21 September 2017

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

After a very busy and productive term I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very safe and relaxing holiday. We have had a lot of children and teachers absent with influenza and stomach complaints and I think it is great to have 2 weeks of rest to recover.

Kindergarten Orientation – Thank you KP and KS

Thank you to all the parents who baked cakes and provided morning tea for our new kindergarten parents 2018. Our first orientation went very smoothly and it was lovely to have our current kindergarten classes welcome the new parents by providing a delicious morning tea. Thanks coordinators of KP and KS for your organisation and to everyone who contributed. We currently have 68 enrolment forms but are still waiting on some children’s forms. Please drop into the office before our next orientation on Tuesday 10 October at 1.45pm-2.30pm. During this session there will be a talk to parents on school readiness and enrolments while our new students will visit another classroom that day.

NAPLAN Online Readiness Test

This week our year 5 and 3 students participated in the online NAPLAN trial in preparation for 2018 NAPLAN. Please be aware that you will not be receiving any data or assessment information from these tests. These readiness tests were designed to prepare schools for online testing next year. The test administered on Tuesday to year 3 and 5 was called the “Omnibus” test which was a combination of literacy and numeracy questions. Then year 5 only participated in a writing assessment on Wednesday. The tests were 40 minutes in length. Thank you to Miss Phillips for her organisation of the 2 days and to Mr Dylan who coordinated technical support. Next year all of NSW government schools will sit the NAPLAN tests online. Year 3 students however, will not complete the writing component online in 2018 to allow for more practice with teaching the skill of touch typing. Examples of the types of questions students will be asked is available from the following website.

Thank you Littlescribe!

Our teacher, Mrs Lexi McDonald has collaborated with Jenny Atkinson to invent an app to publish children’s writing and create books. These books can be shared online with family and friends from all over the world. They generously donated 1 book to every child at Manly Vale Public School and all classes have been busily writing and publishing these books using the app.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Jenny and Lexi for their very generous donations of time and money to launch this technology at Manly Vale Public School. We feel very proud as a school to have been able to trial the app and see it come to fruition with all children publishing their first stories online. We wish them every success as other schools start using the app. I hope you all enjoy reading your new books online in the holidays. Each student will receive a personal log in from the classroom teacher to help connect you to your child’s account.

Congratulations Mrs Davison

Our wonderful year 1 teacher Mrs Davison is pregnant and will be leaving Manly Vale Public School at the end of the year. Leigh will complete the year with 1D but will not be returning in 2018. We wish her all the best for the birth of her second child and hope to see her back at Manly Vale Public School soon.

Farewell Mrs Fraser

Our year 5 teacher Mrs Fraser will leave us at the end of the week to go on maternity leave. Mrs Jordy Fraser and her husband Paul are expecting their first child and we wish them all the best for the upcoming birth. Mrs Fraser has worked hard as a teacher on year 5 and year 3 classes, trained and coordinated our school debating teams, been an active member of the Higher Order Thinking (HOT) team and participated in a drama and literacy development program through our Sydney University partnership. She will be greatly missed by all staff, parents and students. We look forward to her return at the end of 2018.

Miss Lisa Phillips and Ms Lisa Cash will take over 5J for the remainder of 2017. Miss Phillips will be on the class from Monday to Wednesday and Ms Cash will teach on Thursday and Friday.

Staff Arrangements 2018

Other teachers who will not be returning next year are Mrs Lauren Finlayson who is enjoying being home with her 3 boys, Mrs Yasemin Sorenson who loves being home with her 2 girls, Mrs Lisa Forsythe who is overseas, Mrs Lexi McDonald who will be on maternity leave, Mrs Lori Learmont who has officially retired, and Mrs Annie Whitehead who has moved to Bowral.

We are currently organising staffing for next year and 2018 classes. Please let the office know if you will not be returning in 2018.

Life Education Van

Today will be the last day of lessons from the Life Education Van. All students from kindergarten to year 6 have enjoyed learning about making healthy life choices, nutrition and drug education. The “Healthy Harold” van only comes every 2 years so we will say goodbye to Harold until 2019.

No Dogs at School

Dogs are not permitted on school grounds and should not be left unsupervised and tied up to the front fence. Children like to pat and play with dogs which can sometimes antagonise and scare them when there are a lot of children around. We have already had a child bitten at the front gate this year. Please leave your dogs at home or keep them away from the school entrances and exits and always supervise them.

Sport: Summer PSSA

We have now officially switched back to our summer PSSA draw for 2017 and will play round 6 this Friday afternoon. We play 10 rounds for this season with the semi-finals scheduled for Friday November 17. Please make sure that all students bring their hats and drink bottles to the games each week.

Dancesport - Year 5

Our year 5 students have been participating in ballroom dancing classes with Brad Humphries a professional dance teacher. After many weeks of lessons on a Friday morning our top 15 pairs have been chosen to compete in a Dancesport Challenge at the Homebush sports ground on Thursday 19 October.

I would like to congratulate and acknowledge the maturity and enthusiasm of all students in year 5. They have all embraced the challenge of the program, overcome their fears and pushed themselves outside their “comfort zone”. I am so proud of them all. It has been a tremendous experience for the students and teachers and we will definitely look at implementing this dance program next year into year 5. Our year 5 students are certainly ready to work together as a team to lead the school in 2018. Our final lesson will be on Friday 13 October. We would like to invite all year 5 parents to this final lesson to watch their children perform the Tango, Cha Cha, Jive and Salsa.

P & C Meeting - Tuesday 12 September

Thank you to Philip Daffy (Vice President) who ran our last P & C meeting on Tuesday 12 September. It was wonderful to have a presentation from our current Higher Order Thinking (HOT) team and I thank Mrs Aga Banham and Miss Lisa Phillips for their presentation to the P & C. Our next P & C meeting is on Tuesday 10 October at 7pm which will be our last one before the AGM. If you wish to vote or sit for a role in the P & C please make sure you come along and join the next meeting.

Currently we have been discussing replacements for our canteen coordinator Sarah Langley who will be “big shoes to fill”. We will also be looking at the strategic directions of the school in order to write a new 3 year plan from 2018-2020 and evaluating our current school plan.

I will be holding afternoon workshops for parents to come along and discuss our 3 current school directions:

1. Students are active and informed learners
2. Inspired Leaders of Learning
3. Real World Connections

Workshops will begin early next term on Wednesday 11 October at 2pm-3pm in the school hall. These workshops will be an opportunity to look at the school plan and directions for the school. There will be an opportunity to ask questions or make comments which can be forwarded back to the P & C and school staff. For more information and details please feel free to look at the current school plan on the school’s website under the School Documents tab.

New School

The clearing for the new school has been completed and the site is being prepared for construction to start. During the September school holidays some additional playground space behind the administration block will be cleared for use during term 4 (2017) and term 1 (2018).

We are currently looking at using alternative play spaces within the local area for lunchtimes and sport sessions. A detailed plan will be outlined for next term. A new demountable will be placed at the back gate next to the canteen early next term in preparation for 2018.

Some positive environmental practices that have occurred is the lessening of the impact on the bush clearing, by allowing the site access over the back oval and not using the fire trail. We are relocating the current pond area to a more sustainable position that won’t require it to be filled by tap water but rather from run off in the northern end of the school. This pond area will be made into an outdoor learning classroom for environmental education.

The collection of possum food at the front office will remain throughout the school holidays. Volunteers from the SMDCC have organised to drop in over the holidays and collect any possum food from the box at the front office. We need flowers from native plants eg. Grevilleas, so as to attract the possums to the possum boxes. Please give generously.

Playground space and community green space will be created when the current buildings are demolished leaving space for additional play areas and community use.

Tina Lee - Principal

Assistant Principal’s Report

Premier’s Spelling Bee Competition

Congratulations Ben Yang, Zara Lee, JD Scoon and Ella McAvoy for representing our school in the Regional finals of the Premier’s Spelling Bee Competition at Wheeler Heights Public School last Thursday. These students were presented with some difficult words to spell such as; ‘elude’ and ‘vacuum’ and made excellent progress in the competition. We are very proud of their efforts. Thank you Mrs Banham for coordinating the school competition and ensuring the four finalists were able to attend the challenge day.

Band

A huge thank you to our fabulous Band Committee for the cake stall at Bunnings. It was lovely to see our band students helping customers and serving at the stall. It was also amazing to see all the cakes and goodies, which highlighted the generosity and school spirit of our Manly Vale families.

Most blow tests for new band students have been completed. If your child missed out please contact the office so that Miss Stacey or I can arrange for the conductors to complete it. All students who have been tested will be receiving their band acceptance forms with their instrument allocation.

Next term both bands will be performing at Warringah Mall. Term 4 permission notes will be sent home at the beginning of term and it is important to receive all of them back promptly.

Scope It

This term we have had ‘Scope It’ running a specialised coding program in stage 2. The students have been learning computational thinking, programming and coding skills during their sessions and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

ICAS English Competition

Congratulations to the following students who will be receiving their English ICAS certificates in assembly on Friday.

Lisa Phillips – Assistant Principal

Dates for Your Diary

P & C

Tuesday 10 October is our last meeting before our 2017 AGM where all positions are open and we will elect 2018’s President, Vice President (2 positions), Treasurer and Secretary. Role descriptions and nomination forms are attached. Start chatting to people now to get your nomination in, or if you know someone you want to nominate.

Anyone who has been involved in the P & C can run for these leadership roles. Members can nominate and vote for candidates. You can become a member at any meeting prior to the AGM in order to be eligible to vote. So if you haven’t joined yet (for the princely sum of $1) come along to this meeting and be ready to cast your vote in November.

Any questions, please contact Mel Corner on andyandmel@gmail.com or call 0411159584.

All other roles such as Events Coordinator, Parent Co-ordinator, Canteen, Uniform and Environment will be open for nominations and voting will occur at the first meeting in 2018 but expressions of interest are very welcome.

The next meeting is Tuesday 10 October, 7pm in the staffroom. Hope to see you there.

Please check to see if your name is on this list of current members. If your name does not appear you will not be able to vote unless you join by 10 October:

Anna Maguire, Belinda Clarke, Dan Goodsir, Denise Fisher, Gale Switzer, Gareth Isaacs, Ian Hills, Inessa Jackson, Jacquelynn Watson, Jenny Atkinson, Karen Murgatoyd, Leonie Scholtens, Lou Knowles, Mel Corner, Natalie Chew, Nathan Lo, Nikki Bye, Peta Morris, Penny Dixon, Phillip Daffy, Ryan Switzer, Sally Killbride, Stewart Davies, Tony Sherlock, Wendie McDougall.

Band News

Bunnings Cake Stall

What a day! What a fantastic effort from everyone!

Thank you to all band families who cooked and supplied cakes and goodies for the stall; to everyone who brought cakes and then paid for more for their hungry children; to everyone who helped out at Bunnings and to Miss Phillips who stocked the staff room with sugary treats!

We managed to sell every item thanks to a last push from the Logan family.

Together we have made......... drum roll......... $1,228.40!

Offer letters are going out to new members interested in joining the band next year. There have been a record number of keen students and we are very excited for 2018.

If you think your child will not be continuing band next year please start the exit process as soon as possible so we can make sure the band is balanced.

Our next performance will be on Tuesday 7 November at Warringah Mall as part of the centre’s showcase. Please add this date to your diary so you can come and watch. You may be required to bring instruments if it is not your child’s normal band day. Permission notes will be sent out early term 4.

Happy holidays!

Mel and Band Committee

Canteen Volunteers Roster Term 4, 2017

Community Notices

Kids in the Park

Sydney largest school holiday program returns this spring school holidays! There are 50+ fun-filled activities to keep kids active, outdoors and entertained – a range of activities are free or under $25 at Sydney Olympic Park. Full details at

HONK! – an ugly duckling – of a musical

An odd-looking duck in the midst of an identity crisis finds himself on an adventure of self-discovery – with awesome music, hilarious characters and a blizzard thrown in for good measure! Proudly presented by Stage Artz, 23-30 September 2017, Glen St Theatre. Bookings: 9975 1455 or

Advertisements