PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE Dear students, families and friends, STOP PRESS! More wild storms on Saturday and Sunday brought down trees

and played havoc with our water, fridges, internet and phone lines. Assets,

Ausgrid and Central Coast Council have made us a priority and are all working

hard to remedy the situation ASAP. We have been assured our Presentation

Night can go ahead as planned tonight.

We had another wild Friday afternoon last week when a severe electrical storm

hit around 2:30pm, with torrential rain, hail and booming thunder. A lightning

bolt struck two large gums near the handball courts, blasting bark off the trunks

in a cloud of smoke. I was on the office verandah, Mr Randall was in the

classroom trying to calm some anxious students and poor Donna, our cleaner,

was caught in the toilet block next to the gums and the bolt nearly bounced her

off the ceiling! I was videoing the hail on my iPhone when it happened (thinking

we might have to put in an insurance claim) and it knocked out the footage

immediately- not even recording my scream.

Thank you parents for passing our Facebook message around and not minding

getting wet collecting students from the classrooms. There was no way some of

them were stepping

outside without you!

It certainly gave us

something to talk about at

our staff Christmas dinner

at Mumbo Jumbos that

night.

Swimming School

We’ve had some light showers, but thankfully no electrical storms, during

Swimming School. We have an early recess at 10am, get picked up at 10:15 am

and return around 1pm, just before lunch. The bus ferries Central Mangrove PS

students first, then Peats, then Kulnura and it’s lovely to have a quick catch-up

with them as we’re filing in and out. The bus cost was covered by a Sporting

Schools grant, making the lessons very reasonable at $30 for 8 x 50 min

sessions. The toilets and change rooms have been

upgraded and we have five instructors this year,

which means a teacher doesn’t need to take a class.

Supervising staff just present the water safety lesson

PEATS RIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

1231 Peats Ridge Road Peats Ridge 2250 17th December, 2018 Ph: 4373 1149 Fax: 4373 1076 Week 10 Term 4 Email: peatsridge-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au www.peatsridge-p.schools.nsw.gov.au

DIARY DATES

TERM 4

Every Monday: Newsletter Every Tuesday: Scripture

Every Friday: Sport

17th December Presentation Evening 7pm

P & C BBQ 6pm

18th December Secret Santa

KMHS Band visit Year 6 Farewell

19th December Year 6 Fun Day and Goodbyes

TERM 1 - 2019 29th January

Staff Development Day

30th January Students Return

PBL VALUE OF THE WEEK

Excellence - Excellent

behaviour at special

events

at the start of each day. I loved hearing the first impressions by some students while I was on playground duty

last Tuesday:

Calloway: I did backstroke with the noodle.

Hastings: I liked it but we didn’t get to swim enough.

Bianca: It was nice jumping into the water but I was wearing my goggles and they broke. I went up to Level 15.

Kade: I was disappointed because I dropped from Level 8 to 7.

Briony: I got into Blue Group 15+ and my instructor is Mrs Michaels. When we started doing freestyle she

moved me to 18+. The best bit was jumping in and gliding off the wall.

Shakia: We had to push off the wall and glide to the line of floats. I wore my new jungly cozzies.

Hunter: Every year I’ve been graded in the same group but yesterday I was graded higher so I’m happy. I’m not

very confident though, so I might drop to Green.

Beau: We were the only school there. I’m in the Green Group and wore my new rashie.

Ollie: I’m in Group 2 and I kept kicking my toe. I got really mad because we couldn’t go into the big pool.

Abbey: It was fun having a swim and practicing my strokes. The new change rooms and showers are heaps

better than last year.

Savannah: I liked it because I got into a higher group than before and I know I’ve improved.

The bus driver made a point of praising Peats Ridge students as the best behaved he’s transported this term

(and he assured me he doesn’t say this to everyone) and Blue Group instructor, Sue, also commented on the

outstanding behaviour and good manners of our “beautiful kids”.

SRE Christmas Service

Our lovely SRE teachers set up early before Swimming School last Tuesday morning for our

annual Christmas service in the Library. I’d like to thank Marisa, Frances, Mel and Jim for their

generosity in volunteering their time this year and SRE organiser Mary Luci, for her ongoing

support for the small mountain schools.

Welcome Houston Family!

On Tuesday, we also had a visit from another

new family- Heather and Tobias Houston and

their three lovely children, recently returned

to the mountain after three years in Mozambique. They

toured the grounds and facilities and met the staff, fish and

chooks before Elijah (Year 5), Rachel (Year 3) and Lydia (Kindy)

introduced themselves to classmates in P1 and P2. They

amazed me with their Portuguese and Yao language skills and

I can’t wait to hear more stories about life in Africa. We wish

you all the best with moving and settling in and look forward

to getting to know you better in 2019!

Last P&C Meeting for 2018

Last Wednesday, the P&C held a special daytime meeting to discuss the Presentation Evening

BBQ and raffle and our successful $15,000 Community Building Partnership Program grant.

Some important points were raised about Dojo points, uniform and permission notes which

I’ll address with staff in the new year. We always welcome valuable feedback from our

families and the community and continually strive to make our school even better. Thank you

President Lauren, Treasurer Leanne, Secretary Lesley and P&C members for building such a strong and

positive relationship this year – all to the benefit of our wonderful children!

CC Council Mobile Library – Science Fun! On Wednesday afternoon, a sleepy ringtail possum hiding in the weather shed rafters had front row seats to

watch some terrific science experiments. For the CCC Mobile Library’s last visit of the year, Librarian Michael

astounded students with green slime, marbled milk, home-made lava lamps, fossil digs and erupting

volcanoes- lots of messy, hands-on fun (apologies for any slimey uniforms)!

Paper Plane Competition

Hands-on science continued Thursday with P1 and P2’s official paper plane competition. We certainly

witnessed some unique engineering design features and spectacular stunts and crashes. Matteo and Noah’s

jets out-distanced all others at 8.25m and 9.3m and they loved their special crystal-growing Christmas tree

prizes.

While we were on the top oval, we tip-toed over to see how our bee hives were going. Our recent residents

looked very contented indeed, pollinating our vegie patch and feasting on dandelion and red gum

nectar.

Farewell Year 6!

As a thank you gesture to our hard-working Student Leaders, Mr Randall invited Year

6 to the Corrugated Café for lunch today. Unfortunately, it was not the lunch I had

planned together due to the storm damage but I hope they enjoyed their meal. Our

Counsellor, Mrs Leah Varley, will host the last Girls’ Club for the year tomorrow and has a few surprises in

store. Of course, tomorrow night we’ll celebrate the Year 6 Farewell at Central Coast Leagues Club with staff,

Year 6 family members and the incoming Year 5 Leaders for 2019. It sounds like the chocolate

fountain and ice-cream machine are in for a work out! Then finally, on Wednesday, Year 6 will

depart the pool a little earlier with Mr Randall and head to ‘AweZone’ trampoline Park at

Tuggerah to really stir up all that choccy and ice-cream (their choice out of ice-skating, bowling, Aqua Splash,

Laser Tag, Tree Tops Adventure Park and a Bon Bon Chocolatier workshop)! They’ll arrive back at school

around 2:30pm for a final, teary farewell. Bring tissues!

Secret Santa

Everyone who has brought in a present can join in Secret Santa tomorrow. Each student drew a

ticket from a box last week, with boy/girl and age range details on it and took it home ($10~15).

There are already some very interesting looking parcels under the tree…

Tomorrow afternoon, the talented musicians in Kariong Mountains HS band will pay us their

annual visit and entertain us with hits in the hall.

Presentation Evening Tonight!

Presentation Evening begins at 7pm tonight with our P&C BBQ starting at 6pm. Come along for a delicious

sausage sandwich with onions, a cold drink and other treats. We’re expecting a special visitor around 6:45pm,

so don’t be late! Former Principal, Mr Gary Rowe, Mooney Mooney Director, Mrs Ros McCallan Jamieson, and

other special guests have accepted our invitation to celebrate the wonderful teaching and learning of Peats

Ridge PS students this year. Students Leaders need to wear full school uniform and other grades can wear

Christmas mufti for their musical item with Mr Small. Hope you can make it!

Central Mangrove PS Principal, Mrs Elizabeth Cullen, thanked us for the use of our hall for their Presentation

Evening last Wednesday and I had a terrific time representing our small schools at the Country Fair Christmas

meeting Thursday night.

Bell Times 2019

To align our teaching day with Department of Education policy and guidelines, we intend reducing the middle

session and Break 2 by five minutes each next year:

9~11am Morning Session (2 hr)

11~11:30am Break 1 (30 min)

11:30~1:15pm Middle Session (1hr 45 min) LESS 5 MIN

1:15~2pm Break 2 (45 min) LESS 5 MIN

2~3pm Afternoon Session (1 hr)

This neatens up bell times and makes them easier to remember. The two changes are only subtle but I realise

finishing ten minutes earlier than this year may impact on family routines.

Please see me if you have any concerns.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 2019

After the wonderful success of Aladdin last year, I’ve booked our whole school to see ‘Charlie

and the Chocolate Factory’ at the Capitol Theatre, 1pm on Wednesday (schools’ day), 6th

March. I’m giving our families lots of prior warning in case you were considering going when it

opens in January and so that students can start saving. Student tickets will be approximately $65 each and

we’ll catch the train like last time, so Opal cards will be needed as well. Parents and carers are invited to join

us at $80 adult, $70 pensioner/senior. The two-and-a-half hour musical is recommended for children aged 6+

years. I know this is an expensive excursion, but a full musical experience at one of Sydney’s best venues is an

opportunity too good to miss! Read more here: https://www.capitoltheatre.com.au/charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/

Important Dates

All staff have participated in extra Professional Learning over the course of the year in order to trade-off the

last two Staff Development Days. This means the school will be non-operational the last Thu / Fri of this week

(20~21 Dec).

Term 1 will begin after the Australia Day long weekend. Staff return on Tuesday 29th January and students

return on Wednesday the 30th.

Goodbye Christina and Good Luck!

Finally, it is with a heavy heart that we farewell Christina and her family as

they make the long-awaited move to the Hunter Valley. This is the first ever

photo I took of Christina, early February, 2017, and that gorgeous smile sums

up everything! Her creative thinking skills, fantastic vocabulary and stories,

kindness and keen sense of fairness will be greatly missed, especially by BFF

Zoe, the rest of P2 and staff.

Wishing all our families and friends a very Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and a long, relaxing summer

break. See you in 2019! Ms Austin - Principal (rel)

Uniform Reminder

If you need to order school uniforms for 2019 please contact Lauren on 0409 745 600 /

gl_taylor@bigpond.com before the end of term. Please note that all items will need to

be paid for in full when placing your order. Uniform order forms are available from the

front office.

FAMILY BUDGET GUIDE 2019

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

Below is a list of the excursions and activities planned for 2019 to help budget family finances.

Of course, other unexpected opportunities may arise later in the year.

TERM 1 Approx. Cost

Voluntary Contribution $30 child $50 family

ICAS Assessments

Digital Technologies (optional) $9.00

Science (optional) $9.00

Writing (optional) $18.00

Spelling (optional) $12.00

English (optional) $9.00

Mathematics (optional) $9.00

Small Schools’ Swimming Carnival (nominated) $3.80 entry fee

Small Schools’ Cross Country No charge

Student Leaders’ Fundraiser Donation

Year 6 Shirt tbc

‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ musical and Opal card $65 (adults $80)

TERM 2

CARES Bike Safety $10

P & C Mother’s Day Stall Optional

GRIP Leadership (P & C $10 subsidy) $30

Student Leaders’ Fundraiser Donation

P1 Excursion tbc

TERM 3

Stage 2 Major Excursion- Jenolan Caves $150

Stage 3 Major Excursion- Camp $280 + bus

School Photos Optional

Small Schools Athletics Carnival – Age 8 + tbc

Book Fair Optional

Student Leaders’ Fundraiser Donation

Father’s Day Breakfast Optional

P1 Excursion tbc

TERM 4

Swim Scheme $35

Year 6 Mini-Markets Optional

Year 6 Farewell and Fun Day tbc