30 April 2020

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Welcome back to Term 2 Learning from Home. I hope you all enjoyed a relaxing break and enjoyed the wonderful sunshine. We are all feeling very relaxed and rested and ready for another busy term. Correspondence was sent home last week via email and the Class Coordinators outlining the first two weeks of schooling for us all.

New Staff for Term 2

We welcome our new Teacher Librarian Mrs Alison Webster this term. Mrs Webster will be in charge of the library and will be here Wednesday to Friday each week. Mrs Morrison will continue her support of library lessons for Monday and Tuesday.

Mr Alex Gonda also joins us this term and will be working with our EALD students on a Tuesday and Wednesday as well as teaching 2C on a Thursday for Mrs Speight (in Mrs Sorenson’s absence).

Congratulations Mrs Jordy Fraser

During the holidays Mrs Fraser gave birth to a baby girl, Audrey. Mrs Fraser and her beautiful baby daughter are both doing well. Congratulations to the Fraser family.

Welcome to our new families

During the holidays we have had 2 new families move into the area. We would like to extend a warm welcome to our new students Lestyn Gallagher (4M), Sophie Gallagher (6D), Eesha and Kanda Somasundarum who will both go into 3T. We understand it is a very difficult time to move schools and want to extend a very warm welcome to both of these families.

Weeks 1 & 2 (Phase 1)

Students are to remain at home and engage in remote learning. Students are able to attend school if parents require supervision for their children as they are emergency workers. Learning packs are available from the front office and students will need to engage with learning online. Class Coordinators emailed the learning for this week last Monday night. Years 5 & 6 students must pick up their packs and textbooks from the front office if they haven’t already done so. Students who have limited access to devices and the internet can pick up hard copies of the lessons from the front office.

Students and staff who are at school must be well and not showing any symptoms of the Coronavirus. Parents will be called to pick up children from the front office if they are sent to school when they are sick. Please see the advice for families following the link below regarding the “managed return to school” plan from the Department of Education.

Week 3 – Monday 11 May

From the 11 May students will be encouraged to return to school 1 day a week. This will be managed by the school. The school executive team and teachers are discussing the best way to do this so as to support families and students with ongoing online learning whilst allowing students to have contact and support from their teachers.

We are looking at a few models of implementation and will forward the details of the plan later this week or early next week so parents have the opportunity to plan for this. We are not able to accommodate individual family’s requests regarding the days they wish their children to attend as this requires a whole school approach to supervision and learning and the organisation of 537 students and 25 teachers, as well as following the health guidelines communicated regarding social distancing. The supervision and safety of all students and staff, along with allowing students to have support with their current learning environment, will guide the directions of this planned and staggered approach.

Please see attached “Managed Return to school plan” from the Department of Education.

Drink Bottles (compulsory)

All access to the school bubblers has been locked off for the term. Students must bring their water bottles each day to school when they are attending.

Pick up and Drop off

All students will need to be picked up and dropped off at the grass area next to the flag poles for this term. We are limiting adult contact in the school classrooms and ask that all parents wait down at these areas in the afternoons for pick up. Kindergarten teachers and executive staff will be at the bottom of the staircase to assist parents with these arrangements.

School Canteen – Open Week 3

Kerry and Robyn will be re-opening the school canteen from Monday 11 May. Students will be able to order their lunch and snacks on the day they are attending the school. The canteen will remain cashless and all orders will need to be done on Flexischools including snacks and recess orders.

Volunteers will be following hygiene and social distancing guidelines whilst they are working in the canteen. Please email Kerry on manlyvalepscanteen@gmail.com if you are able to assist in the canteen this term.

Opportunity Class Placement Process - delayed

As a response to the social distancing measures that are currently in place to help slow the spread of COVID-19 throughout the community, the Opportunity Class Placement test will be delayed until later in the year. Applications for this process will not open on 28 April 2020 as previously advised.

Building Works

We are nearing the end of our building works. The hall has been fitted with sound equipment, a stage curtain, fans for cooling and audio-visual equipment. The remediation concrete work on the stairways and entrance ways will be completed by the end of week 2 of the term. We are all very excited to have our new school completely finished by Monday 11 May.

Entry to the school will be via the staircase and ramp at the southern end of the school near the basketball court until all this work is complete.

COVID-19 National Broadband Network (NBN) Educational Relief Package

As part of the NBN COVID-19 Education Relief Package, approximately $50 million will be directed from NBN to help retailer providers support low-income households with school-aged children who do not currently have an active NBN™ connection at home.

Please refrain from engaging any retailer until NBN announce their official retail partners under the new scheme. An official agreement between NBN and the internet provider must be made first. NBN and their internet providers are currently working out a way to support families who are experiencing financial hardship.

Families can check the following NBN website for further information.

Tina Lee - Principal

School Banking

Message from Commonwealth Bank

The health, safety and wellbeing of our communities and our people remains our highest priority. Due to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding coronavirus, the School Banking program will remain on hold. We will continue to monitor the situation and keep you informed with any updates including how we will be managing Dollarmite tokens for students.

In the meantime, here are some handy online resources for parents who wish to maintain momentum with their child’s financial education:

Start Smart: these resources have been created to improve children’s money management skills, and is aligned to the Australian Curriculum and the National Consumer Financial Literacy Framework.

The Beanstalk: offers videos and fun activities for children to learn about money.

Scholastic Book Club

In these unprecedented times we’re all being asked to change the way we work and live. Our tradition of putting books into the hands of kids isn’t going to change, but for Term 2, we're doing things a little differently. We ask that you continue to work with us to maintain our unique distribution partnership with schools. This means we can keep on putting traditional delivery costs back into offering the best prices and the best selection of books!

Dates for Your Diary

Community Notices

The Link Community Care ‘LUNCHBOX’

Need help with the kid’s lunches during school holidays or while schooling from home? What about your own lunch? Maybe an elderly relative or neighbour?

The Link is partnering with Pittwater Sport Centre and the businesses within the Centre, to help those in most need on the Northern Beaches during this challenging time. The program is called ‘LUNCHBOX’ and provides people with a sandwich, a drink, a piece of fruit and a snack. The ‘LUNCHBOX’ is provided free, although a gold coin donation would be appreciated but not essential.

The program is provided as a drive-through service to adhere to social distancing protocols and will be available Monday to Friday from 11.00am to 2.00pm. The ‘LUNCHBOX’ can be collected from Pittwater Sports Centre, 1525 Pittwater Road, North Narrabeen.

See our website for more details