GORDON WEST BULLETIN V O L U M E 4 2 0 1 7 M A R C H 2 3 2 0 1 7

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

Sat/Sun 25 & 26 March

Band Camp

Thurs 30th March

Yr1 Excursion

Fri 31st March

Yr2 Excursion

Friday 7th April

Easter Hat Parade

Last day of term

Mon 24 April

Staff Development Day

Wed 26 April

Term 2 begins for all students

Wed 26 April

ANZAC Service

Wed 3 May

Ecumenical Service

Dates to Remember

Congratulations to Mrs Garland on her wonderful presentation of an overview of the You Can Do It program on Monday evening last prior to the regular meeting of the Gordon West Parents and Citizens (P&C) organisation. You may recall that Ms Wenk, Vice President of the P&C recently surveyed the Gordon West parent body and subsequently has identified a number of parent preferred topics for presentation and discussion at future meetings of the P&C. You Can Do It Education has been developed over the past 25 years by Professor Michael Bernard from the University of Melbourne. In summary YCDI’s mission is to strengthen the five social and emotional skills and values which all children need to manage their own learning, behaviour, and emotional wellbeing. For those who were unable to attend the presentation Miss Harper and Mrs Garland have provided copies of the “Five Keys Parent Guide” which is available on the school website under Notes Home. Limited hardcopies are available at the office. Should you like to ask any questions please contact either of these teachers who would only be too pleased to assist you in the understanding this highly successful program. Parents will be soon be sent a survey to provide the school with information about our student’s social and emotional skills. The information provided will assist the school to better manage our You Can Do It program and target the way the school addresses student learning, behaviour and emotional wellbeing. The 2 sided document should be returned to classroom teacher by Thursday 6 March. We greatly appreciate your input. Please be aware that attendance at such presentations held prior to P&C meetings has no obligation attached to attend the P&C meeting following the presentation.

At the P&C meeting, after this excellent presentation, a number of issues were raised for clarification. Clean Up Australia Day was cancelled this year because the school was disrupted by the painting of 6 classrooms and we wanted to settle the children into their temporary rooms with minimal disruption. Department of Education policy is that no dogs are allowed on school premises while the school is in operation. The same policy applies to the riding of bikes or scooters which are prohibited in the

school grounds while the school is in operation. Children who ride their bikes to school must immediately dismount before entering the property. We have a “three strikes and you are out” policy in relation to bike riders who continually flaunt the rules. Another Uniform Shop survey will be distributed on Thursday next the 30 March 2017 ascertaining parent opinion regarding tagging certain items of clothing. Late last week the police conducted a blitz on motorist breaking the recently introduced new traffic regulations adjacent to Kiparra Street. A suggestion, briefly discussed at the P&C meeting that might help facilitate improved traffic flow, was for parents to adopt a “Kiss and Drop’ policy in both Kiparra Street and Kooyong Street rather than park and come into the playground and in some cases stay until the morning assembly is completed. If motorists use Kooyong Street as a “Kiss and Drop” and adopt a voluntary one way street obeying all traffic regulations, traffic flow should improve considerably. The execution of three point turns also appears as a deterrent to a smooth traffic flow. A very interesting discussion occurred in relation to effective use of our Skoolbag App. Overall our tracking numbers indicated that a large number of parents were using the App. whereas after closer analysis we have found that in all probability the majority of parents aren’t utilising the App. correctly. Mrs Sarah Daniels from the P&C and the Administration Manager and I met this morning to draft some guidelines to ensure maximum benefit is gained from using the Skoolbag App. The inaugural reunion for students who attended the first class at Gordon West in 1951 will be held at Asquith on 11 April 2017. Thirty five to forty students from the first intake together with one of their teachers will be in attendance. Given that we only learned of the reunion recently we have invited all participants to organise another time to officially visit Gordon West and be given a guided tour of the current facilities and to be entertained by our very talented creative and performing arts groups.

Our Harmony Day assembly held on Wednesday was a wonderful celebration of the cultural diversity of the Gordon West school community. Congratulations to everyone involved.

J Huckerby Principal

Year 5 is organising an Easter Raffle to raise money for the Year 6 Farewell. Year 5 students will be selling raffle tickets beginning next week, Monday 20th March. Tickets will be on sale before school and recess. Prizes will be drawn on Friday 7th April during the Easter Parade. Parents are requested to monitor the amount of money children bring to school to spend on tickets. Thank you for your support.

Canteen News 

Canteen will be open 5 days per week in Term 2. 

This will be a trial for Tuesdays and Wednesdays and it will ony be for lunch orders. 

To order your lunch on these days, please use Flexischools as normal. 

Canteen will require volunteers for these new days. To sign up please go to Sig‐nup.com, using this link  

h p://signup.com/go/rzpDjB  

Or Email Canteen on canteengwps@gmail.com  

Holiday Tennis Clinic  

Two holiday tennis clinics will be conducted at Gordon West Public School in the holidays catering for beginners to advanced standards.  Clinic 1: April 10‐13 (Mon‐Thurs) 9:30am –12pm $105 9.30am– 2.30pm $185  Clinic 2: April 18‐20 (Tues‐Thurs) 9.30am ‐ 12pm $80 9.30am ‐ 2.30pm $140  All enquiries to Sco  on:  

0414 554 612  

STUDENT NEWS CRICKET RESULTS

10/3/17 WASHED OUT Juniors Seniors

17/3/17 WASHED OUT Juniors Seniors

MODBALL RESULTS 10/3/17 Snrs vs WASHED OUT Jnrs vs WASHED OUT

17/3/17 Snrs vs WASHED OUT Jnrs vs WASHED OUT

TOUCH FOOTBALL RESULTS

10/3/17 Jnr Girls WASHED OUT Snr Girls WASHED OUT Jnr Boys WASHED OUT Snr Boys WASHED OUT

17/3/17 Jnr Girls WASHED OUT Snr Girls WASHED OUT Jnr Boys WASHED OUT Snr Boys WASHED OUT

PREMIER’S READING CHALLENGE

Congratulations to the following students who have completed the Premier’s Reading Challenge

Sophia B 3H Eleanor B 5D Hayley J 3S Jaein K 6J

Jonathan C 2G Jaren S 2B

Andy H 3G Alyssa R 5D

Hamish R 5W Alicia B 2G Oliver A 3G

Ku-ring-gai Zone Swimming Carnival 2017 On the 7th of March, the Ku-ring-gai Zone Swimming Carnival was held at West Pymble Aquatic Centre. A number of talented swimmers from Gordon West attended this carnival and represented our school in many events throughout the day. Despite the rain, a great day was had by all. Each swimmer gave their best and they were cheered on by their peers and parents from the grandstand. Congratulations to the all of the Gordon West Zone Swimming Team. The following students represented Ku-ring-gai Zone at the Sydney North Area Swimming Carnival on Wednesday 20 March.

An honourable mention to Fuyu Han, Serena Ha, Nick Chow, Billy Harris-Neville, Emily Holdsworth, Alana Frost, Teo Hansen, Fuyu Han, Tyson Neal, Amelia Hartcliff, Amy Daniel, Sabina McIvor, Daniel Hartcliff, Rohan Nairn, Amelia Watkins, Lachlan Herbert, Lucas Van Bilson, Sara Liu, Ava Luxford, Chloe Gunanwan, Jaye Daniel, Tom FitzGerald, Sarah Hudson, Sophie Eldershaw, Jimin Kim, Orlando Douglas-Giles, Mikayla Fung and Ella Magee for participating throughout the day. A special mention must go to Noah Mudadu and Katie Hartcliff. In overall points accumulated on the day, Noah tied first in the junior boys and Katie came 3rd in the 12-13 girls. A huge thank you to all of the Gordon West parents who attended on the day, supported our students and assisted in the organisation of our school team. Your efforts are greatly appreciated. Congratulations to Summer Mudadu and Tom Reeves for gaining selection in the Sydney North PSSA Swimming Team. They will compete in their selected events at the NSW PSSA National Swimming Championships on the 5-6 April 2017.

Katie Hartcliff 1st Girls 100m Freestyle

Noah Mudadu 1st 8-10yrs Boys 50m Backstroke

1st 8-10yrs Boys 200m Individual Medley

1st 10yrs Boys 50m Freestyle

Tom Pennycook 2nd 11yrs Boys 50m Backstroke

2nd 11yrs Boys 50m Butterfly

3rd 11yrs Boys 50m Freestyle

Summer Mudadu 1st 8yrs Girls 50m Freestyle

Marco Cardinale 2nd 8yrs Boys 50m Freestyle

Hamish FitzGerald 3rd 8yrs Boys 50m Freestyle

Tom Reeves 1st 10yrs Boys 50m Freestyle (S9)

1st 10yrs Boys 50m Breaststroke (S9)

1st 10yrs Boys 50m Backstroke (S9)

1st 10yrs Boys 50m Butterfly (S9)

15/2/2017

KH Matthew L, Harmony S, Bella M KP Justyn L, Claudia H, Victor K KT Matilda S, Grace M, Archie L KZ Amelia R, Evan Z, Nicole N 1A Isabella C, William K, Matilda D-G 1F Hamish O’K, Elizabeth C, Lucy N 1S Daniel G, Sally A, Tigerlily J 1W Cindy H, Mason L, Sorcha K 2B Lachlan D, Caitlin V, Ashwin S 2E Annabell Z, Archie T, Eason P 2K Baxter M, Victor L, Jasmine C 3G Oliver d A, Monique S, Tagen K 3H Felicity B Y, Harriett L, Elizabeth C 3S Chloe K, Dhanya V, Lachlan D 4F Siena S, Gaby B, Rohan N 4G Kate W, Selina M, Lucas S 4M Isabel P, Harry S, Katie R 5D David Z, Amelie H, Jasper S 5T Fletcher T, Chris C, Jerrie Y 5W Melissa D-Y, Changke Z, Ollie E 6J Jaein K, Jacinta D, Ryan D 6S Suzie K, Isaac D, Joel C

ZONE SWIMMERS AT SYDNEY ACQUATIC  CENTRE