1 June 2020

Newsletter Articles

June PBL Focus

Principal’s Message

Hip, Hip, Hooray

Delightfully, we were able to welcome back all our students K-6 last week. Each day teachers greeted students at the gates to welcome everyone back after such a long break away from learning at school.

Field of Flowers

To celebrate the students’ returning to school, Mrs Stone created the ‘Field of Flowers’ garden display last Friday.

The flowers symbolise all our students back growing and learning together at school. Congratulations to all students for a smooth return to school this week.

Thank you to Mrs Stone’s assistants, Elizabeth and Reuben, who gave up their free time and provided an added eye for detail in assembling the installation.

The flowers will be used to create a permanent Field of Flowers display and we look forward to sharing this with the community when we are able to have more visitors to the school site.

Kindergarten 2021

We are accepting enrolments for Kindergarten students for 2021. In the coming weeks please look out for Pearls from the Park in the Newsletter and on the school Face Book page. As we are unable to conduct school tours at present we will provide a virtual guided tour at SIPPS via images. Please let your family and friends know if they have young children ready to start school in 2021.

Mrs Jahn

Mrs Scarlett Jahn, who has worked as our EAL/D and NAP teacher for almost a year has started her maternity leave and the staff wish her well with the extension to her family.

For the remainder of this term, Miss Mills will work on Thursday each week to support our students in the NAP program.

Reporting to Parents – Semester One 2020

The reports for Semester 1 2020 have been adjusted in recognition of the impact of learning from home and at school during Terms 1 and 2. There is an extended timeline for schools to provide Semester 1 reports to parents. Our reports will be provided to parents on Wednesday 12th August 2020, which is earlier than the DET’s extended timeline.

Reflecting the many adjustments required from students, parents and schools, this report will not grade student achievement using the A-E scale. This year Semester 1 reports will not include the Outstanding, High, Sound, Basic and Limited identifiers. The reports will focus on learning undertaken in English and Mathematics, with a general comment in line with the Department’s advice. It is expected that traditional school reports will be provided to parents in Semester 2.

Due to social distancing measures in Term 1 we were unable to facilitate parent / teacher interviews in the normal manner. Should parents wish to discuss student progress with their child’s teacher, please contact the teacher or school administration to arrange a 10-15 minute telephone conference. Teachers may also need to contact parents and will call to arrange telephone conference times.

School Planning – new school planning phase

All Principals will be trained in the new planning procedures in July and August this year. The current School Plan 2018 to 2020 will conclude this year. I will keep our community informed regarding the planning process and new school directions via The Patter. Stay tuned!

Parent health and safety

Thank you to all our parents who have been socially distancing during drop off and collection of SIPPS students last week. Please remember that parents until further notice are required to drop off and collect their children at the gate and remain outside the school grounds.

Accessing school grounds for students

To ensure social distancing for adults dropping their children to school, parents are asked to drop their child to the relevant gate:

K-2 are to enter via Gate 1 closest to the Office Admin block and the morning quadrangle playground.

3-4 are to access the school grounds via Woodbury Road gate entrance, Gate 3.

5-6 are to access the school grounds via the Acron Road gate entrance closest to the hall, Gate 2.

Multiple children in the family: Where there are two or three children in a family, please drop your children at one gate.

Road Safety

We are very fortunate here at SIPPS with many gates to access the school site. This means we have had far less traffic congestion than many other schools. Lucky SIPPS! Many schools have had concerns regarding driving and parking safety.

I have only noticed a handful of instances in our local area which have caused concern, however, I am including the following information for parents which was provided by the local council, who indicated that the rangers are patrolling school zones.

Please remember to park your car and walk your child across the road safely. The pedestrian crossing is the safest location for students and parents to cross, and we can all get a few extra steps in our day. Please take a few moments to read through the information.

School Cleaning

We have a new cleaner Anjali who has joined us this week via the DET’s contractor Facilities First. Anjali completes the morning, afternoon and enhanced cleaning shifts at SIPPS.

Feby is the cleaner at SIPPS who completes the Day cleaning. The day cleaning includes extra bubbler and toilet cleaning. High frequency touch points and handrails are also further cleaned.

I look forward to seeing many more parents at the gates during drop off and collection. Please keep safe and well.

It has been a smooth and successful first week back to full time learning at school, which is a credit to our community as a whole. Thank you everyone, students, parents and staff.

Warm wishes,
Caroline English
Principal

Kind regards,
Caroline English

Notes from the Office

Please note that arrangements regarding the Uniform shop have changed. Please refer to the Uniform shop section of this newsletter for details.

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

Uniform Shop

Thank you very much to Mrs Mutema who has kindly taken over the operation of the Uniform shop. The day for having your orders in by has changed to Wednesday evening.

Orders need to be in by the Wednesday evening.

Goods will be handed out to your child just before the end of school on the Thursday afternoon. If you have any questions please call the school office or send an email to the uniform email address below.

School Uniform items can be purchased every week by using the QKr! App.

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.