Welcome to 2025

Welcome Back

It is wonderful to be back at Mudgee PS after a long, well-earned summer holiday break. I hope you are all super keen to enter the school grounds tomorrow. I can assure you, all the staff at Mudgee Public are really excited to say hello and help settle you all (students and parents) back into school life and we are just as excited to hear about all the news and adventures over the holidays.

Over the last few days, staff have been working busily to prepare for the next school year. Our Friday was spent working on Department of Education system priorities and particularly how we work within the NSW Plan for Public Education and provide equitable experiences and outcomes for students and families. I am proud of the work we do in this space and look forward to progressing this work. We have spent considerable time planning Mathematics and English units of work as we navigate still relatively new syllabus, and our staff all have a strong lense on personalising learning to meet the individual needs of our class. We have also spent time examining Trauma-Informed Practice under the Berry Street Model, we have worked in our School Excellence Plan teams and set goals for the year, we've looked at Individual Education Plans and teachers have spent time preparing their classrooms and learning programs to ensure we can hit the ground running from tomorrow. It would be remiss of me not to mention the work the Support Unit staff have put into their playground area. It needs a lot of TLC and the hard work has only just begun. Now that we have removed a lot of the overgrown weeds and garden beds, it's now time to start imagining what that space could look like. A huge thanks to staff and families who helped out here.

One important thing to note is.... this is actually Week 2...Yes, strange I know. Because the teachers returned last Friday, as far as the Department of Education is concerned, we are nearly at the end of our Second Week of school!!

Day 1- Thursday

For the first time in a fair while, all students K-6 will resume on the same day (Thursday 6 February). Year 3-6 students can make their way to the primary side of the school, and Year 1-2 will play on the infant's side of the playground. When the bell goes, students will head to their new "lining up area". Staff will be there to help navigate this. A message to students, we have lots of new children starting at Mudgee PS tomorrow, so keep an eye out for staff members walking new families and students on to the playground and make sure you welcome them and include them from the start (as you all always d0). 

From 10am our new Kindergarten students will enter the scene. We are so excited to see you all again and share in this exciting moment with you all. See the image below for all the information around Kindergarten start and finish time. 

Bus Services impacted by Roadworks

Just advising that School bus services are currently diverting around two sets of roadworks which is causing some late running to schools in the morning. Roadworks on Ulan Rd are causing a 5 – 10 min delay and will hopefully be back to normal sometime next week. Affected services are:

563 Mudgee North Loop

S332 Wollar to Mudgee Schools

S300 Ulan to Mudgee Schools

S302 Cooks Gap to Mudgee Schools

S319 Rylstone & Lue to Mudgee Schools

Roadworks on Bruce Rd between Broadhead Rd and Robertson St is also causing services to divert. While the impact is generally minor, this will further delay services, particularly S300 Ulan. These works will continue at least to the end of Term 1 2025.

Kind regards,

Phillip Cooper | Manager, Mudgee

17-23 Burrundulla Rd Mudgee.

PO Box 966 Mudgee 2850

T 02 6372 2489 | F  02 6372 6920

phillip@ogdenscoaches.com.au |  www.ogdenscoaches.com.au

House Captains

This year, MPS will be running a more formalised process for the election of Sports House Captains. Sports House Captains will have a greater opportunity to prepare for the elections and also be given greater opportunity throughout the year to develop their leadership skills. 

The process for 2025 is as follows: 

Thursday 6 February – All of Stage 3 will be informed about the election process and anyone wishing to nominate will receive a nomination form. 

Friday 7 February – All nomination forms must be returned to class teacher, and then forwarded to Mr Hough. Yr6 students can nominate for House Captain. Yr5 students can nominate for House Vice-Captain. 

Weekend – All nominees prepare a 1-2 min speech on ‘Why I would be a great Sports House Captain/Vice-Captain’. 

Monday 10 February – All nominees will deliver their speech to their designated Sports House. All students in the Sports House will then vote.  

Tuesday 11 February – Successful nominees will be notified and meet with Mr Hough to prepare for pre-Swimming Carnival House Meetings. 

Thursday 13 February – House Meetings will take place in preparation for the school Swimming Carnival. These meeting will be run by the newly elected House Captains/Vice-Captains. Designated teachers will assist in the running of the meetings if necessary. 

Friday 14  February – School Swimming Carnival 

If your child is absent on Thursday and Friday this week, they may still nominate by speaking with Mr Hough first thing on Monday morning. They will still be required to present a speech at the elections to be held later that day. 

If you have any questions, please contact Mr Hough through the school office. 

Swimming Carnival

A note will go home tomorrow about our Swimming Carnival which is on next Friday 14 February (Happy Valentine's Day). We are excited this event is for all students Years 2-6.  The key details are below:

Date: Friday, 14th February 2025

Who: All students in Years 2-6 (Please note: Students must be turning 8 in 2025 to be eligible for progression to Zone.)

Races on Offer:

16 metre Freestyle: Suitable for those beginning their swimming race journey. An adult will be present in their lane for additional support.

25 metre Freestyle, Breaststroke, Backstroke, Butterfly: These races are not timed, and students cannot progress to the Zone Carnival from these events. They are perfect for students looking to try new strokes or develop their swimming race confidence.

50 metre Freestyle, Breaststroke, Backstroke, Butterfly: These events will be timed. Students who place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd may have the opportunity to progress to the Zone Carnival. We encourage all our students to “have a go.”

Our school values the effort and spirit of trying new things, and we hope to see all of our students involved. 

Work Over the Holidays

There has been lots of work happening at Mudgee PS over the holidays.

1. Accessibility Enhancements: A new ramp has been installed in Class Blue (Mrs. Cowan's room) to ensure better accessibility for all students. Additionally, a sensory swing has been added in Class Pink (Mrs. Lucas's room) to support sensory play.

2. Playground Upgrades: We now have new softfall and pit under the primary play equipment, which will help prevent washouts during heavy rain. Furthermore, new plumbing has been installed around the infants' sandpit to address water accumulation during bad weather.

3. Entryway Improvements: The entryways to the school have been refurbished to create a welcoming and most importantly, a safe entry for our students and visitors. There's still some work to be done in different places.

4. Outdoor Maintenance: Mr. Webster has been doing fantastic work around the school, including mowing, tidying up the Stephanie Alexander garden, and trimming back the grapevine shade area. This space has now become an inviting area for learning and relaxation during break times.

5. Deep Cleaning: We had the team from Masta Blasta come in to conduct a deep clean of our outdoor surfaces, particularly under the COLAs where the children enjoy their recess and lunch.

6. New Sand for Sandpits: Fresh sand for our sandpits is on its way, ensuring that our play areas remain safe and enjoyable for all.

Classes 2025

At the end of last year, students got to meet their new teachers and classmates for 2025. I have included a list of classes here for this year, and I’m excited to remind you all that each area of the school will have some fun and engaging themes to connect learning and foster inclusivity:

• K-2: Animals
• Support Unit: Colours
• Stage 2: Australian Towns/Regions
• Stage 3: Famous Australians

The School Executive

Introducing to you all the school executive for 2025. In the next addition, we will be sharing information around each of our stage teams. At Mudgee PS, our first port of call with any questions or concerns is generally the classroom teacher. If this can't be solved there, we try and contact our Stage Assistant Principal, followed by the Deputy Principal and then the Principal. 

Upcoming Events

See below the Calendar of events for the next 2-3 weeks. There will be a few things added, so keep an eye out to next week's video newsletter where I'll add another calendar below the video.