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Dear Parents,
While I know that each one of our K-6 students is very kind, polite, respectful, well-mannered, and well-behaved, and that our teachers are all of the very highest quality, it is most pleasing when these qualities are recognised and acknowledged by people outside our school learning community.
Over the past two weeks a number of people from outside our community have commented on how very special our school’s students and teachers are when they are in school or when they are representing their school and participating in programs outside our school gates.
Please find below some comments that have be made recently about our wonderful Auburn North students and teachers:
Year 4 Excursion to Botany Bay
Our year 4 students enjoyed an excursion at the Botany Bay National Park. Before the students and staff headed back to school the National Park rangers expressed how impressed they were with our beautiful Auburn North students and teachers. They said that they had never seen students who were more engaged and involved, and willing to give everything a go. They also said they were very impressed with the students' behaviour and their kind and polite manner.
Year 2 Excursion to Schoolhouse Museum
As part of one of their History units of work, the year 2 students visited the Schoolhouse Museum. The day after the year 2 excursion the coordinator of the museum sent the following email to our school:
“We don't usually write to our visiting schools but we have not been able to stop talking about the outstanding behaviour of your students on Monday and the smiling, positive, calm and consistent approach to your students of all your staff.
We see 11,500 students a year from all education sectors across greater Sydney and your students on Monday were an absolute stand out. They were settled - so settled, polite - always said ‘Thank You’ and patiently waited for their turn, engaged – bright-eyed, interested, diligently moving through tasks and all trying their best, and they were happy - smiles, standing tall and joining in.
Congratulations to you, all the staff and students. It was such a pleasure to work with you all!”
Year 6 Incursion - Science
On Wednesday 8th May three rangers from Ranger Jamie Tours came to Auburn North Public School. Year 6 students enthusiastically participated in a day filled with hands-on experiments and activities linked to states of matter and heat, complementing their learning in science.
The staff from Ranger Jamie Tours commented on the outstanding behaviour that was demonstrated by our Year 6 students. They said they were very impressed with how every Year 6 student was so engaged in their learning and how they worked so harmoniously with each other and the visiting staff throughout the day.
Auburn Zone Cross Country Carnival
Recently, more than 30 Auburn North students represented their school in the annual Auburn Zone Cross Country Carnival with more than 400 students from more than 10 other schools. I spent more than an hour at the carnival and I was so proud of the way in which our students tried their very best when competing in their cross country races, and the way in which they supported and cheered for each other.
However, I was most impressed with the way in which each student was perfectly behaved during my visit and for the whole day and the way in which they proudly represented their school. In fact, a teacher from another school pointed to our students and asked his own students to behave in the same way as our Auburn North students.
I would like congratulate our students and also Ms Collins and Ms Pham who, for the second year, coordinated a perfect zone cross country carnival, also I’d like to thank the team of Auburn North teachers who assisted them at the carnival.
I know that when our Kindergarten, Year 1, Year 3, and Year 4 students and teachers participate in their excursions later this year and when our students and teachers participate in events such as the Granville Schools’ Spectacular and the Auburn Zone Athletics Carnival, they will also behave in a way that will make them ‘SHINE’, just like those students and teachers mentioned above.
OUR SCHOOL REVIEW SCHEDULE and 2019 SCHOOL REVIEW
You will recall that in the previous edition of our school newsletter I referred to a recent piece of research that identified the six common features that all high-performing schools had developed. They were school discipline, direct and explicit teaching, an experienced and highly skilled school leadership, data-informed teaching practice, teacher collaboration and professional learning, and comprehensive early reading instruction.
You will also recall that I wrote that all evidence indicated that Auburn North had become a high-performing school because we had developed and implemented a number of highly effective features, including those outlined above.
But, as you know, our school’s Motto is ‘FORWARD’ and that means we are always wanting to move forward to become an even better school for our students, parents, leaders, and teachers. One process or strategy we have used for the past 13 years to continue to become an even better learning community is to request and participate in school reviews.
A school review involves a school identifying specific areas they would like to further improve, and inviting education experts from outside the school to assess and evaluate the school in those areas. Auburn North is one of the few NSW public schools that has requested external reviews.
From 2006–2012 our school requested and had reviews in the following areas:
2006: Numeracy
2008: Reading
2010: Writing
2012: Numeracy
Each of these reviews was conducted by a review team composed of two Department of Education consultants, one deputy principal from another school, and two Auburn North teachers. Each review involved lesson observations, evaluations of teaching programs and student learning data, and interviews with small groups of teachers, students and parents.
Each review team developed a set of Findings and Recommendations, which were then presented to the school. Auburn North strategically and effectively implemented each set of Recommendations and this assisted our school become even better for our students, leaders, teachers and parents in those particular areas.
In about 2014 the Department of Education decided not to continue to employ consultants so we engaged Vic Zbar, an education expert from Victoria to conduct a review in 2015. We asked Mr Zbar to review the quality of our school’s teaching and learning programs and the level of parent engagement.
After analysing data, observing lessons, and interviewing some leaders, teachers, students, and parents over three days, Mr Zbar developed a set of Findings and 11 Recommendations. We strategically implemented those Recommendations from 2015 -2018 and continued to engage Mr Zbar as our education consultant to assist us implement the recommendations.
This process and the way in which we responded to the recommendations resulted in significantly improved teaching and learning outcomes, and improved parent engagement.
As each of the five reviews have benefitted all members of our learning community, our leadership team decided to invite Mr Zbar and Ross Kimber, another education consultant, to conduct a review this year. This review will focus on the following areas:
- Leadership for school improvement.
- An orderly learning environment
- Curriculum and Assessment.
- Teaching practices.
- Professional teaching practice for improved practice.
- Quality of student learning.
- Families as partners in learning.
Mr Zbar and Mr Kimber will be conducting their review next Tuesday 28 May – Thursday 30 May inclusive and will be following a similar process to the one employed in 2015. We look forward to participating in our 2019 review and then strategically implementing each of the Recommendations in each of the areas outlined above to move ‘FORWARD’ and become an even better and more high-performing school learning community.
REMINDER FOR PARENTS - TEACHERS NOT AVAILABLE BEFORE SCHOOL
For many years we have had a procedure in place at Auburn North involving parents contacting or meeting teachers. We have communicated to parents in the past that teachers are not available to meet or speak with parents before school commences at 9am. This is because teachers are busy in the mornings preparing lessons so children have access to high quality lessons and so they achieve success in their learning.
If you need to speak with your child's teacher we again ask that you see the teacher after school and arrange to meet them at a mutually convenient time one afternoon.
If the matter is urgent and cannot wait until the afternoon we ask that go to the office and ask if you can speak to either Mrs Clift, Mrs Southgate, or Mrs Tukuafu.
We thank you for your anticipated cooperation.
MOTHER'S DAY STALL
Our 2019 Mother’s Day Stall was an outstanding success. Our students were able to choose from a wide range of beautifully wrapped gifts that they then handed to their Mums on mother’s day with a kiss and a hug.
I would like to thank the following parents who worked on the stall and assisted the students select their gifts:
- Mrs Zreika
- Mrs Appaydin
- Mrs Aho
- Mr Acar
- Mrs Khalid
- Mrs Acar
I would especially like to thank Mrs Zenna Diab and her family for purchasing and wrapping the gifts.
Mark Harris
Principal
| KB | Hiya | For consistently working hard to achieve her Auburn North dream of being a great learner and writing a sentence independently, leaving spaces between words. |
| KB | Abdullah | For his excellent work in writing his first simple sentences in Turkish independently and for being a good role model to his peers. |
| KB | Wassim | For displaying courage and commitment to write a sentence independently that included spaces and a full stop. |
| KD | Ayan | For showing enthusiasm and determination to make a raft that could float in science. |
| KD | Maria | For showing determination during writing to hear all of the sounds in a word. |
| KG | Hedda | For her eagerness to learn Dari and trying her best in following the 5Ls in Dari lessons. |
| KG | Sophia | For demonstrating persistence in writing lessons to say and write a sentence with equal spaces between words. |
| KG | Dean | For demonstrating persistence during literacy lessons to write letters and words. |
| KM | Amina | For being an active and happy member of Dari Community Language lessons, and also willing to express her thoughts in Dari. |
| KM | Eeman | For achieving her learning goal of leaving spaces between words when writing sentences. |
| KM | Muhammad Musab Bin | For using his letter and sound knowledge as well as sight word knowledge to help him write independent sentences about Lego blocks. |
| KP | Waheedullah | For showing character by saying words slowly to hear the beginning sound in challenging words during writing time. |
| 1C | Jana | For consistently showing all of the Auburn North values inside the classroom and on the playground. |
| 1C | Aceline Katayi | For settling in to Auburn North so well and always showing the values of kindness and respect. |
| 1F | Saadia | For consistently being an outstanding role model for her peers by showing all the ANPS values. |
| 1F | Fatima | For settling back into ANPS so quickly and happily after an extended holiday and showing all the school values. |
| 1L | Safoora | For showing determination during guided reading lessons to improve her reading level. |
| 1L | Samarpreet | For his improved behaviour and attitude towards learning. |
| 1T | Zaidaan | For striving to achieve the learning goal in all lessons. Well done! |
| 1T | Zaim | For demonstrating responsibility and focus when cutting fruit in half during maths. |
| 1W | Khizar | For being an excellent role model for his peers by consistently showing all of the ANPS values. |
| 1W | Ali Shah | For showing determination and enthusiasm in all maths lessons. Keep up the excellent work! |
| 2C | Habiba | For demonstrating her critical thinking skills when comparing and recording fractions in Maths. |
| 2M | Batool | For her ability to think critically when recording fractions for halves, quarters and eights of whole objects. |
| 2M | Yusuf Haidar | For actively engaging in guided reading sessions by answering comprehension questions and reading fluently and confidently. |
| 2N | Ishti | For working hard to achieve the learning goal when learning about the split strategy in mathematics lessons. |
| 2N | Hamza | For settling into the 2N classroom so well and showing all the ANPS values from day one. Well done! |
| 2W | Zainab | For forming positive relationships and settling into 2W proudly |
| 3N | Suliman | For working diligently to read and record both analogue and digital time. |
| 3N | Maira | For showing determination and a focused approach within all aspects of her learning. |
| 3R | Madhurema | For always demonstrating active listening and contributing positively in all lessons. Keep it up! |
| 3R | Mehdi | For striving to demonstrate a more focused approach to his learning and complete all set tasks. Well done! |
| 3W | Saeeda | For working diligently in mathematics to read and record time. |
| 3W | Milad | For always being a positive role model to his peers and displaying consistent effort in all learning areas. |
| 4/3H | Nakhwah | For working diligently during writing to compose a narrative that included an orientation, complication and resolution. |
| 4/3H | Ahmed | For always demonstrating the Auburn North Public School values of kindness and respect. |
| 4A | Nayab | For consistently producing her work to an exceptionally high standard. |
| 4A | Mohamed | For starting the term with an increased positive attitude towards all learning areas. Keep up the great work! |
| 4B | Fathima | For successfully describing and recording time using the words midday and midnight. |
| 4B | Rehan | For showing creativity during Reader's Theatre by demonstrating vocal expression and facial expression. |
| 4E | Malak | For working diligently within maths lessons to interpret and read a timetable. |
| 4E | Zunera | For composing a well-written character description with the character's appearance and personality. |
| 4T | Aaminah | For her increased confidence in showing the link between fractions and decimals. |
| 4T | Hareem | For her understanding of the use of the inverse operations to find the missing number in a number sentence. |
| 5C | Sumayya | For consistently striving to achieve her best in all learning areas. Well done! |
| 5C | Fatemeh | For demonstrating critical thinking skills to successfully review and edit her narrative writing. |
| 5HL | Farzana | For consistently demonstrating all of the ANPS values, especially, responsibility and friendship. |
| 5HL | Malalai | For always trying her best and displaying a strong willingness to improve her work. |
| 5P | Christian | For his persistent attitude towards his learning in literacy. |
| 5P | Jamil | For demonstrating character during maths lessons to solve word problems using different strategies. Well done! |
| 6HI | Farzana | For actively contributing her ideas during mathematics lessons. |
| 6HI | Saurav | For consistently striving to complete all work to a high standard. |
| 6M | Abdullah | For critically analysing the author Roald Dahl by comparing and contrasting two of his texts. |
| 6M | Suliman | For using his communication skills to explain the order of operations to a peer. |
4A’s Excursion to Botany Bay National Park
This term 4A have been learning about the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the European exploration and colonisation of Australia. To enhance our learning about this, we went on an incredible excursion to Kamay Botany Bay National Park at Kurnell.
We participated in many fun activities. One of our activities involved going on a bush walk to locate some bush tucker. We even got to taste test the bush tucker food. Another activity was the monument walk, where we strolled along the beautiful coast line to see where Captain James Cook first arrived to Australia. Finally, we ended the day with a team Olympic relay. This tested our knowledge of all the learning we have been doing in History and what we learnt on the day.
In Science, KD had a problem! Their problem was that they needed to help The Gingerbread Man cross the river without getting him wet. We decided the best way to do this was to make a vessel. The students had to make good choices and pick materials that would float and not get the Gingerbread Man wet.
Some of our vessels floated and some sank. After we’d tested our vessel we talked about why some sank to the bottom of the river. The students decided that cotton balls and paper weren’t the best materials to pick because they got too wet and heavy. We decided that light plastic and aluminium foil were much better options as they floated.
Here are some photos of KD making and testing their vessels.
