10 September 2020

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

It is hard to believe that we only have 2 weeks until the end of term. We still have managed to fit in a lot of events and activities but in a different format. All of our dance concerts including Dancesport (year 5), K-2 Dance concert (Ms Vanessa) and Hip Hop dance with years 3 & 4 will all be filmed by the end of term and sent home via a video link. Our teachers also have become very proficient in using video conferencing for staff meetings, professional learning and parent meetings. Thank you to everyone for your ability to adapt and change to these new ways of communicating.

Our annual athletics and cross-country carnivals were run this term and the students certainly had a lot of fun at these events. Summer PSSA for next term is currently in discussions with all the school principals in the area and a decision will be made by the end of term as to whether we are able to run a modified version for the remainder of the competition.

P & C Meeting - last Tuesday

We had our monthly P & C meeting via Zoom last Tuesday. Thank you to the P & C who have been able to retain our canteen staff on job keeper during this period and run the uniform shop remotely. The support of the Band program continues with the purchase of $5000 worth of new instruments. With no fundraising opportunities this year we are looking to run an in-school skip-a-thon next term. Thank you to our regular committee members for the amazing job they are doing to keep parental voice and involvement in the school during what has been a tough year.

Our next meeting will be our Aual General Meeting in November. I want to thank and acknowledge our current committee for all their work this year:

James Fewtrell – President
Helen Gay - Vice President
Karen Murtgatroyd – Secretary
Tony Sherlock – Treasurer
Kristen Te Pania - Class Coordinator Liaison

Thank you also to our regular attendees at the meetings for their support and input into the school. If you are interested in being a part of the P & C or on the committee for next year please make contact with one of the parents above or email the school.

Treasurer for the Canteen - position vacant for 2021

Mrs Kirsten Watson (Bailey 5R) has been the treasurer for the canteen for a number of years and would like to pass over the role to someone else. If you have experience in finance and are interested in talking more about this volunteer role please email the school or make contact via the email manlyvalepscanteen@gmail.com

Before and After School Care Tender

Today our Before and After school care will go to tender. Applications are open to all providers. If you are a parent of the Before and After school care you may make contact with the parent representative on the panel John Gillings. John is an active member of the P & C with his daughter currently attending OOSH. If you wish to give some input in this tender process please email John at johngillings@gmail.com

Teachers on leave - Carol Speight and Patrick Dylan

Our two Assistant Principals will be taking some long service leave as from next week. Mr Dylan (6D) will be replaced by Ms Kate Lewis (Monday, Tuesday & Friday) and Mrs Sarah Humphreys (Wednesday & Thursdays) until week 3 of next term. Mrs Carol Speight will be replaced by Mrs Lynn O’Grady for the remainder of this term with Mrs Speight returning for the start of Term 4. We hope they both have a happy and healthy holiday.

Kindergarten Orientation 2021

Our first Orientation Zoom Q&A will be on Monday 21 September. Information has been sent out to our enrolled parents. If you have a kindergarten child starting next year and have not contacted the school office please do so by the end of next week.

Band Program

We are currently trialling a few different formats for band rehearsals for the remainder of the term. The conductors are focussing on musicianship using percussion, ukuleles and guitars as we are currently not allowed to have woodwind instruments. Junior band will also be participating in some Zoom rehearsals on Thursday mornings or on Monday afternoon with Carlos. Thank you to all the band parents who have been supporting the continuance of our school band program.

Parking

We have been receiving many complaints about illegal parking and unsafe drop off and pick up behaviours. Please do not park across driveways of our neighbours. Please park legally respecting the access for our neighbours. The painted yellow line on the road along the gutter means that you are not allowed to park there. Please do not sacrifice student safety for convenience.

Department of Education COVID-19 Update

Thank you to all parent and carers who have supported the new guidelines regarding COVID-19 testing. A summary of the main aspects that impact our school are:

• All extra-curricular activities such as dance, art shack, drama, choir and math’s club that occur during the school day are on pause.
• Buddies are on pause.
• If a student is unwell and displays any flu like symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat or cough they will be sent home and will need to get a covid test. The child cannot return to school until we have sighted a negative covid result and are symptom free. This can be done by taking a screen shot of the negative covid result which is usually sent as a text message. You will then need to email this screen shot to the school (manlyvale-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au) before your child can return.
• When communicating a child’s absence please provide detail on why they are away. Of course if it was because of any flu like/cold symptoms we will need to sight a negative covid test. We need this to ensure we are following the guidelines.
• Interschool sports have been allowed to continue within our local area. The PSSA conveyors for our local area will be meeting shortly to manage the best way forward with the aim to be resuming summer PSSA. This will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
• Minimised parents and carers on the school grounds. Parents and carers are still unessential visitors and should not be on site. We therefore ask for all parents if coming on site to drop off or collect your child and to leave as soon as you have done so. Please ensure the 1.5m social distancing rule between one another.
• If you need to come into the school office for any reason you will be required to complete an external visitor form.
• Our library remains open for students to use at lunch, however each stage has been assigned a day to ensure no crossing over of stages.
• Kindergarten Orientation, excursions and parents/carers attending the school is on hold. This means that parent meetings will need to occur over the phone with the teacher.

Thank you for your support and understanding as we continue to navigate the challenges of educating our students during this ever-evolving pandemic.

Tina Lee – Principal

Deputy Principal’s Report

Kindergarten Orientation 2021

Transition to school is an important time for families and students to feel connected to their new school environment, start to build relationships with school staff and have the information they need, at the time when they need it. This year it seems our usual transition program is unable to go ahead as per current advice from the Department of Education (DoE). “Schools should be planning for a range of contingencies to allow them to hold off from usual activities supporting transition, to being completely online”

With this in mind, we have informed our Kindergarten 2021 families that our first session on Monday 21 September 9.30 -11.00am is a live Q & A forum to try and answer all the questions you may have at this point in time for starting school here at Manly Vale Public School. If you would like to submit any questions for this zoom please visit the link below.

To try and show you our school we have created a virtual tour of our school for parents and children to watch. For all of our Kindergarten 2021 students wondering what happens during the day here at big school we have created a short movie about the day in the life of a Kindergarten student. To view these films please see the flyer below.

The remaining orientation sessions are still being planned as we wait to be informed by the Department of Education. The main point to remember is that our children take their lead from us, so being positive and confident about the start of school, even without the onsite visits and transition program which we are accustomed is important.

The Partners in Learning parent feedback survey for Manly Vale Public School Monday 11 August – Friday 23 October

Thank you to those parents and carers who have already completed the parent survey, if you haven’t yet it is still open and we would appreciate your feedback. The survey will help our school understand parents’ and carers’ perspectives on their child’s experience at school. These include: communication between parents/carers and staff, activities and practices at home and parent/carer views on the school's support of learning and behaviour. This valuable feedback will help our school make practical improvements and feed into our next 4 year school plan.

To access the survey for our school go to the link below:

More information about the survey is available at the link below:

Although participating in the survey is entirely voluntary, your responses are very much appreciated.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week.

Sharon Oscroft – Deputy Principal

Dates for your Diary

Waste Free Wednesday

School Leader’s Tribute to Mrs Lee – Oliver Sollberger & Phoebe Crowe

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you Mrs Lee for being a great role model as our principal. We appreciate all the things you do for us. Phoebe and I will now state some of your best leadership qualities.

As a leader you have shown great bravery you are such an inspiration to the students here at Manly Vale. Your ability to make big decisions for our school and students and not be afraid of the outcome is amazing. You always are persistent and never give up on the school and the students. Not only are you brave you are also kind.

You know everyone and make them feel like they belong. You make everyone feel important, safe and valued. You help kids if they can’t find their friends or their parents at the end of the day. You make good decisions for every individual person.

You are an enthusiastic leader who makes school fun and a positive place to learn. Your positive attitude effects on the students making them happy. You have filled the school with joy, positive mind sets and resilience. On top of that you bring a smile to people’s faces with your sense of humour.

You are funny which shows that you enjoy your job and like being here. You are relaxed and think it’s ok not to take yourself so seriously all the time. Your humorous attitude has a positive effect on all the students and you keep the teachers smiling too.

In conclusion you are a great principal and we as young leaders and future leaders are inspired by you. You have taught us how to be kind, brave and much, much more. We wish you could be our principal for the rest of our school years. Everyone at Manly Vale is so lucky to have you. Thanks for everything you do.

K-2 On Your Soap Box 2020

Well done to K-2 for presenting their OYSB speeches last week. The teachers were blown away with their public speaking skills and the engaging and entertaining speeches. The class winners will be presenting their speech to their grade this week. The grade winner will then receive a certificate during the Friday morning school assembly on 11 September.

Congratulations to the class winners.

Scholastic Book Club

Scholastic brochures have been distributed. Orders are due Friday 11 September 2020.

Community Notices

Peninsula Softball