8 November 2021

Newsletter Articles

November PBL Focus

Responsibility in the bathrooms.

Principal’s Message

P&C Annual General Meeting

Current and future members of the P&C are invited to attend the November 17th AGM at the St Ives Bowling Club. The decision to hold the meeting at this venue is two-fold. Firstly parents can gather off site but under planning guidelines in place not on school grounds. Secondly, it is a lovely opportunity to mingle according to the venue’s rules and celebrate the year as we thank the current P&C members for their hard work.

New Fencing and Gates

As student welfare and wellbeing are the highest priorities for SIPPS, I am pleased to advise that the enhanced fencing around part of the school has been installed, as announced to the school community at the end of Term 2.

While located to maximise play and learning space for students, the fence also helps regulate movement on school grounds in the following ways:

• restricting student access to the road
• discouraging trespassers
• controlling pedestrian access to the car park.

Based on Department of Education assessment, the new fence is not of standard school security design; therefore, it does not have a formal intercom system.

Teachers will continue to be at the gate/s to supervise the arrival and departure of students each day, however between 9.10am and 3pm parents or carers dropping off students late or collecting them early for urgent appointments are asked to phone the school or use the doorbell to the main office upon arrival.

Thank you for your understanding with this arrangement. I understand it may take a little time to become familiar with it, however the new fencing will increase safety for our students and staff.

Kindergarten Orientation 2021

• Kindergarten Orientation will be held on 9th and 10th of December 2021.
• One fully vaccinated parent will be able to bring their child to the sign on table and Kindergarten students will be escorted by staff to the Kindergarten classroom.
• The one Kindergarten parent will be able to participate in a parent information session on Thursday 9th December with school staff.
• Kindergarten Orientation will be allowed as long as they are designed to minimise mingling between transition or orientation cohorts and school cohorts.

Emergency procedures

Schools are required each year to conduct several emergency drills to aim for smooth running in real situations. Emergency routes and emergency drill dates will again be updated considering the installation of the new fencing. An evacuation drill and a lockdown drill will be conducted at various times and dates throughout the year to ensure emergency evacuations are rehearsed to keep the children and staff aware of the procedure.

In the event of an emergency evacuation, teachers and site managers will take essential relevant information and parents will be contacted using the SchoolZine App alert. It is, therefore, important to keep the school informed and up-to-date with any changes to your phone numbers or emails and ensure you have the app downloaded on your phone.

At SIPPS, we are scheduling the emergency evacuation drill and lockdown drills for this week. Teachers will prepare students for these practise situations.

DoE Term 4 Roadmap

From this week all classes will be dismissed at 3.10pm.

All schools in NSW are from today (8/11/21) at Level 3 supported by layers of safety measures.

Keeping us all safe

A combination of layered safety measures allows us to prioritise student and staff wellness while we keep schools open.

• Stay home if unwell. Do not attend or participate if unwell, even with mild symptoms.
• Vaccinations: All staff and adult visitors to school sites must be fully vaccinated.
• Masks are required indoors for all staff, visitors and students in Year 7 or above, and strongly recommended indoors for primary students.
• All staff and visitors must check in when attending a school site or gathering.
• Maintain 1.5 metres physical distancing wherever practicable.
• Activities and events should be held outdoors where practicable.
• Indoor spaces will be well ventilated and as large as possible for the number of attendees. 
• All activities must minimise mixing of cohorts (SIPPS K-2 and 3-6).
• Students and staff wash hands regularly.
• Continue enhanced cleaning of schools, including high touch points.

Additional activities allowed in a Covid safe manner include:-

• Kindergarten Orientation will be allowed as long as they are designed to minimise mingling between transition or orientation cohorts and school cohorts.
• Parents and carers are allowed on site to support school operations if fully vaccinated. These activities include filling online uniform shop orders, canteen operations.
• Assemblies and presentations will be allowed outdoors on site. Cohorts should be separated with physical distancing in place. Parents may only attend when they have a direct purpose at the event and by invitation of the school. Care must be taken to avoid mixing and mingling of cohorts when entering and exiting the assembly or presentation. Fully vaccinated visitors (including parents and carers) are only allowed to attend if completing a specific role and at the invitation of the school. All visitors must check in using the school check-in and show proof of vaccination.
• Community use will be allowed outside of school hours for existing CUA holders, per general community settings and with a COVID-19 Safety Plan, including any specific plans required under Public Health Orders. This includes P&C meetings.
• Graduations and formals will be allowed within cohorts, either on school sites or at external venues. Graduations and formals held off school sites must comply with any COVID-safe requirements in place for that venue. SIPPS Year 6 graduation event is being held off-site in 2021.
• Other visitors may request the school’s permission to come on site to conduct relevant work duties (such as media, representatives from agencies such as the NSW Ombudsman, researchers, members of parliament and their staff). These decisions are at the discretion of the school.
• All visitors must sign in using the school check-in app and show proof of vaccination status on entry to the school site.

Surveys 2021 - Tell Them From Me

Mrs Wright and Mrs Follows are facilitating the survey for our students, parents and staff in 2021. It would be wonderful to hear from our families regarding your thoughts.

Students will participate in their Tell Them From Me surveys in class this week. An opt-out letter was sent home to families last week.

The parent’s survey will be released later this week, please look out for the coming email.

Principals have been asked to share the Secretary’s video with Professor Sharon Goldfeld with our school communities.

Kind regards,

Caroline English
Principal, St Ives Park Public School

Assistant Principal’s Message

Opportunity Class Placement Test

A reminder for those students who have completed the application process, the OC test date is Wednesday 17 November 2021. The test will be a computer-based test, 60 minutes in total, and sat in one single session. The test will be held at school.

Mrs Hayllar
Instructional Leader / K-2 Assistant Principal

Tell Them From Me

In Week 6, our school is taking part in the Tell Them From Me student survey. This involves students in Years 4-6. The survey will provide us with valuable feedback on what our students think about school life, how engaged they are with school and the different ways that teachers interact with them. Schools in Australia and around the world have used the Tell Them From Me survey to help them improve.

Participating in the survey is entirely voluntary. If you do not want your child to take part in the survey, please complete the form, sent home to families in Week 5, and return it to the school by Tuesday 9 November, 2021.

Thank you,

Alison Wright
3-6 Assistant Principal

Library

Library Book Reminder Notices

This week students will be issued with Library reminder notices, via their classroom teacher, for books they borrowed in Term 1 and 2 this year. These books need to be located and returned. The books were borrowed prior to schools going into lockdown in Term 3.

We would really appreciate your help in locating the books. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me via the school email.

Virginia Allman
Teacher Librarian

Scholastic Book Club - Issue 7 2021

Issue 7 has been distributed to students. There is also an online edition of this catalogue available at this link:

This issue is filled with great books and resources ideal for Christmas presents and stocking fillers.

Please consider making an online purchase for your family as our Library benefits from every sale made by the SIPPS community.

We have not been able to hold our major Scholastic Book Fair library fundraiser for the past two years due to Covid 19 and school lockdowns.

The yearly Scholastic Book Fair provided us with much needed funds that were used to purchase new books the students were requesting, completing popular series and filling gaps in the library collection.

For assistance with placing an order you can visit the parent information site, or phone the customer service team. The details are below:

Telephone: 1800 021 233

Thank you for your ongoing support of our Library. Your Book Club purchases really make a difference.

Virginia Allman
Teacher Librarian and Book Club Organiser

General Information for families

ICAS Test Dates

This is a reminder that the ICAS tests will begin next week. Students who are registered will need to be at school at 7:50am on the morning of their test. Gate 2 will be open from 7.45am, students need to enter the school through Gate 2.

Please bring a pencil and headphones and wait outside the Library. The test takes approximately 45-50 minutes to complete. Here are the revised dates:

Please be aware, students who miss the test will not be able to make it up at another date or time.

Kind regards,

Melissa Field
ICAS Coordinator

Cyber safe families

The following resources are available to support families and their children in being responsible online users:

• Cyber safe families – an overview of cyber safety
• Technology and wellbeing – useful tips and tools
• Digital citizenship External link – a collection of articles and resources to maximise students’ use of technology.

Notes from the school office

Kindergarten 2022

Now is the time to let the office know if you have a child starting Kindergarten 2022.

We will print off a pre-filled enrolment form for you to complete and lodge. Information regarding Kindergarten 2022 will be shared with the community in the coming weeks.

If you know of anyone in our school catchment area who would like to enrol at St Ives Park Public School, please advise them that they are able to enrol online. Just visit the school’s website and look under the heading Enrolment.

All school tours are on hold during lockdown restrictions.

Student Travel – Term 4 2021

Applications for student travel in 2022 opened on Tuesday 12 October 2021.

Students who need a School Opal card or travel pass for 2022 can apply now. A new application will need to be submitted if they are applying for a school travel pass for the first time, or if they are requesting an additional travel entitlement as a result of a new shared parental responsibility situation (e.g. joint custody).

Students who change address, school, campus location, or who have repeated a year or received an expiry notification from Transport for NSW for their school travel entitlement should renew or update their details before the end of term 4. This will ensure that schools can endorse applications and current entitlements are updated and remain valid. School Opal card holders will have the changes applied to their existing card.

Schoolzine app – Please download the schoolzine app. The school uses this app for school alerts, payment of fees, viewing of school newsletters and absentee notes.

Schoolzine app – Please download the schoolzine app. The school uses this app for school alerts, payment of fees, viewing of school newsletters and absentee notes.

Qkr! app – Please download the Qkr ! app – this app is used by the P & C for the ordering and payment of school uniform items and for Canteen ordering and payment of items.

Canteen

Canteen will be closed until further notice.

Uniform Shop

P & C

Final P&C Meeting for 2021 and AGM:

Wed 17 November from 6.30pm
St Ives Bowling Club, 100 Killeaton St.

We are excited to be able to get back together face-to-face, and over a few drinks and snacks to end the year. We really look forward to welcoming some new faces into the P&C, especially from K-2 classes, as many of the existing committee are Year 5-6 and soon to be leaving the school.

Come along to meet us and find out what we are about. All roles are up for re-election, we do have some committee members happy to stay on, but there are roles that need filling. We cannot continue with at least the quorum Exec Committee roles. Please contact us if you’d like to know more about any of these roles ahead of the AGM. stivesparkpc@gmail.com.

Exec Committee:

President (currently vacant and vital to fill)
Vice Presidents x 2
Treasurer
Secretary (currently vacant and vital to fill)

Other roles:

Canteen Co-ordinator
Communications Co-ordinator
Class Parent Co-ordinator
Grants Officer
Band Co-ordinator
Tennis Court Co-ordinator
Fundraising Co-ordinator
Or another role based on your personal passion point and skillset!

2022 Kindy Enrolment Posters

We have been posting and distributing 2022 Kindy Enrolment posters and flyers to local notice boards, Day cares and Preschools. If you have a pre-schooler and haven’t seen this material at your centre, please let us know by email and we’ll get some there.

stivesparkpc@gmail.com

Name Labels Offer

Do you need name labels for the return to school and inevitable lost property hunt? SIPPS families can now get 5% off at My Name Label and 15% goes towards our school as fundraising. Order name tags and labels online and take advantage of this saving.

Use this unique code SIPPS0515 at checkout to receive 5% off your order.

Canteen and Tennis Courts

Currently closed until further notice due to Covid.

Community

Raising your child in a digital world, Presented by Dr Kristy Goodwin

You’re invited to this FREE ONLINE webinar on Wednesday 10th November.

WHEN: Wednesday 10th November
TIME: 7-8:30pm
WHERE: Online- Zoom
COST: FREE
REGISTER: https://professionalspeakersaustralia.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Yd2xGQJ-RtyTqEF6gK7n5Q
RSVP: Tuesday 9th Nov 5 PM
FOR: Parents & caregivers of children (under 12).
CONTACT: Maria Comino, mariac@ransw.org.au, 0434 379 786