TERM 4 WEEK 1/2 NEWSLETTER 2024

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

WELCOME BACK!

Welcome back to another busy and exciting term. There will be lots of special events happening for our school this term, from overnight excursions, to NAIDOC Week, Grandparent's Day, Year 6 Farewell, Presentation Day and plenty of engaging teaching and learning activities in between. We look forward to sharing the excitement of Term 4 with the school community.

Thank you to all parents, caregivers and family members who were able to attend our Open Day and Character Parade last term. This was a very successful event with some outstanding student costumes and a fantastic turnout of visitors to the school. I would also like to thank staff for organising some great classroom activities and for the many interesting costumes on display! Both the Book Fair and the P&C Nachos Stall were able to raise significant funds and I would like to acknowledge the work of Mrs Maddison down in the library. Finally, a huge thank you to our P&C volunteers for providing a delicious Nachos lunch. It is no small task feeding a whole school plus visitors and we appreciate your support. Congratulations to all students on your wonderful costumes and thank you to parents for your efforts in making/purchasing the costumes.

NAIDOC WEEK

Students and staff are looking forward to various activities throughout next week to mark Orange NAIDOC Week. To start the week, on Monday our Year 6 students and staff as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from across K-6 will take part in the NAIDOC March and Robertson Park Ceremony. On Tuesday, the Wula Gurray Choir will perform at the Orange Health Service. On Wednesday Kindergarten, the Stage 1 Dance Group and the Wula Gurray Choir will perform at the NAIROC Eisteddfod. Classes across the school will also be learning about the significance of NAIDOC Week and this year's theme: Keep the fire burning! Blak, loud and proud.

As a final celebration of NAIDOC, later this term on Thursday, 14th November we are also holding special Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural activities between 9:30am – 1:10pm for all classes. There will be a range of activities that students and staff will take part in to learn more about and celebrate our country's first people and the oldest living culture on the planet. To help celebrate the day, students are invited to wear casual clothes representing the colours of the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander flags (red, yellow, black, green, white and blue).

Due to the success of last year's event, we will also hold our Grandparents' Day on Thursday 14th November. We invite any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders and family members from within the Orange East community as well as across the broader Orange area to join us for our NAIDOC activities (commencing at 9:30am) or later for the Grandparent’s Picnic and Performance Showcase. The picnic commences at 1:10pm on the top playground with performances commencing at 2pm.

GRANDPARENTS PICNIC AND PERFORMANCE SHOWCASE

As you may have noted above, in Week 5 on Thursday 14th November we will be holding a special Grandparents’ Day Picnic and Performance Showcase. As in the past, the event will be held on our top playground starting at 1:10pm. Families are invited to bring a picnic lunch and a rug and come together at Orange East to celebrate these important people.

To add to the excitement for the day, at the end of lunch (approximately 2pm) our K-2 Choir, Yr 3-6 Choir, Kinder Dance Group, Year 1/2 Dance Group, Year 3/4 Dance Group and Year 5/6 Dance Group will perform on the top playground to close the event. This is a good opportunity for parents or wider family members who may have missed earlier performances by these groups.

We look forward to our community joining us for this special event.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES 2025

All of our Year 5 students have been involved in a talk about school leadership opportunities for 2025 and received a nomination form outlining expectations for Student Leaders and House Captains. Nomination forms were due to be returned last Friday, 18th October for students wishing to run for a Student Leader and/or House Captain position.

Students nominating themselves for Captain, Vice-Captain or Prefect must present a speech outlining their leadership strengths. Speeches will be presented to the school on Friday, 8th November (Week 4), after which all students from Kindergarten to Year 5 will vote.

House Captain voting will take place on Monday, 11th November (Week 5).

STAGE 2 EXCURSION

Our Stage 2 students ended their term with some excitement, going on an overnight excursion to Wambangalng Environmental Education Centre. The students experienced the challenge of wet weather camping as well as taking part in a range of activities provided at the centre.

I would like to acknowledge and thank the staff who attended the excursion: Mrs Maclean, Mr Neal, Mr Meares, Mrs Sweeting, Mrs Maddison, Mrs Warren and Mrs McNabb. It is no small thing taking time away from their own families and taking on the very big responsibility of supervising an overnight school excursion - all at the end of a very challenging Term 3! In particular, I would like to acknowledge the work of Mr Neal who spent many hours planning this event. Thank you!

Below you will find a selection of photos from the excursion.

WAMBANGALANG PART 1

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WAMBANGALANG PART 2

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OFFICE VISITORS

SCHOOL NEWS

SUMMER UNIFORM

As we finally start to feel some warmer weather, a reminder that during Term 4 it is compulsory for students to wear their maroon school bucket hat while playing in the playground, as well as during PE and Sport. Students not wearing the correct hat will be restricted to playing under the COLA/central lunch area.

Also a reminder as we move to our summer uniform that we have a high expectation for all students to be in the correct uniform. Wearing the uniform is not only important for the self-esteem of our students but promotes the school as a positive and proud part of the community. I have included the following table with the uniform requirements for Term 4 to assist parents/caregivers.

KINDERGARTEN TRANSITION INFORMATION

For those parents and carers yet to collect their child's Kinder Transition Pack, we will hand out any remaining packs when you drop children off for their first transition session.

As explained previously, there are two transition sessions with children either placed into the 9-11am Possums session or the 12-2pm Koalas session. Information about your child's session time was sent out via email in mid-August with the email subject line either 'Enrolment Confirmation - Orange East Public School' or 'OEPS Kindergarten Transition Update' (depending on whether your child is an in-zone or out-of-zone enrolment). The school office can also be contacted to assist with information on your child's session time (6362 7464). Please note that the morning session time is now full meaning we are unable to accommodate any further session moves from the afternoon to morning.

We will be using our School Hall as the drop-off and pick-up point for each session. It is located on the March St side of the school with the largest street parking area adjacent to the school. Please note that parking around the school is quite busy between 8:40 – 9:10am, so you may need to allow a little time for parking if your child is in the morning group.

AT DROP-OFF

• We suggest parents/carers drop children off 15 minutes prior to the session commencing. Session times for each group are printed later in this update and were also provided in your child’s enrolment acceptance email.
• We ask that parents and carers please bring children into the school via the upper (Eastern) March St gate and make their way into the School Hall (directions shown below).
• Once in the hall, staff will direct you to sign your child in for the session.
• After a quick kiss and a hug, a friendly staff member will walk your child down to the Transition Classroom. We know this can be a real challenge and will do our best to support everyone through this step! We promise to take the best care of our wonderful little people!
• At this point parents and carers are free to leave school grounds and enjoy your morning/afternoon!

AT PICK-UP

• We suggest parents/carers arrive around 5-10 minutes before the end of the session.
• Parents/carers are asked to enter the school via the upper (Eastern) March St gate and make their way into the School Hall (directions shown below).
• A friendly staff member will collect your child/belongings from the Transition Classroom and escort them back to meet you at the School Hall - with lots of stories about their newest adventure at 'big school'!
• As per at drop-off, once in the hall staff will direct you to sign your child out of the session and you are free to take them home.
  

As the sessions progress, Kindergarten teachers will make contact with parents and carers to provide some feedback as to how children are settling into transition. You are also welcome to contact the school should you require further information.

SELECTIVE HIGH SCHOOL/OPPORTUNITY CLASS APPLICATIONS

Selective high schools and opportunity classes are one of the ways that the department supports students who have high intellectual potential. These are students whose intellectual potential exceeds that of students of the same age. Students sit a placement test and qualify for a place based on their results.

Selective high schools are for students in Years 7 to 12. The current application process is for students in Year 7 in 2026.

There are 4 types of selective high schools:

• fully selective high schools (17)
• partially selective high schools (25)
• agricultural high schools (4)
• Aurora College – providing online opportunity classes for rural and remote students.

Opportunity classes are for primary school students in Years 5 and 6. The current application process is for students in Year 5 in 2026. 

There are 87 opportunity classes in NSW. The types of opportunity classes are:

• primary schools with full-time opportunity classes (the closest to Orange is located at Bathurst PS)
• Aurora College – providing online opportunity classes for rural and remote students.

Aurora College

The department's Aurora College provides online opportunity classes for rural and remote students.

Students attend their local ‘host’ NSW public school and join Aurora College’s online opportunity classes for science, technology, and mathematics (Primary) or english, mathematics and science (High School).

Applications for selective high school and opportunity class entry in 2026 will be open from 7 November 2024 to 21 February 2025.

Further information can be found at: https://education.nsw.gov.au/schooling/parents-and-carers/choosing-a-school-setting/selective-high-schools

CLOTHING POOL

The Clothing Pool is open every Wednesday and Friday morning from 8:40 - 9:10am. Afternoons are by appointment only. A reminder that the Clothing Pool has moved to what was formerly the General Assistant/Cleaner's Shed - next to the disabled toilet.

The Clothing Pool also welcomes donations of any clothing. Please drop items off at the office or clothing pool on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

OEPS KITCHEN/GARDEN NEWS

GRANTS

Successful Breakfast Club grants last term sees the kitchen with an extra toaster, sandwhich press and an amazing Cold Press Juicer.

Thank you NSW Health for the amazing juicer and breakfast club goodies. We are having so much fun making juice with our extra fruit. We will be using it for breakfast club especially when we have that extra fruit.

Luna and Celeste || 5/6 Wombats

NEW CHOOKS

Great news. We have four new chooks. They are ISA browns. ISA stands for Institute De Selection Animale!

Charlie is all brown.

Cherry has lots of white at the edge of her neck.

Uzi has a white tail and good luck catching this angsty chook.

Clara has a little bit of white at the back of her neck.

What they eat is high quality pellets or grain each day and they are very friendly. Don't try catching them as we don't want to disturb them from laying their eggs. They are superb egg layers. These lovely ladies play an important part in our school by eating grubs and laying eggs which we can use in the kitchen!

Charlie, Brodie and Mackenzie || 5/6 Wombat

CURRENT FORMS/PERMISSION NOTES

UPCOMING EVENTS

TERM 4 SAVE THE DATES

As Term 4 is such a busy time, see below for advanced notice on a number of events. Please note that occasionally dates may change due to events out of our control. We will endeavour to give as much notice as possible for any changes that may occur.

FRIDAY ASSEMBLY

ASSEMBLY INFORMATION

In 2024 we will continue with our regular alternating Friday Assembly with parents and carers invited to attend. The assembly commences at 2pm on Friday in the School Hall. Each week the assembly will alternate between Primary (Yr 3-6) and Infants (K-2).

On Friday mornings from 8:40am, either Infants or Primary students (corresponding with the assembly weeks listed below) are invited to bring their lots of 10 Blue Merit Awards to the office for stamping. During the day, we will also process Principal Awards and Homereading Awards. These awards and the Safe Respectful Learner Awards will be presented at the assembly after lunch.

Parents will receive a notification early in the week via the School Bytes app if your child is receiving a Principal’s Award.

Photos of the award recipients will continue be included in the newsletter the following week.

Please note the roster below:

Term 4

• Week 1 - Friday, 18th October (Primary, 3-6)
• Week 2 - Friday, 25th October (Infants, K-2)
• Week 3 - Friday, 1st November (Primary, 3-6)
• Week 4 - Friday, 8th November (Infants, K-2)
• Week 5 - Friday, 15th November (Primary, 3-6)
• Week 6 - Friday, 22nd November (FINAL Infants, K-2)
• Week 7 - Friday, 29th November (FINAL Primary, 3-6)
• Week 8 - Friday, 6th December (PBL Awards Assemblies)
• Week 9 - Thursday, 12th December (Presentation Day)
• Week 10 - Wednesday, 18th December (Yr 6 Graduation Assembly)

TERM 3 WEEK 9 INFANTS ASSEMBLY AWARDS

TERM 3 PBL AWARDS

THANK YOU!

Thank you to all of the parents/caregivers who attended our special PBL Assemblies in Week 10 of last term. It was wonderful to see so many students achieving new levels in our PBL Award System. The next and final ’cut-off’ date for bees/dojos this term is Monday, 2nd December with the award assemblies taking place on Friday, 6th December.

Please see the attachments below for further information about the OEPS PBL Award System.

KINDERGARTEN

YEAR 1

YEAR 2

YEAR 3

YEAR 4

YEAR 5

YEAR 6

CLASS OF THE WEEK

TERM 3 WEEK 7 - 5/6 WOMBAT

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TERM 3 WEEK 9 - 4/5 CROCODILE

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TERM 3 WEEK 10 - KINDER KANGAROO

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GOT IT! PROGRAM UPDATE

GOT IT! CARE2KIDS – WEEK 10

While Got It! has finished in your school we wanted to add one final 'Hey Did You Know' to let you know about what supports are available for you as a parent.

P&C NEWS

P&C MEETINGS 2024

Term 4 Meetings

• Week 3 - Tuesday, 29th October @ 6:30pm
  
• Week 8 - Tuesday, 3rd December @ 6:30pm

Meetings are held between 6:30 - 7:30pm in the Staffroom with access from the Spring Street entrance (see map below). Meeting length is strictly limited to one hour or less if possible! New members are warmly welcomed. Do not hesitate to contact the school office if you would like further information.

Parents and carers can also opt to join via Zoom. Zoom participants will need to create a registered account and use the details below:

https://nsweducation.zoom.us/j/68062125227?pwd=ur9M6o1EamW7B6aBhA5BgQAoZb3Icx.1

Meeting ID: 680 6212 5227

Passcode: 643932

JOINING THE P&C OR VOLUNTEERING

We love parent involvement at Orange East. You can volunteer in the classroom, working bees, help cook at BBQ's, share your professional or special interest skills, join a committee and more. Please complete this online form to register your interest and the P&C will email you details of upcoming events and P&C meetings for your calendar.

Expressions of Interest - OEPS P&C (google.com)

COMMUNITY NOTICES