25 July 2016

Newsletter Articles

PBL Focus for June

Principal’s Message

Welcome back

We warmly welcome returning and new students and their families to St Ives Park Public School. I have been most impressed with how positively and purposefully students have made the ‘back to school’ adjustment. This term will see the exciting inclusion of the Seed, Harvest, Spoon program and finish with our annual SIPPS spectacular which is themed to celebrate multicultural diversity.

This semester at SIPPS, we welcome Mr Jason Leskovec as our relieving Learning and Support Teacher. Our new school counsellor, Ms Beatrijs Dewulf will work at SIPPS every Monday from August 1. We are fortunate to have received an increased half-day allocation of school-counsellor support. I would like to welcome Ms Dewulf to our school community and also acknowledge the excellent work of Mrs Merryn Taplin as our relieving school counsellor over the last 12 months.

Mrs Duggan has succeeded in gaining a permanent position as an early childhood educator at a local preschool. We thank her for the positive contribution she has given SIPPS over many years and wish her good luck in her future career. We welcome back Mrs Melanie Price who will continue to teach the K-6 Music program while Miss Buckle is on leave.

Education Week

Please join us next Thursday August 4 for our Open Day to celebrate Education Week 2016. This year’s theme is ‘Shared stories, better learning, stronger communities’. Please see the following program.

Staff Professional Learning

Last Monday, our Staff Development Day focused on training teachers in delivering Visible Teaching & Learning as a key priority in achieving our strategic directions. Evidence-based research synthesised by Professor John Hattie has shown that positive behaviour for successful lifelong learning can be enhanced when the ‘learning is visible to teachers and the teaching is visible to the students’. This semester, teachers will focus on incorporating into their teaching practice the use of strategies to maximise impact on student learning. Examples are:

• Explicitly communicated learning intentions and success criteria
• Explicit quality feedback using ‘bump it up walls’ & ‘I can statements’
• Student goal setting

Another ongoing focus of professional development at SIPPS relates to the development of a Growth Mindset Culture at SIPPS so we give students a path to the future that creates greater persistence. Ted Talk: The power of believing that you can improve or the power of ‘yet’. Professor Carol Dweck shares tips on how to create growth mindset classrooms in the following presentation.

Dangsan Middle School Delegate

Next week we are very pleased to be hosting a special visitor. Mrs Heeyoung Kang will be visiting SIPPS from Dangsan Middle School in Seoul, South Korea. As the SIPPS lead teacher for this project, Mr Guzman visited Dangsan School earlier this year and our Stage 3 students have already been engaging in some joint learning initiatives with Dangsan students via our video conferencing facility. During Mrs Kang’s time in Sydney she will attend a conference at the Sydney Opera House and enjoy a homestay with Mrs Park our Korean language teacher. The program objectives focus on teachers as key conduits to student outcomes and aims to build teacher capability in the following areas:

• strengthen intercultural understanding and values
• build ICT skills for teaching and learning
• develop sustainable school partnerships
• establish and support a community of learners

The Tell Them From Me student feedback survey

I am delighted that this term, our school, like many other public schools in the state, will participate in a Department of Education initiative: the Tell Them From Me student feedback survey. The survey aims to help improve student learning outcomes and measures factors that are known to affect academic achievement and other student outcomes. The focus of the NSW-wide survey is on student wellbeing, engagement and effective teaching practices.

You may remember that our students also participated in a Tell Them From Me student survey in Term 1 this year. Asking students to complete the survey twice in one year allows us to identify trends in student responses as well as track engagement and motivation across the school year.

More information about the survey is available at:

The survey is a great opportunity for our students to provide us with valuable and quick feedback on what they think about school life, how engaged they are with school and the different ways that teachers interact with them. Schools in Australia and around the world have used the Tell Them From Me survey to help improve how they do things at school.

I want to assure you that the survey is confidential. The survey is conducted online and will typically take less than 30 minutes to complete. It will be administered during school hours between 22 August and 21 October. Participating in the survey is entirely voluntary.

A consent form and FAQs for parents/carers about the survey is being sent home with students. If you do not want your child or children to participate, please return the form to school by Monday 1 August 2016. Copies of the form and FAQs are available from the website above.

The Partners in Learning parent feedback survey

This Term, our school will be participating in the Partners in Learning parent survey, another part of the Tell Them From Me suite of surveys (student, teacher and parent surveys) on student engagement. The survey asks parents and carers questions about different factors that are known to impact on student wellbeing and engagement.

Running this 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.

The survey is conducted entirely online at home or on public computers. The survey will typically take 15 minutes or less to complete and is completely confidential. The parent survey will be conducted between 22 August and 21 October. Participating in the survey is entirely voluntary, however, your responses are very much appreciated.

More information about the survey is available at:

Congratulations Aden

Finally congratulations to Aden who presented his winning Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition speech to the whole school at last week’s K-6 assembly. In the audience was Tony Davey from the NSW Department of Education Arts Unit who coordinates this state-wide competition. He congratulated Aden and our school for the positive way we have embraced public speaking and the multicultural perspective so successfully.

Best Wishes
Gillian Tegg

Inspiring & Nurturing Successful Lifelong Learners

Stage 2 Gibbergong Visit

On Monday 27th June Stage 2 went on an excursion to Ku-ring-gai National Park to build on our study of state and national parks in HSIE. The excursion provided students with hands-on learning opportunities about our local native animals and plants. It also enabled students to experience our local Guringai Aboriginal tribe’s connection to the land. Below are some of the students’ highlights from the day.

Stage Two went on an excursion to Ku-ring-gai National Park. First we visited the Kalkari Visitor Centre to look at animal eggs and sculptures. There were eagles hanging from the ceiling. It was amazing! We then looked at a big map of the local area and had recess on a big rock.

After recess we walked to a look-out where we could see Bobbin Head. We could see the bridge going along the river to the mangroves and we had a class photo. During our walk through the national park we stopped and were given a black piece of paper and a scratch stick. We had to draw all the different plants that we could see around us. I saw a bush that had love heart shaped leaves.

Further down the track our guide Lisa gave us a jar. She then put an old sheet under a tree and shook the tree; all these little bugs fell out. Our job was to catch them. I caught caterpillars, spiders and other insects that I didn’t know.

Zoe Woods, 3/4F

“Wow, this place is awesome!” I was speechless. All around me up and down were animal bones hanging from the ceiling- Aboriginal weapons and stuffed animals.

We had just arrived on our excursion to Ku-ring-gai National Park. Our leader was David and 3/4F had Lisa. After we had a look we went outside. David told us that a Brush Turkey scrapes leaves over his/her nest to protect it. For example David told us that about three months ago there was a Brush Turkey nest right outside the Visitors Centre and another bird tried to eat the eggs but there were too many leaves so it took longer. After a while the bird was nearly at the eggs but the Brush Turkey had returned and scared the bird away.

Next David showed us a 3D map and told us that the black lines were what we were going to follow and the blue lines were creaks or rivers. The red lines were roads.

After the map we went for a bushwalk to Bobbin Head. On the way we had a bit of fun and grabbed some bark pretending that there was an enemy near. I thought it was very fun.

When we finally made it to Bobbin Head and went to the see the Aboriginal caves. Before we went in David told us that Aboriginals probably lived in the cave because there is something in there that an Aboriginal left behind. It was our job to guess what it was. Layla guessed it was a handprint but it wasn’t. The smartie Oscar asked if it was a mitten and David said “that’s right!”

After the Aboriginal caves we went to the mangroves which live in the water, but these mangroves live in salt water! It turned out that when mangroves suck up salt water they sweat it out of their leaves. David let us lick the leaves! They tasted like chips and salt.

Then it was time to go. I was very sad and wanted to see more but we had to go. “I’ll see you soon Ku-ring-gai National Park!” I shouted.

Jack Churchouse, 3S

Athletics Carnival 2016

Our annual athletics carnival was held on Thursday 30th June at Bannockburn Oval. The grounds were fine and previous poor weather stayed away allowing us to run a positive carnival with all key events completed by the end of the day.

Overall it was a successful day. The students were well-behaved and enthusiastically cheered on their classmates and friends. Congratulations to all the students who participated in events as they proudly earned House Points for their teams, Waratah, Banksia and Grevillea.

A small group of parents and grandparents joined us for the day. A big thankyou to Mr Churchouse and other parents for assisting with the timing of running events . Many thanks also to Mrs Forsyth (3/4F) and other staff who assisted in organising the day, and to all the staff members who supervised, measured, marshalled, judged, timed, recorded and encouraged all the way through!

Place ribbons were handed to students in assembly week 1. Congratulations to all those students also for placing in their respective events.

Mr Guzman

Live Life Well @ School - Healthy Ideas

Notes from Office

Sports in Schools PE & Health Program for Term 3: K-2 and non-PSSA students

We are running this program on Fridays in Term 3. An information and permission note was sent home at the end of Term 2. There is a $10.00 fee for this program. A further note was sent home with the children last Friday 22 July – please lodge the permission note and payment this week.

Canberra Excursion G5 & 6: 29-31 August

All notes, medical forms and payment need to be lodged with the school by Friday 5th August.

Stewart House Clothing Appeal

Charity clothing bags were handed out to all students. Please, if you are having a big clean-out in the school holidays please fill up the bags with clean used clothing etc and return the bags to the school office BEFORE 27th July which is the collection date. Thank you

Library

All families and friends are invited to join us on Thursday 25 August to celebrate Book Week. Students are asked to come to school on this day dressed as their favourite book character. We will be having a Book Parade at 12.15pm with our friends from Sir Eric Woodward school.

Following the parade, families are invited to share a picnic with their children in our school grounds. The canteen will be selling some special Book Week treats.

After lunch, the SRC will be running a Great Book Swap with the funds raised going to support the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

Prior to this day, students will be encouraged to bring in a gold coin donation and a book that they have finished reading. The book must be in excellent condition and at a suitable reading level for a student in their class. Students will be able to swap their book for another book on the day of the swap.

The links below provide more information of this important initiative.

So mark the date in your diary, charge up your camera, plan your picnic lunch and join us on the day to celebrate Book Week.

More details will be provided closer to the event.

Virginia Allman

Parents and Citizens Association

Tennis Courts

Uniform Shop

The uniform shop will be open fortnightly – the next date being.

Community Notices

LANGUAGE CLASSES – BOOKINGS OPEN FOR TERM 3!

Enrol now for your free trial class.

Bonjour! Ni Hao!

Bookings are now open for our French Class and Mandarin Class at St Ives Park Public School in Term 3. A free trial class is offered to all new students as this is a great way for your child to give the classes a try before deciding to enrol for the term.

It’s quick and easy to reserve a FREE trial class. Simply contact us on (02) 8005 1237 or email enquiries@thelanguagecompany.com.au.

Alternatively, visit us via the link below to book your spot online.

The lessons are held at the school each week and are taught by experienced teachers and native speakers of the language.

French - K to Y6 - Mondays - 3.15 – 4.15pm
Mandarin - K to Y6 - Tuesdays - 3.15 – 4.15pm

Activities in our classes are fun! A new theme is followed each term and your child learns through role play, cultural projects and lively games and songs. Our expert teachers provide the best environment for children to develop their self-confidence and enjoyment in their chosen language.

Merci! Xie xie!