Term 1 Week 4

Principal's Report

Great Start to the Year

A big Shout Out to our kids, parents and carers for all your work in ensuring we have had a great start to the year.

The children walked into the school gates ready to learn and return to some strong learning routines.

The start to the year has been calm and purposeful and that has been largely due to you managing those conversations at home and the teachers preparing so well for the kids’ return.

Many thanks... as always!

Special Religious Education and Special Education in Ethics Participation

A feature of the public education system in NSW is the opportunity to provide time in class for education in ethics, faith and morality from a religious or non-religious perspective at the choice of parents/carers.

The school website provides information on these options to support parent/carer choice.

A parent/carer may at any time notify the school in writing that they wish to change their decision. Students will continue the same arrangement as the previous year, unless a parent/carer has requested a change in writing.

If your preferred Special Religious Education or Special Education in Ethics option is not available please contact the approved provider. Students not attending Special Religious Education or Special Education in Ethics are given supervised alternative meaningful activities.

For more information about Special Religious Education and Special Education in Ethics, including the list of approved providers, please visit: https://education.nsw.gov.au/religion-and-ethics

Selective High School and Opportunity Class Applications Reminders

The application process for Selective High Schools and Opportunity Classes has changed.

Applications will soon be closed, so please read the emails sent home outlining the process and the summaries below:

Selective High Schools

Selective High Schools cater for high-achieving, academically gifted students. These schools help gifted and talented students learn by grouping them together and teaching them in specialised ways. Offers for placement at Selective High Schools in 2027 will be determined by the Selective High School Placement Test, which students sit in Year 6. The test will be held between 2nd to 4th May 2025.

Applications open on 7th November 2024. Registration is essential and must be completed online by 21st February 2025 here.

Further information regarding Selective High Schools is available online here.

Opportunity Class

Opportunity classes are for high potential and gifted students in Years 5 and 6. They are offered in a number of public primary schools across NSW.

How do I know if it is the right fit for my child?

Does your child:

• enjoy learning

• have intense curiosity

• display a good memory

• ask complex questions

• require fewer repetitions when learning new things

• display creative ways of thinking

• become intensely focused in their area of interest or passion?

If some of these sound like your child, an opportunity class or selective high school might be a good fit.

How do I apply?

Parents/ Carers apply during the application period online at: https://shsoc.education.nsw.gov.au/

The application period for 2026 entry is from 7 November 2024 to 21 February 2025.

Creative and Performing Arts and Sporting Opportunities

At the beginning of every year there are many opportunities for the children to explore some Creative and Performing Arts programs and to try out for some sporting teams.

These opportunities are advertised so as to allow parents and carers to discuss these programs with their children before the trials, auditions and sign ups occur.

The creative and performing arts programs include:

The School Concert Band – please contact School Band Australia through their website if interested (Years 3-6 students only)

Stage 1 Choir ( Semester 2)

Stage 1 Dance

Stage 2 Choir

Stage 2 Dance

Stage 3 Choir

Stage 3 Dance

Stage 3 Drama

Craft Group

Sporting opportunities are slightly different this year

In Term 1, the Wentworthville/Seven Hills Zone will be running Sporting Gala Days as an alternative to regular weekly PSSA due to a variety of conflicting events throughout the term. The gala days will be participation focused rather than competitive. To maximise participation opportunities, we anticipate that students will only be able to be selected for one sport over the two gala days.

These gala days will be on the below dates:

•  Cricket and League Tag – March 7th
•  T-Ball and AFL – April 11th

Successful entry into Gala Day teams does not guarantee qualification for students into weekly Inter-school Sport. Trials for weekly winter and summer Inter-school Sport will be held at a later date in Terms 2 and 3. Weekly Inter-school sport will return from Term 2 on wards.

Meet the Teacher Nights

To allow parents/carers to make the all-important connection with their child’s teacher(s), Vardys holds a Meet the Teacher Night every year.

These evenings are not for individual parent/teacher interviews.

At the end of this term, parent/teacher interviews will be held to discuss individual student progress.

Please put the following date in your calendar

Tuesday 25^th February- Stage 1, 2 and Support Unit

Wednesday 26^th February- Kindergarten and Stage 3

These sessions are a perfect opportunity to find out about your child’s class’ routines, procedures and important dates.

It is also an opportunity to forge a strong partnership with your child’s teacher... an essential part of a successful year.

Zone Sporting Trials

On Friday 28^th February, the Seven Hills/ Wentworthville PSSA will be holding a Zone Trials day to select teams to represent our Zone at the Sydney West PSSA Championships.

Vardys Road will be sending a number of students to try out for a variety of sports on this day.

Many thanks to Matthew McDonald who is masterfully managing these discussions and related permission notes.

For more information about these trials and about our zone’s Primary School Sports Association, visit here. 

Another ICAS Competition

Each year a number of students compete in the annual ICAS competitions. These competitions present a challenging opportunity for our High Potential and Gifted students.

This year, students who achieved a credit or higher in last year’s competitions are invited to challenge themselves further in the inaugural 2025 ICAS All-Stars academic competition.

This competition will provide another opportunity for eligible students to test themselves against the highest achieving students in the country.

Official registrations are now open!

Parents/Carers of eligible students are invited to register for your preferred time and location via the EduVision booking form. Parents/Carers are encouraged to register early, as seats may be limited at your preferred location.

School Contributions

Each year, our school ask parents/carers to contribute to the financial and physical running of the school, asking for monetary and resource offerings, in the form of 'fees'/ contributions and requests for items such as tissues, headphones etc.

While these contributions are an important part of our systems, parents and carers are reminded that these contributions are voluntary.

The cornerstone of Public Education is that every child will be availed with a quality education irrespective of their financial capacity.

So while we will continue to send our reminders about these contributions, families should never feel pressure to stretch beyond their capacity.

No child will ever miss out on an educational program or opportunity due to finances.

Mobile Phones- Reminder

Recent changes to the student use of Personal Digital devices have across the state made significant improvements to student engagement and wellbeing.

Vardys Road has the expectation, that each day, students hand in their personal devices (phones, tablet, smart watch with mobile data) to the school office when they arrive at school.

The school takes responsibility and liability for these devices.

Students can collect their devices, from the office, at the end of each day.

Please discuss these procedures with your children and feel free to contact me if you have any questions or a specific context that needs to be considered as the school applies this policy.

Enjoy your families

Ian Short 
Principal

Mrs Kelly's News!

Library Bags

Welcome back to school and to our library! Students will be able to borrow books from the library once a week. To borrow a book students will need a library bag. Please write your child’s name on their library bag.

There are lots of different types of library bags. Have a look at some of the options below:

How many books can students borrow?

eBooks

This year our school is using the ePlatform website to access ebooks for your child to read at school and home. A variety of books are available and student access is free:

Students need to use their school username and password to access the site here.

The ePlatform website is an online ebook library where students can borrow ebooks and read them online. All students are able to borrow 2 books at a time and they will be automatically returned after 2 weeks. After this they can borrow more books.

Please take advantage of this site as it is a good way to access books for your child to not only practise their reading but to read for enjoyment.

This website is an online eBook library where students can borrow eBooks and read them online. All students can only borrow 2 books at a time and it will get automatically returned after 2 weeks. After this they can borrow more books.

If you are using an iPad or phone you can download the app on either an iPhone or android phone/ tablet. Please search for “e platform” in your app store.

Cricket Blast is coming to Vardys Road in March!

Woolworths Cricket Blast is coming to Vardys Road in March! This junior cricket program has been designed to engage and empower primary school students of all skill levels and abilities, unleashing their potential through fun, game-based activities. 

These after school cricket clinics will be held each Wednesday from March 5 to March 26, 3:10pm to 4:10pm on the fields. The program is recommended for students in Kindergarten to Year 4. Please see the attached flyer for more details or click here to sign up.

Please email timothy.uren2@det.nsw.edu.au if you have any questions.

2025 Canteen Menu

P&C News

The Parents and Citizens Association of Vardys Road Public School is a group of volunteers from the school community who have the common goal of supporting our students, school, and the community.

We are looking forward to coordinating plenty of fun events for the school community in 2025. As we are run solely on volunteer power, we would like to invite you to choose ‘just one thing’ that you might like to help with this year. No contribution is too small, and if everyone chooses just one thing, we can all make a huge difference for our children, families, school and community.

For a full picture of the P&C volunteering opportunities for 2025, including events, uniform shop, and P&C roles, and to assist us in setting up our volunteer register, we ask that you complete the 2025 Just One Thing survey. Please note that the survey is best viewed on a computer or iPad rather than a phone.

Uniform Shop

This year the shop will be opening on the days and times below:

• Monday mornings between 8:30am -9:30am
• Tuesday afternoons between 2:15 –3:15pm
• Thursday mornings between 9:00am - 10:00am
• Friday afternoons between 2:20pm and 3:20pm

Online ordering is always available here, and orders should be delivered to your child’s classroom within the next day or two (be sure to include your child’s name and class in the Notes section at checkout). 

Stock update: white polo shirts are now back in stock.

Events / Fundraising

On the first day of school for our new Kindy families, we held our annual Tears and Cheers morning tea.It was lovely to meet so many of you and welcome you to our school community.

P&C Meetings

The first P&C Meeting of 2025 was held last Monday 17th February.

Thank you to all who attended in person or online. 

At the meeting we discussed:

• Our upcoming AGM is in Week 8 – as per our annual process, all positions will be declared vacant and any members who would like to are encouraged to nominate for positions for 2025. If anyone is interested in volunteering for a role or finding out more information, please see our Role and Responsibilities Overview or email team@vrpspc.org.au
• Tears & Cheers Morning Tea was a success - thanks again to the P&C members who donated food and drinks for this event. There was a great turn-out of Kindy families, and it was a joy to help them celebrate the start of the school journey for their kids.
• The Uniform Shop’s special opening times at the start of this year were well utilised by the school community. Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped in the shop on these days.
• Planning for 2025 – we reviewed our meeting calendar, draft fundraising events calendar and draft uniform shop events calendar and discussed potential time-frames for some of the planned activities.
• The school’s ideas for how to spend some of the funds raised at the 2024 Colour Run - enhancements to some of the school’s outdoor spaces will be coming soon!
• Mrs O'Brien gave updates about what has been happening at the school and what is coming up, and answered member questions on the high schools that Year 6 2024 have gone to, P&C advocacy, and 2024 school report data.

Note: Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held in Week 8 of Term 1 on Monday 17^th March at 7:30pm. In accordance with the P&C Constitution, anyone wishing to vote or to nominate for a P&C role at the AGM must become a 2025 member at or before the Week 4 meeting, so this time window is now closed.

Our 2025 membership form will be made available in the coming days. Existing members are asked to renew their annual membership at or before the AGM in order to retain their voting rights and place on the P&C email distribution list.

P&C Meetings

We love welcoming new members, or welcoming back old ones, so if you’ve been meaning to join or rejoin we’d love to have you! Send through your membership form or get in touch with any questions via email: team@vrpspc.org.au , or check out our website: https://www.vrpspc.org.au for further information. 

AUSTRALIAN GIRLS CHOIR

Recipe of the Week

Healthy Lunch Box Idea

Ingredients

• 1 cup long grain rice
• Olive or canola oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red or green capsicum, seeded and diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 2 cups cabbage, shredded
• 1 cup green peas, fresh, canned orfrozen
• 1 cup sweet corn kernels, fresh, canned or  frozen
• 1 cup bean shoots (optional)
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 3 tbsp reduced-salt soy sauce*
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce*

Ingredients
* Vegetarian if using a vegetarian oyster sauce
* Gluten free if using a gluten-free soy sauce and oyster sauce

Method

Step 1
Cook rice following packet directions, drain and cool completely.  Tip: you can cool the rice faster by spreading rice on a baking tray and placing in the fridge or freezer.

Step 2
Lightly grease a heated non-stick pan with oil and pour in eggs to make a thin omelette. Cook over gentle heat until set. Transfer to a plate and slice thinly.  Set aside.

Step 3
Lightly grease the same pan with oil and cook onion until golden.  Add capsicum, carrot, cabbage, peas, corn, bean shoots (if using) and spring onions.  Toss well for several minutes.

Step 4
Add rice, sesame oil and sauces.  Stir until sauces have mixed through.

Step 5
Fold in sliced omelette.

Thought of the Week