The Turragraph Term 3 Week 2 - 1 August 2025
Principal's Message
Dear Parents and Carers,
What a cold and wet start to the term! Our spirits are far from dampened though, and we we have eagerly dived back into an action-packed term, featuring our P&C Trivia Night, Open Morning for Public Education Week at TNPS and much more.
The termly newsletters were SZapped last week detailing many of the exciting incursions, excursions and learning experiences planned for this term.
If you missed them, here’s a reminder with links to each:
Term 3 Year 1 and 2 Newsletter
Term 3 Year 3 and 4 Newsletter
Term 3 Year 5 and 6 Newsletter
Thank You
A huge thank you to our hardworking P&C and everyone who dusted off their hats, pulled on their boots and saddled up to support our Country & Western-themed Trivia Night on Saturday! Your enthusiasm, organisation, hard work and participation made the event a tremendous success.
The night was filled with fun, laughter and friendly competition as teams battled it out for trivia glory. We are incredibly grateful for the generosity shown by our community, especially in supporting the live auction and raffle.
Thanks to your efforts, we were able to round up funds for our school and students. These funds will go directly towards enhancing our resources (Covered Outdoor Learning Area), ensuring our students have the best opportunities possible to learn and play in different places and spaces.
Thank you all for making it a night to remember. We look forward to seeing you again at our future events, including Open Morning on Thursday, 14 August.
The TNPS Trivia Night Was a Boot Scootin’ Success!
What an incredible night! A heartfelt thank you to our amazing school community for showing up, digging deep, and helping us raise vital funds towards a Covered Outdoor Learning Area (COLA) for our children to enjoy.
The night was filled with fun, laughter, and fantastic generosity. A huge shoutout to our Year 2/3 organisers for pulling together such a memorable evening, your hard work didn’t go unnoticed!
We’d like to give special thanks to Turramurra Vet, our returning Gold Sponsors, for their generous cash sponsorship and the wonderful hamper that helped boost our auction.
Thank you also to the Paspaley family for donating the magnum of Shiraz, trivia prizes, and of course, the stunning pearl we were given to raffle. Congratulations to our very lucky winner!
A massive thank you to Craig Marshall from The Marshall Group, whose expert auctioneer skills brought so much energy to the room and helped us raise much-needed funds quickly and enthusiastically.
We’re so grateful to our generous community sponsors who donated incredible prizes and auction items, including:
Nextra St Ives, Turramurra Learn to Swim, Mini Farms, Bunnings Pymble, The Y at St Ives, North Shore Gym, KX Turramurra, Kipling’s Garage Bar, Studio Frankee & Co, Team Kids, Ninja Kids Hornsby, Kari Art, and the talented Jakey Pedro.
The night was brilliantly brought to life by our MC, Chris Szeleczky, and the creative powerhouse Vanessa Browne, whose vision, decorations, and behind-the-scenes coordination ensured a fun and inclusive night for all. Special thanks too to Lhara Wetmore who spent weeks reaching out to our broader community for auction contributions.
Thanks also to Tom’s Cellars for keeping us hydrated, our bartenders Sara and Lachie, and the fabulous Smokey Sue’s for the delicious dinner.
Finally, it was a joy to welcome back Time for Trivia, always a crowd-pleaser! Congratulations to the winning table from Year 6!
Well done to our incredible Parents & Citizen’s Association, it was another successful trivia night in the books, with fantastic results!
Public Education Week 2025 - Ignite the Potential
Celebrating Success
I am thrilled to share the fantastic achievements of one of our students, Beatrice (Year 6), who participated recently in the State Cross Country.
Beatrice put in an incredible effort, finishing 12th overall in a competitive field. Her hard work and determination contributed to the Sydney North team securing second place in the 12/13 years girls team event, earning her a well-deserved medal!
This experience was not only a testament to Beatrice's athletic abilities but also a wonderful opportunity for her to showcase her passion for running. She loved every minute of the event and we are very proud of her achievements.
Congratulations, Beatrice!
Celebrating NAIDOC Week
Collaborative art work from 1/2P and 2F
Poetry and art work - A Place I Connect To by 3/4F
6B has been learning about the story of Budj Bim, as told by the Gunditjmara people of Victoria. Budj Bim is a dormant volcano that last erupted approximately 37,000 years ago. The Indigenous people have orally shared the creation story of Budj Bim, who was said to be a giant that took the form of a volcano. In this tale, his teeth became the lava that flowed into the surrounding wetlands.
Scientific research supports the idea that the Gunditjmara people inhabited the area before the volcano and surrounding volcanoes erupted. This suggests that the oral history of Budj Bim could be one of the oldest, most continuously told stories in the world.
To culminate our Science topic for Term 2 and kick off our Term 3 Geography unit, we made our own volcanoes! While they didn’t produce the huge lava explosions we hoped for, it was an exciting experience all the same!
Emergency Evacuation Drill
Weather permitting, and in keeping with our usual practice, we will be holding a whole school evacuation drill on Thursday, morning - 7 August at approximately 10:40am. If you are near the school, you may hear the alarm.
Students, teachers and all adults onsite will move from their classrooms and workspaces to the meeting place on the school oval. The teachers will be discussing the evacuation with students, reassuring them that they are safe and there are no actual emergencies. Once the evacuation drill is over, the school day will continue as usual.
You may like to have a conversation about the drill with your child/children too.
Thank you for your support.
Exciting News
I'd like to finish this newsletter by extending our warmest congratulations to Mrs Gaffney and her family on the recent arrival of their precious baby girl, Zahra.
We are thrilled to hear that both mother and baby are doing well. This is a wonderful time for the Gaffney family, and we wish them all the joy and love as they embark on this new journey together.
Michelle Verhagen
Principal
100 Days of Kindy
Kindergarten students celebrated their 100th school day last Friday. The theme was "100 years from now..." and students and teachers alike dressed up. We had amazing costumes and accessories and lots of elderly learners. There were cardigans, pearls, walking sticks, bushy eyebrows, walking frames and glasses galore!
The whole day centred around the number 100. We began the day with some STEM activities like counting out pompoms and creating something using 100 craft sticks. We made a crown to celebrate the day. We did some outside challenges like how many star jumps can be done in 100 seconds. In pairs, we made a paper chain with 10 paper links. When we put the paper chains together, we were able to count to 100. We shared collection of 100 items like pasta, leaves, sprinkles and stickers.
We finished the day with blowing bubbles to see if we could make a 100 bubbles float in the sky. It was a wonderful day and a great way to celebrate the learning and fun so far in KA. We said goodbye to Mrs Atterton and loved having her share the day with us.
- KA and Ms Botton
Term 3 Calendar
August
- 4 - Assembly - Assembly hosted by 3RG (Hall 2:15pm, parents and carers welcome)
- 6 - School Tour 9:30am
- 7 - Evacuation Drill
- 8 - HZSS
- 14 - TNPS Open Morning 8:25 - 11:35am
- 15 - Turragraph published
- 15 - HZSS
- 21 - P&C Meeting 7-8:30pm
- 22 - HZSS
- 22 - Final Choir Rehearsal and Concourse Concert
- 25 - Assembly hosted by 2F (Hall 2:15pm, parents and carers welcome)
- 29 - Turragraph Published
September
- 4 - Stall for Fathers and Special Others
- 10 - School Tour 9:30am
- 10 - Maths Olympiad 4
- 12 - Year 1 and 2 Ranger Jamie incursion at TNPS
- 12 - Turragraph published
- 12 - HZSS (Summer comp)
- 15 - Assembly hosted by 1/2P (Hall 2:15pm, parents and carers welcome)
- 19 - HZSS
- 22 - Sydney North Area Athletics Carnival
- 25 - Principal's Award Assembly for Term 3 - (Hall 10:15am, parents and carers welcome)
- 26 - Turragraph published
- 26 - Last day of school for Term 3
October
- 14 - Term 4 commences for students
Canteen
Choir
We are excited to share some wonderful updates about our choir program and the incredible dedication our students have shown.
Over the past two terms, our choir students were hard at work preparing for our upcoming performances. The commitment and enthusiasm displayed by the students during rehearsals has been truly inspiring. Their passion for music shines through, and it's heartwarming to witness their growth as both individual singers and a cohesive group.
Last term, we attended an offsite practice day with the other schools in our combined primary choir, and we are thrilled to report that it was a massive success! Students left feeling excited, wanting to keep on singing. The energy and excitement from that day have carried over into our regular rehearsals.
As we approach our school performance (more information to come) and the combined primary school performance at Chatswood Concourse in Week 5 (more information to follow), it’s clear that our choir is ready to shine. The students are consistently putting in the effort, rehearsing their parts diligently, and supporting one another. We are confident that their hard work will be reflected in their performances.
Thank you for your continued support and encouragement. It makes a significant difference in our students' experience and success. We look forward to seeing you at the performances and celebrating the achievements of our talented choir!
We are excited to announce that on Thursday Week 4 (14 August at 10:15am) during our TNPS Open Morning, our choir group, or as we call ourselves, The Melody Makers, will be performing two songs that we have been working on. We are thrilled to show you our wonderful talents! We hope to see you there!
- Miss Drown, Ms Kliffen and the Melody Makers!
Kindergarten 2025
Enrol now for Kindy 2026
Library
Book Fair Helpers Needed
Are you able to spare 15-30 minutes to help at our Book Fair on our Open Morning - Thursday, 14 August?
Helpers are needed between 8.15-9.15 am and 10.00-11.15am. If you can help, please email Mrs Burnes at alison.burnes@det.nsw.edu.au with the time you are available.
Scholastic Book Club
Students received their Issue 5 catalogue this week. The closing date for orders is Friday, 8 August.
Happy reading!
Mrs Burnes (Teacher-Librarian)
alison.burnes@det.nsw.edu.au
Team Kids
Uniform Shop Update
Dear Parents and Carers,
We are writing to inform you of an important change to how school uniforms will be purchased from December 2025 onwards.
As of December 2025, the school uniform shop will no longer be run by the TNPS P&C on-site at school. We are pleased to announce that we have partnered with an external provider, Midford, to manage all uniform sales from December onwards.
The new provider will offer a full range of our approved school uniforms and accessories, with the added benefits of in-store shopping and fittings at the Midford Turramurra store. Online ordering will still be available through a web page set up for TNPS on the Midford website and online orders will be delivered to school and then distributed to the students classrooms free of charge in the normal manner. However, there will also be an additional option for items to be delivered directly to home by Star Track with a charge of $15. More details regarding the onsite store location, opening hours and the process for creating online orders will be circulated closer to the transfer date.
In the meantime, in order to reduce the current stock held in the uniform shop prior to the transfer to Midford, we will be offering a 10% discount on all items purchased from 4 August until the transfer to Midford at the end of November, with a 20% discount being offered on all fleece jacket purchases. This is a great opportunity to stock up on any uniform items required for the remainder of this year at a discounted price, or even grab some larger sized items ready for next year!
We are working closely with Midford to ensure a smooth transition in December and appreciate your continued support over the next few months. If you have any questions regarding the changes, please feel free to contact the Uniform Shop or TNPS.
Thank you for your support.
TNPS P&C - Uniform Shop