News

Coronavirus - Department of Education statement

Tue, 28 Jan 2020 20:23:15 AEDT

The department is working with the Ministry of Health to monitor and respond to the unfolding international novel coronavirus situation.

Get up-to-date information about the department's response to novel coronavirus.

Thank you Helensburgh Public School

Tue, 10 Dec 2019 13:22:54 AEDT

Lisa and Eliza from the SCHS had the pleasure of attending Helensburgh Public School’s end of year presentation day to receive a donation for our school. The SCHS taught several Helensburgh PS students while they were patients or siblings of patients at the hospital. We were honoured and touched to receive this donation. Having the support of the families we have taught and of the P&C from another school means the world to us.

The Game Changer Challenge

Thu, 22 Aug 2019 09:08:22 AEST

This year to mark Education Week the Department of Education set students from all across the state a challenge: how to humanise technology. Our students submitted a one minute video showing how communication has changed from the earliest time to now: from message sticks to Snapchat. And the team of 6 students was one of 17 teams selected from right across NSW, to attend an amazing 3 day extravaganza.

This kicked off at Google headquarters and culminated in a competitive presentation of their novel ideas, at the new Department of Education offices at Parramatta. The team from Sydney Children’s Hospital School came up with the idea of a futuristic medical station that could provide rural patients real time specialist medical treatment in their own home. For their great idea they were awarded the People’s Choice award.

Garden upgrade

Thu, 22 Aug 2019 08:42:55 AEST

The Scots College 3rds 15 Rugby undertook a collaborative project with Randwick City Council to upgrade the gardens of the Sydney Children’s Hospital School.

Randwick City Council nursery provided the plants, gardening equipment and mulch and The Scots College provided the manpower. As well as a great experience of giving back to the community, the work provided the boys with an excellent team building and bonding experience.

Thanks to all.

Students meet the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Cast

Thu, 27 Jun 2019 15:14:28 AEST

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

High School Helpers

Thu, 27 Jun 2019 14:51:56 AEST

High School helpers

Young Engineers Incursion

Thu, 27 Jun 2019 15:00:24 AEST

An exciting visit from Young Engineers

Apply now for My Community Project funding

Mon, 29 Apr 2019 15:13:38 AEST

Do you have a great idea to improve your area?

My Community Project is a new NSW Government funding program that is all about local ideas, local projects and local decisions.

You can apply now for grants from $20,000 - $200,000 for projects that will make a difference to your community. Projects could include new playground equipment, sports facilities, paths or ramps to improve access, public art or a community service.

The local community can vote for their favourite projects in July and successful projects will be announced in September.

Project applications close 15 May 2019.

Apply for My Community Project funding

Bring back memories, not measles

Thu, 11 Apr 2019 14:28:25 AEST

With school holidays just around the corner, it’s time to visit your doctor to check that you and your family are fully protected against measles, before you travel overseas.

Measles is a serious, highly contagious, viral illness that is easily spread through the air when an infectious person coughs, sneezes or breathes. If you and your family are not fully vaccinated, or have never been vaccinated, you are at risk of contracting measles.

Not sure if you’re fully protected?

In Australia, the measles vaccine (MMR) consists of 2 doses. If you’re not sure whether you’ve had 2 doses of the measles vaccine, visit your doctor. It’s safe to receive another dose.

Children born in Australia

If your children were born in Australia, they may have received the measles vaccine at 12 months old and the second dose at 18 months, in accordance with the National Immunisation Program.
If you have a baby under 12 months old, consult your doctor about getting their measles vaccination.

Adults born in Australia

Born before 1966 – you were most likely exposed to measles as a child and are generally considered to be immune. If in doubt, ask your GP.
Born between 1966 and 1994 – you may not have received 2 doses. Talk to your doctor about the free vaccine if you’re unsure.
Born after 1994 – the National Immunisation Program offers 2 doses, and you can check your vaccination status using the Australian Immunisation Register.

For more information about the measles vaccination, visit NSW Health or consult your local doctor.

2019 school budget allocations

Tue, 13 Nov 2018 08:49:02 AEDT

Like all NSW public schools, this week we will receive a School Budget Allocation Report with our funding for 2019. The report will help us manage our total budget delivered through the Resource Allocation Model (RAM).

The RAM supports schools through needs-based funding to ensure a fair, efficient and transparent allocation of funds. Our school has the flexibility to make local decisions based on the specific needs of our students.

We will use our 2019 funding to support students and improve educational outcomes. The school executive will continue to work with the school community as we implement the school plan using this needs-based funding.

Learn more about the 2019 RAM funding.

Newspaper editor shares his love of books with our primary class

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:12:02 AEST

For the Love of Reading!

Antony Field Editor The Southern Courier visited our school to read Pamela Allen's book Belinda to the primary class. SCHS & the Southern Courier

Gold Week

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:35 AEST

During May and June the Hospital does some great activities to raise awareness of the patients at the hospital and the high costs involved in all their treatment and various essential medical items. This culminates in the Gold Week telethon which was held yesterday and raised much needed funds for the entire hospital.

Many of our students were involved in the broadcast for the telethon and one of our long term students, Lauren who is in Year 12, was interviewed by the Channel 9 team.

Lauren was very excited when the team presented her with a great gift - a wonderful night for the whole family including tickets to a show at the Sydney Opera House, a family bridge climb pass and accommodation at a nearby hotel. We can't wait for Lauren to tell us all about it!

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data - NCCD

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:12:22 AEST

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data

All schools are required to complete the annual Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD). The NCCD draws on the professional judgement of teachers and evidence of adjustments being provided for students with a disability, consistent with obligations under the Disability Standards for Education.

Information required for the NCCD

Each year schools will record and submit evidence based information about:

the number of students receiving an adjustment for disability as defined in the DDA and the Disability Standards for Education
the level of adjustment each student is receiving
the broad category of disability of each student.

Students being provided with an adjustment for disability are included in the annual data collection where there is documented evidence held in the school of personalised learning and support for the student. This includes evidence that:

the adjustment has been provided for a minimum of 10 weeks in the 12 months preceding the 2018 NCCD census date
the adjustment is based on the assessed educational needs of individual students
the adjustment is provided in consultation with the student and/or their parents and carers
the impact of the adjustment is monitored

Each year in August, principals will verify the accuracy of NCCD data about students in their school receiving adjustments because of disability, based on evidences in the school.

Further information

For more information, visit:

National Disability Data Collection

Dancing dynamo

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:29 AEST

One of our year 12 students Megan Allen, recently received an award to recognise her commitment to dance. Megan is studying dance as one of her HSC subjects and is passionate for it. On top of her studies at school, Megan belongs to a dance school in her local area and was awarded the Dance/Theatre Student of the Year 2017. We wish her the very best with her HSC studies, and hope her love of dance remains strong beyond school.

Music with Music Matt

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:51 AEST

Music with Music Matt

Music with music Matt every Friday from 2pm to 3. A marvellous place and time that shares the love and passion of music to anybody's ability. During this time, people are able to sing and play along with shakers and other percussion instruments to many well-known hits. This sort of fun enables children to learn through experience. They are able to experiment with different sorts of beats and rhythms in order to learn what sorts of beats and rhythms support and properly accompany certain types of songs. Furthermore, it allows everyone to have fun while being able to interact and play along with Matt and his other musical friends. These sorts of experiences put children's mindset out of the boring hospital world and into the amusing and exhilarating world of music. This is easily one of the most enjoyable experiences anyone can have with music, and it is guaranteed to put a smile on anyone's face.

Screen Printing in the ED Support Class

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:12:11 AEST

Students learn to screen print

Students were introduced to screen printing which is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink or paint directly to the surface to be printed, except in areas of the mesh which are made impenetrable to the ink or paint by sticking on a blocking stencil.

The ink/paint is wiped across the screen using a rubber blade or squeegee to move it through the unblocked areas of the mesh. This reaches the surface to be printed and starts the printing process. For each colour to be added to the substrate, a separate screen is prepared and the process is repeated.

Each student created their own design and the artworks were fantastic.

The Science of Sustainability

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:12:24 AEST

Sustainability in the Ocean.

For my Science project I have been investigating sustainable fishing. I had to do an experiment which simulated rod and net fishing, using beads to represent 2 species of fish, the Orange Roughy (an endangered species which breeds slowly) and Salmon ( a faster breeding species). I found rod fishing was more sustainable as it allowed time for populations to build up between "seasons", represented by 20 second fishing periods. Net fishing is far less sustainable than rod fishing as large numbers were caught easily in one "season".

This made me aware that regulations that are in place from government authorities eg NSW Department of Primary Industries, must be strictly regulated and strictly adhered to. This will ensure sustainability of species in our oceans and waterways.

Brendan Year 10

Stanford Cardinals - Stanford University College football team visit

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:12:13 AEST

Standford University College football team and an Australian Geography lesson

Some lads from the Stanford Cardinal football program joined our primary classroom today and joined into a class game, swapped stories and information on our countries and looked up where our students came from on the globe map. They connected with staff and students with warmth and enthusiasm and are definitely an asset to their College and Country.

This Sunday, the Stanford Cardinals take on the Rice University Owls in the College Football Sydney Cup at Allianz Stadium.

DATE: Sunday, 27 August

TIME: 12.00pm - gates open at 10.00am

WHERE: Allianz Stadium

NAPLAN Online School readiness test

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:58 AEST

NSW schools will participate in the NAPLAN Online School Readiness Test from 14 August to 22 September. There is a lot of information for schools, students and parents on the NAPLAN Online transition website. The school readiness test is a ‘practice run' for schools to assess their technology as we prepare to transition to NAPLAN Online. It provides an opportunity for schools to become familiar with the NAPLAN Online assessment platform but is not an assessment of student ability.

The megabonkeramus launch of Littlescribe!

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:12:20 AEST

The megabonkeramus launch of Littlescribe!

Littlescribe have been inspired to work with Sydney Children's Hospital School. Littlescribe celebrated their launch attended by Mr Rob Stokes the Minister of Education and Mr Matt Kean Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation. The Hospital school featured on the day as a shining light of possibility and innovation.

Our Littlescribes in action!

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:12:19 AEST

High School Class Investigates Weather Patterns

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:44 AEST

The SCHS High School Class created a weather vane to determine wind direction and weather patterns. The interesting experiment covered several Science and Technology outcomes as well as incorporating Visual Art skills. Lucky, we experienced a variety of different weather patterns over the Month of June and recorded changes in wind directions over the course of a week.

Living Things

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:46 AEST

The whole school is looking forward to the visit from Taronga Zoo in mid June. The Zoomobile will bring lots of animals for the students to learn about and, in anticipation of this, each class has started work on a unit of work - Livings Things.

The High School class has explored the characteristics of living things, creating a great display using a tree as the central theme. The movie The Jungle Book has provided a stimulus and some of the students have researched central animal characters. The mammals Bagheera the leopard, and Shere Khan the tiger, have stimulated discussion on

the similarities and differences between two closely related mammals. Kaa the snake then led the class to consider how different reptiles are from mammals. We are looking forward to designing our own zoo and participating in a number of great Art lessons to complement the unit.

Leopards are mammals

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:45 AEST

Students from the High school class have been learning about scientific names and are also researching their favourite animals. One student chose to find out more about a mammal, the leopard, Panthera pardus. This is the scientific name for a leopard. Panthera is the genus that the leopard belongs to and pardus is the species.

Scientific names are always written in italics and are the same all over the world, which allows scientists to know what organism is being considered. Humans are called Homo sapiens which means wise man in Latin.

School Development Day - High Possibility Classrooms and STEM

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:12:08 AEST

Motivated and engaged staff from SCHS and RNSHS

A School Development Day facilitated by Dr Jane Hunter, Senior Lecture in School of Education. Postdoctoral research in STEM to develop teacher capacity and support strategic planning on the High Possibility Classrooms research in NSW public schools http://www.highpossibilityclassrooms.com/, as well as, STEM/STEAM and the research conducted locally and how the findings support teachers in small group and 1:1 situation.

Teachers had an opportunity to discuss and unpack key ideas, planning scaffolds and time to reflect on where we are at and where we need to go.

Here is a blog post by Dr Jane Hunter on the day and teaching in Hospital Schools. HPC and STEM go to Hospital

Harmony Day

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:42 AEST

The High School staff and students embraced Harmony Day on Tuesday last week. The staff arrived appropriately dressed in orange and the staff and students discussed the origins of the day. Since 1999 Harmony Day has been recognised as a day to celebrate cultural diversity and this year it coincided with the United Nations Day for the Elimination of Racial discrimination. The classroom got

very harmonious after lunch with staff and students joining together in a great game of Equable, the Maths equivalent of Scrabble. Simple and complex equations were created and developed - a great way to see Maths as fun, collaborative and creative.

Have you filled out the Parent Survey?

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:43 AEST

Dear Parent/Carer

We need feedback from all families in our community. This starts with asking people what they think about a range of issues, seeking out concerns, asking for suggestions and ideas to support our continued growth.

If you have had a child enrolled at our school and have not completed the online survey, please help us capture your feedback. It will take up to 15 minutes to complete. It has some questions we need to ask, it has some ideas we want feedback on and most importantly, it provides you with a chance to tell us what is important to you and why.

If you experience any difficulty with this survey link, please email

Thanks for taking the time to share your insights.

Click here to start:

SCHS Parent Survey

Balloon rockets

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:12:05 AEST

Last week one of our students investigated what makes rockets fire into space. He learnt about Newton's third law - 'for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction'. He made a balloon rocket and fired it up a string. Robbie was delighted with the results.

To conduct this experiment yourself, see the following clip

Balloon rocket experiment

SCHS balances education, health care for sick students

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:12:10 AEST

Article in ABC online

NAIDOC 2016

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:55 AEST

A big thank you to Paul and Jared from Mirri Mirri Indigenous Cultural Education Training who helped celebrate NAIDOC week with us .The students and staff enjoyed the art activities, damper making, story telling and didgeridoo lessons.

Nationally Consistent Collection of data on school students with disabilities for 2016

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:12:01 AEST

Nationally Consistent Collection of data on school students with disabilities for 2016.

This year it is mandatory for our school to participate in the collection of nationally consistent data on school students with a disability.

A disability is any continuing condition that restricts everyday activities. With the assistance of appropriate aids and services, the restrictions experienced by many people with a disability may be overcome.

Students receiving learning adjustments at school for a period of 10 weeks or longer will be included in this data. Students with a diagnosed disability will be included in this data even if no adjustments are necessary. This data collection will have no impact on your child and they will not be involved in any testing process.

The NSW Department of Education and Communities will provide data to the Australian Government from all NSW public schools in such a way that no individual students or school will be able to be identified. In this way, we will ensure the privacy and confidentiality of all students. All information is protected by privacy laws which regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information.

Information about the Australian Government's Privacy Policy can be found here: www.education.gov.au/privacy Further information about the data collection can be found on the Australian Government Department of Education website: www.education.gov.au/nationally-consistent-collection-data-studentsdisability-guidelines

National Tree Day 2016

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:59 AEST

National Tree Day 2016

Friday, 29th July is National Tree Day and the staff and students of the Sydney Childrens Hospital School will be busy planting trees and plants to celebrate.

Recent research commissioned by Planet Ark has found that nature helps make people happier, healthier, brighter, calmer and closer. The more tress and plants in our playground...the merrier!!

Although small, our playground provides a needed green, outdoor space for our students to play and learn in when attending the hospital school. This is quite often the only outdoor space that our students experience within the confines of the hospital, and provides an important connection to nature.

A huge Thank You to Randwick City Council for donating plants and to Nick Renneberg from the Councils Nursery in helping us out on the day.

NAPLAN at SCHS in 2016

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:57 AEST

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Please see the attached letter in our Newsletter section relating to the NAPLAN tests for years 3 and 5 on the 10th to the 12th of May. A catch up day is allocated on 13 May 2016.

Students enrolled in year 3, 5 , 7 and 9 are supported to completed all or some NAPLAN tests while hospitalised.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact myself or your child's allocated SCHS case manager (teacher). If you are unsure who this is please make contact with our office on 9399 7119.

Kind regards,

Lynda Campbell

Sydney Childrens Hospital Party Day 2015

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:12:14 AEST

Our school turned into an Underwater Wonderland when Sydney Children Hospital celebrated party day on the 14th of October with an Under the Sea theme.

The children participated in lots of fun activities from slime pools, treasure hunts and roaming animals through to interesting arts and crafts, sports and face painting.

Lots of interesting visitors came to say hello including Batman and the NSW Police Force.

It was a wonderful day!

Bookweek 2015

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:27 AEST

Kate Mulvany Came to the Hospital School

Today Kate Mulvany came to the Hospital School for Book Week. First Kate Mulvany read us "Pig the Pug". It was a good book. It was about a pug that never shares his toys with Trevor the Sausage Dog.
Second she read us "The Stone Lion". It was an amazing book. It was about a lion that came to life only to help 2 little kids that were cold in the winter. The lion was about to become a statue again and turn back to stone forever.
Lastly she read us "Scary Night". It was a wonderful book. This book was about 3 animals going to a party at night. There was a Hare, a Cat and a Pig that was going to the party because it was goat's birthday and they had fun. Kate Mulvany was a very good reader by using her animated voice.
By Malcolm Charles

NATIONAL SCIENCE WEEK 17-23 August 2015

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:58 AEST

National Science Week is an annual celebration and exploration of science in Australia. Sydney Childrens Hospital School will be participating in National Science Week. The school will be focusing on exploring scientific concepts and experiments with students throughout the week. On Tuesday 18th August Fizzics Education will be performing an interactive show for students. The program begins with an interactive science show to get students minds started, followed by an introduction to a variety of experiments that students will be able to explore themselves.

When: Tuesday 18 August

Time: 9:30 - 10:30 Sydney Childrens Hospital School Level 0

Time : 11:00 - 12:00 Starlight Room Level 3

NAIDOC 2015

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:53 AEST

Students and staff from the hospital school say a big thank you to Luke Carroll and Dancers from Soldiers Settlement Matraville who helped celebrate NAIDOC Week with us.Luke gave an inspiring talk about growing up and how he first became involved in acting.Soldiers Settlement Dancers then entertained us by performing traditional and contemporary dances.

Education Week Celebrating Local Heroes

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:32 AEST

YOU ARE INVITED TO OUR OPEN DAY

On Tuesday the 28th of July we will be having an Open Day to celebrate Education Week.

This will be an opportunity to visit our school and see a snapshot of our school day.

We would like to invite all parents and extended family members to attend our

Education Week Open Day.

Where: School Level 0

Time: 11:30 -12:00

This is a great opportunity to visit your child's classroom and to attend this special day and we look forward to your attendance.

Say No to Bullying Awards

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:12:07 AEST

High School Students Receive Highly Commended Awards

Taleha Orton, Malcolm Charles and Nathan Freeman High School students at SCHS all recieved highly commended awards for their anti-bullying posters. The company Interrelate conducted a statewide poster competition giving students the opportunity to say No to Bullying.

Watching our garden grow..........

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:50 AEST

Work on our mosaic garden mural continues to grow....

Although we do not have anything firmly attached to our wall at this stage, each Tuesday afternoon Miriam Ross and the students of our school continue to weave their magic, making our garden grow to life. All of our student mural designs started as creative ideas on paper, and have been brought to life by Miriam and the students. Sketches have been increased in size, transferred onto all weather plasterboard and filled with small brightly coloured mosaic tiles. They are the most beautiful mosaic pieces ever.

So far we have created a butterfly, dinosaur, toucan and a liger (a cross between a lion and tiger). We are currently working on a frog, a caterpillar, a ladybird and some flowers. Watch this space and watch our garden grow.......

A huge thank you to the Sydney Children's Hospital Foundations Art Express Program for kindly sponsoring this project.

The Creation of Our Playground Mural

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:12:03 AEST

This week both primary and high school classes have begun working on our playground mural. Mirium, from Creatively Wild, asked students to draw pictures of things they would find in the garden and then enlarged the drawings in order to create the shapes. Our feature piece is a beautiful butterfly. Students were then taught how to cut the tiles to create desired shapes. This project will be continued over a number of sessions and is funded by the Sydeny Children's Hospital Foundation.

Actress Kate Mulvany visits the school

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:22 AEST

Midway through first term, one of Australia's well-known actors, Kate Mulvany, visited the school with another actor Zindzi Okenyo, who is currently on Play School. Kate has starred in many television shows including Blue Heelers, Underbelly and the Chaser's War on Everything and in movies such as The Great Gatsby. Kate is also an accomplished playwright and her adaptation of the children's book Masquerade by Kit Williams, was a stand out play at this year's Sydney Festival in January.

As a child, Kate spent many months in the oncology ward at a Perth hospital. Her godmother gave her the book Masquerade and this book transported Kate out of the hospital ward into the imaginary world of Tara Treetops, Jack Hare and the hidden jewelled amulet. Zindzi played the role of Tara Treetops in the play as well of a couple of other characters.

Many years later, Kate wanted to write a play based upon the book of her childhood. Before she could, she had to seek permission from the author. But to discover where the elusive Kit Williams was, resulted in a long search that took Kate to the other side of the world to Gloucestershire in England. Kit Williams was delighted that Kate wanted to adapt his children's book into a play and persuaded her to include her own story of a young girl in hospital with cancer into the play. The result was a fantastic play that ran for two weeks in Sydney at the Opera House and will be staged in Adelaide in April.

When Kate visited our school, the primary and high school classes combined and Kate recounted how she had been inspired to write the play and explained how it had been staged with actors, musicians and a great stage set. She and Zindzi went through the puzzle in the play and taught the students one of the songs from the play.

Kate then went up to the oncology ward and met one of the primary students, Zoe from Year 1. Kate had brought a copy of the book Masquerade which had been signed by the author Kit Williams, and presented it to Zoe. She then spent the morning on the ward and read to Zoe and her big sister Holly, who was allowed to have a day off school, especially to meet Kate and Zindzi.

Thank You Kate and Zindzi for visiting us - it was a great morning!

Bullying No Way! Resources for Parents

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:29 AEST

[information for parents about bullying, harrassment, discrimination and violence]

Maths Questions

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:47 AEST

Maths questions

Are you in search of an educational game to sharpen your child's maths skills and recall? Maths Monkey's Quest features maths questions on topics ranging from addition and subtraction to ratios and percentages. It's aimed at children from Years 3 to 8.

http://www.schoolatoz.nsw.edu.au/about/mobile-applications/maths-monkey-s-quest

Scott Reardon Award - Freya Year 5

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:33 AEST

Scott Reardon Award

On Monday the 15^TH of December 2014 St. Anne's Central School had their Presentation Day. There were diplomas for everyone. After primary and secondary got their diplomas, special awards were given out and I received The Scott Reardon Award to bounce back. Scott Reardon was in a tragic accident and he bounced back and got a silver medal from the Para-Olympics. I received the award because I spent most of the year in Sydney Children's Hospital School and I completed all my work that needed to be completed for St. Anne's.

By Freya Year 5

The School Excellence Framework

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:12:23 AEST

The DEC are now introducing the School Excellence Framework for school planning, assessment and improvement. It is a statement of the quality of education we provide in NSW to our 755,000 school students in our 2,218 public schools. The framework is evidence-based and identifies explicit school practices that are directly related to continuous, school-wide improvement and better student outcomes. It provides a clear description of quality practice across the key domains of education – Learning, Teaching and Leading – to underpin and guide decision-making by principals.

Schools will set goals and measure progress in partnership with parents and school communities. The framework helps schools make informed judgements and plan the next steps for improvement, drawing on national and international research and the National School Improvement Tool developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research.The framework is particularly important in the context of Local Schools, Local Decisions. It will support schools to critically assess their achievements and identify areas for change by providing a transparent description of quality practices to underpin school planning, self-assessment and external validation.

There is more detailed information on the School Excellence Framework on our department website.http://www.dec.nsw.gov.au/about-the-department/our-reforms/school-excellence-framework

Halloween Spooktacular Celebration 2014

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:39 AEST

This week in Primary we have been learning about celebrations and traditions. With so many upcoming holidays, we have a busy few months ahead! We have kicked off the festivities with Halloween. Halloween is thought to have originated around 2000 years ago with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The festival marked the end of harvest season and the beginning of winter, or the "darker half" of the year. The Celts would light bonfires to ward off spirits and wear costumes to blend in with them. Later the Christian church selected November 1st to honor saints and martyrs. This day was known as All Saints' Day and it incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows' Eve and later on, Halloween. While many think of Halloween as mainly an American tradition, it is actually celebrated in many countries all over the world, and in recent years has begun to gain popularity in Australia and New Zealand. Today, Halloween celebrations include activities such as trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving and dressing up in costumes, ghoulish or otherwise. This week we have baked pumpkin pie, created a paper mache pinata spider, ghost and pumpkin, and also designed and carved our own jack-o'-lantern.

Minibeasts for Halloween

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:48 AEST

This week the primary students have enjoyed exploring the world of Minibeasts. We have discovered just how many animals there are that we don't often think about ..... wonderful worms, snails with their silver trails, sea creatures, insects and of course spiders. We had a huge stick insect come into our classroom for a day and learnt that stick insects are called phasmids.We researched the 10 most venomous spiders in the world and discovered that lots of them live in Australia! We had lots of fun making models of our chosen minibeast - and some of these were a great addition to our Halloween display - some spiders and their webs are pretty scary!

Grandparents Week 2014

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:37 AEST

Grandparents Week

This week in the Primary Classroom we have been busy celebrating Grandparent's Week. We read a beautiful story "Our Granny" by author Margaret Wild, who shares lots of funny thoughts about Grandparents. Did you know that some grannies wear....jeans and sneakers, baggy underpants, and trouser suits. Some grannies..... play in a band, work in an offfice, and even fix the plumbing! Some have bristly chins, friendly smiles or big soft laps. One thing is for sure......all of our students LOVE their Grandparents and the special elderly people in their lives. We used the storybook to help us write about our own grandparents and special people and learnt some very funny and interesting things about them. Cooper's granny sometimes snores! Lexie's pop works hard and has rough skin and her Nanna cooks a good steak! Amity's nan and pop help mum and dad a lot and they often go to the river to eat sausages toegther. Freya loves the jokes that her pop tells and loves nan's desserts-especially the ice cream with topping and fruit. Brodie has a special Uncle Glen who is tonnes of fun and a nan who is kind and caring.

We're sure our students' Grandparents will LOVE their work!!

Book Week 2014

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:11:25 AEST

In recognition of Book Week and Education Week held earlier in the year, Sydney Childrens Hospital School is having a week of special activities.

Monday 18th August at 9:30am - Taronga Zoomobile is visiting the school.

Tuesday 19th August at 1:00pm - Art Workshop.

Wednesday 20th August at 11:00am - Open classrooms. Family and friends are invited to spend time with their children in the classrooms.

Thursday 21st August - special visitor will read to students in the classroom.

Friday 22nd August - Movie Day.

Taronga Zoomobile

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 20:12:18 AEST

The Taronga Zoomobile, sponsored by the NSW Department of Education and Training, will be visiting Sydney Childrens Hospital School on Monday, 18th August. Commencing at 9:30am, the students will be able to meet, learn about and interact with native animals such as a snake, possum, frog, echidna, lizard, and young crocodile. This will be a wonderful learning experience for all, encouraging students to take positive action in the conservation of our native wildlife.