31 July 2025

Principal’s Report – Term 3 Week 2

It was a wonderful start to the week having our annual athletics carnival and cupcake stall fundraiser last Tuesday. The weather held out for the day and both the K-2 carnival, and 3-6 carnival were a great success. Thank you to Mr Dylan, Mrs Birrell, Ms Hepworth and Mrs Lucey for all their organisation around the day and to our wonderful house captains who led their house cheers and selected the relay teams on the day. Results will be published in next week’s newsletter.

A big thank you to all the parents who baked cakes and delivered them to David Thomas and the canteen at school. Thank you to the parents who also spent the day selling the cakes, and especially our wonderful Class Coordinator Amy Hansen for all the organisation.

Band Meeting

Last Tuesday we held our band meeting. The workshop day for the Junior and Intermediate band is this Sunday 3 August from 11.00am to 5.00pm. Thank you to the band committee and to Ben & Surrey for all their planning. It looks like it will be a wonderful day for the band students. The intermediate band will perform during lunchtime break at our Open day next Wednesday 6 August.

Our band tour for senior band is all organised and ready to go for next term from Wednesday 15 October to Friday 17 October. Ms Taylor and Ms Tamone will be attending the band tour along with Ben our conductor.

Open Day 2025- “Ignite your Potential”

We will be celebrating our schools’ 70^th birthday during our Open Day celebrations next Wednesday 6 August. A school tour has been scheduled for any visiting ex-students or families for 3.15pm that day.

Our program for the day includes a BYO picnic lunch on the oval for all parents and families, followed by classroom visits between 2.00-3.00pm. Our school choir and intermediate band will perform during the lunch break in the school hall.

There will be tea and coffee served from Café Owl, and drinks, snacks and ice blocks served from the canteen by the teaching staff. The canteen will not be open for lunch this day. We look forward to celebrating 70 wonderful years at of Manly Vale Public School together.

Open Day- Education Week- Wednesday 6 August

This week the Education Week theme is “Ignite your Potential”. We invite all our parents and family members to visit our school on Wednesday 6 August for a picnic lunch and visit to classrooms.

The day will begin with a BYO picnic lunch and performances from our school bands and choir in the hall from 1.00pm. After lunch between 2.00pm-3.00pm parents will be able to visit classrooms and see all the wonderful work our students have been completing this term.

Tina Lee – Principal

Dates for your Diary

Winter PSSA Manly Zone Competition

PSSA Training

PSSA Games

Preliminary Year 6 Graduation Meeting

Preliminary Year 6 Graduation Meeting

We begin the Year 6 Graduation preparation with a small informal meeting between Year 6 teachers and a few parents that are happy to lead the planning committees (food/catering, decorations, clean up).

We do not require a large group for this catch up but want to encourage those who are keen to come along. It is usually where we pass on information about date/time/budgets etc and a possible Grad coordinator is nominated as a point of contact for us. Sub committees are then formed by parents to focus on the nitty gritty details. It is important that every parent has the opportunity to be involved if they wish.

Following this initial meeting, parents can then get together in smaller committees to come up with a theme, food plan, decorations etc. 

We were hoping parents interested in coordinating graduation would be keen to meet with us today Thursday afternoon 31 July at 3:15pm in the school hall to determine the organising committee.

Nicole Blackband – Stage 3

3–6 Athletics Carnival – What a Day! 🏃‍♀️☀️🏅

What an absolute cracker of a day we had yesterday for our 3–6 Athletics Carnival! With the sun beaming down and barely a cloud in the sky, we could not have asked for better weather, especially compared to today’s soggy skies. Talk about perfect timing!

From the very first race to the final relay, the carnival ran like clockwork, our smoothest one yet! A huge congratulations to all the students who gave it their all on the track. We witnessed some incredible efforts, lightning-fast sprints, and even a few records broken along the way! Special shoutout to our year 6 students who made their final primary school carnival one to remember, your energy, enthusiasm and sportsmanship were outstanding.

Massive thanks to our amazing House Captains for rallying their teams and bringing the spirit all day long. The cheering, the colour, the teamwork you made your houses proud!

To our wonderful parents and carers – thank you for coming down to support the kids! We hope you enjoyed the action (and the coffee van!) as much as we did. Your presence always makes the day that little bit more special.

A big round of applause for our dedicated teachers for their professionalism and teamwork – you helped everything run so smoothly. And of course, a special thanks to Barry for arriving early and helping us with the set-up. Legend!

We were thrilled to see barely any lost property and no rubbish left behind the oval was left spotless. You would not even know we had hosted a full-scale athletics carnival there yesterday. What a team effort!

📢 Stay tuned: Track event results will be published in next week’s newsletter, and field event results will follow as soon as they are finalised (weather permitting). We will also share important information about the upcoming Zone Carnival then.

Thank you again to everyone for making it such a fantastic day. Go team Manly Vale Public School!

Junior Band Performance

Junior band put on a fantastic performance for the Kindergarten to year 2 students on Monday. With enthusiasm and energy, they showcased a range of pieces they’ve been working hard on last term. It was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate musical progress and to spark excitement about joining the band in the future! Well done to all our junior musicians!

Alisha Tamone – Stage 1

Celebrating NAIDOC Week at Manly Vale Public School

Every year, NAIDOC Week is celebrated across Australia during the first week of July, recognising and honouring the rich history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It’s a wonderful opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and participate in celebrating the world’s oldest continuous living cultures.

At Manly Vale Public School, we embraced NAIDOC Week during the first week of this term. The theme for 2025, "The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy," not only commemorates past achievements but also inspires the future. Throughout the week, each class explored the lives of influential Indigenous Australians, creating vibrant posters and portraits now on display in the library window. We invite everyone to admire their creativity during Open Day!

You can also visit the display in the school foyer, featuring posters that highlight significant Indigenous Australians and celebrate their contributions. Additionally, the talented students from 2LW have recreated the 2025 NAIDOC Week poster.

Classes engaged with stories about our First Nations people, and Kindergarten enjoyed singing Indigenous songs. It was a week filled with learning, respect, and celebration of our rich cultural heritage. Thank you to everyone for getting involved!

Cadence Abrahams – Stage 1

Sydney North Football Trials – Tuesday 22 July

Following two Zone selection trials held last term, Ava Gamble and Gemma Middleton were selected amongst the final 12 Manly & Pittwater girls to participate in the Sydney North Girls' Football Trial last Tuesday 22 July at Cromer Park. 

Congratulations also go to Bessie Valentine and Lara Benvenuto who also participated in the Zone trials.

The girls represented our zones with pride. They were kind, respectful, showed excellent sportsmanship and played at a very high level throughout the day.

Manly Vale’s Great Book Swap – Raising funds for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation

Manly Vale’s Great Book Swap – Raising funds for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation

We are holding our Great Book Swap again this year to support the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) to provide books and learning resources to children living in remote communities across Australia.

The Great Book Swap is a fantastic way to celebrate reading locally, learn more about Indigenous languages and culture, and raise funds for a great cause. This year the ILF are aiming raise $300,000 to gift 30,000 new books to remote communities. Manly Vale have set a goal of $700.00 in support of this cause.

In preparation for our event, we ask that you bring in a book or two from home that you would like to swap. We will be collecting books until week 3 and holding our Great Book Swap during Education Week. On Wednesday 6 August during Education Week Open Day you can bring in a gold coin donation and swap your book!

Donated books can be delivered to the boxes in the front office or to Mrs Lucey in the 2LW classroom.

You can also show your support by making a donation to our Great Book Swap page and sharing it with your friends, family and community!

Thank you for your support!

Karen Lucey

Neurodiverse Support Group

Manly Vale Public School is proud to create an environment where all our children feel they belong.  P&C in partnership with our Neurodiverse Support Group is excited to be hosting a parent and community workshop on Friday, 8 August. We have invited an external speaker to join us to speak on neurology and lived experience with neurodivergence. There will be an opportunity for questions.  We hope to see you there. 

Garden Club

A huge thank you to our amazing P&C for their generous donation to Garden Club! Our young gardeners were bursting with excitement as they planted the first batch of winter veggies. With muddy hands and big smiles, they showed such care and pride in their planting. We are so grateful for the support it has made our garden grow in more ways than one!

Jackie Holman - Stage 1 Science Teacher

Library News

Book Week Celebrations

It is time to Book an Adventure and celebrate Book Week with us during Week 6 this term. Book Week is a wonderful celebration of reading and a chance to learn more about our talented Australian authors and illustrators. It is held annually in schools right across Australia. The theme for Book Week this year is Book an Adventure. During Library lessons we have been diving into the wonderful world of Children’s Book Council of Australia shortlisted books. These books have been selected as the best Australian books of the year and are the inspiration for our Book Week celebrations. The books will be on display in the library during Open Day next week – please feel free to come and browse these fantastic texts.

We will be holding our favourite Book Week Dress Up Day on Monday 25 August so please start thinking about book character outfits. Students are encouraged to dress up as a character from a book to celebrate our love of reading. Costumes don’t have to be elaborate or expensive – it’s a great idea to use things that you already have at home, including borrowed clothes or recycled materials. Take inspiration from the adventure theme, or dress from any genre – it’s entirely up to you!

We also have a special mystery illustrator visiting our school, as well as some fun Book Week challenges - more detailed information will be shared soon!

Premier’s Reading Challenge

Please note that the PRC closing date has been extended! Students in Year 3 - 6 need to have all books read and entered into the PRC website by Friday 19 September (Week 9) to be eligible for a PRC certificate or medal at the end of the year.

Reminder:

Infants Students (K-2) have completed the challenge entirely at school – you do not need to do anything at home. Students have read 30 books in library and class time and will receive a certificate at the end of the year

Primary Students (3-6) are expected to complete the challenge independently. They need to read 20 books and enter them into the PRC website by the closing date, Friday 19 September, to qualify for a certificate at the end of the year. Students use their regular school login to access the website. Students may also visit the library at lunch for help entering their books online.

Please see the PRC website for challenge rules, booklists and information on how to log books to your reading record online. Most questions can be answered at the PRC website, however please contact me if you cannot find the information that you need, or if you have queries relating directly to your child’s account.

Happy Reading!

Ali Webster – Teacher Librarian

Athletics Carnival - Cupcake Stall

Thank you to year 5 and year 1 families for baking the yummy cupcakes for the stalls at the Athletics Carnival. Thank you also to the amazing helpers working on the stall Kate Harrison, Amanda Gower, Cath Adelbert, Rob Green, Jess Cowie, Farlie Goodwin & Thor Hansen. Without parent support, events like this could not run. Much appreciation. 

Manly Vale Public School P&C

Canteen

New Items for Term 3

Nachos- available on Fridays at runch/recess and lunch during PSSA season. A fun tasty mix of spiced Mexican spiced ground beef and cheesy bechamel, topped with grated cheese and served with crispy corn chips on the side.

PSSA Canteen Orders

PSSA students, please order your Friday canteen orders through the RECESS section only. Orders placed through the LUNCH section will not be able to be collected due to students attending sport.

Sign up to help at the canteen

Volunteering at the canteen is a great opportunity to see your kids. Please sign up for a shift to help out. 

Please consider completing this short food safety course if you will be making sandwiches and toasties with us. Once you have completed the course don't forget to send us a copy of your certificate. 

Flexischools Ordering

If you are having trouble ordering or need help with your account you can call flexischools on 1300 361 769 or submit a question online https://flexischools..com/hc/en-au/

Got a question? or need to get in touch

Feel free to contact the canteen on email manlyvalepscanteen@gmail.com

Becky McGowan Canteen Manager, Manly Vale Public School

Community Notices

School Information