Dear Parents, - Galston Public School

GALSTON PUBLIC SCHOOL
Cnr Arcadia & School Roads, Galston NSW 2159
Ph: 9653 2062 Fax: 9653 1980
Email: galston-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Website:http://www.galston-p.schools.nsw.edu.au
ABN: 50 773 792 062
3 April 2013 NEWSLETTER 10 Week 10 Term 1
Important reminders for this week
Friday 5 April Uniform Shop will open from 2.30pm – 3.30pm
School fees due
Sport in Schools Program payment due
Bendigo Bank
It was fantastic to have Bernie Triebe
from Bendigo Bank attend our Easter
Hat Parade on Thursday 28 March.
Bernie presented a cheque for $49,000
to Galston Public School. We sincerely
thank Bendigo Bank for this generous
donation. The money will be used to
convert our existing audio visual room
into a modern technology room and
incorporate the use of iPads into daily
lessons.
ANZAC Service
On Thursday 11 April, Galston Public
School will hold a short ANZAC service.
The service will begin at 10.00am under the school COLA. All children will need to wear full school
uniform. Children may wear medals or ribbons belonging to family members or friends who have
served in a war. Parents and community members are also welcome to attend the service. It would
be appreciated if children could bring a small bunch of short-stemmed flowers to school on
Wednesday 10 April. These flowers will be made into wreaths for the service. Please take the flowers
to the canteen. Volunteers will be needed on Wednesday to assist with the making of wreaths. If you
are able to assist, please contact Belinda Crofts on 0418 216 670.
Term 2 Staff Development Days
On Monday 29 April and Tuesday 30 April, Galston Public School staff will be joining with Galston
High School and other schools within the local area, for two combined Staff Development Days. The
focus of the training will be boys‟ education and strategies to improve engagement in class activities,
especially reading. Other areas of focus will be critical literacy and mathematics. Please note that term
2, for students, will resume on Wednesday 1 May.
Winter Uniform Transition
At the beginning of term 2, children may wear summer or winter uniform to school, depending on
weather conditions. From Monday 20 May, all children will be required to wear full school winter
uniform.
P & C Meeting - Tuesday 9 April at 7.30pm in Library Page 1

Thank You
Thank you to Peter Brown for replacing some tap washers in the OOSH building. We appreciate
your assistance and generosity.
Mrs Courtney
Unfortunately, Mrs Courtney will retire at the beginning of
next term. Mrs Courtney has been an integral part of Galston
Public School for a long time. Her contribution to the
education of the students from Galston has been invaluable.
She is an extremely talented educator, especially in the area of
drama, where her many drama groups have excelled in various
performances. We will miss Mrs Courtney, and would like to
acknowledge her wonderful work and the magnificent
contribution that she has made to Galston Public School. We
wish Mrs Courtney all the very best for her retirement and
look forward to her returning to Galston Public School as a casual teacher. Mrs Courtney‟s last day at
Galston Public School will be Wednesday 1 May. The community will be notified soon regarding Mrs
Courtney‟s replacement.
Mr Fawdry
Our hard-working GA, Mr Fawdry will be taking some well-earned leave from Monday 8 April until
Wednesday 5 June. We wish him an enjoyable holiday and look forward to his return. Mr Myers
will replace Mr Fawdry as our GA during his leave.
NAPLAN Testing
National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy testing will take place on Tuesday 14,
Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 May. Every year, all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are assessed on
the same days, using national tests in reading, writing, language conventions (spelling, grammar and
punctuation) and numeracy. For more information go to: www.nap.edu.au
Easter Hat Parade
Last Thursday, there were hats of all shapes and sizes decorated beautifully with eggs, chicks,
streamers and all things Easter. The children marched and hopped around happily and we even had
a special visit from the Easter Bunny who was so impressed with the students of Galston Pubilc
School – especially Joshua Chapman and his robot dance. The Easter Raffle raised over $1,000 which
will be put to good use purchasing resources for the school. We would like to thank our wonderful
school community for their generous support of our activities. We hope you all had a Happy Easter!
P & C Meeting - Tuesday 9 April at 7.30pm in Library Page 2

Peer Groups
Our first peer groups session, last Thursday, was very successful. Congratulations to the Year 6
students for leading their groups with confidence and enthusiasm. They were appreciative of the
effort their students put into the activities. The theme for the first three peer groups sessions is
“Friendship: Working and Playing Together”. We are really fortunate to have such cooperative and
friendly students and families at our school. Peer groups will meet this Thursday at 12.30pm.
What‟s been happening in 2PR
It‟s week 10 already! We have had a very busy term. Congratulations Year 2 on your beautiful Easter
hats. You did a fantastic job making these with your buddy readers. This term our class has been
reading the comical book, „Bill‟s New Frock‟ by Anne Fine. The children have been creative in
writing their personal responses about the book and we have been discussing the typical stereotypes
portrayed of boys and girls at school. We looked at „Emotion‟ poetry and the students brainstormed
a variety of emotions. Each student chose one emotion to write about and had to describe their
emotion by saying what it looks, feels, sounds, tastes and smells like. The students came up with
some very descriptive and creative ideas.
In H.S.I.E we have been learning about recycling, so the students were asked to suggest new ways to
reduce pollution within Galston Pubilc School. The students did a beautiful job on these posters and
came up with new and original ideas. In Art we have used a variety of mediums including water
colours, paint, oil pastels as well as recyclable materials to link to our H.S.I.E theme. They are
becoming quite the artists. Thank you to all the parent helpers who have assisted in the students‟
learning. Well done Year 2! You have worked very hard this term.
P & C Meeting - Tuesday 9 April at 7.30pm in Library Page 3

4 April Peer Groups
5 April School fees due
11 April ANZAC Assembly
Peer Groups
12 April Last day of Term 1
29 April Staff Development Day
30 April Staff Development Day
1 May Students‟ first day Term
3 May Cross Country Carnival
5 May P & C Golf Day
7 May Sport in School starts
3/4F Cake Day
DIARY DATES 2013
P & C Meeting - Tuesday 9 April at 7.30pm in Library Page 4

P & C
Woolworths „Earn and Learn‟ programme is back
Last year Galston Public School participated in the Woolworths „Earn and Learn‟ programme which
saw an impressive collection of classroom resources being redeemed for our many points. We have
once again registered for this programme which will commence on Monday 8 April 2013 and
conclude on Sunday 9 June 2013.
It is as simple as last year – shop at Woolworths and collect a points sticker from the checkout for
every $10 spent (excludes liquor, tobacco & gift cards). Stick the points stickers on a „points sheet‟
and return the full sheet to the green box in the school office or drop it into a collection box at your
local Woolies. Please encourage family, friends and neighbours to collect stickers for you too. The
more points we collect, the bigger the rewards!
When the programme concludes we will submit our collected sheets and once our points have been
tallied, we will shop for classroom supplies, including maths, literacy, science, puzzles, art, sport and
outdoor activity resources. This is a great way to benefit our children by simply doing our regular
grocery shopping!
Golf Day – Sunday 5 May 2013
Golf Day is quickly approaching. Have you signed up yet? This is a fun day, open to both men and
women of any golfing standard. The day is played in teams of four (4) people, so why not get a
group together or you can sign up to join another team. More detailed information is provided on
the registration form attached to this newsletter.
Canteen Rosters – Term 2: A class per week
Next term a new roster system for the canteen is being trialled. The Supervisor and Assistant shifts
will continue to be filled by experienced volunteers, however each class will be allocated a day to
provide the Helper shifts, as follows:
2 people 9.00am – 10.30am
1 person 10.30am – 12.00noon
1 person 12.00noon – 1.30pm
If you are available to help and have not yet advised your class coordinator, please let her know as
soon as you can. The allocated class dates are:
Week 1 Friday 3 May Canteen Closed (Cross Country Carnival)
Week 2 Friday 10 May KE
Week 3 Friday 17 May KP
Week 4 Friday 24 May 1B
Week 5 Friday 31 May 1/2C
Week 6 Friday 7 June 2PR
Week 7 Friday 14 June 3/4F
Week 8 Friday 21 June 3W
Week 9 Friday 28 June 4P
The 5/6 classes will be allocated the first two (2) weeks of term 3.
P & C Meeting - Tuesday 9 April at 7.30pm in Library Page 5

Canteen Roster
Friday 5 April 9-12pm Michelle Vumbaca Nicola Bennet
11-2pm Michelle Vumbaca Gail Philp
9-10.30am
10.30-12pm
12-1.30pm
Robyn Mansfield, Deb Webb
Veronica Russo
Carolyn Sommer
Wednesday 10 April Kirsten Burghard Kim Vlouhos
P & C Meeting - Tuesday 9 April at 7.30pm in Library Page 6

P & C Meeting - Tuesday 9 April at 7.30pm in Library Page 7