Keeping In Touch

Colyton Public School Nelson Street Mount Druitt Phone: 9625 8185 Facsimile: 9832 2403 Email: colyton-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Issue 5 Term 3 Week 5 2019

Colyton’s Generous Community Hub Members Cook for

Indigenous Elders

To honour the Aboriginal community, women from Colyton Community Hub came together during NADIOC to share their love in the best way they know: through delicious food and amazing hospitality.

The close-knit network of new arrivals and Australian-born Muslim women served food to elders and community members, at the NAIDOC celebration of Baaybain Aboriginal Corporation at Mt Druitt.

Community Hubs is a national program that supports migrant and refugee parents and children as they navigate the education system. The Hub at Colyton Public School is one of the Community Hubs supported by SSI in five local government areas of Sydney.

The women from the Colyton Hub saw the NAIDOC celebration as an opportunity to show their respect to the traditional custodians of the land and learn more about Aboriginal culture.

“I wanted to know more about this culture and come to the festival and share our love because Aboriginal people have given me so much respect and they deserve so much respect back,” said Coylton Hub member Ansar

Hub members enjoying the day's festivities

The women arrived early to set up a stand where they could present the food they had spent days carefully preparing. Biryani, soups, goulash, homemade bread and gorgeous cakes decorated with the Aboriginal flag were all out of the kindness of their hearts.

The food was served to the elders first, and anything left was given to the wider community. Although they believed they would only have enough to feed the Aunts and Uncles, the women outdid themselves, feeding almost 400 people.

“The food just grew in the pot and we were able to feed the whole community,” said Yesim, who offered small cups of rich Turkish coffee to the crowd.

Most of the women were introduced to Aboriginal culture through their SSI Hub leader Lisa Gobo, a proud Darkinjung woman who takes a unique approach in applying a First Nations cultural approach to healing and community connection.

Through yarning circles and deep listening, Lisa and women from the Community Hub have created a safe community space for CALD, refugee and Indigenous women to gather and be heard.

Najla, who spent the day serving elders and community members with food she had cooked, arrived in Australia as a refugee just two months earlier. She said she found a deep connection with the Indigenous culture and the women at Colyton Community Hub. “I really enjoy Aboriginal culture because I like the people and how welcoming they are to their land. They welcome me to their land and now I feel like it is my land too. You give me the strength and it is an honour,” she said.

On the 26th of September, Colyton Public School will be holding our annual Multicultural Day. The day will consist of a food fair where families can contribute a food dish to share with the school.

Students will also have the opportunity to watch an

amazing performance from 'Drum Beats'. Students will

be encouraged to wear their cultural clothes or the colour

orange. We look forward to sharing this special day with

the Colyton community.

Angels Pre-school Visit

This week a group of pre-schoolers from Angels Pre-

school visited us to see what “Big School” is like. During

the visit, the Pre-school group had a tour of the school

before making their way to KC’s classroom with their

parents and teacher, Miss Pam. They participated in

singing songs, listening to a story and then doing a craft

activity based on the book. A great time was had by all.

Mrs Candy

Assistant Principal

Debating News Congratulations to our two debating teams, Colyton Blue and Colyton Red. Both teams worked hard and competed with confidence and good sportsmanship. Colyton Blue debating team finished second in their zone competition with three wins and one loss while Colyton Red tied for third with two wins and two losses in their zone competition. Mr Wilkinson and I would like to say thank you to both teams for their effort and hard work. Mr Jones Debating Coach

Christine Anu NAIDOC Performance On Monday 29th July, Mrs King, Riley (4/5B), Allyarna (45B), Jayde (6A) and Amelia (6A) were invited to attend Ropes Crossing Public School's NAIDOC Week celebrations. The students thought that Christine Anu gave a fantastic performance, teaching them a song in her native Torres Strait Island tongue. They sang and performed with Christine and her band. She then sang her famous songs "My Island Home" and "Sunshine on a Rainy Day". It was a great way to celebrate NAIDOC Week and acknowledge their heritage and the heritage of others. Thank you again, Ropes Crossing Public School and Christine Anu. Mrs King Classroom Teacher

NAIDOC Celebration On the 19th of August our students celebrated NAIDOC Week. NAIDOC week is a chance to recognise the Aboriginal and Torres’s Strait Islander culture and traditions. Students participated in a number of different activities such as face painting, bracelet making, dot and finger painting. A huge thank you to all staff who helped on the day.

Athletics Carnival

On Monday the 12th of September we held our School Athletics Carnival at Blair Oval. Students participated in a range of track and field events and had a lot of fun.

There was some friendly competition amongst the teachers when they raced against each other for the annual teacher’s race with Mr Manibog taking 3rd place, Mr Jones 2nd and Mr Rodgers in 1st place.

We now have the privilege of taking approximately 60 of our students to the Zone Athletics Carnival on the 4th of September. Good luck to all who will be attending!

Onesie Day

On Monday 29th of July Year 6 held a ‘Onesie Day’ fundraiser. The day was a great success raising just over $650. On behalf of Year 6 I would like to say thank you those students and staff members who dressed up and donated. Money raised will go directly towards Year 6 events such as Luna Park and the Farewell.

Thank you from Year 6 teachers and students.

Miss Reddacliff Classroom Teacher

Colyton 2019 Premier’s Spelling Bee Grade Finals Early this term, the 2019 Grade Spelling Finals were held. It was excellent to see the high standard of class competitors. The Year 5 Final was an extremely tough battle with the last three candidates completing the highest level without a result. It took another forty minutes after the hour long first session to crown the champion. Very well done to all the candidates who represented their classes. It was pleasing to see the effort the students gave to studying the wordlists in their own time. A special mention to Yash Singla and Muhammad Asif who have displayed consistent excellence and represented Colyton in previous years. The results were as follows:

Year 3 - Rytham Singla Year 4 - Lamein Oatsomm Year 5 - Yash Singla Year 6 - Muhammad Asif

These students will now compete at the Regional Finals held at Tregear Public School on Tuesday, 10 September. Mrs Rodgers Premier’s Spelling Bee Coordinator

2019 Western Sydney University Research Expo

On the 20th of August students from 5/6Z returned to the Hawkesbury Campus of Western Sydney University as the final step in a project they have undertaken with Hurlstone Agricultural High School and a number of other Western Sydney Primary Schools.

As part of the project our students have been investigating the importance of bees as pollinators, and looking at ways to support the bee population here in Colyton. The expo gave them the opportunity to share their ideas with the other schools and with experts from the University, TAFE and the Australian bee industry who have been helping them throughout the project. Students also learnt more about exciting careers in agriculture, especially the importance of those in food production and security.

We would like to thank Hurlstone Agricultural High School and Western Sydney University for providing our students with such a wonderful learning opportunity throughout this process. 5/6Z and the Student Parliament would also like to encourage all students to participate in the upcoming ‘Be a Bee Day’ in order to fund their wonderful ideas.

Mr Ziolkowski Classroom Teacher

Lost Property

Could parents/caregivers please search through lost property if they are missing items of clothing such as jumpers, hats, lunch boxes and drink bottles as there are a number of items without names.

K-2 Lost Property is located outside 1L's classroom

3-6 Lost Property is located outside 4/5B’s classroom

Purchase an Entertainment Membership and not only will you be supporting our fundraising but you will also go in the draw to WIN over 100 prizes plus a chance to WIN 2 tickets to the 2019 Toyota AFL Grand Final + a $400 flight voucher!

Clink on this link to get your Membership today!

https://www.entbook.com.au/939d176

Term 3 - 2019

Week 6

Tuesday 27th August Fathers’ Day Stall Wednesday 28th August Year 6 Colyton High visit Thursday 29th August Colyton Cubs Playgroup 9-11am Friday 30th August Play & Stay @ Colyton Playgroup 9-11am

Week 7

Monday 2nd September – Wednesday 4th September Showcase Performances Wednesday 4th September Year 6 Colyton High visit

-Zone Athletics Thursday 5th September Colyton Cubs Playgroup 9-11am Friday 6th September Kindergarten Featherdale Excursion

Play & Stay @ Colyton Playgroup 9-11am

Week 8

Monday 9th September Yr 4 leave for Mowbray Park Farm Tuesday 10th September Yr 4 return from Mowbray Park Farm -Jenolan Caves Excursion Wednesday 11th September Year 6 Colyton High visit Thursday 12th September Colyton Cubs Playgroup 9-11am Friday 13th September Play & Stay @ Colyton Playgroup 9-11am

Week 9

Wednesday 18th September Year 6 Colyton High visit Thursday 19th September Colyton Cubs Playgroup 9-11am Friday 20th September Play & Stay @ Colyton Playgroup 9-11am

Week 10

Thursday 26th September Multicultural Day Colyton Cubs Playgroup 9-11am Friday 27th September Last Day of Term 3

-Play & Stay @ Colyton Playgroup 9-11am