Principal’s News Today we farewell Mrs Haddon from our school as she moves on to a very exciting time in her life, her retirement! Mrs Haddon has been at our school for 27 years and has worked in Public Schools for 36 years. She has always been the smiling face that greets everyone in the office and the kind and caring lady who helps students, parents and teachers. On behalf of the whole school community I would like to thank Mrs Haddon for all that she has done while at Guildford West and wish her the very best for the future. We will miss you Mrs Haddon! On Saturday 25th October our school was awarded first prize in the Holroyd Council Safety Awards. This is a very special honour and we are very lucky to be considered for this award. The award recognises the work which we do to ensure our students are safe both now and in the future. We were

presented with a beautiful trophy which is now in our foyer and with a cheque for $1000. I would like to thank Holroyd Council for this honour. Tomorrow is a day when we will be discussing safety with all our boys and girls as we remember Daniel Morcombe and wear red. The aim of the day is to help educate our students to “recognise, react and report” if they feel uncomfortable about a situation. Our student’s safety is a priority and we encourage all parents to talk to their children about safe and protective behaviours. All students are invited to wear something red to school tomorrow, Friday 31st October. Tomorrow is also “World Teacher’s Day”. It is a day when we all reflect on the wonderful work that teachers all over the world do. Good teaching really does matter. Education is the gift we can pass on that will make the biggest difference to people's lives, to their social, health and economic wellbeing. As teachers we share the commitment to put our students at the heart of every decision we make about their education, to help prepare them for an increasingly diverse and technological world. Here at Guildford West we have a wonderful team of teachers and on behalf of our school community I would like to thank them all! Over the last two days a group of 30 Principals, executives and teachers who have been a part of an Instructional Rounds Professional Learning process visited our school to assist us evaluate how well we engage our students in learning. The group visited all classrooms and watched lessons. As a group, they have provided us with suggestions and feedback. This was a

Guildford West Public School 23-51 Palmer Street, Guildford West, NSW, 2161 Phone: 96329942 Fax: 98921197

E-mail: guildfordw-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Website: www.guildfordw-p.schools.nsw.edu

Term 4, Week 4 Thursday 30th October, 2014

November 06 K-6 Sports Day 12 Year 6 Games Day 18 P&C Meeting 6.30pm 21 PSSA Finals 25 Volunteers, Thank you morning

tea. 28 PSSA Finals

December 10 Academic Presentation Day 11 Sports Presentation Day 15 Carols on The Green 16 Year 6 Farewell 17 Students Last Day 18 Staff Development Day 19 Staff Development Day

wonderful opportunity for us as a school as it will assist us in our school planning. A reminder to all parents that our teachers are currently evaluating programs and processes that have been implemented in 2014 to support the preparation of our School Plan for 2015-2017. I’d like to invite parents to participate in our evaluation. If there is a positive you’d like to highlight, a concern you might have or a suggestion you would like considered please send your thoughts in an email to our schools email address: guildfordw-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au It is a very exciting time in education with a new teaching syllabus and with the rapidly changing world we live in all having a great impact on the way we need to engage students in their learning. A copy of this newsletter can be found on our school website: www.guildfordw-p.schools.nsw.edu.au The School Security phone number is: 1300 880 021. If you notice any security issues during the evenings or on the weekends please support our school by ringing School Security and reporting your concerns. Your support is appreciated. Yours sincerely, P.Cassimatis Principal

League Tag Gala Day

Student reports

Last Thursday, 23 October a group of students from the school attended the League Tag Gala Day at Rosford Street Reserve. It was a sunny morning and the day began with a meeting of all the schools to discuss the rules and timetable for the day. Guildford West students were divided into the many categories and each group set off for their first match. My group, the Senior Boys came up against Merrylands and we had a draw. It began to get much hotter but we had a 15 minute break to talk about our strategies for the next game. Our opponents this time had a reputation of being a very good team. We went in strong and came out with a win (3-0). My group were very excited about the win and it gave us much momentum going towards the next game. Our final game was against Guildford Public (they beat our school in the PSSA grand final) and they were the hardest team. After a tough match the score ended 1-0 to Guildford. At the end of the day everyone received a Parramatta Rugby League Club hat. I am sure I can speak for everyone in saying that the Gala Day was a huge success. Michael Phillips Year 6. Five teams were selected to go to the league tag gala day. The gala day was run by the NRL and the Parramatta Eels. There were six fields that the schools had to play on. There also was a small drink shop for the children to buy slushies, soft drinks etc. The gala day gives opportunities for children who don’t compete in the PSSA league tag teams and also gives a chance for schools to compete against schools that they don’t normally compete against in PSSA. Everybody had fun even though none of us won but the senior girls made it to the grand final. At the end of the day the NRL gave out Parramatta Eels hats. I enjoyed it a lot. Cassandra Dang Year 4

More photos of the day can be viewed on the schools website in the ‘Gallery’ section.

Community Corner

PHOTOs - If you take any photos at school events and would like to share them with the community – please put them on a USB (in an envelope or snap lock bag with your child’s name and class) and leave for me at the office. I will return your USB after the photos have been copied. You can also email to me individual photos. Please remember that some students cannot have their photos published, so not all photos provided will be uploaded. Holroyd Safety Awards – I was very humbled to be able to accept the award with Mrs Gawthorne on behalf of our community. The Safety committee commented on the amount of programs in place at our school and how dedicated our staff and families were in providing many of the initiatives outside of class time. The competition was strong with many agencies across Holroyd delivering innovative initiatives to keep our community safe. Thank you to everyone who values the safety of our kids and our future.

Members of Holroyd City Council Safety Committee, Mayor Cummings, Mrs Gawthorne and Mrs Furness. I can be contacted via the school office or email Sharon.furness1@det.nsw.edu.au for any suggestions or feedback. Sharon Furness Community Engagement Officer

P & C News

RAFFLE ** RAFFLE ** RAFFLE

We already have some big items for your kitchen to include in the Christmas hampers! We have a set of Accurra Electronic Scales, Breville 4 slice Ikon toaster, Tefal 10 cup 3 in 1 Rice Steamer, Breville Banquet Frypan, and a Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender. We need your donations to add to the baskets. All donations can be left at the canteen. Suggested items:

Kindy Lollies, chocolate and Candy Canes. Year 1 Crackers, sweet biscuits, fruit mince pies and shortbreads. Year 2 Chips, pretzels, nuts, Pringles, Grain Waves, biscuits and corn chips. Year 3 Tinned fruit, tinned vegetables, pickled onions, olives, tahini and chick peas. Year 4 Serviettes, Christmas decorations, tinsel, baubles, balloons, party poppers, Bon Bon’s. Baked beans, spaghetti and cake mixes. Year 5 Bottled condiments, tomato sauce, bbq sauce, mayonnaise, sweet chilli sauce, apple sauce, cranberry sauce. Jams and ice cream toppings. Year 6 Soft drinks, juice and cordial. Of course you can bring in anything you like, this is only a suggestion. Raffle tickets will be sent home shortly – good luck everyone!

Our next meeting will be in the library Tuesday 18th November at 6.30pm. We welcome all parents and carers to meetings to support our students and our school. Thank you P&C Committee

Granville Multicultural Community Centre

FREE and CONFIDENTIAL Financial Counselling service if you are:

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We also have specialist problem gambling financial counselling.

Free interpreter services are available.

Our hours for this service are:

Granville Multicultural Community Centre – 8 Factory St Granville 9.30am – 4.30pm Monday – Thursday Ph. 9637 7600

Auburn Diversity Services – 17 Macquarie Rd, Auburn 9.30am – 4.30pm Tuesday Ph. 9649 6955

If you require an out of hours appointment please let us know.