22 November 2021

Newsletter Articles

November PBL Focus

Respect in the classroom.

Principal’s Message

Interested in Band 2022?

The new music company leading the external band program for 2022 is

Action Music

Action Music is hosting an information evening for 2022 band parents:

7:30pm, Wednesday 24th November via Zoom

Meeting ID: 913 921 5930 Password: SIPPSCB

All parents will need to re-enrol with this new company to participate in 2022.

Parents need to be aware that as clients of the company, you are liaising with Action Music. The school provides and facilitates the venue and opportunities for students to showcase their learning at school events, however, the school is not affiliated with the company.

If you are unable to attend, please click on the link below.

Supervision at school

Students are welcome to arrive at school from 8:40am each weekday. Staff provide supervision for students who arrive at school after 8:40am Monday to Friday. There should be no students on site prior to 8:40am unless they are booked into Helping Hands Before School Care Centre.

P&C News 2021

HOT off the Press - Fabulous news – Mr Duncan applied for a bubbler grant on behalf of the P&C and SIPPS which has been successful. Mr Jonathon O’Dea has been in contact with Mr Duncan to inform the P&C. Thank you Mr Duncan!

Our P&C in 2021 have been constantly working with the school throughout the year and some highlights include:-

• Bathroom renovations are still underway and we are hopeful that they will be ready for the 2022 school year. Photos available for perusal.
• Canteen and P&C organised cupcakes for the end of term Easter Hat Celebration in April. This event was very well attended by our community and the students and parents had a wonderful celebration together.
• Father’s Day Celebrations were not disadvantaged by Covid thanks to the P&C and Mrs Powell who generously donated to keep our fathers feeling loved during lockdown.
• The Mother’s Day stall was beautifully stocked thanks to our P&C parents and Mrs Powell for their range of reasonably priced gifts and Mrs Robson’s expert organisation and planning.
• Coffee van visits to support our staff during Covid Learning From Home weeks.
• Thank you to our P&C for their collaborative efforts in 2021. I especially wish to thank our two Vice Presidents who have led our P&C so effectively throughout the year.

Our new 2022 P&C Representatives were elected at the Annual General meeting last Wednesday evening. Welcome to our new and returning representatives for 2022.

Further important information

Please read in the Assistant Principal section information regarding Kindergarten Orientation and Tell Them From Me in this newsletter.

Presentation Day 2021

Presentation Day 2021 will take place on Wednesday 8th of December under the current Level 3 guidelines.

We will send home further information regarding the Zoom links for these assemblies. Under the current restrictions SIPPS is unable to invite parents to the assemblies unless they have a school assigned role at the assembly. There will be different assemblies for different cohorts as we continue to be required to keep cohorts separate.

Reporting Semester 2 2021

Semester 2 reports will go home to parents on Wednesday 15th December, 2021.

The NSW Department of Education requirements for reporting to parents K-12 have been amended to support public schools through impacts caused by COVID-19 during Semester 2 2021.

Please note, the reports will look different in Semester 2. Parents are requested to look carefully at the parent friendly wording in the reports. All parents will be encouraged to participate in a SIPPS parent survey regarding the format of the reports which will inform our reporting in 2022. The SIPPS Reporting survey will be released on the same day that the reports go home and will remain open for one week. This is your chance to provide feedback to guide the school’s planning and thinking. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Kind regards,
Caroline English
Principal, St Ives Park Public School

Assistant Principal’s Message

Tell them From Me

The Tell Them From Me Parent survey is now open until 26th November. This quick questionnaire helps to clarify and strengthen the important relationship between parents and our school. The questions aim to build understanding of parents’ perspectives as well as learning at home. Information collected from this survey is used to help us make important decisions regarding future programs and priorities.

The survey is anonymous and has the ability to identify trends within our school and better inform our school priorities.

The following link will take you directly to the survey:

Mrs Follows
K-2 Assistant Principal

Kindergarten Orientation

Kindergarten Orientation will be held on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 December.

One parent or carer, with double vaccination status, is invited to come onto school grounds with their child and take part in Kindergarten Orientation. Students will go to the Kindergarten room for activities, meet teachers and see their new learning environment.

Parents are invited to attend an information session, led by the executive team. On Thursday 9 December, the focus will be on curriculum and how learning occurs in English and Mathematics at St Ives Park Public. The session on Friday 10 December, will focus on starting Kindergarten, Best Start and what to expect those first few weeks of school. Uniforms will be on display and information on how to order uniforms will be discussed.

We look forward to meeting our 2022 Kindy students and their parent or carer.

Alison Wright
3-6 Assistant Principal

Inspiring & Nurturing Successful Lifelong Learners

K-2 Livestream incursion

"That was so fun, I love how our questions or answers were read out straight away! Our favourite book of the day won - it was so exciting"

K-2 had an exciting excursion for book week 2021 in Term 4. We learnt more about our theme - Old Worlds, New World's and Other Worlds'. We listened to 3 epic stories and even got involved! We posted our answers straight to the host AND got to get up and move around like the characters!

Wellbeing

World Kindness Day

World Kindness Day was celebrated on Saturday, 13th November.

This week at SIPPS we have celebrated World Kindness Day through a variety of lessons across the classes. Students in K-2 have given out notes of appreciation and made kindness paper chains.

Students in Stage 2 wrote gratitude notes for one another. Stage 3 students wrote letters of gratitude to people in our school community, in order to show their appreciation of the work others do for them.

We also had fun visiting our kindness wall, being the 'I' in kind, and aim to be the 'I' in kind for the remainder of the year.

A message from Year 6

Year 6 Fundraiser/ Party Day!

In lieu of the Year 6 event the Mini Fete or a traditional party day, due to Covid restrictions, Year 6 are creating Party Bags for the students! Each bag will include a drink, a packet of popcorn, some lollies and an activity pack created especially for your student.

Party Bags are limited to one per student.
Party Bags do not include dairy or nut products.
Party bags are $5.00, order now via the Qkr! app.
Party Bags will be given to students on Party Day in Week 11.

General Information for families

Parent and carer survey on consent education

Students across NSW, both past and present, have called for improved consent education following a petition by former Sydney student Chanel Contos.

Consent is saying yes to something happening or agreeing to do something freely; without fear, force or pressure.

In response to the voices of young people, the heads of the three education sectors signed a  Statement of Intent. In this Statement, the NSW Department of Education committed to a number of actions – including partnering with parents and carers to improve consent education.

There is now an opportunity for parents and carers to have their say by completing a short survey.

The anonymous survey will help the NSW Department of Education to understand the kinds of resources parents and carers would find helpful in having important conversations about consent with their children – so that we can continue to work together to make sure every student has the knowledge and skills they need to form respectful relationships.

This survey is available in 10 languages other than English and will take less than 10 minutes to complete.

The results will be shared on NSW Department of Education website later this year. More information, including answers to frequently asked questions, is also available on the website.

The survey will close on 15 December 2021. Parents and carers of NSW Public School students of all ages, from all communities, are encouraged to participate in the survey.

All parents and carers are invited to attend this webinar on Thursday 25 November at 7:00pm. The webinar will be co-hosted by the eSafety Commissioner, the NSW P&C Federation and the Department. Register hereExternal link.

This webinar will help parents and carers to understand online sexual harassment and image-based abuse (non-consensual sharing of intimate images). It is designed for parents and carers of young people aged 13-18 and it will cover:

• the difference between online sexual harassment and image-based abuse
• how to report online sexual harassment to social media companies
• how to report image-based abuse to eSafety and when to report to police
• where to go for support if you feel upset or worried about something that has happened online.

This is part of our ongoing work and commitment to deliver on the Statement of Intent, co-signed with Catholic Schools NSW and the Association for Independent Schools NSW, to strengthen consent education for children and young people.

Join usExternal link for this webinar and catch up on our previous two webinars, on steps the department is taking to strengthen consent education in NSW and supporting young people to navigate consent, available on the NSW P&C Federation webpageExternal link.

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.

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

The canteen has resumed every Monday until the end of term. All orders must be online using the Qkr! app. Only Lunch orders will be available.

Uniform Shop

P & C

P&C AGM Wrap:

A big thank you to all our committee members for their support and efforts throughout 2021. A special note of appreciation to Stewart Duncan who went over and above as Vice President, stepping up to fill the shoes of President and leading most of the initiatives throughout the year.

Farewell and thank you to outgoing members with year 6 children nearly finished at our school. Stephanie Kosasih as Band Coordinator, Mercy Mutema for her dedication as Uniform Shop Coordinator and Sony Robson for her vast contribution over many years as Secretary, Canteen Manager, Library Fundraiser, and the many events she coordinated.

Congratulations and thank you to the following people taking on roles in 2022:

Executive Committee:

President – Stewart Duncan
Vice President #1– Nicole Pruden
Vice President #2 – vacant – taking volunteers
Treasurer – Lorna Raine
Secretary – Rene Price

Other roles:

Communications Coordinator – Felicity Harris
Canteen Coordinator – Claire Bennett
Uniform Shop Coordinator – Tanya O’Brien
Fundraising / Events Coordinator – Jess Upton and Rene Price
Class Parent Coordinator – Karen Deane
Band Coordinator – Emmy Druce
Tennis Court Coordinator – David Xiao

Local Election

Sat 4 Dec, 8am – 2pm.

Outside SIPPS School Hall.

Elections will be back onsite and SIPPS will hold our famous election BBQ and cake stall.

How you can help:

1. Please sign up to a BBQ and/or Cake stall shift https://volunteersignup.org/3T9K7
2. Bake something sweet and deliver to Jess at 48 Flinders Avenue on Friday 3rd December. Alternatively you may drop baked goods off first thing Saturday morning directly to the stall if you wish. Clearly label with name and ingredients. NO NUTS PLEASE.
3. Come along on Election Day and enjoy!

The P&C will distribute cake boxes in the week prior and kindly request donations from all years of homemade baked cakes / slices / biscuits / loaves.

If you have any questions you can contact Jess Powell on 0404 194 757 or jesupton@hotmail.com

Thank you for contributing!

Uniform Shop – Second Hand Collection

No doubt many of the kids have outgrown another set of uniforms. Please bring any quality pre-loved uniforms to the school office for the uniform shop to sell second-hand. Ring the bell at the school gate for collection. And please, only decent quality items that you would be happy to see your own child in. Thank you.

Canteen

We are very happy to have the Canteen operating once again on a Monday lunch time. Orders by Qkr! only.

Tennis Courts

Currently closed until further notice.

Next P&C Meeting

Wed 16 February, 2022. 7:15pm.

Community