15 February 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

A great way to start the week with our annual School Swimming Carnival. The weather was perfect for swimming and it was wonderful to see all the students swimming for house points and enjoying the day together. Special thanks to our House Captains for their cheers and enthusiasm:

Congratulations to all our competitive swimmers who will be off to compete in the Zone Carnival on Thursday 8 March. Thank you to Mrs Ward for her organisation of the day, to Mrs Blackband and Mrs Birrell for their diligence in working out the new recording software, to all the teachers and parents who helped with judging, timekeeping, to Pete our starter, and to Jono Colwell and the “Boy Charlton” swim centre for always looking after us on the day. It was a great team and community effort.

Volunteers

At the start of every year we are eager to find volunteers for various areas of the school. If you would like to enquire about volunteering please make contact with the P & C or school office and they’ll direct you to the right person.

1. Uniform Shop- needs volunteers to sell the uniforms and put uniform orders together on a Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. Friday mornings can be once a term or every fortnight from about 8am to 9.30am If you can lend a hand on a regular basis or occasionally please email manlyvale-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au
2. Canteen- If you are able to help preparing and serving lunches once a term or more regularly please contact manlyvalepscanteen@gmail.com . Café Owl on a Friday morning are also looking for assistance from 8.00am -9.30am on Friday mornings. Please contact Justine Northcott if you are interested in helping out with café Owl on jneditorial@gmail.com .
3. Class Co-ordinators- Class Coordinators act as a liaison between the teacher and the class parents and the P & C and class parents. Their main role is to email the parents in the class of events, excursions requirements and reminders and to organise an occasional social night for the children and/or parents of the class. You can volunteer for this role on the Parent Information evenings. These evenings will also be when we start to formulate class email lists for communication. It is important that a representative of each child is at these evenings. Class Coordinators will meet with Mrs Lee & Kristen Te Pania later in the term to find out more about the role.

Parent Information Evenings

We would like to invite all parents to the following information evenings.

Tuesday 20 February- Stage 3 & 5H- 6pm Hall
Thursday 22 February- Kindergarten- 6pm Hall
Monday 26 February- Stage 1- 6pm- Hall
Tuesday 27 February- Stage 2 & 4H- 6pm- Hall

P & C Meeting- Tuesday 13 February

Last Tuesday we had our first P & C meeting for the year. There is a newly elected committee who are very eager and enthusiastic about supporting the community through a very exciting transition into a new school. The committee members are:

President- James Fewtrell (Kate- year 3)
Vice President- Helen Gay (Charlie- K, Tom- year 5, Olivia- year 6)
Treasurer- Tony Sherlock (Macy -year 3, Greta- year 1)
Secretary- Karen Murgatroyd (Hannah- year 4, Sam -year 2)
Events Coordinator- Penny Dixon (Finn y3, Will y1)
Class Coordinator Contact- Kristen Te Pania (Pipi y4, Reuben y1)

The P & C meetings are open to all parents to come and hear about events happening in within the school, discuss fundraising opportunities and provide an opportunity for parents to liaise with the principal and staff regarding school policy and procedures. Please feel free to come along to any of the meetings. Please read the newsletter linked below to stay informed about P & C events.

Building Works update

This Friday there will be no PSSA training, assembly or Café owl as there will be major cement pour at the building site of the new school. We are trying to limit traffic around the area so that cement trucks will have quick and easy access to the site.

Even though there will be no truck movements between 8.30am-9am we would like to keep the surrounding streets as free from traffic as possible. PSSA training will take place in the afternoon after lunch as games don’t commence until 23 February.

Composite Classes- 1/2S and 4/5H

There has been some discussion and concerns regarding the formation of composite classes. Composite classes are made as staffing is based on numbers overall not on numbers in a certain grade. As research shows there is no disadvantage to students in composite classes as teachers in every class have a range of ability groups in which they have to differentiate their teaching.

The composite classes at Manly Vale Public School are carefully formed with specific reasons and criteria for the students including their ability to work independently without distraction, confidence in social situations, ability to cooperate and be responsible in a classroom setting. Both Mrs Humphreys and Miss Sussanna are excellent teachers who work diligently to provide a differentiated program in their classrooms. Both composite classes are the smallest classes in the stage but have even numbers of students from both years in the classroom for social groupings. There will be times when one grade will go and participate in an activity eg. sport with their grade cohort leaving the other grade with their home teacher. Please see the link below for more information:

Full details of the organisation of these composites will be discussed on the Parent Information nights otherwise you can contact Mrs Lee for an appointment.

Surf Education- Thursday

This Thursday from 10am- 1pm our year 5 and 6 students will head down to Manly Beach for a day of learning about ways to be safe on the beach and in the surf. This is a follow up practical session from last week’s surf education talk from the surf lifesavers. Please make sure that you pack swimmers, hat, sunscreen and water for the day. Our year 5 and 6 teachers will be attending and assisting the life savers on that day.

Band Meeting- Monday 12 February

Last Monday we had our first Band meeting for the year. We have some new faces on the committee but still under the experienced leadership of John Logan (Rose yr 5 and Bill’s yr 3 dad). The committee is:

President- John Logan (Rose yr 5, Bill yr 3)
Secretary- Helena Edgerton (Rory yr 4, Thea yr 1)
Treasurer- Jo Poulos (Harper yr 5, Toby yr 3)
Senior Band Liaison- Manuela Curzon (James yr 3, Will yr 5)
Junior Band Liaison- To be filled
Band Camp Coordinators- Suzanne Burton (Melanie yr4) and Miss Lisa Phillips
Fundraising (Bunnings Cake Stall)- Lou Knowles (Ruby yr 4)

The event details for this term along with ways to help out with Band organisation will come out in the next few weeks. Thank you to Ben Dickson (senior band conductor and Gergely Malyusz (junior band conductor) for looking after the musicianship of our bands, and to Kate Stacey and Lisa Phillips who will be our teacher representatives on this committee. Please be aware that the band program is run by parents as part of the P & C. It is totally funded by the parents in the band as part of their fees. If you want find out more about the band program please come to our meetings. Our next meeting is Monday 14 May at 7pm.

PSSA teams- First game 23 February

This week students from years 3-6 will find out if they have made a PSSA team. These sporting teams represent the school in a variety of sports throughout the year. Selection into a team is based on sporting ability, behaviour, commitment to training and sportsmanship.

This is a talented sports program and therefore trials take place at the beginning of each summer and winter season to choose the best possible students to play and represent the school. If your child does not make a PSSA team they will remain at school to play and learn skills in a variety of sports.

As a school we are only allowed to enter a limited amount of teams into the PSSA competitions. These restrictions mean that students do miss out as there are not enough teams to cater for the amount of students trialling for positions in teams. Please build resilience in your children by explaining the process and encouraging them to work on their skills on Friday afternoons at school sport, or take up a sport on the weekend to improve skill levels.

A sporting levy is charged to all PSSA teams players to cover bus transport to the grounds. This will be sent out over the next few weeks along with the code of conduct contact. Failure to return this correspondence will mean your child will not be permitted to go and will remain back at school on Fridays.

NAPLAN online- Tuesday 15 May-Friday 25 May

Manly Vale Public School has been selected to administer the NAPLAN tests for years 3 and 5 online during the weeks above. Year 3 and 5 classes will be preparing for these tests prior to the dates and undergoing a practice run in March.

There is an online demonstration site if students wish to practise their skills prior to the tests.

Sincere condolences

Last week I attended the funeral of Barry Telfer, father of Joel and husband of Fiona. Barry was a part of the Manly Vale Public School community and family for the 7 years Joel attended primary school. It was lovely to see so many current and past MVPS parents and students there to support the Telfer family. As a school community our thoughts are with the Fiona and Joel at this extremely sad time.

Congratulations- Mrs Leigh Davison (1D -2017)

Our year 1 teacher 2017, Leigh Davison welcomed the arrival of her baby daughter Quinn Elyse Havenstein last week. Both mum and daughter are doing well. Congratulations to the Havenstein family.

Traffic and Parking

Please be more careful when dropping off and picking up your children. We will have rangers from the Northern Beaches Council doing patrols over the next few weeks as there has been some very dangerous behaviour over the past few weeks.

Parking in the bus zones or on the pedestrian crossing to pick up and drop off students is never allowed and is extremely dangerous. Neighbours are emailing the school with photographs of parents deliberately parked across driveways and obstructing their ability to get in and out of their residences. Please park that bit further away and walk up the street rather than putting children’s safety at risk.

Community Event- Manly Dam- 17 February 9am-1pm

This Saturday 17 February the Water research laboratory at Manly Dam are having an open day. It will be a great day to visit the dam and participate in this local event. A sausage sizzle fundraiser will raise money for the school. Feel free to head down and join other MVPS families for a get together.

Late and Early Arrivals

If you are picking up your child prior to our 3pm finish, or dropping them off later than our 9am start, you are required to sign them in and out at the office. Late notes and early leave certificates are offered only through the office. Parents need to accompany their children and provide an explanation e.g. doctor’s appointment, if they are dropping their child late to school or picking them up early.

Assistant Principal’s Report K-2

Shaping little minds for the future through creativity, communication, collaboration and critical thinking

The Early Stage 1 (Kindergarten) and Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2) teams have had a fabulous start to the year. We have been very impressed with how quickly students have settled into their new classes and school routines.

Our Parent Information Evenings are quickly approaching:

Early Stage 1 (ES1): Thursday 22 February
Stage 1 (S1): Monday 26 February

Both sessions will begin in the school hall at 6pm, before you are invited back to your child’s classroom. Please note that this evening is not for personal interviews with your child’s teacher. It is a forum for delivering consistent information to parents and carers of students in K-2.

We truly appreciate the support and beautiful comments we have received from so many K-2 families. Your positive comments help to make our job that much more rewarding, so thank you!

We look forward to an incredible year shaping little minds.

Mrs Carol Speight - K-2 Assistant Principal

Dates for Your Diary

Swimming Carnival

Thank you to all the parent helpers, students, spectators and staff for their wonderful involvement at the Swimming Carnival on Monday. I would like to extend a special thanks to all the parents that were involved in helping out on the day. Whether it was being a lifesaver, assisting with timekeeping or judging your efforts were appreciated. Children always love to see their parents take part in activities. The weather was on our side this year and participation from the children was excellent. Ribbons and announcement of the winning house will be announced at next week’s Friday morning assembly. A note will be sent home with children soon if they are to attend the District Carnival on Thursday 8 March. Students who had the fastest 3 times in the 50m freestyle, or the 2 fastest times in all other events will represent MVPS at this carnival.

Congratulations to all the children who participated and the wonderful achievements.

Melinda Ward

2018 Swimming Carnival Results

“Litterbug’ Presentation

Last Friday the Northern Beaches Council presented the stage 3 classes with an entertaining mini play titled ‘Lisa and the Litterbug!’ It was a free performance aimed at reiterating good recycling practices and it also explored the issue of SUP (Single Use Plastic) in our society. The presenters were extremely funny (lots of corny jokes) but they drove home some important messages for the children and teacher:

• Say ‘No Thanks!’ To plastic straws.
• Remember your reusable bags when you do the grocery shopping.
• Take care with your recyclables – no soft plastic in the plastics bin!
• Reuse ALL plastic carry bags or better still, have a mini reusable bag in your handbag for everyday use.

Let’s keep doing our best for the beautiful world we live in!!

Ms Lisa Cash

Choir

Students in year 3 to year 6 are invited to join the MVPS Choir for 2018. Mrs Lucey and I have some exciting performances lined up for the coming year. If you forgot to come in Week 2 it is not too late to join! Just see Mrs Lucey or Miss Mason to collect a choir note.

Australian Girls Choir

The Australian Girls Choir are putting together a junior choir of girls from Kindergarten to year 4. Flyers have been handed out in classrooms to those who are interested. If you would like more details you can speak to me or visit their website:

Miss Mason

Coles Sports in Schools

It’s Coles Sports in Schools time again! Please bring your vouchers in and place them in the box at the front office or at Coles Manly Vale to earn more sports equipment for Manly Vale!

Thank you!

Mrs Lucey and Miss Pembroke

Red Owl Canteen

Please check that you or your child hits the ‘place order’ button on Flexischools to confirm the order as we are getting lots of children coming to the canteen thinking they have ordered online but nothing shows on the system for them.

Kerry - Canteen

Stewart House School Clothing Appeal 2018

Stewart House bags were distributed to K-2 families last week. If you did not receive a bag and would like to donate to Stewart House please visit the school office and pick one up or use a ‘garbage’ bag. Bags are due back at school no later than Monday 26 February 2018.

Café Owl closed this Friday 16 February

Canteen Volunteers Roster Term 1, 2018

Community Notices

Manly Roos Rugby Club Registration Day

Register to enjoy playing with the Roos in 2018. This year it is great value. With the new $100 Active Kids Voucher, registration for U6 is free whilst very good value for U7 and above. Registration provides you with the chance to join a great Club which was the nurturing ground for two current great wallabies, Michael Hooper and Reece Hodge. All registrations also come with a season pass to all Waratahs home games, a Manly Junior Rugby Union rugby ball, shorts and socks and other club merchandise. Registration is available online from 2 February 2018 at the link below. There will be a registration day on Saturday 10 February 2018 in the Manly Corso and further registration day at the Roos Clubhouse at Keirle Park on Saturday 10 February including a Try Rugby session to introduce boys and girls to the wonderful game of rugby union.