Dear Duffy Primary School Community,

Welcome to Week 8.

Year 6 Market Day is most certainly a highlight of the Duffy School Community. At Wednesdays assembly Year 6 gave us a sneak preview with their Market Advertisements of what to expect. This has created much excitement across the school, and we are all looking forward to ‘A DAY AT THE MOVIES’.

Thank you in advance for your support in donations and/or for purchasing tickets to the DAY AT THE MOVIES for your child/ren. There is still time to purchase tickets and donate!

The note for purchasing tickets can be found on our website here or on Seesaw in the announcements section.

Learning Journeys

Thank you for your engagement in learning journeys this week. I am sure you would agree that the school looked magnificent, and the classrooms and corridors were abuzz with chatter and excitement as little and big learners shared a variety of different experiences with you. As a school, learning journeys are an important feature of our commitment to partnering with you and strengthen the connections between home and school.

As we value your input and are regularly seeking ways to improve, we ask that you take a few minutes to complete the brief survey below about our learning journeys. 

Thank you!

Survey: https://www.menti.com/alump6gwziwk

Indigenous Literacy Day Book Swap

Our book swap for Indigenous Literacy Day took place yesterday and was a great success! We raised $316 for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation who help support in remote communities where there is often no infrastructure such as libraries or bookstores and access to reading material is extremely limited. 

The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) focuses on ensuring access to quality resources, including books in First Languages to children and families living in these remote Communities across Australia. Duffy Primary School also receives donations of quality Indigenous Literature from the ILF each term.

We hope you had the chance to find a new favourite book! There were definitely some enthusiastic readers who spent their lunch play exploring their new books.

Voluntary Contributions

Thank you to all in our community who have been able to make this contribution. With the money to date we have purchased new reading materials for classroom to support student growth. There is still time to contribute.

School Operational Changes

With the implementation of the updated Teaching Agreement 2023-26, as a school we have had to make changes to our daily timetable. This ensures our teachers have a 30-minute uninterrupted break within the first 5 hours of workday and gives teachers their required release from face to face. Canteen orders will remain at the first eating break. 

With every best wish for a wonderful weekend with your beautiful families.

Regards,

Katie, Arilia, Sarah and Katie

This term, Year 2 have been on a musical exploration, learning about elements of music.

Each week, we listen to two movements from 'The Carnival of the Animals' by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns and compare elements including pitch, tempo and dynamics.

We have also learned many musical terms and how they compliment one another. 

This includes presto and adagio (fast or slow), staccato and legato (sharply or smoothly) or forte and piano (loud or soft).

Our writing focus this term has been all about 'Writing about Reading'. 

Students followed the steps of the writing process (think, talk, plan, draft, revise, edit, publish) to create letters to others, in which they shared their opinions about different texts and gave evidence and reasons to support their ideas.

We then used our powers of persuasion to write book recommendations based on our favourite texts. 

In maths, we have been investigating the relationship between multiplication and division and their connection to fractions. We have looked at ways to divide whole objects and collections of objects into halves, quarters and eighths, ensuring we have equal parts.

Our next step is to link this knowledge with our understanding of clocks, as we discover how to tell time to the hour (o'clock), half hour (half past) and quarter hour (quarter past/quarter to).

These will be presented at Monday Morning WOW (September 11th - 9am).

Merit Awards

PBL Hero Awards

Gold Spirit Awards

Silver and Bronze Awards will be handed out by Exec staff during the week.

Silver Spirit Awards

Bronze Spirit Awards

Additional Koori Preschool sessions from 2024

Additional Koori Preschool sessions will be available at the start of the 2024 school year for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the ACT. Extra sessions of 15 hours a week will be offered at three of the ACT’s five Koori Preschools: Narrabundah Early Childhood School, Ngunnawal Primary School and Wanniassa School.

Koori Preschool provides children aged 3 to 5 years with a play-based, culturally safe learning program. Families attending  Koori Preschool can also attend universal preschool. Children attending Koori Preschool do not need to live in the Priority Enrolment Area. Enrol now at education.act.gov.au

Find out more about Koori Preschool by contacting the Early Childhood Education Officer by email EDUKooriPre@act.gov.au or calling 620 71106.

Big skills for small bikes – Register for the July and September course now!

Families can now register for the big skills for small bikes course run by Pedal Power ACT. Big skills for small bikes is a learn to ride course for younger children aged 3-8, which focuses on teaching parents and carers how to get their kids riding confidently and safely. This is a beginner course best suited to kids who are not yet riding on their own unaided.

The course includes 5 separate 45-minute sessions delivered each morning from Monday to Friday. Courses in the July and September school holidays are currently open for registration. More information on the course including dates, registration and pricing is available on the Pedal Power Website.

Learning for Life

The Learning for Life program helps children by supporting their education from primary through to post-school studies, like TAFE or University.

Learning for Life provides:

To be eligible for Learning for Life, you need to:

• Have a child or children in Primary School, at one of the schools The Smith Family work with

• Have a Health Care or Pension Concession Card

• Have a strong commitment to your child/ren’s education and make sure they attend school regularly

To register your interest in Learning for Life, you need to:

1. Click this link https://www.thesmithfamily.com.au/campaigns/learning-for-life-expression-of-interest

2. Fill out the relevant details (your name, phone number, child/ren’s details and School Information)

3. You will then receive an email from The Smith Family with information about next steps

If you have any questions about Learning for Life, or need help to apply, you can call The Smith Family on 0481 464 065 or 1800 280 223.

Home Learning Hub

Home Learning - School Wide Subscriptions

Literacy People's Literacy Learning Modules - A guide for engaging parents and carers

Mindfulness Podcast Series - ACT Education Directorate