4 March 2019

Newsletter Articles

March PBL Focus

Congratulations to all SIPPS students. You have been making responsible choices in all areas of the school. I am proud to see you all doing your personal best in class and thank you to those awesome students who have come to the office to show me their fantastic work. Keep it up!

Principal’s Message

How exciting was our swimming carnival! Congratulations to the students on their exemplary behaviour and a huge thank you to the parents who helped out on the day and to those who came along to support the students.

Thank you also to those parents/carers who attended our recent 2018 Parent Information Evening. We trust that it was a positive and informative experience. Please let us know if there is something that you think we should add to the evening – we are always looking to improve our practice and to ensure we are doing our part to foster a positive relationship with our community.

As mentioned at the recent parent meetings, The Department of Education’s Strategic Plan 2018-2022 sets out the department’s blueprint for the next five years and this will be reflected in our new school planning cycle.

At SIPPS we are focusing on these key points from the document

• All children make a strong start in life and learning and make a successful transition to school.
• Every student is known, valued and cared for in our schools.
• Every student, every teacher, every leader and every school improves every year.
• Every student is engaged and challenged to continue to learn
• All young people have a strong foundation in literacy and numeracy; deep content knowledge; and confidence in their ability to learn, adapt and be responsible citizens.
• Community confidence in public education is high.

If you have any ideas on what we are doing well, or what we could do to improve these measures, I would love to hear from you. If you would like a copy of the full document, contact Rhonda or Sue in the office.

All school programs that we run here at SIPPS and the administration and educational procedures we follow are in response to school-wide evaluation against the DoE School Excellence Framework, careful analysis of student learning outcomes and stakeholder feedback. In 2018 we developed a new school plan to span 2018 – 2020. We have achieved some of the goals set out in that plan and we are actively working towards the others.

In 2019 we are still working towards these three strategic directions:

The process is underway for the appointment of the new Principal at SIPPS. This process will continue in the coming weeks and the announcement of the successful applicant should be made before the end of Term 1.

SIPPS is turning 50 this year! We don’t look a day over 49! Plans are underway for celebrations to mark this amazing occasion. If you are interested in helping to plan or run any of these celebrations please contact the school or the P&C. If you or anyone you know has some memorabilia from or about the school, such as photos, newsletters, report cards, newspaper or articles, we would love to see it.

In 2019 SIPPS will again participate in the “Tell Them From Me Survey”

The Tell Them From Me student survey asks questions about factors that are known to affect academic achievement and other outcomes. It aims to help improve the learning outcomes of students. The survey is designed to measure, assess and report insights from the student point of view at the school and department levels. The focus of this NSW survey is on student wellbeing, engagement and effective teaching practices. The information that we collect from this survey helps to inform our ongoing planning and goals. The participation of students, parents and staff is invaluable to help us determine what we are doing well and what we need to continue working on.

Students in Years 4 – 6 will participate in the student survey in Term 1 and then again in Term 4. 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 12 March and 13 April. Participating in the survey is entirely voluntary.

A note with more information about the survey will be sent home in the near future. The parent consent form can be downloaded below. If you DO NOT want your child to participate in the survey, please return the form by Friday the 8th of March.

The parent survey will be conducted during Term 3. We will let you know more information closer to the date. Thank you for your support with this important data collection.

For more information read the PDF with FAQ’s.

Thank you to all the parents who I have spoken to over the past few weeks. I love hearing your feedback and value what you have to say.

Have a fantastic fortnight!

Jodie Sheehy

Celebrating Student Success

Congratulations to those students who went off to represent our school at the zone swimming carnival on Friday. We are all so proud of your efforts. Thank you for representing St Ives Park Public School with respect and responsibility and for doing your personal best!

Inspiring & Nurturing Successful Lifelong Learners

Young Engineers

This week we learnt about elastic energy and created a bull’s eye. The bull’s eye has elastic energy by using the power of the elastic band, it can go back and forward. After we built it, we used the IPad to control the elastic band to go forward. All up it was great fun.

Lily (5/6 Blue)

In Young Engineers we were talking about elastic energy. It’s like when you stretch a rubber band and it slaps back when you let it go. We made a bull’s eye with our Lego kits. It was like a sling shot. An elastic band is attached to the two sides of the contraption and is pulled so it can launch a small stick. We controlled it with the IPads. My group was the first to finish so if someone needed help, I would try to help. It was quite a fun lesson.

Mary (5/6 Blue)

Notes from the Office

Please have a look at the school website – St Ives Park Public School.

This website contains a wealth of information for parents/carers such as permission notes, school canteen and school uniform information, school calendar, school newsletters, absentee forms, schoolzine app and a direct link to ‘Make a Payment’.

Statement of Account

Statement of Accounts were sent home with the students last Monday 25 February. Please pay online - If you have any queries please contact the school office. Thank you.

School Photos

Monday April 1 is the date for our school photographs to be taken.

The “How to Order Forms” from the ‘The School Photographer’ company have been sent home with each student today - Monday March 4.

Each student must hand in THEIR OWN completed envelope to their teacher.

Sibling envelopes are available from the school office, and must be handed in separately to the school office. The school office will collect the sibling envelopes in order to keep track of the number of siblings having their photo taken and can hand them onto the photographers on the day.

PAYMENTS – The preferred option for payment is online. If payment is to be in cash then please bring the envelope with the correct cash inside ON THE DAY OF THE PHOTOS. The envelope will be handed directly to the photographers.

Schools Clean Up Day

SIPPS students and staff participated in the annual Schools Clean Up Day last Friday, 1st March.

Each class was allocated an area of the school to tidy.

Each stage were responsible for the areas below as well as the verandahs outside their classroom.

Stage 3 - Oval including hill leading up to the oval from the library
Stage 2 - Hall COLA and lower playground
Stage 1 - Sails playground and back COLA
Kindy - Eco garden and adjacent grassed area

Reading Program

A big hello to all parents and friends of St Ives Park Public School. I am so happy to be back working with the teachers, parents and students of our great school.

I would like to take this opportunity to encourage parents and friends of the school community who have some spare time, to consider becoming a volunteer reading tutor for our students in Years 1 and 2.

As with all activities that involve working with students you will need to complete an Appendix 5 – Declaration for volunteers and non child related contractors and lodge it at the school office. Please click on the link below or ask for one at the school office.

100 points of Identity are required – please see the link below for a list of documents that may be provided. Your ID and your form need to be lodged at the school office where it will be processed.

This program involves helping at the school for 1 or 2 hours of a morning. You will receive training on what you will be required to do with the students during these support sessions.

If you can help, please fill out the form below and return to the school office.

Thank you.

Adrienne Reid
Learning Support Teacher

Parents and Citizens Association

State Election BBQ and Cake Stall

Sat 23 March from 8am

We will run the ever-popular election BBQ and Cake Stall and Cake Stall to raise funds for the school.

The Cake Stall will be managed by years K-2 parents and the BBQ by years 3-6 parents. Please nominate yourself for a slot on the roster HERE

School Camp Out

Sat 23 March 5pm - Sun 24 March 9am

Following on from the election, we are going to hold our first family overnight P&C camp out. For all those who love the idea of camping but never seem to get away, this is your chance. A great way for kids and parents to get to know each other. See attached flyer for information to register and pay by Fri 8 March. $10 per person includes a BBQ dinner, family movie and simple breakfast.

Easter Hat Parade

Fri 12 April

The school is looking for volunteers to help the librarian with the annual Book Stall on Easter Hat Parade Day. We are also looking for volunteers to run the Hot Cross Buns, tea and coffee stall for parents and grandparents/friends to enjoy. Please get in touch with the P&C if you can help out.

Next P&C Meeting

Wed 20 March

7:15pm in the staff room.

Get in Touch

If you have any queries or would like to get involved with the P&C, please get in touch at: stivesparkpc@gmail.com

Uniform Shop

sippsuniform@gmail.com