What’s on?

Putney Public School193 Morrison Road Putney NSW 2112

T 02 9807 6255E putney-p.school@det.nsw.edu.auW www.putney-p.schools.nsw.gov.au

Parry the Panda

24 October 2019

Term 4Week 2

We are:Safe

RespectfulResponsible

Active Learners

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Welcome back to Term 4! We welcome some new students to Putney this term and know that they will settle into our school with the help of our very supportive community. It is extremely daunting for young students to come to a new school in Term 4, especially for those with little or no English. On a number of occasions throughout the year, I have seen parents making connections to show support to our new families. These gestures are much appreciated.

Miss Shearer our EAL/D teacher is employed to provide support to teachers and students learning English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D). This includes intensive English language support for newly arrived students and ongoing support for continuing EAL/D students.

Miss Shearer, in collaboration with the Learning and Support team, will be evaluating our current structures and processes against the Department’s EAL/D Framework to ensure we embed best practice so EAL/D students can participate in schooling and reach their full potential.

In my role as Learning and Support Coordinator this year, I have been involved in a number of parent/teacher consultation and goal setting meetings for students who need support with their learning. Support could include adjustments to learning programs to help the student access the curriculum or Personalised Learning Support Plans (PLSPs) which include achievable learning goals to help support the student’s learning. The Learning and Support Team are currently working on the Putney Learning and Support School Guidelines to be implemented in 2020.

Grandparents’ DayGrandparents’ Day is a special time at Putney. Students are always extremely enthusiastic when provided with the opportunity to showcase their learning to grandparents or special relatives and friends. I’d like to thank Stage 2 teachers who coordinated the event under the leadership of Mrs St Flour and Mrs Hockley. The grandparents certainly appreciated the hot cuppa and cake provided.

Thank you to the students who submitted entries to our inaugural Putney Photographic Competition “Connecting Generations.” All entrants will be presented with a participation certificate and the winners will be announced after voting has been finalised.

As we know, Grandparents are very generous and their generosity supporting our Book Fair is greatly appreciated. Thanks to our hard working librarians Ms Burke, Mrs Hair and Mrs Kensell. Events such as these would not be as successful without the assistance of parent helpers on the day.

OCTOBER

30 Paul Sironen Gala Day

31 Halloween Fun Day

NOVEMBER

4 Band Demo Session

11 Kindy 2020 Parent Evening

14 Kindy 2020 Orientation Day

18 Band Instrument Fitting

27 Kindy Excursion - Calmsley

Hill Farm

28 Kindy 2020 Orientation Day

29 Stage 1 Incursion - Fizzics

This month is Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) Awareness Month. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting both children and adults around the world. One of our Putney parents, with a child with ADHD, was keen to share information about ADHD to help dispel some of the myths that surround this disorder. She is keen to support other parents who may also have children diagnosed with ADHD. If you would like to be connected with other parents in a similar situation please contact me.

An interesting quote I came across recently:

Thinking of your child as behaving badly disposes you to think of their punishment. Thinking of your child as struggling to handle something difficult encourages you to help them through their stress.” Anon

ACHIEVEMENTSCongratulations to Sora W, who was recently awarded a certificate for her presentation of a story award in the Sydney Braille Forum Braille Writing Competition. Sora will be awarded her certificate at our Stage1 Assembly on Friday, followed by a special Award Evening on 20th November at Burwood RSL club. We are very proud of Sora’s achievements.

Congratulations to Harry S who was awarded a trophy for achieving 40 chess awards in two years. He has been enthusiastically playing chess with the Sydney Academy of Chess every Tuesday lunch in the library. Harry loves competing against the other students in the chess club. He would recommend the club to anyone who loves problem solving and is interested in learning how to play chess.

Congratulations to Ms Kyra, one of our Stage 3 teachers, who was married during the holidays. We are looking forward to her return next Monday.

Congratulations to our own local hero Jose Bello Director of Next Step Foundation. Recently Jose received a Westfield’s Local Hero Award for supporting children with additional needs gain access to the Next Step Foundation. This award has meant that the Foundation received $10,000 towards increasing classes, coach recruitment and new equipment for the Next Step Program.

It is hard to believe that not only is it Term 4, but it is the last term for Year 6 at Primary school. It’s an exciting time as they organise their final fundraising activity to raise money for their gift to the school. Thursday 31st October is Halloween Fun Day and Sausage Sizzle. Year 6 have collaborated in groups to create some fun activities for the K-5 students such as Wet the Witch and a Scavenger Hunt. Once again the support from Year 6 parents and teachers Mrs Hedge, Mr Foo and Mr Herbert will ensure the success of the event.

At this time of year, we use student numbers to explore class structures for 2020. I ask that if your child/ren will be leaving Putney at the end of the year, for whatever reason, could you please inform your child’s teacher or the school office. Your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated.

Thank you to everyone who has already supported Sophie B in the Jellybean Guessing competition raising money for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Sophie B and a team of her Year 6 classmates are walking in the JDRF One Walk this Sunday 27th October.

To guess how many jelly beans in the jar will only cost you a $1 per guess and all the money raised will go to research into Juvenile Diabetes.

Sophie B is a Year 6 student who has lived with Type 1 Diabetes since she was young. At the moment she is using an IV insulin pump to manage her levels and has never let diabetes hinder her life. It is wonderful to see that Sophie and her friends Holly, Malia, Tahlia, Isla, Alanah and Catalina are keen to raise money to help fund more research for a cure.

Congratulations to our champion film makers who attended the Film by the Sea Short Film Festivals for NSW Primary Schools at the Event Cinemas at Miranda on Wednesday night. The Film by the Sea Committee were amazed at the standard of our entries. Be My Bestie by Gigi G, Indi L and Madeline M was awarded Best Cinematography. Congratulations also to Bianca M for her film Youth and Sam N for Speed King Super Drift. It was wonderful to see Ms Sheehan at the awards as she was the one who coordinated the Putney film festival at school. Who knows what the future holds for these talented students?

Our Dance groups wowed the crowd at the recent Granny Smith Festival. Thanks for Danni Camage and Ms Donnelly for coordinating the event.

Tomorrow 25th October is World Teacher’s Day. I’d like to thank Putney teachers for their dedication and professionalism in what can be a very demanding profession. Your hard work with Putney students is much appreciated.

Around the Sports Grounds

Congratulations to Leon P from 1B for winning a Gold Medal at the Judo NSW’s Inaugural Junior Schools Cup on the 15th September. The competition included entrants from 75 other schools and over 100 participants entered. This is an amazing achievement!

Congratulations to our Athletes who not only represented Putney and Ryde Zone but also competed last week at the Sydney North Regional Athletics Carnival at the Sydney Olympic Athletics Centre.

Kobe T- Year 2

Sora W-Year 2

Charlie B –Year 5

Nathan P- year 6

Jonathan G-Year 6

Our Senior Boys’ Relay- Thomas G, Soliman I, Jonathan G and Charlie B

Congratulations to Sora who is off to the NSW PSSA State Carnival as she came 1st in Shot Put, 1st in Discus, 2nd in Long Jump, 2nd in 100m and 2nd in 200m events.

Congratulations to Nathan P who was selected in the NSW PSSA Rugby Union Team to compete at the recent Inaugural National U13 Rugby Exchange Tournament which was held on the Gold Coast during the holidays.

Putney entered 4 teams in a Tiger Tag Gala day at Morrison Bay Park yesterday. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to try a new sport. Thank you to super coach and selector Mrs St Flour and managers on the day Miss Russell and Mr Foo.

Our Senior Boy’s Rugby League 7s will hopefully play in the Paul Sironen 7s competition next Wednesday. The boys have been training hard under the ever watchful eye of Mr Sam Fletcher and Mr Richard Warner. We wish them well in the Gala Day next week.

M. BrooksRelieving Principal

New Rewards available at School Banking!

Many of our school bankers have been waiting all year for the special new rewards that are on offer in Term 4! The latest reward items available for those who have saved up 10 tokens through school banking deposits are:

Water Skimming Bounce Ball Polar Pencils and Pencil Toppers

If your child hasn’t banked with us before and would like to start, it’s not too late! Come and visit us on Thursday mornings between 8:45 and 9:15am. We are set up outside the front office, near the canteen. We hope to see you all at banking soon! The School Banking team

AHUGETHANKYOU!!ThePutneyGrandparent’sDayBookFairwasasuccess!Allthepurchasesraisedalmost$600fortheLibrarywhichwillbeusedtopurchaseexcitingnewbooksfortheLibrary.Wecouldn’thavedoneitwithoutourlovelyparentvolunteerswhosogenerouslydonatedtheirtimeandsellingexpertiseinsellingbooksattheBookFair.StaytunedforanupdateonnewtitlesfortheLibrary.AreminderforallstudentstostartreturningbooksasweheadtowardstheendoftheyearandLibrarystocktake.Yoursinreading!

ThePutneyLibraryTeam

ADHD IS a neurodevelopmental disorder (disorder of brain development and function) that prevents the brain from producing, carrying, or holding sufficient levels of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are the chemicals which transmit signals in your brain. ADHD is characterized by impaired executive function, and impaired self-regulatory behaviour. Executive Functions are the mental abilities required for regulating and controlling thoughts, words, actions, focus, impulses, planning, motivations and emotions; as well as helping to perceive the passing of time. ADHD is NOT a behaviour disorder. The behaviours are a side effect of the disorder in brain function. ADHD can present as Hyper-active type, Inattentive Type, or Combined Hyperactive/Inattentive type. Due to their Impaired Executive Functions, children with ADHD may have trouble with the following skills:

● Controlling impulsive speech or actions (Inhibition and self-restraint)● sitting still● waiting for a turn● maintaining attention● getting organised● following directions● working Memory (holding thoughts in their mind to stay on a task, or think through a problem)● Shifting focus from one thing to another● planning and problem solving● getting started on tasks● focusing on what is important● regulating and managing emotions and motivation● organising behaviour across time in order to plan and prepare for the future● keeping track of time/ awareness of time passing● following set rules and multi-step instructions● playing with others in structured environments● reacting appropriately to the emotional cues of others● Sense of Internal motivation and reward system for completing tasks

FACTS ABOUT ADHD People with ADHD don’t actually have a deficit of attention. They have trouble regulating attention and struggle to control their attention. This means they are easily distracted by things around them and their own thoughts. It also means they cannot control what they do focus attention on. Children with ADHD are not intentionally rude, naughty, impulsive, distracted, lazy or unmotivated. These behaviours are exter-nal symptoms of the underlying neurological disorder, and are beyond the control of the child. It is not wilful disobedience or laziness. Disciplining a child for a symptom of their disability will not teach them not to do it again. Children with ADHD can struggle to meet expectations despite their best efforts, finding themselves on the receiving end of con-stant corrections, redirection, criticism and social isolation. They can feel frustrated, embarrassed, ashamed, and regretful often regarding themselves as fundamentally broken, leading to a high rate of depression and anxiety, even at a very young age. Children with ADHD are an average of 30% (3-6 years) slower in emotional development than their peers. This delay, combined with other ADHD-related difficulties can result in a poor ability to accurately read a social situation, self-evaluate, self-monitor and adjust as necessary. In an effort to compensate, many ADHD children can be bossy, intrusive, inflexible and controlling during play and require explicit teaching in social skills to negotiate with peers and to learn more socially appropriate regulation strate-gies. Symptoms may increase or decrease depending on the environment, and the demands placed on the child. An increase in dis-tractions or choices, a decrease in structure, or when tasks and activities are less stimulating, cause symptoms to become more prominent. Topics of interest naturally increase dopamine, and the child’s ability to focus and sustain attention increases while engaged in those tasks. This is called Hyperfocus, and the child may be able to maintain their attention for a very long time period without distraction. When in this state they can struggle to disengage from that task to transition to something else, and may be resentful of interruption. Once “broken” it may be difficult to return to hyperfocus. ADHD brains crave stimulation, and this might cause the child to subconsciously create drama to boost adrenaline and stimulate their frontal lobes. This might appear as annoying others to get a rise out of them, or obviously oppositional behaviour.

Thank you to all the Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, relatives and friends who joined us on Tuesday to celebrate Grandparents Day. It was a wonderful turnout and an excellent way to celebrate the important role grandparents play in society and children’s lives.

Thank you to all the teachers, parents and students involved in organising the events for this special day including classroom visits, student performances, morning tea, the school book fair and photography competition.

Congratulations to all students who entered the Grandparents Day Photography Competition. There were a variety of creative and touching photos displayed which generated much discussion and sharing of fond memories. Guests, teachers and students had the opportunity to vote for their favourite photo submitted based on the theme ‘Connecting Generations’. Prizes will be presented in the upcoming weeks so stay tuned!

Mrs St Flour and Stage 2

Getting to know our Staff

Ben Stevanovic Interview On Tuesday we had the opportunity to interview Ben Stavanovic, who is one of our new SLSOs at our school. We discovered some new and interesting things about him that we would like to share. Mr Stevanovic’s job is to support children’s learning in the classroom with basic skills like mathematics, writing as well as social skills. Ben has only been at this school for 3 terms. Mr Stevanovic also works as a personal trainer for F45 as well as playing for the West Tigers under 20’s. He is very busy as he attends university, where he is completing a degree.Mr Ben, as some students like to call him, has always been interested in working in schools. His aunty is a teacher and worked with Mrs Brooks many years ago. We think he would make an excellent teacher. We are glad he chose to work at the closest school to him. Once he started at Putney he had an instant connection with the students he has been working with. Mr Ben had also said that his favourite thing about working at Putney has been getting to know all the students. His goal is to play NRL and the position he plays is half back so watch out Luke Brooks!!

Robbie S, Nathan P and Jonathan G.

Student Work Sample

My Magical Land by Sora Wong Once upon a time there was a land of so many beautiful things. This place had unicorns, lots

of rainbows, pretty flowers and the sun shining bright. It had lots of animals and sparkling water. There are fresh plants and grass but most beautiful was the magical rainbow castle.

It was the most beautiful thing there. The king and queen had two princesses. The king was called Robert and the queen's name was Julianna. The two little princesses were called Juliet and April. They were very playful and funny. This family were very kind. They were very nice. All the people loved the queen

and king and they thought the princesses were very cute. One day they got ready. The princesses brushed their teeth, washed their face and dressed up and went down for breakfast. When they finished they went outside to play. They also

went to the park. Suddenly the sky turned black and a witch came. She was destroying everything. The princess tried to help but when they did they discovered they had magical

powers. They used all the powers they had to defeat the evil witch. The sky turned blue again and the sun shined once more.

The people in the kingdom clapped and cheered. They had a celebration and a big party. The princesses had so much fun with all their friends. They all were proud to discover their new powers. When they grew up they were the queens but they ruled with kindness and

always protected their people.

Terry Fox Walk/Run

Sunday 17th November 8am-10am Meadowbank Park (near netball courts)

Come along to Meadowbank Park on Sunday morning and be part of the Terry Fox Walk/Run. All donations go towards cancer research for the Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

Go for a run or take it slow and walk around Meadowbank

Park with your family and friends. Choose between 3km, 5km or 10km’s.

To participate, you can make a donation online. Simply go to www.bandagedbear.org.au and search Terry Fox fundraiser.

Or just turn up on the day and donate then.

Come along and be part of something special.