21 March 2019

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Actors of the Future!

It is with great excitement that we announce that 3 of our talented drama students Will Curzon (Yr 6), Phoebe Crowe (Yr 5) and Morgan Andrews (Yr 5) have been selected to be a part of the State Drama Ensemble for 2019. These students have worked with Ms Jaala Kemp, our drama teacher, over the past couple of years and after an intense audition process, were successful in receiving offers into this prestigious group. Congratulations to these students, and to Ms Kemp for her passion and commitment to drama within our school. It is a real honour for Manly Vale Public School to have 3 students selected into this group.

School Interviews - 1 April - 12 April

You will receive a letter explaining the process as to how to book an interview with your child’s class teacher. We encourage all parents to book an interview time (10 minutes) to meet and have a chat with your child’s teacher. These interviews are for you to express concerns and ask questions regarding expectations for the year. These interviews are quite informal as compared to the written report on your child’s progress that you will receive at the end of Term 2. Remember that timeslots book up quickly so be quick to go on and register. If you are unable to attend the interview at this time you can email the school and your details will be passed onto the teacher who will make an interview time at a later date.

Bookings for interviews open this Monday 25 March and close on Friday 29 March.

NAPLAN - Years 3 & 5

NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy – important skills that each child needs to succeed in school and life. The NAPLAN tests are designed to help us make sure students are on track with their literacy and numeracy development. Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participate in NAPLAN tests for reading, writing, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.

Between Tuesday 14 May and Friday 24 May, our school will participate in NAPLAN Online. Students do not need to be computer experts to take the NAPLAN test online. Making sure students have computer skills is part of our school curriculum, and our teachers will ensure your child is familiar with the online format. To see the types of questions and interactive features of NAPLAN Online, visit the public demonstration site.

If you have any questions about NAPLAN Online, please contact your child’s teacher.

For more info:

• How to support your child during NAPLAN
• Information for parents and carers
• Watch a video that explains NAPLAN Online
• Subscribe to ACARA’s monthly parent newsletter, Parent Update

A school NAPLAN information session has been arranged for any interested parents on Wednesday 10 April at 3.30pm in the school hall.

Debating Workshop Day

Last Tuesday Manly Vale Public School hosted a debating workshop. Over 100 students from local schools attended an all day workshop on debating techniques. The students were tutored in best ways to represent and prepare for debating and were given individual feedback on their ability to present and rebuttal points of view. It was a very productive day and we now have 4 school debating teams that will compete in both friendly debates and interschool competitions within the Premier’s Debating Challenge. Thank you to Mrs Banham for her organisation and to Mrs Radan for her assistance with the debating teams. We look forward to watching our debating teams perform in 2019.

SRC - Friday 22 March

This Friday at 10.00am we will have our 2nd SRC meeting of the year. All the student representatives from all the classes will listen and report back on issues raised at the meeting by our students. Our school leaders who have been at Leadership Camp this week will run the meetings for all our students. Parents are welcome to come and watch the meeting this Friday.

School Fees

The school fees have been emailed to all families this week. Thank you to the parents who have paid already. The fees charged are for additional items including excursions, incursions and books that are not covered by government funding. These extra fees enrich your child’s educational experience and provide variety to the school curriculum. I encourage all students to attend the opportunities that are provided. There is no profit made on any of these excursions, dance and gym fees cover the additional costs of employing a professional gym and dance teacher.

The voluntary contribution of $90 will go towards a new screen and audio equipment for the hall, buses required for additional activities including band and dance performances, playground and sporting equipment and science resources for our RFF Science program.

Our ongoing financial support of the additional programs provided in the school is much appreciated. Payments can be made through the school website as a partial or full amount. You can pay off the fees gradually all year or as a lump sum every term. Fees should be paid prior to attendance of the events being attended.

DMI Expo Day

Thanks you to our year 5 and 6 students for the wonderful Design Make & Innovate Demo day last Wednesday. All stage 3 students designed arcade games and invited all the students to come and join in and play their games. DMI is part of a program run with Mackellar Girls Campus where year 9 mentors come in and work with our students on design tasks. It has been a very productive and rewarding experience for all our stage 3 students and they are to be congratulated on their efforts and final products.

Our school finalists will go on to display their games at an Interschool Expo day at Freshwater Campus on Friday 29 March.

Bus Travel and Opal Cards

All students travelling by bus need to bring an Opal card. Please see note below from the Bus Depot. If students do not use their Opal card there is no way for us to petition to get additional buses which is an important priority for the school.

Leadership Camp

Our school leaders Mia Lougher, Josh Slatter, Callum Matheson, Diya Malhotra, Toby Marsters, Tilly Graham and Talia Stedman all attended the NBLA (Northern Beaches Learning Alliance) Leadership camp. They had a couple of great days working with other school leaders from other local schools on team building and leadership activities. Thank you to Mr Dylan and Mrs Blackband who attended the camp with the students.

P&C 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!

Tina Lee - Principal

K-2 Assistant Principal’s Report

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

Every student grows through quality education and an inclusive environment, in their community, at school and at home. All students benefit from care and attention from their teachers and peers. Students with Down syndrome are no different. By creating an atmosphere of diversity, children are less likely to develop bias towards peers who seem different from them.

As you may be aware, Joshua Rourke who is in class 2C has Down Syndrome and is a valued member of our school community. The United Nations General Assembly decided that from 2012, World Down Syndrome Day would be celebrated on 21 March each year. This date falls on the same day as Harmony Day, which we will be acknowledging and celebrating at our school on Thursday 21 March (please refer to further information in last week’s newsletter).

As there is power in knowledge and understanding, I have included a brief description of Down Syndrome below with Mr and Mrs Rourke’s consent. If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Carol Speight

Down syndrome: Down syndrome is a genetic condition – it is not an illness or disease. It occurs because of an extra chromosome. Our bodies are made up of millions of cells. There are 23 pairs of chromosomes, or 46 chromosomes, in every cell. Down syndrome is caused by the occurrence of an extra chromosome, chromosome 21. (Down syndrome is also known as trisomy 21.) People with Down syndrome then have 47 chromosomes in their cells instead of 46. This additional chromosome can result in changes to the physical appearance, have an impact on the health of the individual and on the person’s intellectual ability.

Down syndrome is usually recognisable at birth and confirmed by a blood test. It was named after Dr John Langdon Down who first described it. Although we know how Down syndrome happens, we do not yet know why it happens. Down syndrome occurs at conception, across all ethnic and social groups and to parents of all ages. It is nobody’s fault, there is no cure and it does not go away. Down syndrome is not new and cases have been recorded through history. Down syndrome is the most common chromosome disorder and one of every 700–900 babies born will have Down syndrome.

Dates for Your Diary

Waste Free Wednesday

How to book a teacher interview for your child

To book an interview for your child you can go to our school website and:

• Click on the ‘School Documents’ tab
• Click the link that says ‘Teacher Interview Bookings’
• Click on the link

Alternatively search School Interviews and go to the url indicated above. Then:

• Enter the code – yn7yy
• click on your child’s teacher and follow prompts to add your name, email and child’s whole name.

A confirmation email will be sent to the email address that you provided.

Interview bookings will be open from Monday 25 March at 9.00am and cut off on Friday 29 March at 5.00pm, so please be sure to book your interview before then. Interviews will take place during Weeks 10 & 11 from Monday 1 April to Friday 12 April, depending on teachers’ availability.

A separate interview will need to be booked for each of your children with their class teacher. Please follow the above steps for each of your children.

Before and after school interviews will be held in your child’s classroom. Interviews scheduled during the day will be held in the administration office unless indicated differently by the teacher.

Interview slots are 10 minutes. PLEASE be punctual with your child’s interview as we have a very tight schedule.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Pat Dylan – Coordinator
Tina Lee – Principal

Design Make Innovate Project

It was all hands on deck last Thursday as Stage 3 completed their final project day with their Mackellar mentors. Each group was focussed and ready to finish their arcade game and design portfolio. Students added the final touches to their projects and tested out their games.

On Wednesday, the school hall was transformed into an old fashioned arcade to showcase the creativity of Stage 3 students. Kindergarten through to Year 4 students were able to test their skills on a range of innovative challenges. We have the opportunity to send outstanding groups to the Northern Beaches College DMI Expo that will be held at Freshwater Campus on Friday 29 March. We will announce the successful groups in next week’s newsletter along with photographs from our school pop-up arcade.

Ellie Radan

Opera Australia Visit

Last week we were very lucky to experience ‘By the Light of the Moon” presented by Opera Australia. The students were thoroughly engaged throughout the entire performance. We were told the tale of ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ along with some other familiar fairy tales. All students showed they could be a great audience during the performances.

Rebekah Mason

Harmony Day

Multicultural Education - Harmony Day – Everyone Belongs

Harmony Day is celebrated on 21 March every year. 2019 marks the 20th anniversary of Harmony Day. This year the event has been renamed Harmony Week to recognise diversity and inclusion activities that take place across Australia during the entire week. Harmony Day is about celebrating 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.

Thank you to everyone who wore a “touch of orange” to recognise Harmony Day today. Classes either participated in discussions or created artworks to celebrate the day (photos to be included in next week’s newsletter). 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.

Visit the website to learn more:

Cadence Abrahams

Year 3 Field of Mars Excursion to Manly Dam

Learning Support - how to help your child with reading at home

Reading is an important skill

• Reading with your child at home will help them in all learning areas of school.
• Children learn the importance of reading and writing as they see family members use these skills in everyday life – reading for pleasure, sharing a story with your child, using a recipe, making a shopping list, writing a birthday card or reading street signs. This teaches them that reading and writing are useful skills in today’s world.
• Listening to your child read at home is a good way of supporting their reading. Books can also be borrowed from the school library or your local library.
• Be confident that your child will learn to read.

What can you do at home to help

• Involve your child in everyday conversations.
• Read aloud to you child. It helps them to learn the language of books and encourages them to enjoy books and reading.
• Talk about books, read together and make reading an enjoyable, shared activity.
• Include a range of reading material for your child, both fiction and non-fiction.
• It’s important to read to your child in your home language if your first language is not English. Using your home language can help your child to learn to read in English.
• Try not to let television/screen time intrude on reading time. Make a special time for reading with your child, away from interruption (if possible)
• Listen to your child every day, even for a short time.
• Give books as treats and presents.

Hints for listening to your child read

• Before reading, talk about the cover, the title, the pictures, and discuss what the book may be about.
• During reading, discuss what has been read up to that point, and imagine what will happen next.
• After reading is finished, talk and ask questions about the story and the pictures.
• When reading a harder book together, take turns. Beginning readers can read the repetitive parts and more experienced readers can read a paragraph or a page.
• On finding an unknown word:

Pause to give your child time to work out the word.
Prompt

• go back to the beginning of the sentence, or read past the difficult word to the end of the sentence
• look for a clue in the pictures or the word.
• look at the first letter and think about what the word could be
• see if you can find something in the picture that starts with the first sound
• ask “Does it make sense?”
• try to sound out the word
• if necessary, tell the child the word

Praise your child for trying even if mistakes are made.

What to read and do

• Tell and re-tell stories like favourite stories, fairy tales, movie plots, local news items and family history.
• Play games such as “I spy… something beginning with d”.
• Ask your child to read out simple recipes while you cook together.
• Read comics, magazines, short stories, poems and rhymes, including nursery rhymes.
• Do crosswords and other word puzzles together.
• Read the TV guide/program information before watching a program.
• Look at letter box leaflets together.
• Read directions and signs when driving and shopping.
• Read and write notes/emails/letters/text messages to family members/friends.
• Play board games together and read the rules.
• Provide plastic letters, crayons, pencils, pens and writing paper.

Advice from the Department of Education
Learning Support Team

Scholastic Book Club

Orders are due back at school no later than Friday 25 March 2019. No late orders accepted.

School Bus Safety

Head Lice

During recent days we have had several cases of Head Lice infestation. Would you please inspect your child’s hair at regular intervals so that the problem can be eliminated quickly. Anti-lice treatments are available from chemists.

Canteen News

There are only 5 spots left to come and help in the canteen for this term. If you are able to help out we would love to hear from you, no experience needed and a great way to help the school.

The dates are:

Friday 29 March 11.30am – 1.30pm
Thursday 4 April 11.30am-1.30pm
Friday 5 April 11.30am – 1.30pm
Thursday 11 April 9.30am-11.30am
Friday 12 April 11.30am – 1.30pm

Please contact Robyn Lambley if you are able to help 0402 911 655 or manlyvalepscanteen@gmail.com or visit us in the canteen and let us know.

Term 2 volunteer roster

Soon we will be putting together Term 2's roster for volunteers. If your availability has changed from what is on the contact list please let Robyn know as soon as possible.

Kerry & Robyn – Canteen Coordinators

Canteen Volunteers Roster Term 1, 2019

Community Notices

A-Z Too Sick for School