7 August 2017

Newsletter Articles

August PBL Focus

Students are learning to:

‘Take care of personal belongings’
‘Look after school equipment’
‘Be in the right place at the right time’

Principal’s Message

Celebrating Education Week 2017

Last week was a celebration of NSW Public education and its commitment to developing every child’s individual potential to be identified and developed by quality teaching in a supportive and safe learning environment. Thank you to the parents and carers who took the opportunity to attend last Tuesday’s Open Day assembly and classroom presentations.

Great learning and teaching occurs in SIPPS classrooms every day in order to inspire and nurture successful lifelong learning. Our dedicated teachers and support staff are committed to delivering an evidence-based approach and quality teaching to meet the diverse needs and strengths of all SIPPS students.

Evidence of this commitment is visible in every classroom. Students with their teachers identify personal learning goals based on ongoing assessment. With explicit and personalised goals students can be fully engaged with their own personal learning journey.

At SIPPS we are always ensuring that students enjoy opportunities to nurture talents and learn skills across a wide variety of curricula and extracurricular areas as well as develop attitudes that will help our students understand that with effort they can achieve great things for their future success.

Last week alone, students had opportunities to perform at the Sydney Opera House, be taught by accredited coaches from Hockey NSW and exhibit their artwork to the wider community at St Ives Shopping Village gallery.

Each day, in each classroom, our teachers in partnership with families do a wonderful job in preparing SIPPS students for the planet they will inherit and lead. Public education continues to inspire young people and reflects Australia’s core values of excellence and equity for all. Together at SIPPS we have a lot to celebrate.

NAPLAN Online

The NSW Education Standards Authority is working closely with schools to prepare for the move to NAPLAN Online. This means moving NAPLAN from the current paper-based tests to computer-based assessments. Schools across Australia will start to go online from 2018. As part of developing and preparing, we will be taking part in a mandatory trial test period throughout week 5 this term. This will involve students from year 3 & 5. Students will have the opportunity to experience a computer based assessment environment and sample the range of questions in these tests. Please note the trial testing period for each school has been designed purely to test the system and devices being used, not the performance of individual students.

What are the benefits?

There are many benefits to moving this assessment process online. These include a better assessment that is tailored to individuals, faster turnaround of results and a more engaging forum for students to demonstrate their knowledge. For more information how tailored testing works please visit this link:

For more information about NAPLAN online please visit:

SPECTRA Award Cards

As National Science Week approaches, we are really excited to see those children involved in the SPECTRA Award Program starting to bring in their activities to share with their teacher and class. Each time an activity on the card is completed the classroom teacher will sign it off. Those with a Junior SPECTRA card must complete 3 activities to qualify for their award. Those with a SPECTRA card must complete activities worth a total of 20 stars to qualify for their award. Once the activities have been completed the cards will be sent to ASTA (Australian Science Teachers Association) who will then issue the students with a badge and certificate. We are looking forward to hearing all about the students’ fascinating scientific investigations. Keep up the great work. Thank you to Mrs Took for coordinating the SPECTRA program this year.

Staff News

Welcome to our new Student Learning Support Officer, Mrs Michelle Biggs who will be working with Mrs Henman and Kindergarten on Wednesday and Friday mornings.

As reported at the last P&C meeting, I will be taking long service leave from the end of Week 5 for the remainder of Term 3. Ms Sheehy and Mrs Hayllar will both relieve as Principal during this time. Mr Nick Dimmers will take 1S for two weeks before he commences with 3/4F to cover Miss Forsyth while she is on maternity leave.

Best Wishes
Gillian Tegg

Celebrating Student Success

Best wishes to the Zone Athletics team who will be representing SIPPS at the Zone Carnival at Narrabeen Sports Centre on Wednesday August 16. Please note on that day the scheduled K-6 assembly Athletics ribbons will not be awarded as planned because many of the recipients will be away at the zone carnival. This presentation has now been postponed until Wednesday 30 August.

Congratulations to Talia who recently received a Highly Commended Award for her entry into the Pittwater Short Story Competition. To be eligible, each entry had to be set in Pittwater and make reference to a ‘Blackout’. Talia’s entry ‘Light in the Darkness’ was both creative and a great example of her writing prowess. Well done Talia, we are very proud of your achievement.

You can hear Talia reading her story below.

During the school holidays I competed in the Northern NSW and Queensland region Interschool Snow Sports competition representing St Ives Park PS. The competition was held at Perisher on the front valley ski slopes. There were ski and snowboard races for all ages from Kindy to year 12 students. I competed in two ski races – The Alpine GS (a slalom race) and Skier X (speed and jumps). There were approximately 100 boys competing in my races. I came 24th in the Alpine and 32nd in the Skier X. I had never raced before and I was competing as the sole representative from our school against boys in ski teams from some of the big private schools. I had such a fun time racing and making new friends. I am very proud to be the first student to represent my school at the ski competition. I would like to thank my teacher Miss Forsyth for encouraging me to enter, she told me she enjoyed competing when she was a student.

Daniel 3/4F

Inspiring & Nurturing Successful Lifelong Learners

Kindergarten Milestone

Tuesday 25th of July marked Kindergarten’s 100th day of school. To celebrate this milestone in their first year of formal schooling, students in KH enjoyed a special ‘100 days’ celebration.

Students came to school dressed as if they were 100 years old. Their dress ups were very creative, many children sported grey hair and glasses.

Throughout the day students were engaged in activities based on the ‘100’ theme.

The activities included:

• A writing activity where students wrote about what they would be like when they are 100 years old.
• A dot painting- students painted 10 groups of 10 dots in different colours.
• A STEAM building challenge- students were encouraged to use 100 cups, toothpicks and paddle pop sticks to build a structure.

Students in KH also enjoyed a special lunch with their parents. We were very lucky to have such a delicious feast. Parents then joined us for the afternoon session of learning where we made ‘100 days of school’ crowns.

Thank you to all the Kindergarten parents for supporting this special day. Students were thrilled to share this achievement with you.

Mrs Sarah Henman

Open Day Stage 3 Museums

As part of our Education Week celebrations Years 5 and 6 showed off their amazing work by making a museum. Over the past term and a half, 5 and 6 have been working together to research information and create their special museums by creating posters, models and fun activities to make the museums more fun for all the people that visited.

We were learning about the Arctic and Rainforests regions of the world.

The groups were organised by putting Year fives and sixes from both classes together in groups of 4 or 5 and then putting half of those groups in one class and half in the other. In the Arctic room each group researched a different aspect. For example: fauna, flora, explorers etc. The Rainforest group were learning about different rainforests across the globe.

We learned lots of new facts about what we were researching. Like how big rainforests are and how big Antarctica is.

I think the hardest part was moving all the furniture and putting together the whole museum.

I enjoyed it when all the people said how amazing the museum was… and the snow cones.

Milan

K-2 Korean Language Program

As part of their Korean language studies, K-2 students have been learning about traditional Korean clothing known as Hanbok. Creative Arts such as singing, dancing and playing traditional instruments are also employed to help students develop new vocabulary and understanding of Korean culture. Miss Eim has been impressed with how well our junior students are remembering and pronouncing Korean words and phrases.

Sport Stars Program

Aden, Nathan and Ms Sheehy have been working on helping run the Sport Stars reward program at our school. With the help of the Sport House Captains, we have been encouraging this amazing sporting experience for K-6 students. Each Wednesday students who have received a Sports Start Award, trade their card for a piece of sport equipment that they can use at lunch. This is what students have to say about our new equipment:

Mia says it’s fun to play with at lunch

Matilde says its pretty good (thumbs up)

Logan is looking forward to using his 2 sports cards

Shahly had lots of fun

Henry desperately wants another sports card

Justin was excited to use new equipment

Polina thought it was fabulous

It made Elizabeth happy

Nathan thought it was a good lunch time activity to run and make kids in school happy.

It looks like everyone is enjoying the new sports equipment.

Aden & Nathan

Stage Coach

This term Year six are starting the Stage Coach high school transition program. In week 2, we attended our first day of the program at St Ives High School. In our first session, we experienced art, PE and English. In art, we have been making collages of the ocean and examining textures. In PE, we learnt how to play quad ball. In English, we learnt about Shakespeare and his poems compared them to modern day raps. We are looking forward to trying HSIE, music and library in the next 4 sessions. So far, this is a great experience for year six students to get used to the routine of high school.

Stage 2 ZooSnooze Camp

Do you love animals? Have you seen them in the night? We went to the Taronga Zoosnooze! Zoosnooze let us learn all about different species of animals! When we arrived we were completely blown away by the exciting, camouflaged animals. We got to pat animals like snakes and lizards.

Jess & Ella

We woke the next morning, exhausted. We had trouble packing up but eventually we made it. We had about two hours until the public came in. We split into three groups to look around. Before we left we were allowed to go into the gift shop, I bought a Lemur that’s arms and hands can strap together. This is an adventure I will truly not forget.

Jack 3/4F

Wow! I am going on my first ever camp! As we hopped on the bus all the kids were saying goodbye to their mum’s and dad’s. “Yay”, I said, “this is going to be awesome.”

As soon as we arrived at the zoo the keepers introduced themselves and told us which animal they work with. Then we went off for our dinner. We had sausages, salad and vegies.

After dinner we went to see the animals. It was awesome walking around the zoo at night. We saw the Bongo from the Congo getting fed and the giraffe having a sleep.

After our walk around the zoo we went to the camp site and chose our tents. We set up our sleeping bags, brushed our teeth and went to bed.

Sofia 3/4F

During Monday and Tuesday Stage 2 went to Taronga Zoo. When we got there the zoo guides showed us around the zoo and where the toilets were. Then we went to have dinner. For dinner we had hot-dogs, salad and pasta. When we finished we went to see some animals at night. I was sleeping in the tent with Layla, Luca and Aydah. We set up and went to sleep.

On Tuesday morning we started to pack-up our sleeping-bags and pillows. When we packed up we went to have breakfast, we had cereal or toast. After breakfast we went around the zoo again and went the zoo farm we got to feed goats, pigs and chickens and got play on the farm play-ground. At 9:00am the program finished and we split into three groups. I was in Miss Eim’s group we got to see lots of animals and our group even got to see the seal show! Then we went to have lunch. For lunch there were sandwiches, an apple, yogurt and juice.

Next we went to see some more animals. Then we met up at the sunbears and then went to see the elephants have a bath. Then we split up into class groups to see lots of animals. When we finished everyone went to the suvener shop to buy some stuff. Then sadly it was time to go so we collected our bags and left. We had such a great time!

By Laura 3/4SE

During Monday and Tuesday Stage 2 went to Taronga zoo. We left school at 4:15 and the bus ride took 50 minutes to get there and I played UNO for most of the ride. When we got there we met the keepers and put our bags in a van.

Firstly we went to see a 12 minute movie about wild squad. Secondly we had dinner and went to see the animals like zebras, giraffes, bongos and old sheep.

In the morning we woke up at 5:30- 6:00 and went to the dining room to have breakfast and left to see some animals waking up. After that we went to see the goats, sheep, pigs and chickens in the farm. Soon after that the zoo keepers left us and we split into 3 groups.

(I was in Miss Eims group)

In my group we went to see the Australian animals like the red kangaroos, wombats, funnel webs, koalas, Tasmanian devils and emus. Then we saw hippos, giraffes, fishing cats, meerkats and elephants. Then we had ham and cheese sandwiches, apple juice, apples and yoghurt for lunch.

After lunch we did a workshop about Sumatran palm oil and how they shouldn’t burn old rainforests and similarities and differences between Sumatra and Australia. Finally we grabbed our bags and got on the bus.

Maximus 3/4SE

Creative Arts News

Music

On Monday 31st July SIPPS recorder ensemble had the wonderful experience of performing at the Sydney Opera House in the Festival of Instrumental Music alongside hundreds of other dedicated music students from all over NSW. The day began with a bus and train trip followed by a picnic lunch overlooking the beautiful harbour. Students then rehearsed for nearly three hours before heading off for dinner with families. The concert featured not only massed recorders but also string groups, bands, orchestras and a wonderful vocal ensemble. SIPPS recorder ensemble demonstrated beautiful audience manners as well as performing their items, demonstrating all three core values – respect, responsibility and personal best, throughout the day. Congratulations!

SIPPS Visual Arts Exhibition at St. Ives Village Gallery

Congratulations, Visual Artists of St. Ives Park Public School. I am so impressed by the high standard of your artworks in our exhibition at St. Ives Village gallery. They look amazing and have attracted much admiration and delight from viewers.

We thank the St. Ives Village management for providing this great initiative and for giving us the opportunity to showcase some of our inspired artists.

Grateful thanks to Trish Piry from the Ku-ring-gai Art Society, whose expert guidance led to our artworks being so professionally exhibited. Thanks also to Artscene and Wahroonga Framing for their helpful advice.

A very special thank you to two of our SIPPS mothers, Cori Neustein and Rosalind Carey, who generously volunteered their time to hang the artworks so expertly.

The artworks appearing in this exhibition are:

KH

“Big Ted”
Ira, Annie, Callum, Harry

“Tricky Mistletoe Bird”
Alena, Ava, Aiden, Andrew

1S

“Storm in a Teacup”
Olivia, Felix, Ella

“Echidna”
Aryan, Daisy, Indra, Indiana

1/2E

“Storm in a Teacup”
Charles, Elizabeth, Charlotte,

“Dad’s Favourite Tie”
Sophie, Jiyu, Brandon, Hamish

2FT

“Sunday”
Matthew, Max, Meredith

“Wandjina Weather Spirit”
Maya, Polina, Smriti

3/4F

“Land of the Rainbow Serpent”
Finlay, George, Maribeth, Laura, Luca

3/4S

“Land of the Rainbow Serpent”
Alexandra, Dylan, Jack, Noam, Summer

5/6H

Black Line Designs from Australian Seedpods
Scott, Marit, Vaidehi

Oil Pastel Designs from Australian Seedpods
Aden, Alex, Gabie, Jamie, Mia, Linus

5/6S

Black Line Designs from Seashells
Cherry, Milan, Rhett

Oil Pastel designs from Seashells
Claire, Darcy, Declan, Katherine, Michael, Louie

The SIPPS exhibition continues until Sunday 13th August 2017.

Ann Stobo
Visual Arts

Library

Notes From the office

SIPPS Senior Choir – performing in the Arts Alive Primary Choral Concert on Thursday 7th September at the Sydney Opera House. Participants will be attending a full day rehearsal on Thursday 3 August (Week 3, Term 3) at North Sydney Girls High School.

SIPPS Junior Choir – performing in the Festival of Children’s Music to be held on Tuesday 17th October at the Chatswood Concourse Concert Hall. There will be two rehearsals held at Pymble Public School.

Parents and Citizens Association

Patter Content

Disco

Thank to you everyone who volunteered for the school disco, the kids had a blast!

Father's Day

Dad's please put Friday morning 1st Sep in your diary for a Father's Day event before school. More detail to come.

Council Election Fete

We are planning a mini Fete on the day of the local Council elections, Sat 9 Sep. More detail to come

Next P&C Meeting is Wednesday 16th August 7:15pm in the SIPPS Staffroom

Tennis Courts

Uniform Shop

The uniform shop will be open fortnightly from 8.45 am.

Term 3

Week 5 - August 16
Week 7 - August 30
Week 9 - September 13

Helping Hands OOSH & Vacation Care