Week 3 Term 4 Newsletter 2025

Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

The countdown is on for our very special 150 Year Celebrations happening this weekend, and the excitement around school is truly contagious! We have a fantastic program planned and would love to share all the details with you so you can make the most of this memorable event.

Welcome Cocktail Party – Friday Night
We are thrilled to announce that over 100 tickets have already been sold for the Welcome Cocktail Party, which will be held on Friday evening. This is a wonderful opportunity to catch up with old friends, meet new families, and kick off the celebrations in style. Aside from refreshing drinks and delicious snacks, we will be opening and exploring the contents of two historic time capsules from the classes of 1995 and 1999. We have already had a sneak peek inside and are delighted to share that the items are all intact, including some heartfelt personal memorabilia. If you were a student in either of these year groups, please be sure to attend the party or come to the fete to collect your special keepsakes.

Welcome Assembly – Saturday Morning
Our formal welcome assembly will begin promptly at 11:00am on Saturday. To ensure the event runs smoothly and on time, students are asked to arrive by 10:50am and proceed straight to the hall, where they will be seated with their classes under the direction of their teachers. The assembly will feature outstanding performances by the whole school as well as smaller groups, showcasing the talents and spirit of our students. We will also have a special dedication ceremony for our new bottle tree, a symbol of growth and remembrance for the school community.

The Fete – Starting Around 11:15am
Following the assembly, the fete will officially open around 11:15am and promises to be a day full of fun, food, and festivities! There will be something for everyone, including a sausage sizzle, refreshing slushies, a coffee cart for the adults, and exciting activities like Alikinetic dance workshop and laser tag. For book lovers, our book fair will offer a wide selection of great reads, and local market stall holders will provide a variety of unique goods. As always, our traditional class stalls will be running, staffed by enthusiastic students eager for you to join in the fun. Please refer to the flyer included in this week’s newsletter for a detailed Fete Guide with stall locations.

Ticket Sales and Purchasing Information
Tickets for fete activities are priced at $1 each, with most stalls and games costing between 50 cents and $5. Remarkably, ticket prices have remained stable with no increase in over 40 years! Tickets can be purchased in advance through the Sentral platform. To make the day easier and avoid long lines at the event, we highly encourage families to pre-purchase their tickets before midnight tonight. Once you select the number of tickets you need, a miscellaneous payment request will be sent to you to complete payment. On fete day, additional tickets will be available for purchase at the school office, but advance purchasing is strongly recommended to avoid queues and ensure a smoother experience for everyone.

Acknowledgements and Thanks
This extraordinary celebration would not be possible without the dedication and hard work of many people behind the scenes — parents, teachers, staff, and community members alike. While there are too many to name individually, we have created a dedicated page in the newsletter to acknowledge everyone who has contributed to organising this milestone event. We sincerely thank all involved for their efforts in making this once-in-150-years occasion truly special.

World Teachers Day and Daniel Morcombe Day – Friday
Finally, this Friday is World Teachers Day, a perfect moment to recognise and celebrate the incredible work of our teachers. Their passion, perseverance, and commitment make a huge difference every day, and we extend our heartfelt thanks to all of them for their dedication. Also, please remember to wear red on Friday for Daniel Morcombe Day, which supports child safety awareness. This tradition helps us keep our yellow school shirts clean and ready for Saturday’s fete, when students will be wearing their yellow shirts to create a wonderful splash of unified school colour.

We hope this detailed summary helps you prepare and get excited for what promises to be an unforgettable weekend of celebration and community spirit. We look forward to welcoming you all and sharing these special moments together.

Have a wonderful week!

Kind regards,

Sharon Hawker
Principal

OOSH Expressions of Interest 2026 

We are thrilled to announce that Outside School Hours (OOSH) is operating 5 days per week morning and afternoon. This program provides a safe, engaging, and supportive environment for our students before and after school hours.

To ensure the success and viability of this program, we need your support. We are currently seeking more children to enrol. A robust participation will not only enhance the program's offerings but also create a vibrant community where students can connect, learn, and have fun together.

If you are interested in enrolling your child or would like more information about the OOSH program, please use QR Code to register. Your involvement is crucial in making this program a valuable addition to our school community.

Thank you for your support!

100% Attendance Gallery

Congratulations to Alba Maere, Jaiden Higgins and Evie Daly on 100% attendance in Week 2, keep up the great work!

150 YEAR CELEBRATIONS Friday 31st Oct - Sunday 2nd Nov

150 Years Ago

Mrs. Hawker has resurrected a historical sign which is positioned near the property called Tilga on Belubula Way (just near the second dip). Thank you to Cabonne Council for allowing us to erect the sign and for installing it. Please feel free to visit and imagine where our first school was located. Our current site was built in 1891 and was known as the "School on the hill".

Canowindra’s First Public School

Aid to the school was granted from 1^st October 1875. The farmhouse building was described in the application as being in good repair. It was of sawn pine boards with a shingled roof. The school room was twenty feet by fourteen feet. There was large playground attached to the house and a well on the premises. Mr. Hodgson (teacher) and his wife lived in the rest of the house; rental was four shillings a week for the school room and six- shillings for the teacher’s residence.

When aid was granted to the Provisional School, Mr. Hodgson, aged thirty three, who had been educated by private tutors and at the Royal Collegiate Institution, Liverpool, England, had to sign a Declaration in the presence of James Glazier that he had read and understood the Public Schools Act and undertook to conduct the school in all respects as a Public School, particularly in regard to provisions requiring to abstain from giving religious instruction to the pupils, at any time on school premises and that he should use “such books only as are supplied and sanctioned by the Council”.

In the application for the Provisional School, Mr. Hodgson was described as a “teetotaller”, but whether this was untrue or the pupils of Canowindra drove him to drink, he was dismissed from the office of Teacher of Canowindra on a charge of drunkenness on 30^th June, 1879. (Centenary of Public Education in Canowindra 1875-1975)

Thankfully Mrs. Hawker hasn't gone down that path!

Upcoming Events

Term 4

Week 3 - Thursday 30th October - Issue 7 Book Club Orders Close

              - Friday 31st October - Red Day 'Day for Daniel', 'The Hub' Canteen Closed for today

              - Friday 31st October @ 6pm - Welcome Cocktail Party for 150 Year Celebrations

150 Years of Education Welcome Cocktail Party Tickets, Fri 31/10/2025 at 6:00 pm | Eventbrite

              - Saturday 1st November 150 Year Celebration Fete Day - 11am - 2pm

Week 4 - Wednesday 5th November Year 6 High School Transition 

              - Olympian Visit - Jo Brigden-jones (Olympic Canoeist)

              - Thursday 6th November Kinder 2026 Orientation Begins 

Book Club - Issue 7

Issue 7 Book Club Order forms went home with students earlier this week. All orders MUST be paid for via LOOP. The school does not accept cash for book club orders.

Visit www.scholastic.com.au/LOOP

Orders close Thursday 30th October 2025

Child Protection Lessons

An important part of our Health and Personal Development curriculum will be Child Protection lessons. Child Protection is a mandatory area of study for all students in NSW Government schools. These lessons teach children in an age appropriate way how to recognise abuse or unsafe situations and learn strategies for keeping themselves safe. Please contact your child's class teacher if you would like more information.

Wear Red for Daniel Morcombe Day is next Friday 31^th October and students are encouraged to bring in a gold coin donation and wear something red to support this great cause. Held annually on the last Friday of October, Day for Daniel honours the memory of Daniel Morcombe. Parents, carers, and educators are encouraged to start a conversation with children and young people about personal safety. Our school will be conducting child safety education activities throughout Term 4 using the Daniel Morcombe program.

Attendance Matters

We are committed to working with you to offer support and remove any barriers that may be preventing your child from regularly attending school.

The NSW Education Act requires that all student absences must be explained within 7 days of the first day of them being away from school. Please contact us promptly whenever your child is absent and let us know the reason for them being away. This allows us to provide the right support and make sure your child's absences are correctly recorded.

In the event that your child has repeated or ongoing unexplained absences, we will continue to try to contact you about each absence to provide appropriate support for you and your family.

Consistently going to school has countless benefits – from learning, to creating social connections and improving wellbeing through access to support and quality education. We understand that regular attendance can present challenges, but please know that our school staff are here to support you and your family.

Our Learner Qualities

We are proud to reintroduce our Visible Learning qualities, which are essential traits that empower our students to thrive both academically and personally. These qualities include:

• I Am Resilient: Our students learn to bounce back from setbacks and challenges, developing persistence and determination in their pursuit of success.

• I Am Creative: We encourage creativity by inspiring students to think outside the box and approach problems with innovative solutions.

• I Seek Feedback: Our students understand the value of constructive feedback as a tool for growth, actively seeking input to improve their learning and performance.

• I Embrace Challenge: We foster a growth mindset, encouraging students to take on challenges and view them as opportunities for learning and development.

• I Am Self-motivated: Our students take ownership of their learning, setting personal goals and striving to achieve them with enthusiasm and commitment.

These Visible Learning qualities are integral to our educational approach, helping students become confident, capable learners who are prepared for future success. Together, we will cultivate these qualities to create a supportive and engaging learning environment.

PBL Focus - CPS Wellbeing Program

The Resilience Project continued....

Is there a best time of day to practise gratitude, empathy, and emotional literacy?

These are strategies that can be practised any and every day, at any time of day. 

If these concepts are new to you, building a routine to practise them can support wellbeing. Picking a time of day–for example, first thing in the morning or after dinner–can be helpful to create a new habit and give structure to your wellbeing journey. 

An example of this could be having some GEM Conversation Cards in the car for the school drop off or pick-up or beside the bed for your child’s bedtime.

(03) 9113 9302 | theresilienceproject.com.au

Sentral Parents App

Please ensure you have your notifications TURNED ON (check in settings). We use this app to send push notifications for all school activities.

The submit future absences functionality has been activated in the portal, to utilise this feature, Click on the absences widget, then click on the + in the upper right hand corner. Follow the prompts and hit the send button.

PLEASE NOTE: this is to request future absences ONLY, not to explain the day of an absence.

P&C News

The HUB - Canteen Lunches

Can parents please update their child/s class or details before placing an order.

Please note order cut off each day is strictly 9.30am

Unfortunately due to essential Medical appointments and an unexpected funeral both our employees are unavailable this Friday.After much consideration, and the challenge we experience finding volunteers, we have made the decision to close the canteen.

Healthy Snippets

Healthy "Snippets" from NSW Health covering a range of topics including; healthy eating, lunchbox ideas, drinking water and food budgeting. 

Community Notices