12 August 2021

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Welcome to Mrs Agata Tams who has taken over 1Y class this week. We farewelled Mrs Young last week and look forward to working with Mrs Tams who has been a regular casual teacher at the school for the past 4 years. Mrs Tams is very excited to be working fulltime with the Manly Vale Stage 1 team.

Kindy 2022

We have postponed our Open Day until next term but will start to connect with our new students and families by the end of this term. If you have not enrolled yet could you please do so online or by downloading an enrolment form from our website and sending it into the office.

Remote Learning

Thank you for all the families who are supporting their children at home with online learning. We appreciate all the efforts you are making in home-schooling your children. We are starting to get extra children arriving at school, please remember that we have minimum supervision at school for those parents who are unable to work from home and our children of essential workers only.

There are currently only 4 teachers (staff rotation) supervising students at school and as the number grows it becomes difficult to manage larger classes of students. Most teachers at Manly Vale Public School, have yet to receive their first vaccination, so increasing staff on site is a concern for their safety. Please support us all as a community by keeping your children at home if you are able.

Home - Schooling

Below is a picture of Skye in KR who made art packs for all her friends in KR.

Manly Vale Playgroup – Help for Families

We had an email this week from Maryann Tanks who has organised a few mums from Manly Vale playgroup to assist families who may be in isolation. If you need anything e.g. Dog walking, shopping etc. please call Maryann on 0412 343 540.

Thank you, Maryann, for that offer for help to the community of Manly Vale.

On Your Soap Box Competition

At this stage we have not heard any news regarding the finals for the Bear Pit competition. We have decided to go ahead with the On Your Soap Box speech writing for students, but the actual competition may look a little different this year. Years 3-6 may be asked to film their speeches, or we may push the competition back to next term when we are hopefully face to face.

K-2 students may have a more informal way of presenting their speeches. Please continue writing the speeches and we will let you know how the competition will look later this term.

Arts Alive Drama Festival – cancelled

Unfortunately, our Arts Alive Drama Festival performance has been cancelled for the year. Thank you to Ms Stacey for all your work in writing the script, auditioning the students and providing rehearsals and support in the lead up to the festival. It has been a wonderful experience for our young actors and we were all lucky to see them perform at the assembly last term. The performance can be viewed by the following link.

Support for Families

Some helpful links below:

Provides free, reliable, up-to-date and independent information to help families grow and thrive together. Contains information on COVID-19 and how to help your family cope.

Information on how to stay safe online during the COVID –19 pandemic

Provides telephone counselling, information and referral service for parents and carers of children ages 0 to 18 who live in New South Wales. Ph: 1300 130 052

Brings together families, support services and community resources so that our children and young people are safe and well. Ph: 1800 066 757

Information, advice and strategies to help you manage your wellbeing and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ph: 1800 512 358

Resources for parents and carers to best support their children and reduce worry and distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tina Lee – Principal

Letter from The Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC – Governor of NSW

Her Excellency the Governor of NSW has prepared a video message to thank and encourage your school community.

Learning from Home

KINDY GALLERY

STAGE 1 GALLERY

YEAR 5 GALLERY

VARIOUS CLASSES GALLERY

Dates for your Diary

ICAS Competition update - Postponed until Term 4

Due to the evolving COVID situation, the ICAS Assessment competitions initially scheduled in term 3, have been postponed until term 4.

The new dates for ICAS Writing, ICAS Reading, and ICAS Maths for stages 2 and 3 will be announced later this term.

Mrs Banham - ICAS Coordinator

Library News

Littlescribe Mini-Writing Festival

Earlier this term students from across K-6 participated in the Littlescribe Mini-Writing Festival. Students tuned in at various times throughout the week to participate in live and recorded workshops with a variety of well-known Australian authors and illustrators including Jackie French, Oliver Phommavanh, Tristan Bancks and Kirli Saunders. Students really enjoyed the opportunity to engage with these real-life literary stars and will have the opportunity to access further learning materials from the festival throughout the term. We would like to express our sincere appreciation to Littlescribe who kindly gifted this wonderful opportunity to our students!

Premier’s Reading Challenge

The 2021 Premier’s Reading Challenge will be closing soon so for Year 3-6 now is the perfect time to record all of those extra books you’ve been reading lately. This year we are running a competition to see which primary class will have the most students complete. The class to beat is 5BC who have 11 students already finished! The winning class can look forward to a special treat when we return to school.

Remember:

Infants Students (K-2) have already completed the challenge through their regular library program – you do not need to do anything at home. We have updated Student Reading Records with the books read during library lessons this year and students will receive a certificate at the end of the year.

Primary Students (3-6) are expected to complete the challenge independently. They need to read 20 books and enter them into the PRC website by the updated closing date, Friday 3 September, to qualify for a certificate at the end of the year. Students use their regular school login to access the website.

Please see the Week 5 library lesson slides in your learning at home platform for further information about important rule updates and book access. The PRC website can also be accessed for further information and you are also welcome to contact me via email if you need support or have queries relating directly to your child’s account.

PRC Website - online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html

Students login with regular Department of Education details.

Book Week

This year our annual Book Week will be postponed until next term. We can look forward to author talks, dress up days and a wonderful celebration of reading when we return to school. More information to come!

Ali Webster – Teacher Librarian

Community Notices

Vinnies

Vinnies is here to help. If any family needs help with food, bills and/or housing during this difficult time, please direct them to our Helpline on 13 18 12 or call their local  Vinnies Support Centre

School Information