4 March 2021

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Today was photo day and all children have been photographed with their new 2021 class. Thank you to Mrs Birrell and Mrs Radan for all their organisation of the day. Class and individual photos were taken and sibling photos were arranged for the lunchtime period. It is always such a difficult job for the photographer to get every child smiling at the right time. We hope these photos are a great memory of your child’s time at Manly Vale Public School.

You may pay for your school photos via the secure online advancedorder web portal below specifically set up for our school using the unique 9-digit online order code P2B 27Y HEW.

Gym Make-up Day

Year 5 & 6 students will have a gym make up day tomorrow Friday 5 March as their gym day was cancelled today as the photographers used the hall. Please ensure that if your child usually has gym on a Thursday this term (years 5 & 6) that they come prepared for the make-up day tomorrow.

Congratulations to our SRC Representatives 2021

Last Friday our 48 student representatives received their badges at the Friday assembly. Our first meeting for the year followed with great suggestions from 6R (artwork on the steps), 2W (shade shelter over the basketball court) and 4B (chicken wire mesh to be attached to railing to stop handballs going into the bush). There was great debate and discussion at the meeting and our GA Barry has some additional jobs to add to his list!

Record Breaking Moments- School Swimming Carnival 2021

This year we had some of our students break long standing school records for various races at our 2021 school swimming carnival. Congratulations to the students below on their outstanding achievements and good luck at the Zone Swimming Carnival tomorrow.

Zone Swimming – Friday 5 March

Good luck to our 35 swimmers who will be representing our school in the Zone swimming carnival tomorrow. Thank you to Mrs Ward, Mrs Birrell and Mr Dylan who will be accompanying the team this year.

No PSSA - Friday 5 March

Due to the Zone swimming carnival there will be no PSSA sport tomorrow. Teachers will arrange some sport activities with their class instead of the scheduled PSSA competition.

Class Coordinators 2021

Thank you to all the parents who volunteered to become 2021 Class Coordinators. We had a great meeting last Monday and you should receive correspondence from your parent coordinators early next week. Some parents were not at the information nights so therefore have not signed up to be on the class communication email lists. Teachers will send home a slip for you to complete if you wish to be included on the email lists. Please return the slip as soon as possible.

Year 4 Field of Mars Excursion - Monday 8 March

Next Monday our Year 4 students will participate in a local environmental excursion with the Field of Mars team. Year 4 students will visit the local area and gain some local knowledge of the environmental issues and history. Please make sure that your child comes prepared to attend this local excursion on Monday.

P &C Meeting - Tuesday 9 March

Next Tuesday we will have our first P & C meeting for 2021. If you wish to become a member of the P & C you will need to bring a gold coin to pay for your membership. Non-members are unable to vote on actions raised.

The meeting will outline the directions for the school for the next 4 years along with a fundraising plan for 2021. As many of our current committee are due to step down at the end of this year we are looking for new recruits for our P & C. Please feel free to come along and stay for as long as you can. We aim to finish the meeting promptly at 9.00pm.

Selective High School Test - 2022

Next week some of our Year 6 students will sit the Selective High School test. This is always a very difficult test with over 15,000 students sitting the exam and only 3,000 students making it into a selective high school. We congratulate and wish all of our students good luck who sit this very difficult test. Please ensure your child is prepared on the day.

High School Enrolment 2022

Thank you, Mrs Blackband for organising the high school nomination process this week. We opened the week with a talk from Christine Del Galo (Principal of Mackellar Girls Campus) and Paul Sheather (Principal of Balgowlah Boys Campus) to allow our year 6 parents to make an informed decision regarding their children attending the local high schools. The Expression of interest form has gone home now and must be returned to school by Friday 12 March. Every Year 6 student must return the Expression of Interest form by this date whether they are attending a local public school or not.

If you have any enquiries regarding enrolment on the local high school, please make an appointment with Mrs Lee or Mrs Blackband.

Band Meeting - Wednesday 3 March 7.00pm

Thank you to all the parents who attended the Band meeting last Wednesday. It was great to set aside dates for performances and discuss ways to support the Band program into 2021.

Thank you to Ben Dickson and Carlos Villanueva for their enthusiasm and commitment to the program and allowing students to enjoy learning a new instrument as part of this gifted and talented program. Thanks to John Logan (president) and Helena Edgerton (secretary) for all their work behind the scenes in supporting this extra-curricular program at Manly Vale Public School. The Band looks forward to another great year!

Please feel free to come along to any band meeting and support this great extra-curricular program for 2021.

Parent/Teacher Interviews – 22 March to 26 March 2021 (Week 9)

You will receive a note showing you how to book a 10-minute interview with your child’s class teacher. We have allocated a week to cover these interviews which will take place in the school hall. Some teachers have already started their interviews and therefore if you have already met with your child’s class teacher you will not require an interview slot during that week. Class parents from 3/4T will have their interviews in week 8 as Ms Thomson is due to go on leave to get married in the last few weeks of school.

NAPLAN Practice Tests - Week 9

Years 3 & 5 students will participate in the NAPLAN online practice tests this term in preparation for the NAPLAN Year 3 & 4 testing in Term 2 from 11 May to 21 May. Information and practice tests are available from the public demonstration site below:

Bus Travel

There was an incident on the morning bus route (619) on Wednesday morning, where a parent was not permitted to travel on the bus. We are currently seeking clarification of the rule regarding parent’s travelling with their children to school on the bus. Please be aware that all of our school buses are at capacity now and seats are required for students only. It is preferable that parents wait at the bus stops rather than travel on an already crowded bus.

Café Owl - Coordinator Required for 2021

There has been a lot of enquiries about the return of Café Owl on a Friday morning. We are looking for a coordinator and volunteers to run Café Owl following the strict COVID guidelines for food handling and gathering of adults. If you are interested in coordinating Café Owl please contact the P & C (through your class coordinator or via the school email) before the next meeting on Tuesday 9 March at 7.00pm in the staffroom. The coordinator role requires organising the volunteers, buying the eggs, bacon and rolls each week, overseeing the set up and clean up in the old canteen, replacing gas bottles and equipment required, collecting the money and giving it to the office after each morning. We would like to thank Mrs Justine Northcott who has done this role for the last few years who wishes to hand it over to someone else.

Parking Problems

We are having a lot of issues with parents choosing to park illegally around the school. Our neighbour across the road from the administration block is unable to get in and out of his driveway as parents park in the “No Stopping” zone right near the crossing on Gibbs Street.

Please be aware of our local community and allow them to enter and exit their driveways in the morning and afternoon. No cars should be stopping in these “No Stopping” zones at pick up and drop off times. Please just park down the street so that driveways are not blocked. There is plenty of parking further down the road towards King Street. Your cooperation and consideration are greatly appreciated.

Year 5 Opportunity Class Information

Key dates for 2022 Year 5 Opportunity Class Placement testing have been released. Applications will open Tuesday 22 April with the sitting date held on Wednesday 21 July. Follow the link for further information.

Tina Lee – Principal

Dates for your Diary

Library Monitor Badges - Friday 5 March

Congratulations to all the students who will be receiving their Library Monitor badges at tomorrow’s assembly. Library Monitors help with all of the essential services in the library including shelving and organising books, writing book reviews and helping other students.

Thank you to all of the wonderful students who applied and were so thoughtful in their applications. A photo of our new Library Monitors will appear in next week’s newsletter so we can celebrate them.

2021 Library Monitors

George Gregor, Curtis Puchner, Johan Hawryluk, Finlay Blanchard, Levi Kosi, Ethan McGowan, Dylan Du, Eli Lougher, Georgie Harris, Soraya Shalav, Maddie Smith, Freya Ciano, Ashleigh Forrest, Amalie Wells, Ellaria Romeo, Alana Hazell, Thanusri Gadikota, Gaby Anderson, Elyssa Biddle, Hannah Sollberger, Serena Cliffe, Alicia Hennesy, Emilka Jelinek.

Ali Webster – Teacher Librarian

Field of Mars Excursion

Tennis News

Last week Oliver Prosek 6R, Mason Macphee 6W and Alejandro Bernal-Granados 5BC competed at the Manly Zone PSSA Tennis trials. All three were successful in progressing to the regional trials which will be held in Gosford next month. Congratulations boys, what an amazing result!

Cricket

On Monday afternoon Manly PSSA had their zone cricket trials. Congratulations to Lachlan McEwen and Mitch McCombe who were successful at the trial and will now represent Manly PSSA at the regional trials. Well done boys!

Canteen News

Recycling

We are encouraging the children to return their recyclables to the canteen by giving them a ’Superkid’ voucher each time they return a recyclable item. We thought this collection, from a lunch time last week, was a good start! Keep up the good work kids!!!

Overdue Accounts

We are still following up overdue canteen payments. Please either return the envelope or go to Flexischools IOU.

Volunteers

Thanks so much to all out fabulous volunteers for taking spots on our Term 1 roster. There are still a few spots to fill though, please follow the link to see what’s available, if you are able to help out at all, no experience needed.

Kerry, Robyn & Becky – Canteen Coordinators

School Information