1 November 2016

Newsletter Articles

Principal's Message

Carnival of Cultures

The inaugural Kuring-Gai Carnival of Cultures held at St Ives Park Public School was a huge success not just for our school but the wider community and a wonderful celebration of cultural diversity.

Yesterday really highlighted the fact that in living in Australia we enjoy the benefits of a diverse multicultural society. Public education in NSW is committed to ensuring that students grow up in a socially cohesive society where everyone has a chance to shine.

Congratulations to Angela Lau our P&C President and the hardworking committee who had the vision and talent to bring yesterday together. Thank you to class parents, teachers and students who volunteered their time and expertise to the many stalls and performances making the day a very special event.

Special thanks also to art teacher Tania Mcgurgan and Principal Mark Watson for the wonderful carnival mural that was painted by former students who now attend St Ives High School.

We are also grateful to Ku-ring-gai Council for their support of this venture and thank Mayor Anderson for launching yesterday's event.

Gold Award Winners

Congratulations to siblings Pria and Logan who have achieved the highest award in our school - a SIPPS gold medallion. This award recognises their continued success in following the schools expectations of Respect, Responsibility and Personal Best. Both Pria and Logan will be special guests at the Principal's Morning tea on Thursday 15 December.

Festival of Children's Music

Once again this year our junior choir gave outstanding performances as part of the 350 strong massed choir at both the Matinee and Evening Performance at The Concourse Chatswood. Congratulations to all our wonderful choristers and thank you to Miss Emerson for training the choir and giving up her personal time to give our students the opportunity to be part of this extraordinary experience.

Kindergarten 2017

Tomorrow our Kindergarten Orientation program continues with an Information Morning for parents followed by the Taste of Kindy sessions on Thursday November 3 and Tuesday November 8. We hope that all our Kindergarten 2017 students and their families enjoy the next two weeks in preparation for their start to 'big school'.

National Teachers' Day

Thank you to the P&C for providing teaching staff with a special lunch last Friday to celebrate National Teachers' Day. The acknowledgement of our teachers' extraordinary efforts in support of students and their families was very much appreciated. The next P&C Meeting on Wednesday 16 November will be the Annual General Meeting and the last one for 2016.

Selective High School 2018

If you would like to have your child considered for Year 7 selective high school entry in 2018, the online application process is now open. Visit the link below to complete your online application. The application website closes on 14 November 2016. No late applications will be accepted. Applications for selective high school placement are considered mainly on the basis of the Selective High School Placement Test results and school assessment scores. The Selective High School Placement Test will be held on Thursday 9 March 2017.

RAM

The Resource Allocation Model (RAM) has been developed to ensure a fair, efficient and transparent allocation of the education budget for every school in NSW. Last week we received the 2017 planned school budget allocation report from the department. I will be present information on this at the P&C annual general meeting on Wednesday November 16.

Stay touch with SIPPS

Don't forget that you can stay in touch with what's happening at SIPPS on your mobile device by installing SZapp. This forms part of our strategy to improve communication across the school community in line with feedback. Currently 85 people in our school community are using this medium to stay in touch with SIPPS. Two-way communication between school and home is enhanced through the opportunity this app gives you to not only receive the school's newsletter and special notifications but through options that make it easier for parents to contact the school directly.

Best Wishes
Gillian Tegg

Inspiring & Nurturing Successful Lifelong Learners

1/KA Amazing Writing pieces

As part of our L3 program at St Ives Park Public School, students engage with texts through writing. Teachers model books for students. This week's book in 1KA was 'The Fearsome, Frightening, Ferocious Box' by Frances Watts and David Legge.

After reading the book it is the teacher's role to guide students as to how to write in a similar manner. Our focus this week was on alliteration in our headings and finishing our stories with a funny ending.

Students are given the opportunity to work independently as teachers oversee student's creative minds at work. The outcome from the students in 1KA was impressive.

The following are just a few examples of the outstanding work from students within 1KA:

The Beautiful, Big, Bundle in the Room by Jamison (Year 1)

My teacher went to the door and smacked it. He got very scared because it went "cheep" so he sat down next to the fireplace.

Next Elizabeth tried to kick the door open but it made a growling noise so she sat next to my teacher.

The next one was Harry. Harry punched the door but the door made a rumbling noise so Harry said to everybody "let's just open the door".

They all opened the door together and the Kookaburra said "hello". Everyone screamed and ran out of the front of the house to get away.

The Fierce, Furious door by Lucas (Kindergarten)

One day there was some friends Alastair, Cora and Edie.

First Alastair said "I will bust the door open!" but when he stepped near the door there was a creak, so Alastair sat down.

Then Cora came along. "I will crack the door" she said, but when Cora stopped near the door it screeched so she sat down.

Edie came along and said "I will open the door" but when Edie stopped near the door it made a scratching sound so she sat down.

Then the door opened and they saw a white owl that they thought was a ghost so they ran away.

The Big, Bad, Broom by Edie (Kindergarten)

One day after a long holiday the witch's mother came home from Africa.

Cora came to a room. She wanted to open the door but when she took four steps towards the door a growling sound happened. April arrived behind her so April came up to the door but then there was a roaring sound came but Edie said, "We're all tough guys, so we can pull it open".

They saw a cat which said, "Hi". "Ahhh!" we all screamed.

The Cheeky, Squeaky, Freaky Vault by Max (Year 1)

On day Max was walking and he saw a vault. It had a very large door on it. Max was going to open it but as he walked towards it he heard a big roar! Max said "maybe I shouldn't open the vault." So he sat down.

Then came Hanmo and he was ready to charge at the door but he heard a squeak so he sat down next to Max.

Along came Harry and he said "I can smash this door open with my huge strength". He twisted his hand up into a fist and ran up to the door but just before he got there he heard a honk! Harry got scared and sat next to Hanmo and Max.

Let's all open the vault together they decided.

As the door opened a chipmunk jumped out to surprise them and said "HELLO!" They all got so scared they ran away.

The Mysterious, Monstrous, Mischievous Classroom by Alastair (Kindergarten)

On day Cora walked towards the classroom door when she heard a "ribbit" which made Cora scared.

Along came Lucas and said "I'll open the door" but as he was walking towards the door it started to groan and Lucas got scared.

Along came Edie and she said "let's open the door together". So they opened the door as they heard a "ha ha ha" so they ran away from the Kookaburra.

Music

Notes from Office

Money Collection:

In response to information received from the Department's Service & Security Operations regarding the handling of cash, cheques and EFTPOS payments, we have had a review of the money collection procedures in the school. We are now required to change the way we accept the permission notes and payments. All permission notes and payments will now only be accepted via the office through the payment slot installed in our new counter. Payment envelopes are no longer to be handed in to the class teachers. Payments should be in a sealed envelope with full information listed on the outside including name of child, class, activity etc. All parents are encouraged to use the POP facility – please see notes below.

Permission Notes this week:

1. Grades 3-6 Surf Safe to Freshwater Beach on 21 November 2016 – please place your sealed envelope in the money slot in the office counter.
2. Life Education K-2 coming to SIPPS Tuesday 22 November to Friday 25 November – please place your sealed envelope in the money slot in the office counter.

Parent Online Payment (POP):

We are now encouraging all parents to make payments to the school for excursions, activities and student invoices through the Parent Online Portal – available on the school's website. This is now the Department's preferred payment method.

This is done via a secure payment page hosted by Westpac. Payments can be made using either a Visa or MasterCard credit or debit card. The payment page is accessed from the front page of the schools website by selecting $ Make a payment

When we send out a permission note we will advise the specific category you will need to make the payment. Items that can be paid include voluntary school contributions, subject contributions, excursions, sales to students and creative and practical arts activities (these include drama, recorder and dance). There is also a category called "Other" This is to cover items not covered in the previous headings. "Other" can be used to make a complete payment of a school invoice.

When you access the $ Make a payment you must enter:

• the students name, and
• class and reference number OR
• the students name, and
• date of birth.

These details are entered each time you make a payment as student information is not held within the payment system. There is also the option to enter the Student Registration Number and Invoice number if you are aware of them, these are optional fields.

This is a secure payment system hosted by Westpac to ensure that your credit/debit card details are captured in a secure manner, these details are not passed back to the school.

You have the ability to check and change any details of the payment before the payment is processed. Receipts can be emailed and/or printed.

Details of the payments are passed daily to the school where they will be receipted against your child's account. As a receipt has been issued from the payment page a further receipt will not be issued by the school.

Please note: This payment method applies to school payments ONLY AND DOES NOT INCLUDE payments for the SIPPS Parents & Citizens Assn, Bandemonium, Northshore Tennis, canteen or uniform shop.

For any enquiries regarding the Online Payment process please contact the School Administration Office.

Parents and Citizens Association

Chinese Moon Festival Lunch

On Wednesday 14 September, our P&C organised a delicious special lunch to celebrate the Chinese Moon Festival. Students enjoyed spring rolls, dumplings, fried rice and BBQ pork buns. Many thanks to Shu, Yan, Pui, Alison, Felise, Jennifer L, Jennifer J, Magdalena, Julaiha and Bec who helped to make the lunch a great success and raise $637.60.

Indian Lunch

The next special lunch on the 17th Nov. This time it is an INDIAN SPECIAL LUNCH in celebration of the Indian festival Diwali. Do send in your orders before 10th Nov.

Community Fitness Fun

Come in on Wednesdays and spend some time in beautiful SIPPS grounds for a community workout. SIPPS P&C is starting a Fundraiser Fitness Training Session for parents this term. Meet new parents and workout together in our new fitness program.

Date: Every Wednesday
Time: 9.15 am – 10.15 am
Venue: Grounds behind SIPPS administrative building
Cost: $10 per session

Interested Parents kindly drop an email to amutharamesh8@gmail.com or send a text message to 0434 582 622.

About the Trainer:

Cherrine Melamed (10Fit)

Cherrine is a personal trainer who has assisted clients to achieve a variety of fitness goals, and has worked at Fitness First (Willoughby), her home gym and outdoors (parks and northern beaches) in small groups and in individual training sessions. She has a Certificate 3 and 4 (Master Trainer) through the Australian Institute of Fitness, is a qualified yoga teacher with the Yoga Institute of Australia and is a Punchfit boxing coach. Later this year, Cherrine plans to obtain certification as a progressive calisthenics coach. Cherrine believes in a wholistic approach to fitness and that there are several components to fitness, all of which should be developed including cardiovascular fitness, strength, agility, flexibility, power, balance and proprioceptive awareness. The pyramid on which good health is built is sound nutrition, exercise and sleep. Health and safety always come first and training sessions are adapted to the specific needs, goals and health condition of the client. Most importantly, fitness should be fun and involve a respectful enquiry into our strengths and limits, and the way in which we can develop our abilities and achieve our health and fitness goals.

Tennis Courts

BARE CREEK TRAIL RUN IS BACK…WITH A NEW ORGANISER AND A NEW EVENT!

Dust off your running shoes and start limbering up for the Bare Creek Trail Run on Sunday 27th November!

10KM, 6KM and NEW 2KM DASH!

This year the event will include the 10KM Run, 6KM Run/Walk for anyone over 5 and will introduce a new 2KM DASH so that families with children under 5 can also hit the trail! The 2KM event will be held after the 10K and 6K events so that parents can run their own race and then take the kids on the fun and easy 2K DASH.

BENEFITS FOR SIPPS

No cost to the school! The Bare Creek Trail Run will no longer cost our school as ex-SIPPS parent and founder of the event Lisa Murphy has agreed to take on the run from now on via her company Bare Events.

Fund Raising Opportunities!

• Payment to the School - Bare Events has paid to use the school facilities.
• Early Bird Registration Rebate – If we can get 200 SIPPS runners to register before 15th October,SIPPS P&C will receive a donation for every single SIPPS registration so make sure you spread the word to your family and friends!
• SIPPS Sausage Sizzle – The P&C has the opportunity to run a sausage sizzle on the day to raise funds for our school.

Great PR!

The Bare Creek Trail Run is a positive, healthy, family event that attracts local residents, businesses, other schools, runners, and the media to our school. This raises awareness about our school and showcase its many great assets.

Enter now and tick the SIPPS BOX on the registration form to get the best entry price, support our school, and have your name printed on your running bib!

Uniform Shop

The uniform shop will be open fortnightly – the next date being November 9 2016 Term 4.