Stage 1 Geography trip

As part of our Geography unit, we took a walking tour of Alstonville town. Our aim was to look at the layout of the town, see if we can follow a map to orient ourselves around town and talk about different facilities and community areas and their purposes.

Next week we will follow this up with a Town Planner coming to speak to us from Ballina Council. From our discussions and research, we hope to create our own virtual towns using some pretty advanced technology.

Opportunity Class of 2020

Last Friday gave us a glimpse into the future when the Year 4 children offered a place in the Opportunity Class for 2020 spent the day getting to know Mr Hutchins and the students who will be their Year 6 colleagues. The day took a mysterious turn when Mr Hutchins disappeared. Luckily, Special Agent Rick Star of the FBI was in the neighbourhood to help the students work through a series of fiendishly difficult clues to reveal the unexpected location of Mr Hutchins. The students finished with a tricky but delicious STEM activity. All our OC students, new and returning, made friends and had a great day.

We were also lucky to have some very talented students performing some pieces to welcome those attending the day. What a wonderful showcase of talent and sharing of music.

Welcome to Term 4 everybody! We hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday. Get ready for an exciting new term of learning.

Congratulations to all the new class reps, we look forward to seeing you in parliament every Thursday afternoon at 2pm, and make sure to ask your parents or carers to come to the assembly next Monday to help you with your class representative badge.

Parliament has a lot of plans this term, including mufti days and the school disco, to name just a few. Make sure to keep raising those funds for the Fun Run Fundraiser.

Election for 2020 school leaders

The election will be held on Friday 20 November (Week 7). Interested students will have a chance to work with their teachers on their election speeches. If your child is thinking about running for office, have them talk to us about our experiences in the job.

Keep up the great work and have a safe and happy week to come.

From Thomas, Reggie and Lochie on the student leadership team.

Stay up to date with ticketing changes for school travel

2020 school travel applications now open

To assist with any enquiries you may receive regarding student travel applications, we have provided some information below.

Applications for student travel in 2020 opened on Friday, 11 October 2019.

Students progressing to year 3 and year 7 no longer need to re-apply if they:

• are continuing at the same school
• are residing at the same address
• have not been sent an expiry notification from Transport for NSW.

Where a student meets the new distance eligibility, the system will automatically update their entitlement. If they do not meet the new eligibility, they will receive an expiry notification via email.

Students who have an entitlement approved under a medical condition which is due to expire will receive a notification advising them to re-apply.

Term Bus Pass holders will receive a notification to re-apply.

If students need to update their information or re-apply, they should go online to https://apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts/updateDetails

Applications need to be submitted before 31 December 2019 to ensure student entitlements are updated and their current entitlement/card is not cancelled. If their application is submitted after 31 December 2019, the system will automatically cancel an entitlement/card and a new one will need to be issued.

Students in the Opal network applying for a SSTS or Term Bus Pass entitlement for the first time will receive their card at their nominated postal address. Cards will be mailed out from January 2020.

Students residing in Rural and Regional (R&R) areas should receive their travel pass at the commencement of the new school year from their nominated operator, this may be distributed via the school or sent direct to their address. Note: some R&R operators do not issue travel passes. Students/Parents should confirm with their nominated operator if they do not receive a pass.

School travel application endorsements

It is not uncommon for applicants completing the online form to make mistakes, particularly entering their name or date of birth instead of the students. This may be due to an auto-fill function on a device or just human error. We ask that school administrators pay special attention to the information supplied by applicants which come through in the school portal. If the information supplied does not match your records or the student is not yet enrolled, please do not endorse the application. By selecting ‘no’ the application will be referred back to the applicant to correct and resubmit.

In the event that school administrators endorse in error, it would be appreciated if you could advise our SSTS team as soon as possible so the application can be intercepted before an Opal card or travel pass is issued.

To contact us about an endorsement error, please go to: https://transportnsw.info/contact-us/feedback/passes-concessions-feedback and select feedback about: ‘school student transport scheme’ and then select ‘application updates’.

If school administrators require access to the school portal to endorse student applications, please request an account at https://appln.transport.nsw.gov.au/portal/requests/account/school

If you have staff that have left the school recently and had access to the school portal, please let us know at https://transportnsw.info/contact-us/feedback/passes-concessions-feedback and select ‘school/operator portal’ and then ‘remove existing user access’ so their access can be removed.