Avalon Public School eNewsletter

Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

Spring has arrived, the days are warming up, and just in time for our school musical, Avalon in Wonderland! It has been a busy season at Avalon, with so many exciting events filling our calendar and now the final countdown to our big performance.

Avalon in Wonderland

Avalon in Wonderland has truly been a whole school effort, and we could not have done it without our incredible parent community. From the Working Bee on Friday to Dressing the Hall on Monday, your creativity, energy, and willingness to pitch in has made all the difference. The hall looks absolutely incredible! A special thanks to the Goldsmith family who donated their trees from The Palms.

This production is a celebration of what we can achieve when we come together, and we cannot wait to share it with you. Detailed information has been sent home, so please take a moment to review it to ensure you know the pick up arrangements. Do not forget to secure your tickets if you have not already, and feel free to extend the invitation to friends and family. It is a show not to be missed!

Avalon in Wonderland Tickets

SASS Staff Recognition Week

Last week schools across NSW are recognising the fabulous work that the School Administration Support Staff (SASS) do in our schools, including our School Administrative Staff, General Assistants, and Student Learning Support Officers (SLSOs). These dedicated team members are truly the backbone of our school, working tirelessly to support students, staff, and the wider community. From organising resources, managing administration, keeping our school safe and welcoming, to supporting learning in the classroom, their work often goes unseen but is essential to everything we do.

We were delighted to celebrate SAS Recognition Week in style thanks to our amazing P&C, who spoiled our SAS staff and teachers with a beautiful lunch. With World Teachers’ Day falling during the holidays, this celebration was a wonderful way to show appreciation for the commitment and hard work of all our staff.

On behalf of our students, teaching staff, and our school community, I would like to personally thank our fabulous SASS for the fantastic efforts they put into our school and our kids to make it as wonderful as it is.

Zone Athletics

Our students represented Avalon Public School with pride and outstanding success at the recent Zone Athletics Carnival. A special congratulations to Reeve Hayne, who broke the record in the 8 Years Boys 100m, and to Lucy Turner, who not only broke the 11 Years Girls 800m record but was also awarded Overall Athlete of the Meet for the second year in a row—an incredible achievement!

We also celebrate Holly van Donk and Mabel Jones for winning their events, and our Senior Relay Team, who ran a brilliant race to claim victory. These are just some of the many outstanding results achieved by our students on the day.

A full report of all performances will be included in our Week 10 newsletter by Mr Whitaker. Thank you to Mrs Shlager and Mr Whitaker for their organisation, commitment, and support of our athletes at Zone.

Avalon Strings Shine at the Opera House

Avalon Strings took to the stage of the Sydney Opera House for the Festival of Instrumental Music, delivering a performance full of skill, confidence and heart. They represented the school with respect and responsibility, dazzling the audience with their incredible talent.

The dedication of Leader Eva West, First Violin Lilian Kennedy, Second Violinists Judd Wake and Hendi Cogle, Third Violinist Freddie Lade, Cellist Callan McGrath and Double Bass Player Lewis McGrath was outstanding. Over the year, they memorised three major works to perform alongside several other public schools in the Sydney area, demonstrating commitment, teamwork and passion for music.

Congratulations to all our musicians on this remarkable and memorable achievement!

Our incredible P&C once again created a truly memorable community event with the Father’s Day Breakfast. The playground was buzzing with dads, grandpas, uncles, and special family members, all coming together to celebrate. The event had everything: a delicious breakfast, a fun photo booth, games, and even a basketball competition, ensuring there was something for everyone to enjoy.

It was a beautiful day filled with laughter, smiles, and community spirit. Special thanks go to Sarah van Senden and Alex Abrahams for their organisation. They have certainly set the bar very high. We also extend our gratitude to Andy from Bar Elvina, Tom from Tombucha, and Brad from Avalon Brewery for organising the food and cooking, our amazing canteen team led by Kirsty, and Alex Jarvie for MCing the basketball game in style.

Thank you to our generous sponsors Harvey Norman Balgowlah, Wayfers Avalon, Haydenshapes Surfboards, Manly Surfschool, Studio Pilates Avalon, and Muscle Technician Avalon for donating prizes. A huge thank you as well to LJ Hooker Avalon as the major sponsor.

Events like this remind us just how lucky we are to have such a supportive and involved school community.

Our students have been working incredibly hard all term to demonstrate Respect, Responsibility, and Personal Best, and together we reached our target of 10,000 tokens! To celebrate this fantastic achievement, we enjoyed an afternoon packed with fun activities that had something for everyone.

The playground and hall were alive with disco vibes, exciting games, soccer, an obstacle course, basketball, dress-ups, and more. It was wonderful to see students of all ages joining in, laughing, cheering each other on, and showing teamwork and enthusiasm. The energy was contagious!

A huge thank you goes to Miss Sparks and Mrs Wood for organising such a memorable afternoon, and to all of our amazing teachers for helping run the activities and making the celebration so special.

At Avalon Public School, we value the strong partnerships we share with our local preschools. Recently, our students have been visiting preschools to build connections and support the transition to school for younger children.

KAS enjoyed a wonderful morning with the children at Blueys Preschool, while 6LF spent time engaging and playing alongside the children at Happy Hearts Preschool. These visits are a special opportunity for our students to act as positive role models, while helping pre-schoolers feel excited and comfortable about starting school.

See some highlights from these visits in the photos below!

Enrol Now

Another reminder that the deadline for enrolment submission is fast approaching. To receive an invitation for our 3 day Kindy Transition program scheduled for November, you MUST be enrolled at our school. Forms are available from the front office and on our website. If you have an enquiry, please feel free to call Mrs Cathy Crutcher on 9973 1439. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Supporting Safe Online Gaming for Our Students

Many of our students enjoy playing online games in their free time. Gaming can be a fun and social way to connect with others, but we also know that parents and carers are rightly concerned about online safety.

As a school, we do not promote or discourage specific games. Instead, we focus on equipping families with the knowledge and resources to support children’s digital wellbeing across all online environments. One of the most effective ways to protect children online is to encourage ongoing conversations at home about safe and responsible behaviour.

Tips for Parents and Carers

Set clear boundaries around screen time and the types of games your child plays.
Encourage open conversations about online experiences—both positive and negative.
Use parental controls and privacy settings available on devices and platforms.
Take time to learn about the games and apps your child is using.

Further Support

The eSafety Commissioner provides up-to-date resources and advice to support families in managing children’s online activity. Visit the eSafety Commissioner website for practical tips, guides, and advice.

Together, schools and families can help ensure students enjoy the benefits of online gaming while staying safe and making responsible choices.

Staff News

We are delighted to congratulate Ms Dunbar on her recent wedding to Tim. We wish them both every happiness for the future.

We also extend our warmest wishes to Mrs Wood as she begins her maternity leave. We look forward to hearing her exciting news in the months ahead. During her leave, Mrs Lhuede will be joining our team. We are very lucky to have her, as she is already well known within our school community, and we warmly welcome her into this role.

Have a great week and see you at Avalon in Wonderland!

Bianca Howarth

Relieving Principal

Library

Lunch With the Stars

Each year the Northern Sydney Region of the Children’s Book Council of Australia organises a special literary event call Lunch With the Stars. This event invites students to enjoy a day of fun, food and fabulous stuff about books with some of our favourite local children’s book authors. Last week on 2 September 2025, our eight library monitors accompanied by myself, enjoyed a fabulous time at DY RSL at the Lunch With the Stars event. We were seated with author Jemima Shafei-Ongu and enjoyed a delicious lunch, interacting with a variety of local authors and entertained by special guest author presenters Nathan Luff and Aura Parker. Competitions, puzzles, prizes and an opportunity for all students to chat with budding authors and students from other Northern Beaches schools. It was a fabulous day and our ‘piratey crew’ was complimented on both their costume and fabulous behaviour. Hopefully we can take part in this special event in 2026.

Ms Christie

Garden Club

Spring!

The second week already. The Gymea are flowering, there are a multitude of Open Gardens and Garden shows to visit, everything and everyone starts buzzing.

It's been over six years now that Sue and I started volunteering in the School Gardens, our third year of being supported by the P&C and the School to run Classes, Wellbeing groups, Lunchtime Classes and to look after our amazing Veggie patches.

Like our children that we invest time and support in to see them grow into their full potential and bloom, so too are our Gardens. Nurtured, cared for, it can take years for Gardens to grow into what you envision them to be. When we walk around them and see what everyone has achieved, the Grapevine inching more every year, the smile on the students faces to engage with the simple task of holding a watering can or pulling up a Leek, means the world.

The Season of Spring makes me reflect on change and what we should be planting now, which takes my mind down a winding path of possibilities filled with colour, smells and curiosity. In the back of my mind knowing that essentially students want to create, do and eat! Which leads me to think about the basics, where does our food come from? We have written a little bit about food security before. Garden Club feels it is so important to teach our kids about Seeds, Planting, growing food, Caring for our Gardens and essentially ourselves and each other.

We're still surprised when some students haven't made the connection that Bananas grow on trees and take months to ripen. Essentially because of supermarkets the seasonality and disconnect with food production, the very things that feed us and keeps us alive, is quite real. Vegetables and fruits take time to grow, they have a season, not everything is instant.

To teach Students about Pollinators, creating habitat, growing plants such as Flowers and Vegetables, for Students to get their hands in the dirt and simply start by planting a seed is more than just a metaphor for life.

Welcome to Spring everyone, let's get growing!

Fiona and Sue

Garden Club

Performance Band at Vietnam Veteran’s Day Service

On Sunday 24th August, the Avalon Public School Performance Band was honoured to perform at the Palm Beach RSL Sub Branch Vietnam Veteran’s Day Service 2025. The band provided music throughout the ceremony, which was attended by distinguished guests including Mark Ferguson OAM, the Hon Bronwyn Bishop AO, Dr Sophie Scamps, and Jacqui Scruby.

A special highlight was Khaleesi McBryde’s moving performance of The Last Post and Reveille, which she played with great skill and respect. The band also proudly led the National Anthem to close the service.

We are very grateful to our Performance Band students and their parents for their wonderful commitment in giving up their Sunday to take part in such an important community occasion. Afterwards, the RSL kindly provided a lovely lunch to thank the students for their contribution.