Frequently asked questions

The Aboriginal Education Team oversees the implementation of Aboriginal perspectives through the curriculum. Our yearly K-6 Athletics Carnival incorporates Indigenous games led by student leaders. Every class starts each day with an acknowledgement to country co-constructed by the students. The major event for the Aboriginal Education Team is the organisation and facilitation of the annual NAIDOC week celebrations which are held in July each year. 

The team also coordinates meetings with our Aboriginal community in Terms 2 and 4 to collaborate on the education of our Aboriginal students. 

Additionally, the Aboriginal Education team monitors the performance data of all Aboriginal students within the school.

Team members

• Andrew Pryce
• Aylin Garis
• Alison Drinkwater
• Beth Jeffery
• Tara Hamilton
• Bella Volani
• Rory Caban
• Jesseca Potter

Junior, Senior and Instrumental Tuition

Your child/ren have the wonderful opportunity to be part of the NLSPS Music Program.

Our school offers the opportunity for your child to experience and learn an instrument and also be part of the schools Junior and/or Senior Band Program if desired.

School Band is about being in a supportive group and having fun with students and friends from NLSPS, rehearsing and performing together.

Music Tuition is offered at school, during school hours every Thursday and Friday. Students have the opportunity to learn to play; flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, french horn, baritone, trombone, piano, acoustic guitar, bass guitar and drums and also learn to read the language of music.

Tuition lessons are in groups of 2-4 students and the cost is $20 per lesson.

Several instruments are availabale for hire from the school, in particular concert band instruments. (At this time, there are no guitars, keyboards or drum kits availabe for hire)

Band cost is $10 per week to cover the running costs of Band.

Junior Band is for beginner musicians with little or no musical experience. Junior Band rehearses every Thursday morning - 8am-8.55am.

Senior Concert Band is for students with one or more years experience and ability on their chosen instrument. Senior Band rehearses every Friday morning - 8am-8.55am.

The Band Director is Mrs Gina Caban.

Parents can make enquiries via email to the school email
(newlambtos-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au), which will be forwarded to Mrs Caban who will then be in contact with the parent to organise music tuition for your child.

The school holds two barbeques per year. One for Mother’s Day and one for Father’s Day.

Our school participates in basketball competitions across the school year including gala days and knockouts.

Students also have the opportunity to be selected for representative teams.

Sports Co-ordinator

Mrs Brooke Cotterell

Students from Years 4-6 participate in overnight camps. We have found that over the years, students in these grades cope the best with being away from home. Students in Year 3 attend part of the Stage 2 camp as a day trip. They do not stay overnight.

Every year our school holds a cross country event. Students in K-2 run 2km in a predetermined course (varying between school grounds and Alder Park).

Students in Years 3-6 run the same course for a distance of 3km on the same track.

Students who qualify at this school event will then go on to represent the school at the Zone Cross Country.

High performing students will then have the chance to compete at a regional and state level.

Students in Years 3-6 are invited to participate in the New Lambton South Public School Choir. Participation in choir nurtures a love of singing, develops vocal technique and musical knowledge, encourages concentration, focus and memory abilities, as well as forging social bonds. Currently, choir rehearsals are held every Friday afternoon during the last session in Mrs Potter's room. Throughout the year, students will have the opportunity to perform songs they have rehearsed at school assemblies and other school events during the Term.

Years 3-6 students will also have the opportunity to participate in Star Struck. This is an opportunity to learn about vocal techniques and develop confidence in both day and night performances at the Entertainment Centre. Star Struck students will represent the school as part of a mass choir which is held the weekend after the long weekend in June. Star Struck consists of out of school rehearsals, evening and weekend performances.

Our school will participate in Star Struck bi-annually (every even year).

Coding teaches children the basics of computer programming. Most classes will run variations of coding throughout the curriculum.

Co-ordinator

Mrs Vicki Tweedale.

Dance Ensemble is a dance group open to students who are required to commit to rehearsals at school, practise at home and attend in and out of school performances. It is open to Stage 1 and 2.

If successful, our Dance Ensemble will perform at the Hunter Dance Festival.

Welcome to the exciting world of debating at New Lambton South Public School! Led by the enthusiastic Mr Roffey, our Year 5/6 debating team is making waves in the Premier's Debating Challenge.

Comprising of talented and passionate debaters from our school, our team is currently in the knockout stages of the statewide tournament. Throughout the year, our students have engaged in rigorous practice sessions, honing their public speaking, critical thinking and teamwork skills. We believe that debating not only fosters intellectual growth, but also empowers students to express their thoughts confidently and persuasively. 

With each debate, our impressive team has demonstrated their ability to analyse complex issues, construct compelling arguments, and eloquently articulate their viewpoints. Our students have proven themselves as strong contenders, showcasing their resilience, intelligence, and effective communication skills. As they advance through the tournament, we are excited to witness their continued growth and success. 

At New Lambton South Public School, we are incredibly proud of our Year 5/6 debating team's achievements and commend their commitment and dedication. We wish them the very best as they strive for victory in this Premier competition. 

This event will usually fall on the Thursday before Good Friday.

Classes are held every Friday when scripture classes are held. At this stage, we only have one ethics teacher.

The school would love to hear from any parent interested in becoming a voluntary ethics teacher at the school.

Education week occurs in the 3rd week of Term 3 each year. The school always invites parents and the wider community into the school during this week to witness our classroom teaching practice and to participate in extracurricular activities with the children.

Excursions are designed to complement learning programs that occur in the classroom. They are also a good opportunity for students to build independences, problem-solving skills, and resilience. Students in K-6 participate in a range of excursions and these are communicated at the commencement of each year. Students in Years 4-6 also participate in overnight camps. (See camps)

Assistant Principals are responsible for the coordination and communication of excursions to parents.

Our school houses a regional Opportunity Class (OC). Students must apply to the Selective Schools Unit to participate in an external test which provides them with an opportunity to be placed into this class. The test is open to all Year 4 students.

The school also provides gifted and talented identification and modification of teaching programs which caters for students who are not yet eligible to be placed in the OC.

The teacher responsible for the coordination of gifted and talented education is Mrs Vicki Tweedale.

The school is continually looking to improve its playgrounds and gardens. Our General Assistant (GA) works tirelessly to keep the grounds and gardens looking their best.

If you would like to assist in the improvement of the school grounds, please contact the office.

Incursions occur throughout the school year. An incursion is an event provided by an external provider who comes to the school to teach the children. Incursions are coordinated by Assistant Principals and are communicated to parents at the beginning of the school year.

New Lambton South Public School has a strong Learning Support Team (LST). The LST identifies and coordinates wrap around support for all students who may be experiencing difficulties at school. The LST oversees the implementation of Individualised Learning Plans (ILPs) and manages external providers such as speech therapists who may wish to access the school to provide therapy.

The LST consists of Mr Andrew Pryce (Principal), Mrs Lindy McCallum (Assistant Principal), and Mr David Taplin (School Counsellor).

Any student requiring medication, whether long term or short term, parents are asked to speak to the office staff.  Students are not to carry medications on their person or in their school bag and their medication should be administered under the supervision of office staff where the dosage and time taken will be logged. There may be exceptions to carrying medications in the case of puffers and Epi-pens and these are discussed and resolved case by case with the Principal’s approval only.

These sessions are held early in Term 1 and are a great opportunity to meet your child’s teacher and be advised of general information for the year in a group setting. While this is a valuable general information session, any queries relating to your child specifically are best addressed in the parent/teacher interview opportunity later in the term.

Each year, the school celebrates NAIDOC week. NAIDOC (National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee) Week is an Australian observance which celebrates the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

This is an opportunity for parents to meet with their child’s teacher on a one to one basis to discuss each student’s progress and any issues that may arise.

Interviews are scheduled in 15 minute increments per teacher/per child and are held during Term 1 and Term 3 each year.

Our Parents and Citizens Association (P&C) is made up of parents and carers, teachers and community members. The P&C meets regularly to contribute to decision-making, developing policies and management plans as well as fundraising. 

Meetings are held every 3rd Tuesday of each month (not including school holidays). Meetings are held via Zoom with the link being released via Facebook and email.

Annual membership is $1.

Parents are encouraged to attend.

Presentation day is held at the end of Term 4. Dates to be advised each year.

Kindergarten to Year 2: 9:30am – 10:30am

Years 3 - 6: 2pm – 3:25pm

Children are presented with various awards; class and stage, citizenship, sporting achievements, and academic success.

School captains for the following year are also announced at this assembly.

All students K-6 participate in public speaking. Students participate in class with Stage winners invited to participate at the Zone Public Speaking Competition representing their school. These are often held outside of our school. Winners at this level will have the opportunity to advance further into Regional and State competitions.

Teaching Co-ordinator is Mrs Vicki Tweedale.

All students receive a written report on their progress twice per year, at the end of Terms 2 and 4.

All teachers are responsible for writing their student’s reports.

Currently we are not offering Robo-cup.

Notes will go out to new students, Kindergarten students and new OC students at orientation.  Parents can elect to have their child placed into either non-denominational scripture, Catholic scripture, or none. Alternatively, we also offer an ethics lesson. Parents can request their child participate in ethics if they don't want to participate in scripture.

Scripture runs for 30 minutes on a Friday morning.

For those children who do not participate in scripture, they will do class-based activities with their teacher in class.

Both boys and girls have the opportunity to play in teams for the school in various sports such as:

Rugby League
Soccer
Cricket
Netball
Basketball
Touch Football

There are both knockout and gala day events for students and these are communicated as they arise throughout the year.

Students in Year 3-6 have the opportunity to represent their school in the inter-school competition. 

Children will be selected for teams early in the school year.

PSSA state wide knockout competitions in a range of sports in which school teams have the opportunity to play against other schools in order to become state champions.

Finally PSSA provides an opportunity for gifted and talented athletes to pursue their sport to State and National level competitions in all areas.

Two carnivals are held each year, swimming and athletics.

Athletics Carnival

The Athletics Carnival is held annually at the Fearnley Dawes Athletic Track in Newcastle.  Students who turn eight in the calendar year are invited to attend the carnival. Some field events do not take place on the day due to time constraints. These events will occur during school sports time. Some events such as javelin are not run as part of the primary school program as per Department of Education guidelines.

Competing students who meet the required qualifying time will then have the opportunity to represent the school at the Zone Carnival. High performing students who qualify have the opportunity to go on to regional and state competitions.

Swimming Carnival

Our swimming carnival is generally held in the first week back at school on the Friday and takes place at Lambton Pool.

Only children who turn eight in the calendar year are able to participate in swimming carnivals as per Department of Education guidelines.

Students who beat the qualifying times for each event will be eligible for participation in the Zone swimming carnival. Depending on their swim on the day, they may proceed to Regional level which is followed by State level.

Our school participates in football competitions across the school year. Football is a highly competitive sport at our school and trials are held for students for those wishing to play in the Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4) and Senior (Years 5 and 6) teams. Trials are held during Term 1 and students are notified of the outcome late in Term 1.

New Lambton South Public School has a Facebook page, Instagram page and a P&C Facebook page.

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The school has four sporting houses; Barrington (Blue), Blackbutt (Green), Sugar Loaf (Yellow) and Watagan (Red).

Students compete for their houses at a variety of sporting events. Each sporting house has two captains and these are elected at the end of the school year and announced at presentation day.

Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) is an increasing area of learning for students. Students participate in STEAM during class time and there are a number of competitive engineering challenge days held throughout the year for interested students.

Our school will hold a bi-annual STEAM week which will involve all students demonstrating their learning in a variety of areas. This will be held in odd years.

Coordinating teachers are Mrs Leone Osland, Mrs Aylin Garis, Mr Sam Roffey and Mrs Vicki Tweedale.

Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4) traditionally perform in a talent quest in the final weeks of school. Students are encouraged to participate and this is a non-competitive celebration of the diversity of student’s skills and talents.

Year 6 parents are invited in Term 1 to form a farewell committee. The committee is responsible for the coordination of the Year 6 farewell celebration.

The school liaison for the Year 6 farewell organising committee is Mrs Brooke Cotterell.