29 October 2020

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

World Teacher’s Day

This Friday 30 October is World Teacher’s Day. The P & C have prepared a short presentation for all the teachers at the Friday morning assembly and will have a lovely morning tea delivered. We would like to thank all of our teachers for the dedication and commitment they have to the students and families at Manly Vale Public School. This year in particular has been an extremely difficult year for all teachers and the staff at Manly Vale have always kept their focus and attention on providing the best possible education for the students. Thank you to all the teachers at Manly Vale for the work you do every day!

Junior Band 2021

This week our junior band performed to Year 2 & 3 students as an introduction to the band program for 2021. The band members talked about their instruments and played some of their best pieces including the “Theme from Star Wars.” The audience was so impressed that the majority of them wanted to join the band program for next year. Students took home Expression of Interest notes which need to be returned to school. Parents who would like to ask questions about the program will be able to on Thursday 4 November, Carlos and Ben our conductors will be hosting a Zoom information session. Please add any questions you have about the program by following the link:

New students to the band program have been asked to put 3 choices of instrument on their forms. Interviews and assessments will be conducted by Carlos and Ben over the next few weeks to allocate instruments for the junior band next year.

Skip-A-Thon - Friday 6 November

All students will participate in a skip-a-thon on Friday 6 November. This will be the only school fundraiser this year. The P & C have been unable to have their usual fundraisers including the Mother’s and Father’s Day events and the Trivia night, so this is it! Ongoing funds are required to run our school-based canteen and uniform shop, as well as support the renovation of the old playground equipment. Sponsorship forms have been sent home with all students. Please collect the cash from sponsors and then pay online through the Flexischools site. We are still trying to avoid collecting cash at this stage. All sponsorship forms must be brought in on the Friday prior to the event for collation.

Kindergarten Gym begins

Today was the first gym lesson for our Kindergarten students. Paul our gym instructor enjoyed meeting our youngest gymnasts and they certainly loved doing Kindy gym in our school hall. Just a reminder that every Thursday Kindy should wear their sport’s uniform for gym.

Kindergarten 2021 Orientation - Monday 2 November/Monday 9 November

Next week we will host our first face to face Kindergarten Orientation program for 2021. The drop off for our new Kindergarten students is next to the flag poles at 9.30am. Children will then be escorted up into the classrooms and parents will need to exit the school until 10.45am. We will have another Orientation session on the following Monday 9 November and then a picnic at Manly Dam on Thursday 19 November. If you haven’t completed an enrolment form for your child you must do so prior to these events. Please contact the office or go to the school’s website for enrolment forms.

School Tour - Thursday 12 November at 3.30pm

There will be a school tour for all new families wishing to see the school on Thursday 12 November at 3.30pm. Please meet outside the school office at 3.30pm and complete the visitors form. The tour will be a walk around the outside of the buildings with strict social distancing in place.

Farewell Ian Hills - Café Owl

Although we haven’t been able to run Café Owl all year we hope to have it up and running for 2021. Ian Hills one of our ex-parents who has stayed on to run the café will be retiring from his role this week. We would like to thank Ian for his commitment to the school and in particular making all those hundreds of bacon and egg rolls. You will be greatly missed and we truly appreciate all you have done for this community event over the years.

Leaving the school?

Please email the office if you are intending on leaving the school for 2021. Classes are currently being made for next year and it is helpful to know what families are moving to another school.

School fees

Please finalise all payments to school fees as soon as possible. Most of the programs have been completed at this stage and there are still outstanding payments. If you are having difficulty with payments please contact Mrs Lee as soon as possible.

Parking

Every week a neighbour calls the school with complaints of driveways being blocked due to parents illegally parking in the pick-up and drop off times. Please do not park across the neighbour’s driveways. There is plenty of parking just a short walk from the school. Please respect our neighbours and their property.

Stewart House Donation - envelopes sent home

Today you will receive an envelope asking for a donation to Stewart House. We usually have key rings and trinkets to sell to fundraise but unfortunately due to the COVID guidelines we are unable to do this. Stewart House is situated on South Curl Curl beach and is used to support children from all over NSW who require respite from complex family situations or need additional support with personal wellbeing and health. Manly Vale Public School Student Representative Council have this charity as our major charity every year. Our SRC supports this charity as it is local and it is “children helping children.” If you have a gold coin please put it in the envelope provided and return to school by Friday 20 November. Thank you.

Tina Lee – Principal

Dates for your Diary

Skip-a-thon - Friday 6 November

Friday 6 November 2020 (week 4), all children from K-6 will be participating in our school skip-a-thon. The children will be demonstrating their skipping skills across a range of rotational skipping activities. This is the main P & C fundraiser for 2020. This week your child has brought home a green sponsorship form. All sponsorship forms need to be handed in by Friday 6 November. Due to covid restrictions donations will be collected through Flexischools online. Students are encouraged to collect donations from family and loved ones and then parents deposit these amounts through their Flexischool accounts.

Year 5 Students - Selective High School Test, Year 7 2022

Year 5 students all received a note outlining the application process for Selective High School applications for Year 7 2022. Could you please return the permission note by next Friday 30 October if you would like your child to apply for Selective High. If we do not receive a reply we assume that you and your child are not applying.

The Selective High School Placement Test will be held on Thursday 11 March 2021.

If you would like to have your child considered for Year 7 selective high school entry in 2021, you need to apply on the internet.

Detailed instructions on how to apply online will be available at:

The application website opened at that link on 6 October 2020 and closes on 9 November 2020. You must apply online before the closing date.

There are no paper application forms. If you do not have internet access, you could apply at a public library. If you have a disability that prevents you from using a computer, you can contact the High Performance Unit for assistance.

TO APPLY YOU WILL NEED TO REGISTER AND THEN APPLY THROUGH THE HIGH PERFORMING STUDENTS WEBSITE.

If you have any further questions please contact Mrs Blackband via the school office.

Nicole Blackband

Scholastic Book Club

Scholastic brochures have been distributed. Orders are due Friday 30 October 2020.

2021 School Travel

Community Notices

Balgowlah Rotary