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

Dear Parent and Caregivers,

As we head into the Easter/ April school holidays, it is hard to believe that Term 1 has come to an end. I would like to congratulate our students on their learning and look forward to welcoming them back ready for learning in Term 2.

Harmony Day Art

Our students are keen to see their decorated hands become a collaborative Harmony Day artwork. SRC Counsellors are being supported by Mrs Fowler to complete the artworks as a reward for 100% attendance at SRC meetings this term.

Easter Scripture Assembly

I would like to thank our Scripture teachers for delivering an engaging Easter Assembly that celebrated the Easter message for our students on Wednesday, 25 March. We are grateful for their ongoing weekly commitment and service to our students.

Cross Country Carnival

The weather was kind to us on Monday and a successful carnival was held at Morrison Bay Park. Thank you to our organisers Ms Flint and Ms Foster for running the event. The day was made even more special with the canteen organised by the P and C, offering treats and nourishment following the students’ events.

Principal for a Day

I was delighted to work with both Ethan and Riley K as “Principals for a Day” on Tuesday. What a delight!

Training 24/7 - Morning Routine demonstration lessons

This year, Putney teachers and students have engaged with Training 24/7 to begin implementing the Morning Routine as a way of explicitly teaching word and sentence level grammar, improving speaking and listening skills and developing rich, general knowledge that will ultimately service student writing.

To kick start this initiative, the Executive team met with Mel from Training 24/7, before she came back on Monday last week, as Madam Butterfly to deliver demonstration lessons across all four stages. She conducted demonstration lessons in Puggles, Quokkas, Coolabahs and Waratahs, which were observed by all teaching staff throughout the day. It was such a powerful learning opportunity for our teachers, to support them as they implement this change in practice aligned with current, educational research.

Mel was so complimentary about all the students she met throughout the day and was excited to work alongside our teachers and students throughout the coming year. We look forward to continuing our work next term, when Justin from Training 24/7 will be back for more demonstration lessons and implementation support.

K-2 Easter Hat Parade

Today was a delightful day! Year 6 and Kindergarten students have worked collaboratively to make Kindergarten’s Easter hats throughout the week. A picnic lunch was enjoyed on the Outback before our annual Easter hat parade. Our K-2 students had fun parading and dancing with the adults who were able to join us at the event.

Under Capacity

We are now accepting enrolments for 2027! Our school currently has available places and can accept applications from outside our local area. I encourage parents living out of area to first consider their nearest public primary school before deciding to enrol at Putney. That said, I am proud of our school and the dedication we put into providing the best possible learning experience for every student.

Stay safe this Easter Holiday and enjoy the rest with your family and loved ones.

Mrs Brooks

Principal

The National Young Leaders Day 

The leaders represented our school at the National Young Leaders Day on Tuesday 24 March and were fortunate to share this space with other student leaders from all across the state. Our leaders represented Putney PS with pride!

Student Leaders Report 

Morning Routine  

Recently at Putney, we’ve been doing a program called the Morning Routine. Each morning, students ready with their whiteboards, sit down on the floor, and get ready for some quick paced learning.

We learn all sorts of things! From pineapples to protected islands, there’s an interesting topic for each stage. As we sit down to learn, the teachers show and explain the details to us so that we don’t miss anything. Mostly we listen to the teacher, but at certain times we will be asked to share an answer, talk to our learning buddy or write something down to keep us fully engaged in the lesson. With interesting topics and engaging questions, it’s an awesome way to start the day!

From a students perspective the student leadership team agree that it is a truly good way to start the day as it quickly engages students, allowing them to get in the mood of being prepared and ready to learn. Others like how it combines a range of subjects into one topic and teaches them general knowledge, unlike the usual class routines. They also find it helpful that it is repetitive throughout the week, allowing students to remember and share the new information with their families (something my little brother has been doing a lot). Altogether, students find it fun, engaging, interesting and easily remembered!

A few days ago, a teacher from a different school came in to practise Morning Routine. Her name was Madam Butterfly and she taught the morning routine well and enthusiastically. Students sat, listened and did what we were asked to do. It was a fun lesson where we put down timelines and maps .

The morning routine seems to be going well across the school. It quickly engages and gets students in the mood to learn. It’s a great way to teach students a lesson that’s fun, easy to remember and gives them the opportunity to learn some general knowledge. A perfect way to start any school day!

By Laura Q and Irene H

High Potential Gifted Education

Term 1 has culminated in our HPGE groups discussing some heated topics! Our reading and writing groups have been unpacking some Shakespearean soliloquies and deciding whether or not they have any place in our curriculum today. Arguments varied from the language being outdated and the content not engaging enough, to the themes and morals being ever present in today’s society. One example was the reading of Shylock’s monologue (Merchant of Venice)and discovering that even today, themes of racial tension run high. 

We continued discovering new and unusual vocabulary in The Highway Man by Alfred Noyes and also looked at effective poetic techniques we can use to make our writing ‘sing’ to readers. All students had immense fun when playing ‘Man Bites Dog’, a fast paced game where students make the most humorous and meaningful newspaper headlines based on a hand of cards with unusual words they have been dealt.

Our writing group concluded the term with discovering the horror genre and how it involves much more than just the typical ‘blood and gore’; much to their dismay! We read ‘The Landlady’ by Roald Dahl and many faces were in awe of the undertones and ideas the short story conveyed. Students are now in the throes of writing their own horror short story.  

Click here to read a collection of spooky short stories full of eerie moments and suspenseful twists.

In our maths group, minds have been stretched in diverse directions! We start each session with a fast paced quiz on recall of harder number facts using mental strategies. Then we ponder over logic and math puzzles, often working collaboratively as two heads are more effective than one! After all this brain exercise, we are asked to explain our thinking and often see alternative ways to solve any given question. We are learning how maths is a complex puzzle, however, once you have the right starting point, everything fits together beautifully, creating an intricate work of art.

Drama Ensemble

Our Drama Ensemble have been having lots of fun and laughter as they prepare for the Combined Schools Musical ’Mary Poppins’. 

We have some very talented theatre stars amongst us. I am looking forward to working with many other schools and fellow minded students and teachers when we perform later this year. Our other venture sees us perform scripted drama with our aim to grace the stage of The Concourse, Chatswood. 

This year has seen a growth in the interested children and their evident talent. We hope to enthral you all with our original play later this year. 

Cross Country Carnival - Monday 30 March 

What a glorious day in the sunshine at our Cross Country Carnival. Congratulations to our students for their participation and sportsmanship. The day was extra special with many parents spectating and our P and C volunteers who provided extra treats at the canteen.

Sydney North Swimming Championship - Tuesday 31 March 

The  11-13 year old girls’ relay team and Melanie M competed in the Sydney North Swimming Championships on Tuesday at SOPAC, Melanie participated in five events and progressed to the finals in all of them—an outstanding achievement.

The relay team—Melanie M, Ana M, Aria G, and Samara A—secured an impressive 5th place overall. A fantastic effort from the whole team.

Melanie placed 2nd in the 50m Backstroke and 3rd in the 50m Freestyle. She also finished 4th in Breaststroke and 5th in Butterfly. 

We are incredibly proud of Melanie’s achievements, and we’re excited to share that she has qualified for the NSWPSSA Swimming Championships on 28 April. 

Hi everyone,

Well done to all the staff and kids this week for putting on such a fabulous Cross Country Carnival at Morrison Bay Park on Monday! A big thank you to everyone who supported the P&C canteen and sausage sizzle at the carnival and those who volunteered in the lead up and on the day! Thank you in particular to canteen extraordinaire Skye, BBQers Steve, Mitch, Sean, Servers Kim, Helena, Melissa, Yvette, as well as Mel, Sara, Chantel and Mona! A big thank you also to the Sharks for  letting us use the Canteen & BBQs at Morrison Bay Park!

We have quite a few dates for the diary coming up in Term 2, kicking off with our next P&C General Meeting on Thursday 30 April, a Second Hand Uniform stall on Friday 1 May, our Mother's Day Stall on Tuesday 5 May and Mother's Day Breakfast on Wednesday 6 May!

Don't forget to pop these upcoming P&C events in your calendar & sign-up to volunteer and help out where you can! The P&C is really hoping to give all Mums the morning off on Wednesday 6 May so it'd be really great if we can please get some more Dads signed-up ASAP to volunteer on the day - if you can help out, please sign-up via the link below!

Link to P&C Events Volunteer Sign-up: CLICK HERE 

If you have any questions, please always feel free to email: info@putneypc.org.au 

Hope everyone has a lovely term break and happy Easter!

Jess Clough

Canteen News

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

Snap Stix

Look out for new colours and flavours. Also available as a class party pack (order as normal and select Snap Stix).