25 November 2021

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

We are definitely coming to our end of year celebrations and after the year we have had I am sure all of us are looking forward to a holiday. Over the next few weeks, it is important to read the communication from the school regarding the end of year events and organisation.

P & C Meeting - AGM Tuesday 30 November 7.00pm

Next Tuesday we will farewell our P & C president James Fewtrell and our current treasurer Tony Sherlock. I would like to thank and acknowledge both of these parents for their commitment to these roles over the past few years. Both James and Tony have been supportive to the students and staff of the school and have been such a positive influence on the community. I wish them all the best as they leave these roles and support their children Kate and Isaac through their transition into high school. They will be greatly missed.

We have had some interested parents who are wishing to take on these roles and we hope to elect some new faces onto the committee next Tuesday. We currently have Karen Murgatroyd as Secretary who is happy to remain another year and Kristen Te Pania as the Class Coordinator Liaison. Please come along to the meeting next Tuesday in the staffroom at 7.00pm or email Karen for the zoom link manlyvaleprimaryschoolpc@gmail.com

Attendance at meeting - you will need to wear a face mask and QR code into the school upon arrival at the P & C meeting. You will need to show your double vaccination certificate before entering the staffroom. If you wish to vote at the election you are required to be a full paying member of the P & C. This is a gold coin (minimum) donation and needs to be left at the office no later than Friday 26 November. You are welcome to just join the meeting on zoom.

End of year drinks will be provided at this meeting to farewell our outgoing committee.

ICAS Competition

Thank you to Mrs Banham, Mrs Nelson and Mrs Johnson on their organisation and supervision of the ICAS competition after school over the past few weeks. These competitions are becoming a lot of organisation with no real benefit to the school and our assessment process. The staff and Gifted & Talented Committee will be reviewing our participation in these after school commitments next year.

Banner Assembly

Congratulations to the following students who will receive the School Banner this week in assembly.

Sophia Barbieri - 6B
Levi Kosi - 5K
Ronan Jeffcoat - 4B
Elliya Dent - 1CK
Amelia Lutze - 1G

Congratulations Paloma Baker, Ellaria Romeo, Lia Perez Meyer, Imogen Kiely and Finn Adelbert on receiving banners last week.

Congratulations also to Abbie Wilson, Ashleigh Forrest, Jake Sengchanh and Dylan Seymour on their Dancesport achievements, they will receive their medals tomorrow at the morning assembly. These 4 students will also perform the dances for their peers at this assembly. Congratulations!

Principal Awards

Athletics Fun Day - tomorrow

All classes will take part in an Athletics Fun Day tomorrow. This is in place of our annual school athletics carnival. All students are encouraged to wear sports uniform and house colours. Please make sure that drink bottles and hats are brought for the carnival tomorrow. Unfortunately, we are unable to have any parent attendance at this carnival.

Kindergarten Orientation - last Monday

Congratulations on the 80 students who attended the first face to face Kindergarten Orientation last Monday. It was wonderful to invite parents on site for their first time and allow our new Kindergarten students to meet the teachers and work in their classrooms. Thank you to all parents who attended and to Mrs Oscroft and our Kindergarten teachers for the fun morning of activities they provided. Thanks also to our School Learning and Support Officers and Mrs Abrahams and Mrs Bellamy for their help with observations and settling our new students into their new environments. A great morning for all!

Leaving next year?

We will be farewelling some of our favourite teachers and staff members at the end of the year. Mrs Clair O’Connor is taking a permanent teaching position at PLC, Mrs Carly Rae will be leaving to move to Queensland, Mrs Karen Bellamy will be retiring from teaching and Mrs Emily Kilbane will be returning to her permanent position at Collaroy Public School. All of these teachers have had a tremendous impact on the students and families of Manly Vale Public School. They will all be greatly missed. The end of the year is always a difficult time when planning for staff retention and replacements. Please advise the school in writing if you are intending to leave so that final arrangements can be made.

Congratulations Year 5 Leaders

This week the final 16 candidates for Year 6 school captains and leadership 2022 wrote their speeches and presented them to years 3-6. All students in Years 4 & 5 and teachers will now vote on these students to come up with the final 4 boys and 4 girls. At tomorrow mornings’ assembly we will announce the final 8 leaders. School captains and vice captains will not be announced until the Celebration of Learning assembly on Monday 6 December. I wish to congratulate all of the Year 5 students who put themselves forward for these positions.

Year 6 Graduation Assembly - Monday 13 December at 1.00pm

Only two parents (or grandparents - no ex-students) are able to attend the Year 6 graduation assembly. The COVID guidelines for this event have been relaxed so that our graduating students are able to have some of their families at this assembly. All parents must be vaccinated and wear masks for this event. We are able to provide the social distancing with our new school hall space. All parents will need to QR code in and show proof of double vaccination on arrival. We are all very excited that we are able to have this event with parent participation. Unfortunately, the guidelines are not allowing parents attendance at any other of our end of year assemblies.

Year 6 Disco - Tuesday 14 December 6.00pm

Parents are not able to attend this event but are able to drop off and take photos at the outdoor areas around the school hall. Parents will need to QR code in and show their digital vaccination certificate upon entry into the school.

Year 6 Clap Out - Thursday 16 December at 2.45pm

The school will clap out our Year 6 students on the last day of term Thursday 16 December. Year 6 parents are able to line the school oval upon showing proof of vaccinations and QR coding check in, so that they can be a part of the final exit of their children from the school. Only 2 parents per students are able to attend. No ex-students or additional visitors are able to come on this day.

The Year 6 students will walk around the oval as their last goodbye to primary school with their parent clapping and farewelling them. All year 6 students will then congregate on the basketball court for the final bell and dismissal. Other adults and family members may want to organise a get together down at the dam afterwards.

Rapid Antigen Tests - Not permitted for primary school use

Currently primary schools in NSW are not allowed to accept Rapid Antigen Test results from families as proof of COVID clearance. If your child is sick with cold or flu like symptoms you will need to get a COVID test from a local provider. The home kits are not able to be used at this stage. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Tina Lee – Principal

That’s a R.A.P. – Year 2, Mrs Lucey

2LS Acknowledgement of Country

We would like to acknowledge Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the Traditional Custodians of the lands, waterways and skies across Australia.

We thank you for sharing and caring for the land we learn and play on.

We pay our respects to the Elders past and present and extend our friendship and kindness.

We acknowledge the future custodians of the land that we stand upon today.

Sound Maps

This week in year 2, we have been thinking and talking about the 8 Aboriginal ways of learning. We have been reflecting on the way that Aboriginal People use their senses to learn about, explore and care for Country. Today, we tried to create a deeper connection with Country by heading outside, focusing on our sense of hearing and using our own symbols to make a sound map.

We started by calming and grounding ourselves with a meditation, a story by First Nations storyteller Aurora Liddle-Christie from Dreamy Sleep. This helped us to re-centre ourselves and prepare our minds to listen and take note of what we were about to hear.

After the story we talked about the ways Aboriginal People use their senses, specifically hearing, to learn about and care for the land. We looked at symbols and reflected on where and how they are used in Aboriginal art, storytelling and in nature, in the form of carvings or rock paintings. Some students shared insights they had retained from previous lessons about Aboriginal history and art.

We talked about how we were going to use our sense of hearing to create a sound map outside and brainstormed possible symbols we could create to signify the various sounds we might hear in our school environment, for example an image of a bird for a bird call.

The students were incredibly creative with their individual sound maps, coming up with very interesting and thoughtful symbols for the sounds they heard. Some students even used the size of their symbols to notate the volume of the sound they heard, for example a very small dog to notate the sound of a dog barking in the distance, compared to a larger image of a person, to notate the sound of talking nearby.

Students completed their sound maps back in the classroom using oil pastels and a water colour wash. We reflected on the use of sound in nature and the way that it can be used to observe patterns, for example a bird song at a certain time of day or a frog sound that can only be heard during particular months of the year.

Sound maps are fun and easy to create! If you would like to make your own one at home, all you need is a piece of paper and something to draw with. Find a comfortable spot to sit and listen. Once you have marked your position on the page (we placed ourselves in the centre), you simply listen carefully to your surroundings and then draw symbols or images to represent what you can hear in each direction.

If you would like to learn more about 8 ways, head to the link below:

For more stories from First Nations storytellers, head to the link below:

Mrs Lucey

Dates for your Diary

Stage 1 Athletics Fun Day

Stage 1 will participate in an informal athletics fun day this Friday, 26 November. Students will be engaging in a variety of sport rotations and fun games. Due to current COVID restrictions, parents are unable to attend this event.

The children are encouraged to wear a t-shirt the same colour as their sport’s house.

Kaleidoscope Science Incursion

On Tuesday and Friday last week scientist Mitchell from Kaleidoscope Science visited the school to present the ‘Great Big Science Show’. Student engagement was high as they witnessed foaming chemical reactions, explosions, liquid nitrogen and fireballs. A lucky few were invited up on stage to assist Mitchell along the way. It was wonderful to see so many students applying their knowledge gained during science lessons to predict and contribute to new scientific experiences.

Sally Fisk

Ethics Coordinator & volunteer teachers needed

We’re looking for a volunteer from our parent community who is interested in supporting the school’s ethics program from term 1 in 2022 onwards. Ethics classes are an alternative to scripture, teaching our kids to think, reason and discuss a range of ethical issues. At Manly Vale Public School, we have a strong program, supported by a fantastic team of volunteers. Ethics coordinating is an interesting way of being involved with the school and a great opportunity to interact with our community.

The focus of the role is making sure we have enough volunteers to meet the demand for ethics classes, and liaising with the school to make sure the program runs smoothly. Coordinating typically takes about an hour or two a week. The role is completely flexible and can fit around your other commitments and you will receive full training and support.

If co-ordinating the ethics program or becoming an ethics teacher is a possibility for you, contact Cathy Chase at cathy.chase@primaryethics.com.au or 0414 784 272. For more information about the ethics program, go to the link below:

Lorna Galt – Ethics Coordinator

Canteen News

2022 Bus Travel Information

From 1 November 2021, the bus service provider in the Northern Beaches area will change from State Transit Authority (Sydney Buses) to Keolis Downer Northern Beaches.

Students, parents or carers applying for a School Opal card will need to nominate Keolis Downer Northern Beaches as their bus operator.

Students with an existing School Opal card will automatically have Keolis Downer Northern Beaches added to their travel entitlement.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out via

Community Notices

Teeball Come & Try

Northern Beaches Lifeline Book Fair

Our next book fair for 2021 will be running from Thursday to Sunday, 9-12 December at St Augustine’s College, Federal Parade, Brookvale. We will be following all NSW Health COVID-19 and venue protocols required at that time.

School Information