Fairfax Public School celebrated a year of learning, mateship and enjoyment at our annual presentation day on Wednesday, December 18.

Effort and achievement were acknowledged and celebrated with beautiful book awards.

Students shared their individual planet multi-modal presentations and performed a very energetic dance for the audience.

Students, staff, parents, grandparents, P&C members and presenters shared a beautiful sit-down lunch to end a great day and fantastic year.

Mrs Burtenshaw shared her principal’s report.

The following captures the key messages:

• A core part of our business is knowing our students and identifying their areas of high potential and then providing opportunities for them to develop and excel in these areas. In recognising this potential in our students, we have provided opportunities in tennis coaching through the Sporting Schools Program, and have competed in the Narrabri Eisteddfod, Boggabri Small Schools Speaking Competition, and Currabubula Arts Show with great success. These are examples of how we have promoted HPGE in our school for our students.

• We also serve the learning needs of our students through a very individualised lens. This term, particularly, we have readjusted our English program to address each students’ needs and improve their performance.

• We are proud of our learning culture at Fairfax. We embrace learning through curiosity. We ask questions. We challenge each other’s thinking. We support each other as learners, and we build our learning from the learning of others. We are a very collaborative learning team.

• We are always looking forward to improving our capacity to be active citizens in life within and beyond school and are looking forward to implementing Life Skills Go as a social-emotional program next year having trialled it through their check-in and lessons focused on emotions. We have also joined The Root Cause collective of local schools in 2025 aimed at empowering healthy eating through building knowledge of nutrition. It will be a year of formalising much that would do to enhance our students’ wellbeing.

• This captures the essence of the Fairfax student being an all-round student striving to be the best they can be. Literacy and numeracy are key in enabling students to reach their potential. This year we have built on a strong focus on vocabulary and knowledge as a literacy base within English married into the other subjects in developing knowledge and improving understanding across the curriculum.

• Over the last two years we have implemented the new K-6 English and Mathematics syllabus, which are excellent documents. The English syllabus and support documents strongly reflect the Science of Learning and Reading. In the next two years we will be familiarising ourselves with the four new syllabuses of CAPA, PDHPE, S&T & HSIE all to be implemented in 2027.

• When it all comes down to it, it is the community that makes a school. I am extremely grateful for our small but vigorous and tenacious P&C very much reflecting our school motto Not Many but Much. I am so grateful that you recognise the value of this school as a change agent in the education of your children. I wish to express a heartfelt thank you to our marvellous P&C who have stepped up for the sake of this school and the Maules Creek community.

• Lastly, I must acknowledge my amazing team. We have an amazing team who love, value and uphold the amazing learning culture that is Fairfax Public School.

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