Welcome to our school newsletter - "your local school....our local community" 

Dear Parent and Caregivers,

It's hard to believe we're already in Week 8 of Term 3! The students are certainly enjoying the warmer weather. 

However, we've noticed an increase in lost property, especially jumpers and jackets, many of which are unlabelled. We do our best to return labelled items to their owners, but it becomes challenging when so many have no names. Please remember to label your children's belongings to help us keep track! 

Fathers’ Day Breakfast and Stall

I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our P&C for organising such a wonderful Father’s Day stall and breakfast once again this year. Your hard work and dedication created a warm and welcoming celebration for our school community, ensuring our students could choose special gifts and enjoy a delicious breakfast with their families. The school band were also able to perform at the event. Thank you to Ms Geyer who organised the timetabling and collaborating with the P and C to ensure the event went smoothly.  Events like these truly enrich our school culture and make lasting memories. We are so grateful for your ongoing support and commitment to making our school a vibrant and inclusive place.

Festival of Children’s Music-School Choir

Our school choir, made up of just thirteen dedicated students, will be participating as part of a combined school choir at the upcoming Festival of Children’s Music at the Concourse Chatswood. This is a great opportunity for our students to join with choirs from local schools, share their love of music, and perform on a larger stage. I commend their commitment to rehearsals and are proud to see them represent our school at this event.

Thank you Mrs Ignazzi for coordinating the choir and once again putting forward two of our talented musicians to accompany the combined choir at the event. Congratulations to Irene H and Leonard C for successfully auditioning to accompany the choir. 

School Uniform Update

After careful consideration and over three years of community consultation, Putney Public School has decided to introduce a new, simplified uniform model and transition to a P&C operated Uniform Store. This change will involve ending our current Uniform Licence Agreement with Lowes Manhattan Pty Ltd, which we have formally notified Lowes about.

Lowes placed stock replenishment for our school on hold from April 2025 and has offered discounted pricing on current uniform items to encourage purchases during the transition period  to support our students, families and the community.  Any remaining stock after the termination of the agreement will need to be purchased by the school community.

For 2027, Kindergarten students will have the option to purchase and wear the new summer uniform. Parents of Kindergarten students will be able to pre-order these items in December for delivery in January, ahead of the start of Term 1.

The rest of the school will continue with the current summer and sports uniforms during Term 1.

Starting Term 2, we will be offering a new Putney Long Sleeve Polo Shirt. We will also have a new Zip Jacket, and Trackpant which will be available for all students through the Uniform Store.

The remainder of the new uniform range will be introduced across Terms 3 and 4 for all grades.

There is a 3 year transition period for the new uniform, allowing families to purchase the new uniform once their child has outgrown their existing one. Whilst we appreciate and understand that a lot of families would like to start the year with the new uniform, the current stock levels at Lowes determine when we are able to introduce the new uniform. 

Given that all existing students will be wearing the existing uniform until mid-late 2027, we strongly encourage families to stock up on uniforms for 2027 now via Lowes fire sale or from our own Second Hand Uniform (SHU) store. 

We appreciate your understanding and support as we implement this positive change to better serve our school community.

Parent Interaction with Students on the Playground 

Parents are reminded that it is not appropriate to approach or speak directly to other children on the playground regarding school or personal matters. If issues arise or concerns need to be addressed, parents are encouraged to communicate with school staff, who are trained to support all students and help resolve any difficulties. This approach helps maintain a safe and respectful environment for all children and ensures that matters are handled appropriately and professionally. 

Principal for a Day

I enjoyed having Mackenzie T sharing my role as Principal last Tuesday. We enjoyed reading persuasive letters from Year 4 students stating why they should receive a pen licence. We discussed the history of the school and explored ideas for a mural to greet our community as they enter the school from Parry Street. Mackenzie also helped to approve and sign documents.

Extra-Curricular Opportunities

Putney Chess Teams

Congratulations to our Putney Chess teams who have played in the Interschool Chess Competition. Thank you to Ms Sullivan who coordinated our inclusion in the competition and the parents who helped with transport and cheering the teams on.

STEM Challenge

Thirty Stage 3 students were involved in a STEM Challenge today delivered by the team at HP Using Technology Better. HP is proud to be working with a growing number of NSW Department of Education schools to support future focused learning through hands on STEM, AI and Design Thinking experiences that connect classroom learning to real world innovation.. 

Thank you to Mrs Fowler and Mrs Talevski for coordinating this opportunity.  The session included design ideation using Ferrari concepts to drive the creation of a model for intended use as a race car driver.  It provided students with an opportunity to show their critical thinking skills.

Student Led Reporting

I look forward to welcoming parents into classrooms for Student Led Reporting on 18th September. This year we have introduced our Putney "Learns to Write" book. This resource has been created to illustrate how children's writing skills develop and improve over time. Learning to write is a lifelong journey. As children progress, they will explore a variety of writing styles including informative, persuasive, imaginative, and many other forms of writing. Alongside composing texts, children will also develop their handwriting, spelling, grammar, and punctuation abilities.

Each term, children will respond to a writing stimulus, designed to resemble the NAPLAN-style questions. Following a brief discussion with their teacher, students are given time to plan, write, and edit their work. Teachers will assess the writing samples using criteria aligned with the NAPLAN writing framework, focusing on spelling, grammar, punctuation, and text structure. Once all samples are marked, teachers moderate the scores together, ensuring consistency and reliability in assessing writing levels across the class and school.

Children will then receive individual writing targets and guidance on how to strengthen their skills and achieve higher scores in future tasks. We believe understanding each child’s progress is key to enhancing writing outcomes for all students.

This book serves as an important record, capturing the transformative journey of learning to write. 

Staff  Wellbeing Week

Wellbeing Week for staff is important because it provides a dedicated time to focus on self-care, mental and physical health. Working in education isn’t always easy, and there can be stressful or challenging days. Wellbeing Week encourages staff to make their health a priority, offering support and strategies to manage stress and balance work and personal life. It also helps foster a positive workplace culture, boosts morale, and promotes healthy habits. Thank you to our ever supportive P and C who have provided coffees and beverages on Tuesday for our staff. By recognising that the role can be demanding and supporting each other, we build a stronger, more resilient school community. 

RUOK? Day-10th September

The SRC have once again decided to highlight RUOK Day in our classrooms this year. Teachers have been provided with various resources to help students learn how they can support each other and be a good friend. RUOK? Day is an important occasion for our school community, reminding us to look out for one another and strengthen our sense of belonging.

 This year, we encourage all students, staff, and families to pause and check in with those around them, asking the simple but powerful question, “Are you OK?” Our collective wellbeing relies on open conversations, compassion, and genuine connections, and RUOK? Day offers a timely opportunity to start these conversations. At school, we are committed to creating a supportive environment where everyone feels valued and heard. Let’s continue to foster kindness and care, making it okay to talk about how we’re feeling and seeking support whenever we need it. 

Michelle Brooks

Principal

Ryde Community of Schools Inter-School Chess Competition

Putney was thrilled to participate in the annual Ryde Community of Schools Inter-School Chess Competition for the first time this year!

Each Friday afternoon throughout the term, two teams travelled to Meadowbank Public School to compete in highly competitive games against students from other local schools. Our students’ enthusiasm, commitment and sportsmanship were evident each week.

A Team: Timmy S, Leonard C, Oliver K, Evran T and Aria J

B Team: Zion G, Owen Q, Zachary J, Anish A and Alanna C

Both teams performed strongly throughout the competition, with the B Team narrowly missing out on a place in the semi-finals on countback. We are incredibly proud of the effort and achievements of all the students involved!

We would also like to thank the parents who helped transport the students and stayed as Putney representatives each week. Thank you for encouragement and for making our students’ participation possible!

We look forward to competing again next year. If your child might be interested, keep an eye out in Semester 1 for our team trials announcement—and start practising those strategic moves now!

Kindergarten’s Farmyard Adventure! 🐄🐑 

Kindergarten had a wonderful day of farmyard fun at Calmsley Hill City Farm! Our little farmers got up close with a variety of animals, explored the farm’s educational stations and even had the chance to try their hand at milking a cow. There were plenty of curious questions along the way as the children discovered where our food comes from and learned more about life on a working farm. The excitement continued with the much-loved farming demonstrations, including the Stockwhip Show, Working Dog demonstration and Sheep Shearing Show!

Our students represented our school beautifully. They listened carefully, showed kindness and encouragement to one another and supported their buddies throughout the day. From sharing a laugh to helping a friend, it was lovely to see our Kindergarteners putting our school values into action. A big day of learning, exploring and plenty of farmyard fun. It’s safe to say our little farmers had a wonderful time! 🐄🌾

PSSA Winter Sport 2026 

A huge congratulations to all students who have represented Putney Public School in Tiger Tag, Netball and Football throughout the winter season. It has been wonderful to see the teamwork, determination and sportsmanship shown by our students.

We are incredibly proud to have three Putney teams progressing to the PSSA semi finals on Friday 11 September. Our Junior Girls Football and Senior Girls Football teams are currently sitting in 3rd place, while our Junior Tiger Tag team is currently sitting in 2nd place. What a fantastic achievement!

While our other teams did not progress to the semi finals, we are equally proud of their efforts and the way they represented Putney throughout the season. Every student should be proud of their commitment, teamwork and sportsmanship.

We wish our three teams the very best of luck in their upcoming semi finals and look forward to cheering them on!

Canteen News

Check Out this Term's new Daily Delights items.

As always, any questions or feedback concerning the canteen can be emailed to canteen@putneypc.org.au.