Duffy School Community 

This term has been full of wonderful opportunities for students to take ownership of their learning and proudly share their achievements with our community.

Our Learning Journey this week, along with the Publishing Parties held by most year levels throughout the term, have been a highlight. Students have guided families through their classrooms and explained their learning in their own words and engaged in various experiences. Teachers have carefully designed these experiences to help children reflect on their growth and showcase their work in creative and engaging ways.

Beyond the classroom, our students have also shone in a range of events. From the excitement of RoboCup to the talent displayed in Limelight, and the teamwork and entrepreneurial spirit of Market Day, Duffy students have demonstrated passion, skill and confidence. These experiences not only celebrate student interests but also strengthen important life skills.

Behind every one of these achievements are the dedicated staff of Duffy Primary School — teachers, LSAs, Admin Team—whose hard work, planning and encouragement make these moments possible. The impact of their care and commitment is evident in the joy and pride our students feel when they share their learning.

As we approach the end of term, we thank our wonderful staff for all they do, and our families for supporting each child’s learning journey. Together, we continue to celebrate the growth and success of every student at Duffy.

Floriade Choir Excursion – Tuesday 23rd September. 

Our choir students have been working very hard to learn their songs and are incredibly excited to present them on a really big stage! The choir will be performing at Stage 88 in Commonwealth Park as part of Floriade on Tuesday 23rd September.  We warmly invite families to join the audience and share in this special occasion.

A special thank you to Mrs Morell for coordinating this experience for our choir and supporting their preparations.

We look forward to celebrating this wonderful opportunity for our choir.

We wish everyone a safe and relaxing break once it arrives next Friday, 26 September. We look forward to welcoming students back to school on Tuesday, 14 October.

Warm regards,
Katie, Arilia, Sarah, Fiona and Julian

NEW STRATEGIC PLAN 

Following our Term 1 review, the leadership team and staff have been working on our new strategic plan, which focuses on one clear priority:

Priority 1: To increase student outcomes in Numeracy.

Our ongoing writing initiatives from the previous strategic plan will now move into business-as-usual practice, allowing us to focus school-wide efforts on enhancing numeracy outcomes for all students.

The statement below details our vision for how this priority will impact student outcomes:

• Students will develop positive mathematical mindsets, empowering them to share their knowledge and understanding as mathematical thinkers.
  
  

• Students will experience daily differentiated mathematics learning, through explicit instruction, review, and independent practice.
  
  

• Students will develop strong number fluency, enabling them to confidently and flexibly apply mathematical reasoning in problem solving.
  
  

• Students will learn and use consistent mathematical vocabulary, building, communicating, and applying their understanding of mathematics.
  
  

• Students will benefit from the purposeful collection and analysis of data that tracks individual progress, enabling teachers to deliver targeted instruction and monitor growth over time.
  
  

Once finalised early next term, we will officially launch this plan.

Strong Foundations Update

The Education Directorate’s Strong Foundations plan is focused on strengthening a system-wide approach to curriculum delivery, teaching, assessment, tiered supports, and professional learning, with the goal of improving student outcomes in literacy and numeracy.

This week, our Junior Primary team will be conducting the Phonics Test for Year 1 students. We are committed to keeping our community informed as the implementation of the Strong Foundations strategy continues.

In Week 5, a team of students from our school proudly represented us at the South/Weston Region Athletics Championship. They competed in a variety of track and field events, giving their very best effort and showing great sportsmanship throughout the day.

A special congratulations goes to Lily E, Jackson F, Thomas W and Faith B, who achieved outstanding results and will now progress to the ACT Championships in September. We wish them all the best as they take on this exciting opportunity.

Well done to all competitors for their fantastic achievements and thank you to the parents and staff who supported the team on the day.

Throughout Terms 2 and 3, sixteen Year 4-6 students have been working hard to build their robots, write their code to be ready for Robocup Junior 2025. They have designed and built robots, tested them and then re-built them over and over again throughout this time. They have written code, tested it and then re-written it over and over again.

Consequently, the students have not only learnt about coding and robots, but they have also developed their resilience, collaboration, problem solving and critical and creative thinking skills enormously, with all students making huge personal growths in these areas. Last weekend, they attended the ACT State competition for Robocup at the Academy of Future Skills, where they showcased their efforts, encountered and solved problems and celebrated their achievements. 

We had two teams compete in Line Rescue, where their robot follows a line to find the ‘spill zone’ and ‘rescue’ an object. We had two teams compete in On Stage, where they program their robot to take part in a performance, complete with drama, props and costumes! 

We are proud of all of our Robocup competitors and the huge personal growth they have made over the last 6 months, with one of our On Stage teams taking out second place, against 23 other teams from public and private schools all over the ACT! 

We are now getting ready to compete at the National Competition in the holidays, revising our code and robots and are feeling excited about another weekend of robotics! Good luck to all our teams, our fingers are crossed for you!  

Free event: Community Conversations: Child Development Pathways in the ACT

Parents, carers, teachers and health services often tell us that it can be hard to know what to do, and where to go when a child is showing social, behavioural, communication, emotional or other developmental differences.
If you've been confused by this, come along to hear from speakers from across the public, private and community sector about the pathways they offer for child development challenges.

When: Friday the 10th October 12noon to 2pm

Where: Majura Hall, Northside Community Service, 2 Rosevear Place, Dickson, ACT, 2602

Cost: FREE!

You will hear from:

· Canberra Health Services - Community Paediatric and Child Health Service

· ACT Health and Community Services - Child Development Services

· EACH – Early Childhood NDIS Partner

· Spark for Life Psychology

· Little Hands Occupational Therapy

· A Village for Every Child – Collective Action Group for Child Development for 0-5yo

· ACT Playgroups

· Capital Region Community Services

How it will run:
The audience will be seated at tables of 6-8 people with food and drinks, and each speaker will rotate around the room to provide a 5-7min presentation, and answer questions on their service, for each table.
We will share clear information on the different options available for child development services in the ACT to help parents, carers, teachers, and educators have better conversations about next steps.
We invite families, carers, early childhood educators, preschool, and primary teachers and any other educators to come along armed with your list of questions! Note: this event is not open to service providers.
Register at: 

https://events.humanitix.com/community-conversations-child-development-pathways-in-the-act 

Contact us at adminofficer@hcca.org.au or call 02 6230 7800 with any questions.

Piano Lessons at Duffy PS

Miss Amelia Hewitt is delighted to announce that she will be offering private/ one to one piano lessons this year of 2025, both Term 3, 4 and into next year 2026

Miss Hewitt has been the piano teacher at Duffy Primary School over 2 years now and holds many musical and teaching qualifications such as Practice of Music Certificate of Completion, Australian Music Examination Board. Diploma both in Associate Teacher and Classical Performer, Classical Pianoforte, ANZCA and AMEB, Australian Music Examination Board Certificate in Theory of music 5th Grade (prerequisite for the Amus Australia)

If you are at all interested, please call her on:

0424102126 and we can go from there.

Parentline ACT

Parentline ACT offers free and confidential telephone counselling for parents and carers in the Australian Capital Territory. This service provides guidance and assistance on various parenting issues, ensuring you have the support you need with no appointment necessary. Parentline ACT is open on Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. For support, call (02) 6287 3833.