14 March 2019

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Congratulations to our school swimming team who competed at the zone carnival last Monday. Mrs Ward and Mrs Birrell commended the team on their sportsmanship and healthy competitive spirit. Congratulations to Hannah Huisman who came first in the finals of the 9yrs 50m Freestyle and will go on to compete for the Manly zone at the Regional Carnival at Homebush. A tremendous effort.

Internet Safety

We have had some reports of student’s as young as 6 years of age witnessing some inappropriate material on the internet. At school we are talking to the children about being safe when using the internet and reporting to an adult if they witness or see anything that makes them feel uncomfortable. Please be extra vigilant with your child’s use of the internet and Youtube.

We are currently trying to organise our local police liaison officers to come and talk to all grades about cyber safety, but in the interim please feel free to use the following link to the e-safety website to assist in your discussions with your children.

The website contains resources for parents and teachers to use with children.

Opera Australia visit - Friday 15 March

Tomorrow Opera Australia will perform “By The Light of The Moon” in our school hall. All students will attend this performance as part of our musical appreciation area of the Creative Arts Curriculum. The incursion is $8 which can be paid directly to the office or as part of the school fees which will come out this week. Thank you Mrs Mason for organising this incursion for the school.

School Fees 2019

Our yearly school fees will be sent home via email this week. Fees cover workbook/textbooks, dance and gym fees (for specialist teachers), levies for additional teaching resources including creative arts and technology, excursions and incursions that have been booked for the year. All school fees cover the programs that we run. The additional “voluntary contribution” which is $90 per child will be used to assist in the refurbishment of a sound/speaker system, large screen and fans for the new school hall. You can pay your fees weekly, fortnightly, as the expenses occur or as a whole amount anytime throughout the year.

Field of Mars excursion

Last Tuesday our year 3 students spent a day at Manly Dam studying, drawing and discussing our local environment. The team of science teachers/botanists from the Field of Mars accompanied the 3 groups and were very impressed with the enthusiasm and interest of all our students. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful resource right next door to our school. Thank you to the year 3 teachers Ms Panetta, Ms Stacey and Mrs Hacking for arranging this excursion for our students.

School Leadership Camp

Next Monday and Tuesday our current school leaders Josh Slatter, Mia Lougher, Callum Matheson, Diya Malhotra, Toby Marsters, Jake Van De Water, Tahlia Stedman and Matilda Graham will attend a 2 day leadership camp with other school leaders from the schools of the Northern Beaches Learning Alliance (NBLA). During the 2 days the leaders will participate in team building and leadership workshops, and talk with other students from other schools about their leadership goals for 2019. Mr Dylan and Mrs Blackband will attend the camp (a day each) to support our students.

Debating Workshop – Tuesday 19 March

Next week our school will host 100 students for a debating workshop day. The students come from surrounding schools and will work together with expert tuition to strengthen their debating skills. Mrs Aga Banham and Mrs Ellie Radan will be the hosts of the day. This is a great opportunity for our school debating teams to prepare for their upcoming debates.

P & C Meeting - 12 March

Last Tuesday night we had a great turn out for the first P&C meeting for 2019. Thank you to all the new Kindergarten parents who attended the evening. We discussed the upcoming events and the new Class Co-ordinators and the principal gave an outline of the year along with a project update. Thank you Mrs Lee Meredith and Mrs Kristen Welsh who have offered to coordinate the fundraising for the year. The fundraising will be done through the Class Coordinators with grades and stages coordinating various events including a Mothers’ Day stall (Kindergarten) Trivia night, Spell-a–thon, and Fathers’ Day event. Please be sure to read communication from your Class Coordinator about these events. If you weren’t put on a class email list please get in contact with your child’s class teacher and let them know you would like to be included.

P & C Committee 2019 include:

James Fewtrell - President
Helen Gay – Vice President
Tony Sherlock - Treasurer
Karen Murtgatroyd - Secretary
Kristen Te Pania - Class Coordinator contact
Denise Fisher - Canteen contact
Lee Meredith, Kristen Welsh - Fundraising Coordinators

Barefoot Bowls - Friday 5 April

Our first event of the year is the Barefoot Bowls evening in Manly. This event is an opportunity to get to know other parents in the school. Please read flyer attached and purchase your tickets online using Flexischools. This is an ADULT only event. The teachers will also be forming a team for the evening. It is always a terrific night and a great way to kick off the year!

School Council - Monday 1 April

The School Council will meet on Monday 1 April in the staffroom to receive a project update and discuss future directions for the council. James Fewtrell (President of the P & C) and John Gillings (P & C representative) will also attend that meeting.

NAPLAN 2019 - Monday 13 May - Friday 24 May

All students in Years 3 & 5 will sit the National Literacy and Numeracy tests online this year. Year 3 students will however still be able to use pen and paper for the writing assessment. The NAPLAN tests go from 13 May up until Friday 24 May with catch up days scheduled into this 2 week window. No other days are allocated for the tests so students in year 3 & 5 must attend school those days. Some students require disability adjustments in order to access the tests to the best of their abilities. Parents will be sent home letters if this is the case. Parental permission must be received for these adjustments to be given. Adjustments include; extra time, rest breaks, a NAPLAN support person, scribe etc.

ICAS University of NSW Competitions

Expressions of interest for writing, English and mathematics close tomorrow 15 March. If you are interested please advise by tomorrow, no money required at this stage. Tests will be run if there is enough interest.

Bus Monitors

The following bus monitors will receive their badges at tomorrow morning’s assembly:

Cameron Watson, Tadhg Carpenter, Jenaya Osbourne, Keanu Jewell, Grace Green , Koby Williams, Suvannah Black, Oliver Sollberger, Charlie Colwell, Melly Dargeyko, Max Mako, Jordyn Switzer, Jethro Hanson, Joseph Scoon, Toby Kells, Rory Edgerton, Adam Turner, Sienna Brennan.

Parking in the Carpark

Please refrain from using the carpark to park both before and after school. We have had an increase in staff this year and a couple of spots are being taken for additional access to the construction site. Parents are encouraged to park a distance away and walk up to school or use the 5 minute drop off zone on the eastern side of Gibbs Street to drop off children. Parents are not to use the carpark for parking at any time, except if they require the disability car spot. It is very dangerous for parents to use the carpark as a drop off point with students walking across the entranceway.

Tina Lee - Principal

Dates for Your Diary

Waste Free Wednesdays (WFW) Information

Last year’s SRC passed a suggestion for Manly Vale Public School to join many other schools in holding a rubbish free lunch each week. Waste-free lunches benefit the environment by reducing packaging waste, which in turn reduces energy and resource use. Participating in a waste-free lunch activity also promotes sustainability awareness among students, parents and school staff.

The process was developed by the 2018 student leadership team who earlier in the year conducted a litter audit after the school’s Clean Up Australia Day event. Their results featured in a previous newsletter and indicated that reducing disposable plastics were a huge priority.

Waste-free lunches contain only items that are eaten, composted or recycled. They don’t contain wrappers or packaging that will be thrown in the rubbish bin.

Recyclable packaging – we understand that some children’s lunches may need to contain packaged

food items for dietary, religious or other reasons. You can also check which items can be recycled at home, by visiting the website below and searching under your council area. This information may be relevant for your bulk containers at home. Packing a bottle of frozen drink with the lunch will give your child a cold drink and also keep the lunch cool.

To add a bit more relevance to the concept we hold a weekly competition between the classes. Teachers will do a quick survey of lunchboxes of their class just before recess and results are tallied by year 6 students. The winning class is announced each week in the newsletter with a photo of the SRC reps from that class holding Salty the sea turtle. Their SRC reps will also be presented with our WFW mascot at Friday’s assembly to be kept in the class for the week.

We understand that sometimes just getting a child dressed in the morning and to school can be a challenge and we don’t wish to make anyone’s morning more difficult than necessary, but we also believe in the power of change and the potential of young children to change the world. We thank students and parents for their support in embarking on this exciting project.

Pat Dylan

Waste Free Wednesday

Zone Swimming

On Monday our Zone Swimming Team went to Manly Boy Charlton Swim Centre to compete in the Manly PSSA annual swimming carnival. All swimmers swam their best. Sophia Da Silva, Hannah Huisman, Asher Fitzgerald, Pipi Te Pania and Ireland Kennedy were successful in making 50m Freestyle finals. Hannah won her 9 years 50m Freestyle final and is now off to the Regional Swimming carnival. Congratulations Hannah!

Thank you to all students, spectators and Mrs Birrell for their wonderful involvement at the Zone Swimming Carnival. Thanks also to our parent supporters Ian Kennedy, Grant Ellison and Rachel Whelan for timekeeping all day.

Melinda Ward

Library News

Library monitors for 2019

Sienna Brennan, Daniel Andrews, Katie Scholtens, Haruka Wakai , Chloe Brown, Cameron Watson, Miu Oikawa, Kayla O'Brien, Jordyn Switzer, Mellie Dargeyko, Grace Green, Arianna Beninati-Lo, Jenaya Osborne, Samantha Downie-Wright, Esther Knoyle, Charlee Howe, Ruby Wald, Kirsten Evans, Suvannah Black, Edie Varga, Oliver Sollberger, Owen Briggs, Kira Arkhipova, Oliver Du and Kaelan Markezic.

The badge ceremony for these students will be Friday Assembly 21 March.

Premier's Reading Challenge has commenced

Students have between now and 30 August 2019 to read and log as many books as they can. To log books and to access the book list for the event, see the premier's reading challenge website below. Student login details are the same as their login they use at school. Any questions or concerns, parents can contact me in the library.

Clair O’Connor – Teacher Librarian

Multicultural Education - Harmony Day –
Everyone Belongs

Harmony Day is celebrated on 21 March every year. Next Thursday, students and staff are invited to wear a “touch of orange” to recognise Harmony Day. This may include orange hairbands, sweatbands, socks, or nails, etc. (no hairspray please). Teachers will discuss Harmony Day with their class and complete activities and/or artworks to celebrate the day. You may like to prepare your child/ren for Harmony Day by discussing with them what Harmony Day signifies, as well as your family’s cultural background/s.

Orange is the colour chosen to represent Harmony Week. Traditionally, orange signifies social communication and meaningful conversations. It also relates to the freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect.

2019 marks the 20th anniversary of Harmony Day. This year the event will be renamed Harmony Week to recognise diversity and inclusion activities that take place across Australia during the entire week. Harmony Week (17-23 March) is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians, regardless of cultural or linguistic background, united by a set of core Australian values. Although Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have lived in Australia for thousands of years, most of Australia’s population is made up of people whose families only arrived in the country within the last 200 years - nearly half (49%) of Australians were born overseas or have at least one parent who was (ABS 2016 Census). Harmony Day is about celebrating these differences, embracing new cultures and making sure that everybody is included, as well as celebrated for their uniqueness. Learning more about the cultures and customs of those around us helps to better understand these differences.

Visit the website to learn more:

Cadence Abrahams

Learning Support

World Down Syndrome Day

As well as being Harmony Day, 21 March is World Down Syndrome Day, which has been officially recognised by the United Nations since 2012. The purpose of this day is to celebrate the lives and achievements of people with Down syndrome, advocating for the rights, inclusion and wellbeing of people with Down syndrome. The international theme for World Down Syndrome Day 2019 is ‘No one left behind’.

Routines and Organisation at Home

Routines are ways for families to organise themselves, complete chores and activities, spend time together and have fun. Routines help family members know their roles and responsibilities. They also let children know what is important in their family. Not every family routine will be the same. Routines can make life run more smoothly. Maintaining normal daily routines can make it easier for children to deal with stressful events, such as a change in family structure, moving house or the death or illness of a loved one.

Some children benefit from and need routine more than others. Routines can be beneficial for children in the following ways:

• Safety and belonging: an organised and predictable home environment helps children feel safe, secure and looked after.
• Routines built around having fun or spending time together strengthen family relationships (e.g. reading a story together before bed or going for afternoon tea after school).
• Skills and responsibility: having chores to do helps children develop life skills such as a sense of responsibility and time management, as well as developing their independence.
• Healthy habits: routines are a way of teaching children healthy habits, like brushing their teeth, getting some exercise, or washing their hands. Regular bedtime routines help set body clocks, helping children’s bodies to ‘know’ when it’s time to sleep.

Routines that may be beneficial for families with primary school-aged children include:

• morning and bedtime routines
• tidying up toys/bedroom
• chores - setting the dinner table, unpacking the dishwasher, helping with the laundry, caring for pets, etc.
• playdates with friends (after school once or twice a week)
• after-school activities like hobbies or sport

Younger students benefit from visual/picture reminders of routines and what is expected of them. There are many morning and evening routine schedules available online (Pinterest for example). Routines have lots of benefits, but it’s also beneficial for children and parents to have time to play, relax and be creative.

Learning Support Team

School Zone Parking

Canteen News

The Canteen is in need of volunteers for the following shifts. If you are able to help out please email the canteen manlyvalepscanteen@gmail.com or contact Robyn on 0402 911 655 or drop by the canteen and let us know.

Wednesday 20 March 9.00-10.30am
Friday 22 March 9.00-11.30am
Thursday 4 April 11.30am-1.30pm
Thursday 11 April 9.00-11.30am

Also just a reminder to all volunteers if you find you are unable to do your shift in the canteen could you please make every effort to find a replacement by using the canteen contact list and roster and seeing if you could swap with someone else.

Kerry and I are very appreciative of all the volunteers willingness to commit to helping in the canteen it is just making it very hard when someone pulls out at the last minute and we are unable to fill their spot.

Kerry & Robyn – Canteen Coordinators