11 April 2019

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

What a wonderful start we have had to the year and we are all feeling a lot more settled in our new classrooms. It has been our busiest term yet with the big move the day before school returned and then introducing our new students, parents and staff to a new environment through tours, open nights and parent/teacher interviews. I think everyone, including our students are ready for a restful holiday.

Holiday Construction/Vacation Care

Just reminder that the school will not be accessible during the 2 week holiday period as there will be ongoing grounds and construction work during this time. No students or community member will be allowed access to the site during this period except those students and parents using the vacation program run by the PrimaryOSHcare service (0430 369 288). OSHcare holiday program will be run from the hall facility during the 2 week period and using the canteen as a kitchen during the break. Only students attending the vacation care program will be allowed to use the school grounds.

NAPLAN Information Session

Thank you to all the parents who attended the NAPLAN information session yesterday in the school hall. NAPLAN online will take place next term during weeks 3 & 4 (Tuesday 14 May - Friday 24 May) for all students in years 3 & 5. All students will complete the tests online. For more information and practice tests please follow the link below:

Interrelate Parent Session

Thank you to all the parents who attended the Interrelate parent/child session last Wednesday evening. The event was well attended and we will consider offering it annually if there is enough interest. The session equips you as a parent to discuss and talk about topics including personal development and hygiene, reproduction and the importance of healthy and happy relationships. It is the first time in a few years that we have offered this evening program and the attendance was excellent.

Monday 29 April - Staff Development Day

Just reminder to make alternative childcare arrangements on Monday 29 April as this is a scheduled Staff Development Day and there will be limited supervision at school. Our after school provider PrimaryOSHcare has limited places available that day so please be sure and book as soon as possible to secure a spot for the first day back. School will resume on Tuesday 30 April for all students K-6.

P & C Meeting – Tuesday 9 April

Thank you to all the parents who attended the last P&C meeting for the term. It was great to hear updates on the construction timeline and news from the band, uniform shop and canteen. All parents may attend the P & C meetings, which occur on the second Tuesday of the month at 7.00pm in the school hall.

Congratulations to Kristen Te Pania and Karen Murtgatroyd who organised a fantastic bowls night for staff and parents last Friday at the Manly Bowling Club. All teachers who attended had a wonderful evening and it was a great way to kick off our combined fundraising events for the year. Our next major fundraiser is the Mother’s Day stall and raffle on Friday 10 May (organised by our new Kindergarten parents). Please support all the P & C events and become a part of this wonderful community.

Uniform Shop - Winter Uniform

The uniform shop wishes to inform you that the website glitch has been fixed and you can now order the smaller sizes in the girls’ winter tunics. Sizes 4, 6 and 8 are all available for purchase. Winter uniform should be worn from the first day of next term. Black shoes should be worn every day except Friday sport day.

The uniform shop is open this Friday morning. It is accessed via the new school hall.

Mothers’ Day Stall

Please place you donated items for the Mother’s Day stall in the boxes in your child’s classroom. Make sure that your child has their name ticked off the class list so that they are able to visit the stall on Friday 10 May.

Raffle tickets must be in a clearly labelled envelope and given to class teacher to have name marked off. All sold and unsold tickets must be returned to school next term.

Band NSWEE Evening at Forest High

Last Monday our senior and junior bands had their first performances of the year. Both bands represented the school proudly and showed tremendous skill and improvement in their musical abilities. Our new junior band conductor Carlos had prepared a new composition for our junior band to play, which received a lot of applause and encouragement from the audience. Thank you to all the parents that drove the students to the concert and to Ms Taylor and Ms Stacey for attending the concert and organising the students.

Easter Hat Parade - Friday 12 April 10.00am

Our K-2 students will parade their Easter hats made with their senior buddies this Friday at 10.00am under the K-2 COLA. All parents and grandparents are welcome to come along and see the hats that day.

Year 3 & 4 Photographic exhibition - Friday 12 April at 9.00am

Our stage 2 students would like to invite all parents to view the photographic exhibition they have put together from their recent trip to Manly Dam with the Field of Mars team. The photographs reflect their investigations and work in our local bushland. Feel free to come up and view the exhibition prior to watching our Easter Hat Parade.

SRC - Friday 12 April at 11.30am

Following the Easter Hat parade we will have our final SRC meeting for the term in our school hall. The guest classes this week include 1C, 4M and 6B. Parents are welcome to view this meeting in the school hall if they wish.

PSSA – Winter Competition

The notes for all winter PSSA team members went home this week. The competition is due to start the first week back next term. Please return permission notes and money to school by Wednesday 1 May. Students will not be allowed to participate in PSSA teams without permission. The PSSA fees cover the transport costs and additional coaches required to run competitive sport in the school. Non-payment alternatives are available on a Friday if required. We will be offering professionally coached netball and badminton sports to our Home Sport program next term. Coaches for PSSA include:

Boys’ soccer - Ms Lisa Cash, Ms Bianca Murray
Girls Soccer - Mrs Nicole Blackband, Ms Kate Stacey
Netball - Mrs Ellie Radan
Rugby League - Mrs Mel Ward

Protective gear including shin pads and mouthguards must be worn during the appropriate sports. Drink bottles and correct sports uniform are also required on a Friday afternoon. It looks to be a great season ahead.

ANZAC Day Service - Wednesday 1 May

We will be having our official ANZAC day service on Wednesday 1 May in the school grounds. Our school leaders will run this service.

Congratulations Ms Victoria Durazza

This Saturday Ms Durazza teacher of 2D will be married to her long time partner Mr Paul Warnock. On behalf of Manly Vale Public School we would like to wish her all the best for her upcoming nuptials and hope she has a wonderful day.

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,

The Kindergarten, Year 1 & Year 2 teachers and support staff would like to sincerely wish all our students and their families a relaxing holiday break. It has been an extremely busy term but we are thoroughly enjoying our new learning space. We hope the weather is kind and you all get to spend some quality family time together.

Carol Speight - K-2 Assistant Principal

Dates for Your Diary

Waste Free Wednesday

Easter Hat Parade – Friday 12 April 10.00am

We are having our K-2 Easter Hat Parade on Friday at 10.00am, under the K-2 COLA. Parents and grandparents are welcome to come along to see our colourful creations! We look forward to seeing you there.

Applications for Year 5 entry to an
Opportunity Class in 2020

Notes detailing expressions of interest have gone home to all year 4 students who wish to sit the OC placement tests for Year 5, 2020. The application process is online and opens on 30 April and closes on 17 May. Please make sure you have returned your expression of interest form to school if you are applying for the OC test. Please note that the expression of interest form that is returned to school is not an application. Applications must be completed by parents and carers online. Parents and carers can find more information in the link below.

The actual test is on Wednesday 31 July 2019. 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 Miss Thomson or Mrs Lee.

Catherine Thomson

Woolworths Earn & Learn

The Woolworths Earn & Learn program gives schools around Australia the chance to earn amazing school equipment.

Between 1 May and 25 June 2019 collect as many stickers as you can. With every $10 spent at Woolworths, one sticker is collected. To help boost your sticker collection, look out for the range of participating products in store which will earn you double stickers.

These can be placed onto the Earn & Learn sticker sheets. Sticker sheets are available via the link below and will also be provided in the front office. Sticker sheets can be dropped into the collection box in store or to the front office at Manly Vale Public School.

Tegan Robertson – Coordinator

Year 4 Field of Mars Digital Photography
Excursion

This term, Year 4 students have been exploring how to represent native flora through the visual arts. They have created pencil and charcoal sketches, painted foam prints and watercolour artworks throughout our creative arts unit this term.

On Monday last week, Year 4 had a visit from the Field of Mars team to help us investigate and appreciate the special features of the bushland at Manly Dam through teaching us how to capture nature through photography.

After learning about photography techniques, our budding Year 4 photographers were let loose on the walking tracks and reserves of Manly Dam, with teachers in tow, to capture their ‘perfect shot’.

We had some wonderful experiences trying out how to use the rule of thirds, angles, macro shots, leading lines and shadows to create unique images of our unique surroundings.

Once back at school, our photographers entered the ‘post-production’ phase, using iPad apps to edit their images (no filters allowed!) and put the finishing touches on their final masterpieces. And they sure do look impressive!

We look forward to putting our photos on display at our Year 4 exhibition.

Stage 3 Science – from raw fleece to felt

To wrap up the Science unit ‘Food & Fibre Production’, stage 3 students made felt from raw fleece straight off a merino sheep. They closely studied the fibres to determine the fineness of the wool. Students learned that the fineness is measured in microns (one millionth of a metre) and that this helps determine the class of wool when it is being classed. The merino wool the students experimented with is 16-18 microns in diameter. This wool is as fine a wool you would get without factory farming. Students realised that the wool is rather sticky, which is due to the oil, lanolin, in the wool.

A simplified version of the process to make felt involved:

1. Teasing the wool and laying in 3-4 fine layers on bubble wrap
2. Wetting and soaping the wool through a net
3. Rolling the wool in the bubble wrap about 200 times
4. Gently rolling the wool into a ball
5. Rinsing under warm water until water runs clear
6. Throwing into the sink a number of times (they enjoyed this part)
7. Laying the wool (now felt) out to dry

The main key is: warmth, soap and agitation.

While the students appeared shocked to think that dirty, sticky wool could be turned into felt, they carried out each step of the process with care and precision and were pleased with the results.

Sarah Humphreys

Learning Support

Volunteers needed!

Parents, Carers, Grandparents, Relatives, Friends and Members of the Community – We need your help! Do you have a spare morning to help some students with literacy?

We are looking for volunteers to support our students with developing their reading skills. This is an intensive literacy program (called MultiLit) that is separate to the work that children carry out in the classroom. The lessons are prescribed and you will be given all the necessary training and resources to support the delivery of the program. Volunteers will be working with children from years 2-6 in the break-out spaces between classrooms. If you are able to come in one or two mornings per week we would love to hear from you!

If you enjoy working with children and would like to be part of our school community please email the school with contact details with ATTN to: The LST Literacy program.

You will require a free voluntary Working with Children Check, which we can provide further details of. Training will take place early in Term 2. It is a fabulous and rewarding experience to support the development of children’s learning. We look forward to hearing from you!

Cadence Abrahams - Learning Support Teacher

“Surviving” the school holidays

Children need the holidays to recharge their batteries and refresh themselves, ready for the next term. Holidays are also an opportunity to spend time with your child and have fun together. You do not have to plan thrilling and stimulating experiences for everyday of the holidays. Since kids are typically exhausted at the end of the term, a period of non-activity is not only nice but necessary. Unwinding is good for everyone.

Here are some ideas to help you and your family have fun:

• Get the family out into the fresh air – take a bike ride, a trip to the beach, a bushwalk, or a visit to a park or reserve in your area.
• Plan an ‘expedition’ – take the bus or a train and get them to map out a walking adventure. You could take lunch and have a picnic.
• Take part in some of the free school holiday activities that libraries, local councils and even local shopping centres offer.
• Involve other people. Holidays can be a difficult time for parents, especially working parents. You may be able to organise play dates with friends, coordinate with a friend to look after your child, or draw on family as that gives your child the opportunity to spend time with grandparents, cousins or other relatives.
• Think about the projects your child has been doing at school. You may find activities, events or exhibitions in your area that will help your child get a better understanding of what they are learning at school.
• Have your child find some music and make up a dance, or find a favourite story and make up a play.
• Kids’ Choice – Let your child choose from a list you’ve created. This is fun and empowering for them. Even though you are in control, they will feel that they have a say in how to spend their holidays. Make a list of two or three activities (too many choices complicates things) and let them decide. The list might include going to the movies, going out for ice cream or a trip to the zoo.
• Have a Pyjama Day – declare a lazy day by letting them hang out in their pyjamas, make pancakes, read books…HINT - Don’t plan Pyjama Day on the only sunny day of the week. Use a sunshine break to get your child outside.
• Plan home days. Draw up a schedule so there are no questions about what you’re doing on that particular day.
• Get your child involved in the day to day running of the house. Spend time in the kitchen with your child, baking and preparing meals. This makes use of their maths skills and shows them how maths is used all around them. Helping with housework also teaches your child lots of important skills about being organised, being part of a family, cooperating and contributing!
• Spark your child’s imagination by visiting museums and galleries. Lots of these places are free.
• Have a family movie day/night. Make your own popcorn, close the blinds and pretend you are at the movies.
• If the weather is warm enough, camp in the backyard.
• Play card games or board games.
• Try some homemade activities – look around your house and you’ll see a multitude of free activities for your child. For example, collecting leaves, interesting stones or bottle tops/ making a doll’s house out of a shoebox/using lego to make a creation/make a jug of fresh lemonade or popcorn, craft activities like playdough, fingerpaints and science activities…

For some fun school holiday activities go to –

Tips to survive for parents and carers. . .

• Take the pressure off yourself – decide that you’re just going to enjoy hanging out together without the hustle and bustle of the school term
• If you’re working in the holidays, try and use the evenings or times when you are not working to have fun with your child, free of school routines.
• Many the school holiday programs have a specific focus like art or craft or sports. Let your child be involved in choosing what program interests them. Your child will have more fun if they’re doing what they like.
• Bring some balance into the holidays – organise some activities but also have some quiet time each day where everyone does something by themselves, including you! It could be reading, drawing or listening to music or an audio book. If your child enjoys writing keep a holiday journal - this helps your child with their literacy skills.
• Remind yourself that boredom is essential for children. Kids benefit from boredom as it teaches them self-reliance and they learn to make their own fun. Boredom can trigger creative and imaginative play but you need to encourage kids to get used to not being told how to spend their time. To ride out the pleas of boredom, you could say ‘What do you think you could do?’ or have a list of ‘I’m bored’ activity ideas on the fridge. Let them know it’s their choice to be bored or they can choose not to be bored. This is a good concept to embrace wholeheartedly during the school holidays as it may save your sanity more than once.
• It’s tempting to rely on digital devices to entertain your child but don’t let them spend too much time on them. Set some family tech rules together, for e.g. the children aren’t allowed any screen time until they have done one chore, one exercise/outdoor play, some reading and a game.
• Children can get grumpy, test boundaries and can become challenging when routines are broken. Sticking to some kind of routine during the holidays is a good idea.

The most important thing is enjoying time with your child.

Happy holidays from the Learning Support Team!

School Safety

Uniform Shop

Canteen News

Thank you to all the volunteers who have helped in the canteen this term. We have loved meeting so many new volunteers and have also so appreciated all the regulars.

Thank you for helping us get the new canteen up and running.

Have a great holiday break and see you next term.

Kerry & Robyn
Canteen Coordinators

Canteen Volunteers Roster Term 2, 2019

Community Notices

Northern Beaches Council School Holiday Activities Autumn 2019

Brochures are available at the school office or see council’s website on the link below for more information.