16 March 2020

Newsletter Articles

March PBL Focus

Principal’s Message

Please take the time to read the email which will be provided to parents as soon as possible with the most up       to date advice.





Camp Out

What a wonderful event!

Approximately 130 parents and children were present for the dinner and movie night.

Thirty families had planned to stay overnight and camp out.

Despite drizzle and some rain there was a wonderful community atmosphere. This is a lovely event hosted by our P&C committee volunteers.

It was a joy to see our students and their parents gathering together and including so many of our new families at this annual event.

An ENORMOUS thank you goes to Felicity and Stewart for their hard work and organisation to make this event such a positive weekend for our school community.

Covid-19 Update

Updates are occurring as you would be well aware and the Department of Education is keeping their Principals informed . The most recent update this week is as follows:

The Australian Government has announced on 11 March 2020 that travel restrictions will be introduced for travellers arriving from Italy. Staff and students who are excluded from a school or workplace are those who departed from or transited through:

• China within the last 14 days
• Iran within the last 14 days commencing 1 March 2020
• Republic of Korea (South Korea) commencing 5 March 2020
• Italy commencing 11 March 2020

OR

• have been diagnosed with the COVID-19
• have had close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 infection.
  (This information was updated on Friday 13th March 2020)

Canteen

Each week our school canteen is staffed by volunteers led by Mrs Sony Robson and supported by the P&C Committee. With increasing numbers of families enjoying the service of the canteen on Mondays, there is a need for new volunteers. You can volunteer with a friend and enjoy a morning of conversation, as you pack and organise the orders.

Our canteen in 2020 is also supporting our local school colleagues and families at Sir Eric Woodward School. The canteen service is offered to the students enrolled at this school. Thank you to the P&C and Canteen volunteers for being so very inclusive. As she dropped off their orders last week, their Principal Sian Watkins mentioned how very appreciative their school is of this gesture. A very thoughtful initiative!

Emergency Evacuation

Each semester for Workplace Health and Safety we are required to complete a practise of Emergency Evacuation and Lock Down systems within the school. Last Thursday we had our first practise for 2020. These practise sessions enable staff and students to know the procedures, as well as test systems so we can remind, advise and refine our organisation at our school.

Teacher Professional Learning

Our staff are all working to provide our students with the best possible learning opportunities here at St Ives Park and in order to do that we continue our professional learning. As we train in a range of curriculum areas, strategies and practices, I will keep our community up to date with our focus areas.

In 2020 our teachers are upskilling in how to use data to inform their practices in grouping and differentiation for student learning. Teachers this year have been looking at research undertaken by the Centre for Education Statistics and Education and “What Works Best”. Staff have been particularly looking at the impact of high expectations on student learning and how data informs practice.

Pittwater Network executive staff are working across schools to redevelop school scope and sequences in English. This collaborative approach to learning enables schools to share ideas, practices and knowledge.

Mrs Follows and I are also attending intensive professional development in the area of Growth Coaching in our Coaching Accreditation course which is a very intensive course over two terms with other Pittwater network schools.

Bandemonium Parent Communication

Band Parents for 2020 are kindly requested to use the link below to add their contact details.

Please put this link in

Tell Them From Me

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 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.

More information about the survey is available at the link below.

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. More than 6,300 schools in Australia and around the world have used Tell Them From Me to survey 5.4 million students. Capturing the voices of our students will help improve how we do things at our 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 9 March and 3rd April. Participating in the survey is entirely voluntary.

A consent form and FAQs for parents/carers about the survey was emailed to parents/carers last Friday March 13 2020. If you do not want your child or children to participate, please return the form to school by Friday 20th March 2020. Copies of the form and FAQs are available from the link below.

The consent form and FAQs are available in 23 languages.

Kind regards,
Caroline English

Celebrating Student Success

Recognising Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL)

Weekly SIPPS STARS to celebrate student achievement of School Expectations – Respect, Responsibility and Personal Best.

Inspiring & Nurturing Successful Lifelong Learners

Stage One

Where has the term gone? We are so pleased that all of the students have settled into the school and class routines so well. They are getting to know their classmates and are working very hard each day. A big thank you to all of the parents and carers who were able to attend the information evening. It was lovely to meet you and we hope that you gained valuable information. Please do not hesitate to contact us, if you need any further information. Thank you as well to Libby and Bo for agreeing to be our class parents.

A few reminders; students now change their home readers during class time as a way of developing independence. Homework goes home on a Friday and is returned the following Thursday.

We look forward to meeting up with you at the parent meetings at the end of term. A range of times and dates will be provided shortly.

Kind Regards,
L. Cipollone, N. Mills, S. Took

Library

Brochures for Issue 2 of Scholastic Book Club have been sent home to families this week. Please check your child’s schoolbag.

All orders for Issue 2 need to be entered online, via the LOOP facility, by Friday 20th March.

Details on how to make a LOOP payment are listed on the Book Club brochure.

If you are not sure what to do, you can ring the Scholastic help line or visit the website.

Scholastic Customer Service: 1800 021 233

Visit the website below:

The school benefits from all purchases made by St Ives Park families. We accrue reward dollars that are used to buy resources for our library.

On Thursday 9th April, SIPPS Library is hosting a Scholastic Book Fair.

Our Library will be transformed into a “ bookshop” with a huge range of books and educational items on display for students and their families to buy for themselves. There will be books to suit all budgets, interests and reading levels.

Every book sold at the Book Fair earns the SIPPS library a commission that I use to purchase much needed books for our Library collection.

This Book Fair is the major fundraiser for the SIPPS Library in 2020.

When: Thursday 9th April
Time: 8.30-3.30pm (all day)
Where: SIPPS Library

Purchases can be made on the day with cash, credit card or EFTPOS.

We look forward to seeing you on the day and supporting our SIPPS Library fundraiser.

Virginia Allman
Teacher Librarian

Notes from the Office

2021 Enrolments

Do you have a sibling starting school next year? Please contact the office with your child’s full name and Date of Birth and we can arrange a pre-filled in enrolment form to be sent home for signing and returning to the office with a Birth Certificate, Confirmation of Address and Immunisation History Statement.

Term Fees

Thank you to all the families that have paid their term fees so promptly. Statements were emailed home on the 26th February. Please contact the school office if you did not receive the email or if you are having problems paying your account.

Parents and Citizens Association

Keep up to date

To keep up to date with P&C social events, please make sure you have subscribed to receive P&C emails from our website at the link below.

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

Tennis Court Hire

Book here: in the link below

Contact if problems:

Stewart Duncan

e: sippstennis@gmail.com
p. 0408 649 464

Keep up to date

To keep up to date with P&C social events, please make sure you have subscribed to receive P&C emails from our website at

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

Uniform Shop

Please see the flyer below regarding the Uniform Shop Sale this coming Wednesday 18th March.

Our Uniform Shop is run by parent volunteers and is located in the School Hall.

Opening times are every second Wednesday in odd numbered weeks (i.e. 1, 3, 5 etc.) from 8.30am-9.30am. Further details about the school uniform are available from the school’s website.

sippsuniform@gmail.com

Helping Hands OOSH & Vacation Care

Helping Hands Network are the company who provide before and after school care at St Ives Park Public School.

All information about Before and After school care can be located on their website. Please click on the link below.