The Turragraph Term 1 Week 8 - 20 March 2025
Principal's Message
Dear Parents and Carers,
As we ease into Autumn, I hope you’re still enjoying the extra available daylight in the late afternoon – a great opportunity for a leisurely walk, swim or bike ride. A reminder that from Sunday 6 April, we will see darker evenings (and lighter mornings) when daylight savings officially ends.
What a fantastic time we had at our recent Welcome BBQ. It was great to see everyone mingling, sharing laughs and enjoying the wonderful sense of community that makes TNPS the special place that it is. Families savoured delicious sausages provided by some brave parents, given the afternoon heat, and the gelato was a cool treat that everyone loved! The kids had a blast getting their faces painted and hair sprayed in fun colours. Many families spread out their blankets for picnics on the oval, making the evening feel even more relaxed and enjoyable. We also enjoyed some lively musical entertainment that added to the fun. A huge thank you to our terrific P&C for putting together such a great start-of-year event, and to everyone who gave their time and support. We can’t wait for more good times ahead!
Parent-Teacher Interviews
Over the next two weeks, parent-teacher interviews will be held in your child's classroom. These sessions provide an opportunity for parents and teachers to build a shared understanding of each child’s needs, strengths, and aspirations. Your child's teacher(s) will outline their progress to date and highlight areas for focus moving forward.
Families will have the chance to receive feedback on their children's progress during Term 1. Before the meeting, you might like to take a few minutes to jot down any questions or comments you have.
Approach the interview with a positive and relaxed attitude. Remember, you and the teachers are partners in your child’s learning. Be clear and confident in raising any concerns, and allow the teachers time to answer or clarify your questions and worries. If concerns about your child’s learning or behaviour arise, focus on understanding how the school plans to support them and how you can assist at home. You might ask the teachers about strategies you can implement.
After the interview, it’s important to discuss the meeting with your child and congratulate them on their strengths. If the teachers made suggestions for things you could do at home, talk about these with your child and commit to following through. Stay in touch with the teachers and the school; reach out if a concern arises before or after the parent-teacher interviews. It’s also helpful to inform the teachers of your concerns in advance so they can prepare for your conversation.
The parent-teacher interview is not the only time to discuss your child with the teachers. The school day is busy for teachers, and their primary responsibility is to teach your children. Teachers cannot leave their class unattended to speak with you, so it’s best to plan how to stay in touch. If there’s something happening at home that may affect your child’s learning or behaviour at school, please inform your child's teacher(s).
If you haven't yet booked a time to meet and the booking platform is now closed, please call the school at 02 9144 4107. Your child's teacher will reach out to arrange a time. Please be punctual for your interview and allow the teacher to conclude within the 15-minute time frame. Teachers aim to stay on schedule to avoid keeping others waiting. If you are unable to attend your scheduled meeting, please inform your child's teacher(s) via email.
Harmony Week
We celebrated Harmony Week with class displays, special messaging, and many students wearing orange and showcasing their national dress. A big thank you to the many parents and carers who were able to join us to view the displays.
Harmony Week demonstrates our continued focus on celebrating the rich diversity of backgrounds in our public schools and the important role our schools play in society - embracing the theme ‘Everyone Belongs’.
Enjoy the gallery of photos capturing these wonderful moments:
Stronger in 2025
We are proud to be a URSTRONG School and remain committed to empowering your children with friendship skills through the implementation of the Great Friends - Friendology 101 program. We commenced the program in 2024, and our lessons have now resumed for 2025, helping students build on their learning and understanding.
URSTRONG’s whole-school friendship strategy has improved the social climate in schools around the world, connecting over a million kids, parents, carers, and teachers with a common language of friendship.
We also want to ensure that you, our parents and carers, are on board in supporting your children and our teachers by speaking the same language at home. Research shows that whole-school programs are most effective when parents and carers become fluent in the language of friendship as well.
What is URSTRONG? If you’d like to find out more, we invite you to take advantage of a free URSTRONG Parent Membership (https://urstrong.com/parents/) to access hundreds of resources, including an eight-session video series. This will allow you to learn the same language and strategies being taught in your child’s classroom.
We hope that, as a URSTRONG family, you will join us in reinforcing the important messages of empowerment, self-compassion, and kindness at home and at school.
As a next step, we would recommend:
- Click here to view an overview of URSTRONG.
- Activate your FREE Parent Membership and explore all the resources available to your family.
- Explore the hundreds of resources available to you!
Together, we can support your children to have healthy, feel-good friendships.
eSafety Webinars for Parents and Carers
The esafetyCommissioner website has a wealth of information, strategies and live webinars that give parents and carers the knowledge, skills and tools to support children to have safe online experiences.
eSafetyparents is a great starting place.
If you're interested in finding out more, register for a webinar at:
https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars
Assemblies
We are excited... 6B will be getting our student-led assemblies off to a great start on Monday, 24 March.
Parents and carers are very welcome to attend. If you can join us on the day, please make your way directly to the school hall for a 2:15pm start.
Year 6 to Year 7 High School Transition
A friendly reminder for all parents and carers of children currently in Year 6: enrolments for high schools are now open!
To enrol your child, please visit our school enrolment website and use the ‘Expression of Interest’ (EOI) form or the ‘Position Not Required’ (PNR) form found in the ‘Moving to High School’ section.
Please ensure that this is completed by 28 March.
School Tours
If you’re considering joining our TNPS community or have friends who are interested, we invite you to take an informal tour of our wonderful school. This is a great opportunity to ask questions and learn more about what we offer.
To make a booking, please contact the office team on 02 9144 4107.
Small group tours will be held on the following days from 9:30 am to approximately 10:15 am, starting at the office.
Tour 1 Wednesday 2/4/25
Tour 2 Wednesday 21/5/25
Tour 3 Wednesday 18/6/25
Tour 4 Wednesday 6/8/25
Tour 5 Wednesday 10/9/25
Tour 6 Wednesday 5/11/25
I look forward to welcoming new families and showing them around our beautiful school.
Emergency Evacuation Drill
Please be aware that TNPS will be practicing an emergency evacuation drill on Thursday morning. If you are in the vicinity, you may hear the alarm, but we ask for your support in reassuring students that it’s just a drill and there’s no cause for concern. In line with our emergency practices, morning routines will be briefly paused to conduct this important drill, after which students and staff will return to their usual activities.
MindQuest
On Saturday & Sunday 14 & 15 June 2025 from 9:30am - 3:30pm the NSW Talent Enrichment Weekend, MindQuest will be held for primary students from Years 1-6 at Glenwood High School (Cnr Forman Ave & Glenwood Park Drive GLENWOOD 2768).
These include gifted and high potential students, gifted underachievers and students with above average ability with a special interest. Students will have an opportunity to participate in over 33 exciting, fast paced courses in the two day program. They include courses in chemistry, earth sciences, Lego robotics and much, much more.
Many of these highly successful courses have been run in the past and students’ evaluations suggest that they have been challenged and enriched by the experience. The cost of the weekend is $245 (including GST).
You can enrol online at www.mindquest.net.au.
Alternatively a brochure is available from the TNPS school office or by contacting Shelagh Poray - 02 9748 1084.
Closing Date: Friday 23 May 2025
Communication Protocols
Building a Positive School Environment Together
We believe that a welcoming and supportive school community is essential for everyone’s success. To help us maintain this positive atmosphere, we’d like to share some important reminders about acceptable behaviour when reaching out to our school. The NSW Department of Education School Community Charter provides valuable guidance on how we can interact respectfully. You can explore the full charter here: Dept of Education School and Community Charter.
Respectful Communication Matters
When you contact our school—whether by phone, email, or in person—we encourage you to communicate with kindness and respect. This means actively listening, using polite language, and being considerate of our staff's time. Remember, our dedicated teachers and staff are here to support you and your children, and your positive communication makes a big difference!
Understanding Roles and Responsibilities
Each member of our school community plays a vital role in our success. Parents and carers are encouraged to understand the responsibilities of our teachers and staff, who are committed to ensuring the well-being and education of all students. If you have any concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the school. Our friendly administration team is here to assist you and will gladly forward your inquiry to the appropriate staff member.
Below, we have included a helpful guide from the NSW Department of Education outlining various ways you can communicate with the school. Together, we can continue to build a supportive and engaging environment for everyone.
Dogs on School Grounds
We love dogs here at TNPS but “Under the Companion Animals Act 1998 (NSW, Section 14), dogs are prohibited on school grounds unless the principal grants permission.” We have been made aware that a number of children and some adults have a fear of dogs.
If your dog accompanies you to school, please ensure they are tied up a good distance away from the busy entry gate on Bobbin Head. Thanks for your understanding and cooperation.
Enjoy the week ahead. I look forward to seeing many of you at the Band Concert - 6pm Friday in the school hall.
Michelle Verhagen
Principal
Attendance Matters
As we head towards the end of Term 1, it remains important that your child attends school every single day. School is the best place for students to learn as well as to build social connections and life-long skills.
We understand that families are eager to see and reconnect with loved ones and take a well-deserved break, or simply avoid travelling during peak times, but please remember that planned travel should only be taken during scheduled school holidays.
Students should be at school every day during the school terms, until the end of term, unless they are sick or are absent for a justified reason.
Consistently going to school has countless benefits – from learning, to creating social connections and improving wellbeing through access to support and quality education.
Our staff are here to support you and your child to come to school every day. If you have any concerns or questions please ask. Thank you for working with us to support regular attendance.
Band
Band Workshop and Concert – Come Join Us!
This Friday afternoon, our band students will be participating in a Band Workshop – an exciting afternoon of music-making, skill-building, and teamwork!
Throughout the workshop, students will take part in sectional rehearsals with expert tutors and come together for a full band rehearsal to prepare for a special performance. These workshops are a valuable part of our band program and help students grow in both confidence and musicianship.
The afternoon will conclude with a short concert at 6.00pm, where students will showcase what they’ve been working on.
📅 When: Friday 28/3/25
🕕 Concert Time: 6.00pm
📍 Where: School Hall
We warmly invite families and members of our school community to come along and enjoy this celebration of our young musicians’ hard work. Whether your child is in the band or you're simply a music lover, we’d love to see you there!
Let’s fill the hall with support and applause for our talented band students!
Rob Di Marzo
TNPS Band Director
Calendar - Term 1
Please note: any changes to dates and events, since the last Turragraph newsletter, are in red.
MARCH
- 24 to 28 - Parent/Teacher Interviews
- 24 - 6B Class Assembly
- 28 - Band workshop and informal concert
APRIL
- 1 - Sydney North Swimming Carnival (more information to come)
- 2 - School Tour No. 1 - 9:30am (RSVP 02 9144 4107)
- 4 - Final homework sent home for Term 1
- 4 - Turragraph published - final for the term
- 7 - ANZAC Assembly 2:15pm
- 9 - Special Religious Education Easter Service in hall 10:20am - 10:55am - parents/carers welcome
- 10 - TNPS Easter Event - (more information to come)
- 11 - Final day of Term 1
- 30 April - Students return for TERM 2
Library
Premier’s Reading Challenge 2025
This year TNPS is again taking part in the Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC). The PRC is designed to encourage students to read a variety of quality literature throughout the year. It is not a competition but a challenge for each student to read, to read more and to read more widely. The challenge runs until Friday the 22nd of August, 2025.
All students in Years K-2 will have PRC books read to them in class and library lessons. Mrs Burnes will complete the reading logs for K-2 students.
Students in Years 3-6 choose to complete the PRC. They will need to keep their own reading records online (with parent help if needed). To sign up to the PRC, students go to the PRC website and log on using their Department of Education username and password and add at least one book to the reading record. Their Department of Education username is the username used to logon to computers at school e.g. john.smith3. The password is usually their class name e.g. 34f. Teachers have a list of usernames for their class. Once you have logged on, click on Student Reading Record, and follow the instructions given. Students in Years 3-6 have been shown how to complete their reading records during library lessons.
To complete the 2025 Challenge, Year 3-6 students need to read a total of 20 books (10 books on the PRC list and 10 free choice books). Our school library and the local library’s PRC books have PRC stickers on them to help identify the books easily. Year 2 students may choose to register in the 3-4 Challenge at home instead, if they can read simple chapter books. To change to the 3-4 Challenge, click on Student Reading Records, then My Information and update the challenge from K-2 to 3-4.
All information including logon instructions, rules and the booklist can be found on the Premier’s Reading Challenge website, so please visit at:
https://online.education.nsw.gov.au/prc/home.html
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Scholastic Book Club
Students received their second Book Club catalogue last week. Issue 2 will close this Monday the 24th of March. It is wonderful to see so many students eagerly awaiting their Book Club orders each time. Remember that for each order that is placed, a proportion of the money is given to the school as rewards points to buy resources.
Happy reading!
Mrs Alison Burnes - alison.burnes@det.nsw.edu.au
Teacher-Librarian
