Jasper Road Public School
Term 3 Week 8 Newsletter
13 September 2024
Principal’s Address
After a busy start to the term, we continued to ‘Celebrate’ with our community last fortnight with our ‘Donuts with Dads’ morning. I would like to thank every father, grandfather and carer that turned up as it was amazing to see so many loved ones wearing their jerseys and spending time with their child. Throughout the morning, we served 700 donuts in just 45 minutes and witnessed some incredible sporting skills. It was great to see so many fathers that value their child’s education at Jasper Rd.
TELL THEM FROM ME
The school executive have already started planning for 2025 and beyond. As a school, we engage in discussion and consultation with our community, students and with the staff. This begins with the ‘Tell Them From Me’ survey. This survey provides parents with a direct form of communicating of what they like about Jasper Rd and where we can further improve. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. In houses with multiple children, we recommend that parents/carers complete the survey with only one child in mind. However, if you feel the school experiences of your children differ you are welcome to complete one survey for each child. Parent voice is vital in a collaborative planning model and I invite all parents, carers and family members to participate in this survey. The survey can be found at:
Students in Year 4 and 5 will also be completing this survey next term. All information is confidential however if you do not give consent for your child to complete the survey, please notify the front office.
PARENT WORKSHOP
Thank you to the parents that attended our Reading Comprehension session this week with our literacy expert Mr Justin Caban. It is also a great session and parents that attended have raved about his knowledge, tips and tricks.
Our next session will be held on Monday 21 October from 4pm in the hall. At this session, we will be diving into Writing. We will be displaying ‘sound’ work samples, sharing how we assess and more tips and tricks for helping at home. Mr Bath and Miss Krause will be leading the session and sharing all their expertise.
CHECK IN ASSESSMENT
Over the next fortnight, Year 3, 4 and 5 and 6 students will participate in a reading, numeracy and writing Check-in Assessment. The Check-in Assessment is a NSW Department of Education online assessment available to support schools to assess and monitor student learning.
The Check-in Assessment data is quickly made available to schools, making the data timely and relevant. It is helpful to access such data as it assists in highlighting that we are moving in the right direction. As a school executive team, we take the time to carefully review our data, looking into both individual student and school strengths as well as areas for further development. This data is then used to make informed decisions about our future learning strategies and to reflect on structures and processes already in place, determining their effectiveness and viability. This careful analysis is also shared with our teachers to ensure we develop a common understanding and responsibility to delivering exceptional teaching and learning to the students of Jasper Road PS. Parents do not receive the results of this assessment.
ROTARY WRITING COMPETITION
Each year, our Year 6 students complete a writing task for selection and submission to the Hills Rotary Writing Competition. On Monday evening, I had the pleasure of attending the Hills-Kellyville Rotary Club Writing Competition Presentation Evening with three of our Year 6 Students and their parents. It was a lovely celebration of student achievement with students receiving a certificate as finalists in this prestigious event. Congratulations to Eason, Arzoo and Mustafa whose work was selected for submission. To make the submission phase was an impressive achievement and their attendance at the presentation dinner was the icing on the cake! With 12 local schools in the auditorium, there was further excitement and celebration for JRPS as Arzoo was awarded a Highly Commended and the school 2nd place overall. A fantastic achievement that highlights our high expectations for academic excellence.
Craig Warner
Principal
From the Deputies
Attendance – SCHOOL IS BETTER WHEN YOUR CHILD IS THERE
Why it’s important:
We all want our students to get a great education, and the building blocks for a great education begins with students coming to school each and every day.
If students miss school regularly, they miss out on learning the fundamental skills that will set them up for success in the later years of school.
There is no safe number of days for missing school – each day a student misses puts them behind and can affect their educational outcomes.
Each missed day is associated with progressively lower achievement in numeracy, writing and reading.
STUDENT ABSENCES
The main reasons for absence are:
Sickness – There are always times when students need to miss school, such as when they’re ill. It’s vital that they’re only away on the days they are genuinely sick. Developing good sleep patterns, eating well and exercising regularly can make a big difference.
Family holidays - It's vital that holidays are planned during school holidays where possible, and not during the term.
At Jasper Road, our day of learning starts promptly at 9am each day. The first bell goes at 8.55am and by 9am, students should be settled in their classrooms, ready for learning.
Arriving even a few minutes late can result in an unsettled start to the day for that student and disrupt the rest of the class. As the table below shows, a few minutes each day can also add up to be quite a significant period of missed learning over a week, a term, a year and their school life!
Kindergarten Enrolment
Kindergarten enrolments for 2025 are now open! If you have a child or know of anyone living in the JRPS catchment area whose child turns 5 by July 31, 2025, please enrol sooner rather than later so that you receive all correspondence.
Use the following link to access the enrolment tab on our website for more information.
School Stages
From the Office
Each fortnight we will send you instructions or a link to a "How to" guide from School Bytes. This fortnight is all about how to translate the parent portal into different languages.
Lost Property
There is an overwhelming amount of lost property in the school. These items include jumpers, hats, lunch boxes, plastic containers and water bottles. We ask all parents and carers to ensure that all items are labelled with your child’s name. Also, please encourage your child to search for their lost items in the lost property bin outside, near the sick bay entrance. Any unclaimed items will be disposed of at the end of the term.
Chaplain Conversation
Yes, welcome to spring the flowers are in bloom and the turtles are coming out after brumating.
In one of the groups I have been working with, we have been looking at and discussing respect. What does it look like to treat someone with respect? We know we can each experience contrasting views in what respect looks, sounds or feels like to someone. With one activity I placed scenarios up around the room and the students had to write down how they felt when it happened and to work out what to ask them. For example, your friends won't take turns playing a game, your friend blames you for something they did, and your friend calls you an unkind name that the student had to work out how they felt and how to respond. Doing this program the definition is described as;
Treating someone how you want to be treated.
Caring about the thoughts, feelings, beliefs and rights of another person.
We all have a different idea of what respect looks like it takes courage to stop and listen to other opinions. We can easily assume what will be a common understanding about respect will not always be common to another person.
As we are experiencing warmer weather, I have been doing a water game with students where they line up, dip a sponge in a bucket of water and carry it to another bucket, wring it out, then run back. I am always thinking of fun ways we can do things on the playground where students learn to work together and have fun in the process. I wonder what games you play in your household.
“Time spent playing with children is never wasted” - Dawn Lantero
In Term 4 Week 3, Wednesday 30 October, we are having our last Coffee Catchup with the Chaplain from 8.30am – 9.15am, outside the hall. It's right after dropping the children off, come and say hello. I look forward to meeting many of you.
Deborah Woon
deborahwoon@det.edu.nsw.au
Interschool Chess Club
A big congratulations to our Interschool Chess team who made it to the semi-finals, which was held at Baulkham Hills North Public School on 15 August. The boys were very excited to represent their school and demonstrated Jasper Road values throughout the day. The team put in a huge effort and were coming third for most of tournament; finishing 5th at the end of the competition. Congratulations to Andrew (5/6B), who came fifth in the individual point score. Well done for this great achievement!
Sports News
PSSA
Library News
Book Week
In Week 5, the students celebrated Book Week. It is a massive week of fun and festivities, including our lunchtime celebrations, recognise and support Australian authors and illustrators, with particular focus on the shortlisted books as chosen by the Children’s Book Council of Australia.
Our Book Week Competitions closed on 20 August during Book Week. The level of participation this year was very positive. We handed out more prizes this year than previous years. Well Done to all the students who participated. Congratulations to winners listed below.
Congratulations also to Adele 6K and Viren KP who were the lucky winners of the Book Fair Raffle Tickets. Thank you for your continued support. If you didn’t collect your prize, please come and see Mrs Bugeja.
Another activity during the week included an author visit from Lisa Nicol for students in Year Three, Four and Five. Lisa spoke to the students about some of her published works. The students were well behaved and engaged in her presentation.
Our Literacy on the Lawn celebration was held on 21 August. This is where all classes take some time in the afternoon to go outside, enjoy reading stories, in the fresh afternoon sunlight. Year Six students teamed up with their buddies to enjoy their reading time together. Year Five worked with the Year One classes to enjoy their books. The students enjoyed this activity and look forward to again next year.
Our final celebratory activity for Book Week was the K-2 Book Character Parade. Wow! The costumes were amazing. Congratulations to all the students, you all looked fantastic. It was a wonderful way to bring our Book Week celebrations to a close. You all behaved and participated extremely well. You should all be very proud of yourselves.
We look forward to even bigger year next year, supporting Australian authors and illustrators, celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Children’s Book Council of Australia during the Book Week Festivities.
Premier’s Reading Challenge
On Friday 23 August, the Premier’s Reading Challenge finished. Congratulations to all of the students who completed the 2024 Premier’s Reading Challenge. If for any reason you were not able to complete the challenge, please let Mrs Bugeja know as soon as possible. Congratulations to the following students who submitted their booklists before the challenge closed.
Keep watching for the lucky winners of the prizes donated by Mr Warner for the students who successfully completed the Premier’s Reading Challenge. Winners will be announced at a later date.
Happy Reading!
Mrs Bugeja
Teacher Librarian
Canteen
Canteen Payments
May we ask if you are paying cash for your child's order or sending spending money, where possible please send coins or smaller value notes. We have limited change available and struggle to change large notes of a morning.
FlexiSchools is a cashless option where canteen orders can be placed each day or even days/weeks in advance. This removes the worry of lost change or forgetting to hand in the order. Ordering can be done for any item on our menu including ice blocks.
If you have placed a recess order, please let your child/ren know to join the "Express Line" at the canteen to collect the order.
Lunch orders are delivered to the classroom, however, if you have ordered any of the following items, please ask your
child/ren to collect them from the "Express Line" at the canteen:
Noodles
Ice Blocks
Jelly
Changes or Enquiries for Canteen Orders
Should you need to change or cancel your child's canteen order, we kindly request that instead of contacting the canteen or school directly, please reach out to our Healthy Canteens Office, where multiple staff members are available to assist you promptly. Contacting the school or canteen can disrupt lunch preparation and experience delays in communication.
Contact Details:
Office Phone: 02 9836 2270 or 0405 219 242
Timing: Please make any changes before 10:30 am.
SMS Service: You may also use our SMS service to cancel an order. Simply text us with the following details:
School Name
Child's Name & Class
We will process the cancellation and send you a confirmation SMS.
Important Note: We regret we are unable to hold orders. Instead, cancelled orders will result in funds returning to your FlexiSchools account. This policy ensures clarity, especially in cases of delayed student returns or changes in onsite staff.
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. By following these guidelines, we aim to enhance efficiency and minimise disruptions for all involved parties. Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Flexischools App
For information on how to download the Flexischools app please read the attached flyer:
Flexi Schools Online Ordering Flyer 1.pdfP&C News
SPREAD THE WORD – OUR ELECTION DAY BBQ & CAKE STALL IS ON TOMORROW!
From 8am tomorrow we are holding our always popular Election Day BBQ and Cake Stall.
The Jasper Road P&C is making the most of this opportunity to raise funds for our school with an Election Day Event which will include a BBQ and Cake Stall.
We still need volunteers, so please reach out today if you are available for 1 hour or a couple of hours. Email us at volunteer@jasperroadpandc.org
If you are able to help at any of these events, please let us know by emailing volunteer@jasperroadpandc.org
Next Meeting
The next P&C general meeting is in Term 4 Week 2 (Monday 21 October) at 7pm and we welcome all parents. Details of the meeting location will be shared closer to the date.
Contact the P&C
Email: info@jasperroadpandc.org
To keep up to date with upcoming events please follow us on Facebook (simply search Jasper Road P&C)
Join our Email Subscription List for all the latest news, updates and opportunities!
And if you have joined already – please check that our emails are not going to your junk mail folder; we’d hate for you to miss out on the latest news and opportunities.
Camp Australia
Community News
