Welcome to Week 6!

The term is flying by, and there is much to celebrate within our school community — including the absolutely amazing music assembly held yesterday, which was a vibrant showcase of student talent and staff dedication. We hope you all enjoyed the Reconciliation Day long weekend and are looking forward to the upcoming King’s Birthday long weekend. Following the extra day off, we warmly invite all families to attend our WOW assembly on Tuesday morning. It’s a wonderful opportunity to come together and celebrate student learning and achievements.

We’re also looking forward to welcoming you to your child/ren’s Learning Conference in Week 10. These conferences will replace written comments in the End of Semester Report, so we strongly encourage all families to attend and engage in these important conversations. Further information about this is below. 

In Week 4, we participated in our School Review—a valuable opportunity to reflect on our progress and set future directions. The review was incredibly positive, with the panel commending our strong sense of community, inclusive practices, and commitment to student learning and improvement. We sincerely thank the parents and carers who took the time to attend the consultation sessions. Your insights and perspectives were greatly appreciated and helped shape a well-rounded view of our school.

We look forward to sharing the final review report with you by the end of this term.

Stay warm

Katie, Arilia, Sarah, Fiona and Julian.

Duffy Primary School has acknowledged Reconciliation Day with in-school events and reading books connected with themes of reconciliation across classes. The Preschool children and selected Kindergarten, Year One and Year Two students collaboratively designed an entry to the Reconciliation Day art exhibit at Commonwealth Park. Our schools design focused on the many paths we can take to reach the heart of reconciliation. The strength of plants as connector to healthy country was also investigated by the group. The resulting artwork stood out in Commonwealth Park. Congratulations to our youngest students and their creative excellence. 

The Deadly Mob group are also continuing to work on their own large paintings on wooden panels to share their connection with country. Look out for updates on the children's progress over the coming weeks! 

Our Semester 1 reports will not include a written comment. Instead, we invite all parents and carers to attend a Learning Conference (formerly known as Parent Teacher Interviews) with their child.

Learning Conferences are a key part of our semester reporting process. They offer a more dynamic and interactive way to share student progress, encouraging deeper understanding, effective communication, and meaningful engagement between teachers, students, and families.

Important Dates:

• Student reports will be available on Sentral from Week 9 – Wednesday, June 25.

• Learning Conferences will take place in Week 10 of Term 2 – Monday, June 30 to Friday, July 4.

• All students from Prep to Year 6 are expected to attend the Learning Conference with their parent/carer.

HOW TO MAKE A BOOKING WITH YOUR CHILD/REN'S TEACHER:

• Sign up to Parent Portal

• Bookings will be made via Parent Portal 

• Log into 'Parent Portal' - Click on to the 'Parent Teacher Interview ' tab

• Select date/ time for Learning Conference 

• Booking will then be confirmed. 

• Access to bookings are available from Tuesday 10th June to Friday 20th June.  Please call or email the Front Office if you have any issues with the booking process.

Our School Improvement Plan (2021-2025) remained focused on two main priorities: 

Writing

You (hopefully) know Mrs. Nash as our new teacher-librarian, but she continues to work with teams as a literacy coach, particularly in writing. Teaching teams regularly meet with Mrs. Nash to share ideas and plan for upcoming writing units. Year 5 are heading into a unit of Poetry, incorporating songwriting and Taylor Swift. Whether you love her music or not, she is a great writing mentor! There's Historical Fiction happening in Year 4, and a Biography unit of writing in Year 6, with both linking to learning in History. Across our school, teachers are creating writing units that are focused on process and author's craft to engage our Duffy Primary writers. Be sure to talk to your children about what they are learning as writers in their classes this term!

We want our students to have voice and choice in writing, so we regularly dig into our own lives, experiences and interests when we generate ideas at the start of the writing process. Some of our unique writing voices were on display recently in Year 1 with an Authoring Circle event (see photos). Students were able to showcase how they have gone through the writing process, from thinking all the way to publishing, sharing their expertise on topics such as Being Calm, Dog Training, and Favourite Places. A focus for this unit of informative writing (All About Books) was revision, which is a time to "look again" at our drafts and add more information using specific strategies. The students and teachers worked alongside Mrs. Nash for three weeks, which meant both students and teachers have built capacity as writers and teachers.

Year 2 will now be working with Mrs. Nash as they move into Small Moment writing, focusing on how to stretch out a moment using slow-motion action, description and dialogue. We will continue to build stamina as writers, and learn more about the purposes of talk in the writing process with partners and with teachers when conferencing. 

Numeracy

Our Term 2 focus for our numeracy priority is on goal setting and maths vocabulary. 

Term 2 Focus: Goal Setting

• Students are aware of and can articulate their learning goal for number.  

• Students know what they’re working towards.

Term 2 Focus: Introduce Key Vocabulary

Teachers will identify and introduce essential mathematical terms for each year level. 

Across the school, there has been a noticeable increase in environmental print, reflecting the learning taking place and providing valuable support for students within their classrooms. This vocabulary is being reinforced through daily reviews and explicit instruction.

Teachers are also focused on implementing individual learning goals in numeracy. These goals range from foundational skills such as learning number bonds to 10 (e.g., 6 + 4), to more advanced objectives like recalling multiplication facts and applying strategies to divide larger numbers. Through one-on-one and small group conferencing, all students will have clearly identified numeracy goals to work towards throughout the year.

Our Reconciliation celebration began with Ryka Ali whose heritage stems from the Yidinji Clan of Cairns and Kuku Yalinji of Mossman and Torres Strait Islands. Children from Preschool to year 6 had the opportunity to learn and experience some of the most important cultural aspects of the First Nations Peoples. Each year level started the session with the ‘Smoking Ceremony’ followed by some interactive song and dance sessions. Ryka kept us on our feet as each session was concluded with an amazing demonstration of returning boomerangs used for hunting animals. Some children tried their hands at throwing the boomerangs.

The Possums group had and engaging session with a Wiradjuri storyteller Larry Brandy. The 'Emu' and 'Kangaroo' hunting games were very popular as the children were excited to hold hunting tools such as emu callers, spears and boomerang and practise their hunting skills. Later, some Possums tried their hands at making their own hunting tools during outdoor investigations.

On the afternoon of Tuesday 20th May, Years 3 and 4 were lucky enough to be visited by local author Lisa Kalma.

An  ambassador for the 2025 Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge, Lisa was a teacher in Canberra for 15 years before becoming a published author.

Lisa shared her picture book “My Llama Drama” with the group, and shared her insights into being a writer and the process of getting a book published.

Students asked insightful questions to probe her experience of drafting, editing and publishing, and even got involved in a retell of the story!

We look forward to seeing the inspired writers of Year 3 and 4 getting to work on their own masterpieces!

Sustainable World: Harmonious Ecosystems Benefit All

This term, our Year 5 students have been exploring our Sustainable World, understanding our diverse ecosystems and investigating the impact that human activity has on these delicate systems. Through engaging discussions, research, and hands-on learning, students have deepened their understanding of how we can act as responsible global citizens and design solutions for a more sustainable future.

Families with students in YEAR 6 2025.
If your child is in year 6 this year, remember you have to lodge an enrolment for year 7 at your preferred high school. The local high school for Duffy Primary School students is Stromlo High School. If your preferred school is an ACT Public High School, you must lodge an online application at https://www.act.gov.au/education-and-training.

If you are heading off to a private high school, you will need to contact them for their enrolment procedures.

Other year levels: If your child is leaving Duffy Primary School at the end of this school year you must advise us in writing including the name of the school your child will be attending.

The Returning Officer has appointed Bijaya Acharya as Appointed Member to the Duffy Primary School board. Bianca commenced her position on 21 May 2025 and will concluded as of  31 March 2027.

We welcome Bijaya to the Duffy School Board and look forward to working with her in this capacity over the next few years.

The Duffy Playgroup which runs Tuesdays 9:30-10:30 has been cancelled until Semester 2, 2025. We can't wait to see smiling faces in semester 2!

You may have noticed an Individual Student Reading Record coming home this week. 

That’s because the Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge began on Monday 10th February. 

The challenge is for students to read 30 books between the 10th February and the 12th September 2025. 

Books recorded as read can include:

-Novels and Novellas

-Non-Fiction Texts

-Graphic Novels

-Books of Poetry

-Audiobooks

-Picture Books

-Books read to students by someone else

-Books read aloud to a younger sibling/cousin

The Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge is turning 21 in 2025! For 21 years, the challenge has been encouraging students all over the ACT to spend more time reading. 

Last year, Duffy Primary School Students read over 11,000 Books, beating our 2023 total by over 1000 books! At Duffy Primary, teachers will be recording all books read to students in class, and students are encouraged to record their reading at home on the Individual Student Reading Record, to be returned to school by the 12th September. 

What a wonderful day we had at our Athletics Carnival in Week 2! Students gave their all across a range of events, from fast-paced races to impressive field challenges.

A special thank you to the student helpers from Mount Stromlo High School and the amazing parent volunteers—your support made the day run smoothly and added to the fun. Also, thanks to the Weston Creek Redbacks Little Athletics Club for allowing us to use the club’s equipment.

Whether it was on the track, in the field, or during the novelty events, the enthusiasm, teamwork, and sportsmanship on display were something to be proud of. Well done to everyone who took part!

If your child would like to find out more about little athletics, the season runs in Terms 4 and 1 with registrations opening during Term 3. Visit https://wclac.org.au/ to find out more. 

Do not eat wild mushrooms – advice about death cap mushrooms

Death cap mushrooms grow in the ACT. They can grow anywhere in our region, at any time.

It is hard to distinguish a death cap mushroom from an edible mushroom, even for experienced collectors.

Do not touch or eat wild mushrooms, and keep children and pets away from them.

All parts of the death cap mushroom are poisonous. Cooking, soaking, freezing, peeling or drying does not make them safe. Eating even a small amount of a death cap mushroom can kill you.

If you think you may have eaten a death cap mushroom, urgently seek medical attention at a hospital emergency department. Do not wait for symptoms to occur. The chances of survival increase where treatment is started early. Take any remaining mushroom to the hospital for identification.

If you think a death cap mushroom may be growing in a public area, report it to Access Canberra by phone 13 22 81 or use the online form www.accesscanberra.act.gov.au/city-services/fix-my-street.

If you are concerned about wild mushrooms growing at your home, remove them using gloves or a tool and dispose of them with your household rubbish.

Find more information on death cap mushrooms (including some translated resources) at www.act.gov.au/health/topics/environmental-hazards/death-cap-mushrooms.

Perks

FREE Parent workshops term 1 and 2: Southside Initiative is partnering again with local schools and community services to offer Parent workshops in 2025. Term 1 and 2 workshops include: Early Childhood Development, Adolescents, Anxiety and School, Managing Conflict in the Home and much more. For more information and to register, visit PERKS Parent Workshops - Healthy Schools Network ACT.

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.

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

Mindfulness Podcast Series - ACT Education Directorate