GORDON WEST BULLETIN V O L U M E 1 4 2 0 1 6 S E P T E M B E R 8 2 0 1 6

Principal’s Report Ryde Road Pymble 2073 Telephone: 9498 4644 Fax: 9498 4436 Email: gordonwest-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au Website: www.gordonwest-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Thurs 15 September Showcase

Tues 20 September Kindy 2017 Orientation Author Visit K-2

Wed 21 September Kindy 2017 Orientation Author Visit Yr3-6

Thurs 22 September Yr3 Maritime Museum

Friday 23 September Last day Term 3 Monday 10 October Students resume P&C Meeting School swimming Program commences Tues 11 October Ryde Spec Choir Friday 14 October Sports Photos

Dates to Remember

Congratulations to Mrs Megan Guenther and her FRASC team for organising such a wonderfully successful Trivia Night/ Art Auction on Saturday evening last. Although the numbers in attendance were down slightly from past Trivia Nights (the event did clash with a number of end of winter sport celebrations/ presentations) all of those in attendance were treated to a very professionally organised series of questions, games and generally fun filled activities by the very talented and entertaining quizmaster, Jason Montgomery from Trivia Master Australia 800 500 39. The Art Auction so capably organised by Mrs Joanne McIvor was a beautiful component of the night and attracted lots of interest. The recently installed hall lighting certainly highlighted the quality of the children’s art work with all classes represented. FRASC plans to leave all artwork in place so that parents attending Showcase will have an opportunity to view their child’s work. A highlight of the evening was the acknowledgement of the enormous contribution to Gordon West by Mrs Meagan Guenther, president of FRASC over the past 10 years. We are grateful for the tremendous support provided by those parents who volunteer their time and skills to benefit our school.

You Can Do It (YCDI) Education was the focus of a presentation by Miss Harper and Mrs Roberton to the P&C meeting on Monday 5 September 2016. You Can Do It (YCDI) Education is a social and emotional program developed by an Australian educational psychologist, Professor Michael Bernard. The program was introduced to all GWPS students from Kindergarten to Year 6 in Term 1 2016. With research indicating unequivocally that social and emotional skills are of equal importance to cognitive skills in determining social progress of individuals and groups, YCDI Education now forms an important part of our school’s student welfare program. The in class program is taught regularly to students through explicit, guided lessons and activities. The program’s central aim is to develop 5 key social-emotional learning skills

(SELs) ; Confidence, Persistence, Organisation, Getting Along and Resilience and the “Habits of the Mind” which are strongly held attitudes of young people that influence the way they think about themselves, others and the world. These SELs are the behavioural strengths young people need to respond positively to challenging activities and difficult people. At Gordon West we recognise the need for students to develop personal and social capability as they learn to understand themselves and others, manage their relationships, lives, work and learning more effectively. YCDI Education aims to assist K-6 students in a range of practices including recognising and regulating emotions, developing empathy for others and understanding relationships, establishing and building positive relationships, making responsible decisions, working effectively in teams, handling challenging situations constructively and developing leadership skills. Following their initial training in YCDI Education, staff have been encouraged to consistently model and communicate positive “Habits of Mind” and the 5 SELs in all aspects of their teaching. Together with regular and explicit teaching of these skills and attitudes, staff and students will develop a common shared understanding of each SEL. This foundation Knowledge is strengthened as a student progresses through the program(s). The need to offer greater support to the social and emotional development of our students was identified in the School Plan 2015-2017. Through the introduction of YCDI Education the school endeavours to integrate these essential life skills into the education of our young students. Thank you to Mrs Roberton and Miss Harper for sharing aspects of the Kindergarten - The YCDI Education Early Childhood Program and the Year 1 to Year 6 Program Achieve: A Social and Emotional Learning Curriculum with the P&C.

Parents are advised that we are currently in the process of organising an upgrade to the OSHC facilities. Recently the school successfully applied for a NSW Government grant which will be used towards the cost of the upgrade. Additional school resources will be used to enable further work to be carried out at the OSHC. The OSHC has grown considerably over the years from a daily attendance of fifteen children to over one hundred children using the service on a daily basis before and after school. Classrooms adjacent to the OSHC facility are utilised on a rotational basis to provide accommodation for children attending before and after school care.

PSSA sport is a wonderful opportunity for the children of Gordon West to compete against other schools on an elite level of competition. PSSA is successful because both teachers and parents give up their own time to ensure that children can experience this level of competition which can mean considerable organisation in relation to the organisation of PSSA teams, payment for transporting these teams and/or back at school where it is necessary to provide supervision for the children of teachers involved in PSSA. For this reason the District Council for PSSA incorporated a policy whereby if local councils cancel the use of the soccer fields for whatever reason then all PSSA for that particular day is cancelled. Given that it has been a very wet winter soccer fields have been regularly closed by Councils early in the week and then the Friday weather turns out to be perfect for netball which is cancelled under the above policy. Gordon West has written to the governing PSSA body to ask for a review of this policy and has been promised a review. The above comments are by no means critical of Council decisions given that on a local school level we are continually evaluating usage of the Gordon West playing fields to prolong the longevity of the grass surface especially that usage after rain can very quickly destroy a surface resulting in considerable replacement costs. J Huckerby Principal

Mr Crowfoot, Mr Cummings and Mr Evans enjoying “Dad’s Day” in the canteen.

STUDENT ATTENDANCE     Regular a endance at school is essen al to assist students to maximise their poten al. Schools, in partnership with parents, are responsible for promo ng the regular a endance of students.  Recently Gordon West was audited by the DECs Home School Liaison officer whose role is to ensure 

the school’s student a endance procedures are being met appropriately. Parents or carers of children 

of compulsory school age are responsible for ensuring their child a ends school every day. Within 7 

days of a student absence, parents are reminded that they must provide the school with a sa sfactory 

explana on either by le er, electronically or verbally. We greatly appreciate your assistance with this 

legal obliga on to inform the school promptly with an appropriate reason for a child’s absence. 

Celebra ng SAS Staff Recogni on Week 2016 ‐ August 29 to September 2 

Last week Gordon West PS  celebrated SAS Staff Recogni on Week 2016 and acknowledged the vital role that our Administra on Manager, Mrs Kirkpatrick, our Administra on Officers, Mrs Sheehan, Mrs Findlay and Mrs Mavin, our School Learning Support Officers, Mrs Maggs, Mrs Khoury, Mrs Wood, Ms McMenamin, Mrs Richings and Mrs Thomas and Mr Castelnuovo, our General Assistant play in suppor ng the smooth running of our school. In many and var-ied ways they offer assistance to the whole school community and show dedica on to their important and at  mes challenging roles. 

 Recogni on Week is an opportunity for the whole school community to show their apprecia on and acknowledge these wonderful staff members. I am sure parents and teachers would agree with me that these members of our staff are essen al to the great work be-ing achieved here at Gordon West. We thank them wholeheartedly and congratulate them on a job well done! 

SCHOOL TENNIS TOURNAMENT

The school tennis tournament will be running during recess and lunch during term 4.

Please return entries to Scott Gregson by September 20. ……………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………… Name:……………………………………. Class:…………… Senior Boys Singles Year 5 and 6 Senior Girls Singles Year 5 and 6 Junior Boys Singles Year 3 and 4 Junior Girls Singles Year 3 and 4 Senior Boys Doubles partner___________________________ Senior Girls Doubles partner___________________________ Junior Boys Doubles partner___________________________ Junior Girls Doubles partner___________________________

STUDENT NEWS Zone Athletics Carnival 2016

Gordon West Congratulations to the Gordon West athletes that participated in the Zone Athletics Carnival 2016. We took out 4th place overall. The carnival had over 600 students competing in various track and field events. This year the Gordon West students had to compete against an extremely competitive group of talented athletes. Thank you to all the Gordon West students who gave their personal best. We were a little bit unlucky not to have a few more of our athletes make the zone team as we came 3rd in 6 events. This means they missed out of making the area team by only one place. Well done to Lachlan Herbert for representing the school in eve-ry possible age appropriate track and field event. His final results were outstanding. Thank you to the parents for their amazing off field support and assistance with transportation. Also thank you to Mr and Mrs Herbert for acting as Team Managers on the day.

The following were the final results:

Sydney North Area Athletics Carnival The Sydney North Area Carnival will be held on the 12th September 2016 at the Sydney Athletics Centre, Edwin Flack Avenue, Homebush. Good luck to Lachlan Herbert, Zac Herbert and Jaye Daniel who will be representing Gordon West and the Ku-ring-gai Zone at this carnival.

Boys Lachlan Herbert

1st jnr long jump 2nd jnr shot put 3rd jnr high jump 1st 10 yrs 100m 1st jnr 200m 1st jun 800m 3rd jnr boys relay

Jaye Daniel 1st 11 yrs long jump

Zac Herbert 3rd 9yrs 100m 3rd jnr boys relay

James Woodbridge 3rd jnr boys relay

Chris Goh 3rd jnr boys relay

Girls Caitlin Blackburn

3rd 11yrs shot put 3rd sen girls relay

Stella Lawler 3rd 12yrs 200m 3rd sen girls relay

Scarlett Appleyard 3rd 11yrs long jump 3rd sen girls relay

Tillie McCutcheon 3rd sen girls relay

HOLIDAY TENNIS CLINICS A school holiday tennis clinic will be conducted in both weeks of the school holidays catering for beginner to advanced standards:  Clinic 1:  September 26th-28th     Monday to Wednesday     9:30am - 12pm $80 (3 1/2 days)     9:30am - 2:30pm $140 (3 full days)  Clinic 2:  October 4th-6th     Tuesday to Wednesday     9:30am - 12pm $80     9:30am - 2:30pm $140  Enrolments and enquiries to Sco  0414 554 612 

ACCOUNTANTS/BOOK-KEEPERS NEEDED

The GWPS P&C needs volunteer accountants or book-keepers for two roles. This is a great way to contribute to the school community.

Auditor to audit the 2016 P&C accounts. The estimated workload is around 20 hours in Term 1 only and covers the canteen, uniform shop and fundraising events. You do not need to be a qualified auditor.

Treasurer for the Fundraising & Social Committee (FRASC). No qualifications or experience are needed, just good organisational skills and attention to detail. The estimated workload is 20 to 30 hours a year. You will manage the finances of around six key events and maintain the accounts for the FRASC Committee. The P&C uses Xero software and TryBooking ticketing.

Please contact the P&C Treasurer Ian Eldershaw on 0416 429 840 if you think you can help. Thank you.

St Ives Junior Cricket Club Where: St Ives Village Green, St Ives Shopping Centre When: Saturdays 8-9.30am Why: Professional coaching, play with friends & close location Register before 9th September to receive participant pack by 18th Sept (Club Open Day at Hassall Park, St Ives) http://www.stivescricket.nsw.cricket.com.au