lands from home, the hundred or so miles from Melbourne to Bendigo were almost unbearable. Not only did I have to endure these hardships, I was also billed a levy of 5 shillings a night to pitch my tent, which on most occasions was on the most uninhabitable land. But luck had not forsaken me for I had the pleasure of meeting two German fellows who would normally bill from 120 pounds to 150 pounds per ton to haul a person’s belongings from Melbourne to Bendigo, but billed your fortunate son only 25 pounds due to a spare horse. As luck would have it, throughout the entirety of my travels, no pesky bushrangers were sighted.

My heart did not rejoice at my first sighting of this place. The land is marshy making everyday life even more difficult. My digging licence not only cost me 30 shillings but also lasts for only a month. My small claim of mud near a bend in the creek has had no luck as of yet. I fear my time to find some gold is limited. I have to work six days a week or else another digger will thieve my claim. Rather busy I am. The continuous work is exhausting and I do not care for the awful behaviour of the drunken diggers around me. Grog has become more favoured than water here and violence is abound. Brawls occur everyday day over claims, but worry not, I have met a few good fellows with whom I have formed strong friendships. Together we avoid the heated disputes.

I am living on damper, tea and mutton. I long for-at the very least-the sweet scent of Mother’s cooking. The price of a single biscuit is at 7 pence, and I dare not even look at cheese for the fear that they may charge me 3 pence. Although I’ve had my fill of mutton, I reckon I shall tolerate it for it is only about 5 shillings for a quarter. Some diggers have taken to eating parrot and cockatoo pies, as others have sampled echidna and possum. I would also have to pay 2 pence for fresh water if not for the heavens and my trusty pail.

I miss the comforts of home dearly for my humble tent has now acquired its fifth leak. My self-made bedding is hardly supportive and I awake every morn stiff and sore. Though I definitely have it better than the old digger down the creek whom does not own a tent. The frigid conditions do not assist in making anything more favourable. Cleanliness and hygiene is poor and many have dysentery. I am in good health so please do not fret, my spirits are high and I still have faith that I will find us some gold. All will be well. Many have found this life too difficult and have abandoned their claim. You know that I have never been a quitter though Father, so fear not.

It has been a long day, I need to rest as the gold awaits. I shall write home soon hopefully with better news. Give my love to all of the family especially Mother as I know she troubles easily.

Best regards, your loving son

Edwin.

I think you will agree this is definitely a piece of writing worthy of sharing! In the last Newsletter I also mentioned Keira was competing in the State Athletics in the Senior Girl’s Discus. She finished in 12^th place overall which is a wonderful effort. Keira returned home a tad frustrated as her measured throw on her warm up throw was over 36m which ended up being the second longest throw in the carnival!

Buzz On In

We have our final P&C Working Bee on Saturday November 17 to knock over the last bit of lantana on the southern section of our ‘hill’. How incredible this space is going to be once cleared! If you can spend an hour or so anytime from 8am to 12 noon we’d love to have you. Wear your old gardening gear, bring your gloves and chopping tools if you have any and join the party! Morning tea will be supplied.

Lest We Forget

Our Year 6 Leadership ‘lads’ represented us with grace and poise yesterday at the Belmont Remembrance Day Service. The boys gathered with others at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month to remember and reflect upon those that have gone before and made great sacrifice so we can enjoy the freedom of our great southern land.

Mr J’s Free Parenting Tip

I know that there are probably a few years left until your children get behind the wheel of a car for the first time, but as I’ve mentioned before, it comes around well before you are prepared for it emotionally, mentally and physically. As a kid I had the good fortune to grow up on a farm driving tractors and old cars well before I could see over the steering wheel, yet I was still pretty nervous and a tad unprepared for the real thing. If that was me with years of prep, how nerve racking it must be for a young person (and their passenger!) to head out onto the road for the first time. One of the tricks is to get ahead of the game. Even while your children are young you might take time whilst you are driving to point out what good drivers do. Explain to them some road rules and what you are doing and why. I often tell Lil to look ahead at the roundabout or a stop sign or a giveway sign and tell me what I should do. It’s amazing how they start to ‘get it’! After a while you will find you may have many backseat drivers!! Buckle up

2019 school budget allocations

Mon, 12 Nov 2018 16:28:36 AEDT

Like all NSW public schools, this week we will receive a School Budget Allocation Report with our funding for 2019. The report will help us manage our total budget delivered through the Resource Allocation Model (RAM).

The RAM supports schools through needs-based funding to ensure a fair, efficient and transparent allocation of funds. Our school has the flexibility to make local decisions based on the specific needs of our students.

We will use our 2019 funding to support students and improve educational outcomes. The school executive will continue to work with the school community as we implement the school plan using this needs-based funding.

Learn more about the 2019 RAM funding.

From the School Newsletter Monday 29th November

Wed, 31 Oct 2018 09:41:07 AEDT

Open For Business

This Wednesday we throw open the doors of our classrooms again, just as we do every term, for teachers from other schools who are keen to see what Explicit Instruction Warm Ups look like. Our CSPS EI Open Day on this occasion welcomes teachers from Caves Beach, Glendore, as well as Wallace from the Department of Education Bump It Up strategy who has requested to come and see what we are doing to cause such significant growth in Reading and Numeracy. We thank our wonderful teaching staff for not only possessing the most incredible skills, but for being willing to demonstrate those skills in front of a room full of their peers.

Kinder Buddies Busting To Be Besties!

Our Year 5 students are dying to meet their Kinder buddies for 2019 this Tuesday as our new Kinders and their parents descend upon CSPS for our annual Orientation day. If you do spot new families and students nervously waiting in the COLA area on Tuesday, please don’t hesitate to say hi and welcome to the CSPS family. A friendly smile and hello can go a long way to saying ‘you are welcome here’.

We Conquered The Wild West

Our unbearded Bushrangers – Kelly, Taylor and Donovan all returned safely with our most treasured possessions after scaling the Blue Mountains, navigating the Jenolan Caves, gold panning the creeks of Sofala and taming the lions of Dubbo Zoo. Our tenacious travellers squeezed every ounce out of their 3 day journey as they enjoyed the company of their ‘besties’ on a trip they will never forget! Thank you to our tired trio of teachers for planning and delivering such an awesome experience.

♫ ♪♫ Sleepy Saxophonists Simply Superb!

What a highly commendable effort by our Concert Band who last week overcame a lack of sleep and practice to perform with poise and grace at the annual Bandfest Competition at Warners Bay Performing Arts Centre. Our band was highly commended which is the second highest award given. A high percentage of our musicians had returned from their 3 day excursion to the Central West of NSW the night before and slid slowly at 6am from the comfort of their soft sheets to head into school early last Thursday for a practice before boarding the Bandfest bus. Great job team and Mr Bone for a praiseworthy performance given the tough circumstances.

Speaking of Great Performers …

This Tuesday we gather at school at 7pm for our penultimate P&C Meeting for 2018. What a fantastic year it has been and it certainly isn’t too late to come and enjoy an hour of power with our team. Our P&C Meetings are a great place to keep up to speed with what’s happening around our school as well as what is on the drawing board for 2019.

Stage 2 Campers In-Tent On Fun In The Great Outdoors!

Mrs King, Mrs Woodward and Mrs Sutton have Year 3-4 set and pumped for an epic time at Camp Morisset. Canoeing, archery, flying fox and ropes courses are just a ‘tiny teaser’ to what we get up to in our 3 days of outdoor adventures. Pleasingly, the timetable has allowed me to join our brave bushwhackers for the 3 days and I certainly plan to show them up on the flying fox and other such apparatus if all of the titanium screws holding various bones together hold up to the stress!

Fox Sports Update

This week we wish Year 6 student, Keira, all the very best as she competes in the NSW State Athletics Championships at Homebush, Sydney. Keira is the Eastlakes Senior Girls Discus Champion and we are hoping her 30m+ throws this week propel her into a placing.

School Captain and sports all rounder, Sarah, returned to school today as a State Champion! Over the weekend Sarah competed in the NSW Koori Under 12s Netball Championships and her team was successful in taking out the tournament.

Speaking of champions, our staff now boasts a Silver Medalist from this weekend’s Australian Classic Weightlifting Championships held at Swansea!! No, it’s not me (I daresay that’s where your mind immediately went and assumed!!) but Mrs Louise Sutton is the proud owner of this title. We are extremely proud of her efforts. If you do need get a flat tyre at pick up time and require a wheel change, forget the car jack as Mrs ‘Muscles’ Sutton can easily lift that for you whilst you change your tyre!

National Teachers’ Day

Last Friday was National Teachers’ Day!! Just in case you missed it and are feeling traumatised and ridden with guilt because you were hoping to do something nice for your teachers, it’s not too late!! Why not make this week your belated treat for your teachers. Maybe a card, a personally cooked slice, a homemade gift …. the list is endless. Thank you to Mrs Hodson who organised a beautiful lunch last Friday for our extra special educators. How very fortunate we are at CSPS to have the most talented and caring group of teachers in every classroom from Kinder to Year 6 looking after our kids.

Mr J’s Free Parenting Tip

I know I have mentioned this one before, but leading up to our Kindergarten Orientation Day where I mention to parents some of great parenting books that are definitely worth a read, I have been reminded of the impact that these books can have upon us as the guiders of young minds and characters. I know that many are time poor and finding those few minutes each day to read can be a challenge but here’s the answer to the time dilemma!! Audio books! And here is a cracker to download and listen to in the car! Braving the Wilderness is a great title for what you and I as parents attempt each day! Enjoy listening!

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1W7qjZiLWxB9ep54YDqN65bO4NUeWafhe?usp=sharing

Diary Dates Term 4 Week 3

Tue, 30 Oct 2018 12:52:56 AEDT

Term 4 Week 1

Mon, 19 Nov 2018 14:06:52 AEDT

The Proof is in the Pudding!

From the moment we first saw, considered and dived into Explicit Instruction (EI) model of teaching under the tutelage of John Fleming and the team from Haileybury College, we were extremely confident we had found what we were looking for. I knew we had outstanding teachers and I knew we had students that were hungry to learn and grow academically. The missing link to greater success?? Could it be the Literacy, Numeracy and Writing Daily Warm Ups we had heard so much about? When we flew our staff to Melbourne in 2015 to visit the highest performing school in Australia, we wanted to see how they were taking information, knowledge and skills from student’s short term memory to long term memory using the above mentioned warm ups and the EI maths lesson format. It took only 5 minutes into our visit before we started smiling at each other with great excitement.

That was 4 years ago. Our ‘test pilot guinea pig’ group was our kinder class of 2015 who have known nothing else but EI. Four years, on our ‘test pilots’ have arrived in Year 3 and have finally been able to sit the 2018 Australia wide NAPLAN (National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy) Assessment. We were always quite confident that the Pudding had been well ‘prepared and cooked’ and we now just had to see what the taste testing judges had to say. Well …… the proof is in the pudding! The Premier’s Priority and key target for all NSW Schools is to have as many students as possible in the very top 2 Bands of NAPLAN in Reading and Numeracy.

· Across NSW, which is the highest performing state, the percentage of students in the top 2 Bands in Reading is 50% - Charlestown South PS Year 3 – 86%.

· Average student score for Reading across NSW was 429 – Charlestown South PS averages student score for Reading 506.

· NSW percentage of students in the top 2 Bands in Numeracy is 51% - Charlestown South PS

Year 3 – 83%.

· Average student score for Numeracy across NSW was 406 – Charlestown South PS average student score for Numeracy 468.

Overall NAPLAN for 2018 in light of the Premier’s Priority, the NSW State average for students in Years 3 & 5 in the top 2 Bands in Reading and Numeracy was 35% - Charlestown South average for students in Years 3 & 5 in the top 2 Bands in Reading and Numeracy was 70%

Now that was a nice Pudding don’t you think!!!

♫ ♪♫ This Week @ Band Camp…

Glenrock Scout Camp will not be woken this Friday to the sounds of “dib, dib, dib, dob, dob, dob”, but rather the tuneful melodies of CSPS 33 student strong Concert Band. The local birdlife will no doubt gather on the verandah at 2pm along with our instrumentalist’s parents, for a brief performance celebrating all things learnt during the day. When you combine our three terrific tutors with our keen ‘concerters’ and throw them in together for 5 hours, it’s amazing what magical music one can make! Our Concert Band will perform on the Thursday of Week 2 at Bandfest despite many members spending three days in Bathurst on our Stage 3 excursion.

Recorders Rocked

In the final assembly, on the final day, in the final 30 minutes we heard the most amazing thing! All of Year 1 & 2 who have been learning to play the recorder with Mr Isaacs, performed for the entire school. Never before in the history of man have we heard a rendition of Hot Cross Buns like this one! Well done Year 1 & 2 on a rousing performance that also included 7 other musical pieces. No longer will we have new students in Year 3 starting Concert Band not knowing the basics of musical notation and reading and the ability to play a basic instrument. Bandfest 2019 look out! In Term 4 we will send out expressions of interest to Year 2 (as well as Year 3 & 4 who may have reconsidered) for those wanting to join the Concert Band. Our aim is to send students home for Christmas this year already in possession of their probable instrument for 2019. We are looking forward to the challenge of having to purchase a whole lot of new flutes, clarinets, saxophones, trumpets and more to meet the growing demand. Not to mention the rapidly growing research that seems to all sing from the same hymn book when it comes to the extreme benefits in reading and maths for students who play a musical instrument.

If you know of any local businesses eager to sponsor local schools and endeavours in the academic space, we’d be very happy to accept sponsorships for musical instruments and gladly sing their praises and generosity on our school sign, Facebook and Instagram pages as well as our Newsletter, all of which when combined reaches 1000s of local families every single week.

All Aboard the Bathurst Bus!

Going west may have once been a dangerous wilderness discovery adventure but now … well it still is (minus the dangerous of course!). On Monday our intrepid travellers from Years 5 & 6 will board the bus bound for Bathurst as they head out for a 3 day journey through western NSW. Apart from gold digging and panning near the thriving country town of Bathurst, they will cross the 3 Sisters in Katoomba, delve underground into Jenolan Caves, connect with some cattle, rub shoulders with sheep and then venture on to the spectacular Dubbo Zoo. It’s an action packed 3 days! A big thank you to Mr Kelly, Miss McLelland and School Chaplain Mrs Donovan for your willingness to leave your family behind to give our students such an awesome opportunity in the wild west!

A Brilliant Course of Action

Coming up in our local area are some outstanding courses available to kids and parents that I would encourage people to consider. Eastlakes Family Support Centre has three courses coming up for FREE! The Tuning Into Kids course sounds superb as does the Circle of Security Parenting Series. The G*I*R*L sessions for young girls also sounds amazing! For further info check out the Eastlakes Family Support Services website or give them a call on 49439255.

Parenting Course a Huge Hit

The common comment from the collective crowd of 25 parents as they filed out of the library after our recent Navigating Parenting session with School Counsellor, Bec O’Brien was….. “that was brilliant!” We thank Bec for giving her time to convey all manner of parenting tips during our time together. The good news is that Bec also presents a CyberSafety session for parents and I have invited her back in Term 4 to present this to us! Stay tuned for dates and time.

Inspired Individuals – Friendships Fostered

The 2018 Whitebridge Community of Schools Year 6 Leadership Day once again delivered all that was promised! Our crew of kids was challenged and changed by the inspirational guest speakers who came from the digital, technical, University and Law Enforcement space. Alongside of this was the informal friendships forged with students from Kahibah, Redhead, Dudley, Charlestown East and Charlestown public schools, many of whom will attend WHS with our students in 2019. The intertwining nature of the day requires students to work together from all 6 schools as we solve mysteries and undertake mind grappling group tasks that foster fun and friendship. No value can be placed on this important factor. Well done Mr K for organising such a sensational stimulating event.

Anyone Know Where Barooga Is??

I hope so! Because that is where I am headed to for all of next week as I coach the Hunter PSSA Boys’ Cricket Team at the NSW State Carnival. Despite the 9 hour drive there, and the 9 hour drive back, this is an event that I look forward to each year, seeing the young cricketing talent from the Public, Catholic and Independent Private School systems from all parts of our great state. Go Team Hunter! We made the semi-finals in 2018, can we go one better? Mrs Jill Hodson will be acting Principal during my absence.

Everybody Loves Good Neighbours

During the holiday break we had a nasty incident when three youths smashed a number of windows and gained access to a few of our classrooms. Our wonderful neighbours heard the alarms, notified us immediately and were quick enough to snap some photos of the fleeing group. These photos are now in the hands of the police who have identified the intruders. A huge thank you to ‘off duty’ staff Colin Pascoe and Cheryl Hansen, who attended the break in with me to clean up the glass and mess in our classrooms. Fortunately, despite the huge mess created, nothing major was taken or completely destroyed and classrooms were all cleaned up and ready to go this morning.

And the Survey said …

We surveyed the top parents in the nation (CSPS Parents that is) and their responses were ….

Every 2 years CSPS participates in the nation-wide school survey. This online survey takes about 5 minutes to complete and has the same questions for every school across Australia. It generates a great snapshot about each school and the parent’s perception of their local school. We’d love all to participate in this anonymous and confidential survey and you can do so by going to https://nsw.tellthemfromme.com/csps2018. Thumbs up to the 66 parents who have already completed the survey.

Mr J’s Free Parenting Tip

During the holidays Susan, Lily and I managed to see a couple of great little films (Grandad came too but saw about half of each!! zzzzzzzzzzzz J). Being a lifelong fan of A.A.Milne and his clever poetry, I especially enjoyed the movie Christopher Robin. I think I can still quote a few off by heart?? When the adult Christopher asked Winnie the Pooh what day it was, Winnie answered “Today! My favourite day!” This comment may be more profound than you think upon first hearing. As parents with busy lives and schedules, sometimes we can forget to appreciate the moment with our kids and miss the gift of today. Sometimes the chaos of life can simply blur our priorities. Whatever age your child is today, they will never ever be that age again. Being there ‘today’ makes the ‘tomorrow’ more special and all the more rewarding

Diary Dates Term 4 Week 1

Mon, 15 Oct 2018 14:44:40 AEDT

Welcome to our new website

Wed, 19 Sep 2018 11:56:39 AEST

The migration of our website to the new platform is now complete. This new website offers us a host of great features which we'll reveal to you as we go along. Staff are being trained in the use of the website and you'll notice new content being added all the time. Why not bookmark this page and be sure to check it once a week or so for all the CSPS news!