It has been wonderful welcoming all our families to our school and preschool last week and watching the excitement that new beginnings bring! Congratulations to all our beautiful new preschoolers and kindergarten students who have settled in so well to their new classroom and school surroundings. We particularly offer a warm welcome to students and their families in Years 1-6 that have joined our Duffy School community this year.

Our staff has also had a fabulous start to the year, and we have welcomed a number of new faces to our school community. Please click here to view our 2024 School Staffing List.

Throughout 2024 Duffy Primary school will continue to ensure our students are given every opportunity in our nurturing community to be the best they can be, whilst enabling learning experiences to enhance progress and strive for excellence.

Duffy’s strategic goals for 2024 remain the same:

Improve student performance in writing across all year levels.
Improve the percentage of students making expected growth in number.

In January our staff meet for a number of Professional learning days. These days included revision of our pedagogical approaches to Literacy and Numeracy and continued work on the development of a conceptualised approach to learning including unit of inquiry planning around the ‘6 Duffy Worlds’. This particular day was facilitated by Mr Marc Warwick- Director Learning and Teaching in the Education Directorate. We are so appreciative of Marc’s expertise and willingness to share his passion and skills so generously with our teaching staff.

During the holiday break we have also continued to further enhance our building and outdoor learning environments with the following projects:

New toilets in Preschool. We are still waiting for the finalisation of some upgraded outdoor spaces in the preschool.
New paving outside Gudgenby classroom.
Painting of some exterior walls.

Parent Partnership Meeting Week 4 Monday 19th February – Friday 23rd February

As well as an important focus on learning, Duffy Primary School values positive relationships with all in our community. One such initiative in 2024 will be Parent/Carer Partnership Meetings. Parents and Carers are invited to share their knowledge of their child and communicate their hopes, aspirations, and goals for their child for the school year with their child’s teacher. It is also an opportunity for parents and carers to meet with their child’s classroom teacher to begin a dialogue that will continue throughout the year. At Duffy Primary School, we believe these meetings ensure the best possible start to the year and establish strong school/home partnerships.

On Monday 12th February a link will be emailed to all families for you to book in for a meeting. Click here for the form that families are asked to complete prior to the meeting . Please return this to your child’s teacher before the meeting.

Open Classrooms and P&C Welcome BBQ – Tuesday 20th February

On Tuesday 20th February the P&C will be running its annual Welcome BBQ.

We look forward to seeing you all at our open classrooms and welcome BBQ afternoon on Tuesday 20th February. Our open classrooms enable parents and carers to visit your child’s learning space. Please join us from 3.15-3.45pm.

Our job of educating the students we serve would not be possible without parents, caregivers, and families. A vital part of this partnership is clear, timely and transparent communications. We aim to keep you informed through a variety of channels, recognising the diverse needs of the community we serve. From our website, to seesaw, to our numerous social media channels, to the messages shared by schools directly with parents, caregivers and families – we do our best to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to be informed about their child’s educational journey.

Remember to download Seesaw and to follow us on Facebook Duffy Primary School and Duffy Primary Parents and Citizens Association

Newsletter Publication 2024

Newsletters will now be published on Thursday afternoons. Instead of fortnightly, we will have three editions each term.
Term 1: Week 2, Week 6, Week 9

Terms 2-4: Weeks 3, Weeks 6, Week 9

Communication Between Home and School

Please feel free to contact the school via phone 6214 2510 or email duffyps@ed.act.edu.au to speak to any of our staff. The first point of call regarding administration is Shiara/Ella/Linda at the Front Office and for learning is your child’s classroom teacher.

Staff welcome the opportunity to meet with parents/carers. This occurs both formally (parent/teacher interviews) and informally (by social, after school, sporting and cultural activities). As a parent/carer if you have an issue or concern it is always best to raise this as soon as possible with your child’s classroom teacher. Following on from that, you are always welcome to speak with school executive.

In Term 4 2023, Year 5 students engaged in an inquiry around the central idea, “informed decisions lead to action”. They explored the democratic process of decision making and consideration of meeting community needs. Students then work in small groups to develop a proposal campaign. Year 5 coded microbits to gather data on their target year level (linked with learning during digital technology). Through their code they asked their target year level one question “should we change the Duffy house names and green house colour” and collect votes. This information will be collected and counted then used to help students develop their “why campaign” for their target level. The result of the voting was a ‘yes’.

Last year, the whole school voted on whether we should change the house names or not. The Year Fives, who are now Year Sixes came around to all the classes and surveyed both the students and the teachers as a part of our unit of inquiry. The result was a ‘YES’.

One change that we can implement immediately is the change of one of the house colours.

Perkins will now be YELLOW. This is because green is a colour all students at Duffy wear daily. The yellow, red and blue house colours gives everyone the opportunity to wear a different colour.

During the year Student Parliament will research options, consult with students and the community as a part of our action for deciding on new House Group names. We look forward to sharing this journey with you all.

We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday the 20th February.

With every best wish for a wonderful week ahead with your beautiful families.

Regards,

Katie, Arilia, Sarah and Fiona

SCHOOL VALUES

WHATS NEW AT DUFFY

MONEY MATTERS

When paying money into the school bank account it is essential that you include the STUDENT NAME and the IDENTIFIER

in your transaction as receipting it to the correct family is not possible.

Thankyou to families who have paid for the 2024 stationery packs.

Payments can still be made; your children are using the resources in their classrooms.

Invoices for Year 6 band will be emailed to relevant families next week.

When paying Voluntary Contributions, please remember to indicate if they are to be receipted to BTF (Building Trust Fund) or CRF (Classroom Resources Fund).

Alice Lollback – Business Manager

E: alice.lollback@ed.act.edu.au

Phone: 6142 2513

SUSTAINABILITY @ DUFFY

We are excited to be introducing Sustainability as a Specialists subject this year, for students in K-2.

We will be learning about what this huge topic means, and how we can make a difference in our community.

Some of the areas we will be covering this term are the three R’s – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and what these mean for us. We will be utilising the Environmental Centre to create a useful and inviting space for student to learn about composting and growing.

This term we will participate in ‘Clean up Australia Day’ and do it on the grounds of our school on Friday 1 March.

We will also have some visitors including from the Sustainable Schools Program come and chat to us about Sustainability in Schools and an educator from Bunnings teach us about composting and worms.

We would appreciate your help with any donations of small recyclable boxes for box construction; egg cartons to grow seeds; 2lt milk bottles to make hanging baskets. These can be given to your child’s classroom teacher.

Thank you for your support on our journey to a more sustainable planet. We can all make a difference.

Ilse Arellano

Sustainability Teacher

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS

School Uniform

The School Board endorses the wearing of uniform as it is part of the school ethos of helping to create a sense of belonging and pride in the school and so engender a positive school spirit.

Whilst wearing of uniform is not compulsory, students at Duffy Primary School are encouraged to wear their school uniform or school colours each day.

Students must be in uniform when attending excursions or outside events; this is to ensure their safety. When parents complete permission notes for excursions or school events, they are acknowledging this requirement.

Parent and Carers Online Safety Webinars

The Online Safety Education team are committed to supporting school communities to develop their online safety skills and knowledge. The team aim to increase the number of safe and positive online experiences students have and reduce the number of online safety incidents that impact on learning environments.

There are multiple webinars running each term with both afternoon and evening times available that will help your family be more confident and safer online by:

· understanding online safety and risks young people face

· learning strategies to prevent and respond to online issues

· supporting your child to be safe online

· knowing where to go for further support.

The New Southside Initiative

The Southside Initiative is a collaboration between YWCA Canberra, Woden Community Service and Community Services #1 that aims to develop community driven solutions to better support vulnerable children 0-8 years and their families. The Initiative was developed in late 2022 in response to the 2021 Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) data which suggests there is an increasing number of Canberra children being identified as developmentally vulnerable across one or more of the 5 AEDC Domains.

This Initiative uses a collaborative and community focused approach to develop and trial practical activities and initiatives aimed at improving life outcomes for children and families who live in the southside. Visit Southside Initiative - Healthy Schools Network ACT for more information and to access the following resources:

family support services directory
parent and carer support courses available in term 1
join an early years community of practice in 2024
community services at Lanyon and more.

Supporting student safety - mobile speed and parking vans

As school re-commences for term 1, we are reminding parents and carers to please drive and park safely and legally, at and around school grounds.

Access Canberra has notified us that mobile speed and parking vans will be in operation. These enforcement teams play a critical role in supporting our students get to and from school safely and we thank them for their ongoing support.

In addition to sticking to the speed limit, please remember to park safely – including not parking across pedestrian crossings, in no stopping zones, on corners, verges and double parking. Unsafe and illegal parking can reduce visibility of our students and motorists to see each other, creating a significant hazard when students cross the road.

We all have an important role to play in supporting road safety. Let’s work together to keep our kids safe.

Chess Club

Learn to be a chess champion! Coaching for Duffy Students is help on Fridays from 8:30am to 9:15am, starting on 16th February.

Learning and playing chess helps children develop their logical thinking and problem solving skills, improves their concentration and focus, while also being a gerat source of enjoyment. Activities include group lessons on a demonstration chess board or interactive whiteboard, puzzle solving and fun practice games.

If your child is intrested in taking part, you can collect an enrolment form from the school office, or emial enrol@sydneyacademyofchess.com.au for a copy. For all enquiries, please contact Sydney Academy of Chess on (02) 9745 1170.

Currently looking for girls/boys - year 2 & Year 4 girls - years 7-10 to join Hurricanes Netball Club 2024!

Hurricanes Netball Club, one of the newest clubs within the Tuggeranong Netball Association.

At Hurricanes we offer the opportunity for girls/boys and women of all ages to participate in a safe, friendly, and competitive sporting environment. Hurricanes Netball Club aims to provide your child with the best opportunity to develop the required skills and knowledge for delivery of success both on and off the court. We have a team of wonderful coaches who bring a wealth of knowledge at both club and representative levels. Our coaches will foster individual needs through the development of individualised programs to assist with the skill development of each child.

Our aim is to offer individual, team and social skill improvements to all players no matter what their skill level. We encourage families to be involved and we at Hurricanes see ourselves as a family orientated club.

If you are looking for a friendly, competitive netball club in the Tuggeranong area, drop us a line - we would love to hear from you. We have great sponsors, lots of social functions (BBQ's, Trivia Nights, Parties etc) and encourage everyone to join in.

Email us at hurricanesnetball@yahoo.com or call on 0431 545 691

Learning For Life

The flyer below shares information about an opportunity that has been made available to families at our school called the Learning for Life Scholarship Program. It’s run by the Smith Family organisation. They provide financial support to families who are eligible to help with costs related to education, such as book packs, uniforms and excursions. They also provide access to education programs that can further support your child.

To be eligible, you must;