Dear Duffy Primary School Community,

Welcome to the end of Week 4. It has been a busy time here at Duffy already, and with so much more to happen in the back half of the term! Please ensure you have all relevant dates for key events marked in your diaries.  Our students' application and engagement in their learning has been a highlight in recent weeks. Thank you for everything you do to encourage and support the learning and teaching at our wonderful school. 

On Saturday, our community celebrated our 50th Anniversary with a P&C picnic. During the afternoon we officially opened our beautiful mural. There was a wonderful turn out of current students and families as well as past students and invited guests including the Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Education and Youth Affairs Yvette Berry, Senator the Hon Katy Gallagher and Director General of Education Katy Haire.

Special thanks to our amazing P&C in particular Leanne, Jess, Kate, and Claire for their significant contributions to this wonderful community event.

Please have a look at our 50th Anniversary website at the link below to explore Duffy's history, memories, photos and more information about our new mural. 

Link to website: 50th Anniversary Website (google.com) 

Children’s Week Bike & Kite Festival

To celebrate Children’s Week, Duffy Primary embraced this year’s theme of Children have the right to relax, play and take part in activities they enjoy. Throughout Children’s Week, students were given different opportunities for their zen time, to reset before their next learning, including listening to music, mindful colouring/drawing, yoga stretches and reading. We concluded Children’s Week with our very own Bike & Kite Festival. 

Students had the opportunity to use their learner assets to design and make their own kite using the equipment provided. There was lots of thinking, trialling, discussion and preparation on how their kites would work and what they would look like. 

During the festival day, all year groups had opportunities to test their kites’ flying abilities and test their bike skills on the pump track or black top.

The day was a buzz full of excitement, passion for learning and fun. Our Junior School invited their teddies to join them on Friday for a special Teddy Bears’ picnic.

World Teachers Day

Last Friday we recognised and celebrated the incredible gift of teachers.  We feel constant gratitude and respect for the teachers at our school and although days like this can sometimes appear tokenistic, I know our staff are appreciated daily, valued and held in incredibly high regard, not only by the leadership team, but also our entire community- thank you teachers! 

 Senior Girls Sports Program

On Wednesday morning, the Senior Girls Sports Program learnt more about the sport of Volleyball. Girls have been learning how to dig, spike, set, and serve. We have been very lucky to have Chris Currie as an experienced coach in the field, to share his knowledge and expertise with the girls.

Duffy PS Student Leaver Form 

Planning for 2024 is in full flight. To assist this planning, if your child is not returning to Duffy Primary School in 2024, (Year 6 and International Defence student exempt) please complete the Duffy School Leaver Form emailed out to parents/carers and return to the Front Office or via email duffyps@ed.act.edu.au

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

Regards,

Katie, Arilia, Sarah and Katie

This semester the Wombats have enjoyed every aspect of the Preschool program. At Preschool we love exploring outdoors and learning about the natural world. Fascinated by the bees unit last term the children wanted to investigate the life cycle of a butterfly. On our community walks the children have been looking for different types of butterflies found in Canberra and have spotted three species commonly found around here.  

The first half of the semester was packed with many exciting whole school events such as Science week, Book Week, Learning Journeys and Indigenous Literacy Day.  The children dressed up in their favourite pattern  for Pattern Day as we continue to learn about patterns in Math. Physical and emotional wellbeing is an everyday focus where educators support children to self regulate  and learn to be mindful through our Yoga and Little Yarn podcasts. 

We also introduced some of the EPL activities such as cooking, juicing, and  washing which the Wombats have continued to enjoy throughout the year. Cooking is a versatile activity which provides sensory benefits along with promoting learning of Literacy, Numeracy along with special focus on health. The children enjoyed making pancakes, bread and pesto and even made chocolate and date balls for Father's Day.

These will be presented at the next Monday Morning WOW (6th November - 9am)

Merit Awards

PBL Hero Awards

Gold Spirit Awards

Silver and Bronze Awards will be handed out by Exec staff during the week.

Silver Spirit Awards

Bronze Spirit Awards

50th Birthday Party Picnic = SUCCESS

Thank you so much to all the volunteers, school staff and attendees that made Saturdays celebration a success! We made a profit that was just over $2000 which will be going to an exciting new project for 2024! So keep your eyes peeled for more information next year.

Uniform Shop

Term 4 is here and 2024 is fast approaching! Now is a good time to consider getting uniforms and avoid the back-to-school last minute rush.

A rack of uniform items has been taken to pre-school for families to decide what items you might like to purchase for next year. 

You can purchase uniforms through:

1.   flexi schools, place your orders by Thursday 7 December to receive uniforms this year. Any orders placed after that time will be held over to 2024.

Coming into the uniform shop.  The shop is open between 8.30-9am Fridays weeks 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 each term. We have plenty of stock on hand as well as pre-loved items available.

Tea Towels

We recently ran a tea towel fundraiser which was well supported by our school community. There have been some requests for more and so we have reordered a number of tea towels. So…

·     If you realised you ordered the wrong tea towel – please bring it back into the office and we will swap it out and return through your child.

·     If you missed out and REALLY want some or just feel the need for more – please email secretary@duffypandc.org.au  

We will need to know:

o   how many of which tea towel (Please choose the correct tea towel for your child/ren year group.)

o   a child’s name (to get the order to)

o   a phone number in case we need to contact you.

When we receive your email we will provide you with the P&C bank details for payment.

Prices are $16 each or 3 for $45.

JUNIOR Tea Towel - Preschool, Kindy, Year 1 & 2 ONLY

SENIOR Tea Towel - Year 3, 4, 5, 6 & GRIFFIN

Learning for Life

The Learning for Life program helps children by supporting their education from primary through to post-school studies, like TAFE or University.

Learning for Life provides:

To be eligible for Learning for Life, you need to:

• Have a child or children in Primary School, at one of the schools The Smith Family work with

• Have a Health Care or Pension Concession Card

• Have a strong commitment to your child/ren’s education and make sure they attend school regularly

To register your interest in Learning for Life, you need to:

1. Click this link https://www.thesmithfamily.com.au/campaigns/learning-for-life-expression-of-interest

2. Fill out the relevant details (your name, phone number, child/ren’s details and School Information)

3. You will then receive an email from The Smith Family with information about next steps

If you have any questions about Learning for Life, or need help to apply, you can call The Smith Family on 0481 464 065 or 1800 280 223.

Home Learning Hub

Home Learning - School Wide Subscriptions

Literacy People's Literacy Learning Modules - A guide for engaging parents and carers

Mindfulness Podcast Series - ACT Education Directorate