Passfield Park School

Diary Dates………. November 8 HS Formal November 29&30 School Spectacular December 11 Presentation Day December 18 Last day of T4 for students

Dear Parents and Carers

It’s all go! Term 4 is always a busy term – we’ve already had the athletics carnival, students are practicing for the Director’s Choice awards and Schools’ Spectacular; presentation day, the formal and swimming carnivals are just around the corner. Teachers are also busy with assessments and reports and new students are being enrolled as our Y12 students begin their transitions to life after school.

Director’s Choice Passfield Park School is sending a group of five dancers to join other students in the Shining Stars ensemble, performing at the Directors’ Choice award night. This occasion celebrates achievements of schools across south western Sydney. I am delighted to let you know that Sarah Clissold (Silver Class) will be receiving an award for excellence in beginning teaching (teachers in the first 1-3 years of their careers). Sarah is one of many outstanding teachers here at Passfield Park School. She is being recognised for her work in class and for her amazing leadership across the school in technology. Sarah leads the ICT (Information Communication Technology) team and is our computer coordinator and the absolute go-to person for all ICT problems! Congratulations to both Sarah and the Shining Stars.

The Formal Our farewell to Year 12 students and ex-student reunion will be on Friday, November 8. We are farewelling eight senior students on the night – an amazingly large number. The students will all leave at the end of term (December 18) and Friday night is a chance for their families, friends and staff to celebrate their many achievements, and watch them all grow up through photographs selected and sorted by Lesley Pascoe. Thanks to Lesley and we all hope Farabi, Hala, Ethan, Jeremy, Andrew, Jessica, Daniel and Mark enjoy the evening.

Classes for 2014 As mentioned, we have many students leaving at the end of this year and more students will be enrolled. We will not know who will be offered a place at Passfield Park School until early December. All of our students are offered enrolment through a regional placement panel and students filling the vacancies can be at any stage of their school journey. It will not be possible to have a good idea of classes for next year until we can make good educational assessments of the needs of all the students who are joining us and of those continuing here at the school. Rest assured, we put a lot of thought into classes each year, and plan to let students know their new (perhaps!) class before the end of the year. Previously, sometimes students must change classes to meet their needs. So, teachers really don’t know who will be teaching your child yet!

Best wishes, Julie Principal

November 8, 2013

Lots of Activity in Orange Class A few weeks ago two of the students from Orange class participated enthusiastically at the School’s Sports Carnival at Minto Indoor Sports Stadium. A great day was had by all involved and they were very tired when they returned to school after such a fun day. Each day, the students of Orange class have been learning to ride bikes and all of the boys enjoy this very much. Some of them can now pedal and steer by themselves while others are getting the hang of pedalling. We have swapped playgrounds for our breaks and the boys have adjusted to this change in our routine very well. Many of them are enjoying the change in equipment and participating and playing games with their peers. We have also introduced Crunch and Sip to our dai-ly routine where the students of Orange class share fruit and have a drink. The boys love their fruit and it has provided a great opportunity to practise their communication skills in asking for what they want.

Belinda, Kris and Caitlin

Peanut Allergy Just a reminder not to pack peanut related foods for your child to bring to school. This includes nutella sandwiches. Some of our students have severe peanut allergies. Thank you for your consideration.

We Like To Move it Move it in Red Class Red class students had a fantastic day at Minto In-door Stadium at our school sports carnival. We were great at following directions and participating in dif-ferent events. Daniel was our class champion. He started the long distance race with minimal help and then ran around the track and finished the race inde-pendently. Some of us loved the parachute, especial-ly going under it with our friends. Red class put in a great effort at practicing for our as-sembly performance on Wednesday in Week 4. Wearing animal masks, we danced and sang on the stage in coordination to the song ‘I like to move it’ from the movie Madagascar 2. The ‘Crunch & Sip’ program was introduced in Red class in Week 1 to promote healthy eating. Students are encouraged to eat a piece of fruit and drink water during a ten minute session in the morning. Some of us enjoy eating fruit while others prefer to look, touch, smell and squeeze. We also had a shared multisensory story telling and craft session with Pink and Silver classes on Friday in Week 3. Students keenly awaited their turn to activate the mixer using ‘powerlink’ to act out the story, ‘Wombat Stew’. We all had fun making ‘wombat’ craft supplied by Silver class.

Sukhraj and Sharon

We are Sailing in Blue Class We have made a very busy start to Term 4. We joined Green and White classes to go sailing at Penrith Lakes. Mal and Rami cooked a delicious BBQ and then it was off to put on our life jackets before we climbed into the sailing boats. Passfield Park School staff and Penrith Lakes staff each took one student for a sail around the lakes. We had a couple of mishaps when the wind blew our hats off our heads or blew us off course. We all had a great day. Our second combined excursion was to Hurlstone Agricultural High School. We were very fortunate to be able to hold a baby chicken, feed grass to the goats, feed pellets to the calves and see the milk-ing shed. A few of the students were able to feed a baby lamb milk via a baby bottle. The hay ride proved quite popular as we all sat on bales of hay as we were ferried around the school. Our third whole class/school excursion was to the combined schools athletics carnival where we achieved 1st, 2nd or 3rd place in all the running rac-es. Congratulations to Aimee for winning the Junior Trophy. Aimee tried her best in all the races and independently participated in all the novelty activi-ties. Selected students attended a rugby league skills day where they practised their skills under the guid-ance of rugby league stars. Students kicked and passed the ball and did various fun activities. Other students are representing our school and are busy rehearsing for the Director’s Choice Awards, Schools’ Spectacular and Student Voice. We are very proud of the achievements of Blue class.

Olena and Mandy

Shining Stars in Green Class

Alison S and Julie B

Term 4 started with a great day sailing at Penrith Lakes with Blue and White classes. Staff learnt to sail the small boats and then took students out on the lake for a relaxing ride. Some students were able to steer the boats themselves. We also had an interesting day on our visit to the farm at Hurl-stone Agricultural High School. We went on a hay ride around the farm; searched for eggs in the chicken coop; held a chick; fed grass to the goats, pellets to the cows and a bottle of milk to a lamb who was very hungry. In Week 2 we went to the Rugby League fun day at Campbelltown Sports Stadium and joined the rest of the school for the Combined Sports Carnival. Jeremy was named as the Senior Champion for his excellent attitude and participation during the day. For Sport this term, we are doing a music and movement class at the Casula Powerhouse. We are learning many different moves which will be put together to make a dance routine. It is a lot of fun and a great workout. We are travelling to Casula by train and using this opportunity to prac-tise pedestrian safety and train travel skills. The Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre has some great programs that students can access now and when they leave school – including dance, art and music sessions. We did a craft session for our first week of sport as the dance instructor was not available. We decorated plastic bottles with wool and they looked fantastic. Daniel and Jeremy (along with Raya, Jesse and Blair from Blue class) are part of the Regional Dance Group – Shining Stars who are performing at the Director’s Choice Awards this week. Daniel, Jeremy and Farabi (along with Raya, Jesse and Aimee) are participating in the Schools’ Spectacular this year and are looking for-ward to rehearsals starting this week and then the performances at the end of the month. Jessica is off to Newcastle at the end of the month to compete in the Asia Pacific Games for Special Olympics as part of Team Australia. We are all very excited and will be cheering for Jessica as she competes. You can find out more on the Spe-cial Olympics website.

For most Pink class students the highlight of each week is their excursion to Monkey Mania for sport on Thursday mornings. For the entire hour we are there, students busy themselves by running, climb-ing, jumping, sliding, playing and exploring. A fa-vourite activity for some is feeding balls into chutes to be sucked up to an upper level from where they can be loaded and fired back down. Other balls are diverted from the chutes into a cage that overturns, once it has enough balls in it, showering the balls over whoever is standing beneath the cage. This shower of balls provides much amusement and laughter. Other students love spending time shoot-ing goals, running around or bouncing a ball in the elevated basketball court. Students have also been enjoying playing in the classroom and have been engaging more in imagi-native and group play. Playing shops, schools and tea parties are popular and Pink class staff mem-bers are often offered a pretend cup of tea and cupcakes or a plate of plastic or wooden food. It is not unusual to see a doll being sat at a table with a pencil placed in its hand and a student giving in-structions and work to do. We have moved cooking times yet again. Cooking is now during middle session on Thursdays as af-ter returning from Monkey Mania students are tired by middle session and do not concentrate well on academic tasks but happily apply themselves to cooking.

Little Monkeys in Pink Class

Cheryl A and Narelle

Life on the Farm for White Class White class started the term with two fantastic excursions. On the first day back, we went to Penrith Lakes for a trial sailing day. The lake was calm and the boats specially designed so they wouldn’t sink; so we were safe and not one of us got wet. Teachers were trained to take us out in two or four man boats. Connor loved the movement and was quite reluctant to get out. We thank the volunteers of the organisation “Sailability’ for giving up their time and for giving us a new experience. All secondary students are studying Agricultural Technology so on Friday, during Week 1, we visited Hurlstone Agricultural High School at Glenfield. Here we saw sheep, goats, cows and chickens. We collected the eggs and fed the calves. We enjoyed a hayride. We also learnt about the animals on the farm. In Agriculture, we are learning about growing vegetables. We have planted salad vegetables and are watering and weeding them daily. We have already harvested some radishes and are waiting for the carrots, lettuce and tomatoes to grow. We also joined the whole school and competed in the sports carnival. We all did our best and received ribbons. What a great day that was. In all, we are having a great term working and learning together.

Purple Class Bowled Over Purple class thoroughly enjoyed the school’s recent sports carnival. Each year our school combines with Mary Brooksbank and Beverly Park Schools for a very busy day which be-gins with each school marching into the stadi-um as a team. The students from all three schools then compete in aided or unaided rac-es and later in the day rotate through a variety of exciting activities including basketball, soc-cer, tug-o-war, ball pass, parachute and bal-loon swatting. There was lots of laughter with Mr Fleming and Logan’s mum joining us in the tug-o-war but I think the balloon swat was the favourite event for most of the class. It was a long, tiring day and we were proud of our stu-dents’ good behaviour and sportsmanship. This term, Purple class is ten pin bowling each Friday for sport. After only a few weeks into the term, it is evident that some students are already building upon the skills they learnt earlier in the year. It is wonderful to see them encouraging each other’s efforts and achieve-ments.

Di, Diane, Jeanette and Kris

Check out our school website www.passfield-s.schools.nsw.edu.au

Alison, Michele and Rami

Silver Class Reaching Their Goals Silver Class has had a great start back at school for the final term of the year. Students enjoyed a fantastic and fun filled day at the sports carnival where all were involved. Tamzid and Lincon real-ly enjoyed playing with the balls and the balloons, Shahrim showed off his dance moves, Mina real-ly enjoyed the parachute games and Harry and Vito were great in the running races. It was lovely to see Mayss help her friends through the races and enjoyed playing with them throughout the day. The students in Silver class have been practicing a bunch of new dances during music and dance lessons and especially as they practice for their assembly item coming up on November 27. It has also been great to see many steps to suc-cess taken this term to reach their toileting, com-munication and educational goals. Lincon and Vito have been using their iPad minis throughout the entire day; Tamzid is spelling and writing words; Mina and Shahrim are completing their morning work with more and more independ-ence; Harry has been requesting using Big Point Buttons; and Mayss’ independence and speech is developing well. Keep it up Silver!

Sarah & Sonia.

Yellow Class Cooking Skills Yellow class, along with the whole school, had a terrific day at the sports carnival. Every student’s performance and behaviour was outstanding. Con-gratulations to all the students who took part and showed such good sportsmanship as well as ath-letic ability, I was very impressed. Cooking classes have become a time when all the students have shone with their displays of problem solving, independence and responsibility. Well done Emily, Tia, Cassandra, Mahib, McCallum, Ronnan, Jacob and Jackson.

Cheryl, Narelle and Kalisi

Sailors with disABILITIES would like to again invite groups of Carers to join us for a relaxing day on board Kayle, our 52 foot Yacht. These days are crewed by volunteers and aimed at giving hard working carers, including brothers and sis-ters, some time out and a chance to relax for a few hours on beautiful Sydney Harbour. Where groups are able to organise respite care, we welcome carers and their immediate family on board for an enjoyable leisure sail of Sydney Harbour. Siblings of children requiring special care are of course welcome. Carers Day sails are held on Sundays, they depart from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia at Rushcutters Bay at 12noon and return at approx 4pm. These sessions must be booked as a group, we can accommo-date a maximum of 15 people per session and a minimum of 10. Limited Carers Days are now available from November through to March. Hurry as these sessions are very popular and will book out fast. How to book a Carers Day for your group Visit our website www.sailorswithdisabilities.com login using your username and password or Sign Up then login and use the interactive calendar to book your Carers Day. If you need help email us in-fo@sailorswithdisabilities.com or contact (02) 8079 5997.

We look forward to welcoming you on board and sharing our passion for sailing...

Congratulations to our students of the week

Thank you to our high school students who took all our student of the week photographs.