7 March 2019

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Today was our school photo day. It is always a very hectic day trying to fit in all class, individual and group photos. This year the extra group photos included the school dance and drama groups, the choir, the School Leaders and House captains, and the SRC. We have trialed these extra photos this year however we will not continue this practice if there is no demand for these additional photos.

Junior Band Conductor

We have been successful in employing a new band conductor for our junior band Carlos Villanueva. Carlos comes with a range of experience having worked for Musica Viva, run a whole school band program and currently running his own music academy. Carlos will start rehearsals next Tuesday 12 March.

P & C Meeting - Tuesday 12 March at 7.00pm

Next Tuesday night we will have our first P & C meeting for the year. All welcome. A school tour will be held prior to the meeting at 6.30pm for any interested parents or community members who have not yet seen the school.

Class Coordinator meeting - Friday 8 March 2.30pm

Tomorrow we will have a short meeting in the library meeting room for all the new Class Coordinators. This meeting is to explain the role, talk about upcoming events, hand out class lists and discuss an overview of events for the year. Feedback from this meeting will go to the P & C (Tuesday night). Please try and attend this meeting if you are a class coordinator. Thank you Kristen Te Pania for coordinating this communication again this year.

Zone Swimming Carnival - Monday 11 March

Good luck to all our school swimming team as they represent us next Monday at the Zone Swimming Carnival. Mrs Birrell and Mrs Ward will accompany our 44 swimmers on the day. Go Manly Vale!!

Mathletics and Reading Eggs

Last Tuesday the teaching staff had some additional training in the use of Reading Eggs and Mathletics programs. Usernames and passwords will be given to the students over the next few weeks. The licences for these programs are covered in your school fees. Please be aware that these programs can be accessed at home. Teachers use these programs in varying ways to support school and homework tasks. You as a parent can use the programs to see what is being taught at your child’s grade level in maths (Mathletics) or use Reading Eggs as reading practice at home.

Internet Safety

Please read the internet safety tips following in this newsletter. It is important to be vigilant with your supervision of children using the internet. We will be organising the Police Liaison team to visit all classes to talk to the students about safe and appropriate uses of the internet.

Well-done Pipi

Last weekend Pipi Te Pania attended the NSW State surf championships in Swansea Belmont. It was a 3-day event with over 160 U11 girls competing in her age group alone. Pipi finished 2nd in U11s individual board and 2nd in the all age board relay. As well as finishing top 6 in multiple other events. Fantastic effort. Well done Pipi!

Tina Lee – Principal

K-2 Assistant Principal’s Report

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

Dear Parents and Carers,

We would like to sincerely than all our K-2 parents and carers who attended the Parent Information Evening sessions. We have been overwhelmed, and are sincerely grateful, for all the positive comments we have received. Thank you!

Parent/teacher Interviews will be taking place in weeks 10 and 11 this term. More information will follow closer to the date. This is an opportunity for you to speak with your child’s teacher about their specific needs and goals for the year.

The K-2 Dance Concert for 2019 has been set! A dance rehearsal will take place on Tuesday 2 July (Term 2 - week 10) and the actual K-2 Dance Concert will take place on Wednesday 3 July (Term 2 - week 10). All students have been thoroughly engaged in their dance lessons with Miss Vanessa and we are super excited to showcase our performances. More information regarding costumes etc. will follow at a later date via our class parents.

Mrs Carol Speight - K-2 Assistant Principal

Years 3-4 Assistant Principal’s Report

Dear Parents and Carers,

Many thanks to our wonderful parents and caregivers for helping to make our first half of the term as smooth and positive as possible.

Parent Information Evening/Interviews

Stage 2 teachers enjoyed the opportunity to meet many of our parents/carers at our information night last week. Thank you to all who were able to attend, including P&C president, James Fewtrell. Many thanks also to our volunteer class contacts for putting their names forward. Your assistance throughout the year is so appreciated. If any parents/caregivers missed out on filling in their contact details for the P&C distribution list, please send through your name, child’s name and class, phone contact and email address to the school office or your child’s teacher.

We look forward to continuing the conversation about your child’s learning in our Parent Teacher Interviews in Weeks 10 and 11. More information will be sent home in the coming weeks.

How can you support at home?

With such busy schedules, we understand that squeezing in some quality time to support your child’s learning at home can be challenging! Below are some great places to start if you are looking for some more information on how best to support your child in their learning and personal development.

Miss Catherine Thomson - Stage 2 Assistant Principal

Dates for Your Diary

Waste Free Wednesday

Stage 2 Science

Stage 2 has been learning about food origins and food production processes this term. We called our topic ‘Paddock to Plate’. Students explored modern and old-fashioned production techniques and appreciated technological advancements. Using mortar and pestle to grind some wheat and barley for flour demonstrated how laborious and time-consuming this task used to be. Our average yield was less than 1g of barley and about 23g of buckwheat flour. Nevertheless, students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and some were willing to continue it at home!

We also looked at orchards as examples of fruit farms and created an extensive list of foods produced from a humble apple. We estimated the number of people needed to bake 1000 apple pies and the time that it would take. This little exercise highlighted the need for automatisation of food production.

Each student attempted to peel an apple with a potato peeler. All students showed enthusiasm, competence and skill while using the peeler sensibly. Then we have asked ourselves: which group produced the longest line of apple peels? Tape measures can in handy and the results varied from just over 50cm to nearly 4 meters! We also graphed our findings and happily consumed apple slinkies during the lesson.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Woolworths Balgowlah for donating a box of 12kg, delicious, juicy Royal Gala apples for our science lessons!

We used all of the apples and students were appreciative of the Woolworths gesture.

As a culmination of our topic, stage 2 students will attempt to produce lemonade.

Mrs Banham - Stage 2 Science Teacher

Design Make Innovate Project

Stage 3 classrooms are buzzing with excitement this week as our students have been busy designing, planning and creating their very own arcade game. Students have been challenged to create an arcade game using recycled and upcycled materials in just 3 project days. Cardboard pinball machines, fusball made with skewers and pegs, and a wheel of fortune are just some of the amazing creations that have emerged this week. Our students have been very fortunate to be assigned Year 9 mentors from Mackellar Girls Campus to help with their designs and project building. While we are very excited to see the final products, it’s been wonderful to watch our students immerse themselves in the design process and see their collaboration and problem solving skills on display. Stage 3 are looking forward to their final project day next Thursday 14 March.

Mrs Ellie Radan

Learning Support

Detecting Vision and Hearing Issues Early

#checkyourhearingday

World Hearing Day is held on 3 March each year to raise awareness about how to prevent deafness and hearing loss, and promote ear and hearing care.

The World Health Organisation draws attention to the importance of early identification and intervention for hearing loss. Many people live with unidentified hearing loss, often failing to realise that they are missing out on certain sounds and words. The Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC) recommends parents of kindergarten children get their child’s hearing tested before they start school. In Australia, one in 1000 children is diagnosed with hearing loss at birth. For a further one in 1000 - a hearing loss is not detected until school age.

Genelle Cook, Head Audiologist at RIDBC, said that a child starting school with an undiagnosed hearing loss is at a distinct disadvantage in the classroom:

“Research shows that, left undetected, even mild or unilateral hearing loss can result in difficulties in hearing in the classroom. If they are unable to hear clearly, children are less able to communicate effectively at school and this can have a negative impact on their behaviour and academic performance. These children will struggle to understand instructions in a noisy classroom environment and will often lose focus. They don’t understand what’s happening around them and they don’t know how to fix the problem.”

Ms Cook is encouraging all parents to get their children’s hearing tested before they start school and says there are signs that parents and child care workers can look out for.

“By age five, children should be able to speak in sentences of more than five words, tell a story, and be able to speak clearly enough to be understood by strangers. While all children learn at different speeds, a slow acquisition of language may be attributed to some level of hearing loss.”

You don’t need a GP referral to see an audiologist, but visit your GP or child and family health nurse if you’re worried about your child’s health or development.

StEPS is a statewide eyesight preschooler screening and is an initiative of NSW Health. The program offers all 4 year old children free vision screening. NSW Health advises all children to have their vision screened before they start school and strongly recommends that all 4-year old children participate in the vision screening program. (NSW Health)

How can my child access the StEPS program?

Northern Sydney Health Service targets preschools and child care centres offering all four-year old children a free vision screening. You can also have your four-year old child’s vision screened for free through your local Child & Family Health Service:

Brookvale Community Health Centre, 612-624 Pittwater Road, Brookvale, Phone: 9388 5000

See the attached brochure for more information about the StEPS program:

Learning Support Team

School Zone Parking

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Café Owl

Café Owl will not be operating until further notice.

Canteen News

Flexischools problems

Apologies to everybody who has had problems ordering lunches on Friday mornings recently. We are not sure what is going on but the Flexischools team are aware of the issues and are trying to fix them. In the meantime it may be worth placing your orders on Thursday evening for Friday lunches or locking in a regular Friday order if your child has the same order each week.

Waste Free Wednesday

A reminder that children need to bring in a suitable container for their waste free lunch. If a container is not provided by recess we have to package the lunch as usual and cannot hand out the red ‘waste free lunch’ voucher.

Help Needed in the Canteen

We have the following spots still available to come and help in the canteen.

Monday 11 March 9.00am-1.30pm
Friday 15 March 9.00am-1.30pm
Friday 22 March 9.00am-11.30am
Monday 1 April 9.00am-10.30am
Thursday 4 April 9.00am-10.30am
Wednesday 10 April 9.00am-10.30am
Friday 12 April 9.00am-1.30pm

No experience is necessary, and a great way to help out at the school. Please contact Robyn 0402911655 or manlyvalepscanteen@gmail.com or drop by the canteen and let us know.

Kerry & Robyn – Canteen Supervisors

Canteen Volunteers Roster Term 1, 2019

Community Notices

Swedish Language Classes

Swedish language classes are now available at the school! The Swedish School in Sydney has been conducting Swedish classes for over forty years. Enrolments are open to all students with Swedish heritage and some prior knowledge. Brain exercise with real teachers, you are very Välkommen!

The Conservatorium of Music