10 May 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

The week began with 2 wonderful performances by our senior and junior band at the NSWEE Festival at Forest High School. It was the junior band’s first performance for the year and Gergely (conductor) was extremely pleased with the way they performed. Our senior band was without Ben Dickson, their conductor, but were able to perform at their best for the large crowd. Thank you Gergely for stepping in for Ben on this occasion and to Miss Phillips and Ms Stacey for accompanying the bands to the festival. Our next band meeting is Monday 14 May at 7.00pm in the staffroom. All welcome.

School Cross Country

Yesterday all students from 8 years of age upwards competed in our annual cross country event. The weather was beautiful and the students of Manly Vale all demonstrated resilience and persistence in completing their 2-3km races. Thank you to Mr Dylan for the organisation of the day and congratulations to all competitors. We look to be sending a strong team to our zone carnival.

Online NAPLAN - 15 May-25 May

All students in years 3-5 will do their NAPLAN tests online over a 9 day period. The timetable will run very differently from the rest of the state. Catch up days have been scheduled in but it is important that children come to school during this time, on time and ready for the test. The NAPLAN practice tests are available via the link below:

Mothers’ Day Breakfast and stall – Friday 11 May 2018

Orders have now closed for all bacon and egg rolls but please feel free to come along and join in the celebrations from 7.00am onwards tomorrow morning. Classrooms will be open from 7.00am and the school choir will be performing at 8.45am on the basketball court.

The stall will run from 9.00am – 11.00am straight after the breakfast and all students who have brought in their gift will be able to purchase a present from the stall. The “Keep Cups” can still be ordered on line via the link below:

A reminder that there will be no PSSA training tomorrow morning.

Thank you to Penny Dixon and her team of helpers for organising the day.

ICAS competitions

Last Tuesday afternoon we ran the Digital Technologies ICAS competition. We are running the competitions after school except for the English, maths and science competitions, which will be done during school hours. We run them after school so as to avoid disruptions to class routines. Only the English and maths results are used by the school for assessment purposes. Please make sure if your child is sitting these tests in the afternoons that you pack afternoon tea to have before they sit the test.

Opportunity Classes OC

Notes have gone home to all year 4 students who wish to sit the OC tests. The application process is an online and opened on 1 May and closes on 18 May. Please make sure you have returned your expression of interest form to school if you are applying for the OC test. The actual test is on 1 August 2018. Assessment data from the school is used to rank the children. This assessment data only contributes to 50% of their mark, students must still perform at a very high level in the test in order to gain a position in an OC test. The closest classes to us are Balgowlah Heights Public School, Neutral Bay Public School and Mona Vale Public School. Further enquiries regarding OC placements can be made to Mrs Blackband or Mrs Lee.

K-2 Dance Concert - Wednesday 4 July

The K-2 classes will perform their dances choreographed by Mrs Lyn Orrick at the Allambie School hall on Wednesday 4 July at 11.30am. The concert will also include dance items from our school dance groups and be compered by our school leaders. We have had a change in venue this year and will be able to do the dress rehearsal and performance all on the one day.

Front row seats for the concert will be auctioned on the School’s Trivia Night on Saturday 16 June.

Science Literacy Trial

Manly Vale Public School has been selected to run a trial of some online assessments for Science literacy. This trial will only be given to year 6 students. The trial will during the week beginning the 18 June.

Carpark Closed - Monday 14 May

This Monday the car park will be closed to allow for another crane to be delivered. Please be sure to park away from the site that day. Walking to school would be a better option on that day.

Tina Lee – Principal

Assistant Principal’s Report 3-6

Band Performance

On Monday night the junior and senior bands performed at the Northern Sydney symphonic wind ensemble concert at Forest High School. This was the very first concert for the junior band where the students have only been learning their instruments for one term. They were amazing and did us very proud. Congratulations junior band! It was lovely to see their hard work and early mornings paying off. The senior band were magnificent and performed first. Their pieces were beautifully played and also demonstrated their diligence and commitment to the band. Thank you Ben and Gergely for all your hard work in preparing the bands for the performance. A massive extra thank you to Gergely for conducting both bands and for ensuring such wonderful performances.

Project Penguin

On Tuesday stage 3 students spent the day at Manly Beach as their first excursion for Project Penguin. The project is run in conjunction with the Manly Environmental Centre (MEC), Taronga Zoo, the Northern Beaches Learning Alliance (NBLA) high schools and primary schools. The project is aimed to promote understanding about the plight of the fairy penguins of Manly and allows the students living in close proximity a ‘real-life’ community awareness and environmental awareness project. The students engaged in bush regeneration, beach cleaning, habitat analysis and Indigenous sharing. They heard from professionals from the MEC and Taronga Zoo. It was a magical day at Manly and our students enjoyed being a part of an important project to help keep the Manly ecosystem intact and preserved.

Tathra Fundraiser

Assistant Principal’s Report K-2

Developing independent, resilient students within a safe learning environment

Literacy groups are in full swing!

Dear Parents and Carers,

Literacy groups form an integral component of our K-2 English program. Students in kindergarten, year 1 and year 2 have been engaging in literacy groups since the beginning of the year. Literacy group sessions enable teachers to differentiate learning for students in their class so all English outcomes are effectively covered and individual needs are being met.

This term, your child’s teacher may request support from their class parents/carers or grandparents to help assist them in the classroom with literacy groups. Please keep an eye out for information from your class coordinator. I will be running some parent information sessions in the coming weeks that will focus on our English curriculum and the importance of early literacy strategies for students in K-2. More information will follow soon.

I would like to sincerely thank the parent helpers who have already offered their assistance this term. The Learning Support Team (LST) are also on the lookout for anyone who could potentially offer help for a minimum of ½ an hour a week, to help support personalised learning programs in the school. Please contact the school office, Mrs Speight or Mrs Abrahams if you are able to assist in any capacity. Thank you.

Kind Regards,

Mrs Carol Speight

Dates for Your Diary

Winter PSSA Sport 2018

Library News

Author Visit – Yves Stening ‘Dinner Detectives’ – Monday 21 May 2018, K-2

Books available for sale on Yves Stening’s website (available via the link below). Copies can be signed on the day.

May is National Family Reading Month

Go to the Scholastic website and find out how you and your family can participate:

• Rise to the challenge
• Combine with Premier’s Reading Challenge
• Win 1 of 50 $100 book vouchers
• Have fun with the whole family.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

The challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student to read, to read more and to read more widely. Students use their school username and password to access the site. Any questions please contact your class teacher or Mrs Poole.

Glynis Poole – Teacher Librarian

Walk Safely to School Day

On Friday 18 May it is Walk Safely To School Day!!

We encourage children to walk all or part the way to school with their parents and friends...Did you know??

• Walking reduces car dependency and traffic congestion
• Walking to school develops vital road crossing skills
• Walking to school promotes health and well being
• Walking to school helps make students safe and mature pedestrians

Make it FUN! Meet your friends! Make it a habit! Get the map out now and start your own "walking bus" route to meet your fellow school friends along the way.

See you out there!

Ms Cash

Stewart House Donation Drive

Stewart House envelopes were handed out to students last week and are due back at school by Friday 18 May 2018. Entry to the draw is only $2.00 for your chance to win a family holiday valued at $4,000 to the destination of your choice. No late envelopes accepted.

Scholastic Book Club

Scholastic book club orders are due back at school Friday 18 May 2018. No late orders accepted.

Canteen News

Thanks to everyone who has volunteered for this term, we still have a few gaps to fill so if anyone has a bit of time to spare we would love to see you in the canteen.

Fridays are getting busier so we are also hoping to secure an extra helper every Friday, from 11.30am to 1.30pm to help assist with getting the lunch orders out and serving at the counter. If this would suit you, please contact us on manlyvalepscanteen@gmail.com.

If you are rostered on this term, please remember to wear covered shoes if you are helping out in the canteen; it’s a health and safety requirement.

Lastly, a huge thank you to Grant Lee and Emma Joseph for our new blackboard doors/menus. They look fantastic and have all the children talking about the new menu!

Kerry Smallman - Canteen Senior Supervisor

Canteen Volunteers Roster Term 2, 2018