Dear Parents and Carers,

Congratulations to some of our outstanding teachers who presented to a large audience of special educators at the NSW Special Education Principals’ and Leaders’ Association (SEPLA) conference.  Krista Forsstrom and Helen Muir presented their work, ‘Switch Progression in the Contemporary Classroom: Beyond the Good Morning BIGmack’ and their presentation has been recognised internationally. Presentations by teachers Elizabeth Vizadis on ‘Learning to code using ro-BOTS’ and Jessica Noun and Amy Parks on Dynamic Zones- A Creative Approach to Classroom Design were also very well received and have attracted the attention of other schools wanting to learn more from their professional practice. It is this culture of innovation and professional sharing that makes the teaching and learning so dynamic in our special schools! 

It was lovely to see family and friends enthusiastically supporting their children at the Holroyd School Annual Concert. I’m sure you would agree with me that the concert was an outstanding success. The current Director Educational Leadership, Stephanie Searle was amazed by the talent and hard work of our students and staff. Many wonderful messages of pride in our students and appreciation of the efforts of staff were posted on the Holroyd School Facebook page.

Thanks to the families, friends and staff who supported the P & C fundraiser guessing competition. The winning tickets were drawn at the concert. Thank you to the P & C members for organising the guessing competition and to the folk who donated the wonderful prizes.

It is not too late to complete the Tell them from me survey. 

Use the link to reach the survey and then let us know what you think. We value your opinions and look forward to sharing the results with you!

The sports carnivals will be held in term 4, week 2. The Primary Sports Carnival (years K-6) is scheduled for Thursday 24 October and the High School Sports Carnival (years 7-10) is scheduled for Friday 25October. On whichever day you attend, parents will be welcome to enjoy morning tea in the Community Hub, a lovely meeting place for our parents, carers and community.

I look forward to seeing you at your child’s carnival!

School resumes Monday 14^th October.

Have a great holiday!

Anne Flint

How long have you worked at Holroyd School?

9 years.

What is your favourite childhood memory?

Spending weekends with my Nan.

What was your favourite subject at school?

English.

If you could only keep five possessions, what would they be?

Family, husband, wine, cheese and spanx.

What is your favourite book?

Books by American crime writer, Patricia Cornwell.

If you could invite any three guests to a dinner party, who would they be?

Barossa Valley winemaker Chris Ringland; famous British chef and television personality Gordon Ramsay and Australian entertainer Hugh Jackman.

What is your favourite song to sing along to?

Faith by George Michael.

What is your favourite day of the year?

Christmas Day!

What fad or trend do you hope comes back?

Leg warmers.

We are participating in the TELL THEM FROM ME Parent Survey.

The survey only takes a few minutes and will help us to keep improving how we support your children!

Please use the link below for access:

Your answers will remain anonymous and confidential.

Thank you for your support.

School commences at 9am and concludes at 3pm, with playground supervision from 8.40am daily. It is important that students arrive at school on time and that all therapy and other appointments are scheduled outside of school hours whenever possible.

Why is it important to be on time for school every day?

- children get off to a bad start if they arrive late.

- when children are punctual, they will be calm and ready to learn.

- when children miss the start of the lesson, they do not know what to do.

- when children arrive late, a teacher must leave the classroom to collect the child from the office; disrupting the entire class who have already started working.

School photos will be taken on Tuesday 29 October.

Envelopes will be sent home during the first week of Term 4.

It was standing room only in the Holroyd School hall on Thursday 12 September, as teachers, parents, families and friends came together to watch all our classes perform in the annual school concert.

A highlight of our school calendar, this education showcase comprised 15 musical performances, which included themes such as science, space travel, kindness, rock and roll and a messy dining experience.

The children's enthusiasm was infectious as parents and friends clapped and sang along to each tune.

It was a tremendous effort by all our teachers, staff and students and a culmination of many weeks of preparation and rehearsal.

Bravo to all!

I loved that my carer and little brother came to the concert to watch me. Isabella, J10

I liked doing the concert with my friends. Aylin, J10

I liked the song. William, J10

What I liked most about the school concert was that everyone came to watch us perform. Jack, S24

What I liked most about the concert was performing as the Jolly Swagman. Anthony, S24

This term eight students and three staff enjoyed a two-night overnight stay at Berry Sports and Recreation Centre, two hours south of Sydney.

Students Amara, Anthony, Jack, Janet, Robert, Vincent, Kuhan and Sean, with staff Kylie, Mark and Terese, all had a wonderful time on the 62-hectare farmland property.

During their stay, they participated in a wide range of activities, including archery, canoeing, rock climbing, basketball and group games. In their free time, students enjoyed meeting and socialising with students from other schools.

Going to camp was a great opportunity for the students to not only participate in fun outdoor activities but to also build on their growing independence and confidence. They all surpassed expectations in terms of behaviour, enthusiasm and activity participation.

Thank you to the Holroyd staff who helped our fundraising efforts, which subsidised the cost of the camp for families.

Students from four junior classes had an exceptionally 'cool' day at Macquarie Ice Rink at North Ryde on Thursday 19 September.

The excursion, organised by children's charity Variety, enabled seated students to glide gently and safely on the ice with the support of many volunteers.

The day was also an opportunity for our students to demonstrate Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) rules in the community, including navigating busy environments, following instructions and taking turns.

Variety supports children and families facing challenges through sickness or living with a disability.

Congratulations to all students who participated in the recent read-a-thon, held in conjunction with the Premier's Reading Challenge. Your reading efforts raised $2088 for Holroyd School!

The read-a-thon involved students reading or listening to a minimum of thirty books from the Premier's Reading Challenge book list.

Special mention to classes J12 (primary) and S24 (secondary) for raising the most funds, which will be used to purchase educational resources for our school.

Congratulations to the following students who raised the most money in their class:

Senior students in classes S24, S26 and S29 travelled to Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre on Wednesday 28 August.

They all enjoyed spending time with expert coaches and learning new skills in a range of sports including cricket, soccer, rugby league and rugby union.

It was smiles all round when Keehan and Stephen from the Wests Tigers visited Holroyd on Thursday 5 September. Everyone had such a good time learning new rugby league skills.

The seven students in J17 are proud to be the first at Holroyd to learn to code using robots.

As part of the school's STEM initiative, students have learnt to create algorithms (code) to program three robots and take them on different adventures.

Our efforts in coding the robots - Blue Bot - The Original, LeGo WeDo2.0 and Cubetto - have provided a new and exciting experience that has impressed the school.

Teacher Elizabeth and SLSO Saidah are very proud of the achievements of J17 students Vivek, Kuberan, Mohammed, Emmanuel, Rui Xi, Isaac and Hela.

Students in J3 have had a busy and productive year so far. We have really enjoyed this term's Book Week activities such as dressing up as our favourite book character and following clues to solve the treasure hunt.

We are currently working on a unit of study titled Community and Remembrance which has involved dreamtime stories and creating artworks related to Aboriginal life.

In J3, we all love swimming and eagerly anticipate our Tuesday morning pool sessions, where we use noodles to move up and down the pool.

The Premier's Sporting Challenge has kept us busy too. We have enjoyed trampolining, using the equipment in the bike track, participating in weekly sport sessions and walking around our school.

Thank you parents for supplying such fantastic school concert outfits and for coming to watch us perform.

Until next time,

Dev, Arianna, Daniel, Sivesh, Khyber, Paul and Andrea.

Students in S27 have enjoyed many awesome activities while working hard to achieve their learning goals this year.

Bowling has definitely been the highlight of our weekly routine. We all love the bus travel, improving our bowling skills and enjoying lunch [hot chips] together afterwards. This fun weekly excursion has helped us to take turns, show patience and cheer and support our friends; developed our skills in reading a scoreboard and community signs; and enhanced our number recognition.

In term two we went to see A Symphony of Life – a music and variety show performed by Studio Artes at Hornsby RSL. We were the perfect audience; we even rushed the dance floor and showed-off our dance moves while the band was rocking out! New student Nour, who joined us this term, fits right in as she loves to dance too! 

We have also been challenging ourselves in our academic work. In addition to literacy and numeracy work, we are learning to type and communicate in full sentences. We are a creative, kind and clever bunch who love to spend our learning time together.

Until next time,

Vincent, Hannah, Mohmed, Amanie, Corena, Aleksia, Emilee, Nour, Mayasa, Vicki and Michelle

School's out!

Wishing all our staff, students and families a safe and happy holiday.

Today is the last day for Term 3.

Term 4 begins on Monday 14 October, 2019.