Dear Parents and Carers

Term 2 is off to a great start here at Canterbury as you will see in this edition of our fortnightly newsletter.

Congratulations
Maisie has been successful in obtaining a position in The Arts Unit’s 2025 Year 3-4 Dance Workshop. Maisie will be joining other talented dancers at the Sydney Dance Company next week. Congratulations, Maisie!

Mother’s Day Event
I hope you can join us tomorrow morning for the CPS Mother's Day event, hosted by the P&C. Gates open at 8am. 

Thank You
What’s not to love about Democracy Sausage Day? The sun was shining, our volunteers were smiling and the cakes, sausage sizzle and breakfast rolls were delectable! A huge thank you to the amazing team of CPS parents that organised the election fundraiser and thanks to every parent and child who helped make the day a great success whether through volunteering a few hours, donating cakes and books, helping in the garden or making and selling school-grown LIME-onaide.

Cross-Country
Thanks to our organisers, Ms Askin and the Stage 1 team, and the parents and carers who weathered the weather to support the 3-6 cross-country carnival last Thursday. Thanks also to James H for volunteering to take official school photos of athletes and races. Read on for action shots and details.

ANZAC Day
Thank you to Ms Phillips and the SRC for hosting this year’s special ANZAC Day Assembly and to our talented Concert Band for the special rendition of Remember the ANZACs. More details can be found below.

Principal’s Afternoon Tea
It was a privilege to celebrate with families the outstanding efforts of 34 students who were nominated by their teacher to attend the Principal’s Afternoon Tea. Here are a few happy snaps of the deserved guests of honour.

Best Part of my Day

Happy Mother’s Day for Sunday. May you be spoiled with love, cuddles and appreciation for all you do.

Tracy Considine
Principal

On Friday the 12th of April, the Student Representative Council members in years 3 to 6 hosted our special ANZAC Day assembly.

Donna O’Shea, trustee of the Canterbury Hurlstone Park RSL and ex-servicewoman from The Royal Australian Navy Medical Branch, was our special guest, delivering a memorable speech. This year marked 70 years since the end of World War 2 and 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War. Nora, Chris and Billy shared their personal stories about their families' connections to ANZAC Day.

Thank you to Mr. Kidd and the school band for performing on the day and to Ms. Parkes and Stage 2 students for the beautiful wreath they created.

The students involved put in a lot of work to be prepared for the assembly and they did a fabulous job in executing it. 

Thank you to everyone who came along to show their support.

Ms. Pamela Phillips
SRC Coordinator

On Thursday, we were thrilled to be able to run the cross-country carnival for our 8-year-olds and students in years 3-6. Despite small patches of rain, our students showed incredible determination and spirit, competing with enthusiasm and resilience. It was fantastic to see everyone giving their best and supporting each other. A wonderful effort by all involved! Thanks to James H, our talented chief photographer, who captured some wonderful moments! Good luck to those students who are going to the next round and competing at the Zone Cross Country carnival today. We will reschedule our K-2 cross country carnival to Thursday 15th May 12.30pm-2.10pm. Save the date!

Linda Askin
Stage 1 Assistant Principal

Stage 2 students are learning about healthy eating and making healthy choices. Please check out the attached guidelines to support your child to make healthy food choices. 

Last week classes revised PBL topics from Term 1 that benefited from a revisit. 

Last term we asked students to identify and celebrate their successes. Some examples of this were:

• Walking safely in hallways/buildings
• Welcoming different opinions in class
• Thinking of realistic goals they need to work on
• Looking after the school and other people’s property
• Moving through the school quietly during learning time
• Using kind words

This week students are reviewing their Growth Goals which were shared with parents at our interviews in Term 1. This review includes checking students understand their goal and what it will look like, feel like or sound like when they achieve it. Students are able to let their teacher know at any point during the term when they have achieved their goal. Once a goal is achieved the student and teacher will co-create another goal. 

Research shows that developing students’ capacity to set their own goals has strong educational benefits and builds a culture of lifelong learning. Students need to reflect on questions such as ‘What do I need to improve?’ and ‘What is my next step?’. You can support your child at home by asking what their Growth Goal is and what steps they need to take to achieve it. 

Meghan Ryan
PBL Committee Member

Our Deadly Students joined other schools in our area for an excursion on the banks of the Cooks River at Ewan Park, run by the Georges River Environmental Group.

Symbols are often used in Aboriginal Art. We have learnt that symbols were used in the past to tell stories, share histories and even give directions. During the excursion, we created our own symbols to tell our life story, describe our family or share what we are interested in.

We also learnt about the different uses of the Cooks River for Wangal and Bediagal peoples who lived alongside the river. We found out about the different types of animals, fish and birds that were hunted for food. We were shown the different tools that were used and then used modern day alternatives like frisbees to give us a similar experience of what it could have been like to catch our dinner!

We got to meet with other Deadly Students and share our Stories, and hopefully we will continue to have shared experiences in the future, to expand our knowledge of our Ancestors. 

Thanks to our garden volunteers for another successful working bee. We managed to clear the weeds from the Warrigal Greens bed in the Aboriginal Garden. A thick layer of cardboard and mulch should stop the weeds returning before the Deadly Kids can replant the bed. 

We hope you enjoyed our Lime-aid stall at the weekend election. We are fundraising to purchase a new native bee hive and raised nearly $100 through our stall. 

Next working bee: Saturday 7 June from 2:00-4:00pm

Anna Murray
Green Thumbs Coordinator

Stage 3 students had their first Interrelate session this week. 

Year 5 learnt about the word consent, what it means and what it looks like. They also discussed what respect means and how healthy relationships are based on it. The last part of the Year 5 session involved looking at the changes that male and female bodies go through as they enter puberty. 

Year 6 explored the concepts of individuality, uniqueness and diversity. They learnt about body parts including reproductive systems of the male and female bodies, protective behaviours, personal safety and appropriate hygiene practices.

Parents and carers are encouraged to discuss the above concepts with their child. Student booklets will be handed out after all three sessions for further guidance and support with these discussions at home. You are also welcome to visit the Interrelate website for further information about the program: https://interrelate.org.au/relationships-and-sexuality-education/information-for-parents-and-carers/ 

Carmel Aiello
Assistant Principal Stage 3

Canterbury teachers participated in High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE) Professional Learning on School Development Day (SDD), aligning with the NSW Department of Education's state-wide priority to enhance educational outcomes for all students.

Through collaborative discussions and the review of current research, our teachers are better prepared to recognise and nurture the unique talents and abilities of our students. The HPGE initiative underscores the importance of delivering differentiated learning experiences that both challenge and engage students, allowing every learner to flourish. 

Karla Sevenoaks
Assistant Principal Curriculum and Instruction

If you or someone you know has LEGO that is no longer being enjoyed, the LEGO Legends would be delighted to give it a new home! Please feel free to drop it off at the front office. We are immensely grateful for your generosity. Thank you for helping us keep the LEGO spirit alive!

Linda Askin and Steph Acevski
Lego Legend Masters

Welcome back to Term 2. We hope that you had an enjoyable holiday break, and we are sure you are back in the swing of things now.

Mother’s Day is being celebrated tomorrow morning. We look forward to welcoming kids and the important women in their lives.

Election BBQ

A huge shout out to all the parents who helped on the day or contributed food, drinks, books or cakes. A particular thanks to the parents who spent hours planning and coordinating to make the event the success it was and showcased our school to the wider community.

Fundraising suggestions

If you or your children have any suggestions for the P&C to fundraise big or small, please send us an email. We will take them on board, along with the teacher’s suggestions, and discuss them at a future meeting. 

Canteen

If you have any feedback on the school canteen, please send us an email. We would like to represent your views as one of our members will be on the upcoming tender panel.

Uniforms

If you are interested in helping out once a term around second hand uniforms or if you generally want to input on the school uniform, please get in touch via email.

P&C membership

To become a member renew your membership, please  fill in a membership form online here. It costs just $2 for this calendar year. 

For any questions or comments, email us on canterburypublicschool.pandc@gmail.com.

Tenders are called for the licence of the school canteen for the school year commencing on 13 October 2025 for a term of 3 years with an option to renew for 2 years.  Annual school enrolments will be approximately 350.

General enquiries and requests for a Tender Information Package should be referred to:

Janet Stefanis
School Administration Manager
canterbury-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Tenders must be sent electronically and noted in the subject line “Commercial in Confidence - School Canteen Tender” and sent to:

Tracy Considine
Principal
canterbury-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Tenders close at 3pm on Wednesday 28 May 2025.

Mandatory Criteria: All employees must hold a current working with children check.