2025 Term 4 Week 2 Newsletter - 24 Oct 2025
Acting Principal’s Report

Acting Principal’s Report

We have well and truly hit the ground running in Term 4, with plenty of exciting events and positive energy around the school.

We are thrilled to see our new playground now completed with plans to open it to our younger students next week. The new play equipment has generated lots of buzz and students have been looking longingly at it each day, with lots of questions about when it will be ready to explore. They have certainly shown wonderful patience as they wait for the green light! The playground project has had a few setbacks along the way but it has been worth the wait. We are so pleased to once again have play equipment suited to our youngest students and know it will provide hours of fun and entertainment for many years to come. Our heartfelt thanks to the P&C for securing a government grant and co-funding this project for our school. Particular thanks to Jonathan Lees for his assistance with the grant process and the 2023 Funraiser committee who raised funds for the new playground.

In addition to the playground being completed, works have now commenced on the toilet upgrade and sickbay refurbishment, marking another exciting improvement to our facilities that will benefit all students.

Leadership Events

Last term, our school captains and vice-captains proudly represented Northbridge Public School at the NSW Parliament, where they received certificates recognising their leadership from The Hon. Tim James, Member for Willoughby. Their maturity and pride were truly commendable. We have been so fortunate to have such an eager leadership team this year and they have been excellent role models for their Year 5 peers. This term, our Year 5 students have begun their own leadership journey through the Aspire Higher workshops, where they explored leadership styles, characteristics and the responsibilities that come with leading by example. We look forward to supporting them through this process.

Festival Of Children‘s Music

Last night, our school was beautifully represented at the Festival of Children’s Music, where our Senior Choir performed spectacularly. Gapard L-M (6H) also performed at the concert and gave an outstanding solo flute performance. Congratulations to all students involved and thank you for representing our school with pride and talent. Thank you to Miss Ellie Gillman for her organisation of the event and for conducting on the night, to Mrs Royle who also runs Senior Choir with Miss Gillman, and to Mrs Wineberg for assisting with supervision.

Wearing Hats

Finally, a reminder about our expectations for students wearing a hat. Students must wear a hat before school and during all outdoor play and learning times. We are concerned that some students regularly do not have a hat at school. We are currently developing new procedures to promote consistent hat wearing and appropriate consequences for students who forget or do not wear their hats. We’ll share these with families soon, but in the meantime, we appreciate your support in ensuring your child brings a hat to school every day.

It has been a privilege to lead Northbridge Public School in a relieving capacity over the last two weeks, and I look forward to welcoming Mrs Smith back next week.


Angela Dobbin

It’s so much fun in KC!

It’s so much fun in KC!

Welcome back to Term 4! We have so many fun photos to share of our learning.

Our beautiful sun mosaics inspired by our English text ‘All I Want for Christmas is Rain!’

Have you wondered about our favourite fruits? We learned how to create a column graph as part of our data discovery.

Our coding lessons where we used ScratchJr. and learned how to code our very own animations.

Reading groups to practice our reading fluency and decoding skills.

Multicultural Public Speaking State Final

Multicultural Public Speaking State Final

The State Final of the Multicultural Public Speaking Competition was held on Friday 17th October at the NSW Teachers Federation Conference Centre.  Our very own Maaliya D (4O) took part in the Years 3 and 4 State Final and got to showcase her talent in front of many members of staff, supported by her entire class as well as a very proud Mr Ogawa and Mrs Dobbin.

Maaliya won the competition and will soon receive her trophy, after her name is engraved on it.

A few words from Maaliya:

“On Friday October 17, I competed in the Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition State Final with 9 other participants from all around NSW. Some contestants came from so far away they brought suitcases with them! I really enjoyed the experience as my class came to watch me. It was extra special to have them their as support. First, I did my prepared speech which was on the topic ‘Sport brings people together’ and then I had 5 minutes to prepare an impromptu speech. The topic I got on the day was ‘Memories’. I chose to speak about how if we don’t look after our planet, the beauty of it will soon be a distant memory that we read about in history books. I was very happy to win and hold a giant trophy that was bigger than my head.

What an amazing achievement Maaliya!  We hope you felt the support from the entire school and community.

A big thank you to Mia and Hannah both who did an excellent job as chairperson and time keeper. 

 

1M Earth Heroes

1M Earth Heroes

To start our term, 1M have been learning about pollution and its impact on our environment after reading the texts JellyBoy by Nicole Godwin and The Mess We Made by Michelle Lord. Through these stories, students explored how human actions affect the ocean and marine life, and discussed simple ways we can all help to care for our planet. They shared thoughtful ideas about reducing waste, recycling, and making sustainable choices in our everyday lives.

As part of this unit, students completed an art activity, with Ms Smyth (our lovely prac teacher). The lesson was inspired by the movement and beauty of jellyfish. With the learning intention “Use paint and colour combinations to recreate an image of fluid movement,” they experimented with liquid watercolours, pipettes, and epsom salts to capture the flowing, graceful motion of jellyfish in a still image. The artworks beautifully reflect their understanding of the ocean’s fragile beauty and the importance of keeping it clean and healthy.

Inclusion Noticeboard

Inclusion Noticeboard

2025 Premier’s Reading Challenge Success!

2025 Premier’s Reading Challenge Success!

We are thrilled to celebrate a fantastic achievement — every student at Northbridge PS has successfully completed the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge this year! 🎉

Students from Kindergarten to Year 6 rose to the challenge, reading an impressive range of books that stretched their imaginations, built their vocabulary, and deepened their love of stories.

Throughout the year, our students showed remarkable enthusiasm, curiosity and persistence as they explored a wide range of stories. From picture books to chapter books, each reading choice reflected our students’ growing confidence and curiosity as readers.

A huge congratulations to all our students, and a heartfelt thank you to our teachers and families for encouraging reading at home and school. The PRC is more than just a list of books — it’s a celebration of lifelong learning and the joy of reading together.

Each year we celebrate with our PRC Pinata – all the names of the students who successfully completed the challenge have been been placed in the pinata and Emily M (our 2025 Librarian for a day – week – year !) will break it open with a few well-aimed swings of a baseball bat!

We will pull out a K-2 name and 3-6 name and these successful students will be rewarded with a book of their choice! Watch this space to find out who the two lucky students will be!

Mrs Parker (Teacher Librarian)

Choir Chaos in Cairns!

Choir Chaos in Cairns!

Over the holidays Emily M (6L) travelled to Cairns with the Sydney Children’s Choir over the holidays to perform at Songfest. The Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir and the Sydney Children’s Choir, 150 young Australian choral singers, joined for a week of collaboration.

A few words from Emily:

“At 10.45am on Tuesday the 7th of October the plane was bustling with chatter as Sydney Children’s choir took their seats aboard the plane to Cairns. Fidgeting in our seats, we took off knowing we were just hours away from Cairns Colonial Club Resort.

After a debatable sleep, we took off the next morning to the Great Barrier Reef, experiencing snorkelling for the first time. After observing the alluring marine life through the lenses of my goggles, we took another dip in the Esplanade lagoon.

The next day we zipped off to Innisfail, taking the path via the Babinda Boulders. After taking witness to the scenic boulders we continued towards the Innisfail Town Hall to perform in a concert, with a small local school as our audience.

Day 1 of Songfest came our way on Friday. Along with several choirs from local schools, at Songfest we performed three combined choir songs as well as separate prepared items by Sydney Children’s choir inside the stunning St Monica’s Cathedral.

Saturday and day 2 of Songfest was here! We took part in our own item, before watching the senior combined choir perform including a dazzling solo by a 14 year old!! After the busy day of singing we were taken to the night markets and while soaking up the delicious food, we explored the markets seeing the homemade designs through the different stalls.

[Dramatic music] All was well and fine until that sneaky blister of mine became infected! I raced off to the hospital before getting antibiotics injected through my body. An eventful and late night in hospital was then followed by the inconvenient 3.30am wake up to make our way to the airport.

The choir chaos doesn’t end there but the eventful trip did! All was safe and well as we landed back in Sydney!”

You will be pleased to know Emily has now fully recovered! What a fantastic trip.

Sustainability Noticeboard

Sustainability Noticeboard

We’re here with a simple purpose – to protect what we love. Every sustainable change we make today will create a safer future for our children.

🎉 IT’S PARTY SEASON! KEEP IT LOW-WASTE

If you’ve got a party coming up, here’s a great little tip: Northbridge Library has free Party Kits you can borrow – and they’re perfect for cutting down on single-use plastic.

Each kit comes with:

  • Reusable plates, cups, bowls, platters and cutlery
  • A cupcake stand
  • Gorgeous fabric bunting (so you can skip the balloons!)

There are two colour themes – blue/green or pastel multicolour – and they’re very easy to borrow. Just use, wash and return.

Lots of NPS families borrow them regularly (see some pics below). Worth checking out if you’re planning something soon!

♻️ HANDY RECYCLING HELP – HOMECYCLE PICK UPS

If you’ve got a pile of stuff building up that doesn’t belong in the yellow bin, HomeCycle is a free and easy way to clear it out sustainably – book a pickup online, leave your items out, and they’ll collect from your doorstep and recycle them. Amazing!

They collect things like:

  • Soft plastics
  • Clothes and textiles
  • Blister packs
  • Small household electronics
  • Domestic batteries
  • Oversized cardboard
  • Even old X-rays!

🎬 REMINDER: FREE OUTDOOR MOVIE – FUTURE COUNCIL

A reminder that the free screening of Future Council is happening tomorrow – Saturday 25 October – at the Coal Loader in Waverton.

It’s a great chance to see a thought-provoking film by Damon Gameau (2040, That Sugar Film) – and it’s all about kids leading the way on climate solutions.

Bring a picnic and enjoy the sunset and live music before the movie starts at 7:30pm.

Gates open from 5pm – hope to see some familiar faces there!

Book tickets | Watch the film trailer

Luca A the 50K Kid

Luca A the 50K Kid

Luca A (6L) recently cycled 50km in the 2025 Spring Cycle, to raise money for Lifeline! He rode from St Leonards, across the Harbour Bridge, and ended in Parramatta!

Through Luca’s personal fundraising efforts, he raised $1831.00, and was the 6th highest individual fundraiser for the ride. The money raised will go to Lifeline NSW. Lifeline provides 24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention services to people in distress in our local communities.
Luca rode with his Dad, Max, however left him behind to finish the ride a little quicker; although there were no places as it was a community ride, not a race, Luca discovered he really enjoyed the challenge and is now looking to ride in longer events in the next 12 months.
Well done Luca!
Eva Aces it at the National Tennis Championships

Eva Aces it at the National Tennis Championships

During the recent school holidays, Eva H (5H) travelled to Adelaide to compete in the 10U National Tennis Championships. Alongside three other girls representing NSW, Eva took on the top 32 girls from every State and Territory across Australia.
Across five days of intense competition, the girls competed in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles events. We’re thrilled to share that Eva achieved an outstanding 3rd place in the singles tournament, ranking her as the No. 1 10-year-old girl in NSW and 3rd in Australia. She also finished 3rd in girls doubles and 6th in mixed doubles—an incredible effort at the national level.
Congratulations, Eva, on your fantastic achievements!
You can follow Eva’s tennis journey on her Instagram account @evahuehandel
Soccer Star

Soccer Star

We have a soccer star at NPS in 3/4S!

Jackson R has been selected for an International Soccer Tournament [TARS Asia] taking place this December. He has also just been selected for representative football for the 2026 season with Spirit Football Club following a competitive trial with around 70 boys and 7 spots.

Well done Jackson!

2026 Uniform Shop Manager Needed

2026 Uniform Shop Manager Needed

The Uniform Shop is seeking a new Manager. Duties include the overall management of the shop, such as stock management, co-ordinating vendor orders and opening the shop weekly during term.

This is a paid role requiring approximately 5 hours per week across one or two days.

Training and handover will be provided by the current Shop Manager, commencing as soon as possible. Prior experience is preferable but not necessary.

For a detailed position description and application details, please email nspuniformshop@gmail.com. Applications close Monday, 27 October.

A big thank you to Cherry who has done an amazing job the past two years!

Buy Your Tickets to Schools Spectacular

Buy Your Tickets to Schools Spectacular

Are you interested in attending a spectacular performance?

Schools Spectacular will be held at Qudos Bank Arena on Friday 28th and Saturday 29th November.

10 talented Year 6 girls from NPS are part of this tremendous show, alongside thousands of others from around the state.

It is truly one that is NOT TO BE MISSED!

Get your tickets by clicking on the following link:

https://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=SCHOOLSS25

The music, dancing, singing, costumes and props are like nothing you have ever seen before. We promise you’ll be blown away.

Bring your whole family and enjoy a SPECTACULAR show, whilst supporting the NSW creative arts.

 

Elizabeth Bulgin and Isabel Carter